Purpose of review Left heart disease is the most common cause of pulmonary hypertension. This review summarizes the current care of patients with pulmonary hypertension caused by left heart disease (PH-LHD) and discusses recent and active clinical trials in this patient population. Recent findings The primary focus of interventions aimed at treating PH-LHD address the treatment of left heart disease. Significant advancements in the treatment of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), a frequent cause of PH-LHD, are supported in the current literature. Patients with residual pulmonary hypertension despite optimal treatment of left heart disease have poor outcomes. Yet, interventions targeting the pulmonary vasculature in PH-LHD patients have not demonstrated significant benefits in studies to date. Current work focuses on differentiating isolated postcapillary pulmonary hypertension (IpcPH) from combined precapillary and postcapillary pulmonary hypertension (CpcPH) in a clinically consistent manner. It is hopeful that thorough phenotyping of PH-LHD patients will translate into effective treatment strategies addressing pulmonary vascular disease. Summary Referral to centers of excellence, considerations for enrollment in clinical trials, and evaluation for transplant is recommended for patients with residual pulmonary hypertension despite optimal treatment of left heart disease, particularly those with CpcPH.


Abstract Aboriginal cultural heritage protection, and the legislative regimes that underpin it, constitute important mechanisms for Aboriginal people to assert their rights and responsibilities. This is especially so in Victoria, where legislation vests wide-ranging powers and control of cultural heritage with Aboriginal communities. However, the politics of cultural heritage, including its institutionalisation as a scientific body of knowledge within the state, can also result in a powerful limiting of Aboriginal rights and responsibilities. This paper examines the politics of cultural heritage through a case study of a small forest in north-west Victoria. Here, a dispute about logging has pivoted around differing conceptualisations of Aboriginal cultural heritage values and their management. Cultural heritage, in this case, is both a powerful tool for the assertion of Aboriginal rights and interests, but simultaneously a set of boundaries within which the state operates to limit and manage the challenge those assertions pose. The paper will argue that Aboriginal cultural heritage is a politically contested and shifting domain structured around Aboriginal law and politics, Australian statute and the legacy of colonial history.


This is the first time that CCD-photometry in the three filter ∆a system (Maitzen 1976) was carried out after two decades of classical photoelectric photometry. The aim is to extend the successful search for chemically peculiar stars to more and distant open clusters as well as far galactic fields. In this paper we present CCD-photometry for a sample of 25 field stars with published spectroscopic peculiarity types. 22 of them show discordance between their Michigan catalogue types (non-peculiar) and the Bidelman & MacConnell (1973; BC) peculiarity assignments. Eight stars are peculiar in ∆a (five of them also in the Geneva index ∆(V1 – G)) thus supporting BC, mainly among their Silicon star discoveries. Considering cases where Silicon line enhancements were interpreted as peculiar instead as indicator of higher luminosity by BC, and the perfect detection of the three unambiguous peculiar stars, in addition to the achievement of an accuracy of 0.003 mags, we are justified to conclude that the performance of our CCD-∆a photometry perfectly matches the requirements of the conventional photometric technique and thus opens the way to observations of fainter stars.


We examine the behavior of a non-Gaussian state like the maximally path-entangled number state commonly known as a N00N state under phase-insensitive amplification. We derive an analytical result for the density matrix of the N00N state for arbitrary gain of the amplifier. We consider cases of both symmetric and antisymmetric amplification of the two modes of the N00N state. We quantitatively evaluate the loss of entanglement by the amplifier in terms of the logarithmic negativity parameter. We find that N00N states are more robust than their Gaussian counterparts.


This study investigated the air‐sea interaction over the Kuroshio in the East China Sea by focusing on the response and feedback of the ocean to typical spring weather events. The Weather Research and Forecasting Model was coupled with the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model for use in the study. The study period comprised a sequence of typical weathers in the area: prevailing southwesterly winds, the passage of a cold front and the ensuing cold‐air outbreak, and the development of a Taiwan low. The air‐sea interaction operated on a diurnal time scale under conditions of moderate wind speeds, high insolation, and a shallow oceanic mixed layer. The sea surface temperature and upper ocean heat content increased progressively prior to the frontal passage. The model reproduced the retreat of Kuroshio in response to the strong wind during the cold‐air outbreak. The diurnal cycle vanished at high wind speeds. Wind stirring eroded the upper seasonal thermocline and deepened the oceanic mixed layer. The upper ocean heat content decreased because of entrainment cooling and surface heat losses. Surface restratification was subsequently suppressed in the thick and weakly stratified remnant layer. The consequently insufficient recovery of upper ocean heat content may have preconditioned a stagnation of the Taiwan low. The recovery of upper ocean heat content was discussed to derive the implication for climate simulations.


Biochemical studies of pollen proteins have been focused, primarily, in investigating their roles as allergens. These molecules, some of which have enzymatic activity, act as antigens and initiate the production of IgE antibodies, leading to allergic and/or asthmatic responses. Included in this mixture of proteins are proteinases which, although they may or may not be allergenic, could still be involved in airway dysfunction. We have isolated an arginine-specific endopeptidase to homogeneity from mesquite (Prosopis velutina) pollen, a known wind-borne allergen, which has a molecular mass near 84 kDa by NaDodSO4-gel electrophoresis, a pH optimum in the neutral to alkaline range, and a requirement for Ca2+ for stabilization. The enzyme is inhibited by diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP) and N-p-tosyl-L-lysine chloromethylketone but not by N-p-tosyl-L-phenylalanine chloromethylketone, EDTA, or iodoacetamide. It was also not inhibited by human plasma proteinase inhibitors nor several other naturally occurring plant and animal inhibitors. Cleavage by the endopeptidase was primarily on the carboxy-terminal side of arginine residues in peptides, whereas proteins such as kallikrein and prothrombin were only activated and/or degraded extremely slowly. Several bioactive peptides that may be involved in maintaining normal lung function were readily fragmented, including angiotensin II, a vasoconstrictor, and atrial natriuretic peptide, a modulator of vascular permeability, both of which were rapidly cleaved at low enzyme:substrate molar ratios. Thus, the pollen endopeptidase could be involved in exacerbating the development of asthma by inactivating bioactive peptides that have ameliorating effects in maintaining lung airway homeostasis.


Background Lipotoxicity is characterized by a metabolic disturbance leading to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Some medicinal plant extracts exert hepatoprotective activity by modulating oxidative stress, inflammation, and metabolic disorders. Scolymus hispanicus or the golden thistle can be considered an important natural source of antioxidants. In traditional medicine, the consumption of this plant is recommended for diseases of the liver and intestines. Objective In this study, we aimed to determine the effects of Scolymus hispanicus on a hyperfatty diet- (HFD-) induced metabolic disorders, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Materials and Methods Our experiment focused on the administration of an HFD (40%) in Rattus norvegicus for 2 months and treatment with the aqueous extract of Scolymus hispanicus at a rate of 100 mg/kg during the last eight days of experimentation. In this context, several aspects were studied: the evaluation of blood biochemical parameters, liver function such as lipids and glycogen, markers of oxidative stress (TBARS, carbonyl proteins, advanced oxidation proteins, catalase, and SOD) and inflammation (NO and NFkB), morphological study of hepatocytes in primary culture, and histological study of the liver. Results Lipotoxicity induced metabolic disorders, both serum and tissue. HFD induced an increase in the total lipids and a decrease in glycogen reserve and an alteration in the oxidant-antioxidant balance. HFD induced an increase in markers of liver damage, which resulted in NAFLD, confirmed by histological study and hepatocytes cell culture. Scolymus appears to have lipid-lowering, hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It improved glucose tolerance and the condition of fatty liver disease. Conclusion Golden thistle improves glucose tolerance and hyperlipidemia and ameliorates hepatic steatosis by reducing oxidative stress, inflammation, and lipid accumulation. Its incorporation into a dietary program or as an aliment supplement would prevent hepatic complications associated with an HFD.


Few studies compare the function of primary bronchial (PBEC) and nasal (PNEC) epithelial cells. Our aim was to compare the responses of paired PNEC and PBEC cultures to LPS stimulation and any modulatory effects of exposure to cigarette smoke extract (CSE). Cells, from subjects with COPD, were obtained by nasal or bronchial brushing and used at passage 3. They were stimulated for 24 h with LPS [0–25 μg/ml] ± pre-treatment with CSE. CSE was prepared by combusting a 12 mg tar Marlboro cigarette through 25 ml of media. Supernatants were collected and IL-8 and IL-6 measured by ELISA. The localization of TLR-4 was established by FACS. For the PNEC cultures, a brief incubation with CSE (4h) significantly inhibited LPS-induced IL-6 and IL-8 release (IL-8: 24h treatment with 25 μg/ml LPS alone 5457±424 pg/ml and with 4h CSE pre-treatment 3772±432 pg/ml). A more prolonged incubation with CSE (24h) was pro-inflammatory (IL-8: 25 μg/ml LPS alone 5485±562 pg/ml and with 24h CSE pre-treatment 7757±449 pg/ml). Although a brief incubation with CSE resulted in a lower percentage of surface and intracellular TLR4, a prolonged incubation was without effect. In contrast, both a brief and a prolonged exposure of PBEC cultures to CSE reduced LPS induced IL-8 release (IL-8: 24h treatment with 25 μg/ml LPS alone 5107±797 pg/ml, with 4h CSE pre-treatment 3345±650 pg/ml, and with 24h CSE pre-treatment 3010±328 pg/ml), and both lead to a reduced percentage of surface and intracellular TLR4. There was minimal IL-6 release from the PBEC cultures. In conclusion, our data indicate that PNEC cultures are not a suitable surrogate for PBEC cultures in terms of their response to CSE/LPS combination treatment.


Electron-microscopic localizations of acetylcholinesterase and non-specific esterases have been studied in the motor end-plates of the rat diaphragm, using a modified Koelle acetylthiocholine technique for acetylcholinesterase, the Holt technique for non-specific esterases (substrates: indoxyl acetate and indoxyl butyrate) and the Crevier-Belanger technique for thiolacetic acid esterases. Acetylcholinesterase is located in the pre- and post-synaptic membranes and in the junctional folds built up by the latter. Indoxyl acetate esterase shows a homogeneous localization in primary and secondary synaptic clefts. Indoxyl butyrate esterase is located in the 'middle dense layer' of the synaptolemma. Thiolacetic acid esterase is predominantly post-synaptic, accompanied by a slighter pre-synaptic activity. Eleven days after motor nerve transection, the synaptic gutter is occupied by a large number of collagenous fibres, and only small granular fragments of the degenerated nerve fibres remain. These fragments are devoid of acetyl- and non-specific esterases, but exert a thiolacetic acid esterase activity, probably demonstrating proteolytic enzymes. The post-synaptic membrane exhibits a slightly reduced enzyme activity without any major alteration in the fine-structural localization of acetyl- and non-specific esterases.


Research on financial accountability in local government administration has over the years focused mainly on traditional accountability mechanisms such as analysis of auditor's report, annual financial statements or reports, and adherence to financial regulations among others. This research orientation often tends to focus more on the actions than the actors in the financial management process. Given that financial accountability is the action of actors, this paper focuses on the ´´who´´ aspect of financial accountability in local government administration. Using a concept of financial responsibility charting, the study sought to assess the level of understanding of core staff and Assembly members of the Asante Akim South District Assembly in Ghana on basic financial roles or responsibilities of actors involved in local government financial administration. The study found that not all the core staff of the Asante Akim South District Assembly knows all the specific financial roles or responsibilities of their colleagues in the financial management chain. The study also found that, the Assembly members who are supposed to hold the officials of the Assembly accountable; do not have a fair understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the core staff in the financial management chain. The paper concludes that until efforts are made to whip up the interest of people, especially the Assembly members on the need to be abreast with financial responsibility charting, the quest for transparency and accountability in local government financial administration would remain a mirage. Keywords: Local government, revenue, management, responsibility charting, accountability


A model is presented for the silicon vacancy in SiC. The previously reported photoluminescence spectra in 4H and 6H SiC attributed to the silicon vacancy are in this model due to internal transitions in the negative charge state of the silicon vacancy. The magnetic resonance signals observed are due to the initial and final states of these transitions.


In analysis of time series data, the class of GARCH Models in many studies has proved very valuable in modeling time series with time varying volatility, especially in financial time series data. The behavior of financial data sometimes are not only have a high volatility and heterogeneous variances but also have an asymmetric effect or leverage effect due to the price down (bad news) and the price increase (good news). One of the models that can cope with the asymmetric effect is Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (EGARCH) Model. The aims of this study is to find the best EGARCH Model for forecasting data share of PT. Tambang Batu Bara Bukit Asam Tbk from January 2009-February 2016. The results shown that the best model are ARIMA (1, 1, 0) Model and EGARCH (1.1) Models. The forecasting results also sound good and within the 95% confidence interval.


A library of Pseudomonas fluorescens subsp. cellulosa genomic DNA, constructed in lambda ZAPII, was screened for alpha-D-galactosidase activity. The DNA inserts from six galactosidase-positive clones were rescued into plasmids. Restriction digestion and Southern analysis revealed that each of the plasmids contained a common DNA sequence. The sequence of the Pseudomonas DNA in one of the plasmids revealed a single open reading frame (aga27A) of 1215 bp encoding a protein of M(r) 45900, designated alpha-galactosidase 27A (Aga27A). Aga27A exhibited extensive sequence identity with alpha-galactosidases in glycoside hydrolase 27, and appeared to be a single domain protein. The recombinant alpha-galactosidase was expressed at high levels in Escherichia coli and the biophysical properties and substrate specificity of the enzyme were evaluated. The data showed that Aga27A was a mesophilic neutral acting non-specific alpha-galactosidase. Both P. fluorescens subsp. cellulosa mannanase A (ManA) and Aga27A hydrolyse the polymeric substrate, carob galactomannan. Sequential hydrolysis with AgaA followed by ManA, or ManA followed by AgaA enhanced product release. The positive effects of sequential hydrolysis are discussed.


Alternative schools are valuable because they explore non-conventional models which may contain the keys for a global educational change. The three alternative schools analysed for this research through ethnographic and biographic-narrative approaches emerged as an answer to failure and other injustices occurring in traditional schools (violence, exclusion, authoritarianism, cultural imperialism, unsustainability, etc.). This allows us to analyse how a model against the legitimation and perpetuation of these social and environmental injustices is constructed. The article will delve into how alternative schools lay the foundations for a more just world through self-knowledge, self-esteem and respect, questioning the effectiveness of traditional schools in terms of values, peace, respect, coexistence and participation. Results show us how to organise a school which recognises each person, allows participation, distributes resources equally and trains students who can detect injustices and mobilise against them.


MENINGEAL leukemia accounts for initial relapses in many patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia.1Systemically administered chemotherapy does not penetrate the blood-brain barrier, and leukemic cells in this sanctuary can multiply uncontrolled. With the introduction of prophylactic cranial irradiation and the intrathecal administration of methotrexate and other cytotoxic agents, a definite reduction of meningeal leukemia has occurred.2 In cases of acute myelocytic leukemia, meningeal leukemia occurs less frequently. Weil and co-workers,3in a study of 836 cases of acute myelocytic leukemia, found meningeal leukemia in only 48 instances (5.7%). Seligman et al4also noted a similar incidence in their review. Because of this low incidence, prophylactic treatment for meningeal leukemia is not widely used in acute myelocytic leukemia. The most frequent form of relapse in this type of leukemia after successful remission induction is hematologic. Improved remission induction due to better chemotherapy and immunotherapy5and longer


One of the late Beatriz da Costa's last projects, Dying for the Other (2011), presents three channels of video footage from testing environments, including laboratories, hospitals, kitchens, and living rooms offset by pink mice wriggling in their cage, living and dead mice weighed and handled by breast cancer researchers, and the materials of laboratory and medical work: test tubes, petri dishes, scalpels. Together across three shared video channels, bald pink mice have materially moved into da Costa's frail body through a deft game of pharmacological cat's cradle. This article will investigate da Costa's Dying for the Other and a related project, the Anti-cancer Survival Kit (2013), as engagements with Elizabeth Wilson's articulation of the gut as "an organ of mind." Figuring the eating body as ecosystem illuminates how cancer's political potential furthers both Wilson's desire for "sustained attention [to] the nature of attacking, sadistic impulses, and the difficulties of how to live (and politick) with them" and Scott Gilbert, Jan Sapp, and Alfred Tauber's call for "intermingled symbiont relationships." The multispecies power structures playing out in Dying for the Other and the Anti-cancer Survival Kit reveal the political life of cancer to be animated by cellular and culinary anarchisms, bile, toxicity, frustration, and, in da Costa's words, "more than even I can take."


Comparison of Corneal Astigmatism and Higher-order Aberrations between Color Light-emitting and Imager Purpose: To compare corneal astigmatism, keratometry and corneal higher order aberrations between the light emitting diode corneal topography analyzer and Scheimpflug Imager. Methods: This prospective study involved 45 patients (45 eyes) who visited Seoul St. Mary's hospital before cataract surgery from June 7, 2017, to August 2, 2017. For each eye, keratometry, astigmatism and its axis of cornea, higher-order aberrations were evaluated with a Scheimpflug Imager (Pentacam HR ® , Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany) and a color-LED corneal topographer (Cassini ® , i-Optics, Den Haag, The Netherlands). Results: Astigmatism magnitude measured using Cassini ® and Pentacam ® showed no statistically differences but anterior and total astigmatic axes were significantly different, as measured by the two devices ( p < 0.05). Anterior and total mean keratometry were statistically significantly different, as measured by the two devices ( p < 0.05). J0 and J45 vectors of anterior and total cornea were statistically different ( p < 0.05). In addition, Cassini ® and Pentacam ® showed discrepancies between total corneal astigmatism, total J0 and J45 vectors. Corneal anterior spherical aberration, vertical and horizontal coma, and oblique and horizontal trefoil aberrations were not statistically different between the two devices. Conclusions: Astigmatic axes obtained from the two devices based on different principles showed statistically significant differences. Astigmatism magnitude was not statistically different but showed a discrepancy between the two devices. Ophthalmol Soc 2019;60(10):922-928


Capital inputs are by and large ignored in the study of farmland rental in previous literature. With the micro-data of rural household finance survey in year 2009, this paper empirically tests whether credit market promotes the development of farmland rental market in rural China. Results show that loans from banks promote the development of farmland rental market. Furthermore, farmers are more likely to use trade credit to alleviate credit constraints in the process of agricultural production and as a result, trade credit promotes the agricultural land rentals.


Vitamin E and selenium (E-Se) deficiency causes necrosis of the contractile myocardium in many species but does not usually affect the cells of the conduction system. In the present study, experimental E-Se deficiency in cattle produced preferential degeneration and necrosis of Purkinje cardiocytes. Calves fed deficient diets for 127-137 days had sublethal damage characterized histologically by sarcoplasmic accumulation of lipopigment granules; ultrastructurally, these granules corresponded to cytolysosomes that had a heterogeneous ultrastructure. Alterations in necrotic cells included mitochondrial mineralization, sarcoplasmic condensation, and plasmalemmal fragmentation. Necrosis of Purkinje cells was followed by macrophagic penetration of the external lamina, phagocytosis of necrotic sarcoplasm, and repair by fibrosis. Furthermore, E-Se depletion of calves resulted in only minimal alterations in the contractile myocardium. In contrast, feeding supplements of polyunsaturated fatty acids to E-Se-deficient calves intensified the Purkinje cell damage but also resulted in widespread degeneration and necrosis of the contractile myocardium. Accumulation of lipopigment supports a pathogenetic role for lipoperoxidation in development of the cardiac lesions of E-Se deficiency. These lesions constitute a unique example of preferential damage to Purkinje cardiocytes. This model offers an attractive method of studying damage and repair to the cardiac conduction system.


Summary Individuals in northern populations of Lilium longiflorum in the Ryukyu Archipelago between Japan and Taiwan exhibit deep dormancy which is induced by high temperatures in the Summer, while plants of southern ecotypes and L. formosanum show no dormancy. In higher plants, 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED) is the critical enzyme for the regulation of abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis.The relationships between levels of expression of the LlNCED gene (GenBank Accession No. KC357734) and endogenous ABA levels were examined in 1-year-old seedlings of an L. formosanum population domesticated in Fukuoka (FFU) and in two L. longiflorum populations native to Pitouchiao (LPI), Taiwan, or Kikai Jima (LKI), Japan. The deduced amino acid sequences of the NCED proteins shared high identity with NCED proteins in other monocotyledons, and were closely related to enzymes in other members of the class Liliopsida. A high correlation was observed between levels of LlNCED gene expression and ABA concentration. Seedlings from LKI had the highest level of expression of LlNCED in August, while seedlings from FFU had the lowest level. Higher expression of the LlNCED gene in mid-Summer in the dormant population was related to higher endogenous concentrations of ABA. These results provide evidence that the induction of deep dormancy was initiated by the accumulation of ABA in dormant types of L. longiflorum, which was induced by high Summer temperatures.


Introduction. This paper represents Part 1 of an experimental study of the swept-wing boundary-layer receptivity to non-stationary free-stream vortices with streamwise orientation of the vorticity vector. It concerns the experimental approach of the study. The obtaining of receptivity coefficients and their analysis are presented in Part 2 [1]. The mechanisms of transformation of free-stream turbulence into the cross-flow (CF) instability modes in 3D boundary layers are of great fundamental and practical interest because they can provide a basis for designing modern advanced methods of the transition prediction. However, such mechanisms are rather poorly studied at present. Most of known investigations in this field are theoretical ones and devoted to purely 2D problems. The most significant experimental results were obtained in [2−23]. In the first controlled experiments on the free-stream vortex receptivity [3, 4] a method of vibrating ribbon, positioned in the free stream, was applied to investigate the case of 2D free-stream vortices (i.e. the case of the spanwise orientation of the vorticity vector). A strong receptivity mechanism was found near the flat plate leading edge. However, no any distributed receptivity was observed further downstream on a smooth flat-plate surface. For steady streamwise vortices, some quantitative experimental data by Kendall [6] were compared with calculations by Bertolotti [16] in a joint work [17]. A very good agreement has been found for the mechanism of excitation of streamwise streaks under the influence of free-stream streamwise vortices. This mechanism turned out to be very strong. A very similar problem have been studied in detail in recent experiments of Boiko [20, 22] for the cases of both 2D (Blasius) and 3D (swept-wing) boundary layer. The mechanism of transformation of wall-normal steady free-stream vortices to steady boundary-layer perturbations (again streaks) was investigated experimentally and theoretically by Ustinov [19]. It was shown that an interaction of these vortices with a blunt leading edge of the experimental model leads to formation of very strong streaks (streamwise vortices) inside the boundary layer. The author's theory predicted very well the experimental observations. The receptivity problem for unsteady free-stream vortices was investigated by Dietz [18], Bake et al. [23], Wurz et al. [2], and authors of the present work [27], [28]. All these studies were carried out in 2D boundary layers. Dietz [18] studied a scattering of a weak vortex street (with the spanwise vorticity) on a 2D surface roughness. The excitation of 2D Tollmien – Schlichting waves was observed and documented under controlled experimental conditions. Calculations performed in [21] for the experimental conditions of paper [18] have shown a good agreement for this receptivity mechanism. The theory was also two-dimensional. Bake et al. [23] studied a scattering of 2D free-stream vortices in Blasius flow on 3D localized surface vibrations. This was the first investigation, in which the vibration-vortex receptivity coefficients where obtained experimentally. It was found that the receptivity is stronger for 3D vibrations compared to 2D ones. The vibration-vortex receptivity amplitudes turned out to be comparable with those observed for scattering of acoustic waves on surface roughness and vibrations investigated by Ivanov et al. [24]. The first quantitative experimental results on distributed receptivity of a boundary layer to essentially 3D free-stream vortices were obtained by Wurz et al. [2]. In this work, the boundary layer was developed on an airfoil and the vorticity vector was normal to both the airfoil leading edge and the free-stream. The method of experimental determination of the distributed receptivity


Ultrafast two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations of Mn(2)(CO)(10) in a series of linear alcohols reveal that the rate of intramolecular vibrational redistribution among the terminal carbonyl stretches is dictated by the average number of hydrogen bonds formed between the solute and solvent. The presence of hydrogen bonds was found to hinder vibrational redistribution between eigenstates, while leaving the overall T(1) relaxation rate unchanged.


High-quality patient care requires that providers understand and optimize each health care team member's roles and responsibilities.

 The purpose of this paper was to examine the contemporary knowledge and perceptions of physical therapist (PT) practice and education held by advanced practice interprofessional (IP) team members, including physicians, physician assistants (PAs), and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs).

 Physicians, PAs, and APRNs licensed in the state of Minnesota.

 Eligible individuals were invited to participate in an online survey assessing understanding of PT practice and education. Descriptive and nonparametric statistical analyses were used to evaluate respondent demographics, practice characteristics, and perceptions and knowledge of PT education and practice.

 Survey responses were analyzed from 442 respondents including 210 APRNs, 182 physicians, 48 PAs, and 2 clinicians of unknown profession. Results demonstrated that most referring providers did not learn about physical therapy during their academic or posttraining education. Those who interacted with PTs more frequently perceived greater benefit for their patients, tended to refer to PTs more often, and demonstrated greater knowledge of PT practice. Poorly understood areas of PT practice and education included PT practice settings, specialties, salary, level of education, and the ability to see patients through direct access.

 Multiple areas of poor provider knowledge regarding PT education and practice were identified; many unchanged from the literature in the 1980s. Three main areas of growth were identified from which actionable recommendations are made: increase IP interactions with PTs, address areas of poor understanding of PT education and scope, and maximize shifting perceptions of PTs through education and advocacy. This paper illustrates that PT education and practice are not well understood by referring providers, posing a threat to IP collaboration. A lack of collaboration may hinder patient and system outcomes because of suboptimal provider utilization.


Blunt chest injury is commonly observed in the Pediatric Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit since up to 30% of children with traumatic injury sustain injury to the thorax. Differently from adults, who present with concomitant rib or sternoclavicular fractures in 70% of cases, more than half of childhood chest injuries occur without any bone fracture, mostly causing lung contusions. This lower rate of rib fractures and near absence of flail chest in children may be due to greater elasticity of the pediatric cartilaginous and bony skeleton. Whenever a rib fracture is present, underlying complications should be evaluated carefully (i.e., air leaks or blood effusions). Depending on the trauma mechanism, even minor injuries should raise the suspicion of pathologic bone fractures.


2007; 54: 54–7. 3. Savoldelli GL, Schiffer E, Abegg C, Baeriswyl V, Clergue F, Waeber JL. Comparison of the Glidescope, the McGrath, the Airtraq and the Macintosh laryngoscopes in simulated difficult airways. Anaesthesia 2008; 63: 1358–64. 4. Malik MA, O'Donoghue C, Carney J, Maharaj CH, Harte BH, Laffey JG. Comparison of the Glidescope, the Pentax AWS, and the Truview EVO2 with the Macintosh laryngoscope in experienced anaesthetists: a manikin study. British Journal of Anaesthesia 2009; 102: 128–34. 5. Holst B, Hodzovic I, Francis V. Airway trauma caused by the Airtraq laryngoscope. Anaesthesia 2008; 63: 889–90. 6. Asai T, Liu EH, Matsumoto S, et al. Use of the Pentax-AWS in 293 patients with difficult airways. Anesthesiology 2009; 110: 898–904.


Solar cells based on perovskite absorbers are rapidly emerging as attractive candidates for photovoltaics development. Understanding the role of the electron-transport layer (ETL) is very important to obtain highly efficient perovskite solar cells. Herein, the effect of the ETL on device performance in planar perovskite solar cells is investigated in detail, and the band bending in different situations is discussed. The ET barrier is shown to be responsible for the poor fill factor (FF) of J-V curves. Introduction of a thin bathocuproine interlayer increases the interface inversion and results in an increase of FF from 56 to 76 %. Some experimental and theoretical results verify these conclusions. Furthermore, this study can provide an interface-engineering strategy to improve device performance.


A phase field crystal model is used to investigate the mechanisms of formation and growth of early clusters in quenched/aged dilute binary alloys, a phenomenon typically outside the scope of molecular dynamics time scales. We show that formation of early sub-critical clusters is triggered by the stress relaxation effect of quenched-in defects, such as dislocations, on the energy barrier and the critical size for nucleation. In particular, through analysis of system energetics, we demonstrate that the growth of sub-critical clusters into overcritical sizes occurs due to the fact that highly strained areas in the lattice locally reduce or even eliminate the free energy barrier for a first-order transition.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is an important tool for lifelong learning by medical students. This study aimed to determine changes in self-reported attitudes and skills after integration of EBM into a medical school curriculum.

METHODS
A pre- and post-intervention study was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University in Thailand during 2005-2007. Fourth-year medical students were instructed in EBM by a team promoting EBM and then practiced EBM under supervision of faculty advisors. We then evaluated changes in attitude and skills before studying EBM (T0) and at two points (T1 and T2) after learning about EBM. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon Sign Rank test and a generalized linear multilevel model.

RESULTS
After integration of EBM into the curriculum, the students' attitudes and skills at T1 and T2 were improved significantly compared to ratings at T0.

CONCLUSIONS
Medical students developed a positive attitude toward EBM and improved their skills after integration of EBM into a medical school curriculum.


The dispersion pattern of heavy metals in soils surrounding municipal solid waste dumps was studied in a major area at Asa Dam Road, Ilorin, Kwara State. Soil samples were collected at three depths i.e.,0-15, 15-30 and 30-45 cm. The bioremediation capacity of five plants (Amaranthushybridus, Celosia agentea, Tithoniadiversifolia, Manihotescunlenta, Ipomeabatatas) grown on the dumpsite were studied for different metals. The moisture contents of the soil samples and plants were 4.55 - 18.58% and 3.75 - 13.78% respectively. The pH of soil and plants ash contents was in the range of 6.7 – 7.5 and 6.35 – 21.0 respectively. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy method was employed in the determination of the concentration of Fe, Ca, Mg, Zn, Cd, Ca and Pb in both plant and soil samples. Amaranthushybridus and Celosia agentea were found to hyper-bioaccumulate, Tithoniadiversifoliabioaccumulate heavy metals mildly while Manihotescunlenta hyper-accumulate Iron. Cadmium and Lead were not detected in the plants. Nitrate concentration increases progressively down the soil profile and highest in Tithoniadiversifolia among the plants.


Summary from only given. We present an image library with similarity-based searching and novel browsing structures and a news video library with content-based search and summarisation features. Our approach puts the traditional library search via textual meta-data upside down by allowing access to collections through browsing and search of images that may come as part of a multimedia document. We have developed two systems, which address the need for nontextual search facilities in multimedia collections. The first is an integrated system for building and providing access to a broad range of image collections such as engineering sketches, wild-life photographs or private photo collections. The second system called ANSES (Automatic News Summarization Extraction System) is explicitly targeting multimedia information pertaining to video broadcasts. ANSES captures television news each day along with the associated subtitles.


Currently the British educational system can be characterised by its instrumentalisation (of ends) and control (of means), revealing an impoverished vision of community and a lack of care. To (re)imagine public education is to reconsider what this 'public' means and signifies in practice.
 This article suggests that at the core of a richer and more compelling vision lies the notion of care. It re-examines what constitutes the content of our caring, and argues that to care is to direct attention to things that are intrinsically valuable, such as persons, relationships, educative
 experiences, all of which are comprised in our well-being. This understanding is a shift from care as a virtue and disposition, to care as valuing the cared-for and engaging the community in caring, and facilitates an exploration of a public education that is caring, in terms of its aims,
 values and processes, and in terms of schools as learning communities.


Formula Student or Formula SAE is a competition between student teams in charge of designing, building and testing a new formula-style race car per each season. Those vehicles are divided into three classes: Combustion, Electric and Driverless. The competition consists in both a static part where the design, the cost-performance relationship and the marketing aspects of the project are evaluated by the judges and a dynamic part where the vehicle must race in four different type of events. Each dynamic event highlights different aspects of the car performance, from standstill acceleration to lateral grip, reliability and energy efficiency. In 2005 Politecnico di Torino's Formula Student team called Squadra Corse PoliTo was founded and since then fifteen cars have been built. Seven of them are powered by an Internal Combustion Engine, one is a Hybrid Electric Vehicle, while the last six cars built are Battery Electric Vehicles. SC18integrale is the vehicle presented by Squadra Corse PoliTo for the 2018/2019 racing season. It is a four-wheel drive Battery Electric Vehicle with four independent in-wheel motors. The motors need a devoted gearbox in order to match the vehicle's traction requirement. Due to the in-wheel position both the weight and the volume of the gearbox are critical parameters. The weight impacts on the unsprung masses, while a small volume is beneficial for suspension hardpoints package. In this thesis the project of the SC18integrale epicycloidal transmission is presented in all its aspects, from the concept design until the track validation. The first phase of the design after the target has been set is the development of the transmission model and of the gear life calculation, carried by KISSsoft and KISSsys software tools, then the integration of the gearbox with the wheel assembly is studied. Finally the mechanical design of each component and of the assembly is detailed. Catia V5 is the software used for the development of CAD models while Altair Hyperworks the software used to carry the structural FEA. The experimental validation is done on track during the pre-season tests, the racing events and the post-season test phase.


The Co atom, the pyrazine heterocycle and the phthalate dianion are in special positions in the crystal structure of the title compound, [Co(C4H4N2)(H2O)4](C8H4O4); the Co atom and the N-heterocycle are located on sites of mmm symmetry, whereas the dianion is disordered over a 2mm site. The four water ligands constitute a square plane surrounding the Co atom, and the other two coordination sites are occupied by the N atoms of two different N-heterocycles. The cationic entity propagates as a linear μ-pyrazine-bridged chain that runs along the a axis of the orthorhombic unit cell. The dianion interacts with the Co atom through hydrogen bonds.


This article evaluates the credo 'integration while maintaining one's identity' with the help of psychological arguments. First, it explores the requirements of being a good citizen in a liberal democracy. Following Rawls, we state that justice is the cardinal liberal virtue and that this virtue includes having the disposition to respect the rights of all citizens equally. It then investigates psychological theories about identity and the relation between culture and identity. We focus on the distinction between collectivistic cultures and an interdependent self-concept on the one hand and individualistic cultures and an independent self-concept on the other. We come to the conclusion that the development into a good citizen of a liberal democracy cannot be combined with the full preservation of an interdependent self-concept. Further, we argue that the state has the right and the duty to offer civic education to all pupils, even if this means that the development of an inter-dependent self-concept of children from particular immigrant groups will be hampered.


Since the 1980s, Mexico has alternately served as a model of structural economic reform and as a cautionary example of the limitations associated with market-led development. Because of the importance of the Mexican experience in continuing debates about options available to developing countries, the twenty-three contributors to this book provide a comprehensive, interdisciplinary assessment of the principal economic and social policies adopted by Mexico during the 1980s and 1990s. Mexico was a pioneer in the shift away from state-led industrialization and the adoption of market-oriented policies. As a consequence, Mexico emerged as Latin America's largest exporter of manufactured goods, which provided the country's most dynamic source of economic growth. Yet trade and investment expansion also significantly increased the Mexican economy's vulnerability to external shocks. A profound financial crisis in 1994-95 deeply affected Mexico's economic stability and rate of growth, and raised persistent questions about whether the country's new economic model is capable of achieving sustained growth and equitable socioeconomic development. The topics covered in the book are (1) macroeconomic and financial policies, including the impact of the adjustment process on growth, inflation, foreign and domestic debt burdens, the Mexican banking system, and foreign investment; (2) trade, export-led growth, and industrial policies, with attention to key actors and strategies behind the rapid expansion of Mexican manufactured exports and the limitations of this export-led growth model for national development; (3) social policies and rural development issues, focusing on education, health care, pensions, and problems affecting rural Mexico; and (4) poverty, inequality, and employment problems, notably income distribution and poverty trends, the efficacy of poverty-alleviation policies, urban and regional disparities, and the effects of economic liberalization on employment and wage levels. A final overview section analyzes the Mexican development experience of the 1980s and 1990s in historical and comparative context.


The differences between Isa 59:21 and Jer 31:31–34 make it unlikely that the Isaianic author is directly interacting with Jeremiah, though both passages speak of a future divine covenant. This covenant is alluded to in a number of passages in Isa 40–66 and is linked to several other major Isaianic themes, such as the servant of Yhwh, justice, and the final state of salvation. God's promise of a covenant (59:21) applies only to those in Jacob who turn from their acts of injustice (59:20). The servant of Yhwh is the meditator of the covenant (42:6; 49:8), and this everlasting covenant (55:3; 61:8) will secure lasting blessings for the sons of Zion, the servants of Yhwh (54:13, 17). Their reception of God's spirit and the placing of God's word in their mouth will enable God's people to obey his instructions (59:21) and enjoy the state of salvation described in chapters 60–62.


Route bus system is one of fundamental transportation device for aged people and students, and has an important role in every province. However, passengers decrease year by year, therefore the authors have developed the system called "Bus-Net" as a web application to sustain the public transport. But there are two problems in Bus-Net. One is the user interface that does not consider the variety of the device, and the other is the path planning system that dose not correspond to the on-demand bus. Then, Bus-Net was improved to be able to utilize the variety of the device, and a new function corresponding to the on-demand bus was developed. Keywords—Route Bus, Path Planning System, User Interface, Ondemand bus, Reservation system.


Photographs of the sea floor provided some of the first clues about the abundance of life in the deep ocean, lava flows on the mid-ocean ridge crest, and evidence for hydrothermal venting [e.g., Hersey, 1967; Heezen and Hollister, 1971; Ballard and Moore, 1977; Lonsdale, 1977]. These direct observations of the ocean floor are critical to understanding the physical, chemical, and biological processes occurring there.

Last year, a team of engineers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), in collaboration with engineers at DeepSea Power and Light (DSPL) of San Diego, California, designed and successfully built and tested a new, digital deep-sea camera and multi-rock coring system. The system has been used during three expeditions thus far: the East Pacific Rise at 9°50′N, the Galapagos Rift at 86°–89°W and most recently to the Hess Deep in the equatorial eastern Pacific. To date, it has acquired ˜20,000 digital sea floor images and 50 volcanic glass chip samples during 20 lowerings.


Abstract Background and study aims Patients who have undergone colorectal surgery for resection of cancer and benign lesions are at risk for recurrent, residual, or metachronous lesions at the anastomosis site. Surgical resection of such lesions is difficult because of adhesions, and a stoma may be required as there are risks for leakage after resection. The feasibility and safety of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for these lesions remain unknown. Therefore, this case series aimed to examine the feasibility and safety of ESD by evaluating the clinical outcomes. Patients and methods We retrospectively investigated five patients who underwent ESD by a single expert for superficial neoplastic lesions at the anastomosis site after previous colorectal surgery. Results R0 resections were achieved for all lesions. Mean procedure time was 160.6 minutes. Mean dimensions of the resected specimen and tumor were 52.4 mm and 31.8mm, respectively. None of the patients had complications or recurrence after surveillance colonoscopy 1-year post-resection. Conclusions In an expert's hands, ESD at the anastomosis site might be feasible minimally invasive treatment for superficial neoplastic lesions.


Breakage of tRNA(Lys(UUU)) by the Escherichia coli anticodon nuclease PrrC (EcoPrrC) underlies a host antiviral response to phage T4 infection that is ultimately thwarted by a virus-encoded RNA repair system. PrrC homologs are prevalent in other bacteria, but their activities and substrates are not defined. We find that induced expression of EcoPrrC is toxic in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and E. coli, whereas the Neisseria meningitidis PrrC (NmePrrC) is not. PrrCs consist of an N-terminal NTPase module and a C-terminal nuclease module. Domain swaps identified the EcoPrrC nuclease domain as decisive for toxicity when linked to either the Eco or Nme NTPase. Indeed, a single arginine-to-tryptophan change in the NmePrrC nuclease domain (R316W) educed a gain-of-function and rendered NmePrrC toxic to yeast, with genetic evidence for tRNA(Lys(UUU)) being the relevant target. The reciprocal Trp-to-Arg change in EcoPrrC (W335R) abolished its toxicity. Further mutagenesis of the EcoPrrC nuclease domain highlighted an ensemble of 15 essential residues and distinguished between hypomorphic alleles and potential nuclease-nulls. We report that the RNA repair phase of the bacterial virus-host dynamic is also portable to yeast, where coexpression of the T4 enzymes Pnkp and Rnl1 ameliorated the toxicity of NmePrrC-R316W. Plant tRNA ligase AtRNL also countered NmePrrC-R316W toxicity, in a manner that depended on AtRNL's 5'-kinase and ligase functions.


The current technologies for handling oil spill clean-up vary in expense and effectiveness and are largely ineffective. Oil spills occur due to accidents from well-heads and damaged facilities in the creeks of the Nigerian Delta and along the coastline of waters where hydrocarbons are prospected all over the world. They are unexpected and known to cause irreparable damage to aquatic environments and marine life. The development of a hydrophobic mesh is proposed to prevent oil from spreading into larger areas and from reaching sensitive coastlines. This will help engineers and clean-up crews in their quest to find an appropriate response to a given oil spill scenario as they race against the clock to prevent further damage and improve the oil recovery process. The overall goal of this project is to create a Numerical Simulation of meshes that repel water and attract oil using ANSYS, a Finite Element Analysis software. The mesh was modelled as a porous medium that acts like a filter that retains water on one side while allowing the passage of oil through it. In the course of this work, appropriate materials selection in fluid flow analysis was carried out. Also, the flow domain geometry was developed in such a way as to simulate a system containing an oil-water interface. Next, domain discretization (meshing) was carried out appropriately. After which appropriate boundary conditions and operating conditions were implanted in the model. Fluent was then set to initialize and run calculations. After calculations were run, results were gotten. These results were then interpreted pictorially. It was seen that the velocity streamlines for the oil phase passed through the hydrophobic mesh, while the velocity streamlines for the water phase were repelled from the hydrophobic mesh wall.


Alkaptonuria is a rare inherited genetic disorder of tyrosine metabolism that causes the urine to turn black on contact with the air when homogentisic acid is oxidized to form a pigment-like polymer material [1,2]. The earliest sign of the disorder is the tendency for babies' diapers to stain black; later on in childhood and early adulthood, there is an asymptomatic, progressive deposition of the polymer into collagenous tissues [2–4]. One report suggests an incidence as high as 1 in every 25 000 live births, although worldwide it is certainly far lower [1,4–6]. Our objective in reporting this case study is to highlight the importance of early detection of the disease by paediatricians, to raise awareness and to prevent late complications by simple treatment.


Studies on the variation in the particulate matter (PM) content, Saturation Isothermal Remanent Magnetization (SIRM), and particle grain-size distribution at a high spatial resolution are helpful in evaluating the important role of urban forests in PM removal. In this study, the trees located in dense urban forests (T0) retained more PM than trees located in open spaces (T1–T4); the SIRM and PM weight of T0 were 1.54–2.53 and 1.04–1.47 times more than those of T1–T4, respectively. In addition, the SIRM and PM weight decreased with increasing distance to the road, suggesting that distance from pollution sources plays a key role in reducing the air concentration of PM. The different grain-size components were determined from frequency curve plots using a laser particle-size analyzer. A unimodal spectrum with a major peak of approximately 20 μm and a minor peak between 0.1 and 1 μm was observed, indicating that a large proportion of fine air PM was retained by the needles of the study trees. Additionally, more <2.5 μm size fraction particles were observed at the sampling site near the traffic source but, compared to a tree in a row of trees, the percentage of the >10 μm size fraction for the tree in the dense urban forest was higher, indicating that the particles deposited on the needle surface originating from traffic sources were finer than those from natural atmospheric dust. The exploration of the variation in the PM weight, SIRM, and grain size of the particles deposited on the needle surface facilitates monitoring the removal of PM by urban forests under different environmental conditions (e.g., in closed dense urban forests and in open roadside spaces), different distances to roads, and different sampling heights above the ground.


Diabetes is nothing but metabolic disorder in which blood sugar is high. There are many symptoms associated with high blood sugar like frequent urination, increased thirst and hunger. Complications in diabetes can be of two types acute or severe, acute complications include diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperglycemia or death while serious includes complications like cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic kidney disease, foot ulcers and damage to eyes. Medications to treat diabetes used to lower high blood glucose levels, there are many different classes of antidiabetic medications available like metformin and insulin. Alternate and herbal medications are also available in market, which include plants like Berberisaristata(Daruharida),Pterocapusmarsupium,Trigonellafoenumgraecum,Gymnemasylvestra,and Tinospora cordifolia. Berberis arsitatahas glucose lowering capacity and was found comparable to metformin, while on the other hand, presence of tannantes in Pterocarpus marsupium showed hypoglycaemic activity. Trigonella foecumgraecum seeds, also called as methi, inhibit glucose transport and stimulate insulin secretion by pancreases, whereas Gymnema sylvestra helps in strengthening of beta cells along with balancing antioxidant levels. This shows that these herbal products discussed not only help in lowering blood sugar levels but also without any side or adverse effect, so they can be used as alternate medicine besides allopathic treatment. Keywords: Diabetes, Berberis aristata, Pterocapus marsupim, Methi, Gymnema sylvestra, Tinospora cordifolia Cite this Article Priyanka Verma. Herbal Treatment for Diabetes Mellitus. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Drug Formulation, Development and Production . 2019; 6(2): 1–5p.


We consider autonomic applications to systems for which continuous perfect monitoring of state is not possible. We use Exact-State Observers (ESO) to provide enhanced information about the system state. To achieve optimal configuration of the autonomic controller itself, over a wide range of environmental operating conditions, and across a wide range of unique application domains, we implement a new architecture for dynamic supervision and control systems in which a policy-based autonomic engine automatically selects both its monitoring and actuator components to suit ambient operating conditions.
 By using a suite of ESOs tuned for different tradeoffs between real-time responsiveness and extent of system disturbance tolerated, and a policy mechanism to contextually select the most appropriate observer at any given time, we achieve self-configuring and self-optimising behaviours whilst keeping the complexity, resource-requirements and adaptation latency low.


- Internet of things has inhibited many parts of our modern-day lifestyles impacting the simplest to the most complex of our daily activities. Ranging from smart homes, smart water and even smart living, now even farming has been made easier by the intervention of technology. Traditional agricultural monitoring systems generally use static sinks to collect data that are often accompanied with some problems such as high construction costs, low precision, poor maintainability and so on. The advice module of the web application is designed to provide users with countermeasures that ensure humidity and temperature is within the ideal range for plant growth. The experimental results show that an MS can gather data from a large number of lands in a short time, with excellent scalability and stable operability. A smart agricultural management platform used to collect information on farming conditions (e.g., light intensity, humidity, and temperature) with the aim of enhancing crop productivity. Agricultural damage caused by birds and rodents presents a huge blow towards a country's economy. This system should allow farmers to control it wirelessly via the internet. A smart agricultural management platform that uses a MS which consists of gateway is designed and implemented. In this way, agricultural data collection has become quick and easy.


The high demand for multimedia applications in environmental monitoring, invasion detection, and disaster aid has led to the rise of wireless sensor network (WSN). With the increase of reliability and diversity of information streams, the higher requirements on throughput and quality of service (QoS) have been put forward in data transmission between two sensor nodes. However, lower spectral efficiency becomes a bottleneck in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) transmission of WSN. This paper proposes a novel nondata-aided error vector magnitude based adaptive modulation (NDA-EVM-AM) to solve the problem. NDA-EVM is considered as a new metric to evaluate the quality of NLOS link for adaptive modulation in WSN. By modeling the NLOS scenario as the η−μ fading channel, a closed-form expression for the NDA-EVM of multilevel quadrature amplitude modulation (MQAM) signals over the η−μ fading channel is derived, and the relationship between SER and NDA-EVM is also formulated. Based on these results, NDA-EVM state machine is designed for adaptation strategy. The algorithmic complexity of NDA-EVM-AM is analyzed and the outage capacity of NDA-EVM-AM in an NLOS scenario is also given. The performances of NDA-EVM-AM are compared by simulation, and the results show that NDA-EVM-AM is an effective technique to be used in the NLOS scenarios of WSN. This technique can accurately reflect the channel variations and efficiently adjust modulation order to better match the channel conditions, hence, obtaining better performance in average spectral efficiency.


We present a novel isotropic surface remeshing algorithm that automatically aligns the mesh edges with an underlying directional field. The alignment is achieved by minimizing an energy function that combines both centroidal Voronoi tessellation (CVT) and the penalty enforced by a six‐way rotational symmetry field. The CVT term ensures uniform distribution of the vertices and high remeshing quality, and the field constraint enforces the directional alignment of the edges. Experimental results show that the proposed approach has the advantages of isotropic and field‐aligned remeshing. Our algorithm is superior to the representative state‐of‐the‐art approaches in various aspects.


Introduction: Old age is an independent risk factor (RF) for severe COVID-19; evidence for clinico-epidemiological characteristics among elderly COVID-19 patients is scarce. We aimed to analyze clinical and epidemiological characteristics and comorbidities associated with COVID-19 inpatients in age-stratified populations of an elderly COVID-19 cohort. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study, using nationwide registry data of COVID-19 patients hospitalized before October 31, 2020 (major information entered in the registry as of December 28, 2020). Participants were divided by age according to the Japan Geriatrics Society and the Japan Gerontological Society: pre-old (65–74 years), old (75–89 years), and super-old (≥90 years). Multivariable logistic regression (MLR) analyses were conducted to identify stratified risk and relationships with comorbidities associated with worse outcomes in different age-groups of elderly patients. Demographics and supportive care were evaluated by category. Results: Data of 4,701 patients from 444 hospitals were included. Most patients (79.3%) had at least one comorbidity; the proportion of patients with hypertension was high in all categories. The proportion of patients with dementia, cardiovascular disease, and cerebrovascular disease increased with age. The percentage of patients who underwent invasive mechanical ventilation/extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was lower in the super-old group. In total, 11.5% of patients died (5.3%, pre-old; 15.2%, old; and 22.4%, super-old). MLR showed that the risk of critical illness differed among age-groups. Male sex was a significant RF in all ages. Collagen disease, moderate to severe renal disorder, and dialysis were significant RFs in older patients, while hematological malignancies and metastatic tumors were more important RFs for severe disease in relatively younger patients. Most of the RFs for critical illnesses were associated with death. Conclusion: Differences in the epidemiological and clinical characteristics among the different age-groups were found.


Proposed paper work concentrates on the secure transmission of text data when digital contents are commonly distributed by Internet and more security attacks are appeared from eavesdropping, data exposure and data tampering. In this paper we concentrate on hiding some secret text into a real time speech signal considering PSNR (Peak-Signal-to-Noise Ratio) and duration of speech signal as key parameters for hiding data. Text message is intended to appear as unwanted noise in speech signal to the unintended recipients and this process leads to a way direct to covert communication. A function called hash function is applied on text data before embedding it into speech signal which includes text data division into small chunks and interchanging their places in a specified manner to enhance the security level and intended recipients are supposed to extract the secret text with predetermined hash key. In this way this paper purposes a technique which can be called a cousin of steganography where a secret information is transferred by hiding it into another unsuspicious cover media such as image, audio or video signal  to conceal actual existence of secret message.


In this paper, we provide an asymptotic precision analysis of blind adaptive filter coefficients derived from a wide class of scale-invariant cost functions implicitly implemented in a batch processing mode. This analysis is based on a first-order Taylor expansion of the cost functions in the vicinity of their maxima and represents an extension of Donoho's (1981) classic asymptotic precision analysis to the complex case. Through this analysis we have a means of discriminating among different nonlinear cost functions in the sense of yielding more precise estimates with N finite samples. We also find that cost functions based on very large order statistics tend to have highly desirable convergence properties over a wide range of constellations.<<ETX>>


In this paper, we investigated social exchange theory (SET) and its underlying mechanism of obligation feeling in light of potential context effects. To date, the bulk of the research on SET has been based on North American samples, with little understanding whether the theory transcends cultural contexts in its ability to explain and effectively predict. Thus, in order to expand our knowledge in this area, we examined SET in a Swedish sample. Using 402 professional employees, we tested whether felt obligation mediated the relationships between perceived organizational support and both affective organizational commitment and personal initiative. The results partially confirmed the applicability of SET in a Swedish context. The paper makes a contribution to the literature by extending empirical research on SET and its applications in a non-U.S. environment, and thus, highlighting the increased importance of context in organizational science research today.


The combination of spatial structure and non-linear population dynamics can promote the persistence of coupled populations, even when the average population growth rate of the patches seen in isolation would predict otherwise. This phenomenon has generally been conceptualized and investigated through the movement of individuals among patches that each holds many individuals, as in metapopulation models. However, population persistence can likewise increase as the result of individuals moving among sites (e.g. breeding territories) within in a single patch. Here I examine the latter: individuals making small-scale informed decisions with respect to where to breed can promote population persistence in poor environments. Based on a simple algebraic model, I demonstrate information thresholds, and predict that greater information use is required for population persistence under lower spatial heterogeneity in habitat quality, all else equal. Second, I implement an individual-based model to explore prior experience and prospecting on conspecific success within a more complex, and spatially heterogeneous environment. Uniquely, I jointly examine the effects of simulated habitat loss, spatial heterogeneity prior to habitat, and variation in information gathering on population persistence. I find that habitat loss accelerates population quasi-extinction risk; however, information use reduces extinction probabilities in proportion to the level of information gathering. Per capita reproductive success declines with number of breeding sites, suggesting that information-mediated Allee effects may contribute to extinction risk. In conclusion, my study suggests that populations in a changing world may be increasingly vulnerable to extinction where patch size and spatial heterogeneity constrain the effectiveness of information-use strategies.


Fault zones focus fluid expulsion in the muddy northern Barbados Ridge accretionary prism with fault-parallel permeabilities about 1000 times greater than intergranular permeabilities in the adjacent sediment. In the Oregon prism the low bedding-perpendicular permeability (due to mudstones) inhibits intergranular dewatering; however, intergranular flow is concentrated where submarine erosion breaches high permeability sandy layers. Even so, faults can capture fluid flow from these exposed sandy layers suggesting the faults have a still higher permeability. Such observations coupled with laboratory measurements permeabilities suggest that faults off Oregon may have fault-parallel permeabilities at least 10-10000 times greater than the adjacent sediments. Results from Barbados and Oregon suggest fluid flow is concentrated along the most active faults. At the toe of prisms the fault zones are being progressively loaded by the thickening wedge and are undergoing compaction. Preliminary experiments show that permeability decreases relative to the surrounding wall rocks along faults within this compactive deformation regime; we believe that these faults must undergo dilation, perhaps linked to transient increases in pore pressure if they are to be preferential fluid conduits. Farther upslope erosion exposes rocks that are more consolidated, commonly more cemented, and generally of lower intergranular permeability than rocks of equivalent burial further seaward. Because of their lithification and overconsolidation these rocks dilate during faulting, locally enhancing fracture permeability. In such dilative regimes, faults become evermore focused zones of fluid expulsion relative to occluded intergranular pathways.


Using a neural network, we develop novel measures of conservatism that fits non-linearities and interactions absent in prior literature. The machine-learning measures exhibit (i) fewer economically anomalous observations, (ii) economic associations consistent with existing studies, (iii) less unexplained year-over-year instability, and (iv) higher economic magnitudes consistent with reduced attenuation bias. The measure further reveals intuitive trends toward a secular decline in conservatism in the US. In simulations, linear models perform honorably even in the presence of a complex data-generating process but causal inference based on machine learning is the most robust to misspecification. The approach offers the promise of reducing noise in measurements and design more powerful tests to assess theories of conservatism.


We discover that this inaccessible, steep-sided river gorge in the Kaokoveld is not named Slangkloof for nothing - and make some interesting botanical discoveries. The quartzitic sandstone massif known as the Baynes Mountains is situated in north-western Namibia. Most of the vegetation there is dry savanna, with some afromontane remnants on the higher peaks (that reach 2 000 m) and semi-desert towards the Kunene River.


: Expedience of determination of a C-reactive protein contents in the early diagnosis of septic complications in children with surgical and somatic pathologies, admitted to hospital, in severe state into departments of reanimatology and intensive therapy, were studied up.


In the search for multiferroic materials magnetic compounds with a strongly elongated unit-cell (large axial ratio c/a) have been scrutinized intensely. However, none was hitherto proven to have a switchable polarization, an essential feature of ferroelectrics. Here, we provide evidence for the epitaxial stabilization of a monoclinic phase of BiFeO3 with a giant axial ratio (c/a=1.23) that is both ferroelectric and magnetic at room temperature. Surprisingly, and in contrast with previous theoretical predictions, the polarization does not increase dramatically with c/a. We discuss our results in terms of the competition between polar and antiferrodistortive instabilities and give perspectives for engineering multiferroic phases.


Clay mineral transformations during burial are indicators of the degree of diagenesis of sediments. Diagenetic zonations in numerous wells of the Swiss molasse basin are defined by the disappearance of smectite and (or) the appearance of either corrensite or irregular 2:1 mixed layers. The maximum level attained in the thickest molasse sections corresponds to organic matter maturation suitable for hydrocarbon generation. Reconstructed on the basis of the clay mineral transformation data, a burial history of the basin is proposed.


Stapled ileal J pouch-anal anastomosis Sir We are concerned by the message conveyed by Brough and Schofield (Br J Sury 1989; 76: 350-1) regarding the need to evert the rectum to facilitate placement of a distal purse-string suture during the performance of a stapled ileal J pouch-anal anastomosis. We believe the technique to he at best unnecessary and at worst exposing the patient to avoidable postoperative sphincter damage. Alternative techniques have been described which enable the rectal stump to be cross-stapled', so avoiding the use of a purse-string suture completely. Indeed, an article in the same edition of The British Journal of Surgery' details some of the problems associated with purse-string sutures while describing a technique that avoids the use of both an ileal reservoir purse-string suture as well as one around the rectal stump. Ileal reservoir anastomosis at the dentate line has been shown to be associated with inferior functional results compared with anastomosis at the top of the anal canal3. The risk of malignant change in the remaining 1 cm of mucosa is small4 and the grade of inflammation low'. Clearly this small risk cannot be ignored; however, inspection of the remaining mucosa is facilitated by the use of a long proctoscope or a paediatric sigmoidoscope. We d o not share the authors' optimism that 'eversion of the rectal stump does not alter anal function'. Data are lacking, but Goligher6 questioned the validity of comparisons made by himself and others using unmatched patient groups with small numbers and multiple uncontrolled variable factors. Martin' described a nocturnal soiling rate of less than 5 per cent in 105 patients (age range 8-69 years), all of whom had a mucosal proctectomy performed from the abdominal route. The anastomosis was at 1 cm above the dentate line with the ileal reservoir being hand-sutured and the anastomosis performed endoanally. Although an increased length of follow-up could have accounted for some of the functional improvement, his results are better than those reported from a recent review of the results of nine separate centre?. A recent report of a series of 100 patients, all of whom had a rectal eversion technique performed as part of their ileal reservoir procedure', ended with the author describing a nocturnal soiling rate of 25 per cent 12 months following ileostomy closure. Details of the incidence of postoperative bladder and sexual disturbances are lacking as are details of manometry technique. We would also question whether retention of semisolid porridge reflects the preservation of continence in the early postoperative stage when stool consistency is liquid and the majority of soiling episodes documented have occurred at night'. With the recent emphasis on minimal stretching of the anal ~phincter'.~ during ileal reservoir anastomosis to the anal canal, we feel that eversion of the rectal stump exposes patients to the risk of avoidable complications not only due to excessive sphincter stretch hut also to a traction neuropathy of the multiple delicate perirectal autonomic nerves. W. A. Kmiot K. Hosie M. R. B. Keighley Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham B15 2TH U K I . Adloff M, Arnaud J-P, Thibaud D, Bergamaschi R . Facilitating low colorectal anastomosis: preliminary results. Am J Surg 1986;


This study is focusing on the vegetation of seminatural dry grasslands. Those loess grasslands are valuable with large biodiversity; however their long-term preservation requires regular conservation management. The report demonstrates the results of mowing experiment, designed to suppress the spread of unpalatable grass species, Calamagrostis epigeios. The study site is located in mid-successional loss grasslands, in the Western-Cserhát, near Rád, northern Hungary.
The study aims to the investigate the followings: Can the unpalatable Calamagrostis epigejos be suppressed by mowing? Are there possibilities to increase the diversity of sward by this? The study aims, to measure potential value-increasing effect of mowing, and to determine the carrying capacity in the aspect of grassland management.
In 2001, Camagrostis epigeios was the species with the highest coverage rate according to the both treatment types, with an average cover value of 63%. However, as a result of mowing, a significant difference was detected in the amount of litter and legumes species as well. The number of species showed a slight increase in both types of treatment, from 15 to 37 in the mowed plots, but also from 18 to 27 in the control plots. We concluded that mowing twice a year was beneficial to modify botanical composition of a grassland. In a way it was suited well for agricultural usage, in particular grazing which can replace the expensive and time-consuming scythe. It is also a suitable management measure for controlling the native invader species as a Calamagrostis epigeios, and can significantly increase the proportion of species with higher forage values.
Mowing has significantly increased the density of Calamagrostis epigeios, the species richness, and the diversity in the course of secondary succession. Therefore, mowing twice a year proved to be a successful management measure for controlling Calamagrostis epigeios, and for obtaining a sward composition. The treatment was effective in restoring grassland composition, although the achievement and maintenance of favourable conservation status for the grassland habitat require long-term management planning and regular treatment. According to the objectives, mowing not only promotes the control of the invasive species, but also the economic utilization of the area.


Some optimization algorithms based on theories from immunology have the feature of finding an arbitrary number of optima, including the global solution. However, this advantage comes at the cost of a large number of objective function evaluations, in most cases, prohibitive in electromagnetic design. This paper proposes a modified version of the artificial immune network algorithm (opt-AINet) for electromagnetic design optimization. The objective of this modified AINet (m-AINet) is to reduce the computational effort required by the algorithm, while keeping or improving the convergence characteristics. Another improvement proposed is to make it more suitable for constrained problems through the utilization of a specific constraint-handling technique. The results obtained over an analytical problem and the design of an electromagnetic device show the applicability of the proposed algorithm


Since open platforms such as Android vary in device manufacturers and application developers, modifications in software happened in multiple layers. Therefore, every layer including OS, library, framework and application may have defects within. Especially, a memory leakage which increases memory usage and diminish overall system performance is the key issue in embedded systems with highly limited resources. In this paper, we suggest a technique that detects memory leakage by gathering memory execution information in run-time via PCB hooking and apply this technique to actual Android smartphones. The suggested technique does not require a target source code and any hardware changes for memory leakage detection, and it is characterized by maintaining the same target runtime status even in detecting while minimizing performance overhead simultaneously. We implemented an automated tool of this technique for Android Smartphone, and show that it is effective.


A cross-layer optimization combining retransmission diversity with multi-user diversity is investigated for wireless communications. To this end, a joint design of adaptive modulation and coding with retransmission-based automatic repeat request protocol is first outlined. This design is then employed to devise multi-user scheduling schemes which can optimally capture the available multiuser and retransmission diversities. In addition, the proposed on-line scheduling algorithms can operate even when the underlying fading channel distribution is unknown a priori, while asymptotically converging to the offline benchmark with guarantees on prescribed fairness and rate requirements. Numerical results are provided to verify the merits of our novel schemes for multi-user transmissions over Nakagami block fading channels.


A visually guided mobile platform acting in a dynamic environment needs information, delivered from cues such as stereo and motion. In this paper a binocular stereo system, capable of dynamic vergence and ego-motion estimation, will be presented. The ability to dynamically verge the cameras is essential for visual tasks such as tracking, recognition and manipulation, since the computation of 3D geometry will be considerably simplified at fixation. We will show that the epipolar geometry of the presented system can be estimated in real-time. The number of degrees of freedom has been minimized, without affecting the flexibility of the system. Reconstructed 3D data is used in order to determine the ego-motion of the platform, at a very low computational cost. Finally, it will be shown how disparity maps and estimated ego-motion can facilitate the localization of independently moving objects.


Decarboxylative benzylation of nitriles is achieved via coupling of metallated nitriles with Pd-π-benzyl complexes that are generated in situ from cyanoacetic benzyl esters. In addition, decarboxylative couplings of α,α-disubstituted 2-methylfuranyl cyanoacetates can lead to either decarboxylative arylation or benzylation depending on the reaction conditions.


In this work, we consider distributed agreement tasks in microbial distributed systems under stochastic population dynamics and competitive interactions. We examine how competitive exclusion can be used to solve distributed agreement tasks in the microbial setting. To this end, we develop a new technique for analyzing the time to reach competitive exclusion in systems with several competing species under biologically realistic population dynamics. We use this technique to analyze a protocol that exploits competitive interactions to solve approximate majority consensus efficiently in synthetic microbial systems. We show that direct competition dynamics reach majority consensus with high probability when the initial gap between the species is small, i.e., $\Omega(\sqrt{n \log n})$, where $n$ is the initial population size of the majority species. In contrast, we show that indirect competition alone is not efficient: for example, solving majority consensus with high probability requires an initial gap of $\Omega(n)$. To corroborate our analytical results, we use computer simulations to show that these consensus dynamics occur within practical time scales.


The propulsive performance of airbreathing pulse detonation engines at selected flight conditions is evaluated by means of a combined analytical/numerical analysis. The work treats the conservation equations in axisymmetric coordinates and takes into account finite-rate chemistry and variable thermophysical properties for a stoichiometric hydrogen/air mixture. In addition, an analytical model accounting for the state changes of the working fluid in pulse detonation engine operation is established to predict the engine performance in an idealized situation. The system under consideration includes a supersonic inlet, an air manifold, a valve, a detonation tube, and a convergent-divergent nozzle. Both internal and external modes of valve operation are implemented. Detailed flow evolution is explored, and various performance loss mechanisms are identified and quantified. The influences of all known effects (such as valve operation timing, filling fraction of reactants, nozzle configuration, and flight condition) on the engine propulsive performance are investigated systematically. A performance map is established over the flight Mach number of 1.2-3.5. Results indicate that the pulse detonation engine outperforms ramjet engines for all the flight conditions considered herein. The benefits of pulse detonation engines are significant at low-supersonic conditions, but gradually decrease with increasing flight Mach number.


Globalization has brought in a number of changes in the world today changing it into a global market. The direct nexus between the industry, corporate world and higher education has brought a transformation in the skills required for various jobs. Natural and Pure Sciences are not considered supreme anymore. Applied Sciences and professional skills are much more in demand now. The new developments have led to the de-evaluation of the subjects in the fields of Humanities and Social Sciences. Women used to take admission in the Colleges in General Education, Arts or in Humanities in the early 1990's. The trend is very much different now. They are now entering into the Professional courses offered by Public and self-financing Private Institutions for pursuing higher education in masculine dominated disciplines. The impact of these changes draws attention to the social change and gender equity. Feminist perspectives on women's educational qualifications have expressed their concern on their under participation, underachievement and under-representation. This paper deals with the appraisal of the changes in choice of subjects available to them and the reasons for this change. The impact of social, cultural and economic disparities across various states in India on the enrollment of women varies from state to state. It is a well known fact that the proportion of women from the dalit and adivasi community is negligible. It is thus imperative to create a broad based database on higher education which is gender sensitive. It is high time that the Government evolved a framework on the appraisal of the role and functions of higher education, both public and private. For this, a focused vision is required which will reach out to more women by encompassing the issues of access to and equity with respect to education of women in the higher education sector.


We investigate the role played by the credit supply shock across the business cycle in the U.S. over the period 1973 - 2018. We estimate a nonlinear VAR including nominal, real, monetary, and financial variables. According to our results, a credit supply shock triggers asymmetric and negative effects on macroeconomic variables. We find that the state-dependent forecast error variance decomposition of industrial production, employment, and inflation due to the shock is from six to eight times larger in recessions than in normal times.


This study examines British strategies for social control during the Arab revolt in Palestine in 1936-39. It focuses specifically on the British discourse of criminality vis-a-vis the Arabs, and the ways in which this discourse related to British and Zionist representations of Arab Palestinian nationalism. Its primary finding is that British imperial discourse in the 1930s necessitated that nationalist movements such as that for Arab Palestinian independence be criminalized in a particular manner. London tended in the nineteenth century to regard the nationalist movements within its colonial domains as essentially criminal enterprises. Given the terms of the post-WWI mandates system, however, the British were poorly positioned to suggest that Palestinian nationalists in general were criminally inclined. After all, the entire justification for the British presence in the Middle East was the shepherding of its peoples across the threshold of national autonomy. Thus, while the British undoubtedly practiced a form of colonialism in Iraq and Palestine/Transjordan, they did so on an anti-colonial pretext. When the movement for Palestinian national independence threatened their traditional colonial prerogatives in 1936-39, the British could neither plausibly deny the existence of Palestinian nationalism nor suggest that it amounted to mere criminality. In consequence, while privately acknowledging that they faced a nationalist uprising in the mandate, British officials publicly presented the rebellion as the work of a criminal minority masquerading as a national army. In this, they had the full support of mainstream Zionist opinion, both official and popular. By presenting the rebellion as a crime wave, both parties attempted to marginalize what the revolt sought to foreground: the Arab majority's case for national autonomy in Palestine. In neglecting to narrate the events of 1936-39 within this political context, previous histories of the Palestinian Great Revolt have often reproduced uncritically aspects of the British and Zionist criminological framing of the rebellion.


India's investment rate has increased fourfold since 1950 and has risen sharply this decade to 36% of GDP. But contradictory views have been expressed regarding the importance of this investment pattern for India's economic growth. This paper evaluates the impact of the rise in India's investment rate on its economic growth, using the neoclassical growth model. It finds that, although rises in the investment rate and capital accumulation have been strong, the increases in the investment rate have added no more than 1.2 percentage points, and perhaps as little as 0.7 percentage points, to India's overall growth rate of GDP per worker of 2.7%. It also shows that the current investment boom will have a very small effect on future growth rates and that the benefits from further increases in the investment rate are also likely to be small.


TRF1, a key player in regulation of the telomere length, is a double-stranded telomeric DNA binding factor in vertebrate. The DNA-binding domain of TRF1 shows a sequence similarity to each of the tandem repeat in the DNA-binding domain of the c-Myb protein. Here, the solution structure of the DNA-binding domain of human TRF1 has been determined by NMR. It consists of three helices, and its topological arrangement is very close to that of each c-Myb repeat and also to that of each subdomain of the DNA-binding domain in yeast telomeric protein, Rap1p. The interaction with DNA has been investigated by chemical shift perturbations. The result suggests that TRF1 recognizes the sequence centered on AGGGTTA mainly with its N-terminal arm, N-terminal portion of second helix and both ends of third helix.


Activation of innate immunity pathways in susceptible cell types is critical for host defense against influenza-A viruses (IAV). Based on studies signifying a role for NOX1 in inflammation, we hypothesized that IAV of seasonal and pandemic potential may induce different isoforms of NOX enzymes in the respiratory tract, and that attenuation of virus strain-specific NOX enzymes can be exploited to prevent and/or treat severity of disease. Using three respiratory tract-relevant cell lines (epithelial/A549, endothelial/HULEC, and monoctytic/THP1) and three strains of IAV (H1N1/PR8, H3N2/X31, H1N1/WSN), we found significant upregulation of NOX1 in all three cell lines (e.g.-A549: PR8/55 fold; X31/35 fold; WSN/12,250 fold). Furthermore, in contrast to the epithelial cell line showing NOX1 expression by 4h with peak levels at 16h, the monocytic cell line showed delayed (8h) and sustained (48h) levels of NOX1. Interestingly, inhibition of NOX-isoforms in IAV-infected epithelial cells by diphenyleneiodonium (DPI), at a concentration (25μM), which did not impact cell death, showed significant decrease (75%) in virus triggered NOX1 levels. In addition, NOX-inhibition led to significant decrease in virus-induced chemokines (MCP1, MIP3, MIP1β, RANTES, and IP10) and proinflammatory cytokines (IL1α, IL6, IL8, and TNFα). Furthermore, decline in NOX1 correlated with a modest increase in viral NS1. Taken together, in addition to showing definitive evidence for upregulation of NOX1 in response to subtypes of IAV, our results strongly support a role for NOX1 in IAV-driven inflammation.


Laura Anderson, a vice president in High Places Studios production-finance department, needs to make a recommendation to the studios president, Leo Walsh, regarding whether the studio should go ahead with the production of an exciting mystery movie. Walsh has the final say on the development and production of movie scripts for major box-office release. This new movie idea, like so many others in the film industry, is risky. It could become a blockbuster hit, but it could also become a costly failure. Alternatively, Anderson could recommend that Walsh forgo production of the movie drama and use the studios currently available resources to produce a film from another script for Home Box Office (HBO). Anderson has to determine the best use of the studios current production resources. The HBO option would provide fairly certain profits. Conversely, a huge hit at the box office could put High Places on the map as a major contender among the Hollywood studios, but a flop could incur significant losses, which High Places could ill afford. See also the B case, UVA-QA-0547.


For the past eight years we have had under our care a remarkable treatment-resistant progressive case of Darier's disease. We should like at this time to summarize certain findings in this patient. Despite the fact that many of these studies are largely of a negative type, they are presented in the hope that they will stimulate further research in this challenging and baffling disease. Report of a Case Case1.—This patient, now 18 years old, was first seen as a boy of 10 years. A scaling pruritic plaque had first appeared on his scalp at the age of 9 years. This rapidly extended over the entire scalp and on to the forehead. At the time of his initial visit he presented the classic keratotic lesion of Darier's disease (Fig. 2). His mother likewise showed skin lesions typical of Darier's disease, and, by history, her sister had the


Thiostatin was purified from acute phase plasma of turpentine-treated rats by a novel, single-step carboxymethyl-papain Sepharose 4B column chromatographic procedure. Purified thiostatin appeared as a single band in SDS-PAGE with an estimated molecular weight of 68,000. Western blot with polyclonal rabbit anti-thiostatin IgG confirmed a homogeneous immuno-reactive 68 kDa species. Specific activity, as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), was 0.972 mg kininogen equivalent per mg protein. The yield of thiostatin exceeded 60% and the protein was purified 10.7-fold.


Abstract : This report describes a laboratory test program on abrasion-erosion resistance of concrete, including the development of a new underwater abrasion-erosion test method. This program was designed to evaluate the relative abrasion-erosion resistance of various materials considered for use in the repair of erosion-damaged concrete structures. The test program encompassed three concrete types (conventional concrete, fiber-reinforced concrete, and polymer concrete); seven aggregate types (limestone, chert, trap rock, quartzite, granite, siliceous gravel, and slag); three principal water-cement rations (0.72, 0.54, and 0.40); and six types of surface treatment (vacuum, polyurethane coating, acrylic mortar coating, epoxy mortar coating, furan resin mortar coating, and iron aggregate topping). A total of 114 specimens made from 41 batches of concrete was tested. Based on the test data obtained, a comprehensive evaluation of the effects of various parameters on the abrasion-erosion resistance of concrete was presented. Materials suitable for use in the repair of erosion-damaged concrete structures were recommended. Additional work to correlate the reported findings with field performance was formulated.


A 32 year-old woman admitted to our clinic with right flank pain. Her abdominal computed tomography showed a huge mass in the right adrenal area, compressing the right kidney. The mass had a regular surface and consisted of cystic and necrotic areas. The left kidney and the adrenal gland had a normal appearance. The magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated that the lesion originated from neural foramina of the lumbar area. The mass was freed from the spinal cord and was completely resected using posterior and retroperitoneal approach. Histopathological examination of the specimen revealed a degenerate schwannoma. Patient was discharged on the 4 th day after the operation without any complication. The patient has been uneventful until the 6 th month of follow up.


Abstract Multiple lines of stratigraphic, geochemical, and fossil data suggest that fresh-mesohaline paleolakes were widespread in the Tengger Desert of northwestern China and underwent major fluctuations during the late Pleistocene. The paleolakes started to develop at ca. 42,000 14C yr B.P. The lake levels were the highest between 35,000 and 22,000 14C yr B.P., during which Megalake Tengger dominated the landscape. The climatic conditions at this time were unique for this area and have no modern analogue. After an episode of decline between 22,000 and 20,000 14C yr B.P. and an episode of rebound between 20,000 and 18,600 14C yr B.P., the paleolakes started to desiccate and completely disappeared around 18,000 14C yr B.P. The environmental proxy data indicate that the Megalake Tengger formed under warm–humid climates. The reconstructed climatic variations appear to be correlative with the abrupt climatic events reconstructed for the North Atlantic.


With an extended production cycle up to 100 weeks of age, the yearly number of layer
chickens hatched and reared can be reduced, and in turn so can the euthanasia of day-old male
chickens. Lately, the interest for keeping laying hens for a prolonged production cycle has
increased in Sweden as well as in other European countries. However, concerns exist
regarding how prolonged laying cycles affect egg quality, animal welfare as well as producer
economy. In this trial, the two commercial hybrids LSL Classic and Bovans Robust were
housed in furnished cages and a single tier floor production system. In addition to the effects
of age, an organic mineral complex with a hypothesized positive effect on egg quality,
integument and skeletal condition was evaluated. The study was conducted during 20-61
weeks of age. There were no consistent effects of the mineral amino acid complex
supplementation on either egg quality, plumage condition or keel bone deformities at a hen
age of 55 weeks. However, there were a lot of differences between hybrids regarding egg
composition and layer performance in the two production systems. As expected and
concluded in earlier research; egg shell quality, plumage condition and keel bone deformities
were negatively affected by increased hen age.