Abstract Skin is one of several exposure routes whereby benzene, a widely distributed environmental contaminant that causes leukemia, enters the body, sq accurate predictions of its percutaneous absorption are important for risk assessment. Determining benzene's skin-exposure dose and subsequent absorption is difficult because it has a low boiling point and exists as both liquid and vapor. Industrial and environmental benzene is present as a contaminant in other vehicles/ solvents, and its percutaneous absorption is in part dependent upon co-solvent volatility. Co-solvents such as benzene in toluene rapidly evaporate from skin, whereas benzene contaminant in water is retained on skin longer due to water's lower volatility. Co-solvents can also affect benzene-skin partition coefficients; thus, permeability coefficients and percentage doses. Absorbed can vary many-fold. The exposure situation will determine percutaneous absorption, which, if low, can be overwhelmed by benzene intake from the food we eat and the air we breathe.


INTRODUCTION: Force application patterns in cycling have been studied using cadences between 60-100 rpm, but not during sprint cycling. The aim of this study was to investigate the force application patterns during sprint cycling (above 135 rpm), and to compare these with those obtained for constant velocity exercise in other studies.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Two piezoelectric force transducers (Kistler 8067) were incorporated into two specially-designed pedals, and statically calibrated for vertical loads of 0 to 2000N and antero-posterior and medio-lateral loads of -2000 to 2000N. Crank and pedal angles were measured with continuous turn potentiometers. 9 national and international sprint cyclists (mean age 26.5 n 2.7yr, height 1.80 n 0.06m, mass 82.0 n 6.6kg) performed a 10s sprint on a Monark 864 ergometer against a load of 9% body mass (to simulate a track 200m sprint). Data were sampled at 100Hz. Specially-written software calculated Effective and Ineffective crank forces, and computed the Index of Effectiveness (Sanderson, 1991)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Two distinct pedalling styles emerged. Two subjects demonstrated smooth application of pedal forces throughout the whole pedal cycle; whereas, others applied very large forces (up to 1100N) only in a small range of crank angles (90 to 135o past TDC). 'Smooth' pedallers had a greater Index of Effectiveness, suggesting more mechanically efficient cycling. No subjects showed an upward 'pull' on the pedals during recovery (BDC to TDC), in contrast to earlier studies examining steady state cycling.

CONCLUSIONS: The force pedals realised interesting aspects of force application during sprint cycling. Further study should be carried on actual bicycles and, if possible, in track situations. Previous research on steady-state cycling cannot be generalised to sprinting at high cadences.

REFERENCES:
Sanderson, D. J. (1991). The Influence of Cadence and Power Output in the
Biomechanics of Force Application During Steady-Rate Cycling in Competitive
and Recreational Cyclists. Journal of Sports Sciences 9, 191-203.


Romans 9-11 has attracted much scholarly attention, and the amount of secondary literature is nearly overwhelming. Yet, no serious scholarly-length article has emerged that wrestles with the textual issues of 11:31. Why? How might a full treatment of this variation unit impact the interpretation of the surrounding chapters? This article seeks to answer these questions by examining the social situation of Jewish-Christian relations and hostilities from the late first to the late second centuries CE. It reflects a trend in early Christian textual criticism away from questing after an "original" text to instead examining the social context of variation units.


Airway smooth muscle (ASM) is continuously strained during breathing at tidal volume. Whether this tidal strain influences the magnitude of the bronchodilator response to a deep inspiration (DI) is not clearly defined. The present in vitro study examines the effect of tidal strain on the bronchodilator effect of DIs. ASM strips from sheep tracheas were mounted in organ baths and then subjected to stretches (30% strain) simulating DIs at varying time intervals. In between simulated DIs, the strips were either held at a fixed length (isometric) or oscillated continuously by 6% (length oscillations) to simulate tidal strain. The contractile state of the strips was also controlled by adding either methacholine or isoproterenol to activate or relax ASM, respectively. Although the time-dependent gain in force caused by methacholine was attenuated by length oscillations, part of the acquired force in the oscillating condition was preserved post-simulated DIs, which was not the case in the isometric condition. Consequently, the bronchodilator effect of simulated DIs (i.e., the decline in force post- versus pre-simulated DIs) was attenuated in oscillating versus isometric conditions. These findings suggest that an ASM operating in a dynamic environment acquired adaptations that make it refractory to the decline in contractility inflicted by a larger strain simulating a DI.


There is increasing price of fish meal which is the sole protein source in fish feeds and an alternative and cheaper protein source is found to substitute or complement the expensive fishmeal to reduce the feeding cost. Five treatments, each with two  replications were designed for each species ( Eudrillus eugeniae and Lumbricus terrestris ) at different feeding rates as follows: A, 1%; B, 3%; C, 5%; D, 10%; E, 15%. Feeding rates waere as follows; A, 15± 0.7; B, 32±2.1; C, 47±4.2; D, 50±1.4 and E, 58±0.7. For L. terrestris, survival was as follows; A, 65±2.1; B, 67±1.4; C, 78±4.9; D, 82±3.5; E, 90±2.8 and E. eugeniae There was significant effect  (P<0.05) of feeding rate on the survival of both species and the Fisher's LSD multiple comparison test also showed significant different (P<0.05) in the survival among the two species. L. terrestris showed to be a good candidate for vermimeal while E. eugeniae showed to be suitable for vermicompost production. Keywords : Vermiculture, Vermimeal, Vermicompost, Uganda's earthworms, L. terrestris, E. eugeniae


BACKGROUND
Coronary arteriography (CA) is the standard method to image coronary lesions. Multidetector cardiac computerized tomography (MDCT) provides high-resolution images of coronary arteries, allowing a noninvasive alternative to determine lesion type. To date, no studies have assessed the ability of MDCT to categorize coronary lesion types.

HYPOTHESIS
The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of lesion type categorization by MDCT using CA as a reference standard.

METHODS
Patients who underwent both MDCT and CA within 2 months of each other were enrolled. MDCT and CA images were reviewed in a blinded fashion. Lesions were categorized according to the SCAI classification system (Types I-IV). The origin, proximal and middle segments of the major arteries were analyzed. Each segment comprised a data point for comparison. Analysis was performed using the Spearman Correlation Test.

RESULTS
Four hundred eleven segments were studied, of which 110 had lesions. The lesion distribution was as follows: 35 left anterior descending (LAD), 29 circumflex (Cx), 31 right coronary artery (RCA), 2 ramus intermedius, 8 diagonal, 4 obtuse marginal and 2 left internal mammary arteries. Correlations between MDCT and CA were significant in all major vessels (LAD, Cx, RCA) (p < 0.001). The overall correlation coefficient was 0.67. Concordance was strong for lesion Types II-IV (97%) and poor for Type I (30%).

CONCLUSION
High-risk coronary lesion types can be accurately categorized by MDCT. This ability may allow MDCT to play an important noninvasive role in the planning of coronary interventions.


This thesis interested on developing a stand-alone photovoltaic system with self-diagnosis possibility. A specific structure has been proposed consisting in a DC hybridization of photovoltaic sources, a Lithium-based battery and supercapacitors. Dynamics models of the boost converter and the current-fed dual-bridge DC-DC converter are proposed and an efficient state observer is proposed to estimate the models equivalent losses' parameters online. It is shown that the estimated parameters can be used in the energy management scheme, with in particular optimisation of the efficiency of paralleled structures. The photovoltaic source optimization is also studied with special attention on shading phenomenon and design of MPPT technique especially on the case of distributed series architecture. Through a specific hybridization structure, State-Of-Health estimation is tested on Li-ion and LiFePO4 batteries. It is shown that the isolated coupled-inductors Cuk converter is very efficient for battery estimation through current injection. Finally, a global energy management scheme is proposed, and the developed stand-alone photovoltaic system is validated to operate as supposed


The fabrication of nanofibers can be accomplished by using a variety of methods, including electro-spinning and a combination of chemical/mechanical processes, especially for cellulose, as a form of green sustainable resource material. Non-woven nanofiber mats have unique properties, such as interconnected pores, a very large surface-tovolume ratio, and a high capacity for surface modifications, making such scaffolds useful for fabrication of high throughput separation membranes. Directed water channels in the barrier layer are formed through the formation of interface between the cross-linked nanofibers and the polymer matrix, while the gap thickness may be regulated by physical interactions or chemical bonding. In the present context, advances in electro-spinning and fundamental studies on nascent cellulose crystals by means of synchrotron x-ray scattering have provided us with new insight to use the fibrous format with varying pore sizes for applications from micro-filtration via ultra-filtration to nano-filtration. We have taken advantage of unique breakthroughs in chemical modifications and physical scale-up transformations to drastically improve filtration membrane development with predesigned properties. In particular, we have, for example, examined the NF membrane performance as influenced by the barrier layer substrate and reduced fouling by using a highly hydrophilic barrier layer. The same concept has been extended to the pervaporation process by using a highly hydrophilic graphene oxide layer. Performance characteristics of nanofibrous scaffolds for water purification applications are presented.


Introduction At present, clinical studies have confirmed that osteoporosis (OP) has an inverse relationship with osteoarthritis (OA), but it has not been proven from the point of view of genetics, so our study hopes to clarify the potential effect of OP on OA at the level of gene prediction through two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Methods A two-sample MR was adopted to research the causal relationship of OP with OA (including total OA, knee OA and hip OA). All data come from a public shared database. Such traditional methods as simple and weighted models, inverse variance weighted, weighted median, and Mendelian Randomization (MR-Egger) regression were employed to assess the causal effect of OP on OA. We used the Pleiotrophy RESidual Sum and Outlier (MR-PRESSO) method and MR-Egger method to study sensitivity. The leave-one-out test is used to determine the influence of outliers. The heterogeneity was calculated by using Cochran Q statistics and MR-Egger regression in the inverse variance-weighted (IVW) method. P > 0.05 indicates that there is a large heterogeneity. MR-Robust Adjustment Profile Score (RAPS) is stable to both systematic and specific multiplicity, so we used MR-RAPS as a supplementary method to verify the results of IVW. Results According to the results of IVW, we found that there was a causal relationship between OP and total OA, and OP reduced the incidence of total OA (beta=-0.285, OR=0.751, P value< 0.016). The MR estimation of the causal effect of OP on knee OA suggested that the genetic prediction of OP was negatively correlated with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) (IVW: beta=-6.11, OR=0.002, P value< 0.016). The IVW results suggested that OP was causally related to hip OA, and OP had a protective effect on hip OA (beta=-5.48, OR=4.15e-3, P value= 3.99e-3). Except for heterogeneity in the analysis of OP and knee OA, there was no horizontal pleiotropy or heterogeneity in the other analyses. Conclusion We explored the causal relationship between OP and OA through a two-sample MR analysis and found that OP can reduce the incidence of OA (including knee OA and hip OA).


Constructed wetlands (CWs) are a promising alternative for conventional methods of wastewater treatment. However, the biggest challenge in wastewater treatment is the improvement of the technology used so that it is possible to remove micropollutants without additional costs. The impact of wastewater treatment in CWs on toxicity towards Aliivibrio fischeri, Daphnia magna and Lemna minor was investigated. The effects of feeding regime (wastewater fed in five batches per week at a batch volume of 1 L, or twice per week at a batch volume of 2.5 L) and the presence of pharmaceuticals (diclofenac and sulfamethoxazole), as well as the presence of Miscantus giganteus plants in CW columns (twelve of the 24 columns that were planted) were analyzed. A reduction in toxicity was observed in all experimental setups. The effluents from constructed wetlands were classified as moderately toxic (average TU for A. fischeri, D. magna and L. minor was 0.9, 2.5 and 5.5, respectively). The feeding regime of 5 days of feeding/2 days of resting resulted in a positive impact on the ecotoxicological and chemical parameters of wastewater (removal of TOC, N-NH4 and pharmaceuticals). Extended exposure of Miscantus giganteus to the wastewater containing pharmaceuticals resulted in elevated activity of antioxidant enzymes (catalase and superoxide dismutase) in leaf material.


Although it may ultimately be possible to fertilise ovarian follicular oocytes in vitro, superovulation and insemination are currently the only practical method for obtaining a supply of fertilised ova. It is likely that this will remain true for sometime to come. Pregnant mares serum gonadotrophin (PMSG) is almost universally used for inducing superovulation, and response to it has recently been more reliably achieved by using, in addition, prostaglandin F2alpha to induce oestrus in superovulated donors. The recovery of fertilised ova from donors depends on the expected site of the ova within the genital tract, but both surgical and non-surgical methods involve suspending the ova in a stream of fluid which is collected into glass cups and examined microscopically. A variety of in vivo and in vitro environmental conditions affect the success of transfer of fertilised ova. These include the healthy state of the recovered ovum, the storage medium, the method and length of storage, the age of the ovum and the synchronisation of oestrus of donor and recipient.


. The survival probability of freshly nucleated particles governs the influences of new particle formation (NPF) on atmospheric environments and the climate. It characterizes the probability of a particle to avoid being scavenged by the 15 coagulation with pre-existing particles and other scavenging processes before the particle successfully grows up to a certain diameter. Despite its importance, measuring the survival probability has been challenging, which limits the knowledge of particle survival in the atmosphere and results in large uncertainties in predicting the influences of NPF. Here we report the proper methods to retrieve particle survival probability of the measured aerosol size distributions at different particle sizes. Using diverse aerosol size distributions from urban Beijing, the Finnish boreal forest, a chamber experiment, and aerosol 20 kinetic simulations, we demonstrate that each method is valid for a different type of aerosol size distributions whereas misapplying the conventional methods to banana-type NPF events may underestimate the survival probability. Using these methods, we investigate the consistency between the measured survival probability of new particles and the theoretical survival probability against coagulation scavenging predicted using the measured growth rate and coagulation sink. With case-by-case and time- and size-resolved analysis of long-term measurement data from urban Beijing, we find that although both the 25 measured and theoretical survival probabilities are sensitive to uncertainties and variations, they are, on average, consistent with each other for new particles growing from 1.4 nm (the cluster size) to 100 nm.


This is the first of three papers on the geometric and combinatorial characterization of global Sturm attractors which consist of a single closed 3-ball. The underlying scalar PDE is parabolic, ut = uxx + f(x, u, ux) , on the unit interval 0 < x < 1 with Neumann boundary conditions. Equilibria are assumed to be hyperbolic. Geometrically, we study the resulting Thom-Smale dynamic complex with cells defined by the unstable manifolds of the equilibria. The Thom-Smale complex turns out to be a regular cell complex. Our geometric description involves a bipolar orientation of the 1-skeleton, a hemisphere decomposition of the boundary 2-sphere by two polar meridians, and a meridian overlap of certain 2-cell faces in opposite hemispheres. The combinatorial description is in terms of the Sturm permutation, alias the meander properties of the shooting curve for the equilibrium ODE boundary value problem. It involves the relative positioning of extreme 2-dimensionally unstable equilibria at the Neumann boundaries x = 0 and x = 1, respectively, and the overlapping reach of polar serpents in the shooting meander. In the present paper we show the implications Sturm attractor =⇒ Thom-Smale complex =⇒ meander . The sequel, part 2, closes the cycle of equivalences by the implication meander =⇒ Sturm attractor . Each implication, or mapping, involves certain constructions which are tuned such that the final 3-ball Sturm global attractor defined by the meander combinatorics coincides with the originally given Sturm 3-ball. Many explicit examples and illustrations will be discussed in part 3. The present 3-ball trilogy extends our previous trilogy on planar Sturm global attractors towards the still elusive goal of geometric and combinational characterizations of all Sturm global attractors of arbitrary dimension.


Low-latency anonymity systems such as Tor, AN.ON, Crowds, and Anonymizer.com aim to provide anonymous connections that are both untraceable by "local" adversaries who control only a few machines and have low enough delay to support anonymous use of network services like Web browsing and remote login. One consequence of these goals is that these services leak some information about the network latency between the sender and one or more nodes in the system. We present two attacks on low-latency anonymity schemes using this information. The first attack allows a pair of colluding Web sites to predict, based on local timing information and with no additional resources, whether two connections from the same Tor exit node are using the same circuit with high confidence. The second attack requires more resources but allows a malicious Web site to gain several bits of information about a client each time he visits the site. We evaluate both attacks against two low-latency anonymity protocols—the Tor network and the MultiProxy proxy aggregator service—and conclude that both are highly vulnerable to these attacks.


BACKGROUND
Genetic screening programs in Australia are primarily carried out during pregnancy for maternal thalassaemia carrier status, chromosomal conditions and neural tube defects in the fetus, and for a number of conditions in the newborn.

OBJECTIVE
This article describes these programs and the general practitioner's role, particularly around offering prenatal screening that includes nongenetic aspects (eg. smoking, alcohol), to enable good practice.

DISCUSSION
General practitioners can be involved in offering prenatal screening and in giving increased risk results from prenatal and newborn screening, with due consideration of informed decision making and counselling about the meaning of the result. Increased risk results from these screening programs are followed up by further testing where required. As genetic contribution to diseases, especially complex common conditions, becomes better understood, more genetic tests will become available. This may impact on the role of the GP in population genetic screening programs.


Egyptian mummies, Michaelangelo's drawings, sculptures from Greece and Rome, exquisite porcelain from China, bronze masterpieces from Africa, the remarkable finds from Sutton Hoo - these are just some of the awe-inspiring objects in the British Museum's famous collections. But the Museum is more than just a treasure house: it is a London landmark, a tourist magnet, a national and international resource- a museum of the world for the world. Keeping this remarkable institution running is a team of 1000 staff who supervise the galleries, plan major exhibitions and manage a flow of nearly 5 million visitors a year. Rupert Smith has been granted special access to the huge variety of people who work in the Museum, including expert curators, conservators, heavy-object handlers and the people who clean the fabulous new glass roof of the Great Court. Accompanying a major ten-part BBC television series, The Museum takes us behind the scenes for the first time to see how this amazing place works. Illustrated with over 120 colour photographs, and with a foreword by the Museum's director, Neil MacGregor, this fascinating book is a celebration of the British Museum and the many dedicated people who work there.


The current treatment of Chagas disease is based on monopharmacology where the used drugs have limited efficacy and severe side effects. In order to overcome these limitations some tools have been described including development or isolation of new drugs, drug repositioning, and polypharmacology. Here we review the polypharmacology strategy where compounds belonging to different structural chemotypes were combined in order to affect different biochemical pathways of T. cruzi parasite. Therefore ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitors, anti-inflammatory agents, cardiac dysfunction drugs, trypanothione reductase inhibitors, vitamins, between others, were combined looking for new anti-Chagas treatment. Natural products were also used in the application of this strategy.


In beta-lactam therapy, investigation of the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) relationship has provided surrogate makers to predict clinical outcome. This study was designed to verify the therapeutic efficacy and clinical utility of beta-lactam therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in critically ill patients using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This cohort study included 13 patients who were intravenously administered ceftazidime (n = 6), cefepime (n = 1), imipenem (n = 1), meropenem (n = 1), or piperacillin (n = 4). Blood samples were collected at 3 time points fitted to a 1-compartment model, and concentrations were determined using HPLC. The PK-PD target was the percentage of the dosing interval during which the antibiotic concentration exceeded the minimum inhibitory concentration for the pathogens (%T > MIC), which is 50% for penicillins (piperacillin), 60% for cephalosporins (ceftazidime and cefepime), and 40% for carbapenems (imipenem and meropenem). Our process using HPLC enables the analytical results of TDM to be available within half a day. The results revealed significant inter-patient pharmacokinetic variability. During the initial regimen, beta-lactam concentrations reached the target %T > MIC in all patients, and dosage reduction was required for 5 patients (38%). Of the 13 evaluable patients, clinical improvement was observed in 11 (85%), and microbiological success was observed in 10 (77%). In summary, beta-lactam TDM achieved the treatment goals and might also allow for the personalization to prevent overdosing for variable pharmacokinetic changes in critically ill patients. These findings indicate that beta-lactam TDM using HPLC can be used in the standard pharmacy clinical practice for critically ill patients.


OBJECTIVE
To study to what extent internal audit results of hospitals can be shared with external supervisors and the necessary preconditions for this.

DESIGN
Qualitative interview research.

METHOD
In 2013-2015, we interviewed 36 individuals from six hospitals: 12 department heads (all medical specialists), 10 department managers; five members of the Board of Directors; five members of the Supervisory Board and the four account-holding hospital inspectors. We also performed a focus group interview with six other hospital inspectors of the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate. The interview data were analysed thematically.

RESULTS
The interviewees pointed out that there is no coordination between internal and external supervision. They were in favour of sharing internal audit results with external supervisors to reduce the supervisory burden. They stated that internal audits give insight into quality improvements, how hospital directors govern quality and safety and the culture of improvement within healthcare provider teams. With this information, the Inspectorate can assess to what extent hospitals are learning organisations. The interviewees mentioned the following preconditions for sharing audit results: reliable and risk-based information about quality and safety, collected by expert, trained auditors and careful use of this information by the Inspectorate in order to maintain openness among audited healthcare providers.

CONCLUSION
Internal audit results can be shared conditionally with external supervisors like the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate. When internal audit results show that hospitals are open, learning and self-cleansing organisations, the Inspectorate can supervise the hospitals remotely and supervisory burden will probably be reduced.


The international NDT community of the aeronautical sector is to improve the airworthiness of aircraft components designed to perform for decades. In this context, this experimental work is to deliver some technical achievements related to the applicability of imaging NDT methods, i.e. thermography and shearography at recognizing the presence of damaged regions across vulnerable surfaces of a Typhoon air-cooling inlet composite panel. According to Italian Air Force NDT procedures, the experimental evidences indicate that Optical Thermography (OLT) techniques are for a fast screening of vehicle outer composite surface and moreover that the use of Sonic Infrared (SIR) is to provide both recognition and semi-quantitative assessment of disbonding area, whose evaluation is comparable to those attained by visual inspection and UT technique. Afterwards, Shearography measurements, performed by both dynamic and thermal loading approach, were executed very rapidly to be applicable, in combination to thermography and classical NDT methods, either for laboratory and/or for full field inspection of aeronautical composite components.


Genome scale molecular profiling methods have had a major impact on the classification, diagnosis, and management of breast cancer. However, the biological basis and fundamental consequences of differential DNA methylation across molecular breast cancer subtypes is incompletely understood. In this study, we used gene expression and DNA methylation data from 208 unselected breast cancer samples obtained from a Polish population-based study. We used a network biology approach to identify gene co-methylation modules - sets of highly correlated DNA methylation probes. We found two gene co-methylation modules strongly correlated with Basal (hypermethylated in Basal) and Luminal B (hypermethylated in Luminal B) breast cancer subtypes. Functional analysis of the Basal gene co-methylation module shows that it significantly overlaps with genes silenced during epithelial to mesenchymal transition. The Luminal B gene co-methylation module significantly overlaps with gene targets of the Polycomb repression complex 2. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed poor prognosis associated with hypermethylation of the Luminal B gene co-methylation module. This study offers new biological perspectives of the vital role of DNA methylation in breast cancer. Citation Format: Yevgeniy Gindin, Sean Davis, Robert L. Walker, Yuelin J. Zhu, Sven Bilke, Mark E. Sherman, Jonine Figueroa, Paul S. Meltzer. DNA methylation portraits of breast cancer in a population-based cohort. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4250. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4250


Progressive systemic sclerosis is a multisystem disorder characterised by inflammatory, vascular and fibrotic changes of skin and a variety of internal organs. Most reports describing neurological complications of PSS have focused on damage to the peripheral nervous system. CNS dysfunctions are rare and are thought to result from uraemia, hypoxaemia, and severe hypertension. This is the first trial of cyclosporin A (CyA) in a patient with CNS vasculitis secondary to PSS. A 67 year old woman was admitted with difficulty in walking and with speech. She had been in good health until December 1985, when she noted that her hands turned white in a cold environment. Subsequently, she developed a nonproductive cough. In February 1986 she experienced occasional dizziness. In July 1990 she began to walk with a waddle. On admission, her blood pressure, pulse, body temperature, and respiration were normal. The skin of her face was so taut that she was unable to open her mouth fully; her lips were thin and shortened. She had telangiectasis on the chest. Auscultation of the chest disclosed fine crackles on the lower fields of both lungs. The skin of her fingers and hands was firm and thickened and tightly bound to underlying subcutaneous tissue. The skin changes spread from her hands to the chest. Calcinosis cutis was not found. Raynaud's phenomenon could be induced by cold stimuli. She had dysarthria; left hemiparesis with slight rigidity and spasticity; and mild incoordination. Deep tendon reflexes were normal and pathological reflexes were absent.


In the United States it is estimated that 90 percent of the entire population now lives within the boundaries of what is defined as urban forest. Additionally, the total yearly economic value of urban forest services is more than $400 billion. To achieve sustainability of our rapidly expanding urban ecosystems and deliver the maximum level of benefits to the inhabitants, the urban forest must have healthy tree resources, comprehensive management and community-wide support. This paper presents the results of a collaborative study among SU, USDA-FS, NASA and The Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce pertaining to the sustainability of the urban forests of the Gulf Coastal areas in the United States. The urban forest ecosystem analysis of the Gulfport, Mississippi indicated a 30% tree canopy cover and nearly 25% green space in 2001. This represents 20% urban forest canopy loss since 1990. The current health of this urban forest is under pressure from urban sprawl and soil compaction. Urban forest ecosystem models and geographic information system (GIS) are being utilized to study the urban land use, urban forest health and urban sprawl in the Gulf Coast.


Information storage systems usually take great care for protecting their sensitive or confidential data, even users personal data. Hence the need to implement the concept of information security as part of the system. Information security primary focus is the balanced protection of the confidentiality, integrity and availability of stored data (CIA). Cloud system is one of the platforms that provides a database as a service (DBaaS), typically it takes care of scalability and high availability of the database. The confidentiality and integrity of stored data is still not guaranteed by some cloud systems because there is no trust between data owners and third-party platforms (Cloud systems). CryptDBaaS is a security model integrating cloud computing with cryptography to provide a security mechanism for data owners, which aims to guarantee the confidentiality of stored data in the cloud from unauthorized access or misuse of data from third party. CryptDBaaS model illustrates how to encrypt your data before storing it using secure and suitable encryption algorithms based on data type and allows to execute queries and performs some mathematical and logical operations over encrypted database. CryptDBaaS is evaluated by conducting a simulation to measure performance and accuracy of queries and search techniques CryptDBaaS provides. Evaluation step shows that CryptDBaaS has a high performance with respect to the encryption and search algorithms. The queries are executed as if they were executed over plain text data, so the obtained accuracy is 100% for all queries and operators except the search one which has 50% or 100% of accuracy based on chosen technique.


We demonstrate that molecular vibrations with originally low or zero intensity in a vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectrum attain chirality in molecular crystals by coordinated motion of the atoms. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of anharmonic solid-state VCD spectra of l-alanine crystals reveal how coherent vibrational modes exploit the space group's chirality, leading to non-local, enhanced VCD features, most significantly in the carbonyl region of the spectrum. The VCD-enhanced signal is ascribed to a helical arrangement of the oscillators in the crystal layers. No structural irregularities need to be considered to explain the amplification, but a crucial point lies in the polarization of charge, which requires an accurate description of the electronic structure. Delivering a quantitative atomic conception of supramolecular chirality induction, our ab initio scheme is applicable well beyond molecular crystals, for example, to address VCD in proteins and related compounds.


Objective(s) Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a member of the ß-galactoside-binding lectins which is expressed in a variety of tissues and plays a role in diverse biological events, such as embryogenesis, adhesion, cellular proliferation, and apoptosis. In this study, the presence and distribution of galectin-3 (Gal-3) in the mouse testicular tissue was investigated. Materials and Methods Eight adult NMRI mice were used in this study. Animals were sacrificed by decapitation under ether anesthesia. The testes were excised, fixed in 10% buffered formalin and embedded in paraffin for immunohistochemical (IHC) studies. H-score, a semi-quantitative method, was used for scaling the immunostaining. Results Positive immunoreactivity to Gal-3 was detected in the connective tissues of the interstitium, Leydig cells and presumably peritubular myoid cells. Seminiferous tubules showed immuno-positive reaction in a stage dependent manner. Stages I-III and IX-XII of spermatogenic cycle showed mild immunostaining, while moderate immunostaining was observed at stages IV-VI. Highest immunoreactivity was observed at stages VII-VIII. H-score assessment showed a significant increase in stages of VII-VIII in comparison to other stages (P< 0.05). Conclusion Expression of Gal-3 in interstitial tissue and seminiferous tubules indicated that this protein probably has multifunctional roles in the mouse testicular tissue.


The grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin, is valued as a game animal in many parts of its native habitat in North America and is the subject of intensive research on conservation and management. In Britain, it is regarded as a pest because of its destructive habit of stripping bark from living trees (notably beech, Fagus sylvatica L. and sycamore, Acer pseudoplatanus L.). Research in Britain consequently has been mainly concerned with squirrel control, particularly by means of trapping. In 1954 we began an investigation into the seasonal success of trapping as measured by the proportion of a known population that could be captured in baited live-capture traps, captured animals being marked and released. A regular feature was the capture of more unmarked adults in June than at any other time and it was obvious that movements of squirrels between the study area and outlying woodlands were affecting the investigation and by 1956 it became apparent that more individuals were being handled than could be fully supported by the study area. The movements of marked squirels had not been studied in Britain up to this time and existing estimates of range were based upon sight records of small groups in parks, gardens or small woods. That grey squirrels were capable of making long journeys was apparent from sightings on the fringes of their geographical distribution when squirrels were sometimes seen many miles from their known range, and from re-invasions of isolated woods after clearance; but the nature of the movements, their frequency, and the conditions that promoted them were not known. Information about movements of grey squirrels in the United States was also sparse at this time and inapplicable to the broken woodland that comprised the study area. Our initial plan was therefore modified to include the study of movement. After an initial phase of concentrated mark and recapture work in a 16-ac wood, at Alice Holt in Hampshire, traps were set in all woodland within a 2-mile radius of this central area to provide as much information on movements as labour and materials would permit. The study was planned and begun by M.S. After 4 years, H.G.L. took charge for 12 months, handing over to K.D.T. for the final 18 months. The organization of the field work during the entire study was undertaken by F.A.C. Data were collected on several aspects of grey squirrel biology, other than movement, and information on reproduction and methods of determining the age of squirrels collected at the end of the study will be published elsewhere.


Robustness to a wide variety of negative factors and the ability to self-repair is an inherent and natural characteristic of all life forms on earth. As opposed to nature, man-made systems are in most cases not inherently robust and a significant effort has to be made in order to make them resistant against failures. This can be done in a wide variety of ways and on various system levels. In the field of digital systems, for example, techniques such as triple modular redundancy (TMR) are frequently used, which results in a considerable hardware overhead. Biologically-inspired computing by means of biochemical metaphors offers alternative paradigms, which need to be explored and evaluated. Here, we are interested to evaluate the potential of nature-inspired artificial chemistries and membrane systems as an alternative information representing and processing paradigm in order to obtain robust and spatially extended Boolean computing systems in a distributed environment. We investigate conceptual approaches inspired by artificial chemistries and membrane systems and compare proof-of-concepts. First, we show, that elementary logical functions can be implemented. Second, we illustrate how they can be made more robust and how they can be assembled to larger-scale systems. Finally, we discuss the implications for and paths to possible genuine implementations. Compared to the main body of work in artificial chemistries, we take a very pragmatic and implementation-oriented approach and are interested in realizing Boolean computations only. The results emphasize that artificial chemistries can be used to implement Boolean logic in a spatially extended and distributed environment and can also be made highly robust, but at a significant price


Objective: Endocan, human endothelial cell-specific molecule, which is expressed by the vascular endothelium may play role in endothelium-dependent inflammatory process leading to the development of hypertension. The aim of the study was to estimate endocan concentration in 121 patients with primary hypertension and proper renal function as also in healthy individuals from the control group and to estimate endocan levels in subgroups with proper blood pressure control and without. Design and Method: The endocan concentration was estimated in 121 hypertensive patients (median age 56 min-19, max-85). The medical history, office blood pressure measurements, 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure measurement (ABPM), laboratory tests and the echocardiography were taken, the medical therapy was analysed. The correlation between endocan levels and catecholamine concentration in blood, blood pressure control, type of pharmacological therapy and medical history were analysed. Results: The median endocan concentration in the whole study group was 1.91 ng/ml. The median endocan level was significantly higher in hypertensive patients than in control group (Me = 2,02 ng/ml vs 1.09 ng/ml, p = 0.0001). The median office blood pressure in hypertensive patients was 145,5/86 mmHg and was significantly higher than the median home blood pressure measurements, which was 135/80 mmHg, p < 0,05. Endocan was higher in patients without proper blood pressure control in ambulatory measurements (Me = 2.28ng/ml vs Me = 1.91ng/ml). There were no statistically significant differences between endocan level and office blood pressure measurements. Negative correlation was observed between endocan level and BMI (r = −0.19, p = 0.046). Conclusions: Endocan, as indicator of the endothelium dysfunction could be a predictor of cardiovascular events. Higher endocan concentration in patients with primary hypertension than in control group as also higher endocan levels in subgroup with inadequate blood pressure control in ambulatory measurements need further studies to find out the exact role of endocan in pathogenesis and treatment of primary hypertension.


Abstract There is little experimental knowledge about the initial state of through thickness residual stresses in rolls and sleeves for the steel rolling industry. This is surprising bearing in mind the impact that residual stress has on the performance of the roll and sleeve materials in the highly aggressive loading environments of the metal working industry. Previous work has been confined to measurement of very near surface residual stresses and numerical predictions of residual stress distributions. In the present paper through thickness residual stress measurements were carried out using a deep hole drilling technique on a series of rolls and sleeves representative of those used in the rolling industry. Different features of the manufacturing processes used in their production are shown to influence the magnitude and distribution of the residual stresses. It is also shown that the measurements can be used, together with a finite element analysis, to determine the volumetric distribution of the residual stresses.


Technology and science have been developing rapidly, and robotic system for human support has been researched recently. Considering the effect of low birthrate and longevity, this system is thought to become important in the future. In this research, environmental embedded haptic system for human support is developed. Action recognition and support is realized by the concept based on the modal transformation, which is often used for haptic research. In order to realize this system, variable impedance control based on making a choice of environmental modes is proposed. This system enables action recognition and support for human motion. The validity of the proposed method is shown by the experimental results.


This essay deals with how translational processes may be incorporated in narratives concerned with the relational modes in which hybrid subjectivities may come into being. In altre parole, Jhumpa Lahiri's autobiographical work which addresses the author's relationship to Italian as a foreign language, as well as her choice of Italian as the language of her most recent literary production, is analysed as a text which does not only represent, but also stages the processes through which a second language is learnt and contributes in redefining the self-perception of the speaer. lthough Lahiri describes her fiction as an apparently intimate space of isolation and exile, in this essay I argue that it is overdetermined by an awareness of the transpersonal, relational nature of subjectivity, as well as by the desire to explore languages as sites of both exile and reconnection. lso, by shoing that language is, itself, a place of alterity, she challenges notions of selfhood and otherness, and engages with interlinguistic and intercultural communication as forms of mutual understanding and respect


The knapsack problem is a typical one of NPC problems, which is easy to be described but difficult to be solved. It is very important in theory and practice to study it. Nowadays there is a variety of research in algorithm for solving it. As the parallel processing technologies develop, the research of effective parallel algorithms for this problem attracts much attention. To run those algorithms needs high level hardware and high performance parallel computers. Using mobile agent technologies, a more effective model to solve the complex distributed problems can be established. Combines mobile agent with the traditional parallel algorithm, the process in a parallel computer can be evolved into the one performed by some ordinary computers. This can avoid the limitation of experiment conditions and provides convenience in practice. In this paper, a distributed algorithm is proposed for the 0-1 knapsack problem based on the mobile agent, and it is feasible and effective in theoretical analysis.


Today, high content screens are performed mostly as end-point assays on fixed cells. With this kind of approach only static events can be described. But cells are in permanent dynamic equilibria. This dynamic state is necessary to respond to changes of the surrounding environment in both cell culture and in multi-cellular organisms. Here we developed an assay for quantitative measurement of endosome movement. This type of assay will bring new insights into cell physiology and pathophysiology and open a new field of cytotoxicity assays of drug candidates.


Taking Wuhan, Nanjing and Guangzhou as examples and using Logistic model and Moran index, this paper made a quantitative analysis on bribery characterization of developers in land market. It found that (i) bribery behavior of developers is promoted by supply and demands; (ii) bribery behavior of developers takes on regional agglomeration and difference. It reached following conclusions: (i) under the influence of macro factors and micro factors, bribery behavior of developers is rational selection after full consideration of institutional environment and corporate strength, and is passive to a certain extent; (ii) bribery behavior of developers has certain spatial correlation, and the high-high correlation characteristic is most significant.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of diet intervention in breast cancer patients through meta-analysis. Methods: For the study purpose, 18 studies were selected using PubMed, ScienceDirect, ProQuest and CINAHL. Meta-analysis was performed using a random effects model, and the effect size on outcome variables in breast cancer were calculated. Results: The effect size for body mass index, body weight, energy intake from fat (%), and energy intake of diet intervention was -0.75 (95% CI:-1.22~0.27), -0.93 (95% CI:-1.58~-0.28), -0.82 (95% CI:-1.11~-0.52), and -1.10 (95% CI:-1.85~-0.34). For heterogeneity, moderator analysis was performed using intervention type and intervention duration. As a result of the moderator analysis, BMI, body weight, energy intake from fat (%), and energy intake were not statistically significant on intervention type and intervention duration. But, only BMI had a significant difference on intervention duration (p=.013). Conclusion: Further research is needed to determine whether exercise intervention will be included in nutritional intervention for breast cancer patients. Also, even if the duration of the intervention is less than six months, a strategy for sustaining long-term intervention effects will be needed.


This paper shows how the principle of neutron radiography can be used to quantify the critical physical state of lithium concentration across battery electrodes at steady-state conditions (after a long relaxation time or small load) as a first step in this important effort to measure in-situ battery physical states and validate electrochemical battery models. A model of the expected loss in beam intensity after passing through the different layers of a battery pouch cell is constructed based on the material densities and dimensions. This model is augmented with simulation of the neutron transmission behavior, including optical effects due to the geometric unsharpness and the detector response. The resulting model provides the basis for a comprehensive simulation of the in-situ metrology of lithium concentration in Li-ion batteries, and comparison with experimental results. This work was also presented as a poster at the 27th Annual Army Science Conference [1].


Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) are a growing problem given that solar ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation exposure is increasing most likely due to depletion of the atmospheric ozone layer and lack of adequate sun protection. Better preventive methods are urgently required to reduce UV-caused photodamage and NMSC incidence. Earlier, we have reported that silibinin treatment activates p53 and reduces photodamage and NMSC, both in vitro and in vivo; but whether silibinin exerts its protective effects primarily through p53 remains unknown. To address this question, we generated p53 heterozygous (p53+/−) and p53 knockout (p53−/−) mice on SKH-1 hairless mouse background, and assessed silibinin efficacy in both short- and long-term UVB exposure experiments. In the chronic UVB-exposed skin tumorigenesis study, compared to p53+/+ mice, p53+/− mice developed skin tumors earlier and had higher tumor number, multiplicity and volume. Silibinin topical treatment significantly reduced the tumor number, multiplicity and volume in p53+/+ mice but silibinin' protective efficacy was significantly compromised in p53+/− mice. Additionally, silibinin treatment failed to inhibit precursor skin cancer lesions in p53−/− mice but improved the survival of the mice. In short-term studies, silibinin application accelerated the removal of UVB-induced DNA damage in p53+/+ mice while its efficacy was partially compromised in p53−/− mice. Interestingly, silibinin treatment also inhibited the UVB-induced inflammatory markers in skin tissue. These results further confirmed that absence of the p53 allele predisposes mice to photodamage and photocarcinogenesis, and established that silibinin mediates its protection against UVB-induced photodamage, inflammation and photocarcinogenesis partly through p53 activation.


The importance of intellectual operations within the ability and intelligence structure is discussed in the article. The notion of 'intellectual operations' is overviewed by comparison of its meaning in works of different researchers. The author proposes the ability understanding on three levels: the level of individual, the activity subject level and the level of personality. It is reasoned that the intellectual operations and morality are the key factors that 'transfer' the ability development from one level to another. Consequently, it is stated that the psychic functions development is at the same time as a process of intelligence integration. The systematization of intellectual operations is suggested.


The influences of three different culinary methods: cooking, sous vide and grilling were studied with regards to quality and oral processing characteristics of pork ham. Besides instrumental analysis of color and textural properties of pork ham, sensory panel with 12 trained panelists participated in temporal dominance of sensations, oral processing analysis, boluses collection, particle size distribution analysis, and saliva incorporation. The results revealed that number of chews, mastication time and saliva incorporation are correlated with textural properties and cooking losses. In-mouth sensation was intertwined with juiciness, fibrousness and firmness depending on the culinary methods. Cooked pork ham showed highest results for hardness and cooking loss. Firmness and fibrousness were dominant sensory attributes. Sous-vide results show that firmness and juiciness dominated during the first third of consumption time. This corresponds with textural values for lowest values for hardness and cooking, number of chews and total exposure time. Sous-vide also resulted in lower values for number of chews and total exposure time associated with oral processing.


The basic architecture of a general purpose program that allows the simultaneous collection and analysis of data on a single-task personal computer is described.


Seawater injection is widely used to maintain offshore-oil-reservoir pressure and improve oil recovery. However, injecting seawater into reservoirs can cause many issues, such as reservoir souring and scaling, which are strongly related to the seawater-breakthrough percentage. Accurately calculating the seawater-breakthrough percentage is important for estimating the severity of those problems and further developing effective strategies to mitigate those issues. The validation of using natural-ion boron as a tracer to calculate seawater-breakthrough percentage was investigated. Boron can interact with clays, which can influence the accuracy in seawater-breakthrough calculation. Therefore, the interaction between boron and different clays at various conditions was first studied, and the Freundlich adsorption equation was used to describe the boron-adsorption isotherms. Then, the boron-adsorption isotherms were coupled into the reservoir simulator to investigate the boron transport in porous media, and the results in turn were further analyzed to calculate the accurate seawater-breakthrough percentage. Results indicated that boron adsorption by different clays varied. pH value of solution can significantly influence the amount of boron adsorbed. As a result, the boron-concentration profile was delayed in coreflood tests. The accuracy of the new model was verified by convergence rate tests and comparison with analytical results. Furthermore, model results fit well with experimental data. On the basis of the reservoir-simulation results, the boron-concentration profile in produced water can be used to calculate the seawater-breakthrough percentage by considering the clay-content distribution. However, the seawater-breakthrough point cannot be determined by boron because the boron concentration is still at the formation level after seawater breakthrough due to boron desorption.


In this report, we provide a comparative analysis of different techniques for user intent classification towards the task of app recommendation. We analyse the performance of different models and architectures for multi-label classification over a dataset with a relative large number of classes and only a handful examples of each class. We focus, in particular, on memory network architectures, and compare how well the different versions perform under the task constraints. Since the classifier is meant to serve as a module in a practical dialog system, it needs to be able to work with limited training data and incorporate new data on the fly. We devise a 1-shot learning task to test the models under the above constraint. We conclude that relatively simple versions of memory networks perform better than other approaches. Although, for tasks with very limited data, simple non-parametric methods perform comparably, without needing the extra training data.


 Abstract— Over the last years, a new paradigm known as Physical Internet has been developed, and studied in logistics management. The purpose of this global and open system is to deal with logistics grand challenge by setting up an efficient and sustainable Logistics Web. The purpose of this paper is to review scientific articles dedicated to Physical Internet topic, and to provide a clustering strategy enabling to classify the literature on the Physical Internet, to follow its evolution, as well as to criticize it. The classification is based on three factors: Logistics Web, organization, and resources. Several papers about Physical Internet have been classified and analyzed along the Logistics Web, resources and organization views at a strategic, tactical and operational level, respectively. A developed cluster analysis shows which topics of the Physical Internet that are the less covered actually. Future researches are outlined for these topics.


Complementarity is posited as a driving feature of the International Criminal Court (ICC) regime. Recent developments in Africa suggest a broader understanding of complementarity that is unfolding in practice and which is worthy of further exploration. The notion of 'positive complementarity' – i.e. that the Rome Statute (and the ICC) should encourage genuine national proceedings where possible, including in situation countries – is being expanded to encourage prosecutions, under the principle of universal jurisdiction, in situations where the ICC would not ordinarily have jurisdiction. In such circumstances, States can not just supplement, but augment the work of the ICC – acting where the ICC is unable to do so for lack of jurisdiction. In this article the authors consider this expanded 'positive complementarity' through the lens of a particular case regarding allegations of torture committed in Zimbabwe, by Zimbabweans, against Zimbabwean victims, but which case has been initiated and litigated in South Africa: the 'Torture Docket' case. The article ends with five recommendations for civil society, arising from the 'Torture Docket' case and the notion of 'positive complementarity', which concern: (1) the role for civil society in the initiation of investigations, (2) the advantages of a dedicated domestic legal framework, (3) the challenge of managing expectations, (4) the challenge of complexity, and (5) the need for civil society intervention in 'positive complementarity' cases.


On an interannual time-scale, the Indonesian climate is strongly influenced by the dynamics of Indo-Pacific climate modes. This study aims to investigate the possible impact of different types of El Niño events, namely, typical El Niño and El Niño Modoki, on Indonesian rainfall variability. Seasonal composite analysis was used to evaluate the magnitude and significance level of the influence of El Niño on the rainfall variability over the Indonesian region. Typical El Niño (hereafter El Niño) has a stronger influence on Indonesian rainfall than the El Niño Modoki during boreal autumn in September, October, and November when the events almost reach their peak. Cold sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies were observed in the Indonesian sea and in the western Pacific during El Niño years, while cold SST anomalies covered only the eastern Indonesian sea during El Niño Modoki years. Strong cold SST anomalies during El Niño years led to stronger low-level wind divergence over the Maritime Continent compared with that during El Niño Modoki years. In addition, the Walker circulation during El Niño years revealed a stronger downward motion over the Maritime Continent than that observed during El Niño Modoki years. This stronger downward motion (low-level wind divergence) during El Niño years reduced lower atmospheric water vapor and suppressed atmospheric convection over the Maritime Continent, leading to a significant decrease in rainfall. Similar situations were also observed during El Niño Modoki years but with a much weaker amplitude.


In a recent article in the Review of International Studies, Stephen Hobden does a great service by initiating a critical evaluation of the potential for historical sociology in international relations theory. Hobden considers seminal studies by Michael Mann, Theda Skocpol, Charles Tilly, and Immanuel Wallerstein, and concludes that each is inadequate for building an historical sociology of the international system. Articles such as Hobden's are particularly important in international relations, where many major theories are dependent upon the assumptions and methods of other disciplines. From time to time, we need to ask, in a comparative manner, just how useful such methods and assumptions really are.


OBJECTIVES
To determine the frequency of abnormal serum chemistries and whether they provide clinically useful information regarding trauma patients. To identify clinical criteria associated with critical serum chemistry values (CSCVs).

METHODS
The records of all trauma patients admitted to one urban, Level I Trauma Center were retrospectively reviewed for the period (July 1-December 31, 1989). All trauma patients who had had serum chemistry determinations at hospital admission and at least once more prior to discharge were studied. The CSCVs were determined by a panel of experts prior to record review. Serum chemistry values, patient demographics, mechanisms of injury, and outcomes were statistically analyzed.

RESULTS
Most (814/913; 89%) trauma patients had abnormal serum chemistry values. However, only 54/913 (6%) had CSCVs and only six of these CSCVs had prompted a change in resuscitation or treatment (therapeutic K+ infusions). Age > 50 years, a history of hypertension therapy, and a Glasgow Coma Scale score < or = 10 were associated with CSCVs; and CSCVs were correlated with increased mortality and critical care unit admission.

CONCLUSION
Routine-admission serum chemistry values, while frequently abnormal for major trauma patients, generally do not provide clinically useful information in the resuscitation and treatment of trauma patients. Hypoglycemia and metabolic acidosis were more rapidly determined using bedside glucose determination and arterial blood gas evaluation. The routine-admission serum chemistry panel described in the study lacked utility for most trauma patients. Selective chemistry panel ordering should be used at the time of hospital admission for major trauma patients.


Long-coronavirus disease (COVID) is an ill-defined set of symptoms persisting in patients following infection with COVID-19 that range from any combination of persistent breathing difficulties to anosmia, impaired attention, memory, fatigue, or pain. Recently, noninvasive transcutaneous electrical brain stimulation techniques have been showing early signs of success in addressing some of these complaints. We postulate that the use of a stimulation technique with transcranial magnetic stimulation may also similarly be effective. A 36-year-old male suffering from symptoms of dyspnea, anosmia, and "brain fog" for 2 years following coronavirus infection was treated with 10 sessions of Electro-Magnetic Brain Pulse (EMBP®), a personalized transcranial magnetic stimulation protocol guided by the patient's electroencephalograph (EEG). At the conclusion of the treatment, the patient had improvements in mood, sense of smell, and brain fogging. Dyspnea also decreased with a gain of 11% forced expiratory volume 1/forced vital capacity. A high-sensitivity athletic training cognitive test showed an overall 27% increase in aggregate score. A significant portion of this was attributed to changes in visual clarity and decision-making speed. Post-treatment EEG showed a shift from predominantly delta waves to more synchronized alpha wave patterns during the resting state. Brain stimulation techniques appear to be showing early signs of success with long-COVID symptoms. This is the first case describing the use of a magnetic stimulation technique with quantitative test results and recorded EEG changes. Given the early success in this patient with cognition, dyspnea, and anosmia, this noninvasive treatment modality warrants further research.


Dragon trees (Dracaena species) are updated since the last synopsis (Walker, 2001) with three new subspecies being newly described. Dracaena draco subsp. caboverdeana is endemic to the Cape Verde Islands, leaving subsp. draco restricted to the Canary Islands and Madeira. Dracaena serrulata subsp. dhofarica is endemic to the Dhofar Province of Oman. Dracaena serrulata subsp. mccoyorum is endemic to Saudi Arabia, where it occurs near the summit of a single mountain and hence is assessed as being on the brink of extinction.


Abstract Objective: Maternal nutrition during pregnancy is a key factor influencing birth outcome. Dietary diversity is a proxy for multiple macro- and/or micronutrient sufficiency of an individual's diet. This systematic review aimed to summarise the findings on the association between maternal dietary diversity during pregnancy and the risk of low birth weight (LBW) in newborns. Design: This is a systematic review study. Setting: Google and the PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases were searched to extract original studies on humans published until June 2020, without date restrictions. There was no limitation regarding geographic region or economic condition of countries. Duplicated and irrelevant studies were screened out and data were obtained through critical analysis. Participants: Articles that examined the association between maternal dietary diversity during pregnancy and the risk of LBW in infants were included. Results: Of the ninety-eight studies retrieved, fifteen articles were included in the final review. All included articles represent low- and middle-income countries. Eighty percentage of the studies (n 12) indicated that low maternal dietary diversity during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of LBW infants. Three studies that included a small number of LBW infants and did not take into account factors which may bias study results failed to show this association. Conclusion: The results suggest that low maternal dietary diversity during pregnancy may be associated with the risk of LBW, more specifically in developing countries. Dietary diversity might be a valuable predictor of maternal nutrition during pregnancy and the chance of giving birth to a LBW infant.


Introduction: Twenty-two references were reviewed dealing with the laparoscopic management of the inguinal hernia. The notion that inguinal hernias must be operated when diagnosed to avoid complications, such as intestinal obstruction, incarceration or strangling of the hernia content, has been questioned recently. Many surgeries were started through the laparoscopic approach, and inguinal herniorrhaphy was no exception. Nowadays, the main indications for laparoscopic herniorrhaphy are: 1. Recurrent inguinal hernia after an open herniorrhaphy. 2. Bilateral hernias. 3. The presence of an inguinal hernia in a patient needing laparoscopy for another procedure, as for example cholecystectomy. A hard to define issue is the use of laparoscopic herniorrhaphy for a non-complicated unilateral hernia. Although the totally extraperitoneal (TEP) technique avoids many problems associated with laparoscopy, since the abdominal cavity is not penetrated, the peritoneum is kept intact and can be performed under local anesthesia, many surgeons are still skeptic regarding the benefits of laparoscopic herniorrhaphy for a non-complicated hernia. Conclusions: There is enough clinical evidence to support the use of laparoscopic herniorrhaphy as a reasonable option to repair a non-complicated inguinal hernia. The question is whether these benefits exceed the increase in risk and cost.


Pseudothrombocytopenia is an ex vivo thrombocytopenia, counted by an automated cell counter, but not configured by microscopic examination of a well prepared blood smear. Incidences of pseudothrombocytopenia reported in different studies range from 0.09-0.21%, which could account for 15-30% of all cases of thrombocytopenla. Failure to identify pseudothrombocytopenia has led to a lot of clinical problems like unnecessary platelet transfusion, glucocorticoid therapy and so on. Haematological cell counters count platelets as particles with volume between 2 and 20fl. Thus platelet clumps are counted as leucocytes while fragmented RBCs as platelets. This study found pseudothrombocytopenia due to causes like EDTA blood stored at less than 32 degrees C for more than 2 hours (35%), excess EDTA in sample (10.7%), hyperlipidaemia, auto-immune disease, pregnancy, etc. No apparent cause could be found in 52% of cases. Hence it is emphasised that direct microscopic examination of a well stained blood smear from EDTA-venous blood (within 1hour) and or direct counting under Neubauer chamber with 1% ammonium oxalate (in special cases) is almost mandatory before releasing a report of platelet count. Also factors related to ratio and storage of EDTA-blood, calibration of instruments, proper selection of reagents, supervision of laboratory staff are essential to rule out any error of report including pseudothrombocytopenia.


The authors present a review of 28 cases of failure of consolidation of the carpal navicular after the Matti-Russe operation (multicentric study of 106 cases). The causes of the failures are analysed. Among the non significant factors, we find the delay, the radiographic character of the pseudarthrosis, the donor site of the graft, the time of immobilization and the site of the fracture. The superior polar fractures do not have a bad prognosis in this series. Five causes seem to be in direct relation with the failure of consolidation: the age, the failure of an initial surgery procedure, the presence of radiologic "necrosis", the quality of the technical performance of the Matti-Russe operation, and finally dorsal carpal instability that seems to be a fundamental cause in the failure of bony union. The future of these pseudarthroses is analysed concerning: the functional results (64% of poor results); the evolution towards the pseudarthrosis (30%); the surgical reoperations (12 cases out of 28) with eight repeat Matti-Russe operations that finished in five consolidations.


Summary Yeast killer phenotype is not uniformly distributed within certain genera or even within some species. Salt has been described as enhancing killer action, especially in strains that have been isolated from salt environments. The aim of this work was to evaluate the extent of the correlation, if any, between killer/sensitivity and salt-stress tolerance phenotypes. A set of 58 different yeast strains (46 species) was studied. As it has been previously described, tolerance to salt stress can be classified in four major classes of tolerance: 1, 2, 3 and 4 M NaCl. Investigation of killer and sensitivity phenotypes was carried out in the absence and in the presence of NaCl from 0 to 3.5 M, in 0.5 M increments. On the basis of this study, two different groups of yeasts were established. One group was mainly composed of the more halotolerant killer yeasts, which also displayed an increase of killer spectrum in the presence of salt in the assay. The other group included the less halotolerant strains, whose killer spectrum was less significant and either did not vary consistently with salt stress in the assay or decreased in its presence. Although killer activity was found in yeasts belonging to the various classes of salt-stress tolerance, the percentage of strains showing this capacity increased significantly for the classes of higher halotolerance, while the percentage fraction of sensitive strains remained approximately constant. This suggests a phenotypic relationship between high halotolerance and killer capacity manifestation in the presence of high salt concentrations, which is not a consequence of an increase in sensitivity to salt stress of the target strains.


ARLib is a location-based application for a mobile Augmented Reality system based on a notebook computer, a head-mounted display fitted with a FireWire camera, and powered by Studierstube 2.0 software. The application aims to aid the user in typical tasks that are done in a library by augmenting a book's position on a shelf The system utilizes an optical tracking approach, relying on ARToolKit for recognizing markers, Markers are attached to bookshelves and walls to determine the viewers position, as well as to books themselves. A powerful multicriteria search engine combined with an interface that supports grafitti text input grants a maximum of usability and speed.


Objective: To study the variations in gross appearance of ascending aortic fold, and relationship of vertical height of middle of fold to vertical height of heart and to the mean width of the fold.
Study Design: This was a cross sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of anatomy, Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi, from Jan 2010 to Dec 2010.
Materials and Methods: The present study was carried out on 24 hearts obtained from the dissection room of Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi. All the cases cadavers available during the study period were included in the study. The ascending aorta was studied with respect to its length and presence of fold in each of the specimens. The direction of the fold was noted for the classic oblique form and other variations.
Results: The fold was present in all the specimens. It was oblique in 13 cases, horizontal in 6, oval in 2, vertical oblique in 2 and vertical horizontal in 1 individual. The vertical height of middle of fold was inversely proportional to vertical height of the heart and directly proportional to the mean width of the fold.
Conclusion: The present study provided new dimension and observation that the vertical height of the middle of fold and vertical height of heart are inversely proportional to each other. Vertical height of the middle of fold and mean width of the fold are directly proportional to each other.


This report documents the New Jersey I-80 and I-287 high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane case study. Information is presented on planning implementing, operating, and redesignating the HOV lanes on the two freeways. The operation of the lanes is compared with factors frequently associated with successful HOV facilities. The program guidance on HOV operations issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in 1999, partially in response to the situation in New Jersey, is discussed. The I-80 HOV lanes were implemented in March 1994 and the I-287 lanes were opened in their entirety in January 1998. Both were concurrent flow HOV lanes, not physically separated from the adjacent general purpose lanes, and both operated with a two-person (2+) vehicle-occupancy requirement during the morning and afternoon peak-periods. Peak-hour vehicle volumes on I-80 averaged between 1,000 and 1,400 vehicles, while I-287 averaged between 330 and 650 vehicles on different sections. The case study assessment indicated that although many of the elements associated with successful HOV projects were present to some extent with the I-80 and I-287 HOV lanes, some critical factors were missing, modified, or not implemented during the course of the projects. These elements focus primarily on the changes in the policy and regulatory environment and the lack of supporting facilities, services, and programs


The ciliate protozoa in the rumen are quantitatively important in the digestion of the major carbohydrate, protein and lipid components of feed material ingested by the ruminant. Attempts to clarify their nutritional importance to the host animal have utilised comparative studies with faunated and ciliate-free animals. Results from these studies have not been consistent and it is suggested that some of the methods used to obtain animals free of ciliate protozoa may not represent the true effects of the ciliate-free condition on rumen function or animal production. An examination of the behaviour and metabolism of the ciliates indicates that in the absence of these organisms more protein will be available for intestinal digestion by the host animal relative to the VFA absorbed from the. rumen (P:E ratio). An increase in the P:E . ratio will increase the efficiency of nutrient utilisation by the animal (Leng 1982) and can be expected to increase ruminant *production under most conditions.


This report has been prepared for UK Nirex Limited. It reviews the availability of information on the deep geology of on-shore UK and on recent (post 1980) deep (>1,000m) boreholes.
At regional scales geological and geophysical coverage is comprehensive though uncertainty increases with increasing depth, for example the rock type, and even age, of the pre-Carboniferous basement in eastern England is often unknown. At more detailed scales coverage is patchy or very limited. Recent BGS projects undertaken as part of its DGSM Project have modelled selected areas of the UK at a variety of resolutions and in these areas understanding and visualisation of sub-surface geology is greatly improved. It is intended that this process will continue in future with the eventual objective that the whole of the UK will be modelled to defined standards at a variety of resolutions.
Over the last 30 years the BGS has undertaken a systematic geochemical baseline survey of the UK landmass. To date approximately 75% of the area has been completed, starting in northern Scotland, with eastern and southern England remaining to be surveyed.
The majority of the deep boreholes drilled since 1980 have been drilled for coal or hydrocarbon exploration/development purposes. Relatively few boreholes have been drilled post 1990. All BGS boreholes and the geothermal energy programme boreholes pre-date 1980. The majority of the boreholes for which the records were examined and for which information was recorded were drilled using drilling mud for pressure control (use of blow out protection is not recorded for any of the boreholes examined though this may be because of a lack of recording rather than a lack of installation) with large diameters and multiple casing strings.


We study the expansion of the universe at late times in the case that the cosmological constant obeys certain scaling laws motivated by renormalisation group running in quantum theories. The renormalisation scale is identified with the Hubble scale and the inverse radii of the event and particle horizon, respectively. We find de Sitter solutions, power-law expansion and super-exponential expansion in addition to future singularities of the Big Rip and Big Crunch type.


A revision is presented of the 40 species of Plectranthus , 1 species of Rabdosia and 3 species of Solenostemon which are indigenous, semi-naturalized or widely cultivated in Southern Africa. Descriptions, illustrations, keys and distribution data are provided. The following new names are published:  P. mutabilis Codd,  P. psammophilus Codd,  P. rubropunctatus Codd,  P. unguentarius Codd,  P. ornatus Codd (nom. nov. for Coleus comosus Hochst. ex Guerke), P. zatarhendi (Forsk.) E. A. Bruce var.  tomentosus (Benth.) Codd, —var.  woodii  (Guerke) Codd,  P. madagascariensis (Pers.) Benth. var.  aliciae  Codd,  Solenostemon scutellarioides (L.) Codd and  S. shirensis (Guerke) Codd.


Our day-to-day life has always been influenced by what people think. Ideas and opinions of others have always affected our own opinions. As the Web plays an increasingly significant role in people's social lives, it contains more and more information concerning their opinions and sentiments. The distillation of knowledge from this huge amount of unstructured information, also known as opinion mining and sentiment analysis. Nowadays, with the rapid evolution of smart phones, mobile applications (Mobile Apps) have become essential parts of our lives. However, it is difficult for consumers to keep track and understand the app sphere because new apps are entering market every day. Such a large amount of apps seems to be a great opportunity for customers to buy from a wide selection range. But, first they have to understand what the apps do, how are they viewed by other consumers and then they have to purchase the apps to use on their smart phones. Typically, online customer reviews contain two parts, ratings and textual comments. Rating indicates the overall evaluation of customer experiences using a numeric scale, but textual comments are capable of telling more insightful stories that the overall ratings cannot. It is very challenging for a potential user to read all of them to make a decision. Also, app developers have difficulties in finding out how to improve the app performance based on overall ratings alone and would benefit by understanding the thousands of textual comments. In proposed approach, user reviews are summarized and features are extracted from the apps mentioned in the reviews. Then, NLP approach is used for writing rules and then sentiment analyzer is used for the analysis of sentiments that are arising through the textual comments of users.


Abstract : This monograph discusses the role that night vision technology plays in the planning and execution of the night attack by light infantry units at battalion level and below. The tactical framework for the night attack and the night vision equipment that support it are examined from the perspective of the individual soldier, small units, and the enemy. The purpose is to determine the role that night vision equipment plays in the night attack. Three models are used to describe and analyze the relationships between the soldier, the small units, and the night vision devices that they employ. These models highlight the specific capabilities and limitations that are experienced by fight infantry forces as they attack at night. Two historical examples are used to illustrate the application of night vision technology in the night attack--the attack by 42 Commando at Mount Harriet, Falkland Islands, 1982, and an attack by a fight infantry battalion conducted at the National Training Center in 1992. Both examples highlight the unique aspects of the night attack in the era of night vision technology. As a result of the consideration of the tactics, technology, and the historical examples a conclusion is reached. It is, that although the tactical system is sound, the over emphasis and over reliance on night vision technology without a firm understanding of its specific capabilities and limitations constitutes the unconsidered application of a technological innovation. Recommendations are made to correct this trend.


Regarded free-flow vehicle as the sample,applying statistical analysis software,testing data at observation sites were analyzed,and statistical parameters of speed samples under free flow condition and their cumulative frequency curves were achieved.K-S test and S-W test were used to test normal distribution for collected sample data.In order to obtain operating speed characteristic values,based on operating speed cumulative distribution curve,deviation was introduced and degrees of deviation under varied percentile operating speeds were analyzed.Accordingly,quantified standard for representing operating speed characteristics was determined.Results show that operating speed sample is normal distribution.85th percentile value of speed cumulative distribution curve should be used to represent the operating speed for geometric alignment design.The proposed conclusion can provide theoretical support for reasonable operating speed selection.


Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of meningitis and septicaemia. A MenB vaccine (4CMenB) was licensed by the European Medicines Agency in January 2013. Here we describe the blood transcriptome and proteome following infant immunisations with or without concomitant 4CMenB, to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying post‐vaccination reactogenicity and immunogenicity. Infants were randomised to receive control immunisations (PCV13 and DTaP‐IPV‐Hib) with or without 4CMenB at 2 and 4 months of age. Blood gene expression and plasma proteins were measured prior to, then 4 h, 24 h, 3 days or 7 days post‐vaccination. 4CMenB vaccination was associated with increased expression of ENTPD7 and increased concentrations of 4 plasma proteins: CRP, G‐CSF, IL‐1RA and IL‐6. Post‐vaccination fever was associated with increased expression of SELL, involved in neutrophil recruitment. A murine model dissecting the vaccine components found the concomitant regimen to be associated with increased gene perturbation compared with 4CMenB vaccine alone with enhancement of pathways such as interleukin‐3, ‐5 and GM‐CSF signalling. Finally, we present transcriptomic profiles predictive of immunological and febrile responses following 4CMenB vaccine.


For IETS from molecules adsorbed on both the alumina and magnesia barriers large differences in the relative inelastic tunneling intensities are observed for different substituted groups on the rings. These differences can be related to changes in the surface adsorption mechanisms due to changes in the electronic structure of the molecule and fall into two main categories. For substituents that act as strong acids with proton donation to the surface intensities of ring modes are very strong and the spectra are characteristic of the free molecule except for specific modifications due to the adsorbed side group. For compounds without acid groups the ring mode intensities are strongly depressed and the basic behavior suggests a ..pi..-complex formation with the surface active sites. This reaction is always accompanied by a softening of the aromatic C-H stretching mode corresponding to a frequency downshift of approx. 150 cm/sup -1/. Asymmetries in both the elastic and inelastic tunneling components have been studied on both MgO/sub x/ and A10/sub x/. The elastic asymmetries and nonlinear current behavior have been fitted with a computer calculated model and the results reflect large differences in the effective barrier height and shape for different dopants. The asymmetries in inelastic intensitiesmore » have been analyzed in terms of the range of the molecular potential and indicate the long range potential as dominant for most dopants. Modification of IETS spectra due to substrate cooling have been studied and large changes are observed for certain types of molecules. The temperature modifications are a function of the molecular configuration on the surface and also involve changes in the active site structure on the oxide surface.« less


The manual analysis of moving target indicator (MTI) imagery is a complex and time consuming process. Therefore, automated methods of statistically identifying anomalous patterns within data in real time are important. Applications include the evaluation of ground surveillance scenery to locate lost individuals in the presence of wind-driven debris, the identification of traffic patterns and foliage locations. Additional use can be made of automated techniques on board space probes that are evaluating atmospheric and terrain disturbances on distant planets. As the volume of data grows and as the time criticality of the data products becomes more urgent, the importance of this automated analysis grows. In our paper we apply multiscale vector quantization to ground-based range-Doppler radar imagery. The vector quantization codebook that results is used to segment the background into regions of statistically similar backscatter range and Doppler variation. Within these regions, smaller scale patterns are used to identify anomalies associated with non-naturally occurring objects. The time progression of the anomaly location is further used to enhance the feature set that is used to ascribe a class to each of the anomalies. We introduce the viewer to the Applied Radar radar testbed data collection system that produced the data used in this study using block diagram and processing descriptions. We then present the GMTI imagery that was used for our study. Within that data we highlight the identified anomalies and give the feature set associated with each. These anomalies are produced by individuals, vehicles and naturally present foliage. Preliminary classifier results are then presented including spectrogram and color mapped images of the data, region feature tables, process flow charts and image examples of the vector codebook members that result. This paper is of interest to researchers involved in analyzing any kind of multidimensional time-varying scenes.


Background: Genetic risk factors may be related to the infectivity and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and host transmembrane serine protease (TMPRSS2) have key role in viral cell entrance and priming. Methods: This case-control study on 147 healthy controls and 299 COVID-19 patients identified potential determinants and risk factors, including gene polymorphism involved in the severity (mild, moderate, severe) of COVID-19 disease defined by CORAD radiological criteria. Results: The ACE2 s2285666 and TMPRSS2 rs12329760 SNPs were significantly linked with COVID-19 disease severity, as were certain co-morbidities (hypertension, heart disease) and laboratory parameters. Both SNPs were amongst the highest predictors of disease severity: TMPRSS2 rs12329760 CT + TT [odds ratio (95% CI) 17.6 (5.1–61.10), ACE2 rs2285666 CT + TT 9.9 (3.2–30.9), both p < 0.001]. There was an increase in the expression of genotype frequencies of ACE2 rs2285666 and TMPRSS2 rs1232976 (TT), (CT + TT), and (T) allele in severe COVID-19 group compared to control and mild groups. Disease severity was also linked to elevated CRP, ferritin and D-dimer, and lower lymphocytes and platelet count (all p < 0.001). Conclusion: ACE2 rs2285666 and TMPRSS2 rs12329760 SNPs, in addition to lymphocyte count, CRP, D-dimers, ferritin, and hypertension, are predictors of COVID-19 disease severity.


The authors consider optimal placements of two-dimensional flexible (elastic, deformable) objects. The objects are discs of equal size placed within a rigid boundary. The paper is divided into two parts. In the first part, analytical results for three types of regular, periodic arrangements-the hexagonal, square, and triangular placements-are presented. The regular arrangements are analyzed for rectangular boundaries and radii of discs that are small compared to the area of the placement region, because, in this case, the influence of boundary conditions can be neglected. This situation is called the unbounded case. They show that, for the unbounded case among the three regular placements, the type of hexagonal arrangements provides the largest number of placed units for the same deformation depth. Furthermore, it can be proved that these regular placements are not too far from the truly optimal arrangements. For example, hexagonal placements differ at most by the factor of 1.1 from the largest possible number of generally shaped units in arbitrary arrangements. These analytical results are used as guidances for testing stochastic algorithms optimizing placements of flexible objects. In the second part, mainly two problems are considered: the underlying physical model and a simulated annealing algorithm maximizing the number of flexible discs in equilibrium placements. Along with the physical model, an approximate formula is derived, reflecting the deformation/force relationship for a large range of deformations.


Abstract. The last achievements of technologies in geomatics especially in survey and restitution of 3D models (UAV/drones and laser scanner technologies) generated new procedures and higher standards of quality in representation of archaeological sites. Together with Geomatics, the recent development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) strongly contribute to document and the Cultural Heritage (CH). The representation and documentation of CH using these new technologies has became necessary in order to satisfy different needs: – for restorers in order to acquire a deep knowledge of the cultural good and to define possible strategies of restoration; – for the conservation of information, allowing to preserve the 3D geometry of the monumental complex with the integration of descriptions about architectural elements; – for touristic aims, giving the opportunity of sharing CH information on web, allowing users to visit and explore, in a virtual way, monumental complexes, acquiring information details about architectural elements or the history of monumental complex. Looking through these new scenarios, the development of a 3D Geographic Information System (GIS) applied to a cultural good could be, today, an added value of fundamental importance for full description and data management of monumental complexes. In this work, the main features necessary for the correct construction of a 3D GIS of a monumental complex will be analyzed, with a particular focus on the possibilities for creating a standardized procedure to follow.


A 57-year-old male complaining mainly of pain in the right terminal rib area was admitted to hospital for hepatic tumor examination. Primary hepatoma with infiltration of the inferior vena cava was diagnosed by various imaging techniques and the subject was started on a program of daily oral administrations of 800 mg of tegafur. Prior to commencing drug administration the hepatic tumor measured 112 x 80 mm; after four months of treatment the tumor was reduced to 56 x 48 mm and the infiltration in the inferior vena cava had disappeared. The tumor continued to decrease in size thereafter, and today measures 32 x 28 mm after three years of tegafur administration. The subject continues to be monitored as an outpatient. A marked reduction in the size of a hepatic tumor was observed in this case, and the administration of tegafur has proved effective in prolonging life for over three years.


A 60-year-old woman presented with chest pain and dyspnea, and her medical history included an anterior myocardial infarction eight years earlier. An electrocardiogram revealed ST-segment elevation with associated Q-waves in the V1, V2, II, III and aVF leads. The transthoracic echocardiography showed a hyper-reflective calcified apical aneurysm. The patient's end diastolic volume was 186 mL, and she had an ejection fraction of 38%. Subsequent coronary angiography revealed a total occlusion of the left anterior descending artery and the midportion of the right coronary artery as well as critical stenosis of the circumflex coronary artery. A oval-shaped calcified structure that resembled a calcified apical left ventricular aneurysm was observed during the left main artery (Figure 1a) and right coronary artery injections (Figure 1b). The patient then underwent an uneventful quadruple myocardial revascularization operation that included the resection of the calcified aneurysm (Figure 2a) and the reconstruction of the left ventricular wall via endoventricular patch plasty, which was previously described by Cooley.[1] The excised tissue was identified as a massive, calcified, semi-oval sphere measuring 4.5x4 cm (Figure 2b).


The movement of organic compounds between endosymbiotic zooxanthellae and their marine coelenterate hosts was studied in the sea anemone, Anthopleura elegantissima (Brandt) (Anthozoa, Actiniaria) and the zoanthid, Palythoa townsleyi (Walsh and Bowers) (Anthozoa, Zoanthidea). In both animals, 14C photosynthetically fixed by the algae moved into the animal tissues. In Anthopleura, this represents 45 to 50% of the total photosynthetic fixation in 24 h and, in Palythoa, 20 to 25%. The fixed 14C accumulated by the animal tissues becomes incorporated principally into animal lipid and protein. The significance of translocation to the animal hosts is discussed.


A model registration system capable of tracking an object, the model of which is known, in an image sequence is presented. It integrates tracking, pose determination and updating of the visible features. The heart of our system is the pose computation method, which handles various features (points, lines and free-form curves) in a very robust way and is able to give a correct estimate of the pose even when tracking errors occur. The reliability of the system is shown on an augmented reality project.


A technique to perform full spectral based color calculations through an extension of OpenGL has been created. This method of color computations is more accurate than the standard RGB model that most computer graphics algorithms utilize. By maintaining full wavelength information in color calculations, it is also possible to interactively simulate and display many important color phenomena such as metamerism and fluorescence. This technique is not limited to creating simple images suitable for interactive display, however. Using this extension, it is also possible to synthesize spectroradiometric images of arbitrary spatial and spectral resolution, for use in color imaging system analysis.


The efficiency of embryo recovery in a superovulatory treatment was studied by perfusing the ovi - duct or the uterine horn in 3.5 and 7 days after sponge withdrawal, respectively. Eighty-four and seventy ewes of Aragonesa breed were used as embryo donors and receptors, respectively. The donors were distributed in 3 rep - lications. The oestrus was synchronized with the insertion of FGA intravaginal sponges (30 mg) for 13 days. Six intramuscular injections of 18 mg pFSH were applied in decreasing doses at 12 hour intervals starting 48 hours after sponge withdrawal. The recovery rate (RR) (83.2 vs. 75.8%), the viability rate (VR) (73.5 vs. 47.2%) and the number of viable embryos (VE) per donor ewe (5.9 ± 0.79 vs. 3.0 ± 0.37) were higher ( P < 0.01) in ewes whose perfusion was done directly in oviducts. The interval from sponge withdrawal to oestrus had no influence on RR in any groups; however it had an effect on the VR in 3.5 and 7 days old embryos. Embryos from ewes showing the oestrus within 20 hours after sponge withdrawal had a higher viability. On the other hand, using morphologic criteria, 26.5% and 52.7% of 3.5 and 7 days old embryos, respectively, were discarded before transfer. The percent - age of ewes in each group that became pregnant was similar in both groups. We conclude that in superovulated ewes the embryo recovery rate, viability and number of viable embryos are higher in embryos recovered from the oviduct compared to those recovered from the uterus, without decreasing the conception rate and the viability rate is higher in ewes that show the oestrus 20 hours before sponge withdrawal.