BackgroundThis study was designed to investigate the relation of a molecular analysis of apolipoprotein B (apoB)-containing atherogenic lipoprotein particles to coronary artery disease (CAD) in middle-aged men. Methods and ResultsTwo groups of men were studied. The first consisted of 97 patients with angiographically documented CAD (greater than 50% stenosis of at least one coronary artery). The second group consisted of 145 subjects without symptomatic CAD, who served as controls. In both groups, measurements were obtained for total cholesterol level, triglyceride level, cholesterol contents in apoB- and nonapoB-containing particles (LpB, LpnonB), total apoB and apolipoprotein AI (apoAl levels), lipoprotein particles recognized by monoclonal antibodies anti-apoB (LpBL3, LpBL5, LpBL7) and anti-apoAl (LpAI-2G11). Taking into account age, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, smoking habits, and drug consumption, the analysis showed that the mean levels of cholesterol were identical in both groups but differed when cholesterol content in LpB and LpnonB subfractions were assessed, thus reflecting an increase in the low density fraction and a decrease in the high density fraction, respectively. This was confirmed by an increase in total apoB and a decrease in total apoAl. Measurements of LpBL3, LpBL5, LpBL7, and LpAI-2G11 particles also discriminated between the two groups. After adjustment for cholesterol content in LpnonB particles, a difference in total apoB was no longer significant between groups, whereas LpBL3, LpBL5, and LpBL7 levels remained significantly higher in CAD patients. ConclusionsThe measurement of separate concentrations of apoB in different particles may permit a more-accurate assessment of CAD risk than measurements of total apoB levels. (Circulation 1991;84:153–159)


The study explores the factors influencing motivation of employees in organization. It focuses on two different professional industries; hospitality and education. This study also denotes the importance of certain elements that can help to build the fundamental cores of an organization. There are three main motivational factors that can be considered as important variables in achieving the organization's goals; leadership styles, organisational environment and reward system. In the context of working in a professional setting, achieving the organizational goals is a vital step in sustaining the organization's performance. Motivation at the workplace was seen as one of the crucial elements that help in achieving organizational goals. Hence this study was conducted to analyse the three main motivational factors and how they influence an organization. Furthermore, a theoretical framework was also designed to cater to research requirements. Future studies may apply the theoretical framework designed in this study to explore other areas that are relevant to other factors that can drive organizational members into achieving the goals set.


Objective: To evaluate intervention characteristics and components within behavioral sleep interventions in school-aged children with ADHD and examine evidence related to effectiveness. Method: A systematic review was conducted using PsycINFO, Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed, and OpenGray. The subsequent meta-analysis used sleep outcomes to produce comparable effect sizes (Hedges' g) and compare intervention effects between randomized controlled trials and pre-post studies. Results: Eleven articles satisfied the inclusion criteria (562 children, across all groups, aged 5–14 years, M = 8.71). Studies reported improvements in sleep although there was marked heterogeneity between studies and limited use of objective sleep measures within them. On average, intervention groups improved more than control groups in the five randomized controlled trials (−0.46, 95% CI = [−0.58, −0.35], k = 4). Conclusion: The findings support the use of behavioral sleep interventions for school-aged children with ADHD. Findings suggest that brief, individualized intervention may be more effective than standardized.


The article is devoted to the little-studied Ukrainian poet of the sixties, dissident M. Kholodnyi, his creative style, analysis of motifs, images, and symbols of lyrical heritage, and the phenomenon of creative individuality. Socio-political reflection of Ukrainian tragedies, the role of the artist and his work singled out among the motifs of his poetry. There are images of famous Ukrainian writers who are carriers of the code of national memory and help to shape the national consciousness of future generations. A separate block constitutes his intimate lyric poetry reflecting the various facets of the spiritual and corporeal together with emotions ranging from romantic to deeply sensual. It is noted that among the writers of the 60s generation, his poetry is distinguished by the presence of sharp satire and tragedy in depicting paradoxical and absurd Soviet reality.


Nitrogen-containing stereotriads, compounds with three adjacent stereodefined carbons, are commonly found in biologically important molecules. However, the preparation of molecules bearing these motifs can be challenging. Herein, we describe a modular oxidation protocol which converts a substituted allene to a triply functionalized amine of the form C-X/C-N/C-Y. The key step employs a Rh-catalyzed intramolecular conversion of the allene to a strained bicyclic methylene aziridine. This reactive intermediate is further elaborated to the target products, often in one reaction vessel and with effective transfer of the axial chirality of the allene to point chirality in the stereotriad.


Aim: The study was conducted to know a relation of convergence insufficiency with error of refraction in a Rural Hospital set-up
Methodology: A cross-sectional study and randomized selection of sample was conducted to determine the
Convergence insufficiency using different subjective techniques in subjects of age (20-30years) in UPUMS saifai,
Etawah. Subjects of age of 20-30 years of age were included in the initial screening for measuring visual acuity. The
subjects emmetropes or ametropes with BCVA, Best Corrected Visual Acuity of 6/6 -6/9 in both eyes were only included
while subjects having history of any ocular or systemic pathology affecting VA were excluded. Data collected was
recorded and statistical calculations were done.
Results: Out of sample population (47% males and 53% females with mean age of 10.04 years), 16% were significantly
affected with CI including emmetropes, myopes, hypermetropes and astigmats. In this study, the prevalence of Moderate
CI and Severe CI was 10% and 6% respectively while the prevalence of REs was Myopic astigmatism=53%, Myopia =19%,
Hypermetropic astigmatism =11%, emmetropic =10%, Hypermetropic =4% and Mixed astigmatism =3%. Significant
amount of association was found between CI and Myopia.
Conclusion: Both CI and REs were shown to have very high prevalence (in particular CI and myopia). The results of this study are surely going to benefit the researchers in comprehending the relation of CI with REs. The study pointed on the necessity of visual screening for REs as well as CI of students at institution platform. It is essential to identify the subject prone to, referral for further investigation and management before the development of any symptom in order to prevent convergence insufficiency related anomalies.


This paper argues that initial conditions, in terms of the set of institutions (put) in place at the birth of a nation, matter for future prosperity. Several propositions from the New Institutional Economics literature are corroborated by evidence from fourteen Pacific island countries that lead to recommend policy settings necessary for the economic development. These recommendations include the establishment of clear property rights with the absolute paramountcy of the rule of law, a simple regulatory system that is subject to minimal discretion, an active media, and an independent judiciary. On the last two, foreign participation is necessary given the small and enclave nature of these professions.


With the incorporation of the Crimean Peninsula into Russian territory, the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine and the temporary formation of the confederation of Novorossiia (New Russia), the international community of states has been witness to complex processes of reimagining territories, boundaries, citizenship, and fragmented sovereignties in the post-Soviet space. In its foreign policy agenda, Russia conceptualizes all former Soviet republics as the 'Near Abroad', a special sphere of its interests and influence. This paper explores Russia's use of the vocabulary of international law to legitimize its interventions in the Near Abroad, which is connected to the ' Russkii Mir ' (Russian World), another foreign policy concept that resonates with ideas of Neo-Eurasianism and the Fourth Political Theory and with the creation of a Eurasian space as a counter-concept to the West. Russia and its conceptualized antagonist, the West, take positions on public international (legal) front lines, evoking counter-narratives concerning their understandings of the meaning of the vocabulary of international law and politics, the regulation of international relations, and the foundations of world order. These clashes leave observers wondering: Russia may instrumentalize and manipulate the vocabulary of geopolitics, international law, and politics, but what if these clashes are also rooted in different imaginaries of international law and politics? Against this background, this article aims to develop conceptual approaches to further investigate and gain a better understanding of the complex dimensions of the clashes between Russian and Western counter-narratives and discourses concerning the meanings and functions of basic principles of international law and politics as powerful societal regulative imaginaries.


The authors calculate the classical partition function for a mean-field effective Hamiltonian with a finite number of spins. They find a single-valued magnetisation as a function of the external magnetic field, with a sharp transition at zero magnetic field, below the Curie point. The authors then calculate the thermodynamic limit for the same system (equivalent to the infinite-dimensional Ising model) in a straightforward fashion, and find the corresponding discontinuous behaviour at the phase transition point, with no van der Waals loop.


George Eliot, author of "Middlemarch", Adam Bede", "Silas Marner", "Felix Holt" and "Mill on the Floss" was the greatest literary heroine of the 19th century. At the peak of her career she was one of the three most famous women in Victorian England. This book draws upon Eliot's previously unpublished letters to create a revised portrait of her both as a woman and as an artist. The author examines the Victorian contradictions she faced as an intellect, a sensitive individual and a plain woman, rejecting the view of previous biographers that she depended on men. Rather, he sees each of her unusual relationships - with Charles Bray, John Chapman, Herbert Spencer and finally with the married Lewes - as a form of absorption of their place in the masculine world that was denied to her directly.


A prospective analysis was done to 198 patients with aseptic meningoencefalitis who were in the provincial hospital «Dr. Antonio Luaces Iraola of Ciego de Avila, Cuba. Studies with paired serums to determine neutralizing antibodies to enterovirus, hemoaglutination test, viral neutralization for arbovirus, hemolysis for leptospira and virological study of feces searching enterovirus. An enterovirus was found as etiologic agent in a 36.8% of the patients. The leptospira was the second agent frequently found in 14.6%. The etiologic agent was determined in the 51.4% studied sampler. Palabras clave: Palabras clave: Palabras clave: Palabras clave: Palabras clave: Meningoencefalitis aseptica, estudio etiologico.


Aneuploidy is frequently noted in malignant tumours. There is much controversy about its cause and effect in relation to malignant tumours. Failure of the spindle checkpoint caused by mutation of the responsible genes may be one of the important factors for the development of aneuploidy. Telomere dysfunction may also be a possible source of failure of cytokinesis resulting in aneuploidy. Evidence such as tumour specific aneuploidy, presence of aneuploidy in various preneoplastic conditions, increased frequency of genetic instability in aneuploid cell lines compared with diploid cells, and mutation of mitotic checkpoint genes suggests that aneuploidy possibly plays an active role in carcinogenesis. In this brief review, the various aspects of aneuploidy with special emphasis on its mechanism of development and impact on progression of cancer are discussed.


This paper is concerned with an application of the use of freedom in the coordinates transformation for exact linearizaion. We apply this technique to obstacle avoidance of a manipulator in the master-slave control. We show how to use the freedom for such an object and give the way to construct the linearizing coordinates transformation and feedback. And we evaluate the effectiveness of our technique by experiments.


Nutcracker syndrome is a vascular pathology result from compressing the left renal vein between the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and abdominal aorta. Patients usually complain of abdominal pain and symptoms from renal venous hypertension. In this case, a 32-year-old male patient presented with chronic abdominal pain for two years. İnvestigations showed the left renal artery compressed between SMA and abdominal aorta. He was operated on by using a spiral saphenous vein graft. The operation was done successfully with no complications.


Abstract Background and purpose: The galactose analog 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-galactose (FDGal) is used for quantification of regional hepatic metabolic capacity by functional positron emission tomography computerized tomography (PET/CT). In the present study, FDGal PET/CT was used for functional treatment planning (FTP) of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) of liver metastases with the aim of minimizing radiation dose to the best functioning liver tissue. Material and methods: Fourteen patients referred for SBRT had FDGal PET/CT performed before and one month after the treatment. The planning CT and the FDGal PET/CT images were deformable co-registered. Results: A reduction in the mean dose of approximately 2 Gy to the best functioning sub-volumes was obtained. One patient developed grade 2 acute morbidity and no patients experienced grade 3 or higher acute morbidities. The regional hepatic metabolic function post-treatment was linearly correlated to the regional radiation dose and for each 10-Gy increase in dose (γ10Gy), the metabolic function was reduced by 12%. A 50% reduction was seen at 22.9 Gy in 3 fractions (CI 95%: 16.7–30.4 Gy). Conclusion: The clinical study demonstrates the feasibility for FTP in patients with liver metastases and it was possible to minimize the radiation dose to the best functioning liver tissue.


Targeted vascular occlusion is desirable for clinical therapies such as in the treatment of esophageal and gastric varices and varicose veins. The feasibility of ultrasound-mediated endothelial damage for vascular occlusion was studied. A segment of a rabbit auricular vein was treated in vivo with low duty cycle, high peak rarefaction pressure (9 MPa) high-intensity focused ultrasound pulses in the presence of intravenously administered circulating microbubbles, followed by fibrinogen injection, which resulted in the formation of an acute occlusive intravascular thrombus. Further investigation and refinements of treatment protocols are necessary for producing durable vascular occlusion.


Wharton, Hemingway, and the Advent of Modernism is the first book to examine the connections linking two major American writers of the twentieth century, Edith Wharton and Ernest Hemingway. In twelve critical essays, accompanied by a foreword from Wharton scholar Laura Rattray and a critical introduction by volume editor Lisa Tyler, contributors reveal the writers' overlapping contexts, interests, and aesthetic techniques. Thematic sections highlight modernist trends found in each author's works. To begin, Peter Hays and Ellen Andrews Knodt argue for reading Wharton as a modernist writer, noting how her works feature characteristics that critics customarily credit to a younger generation of writers, including Hemingway. Since Wharton and Hemingway each volunteered for humanitarian medical service in World War I, then drew upon their experiences in subsequent literary works, Jennifer Haytock and Milena Radeva-Costello analyze their powerful perspectives on the cataclysmic conflict traditionally viewed as marking the advent of modernism in literature. In turn, Cecilia Macheski and Sirpa Salenius consider the authors' passionate representations of Italy, informed by personal sojourns there, in which they observed its beautiful landscapes and culture, its liberating contrast with the United States, and its period of fascist politics. Linda Wagner-Martin, Lisa Tyler, and Anna Green focus on the complicated gender politics embedded in the works of Wharton and Hemingway, as evidenced in their ideas about female agency, sexual liberation, architecture, and modes of transportation. In the collection's final section, Dustin Faulstick, Caroline Chamberlin Hellman, and Parley Ann Boswell address suggestive intertextualities between the two authors with respect to the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, their serialized publications in Scribner's Magazine, and their affinities with the literary and cinematic tradition of noir. Together, the essays in this engaging collection prove that comparative studies of Wharton and Hemingway open new avenues for understanding the pivotal aesthetic and cultural movements central to the development of American literary modernism.


The concept and subsequent experimental verification of the proportionality between pulse amplitude and detector transit time for microchannel-plate detectors is presented. This discovery has led to considerable improvement in the overall timing resolution for detection of high-energy γ-photons. Utilizing a 22Na positron source, a full width half maximum (FWHM) timing resolution of 138 ps has been achieved. This FWHM includes detector transit-time spread for both chevron-stack-type detectors, timing spread due to uncertainties in annihilation location, all electronic uncertainty and any remaining quantum mechanical uncertainty. The first measurement of the minimum quantum uncertainty in the time interval between detection of the two annihilation photons is reported. The experimental results give strong evidence against instantaneous spatial localization of γ-photons due to measurement-induced nonlocal quantum wavefunction collapse. The experimental results are also the first that imply momentum is conserved only after the quantum uncertainty in time has elapsed (Yukawa H 1935 Proc. Phys. Math. Soc. Japan 17 48).


Dominated point cloud-based 3D object detectors in autonomous driving scenarios rely heavily on the huge amount of accurately labeled samples, however, 3D annotation in the point cloud is extremely tedious, expensive and time-consuming. To reduce the dependence on large supervision, semi-supervised learning (SSL) based approaches have been proposed. The Pseudo-Labeling methodology is commonly used for SSL frameworks, however, the low-quality predictions from the teacher model have seriously limited its performance. In this work, we propose a new Pseudo-Labeling framework for semi-supervised 3D object detection, by enhancing the teacher model to a proficient one with several necessary designs. First, to improve the recall of pseudo labels, a Spatialtemporal Ensemble (STE) module is proposed to generate sufficient seed boxes. Second, to improve the precision of recalled boxes, a Clusteringbased Box Voting (CBV) module is designed to get aggregated votes from the clustered seed boxes. This also eliminates the necessity of sophisticated thresholds to select pseudo labels. Furthermore, to reduce the negative influence of wrongly pseudo-labeled samples during the training, a soft supervision signal is proposed by considering Box-wise Contrastive Learning (BCL). The effectiveness of our model is verified on both ONCE and Waymo datasets. For example, on ONCE, our approach significantly improves the baseline by 9.51 mAP. Moreover, with half annotations, our model outperforms the oracle model with full annotations on Waymo.


In the present investigation, relative heterosis, heterobeltiosis and standard heterosis were estimated for assessing the hybrid Value for eight characters namely days to first flower, number of branches, plant height, number of nodes, fruit length, single fruit weight, fruit yield by number and weight. The cross Arka Abhay × Punjab Padmini showed significant positive heterosis over better parent and standard parent for number of nodes per plant (15.7 per cent, 26.25 per cent), single fruit weight (5.9 per cent, 14.36 per cent), fruit length (13.5 per cent, 16.75 per cent), fruit yield by number (6.77 per cent, 13.99 per cent) and weight (14.48 per cent, 31.40 per cent). The same cross gave heterosis over better parent and standard parent even in F2 generation might be due to low inbreeding depression. Presence of hybrid vigour for fruit yield per plant in F2 can be attributed to mainly additive and additive × additive interaction. Such cross is expected to give superior segregants which may be handled through pedigree method.


We propose an asymptotic numerical method called the Gaussian beam approach for the boundary value problem of high frequency Helmholtz equation. The basic idea is to ap- proximate the traveling waves with a summation of Gaussian beams by the least squares algorithm. Gaussian beams are asymptotic solutions of linear wave equations in the high frequency regime. We deduce the ODE systems satisfied by the Gaussian beams up to third order. The key ingredient of the proposed method is the construction of a finite-dimensional beam space which has a good approximating property. If the exact solutions of boundary value problems contain some strongly evanescent wave modes, the Gaussian beam approach might fail. To remedy this problem, we re- sort to the domain decomposition technique to separate the domain of definition into a boundary layer region and its complementary interior region. The former is handled by a domain-based dis- cretization method, and the latter by the Gaussian beam approach. Schwarz iterations should then be performed based on suitable transmission boundary conditions at the interface of two regions. Numerical tests demonstrate that the proposed method is very promising.


This article analyses Leonid Andreyev´s novel The Yoke of War. The authors of the study point out the gradual transition from "objective" diary records to highly subjective records that show an ambivalent attitude towards the war as a cause for damaging changes on the home front. The main character, whose thoughts are rational at the beginning, experiences a lot of personal and social catastrophes generated directly or indirectly by the war. Gradually, he comes to the conclusion that neither he as an individual (as a "cell") nor other people of his type have any impact on the course of history; he sees that the war is killing both enemies and "our people". Contradictory changes in the character's inner world show his doubts about patriotism and the righteousness of the "people", while his belief that war only benefits a small group of greedy entrepreneurs grows. Feeling that the war cannot have a happy ending, the main character is no longer able to act rationally. He accepts all losses – personal and social – and comes to a purely emotional feeling about the universal unfairness of war. The only remaining possibility is to help wounded soldiers. Andreyev depicts a broad range of issues that thematically concern the experience and destiny of an individual, his inner transformation, the fate of his family members, and the destiny of both real and abstract society. The novel touches upon certain philosophical issues concerning such notions as patriotism, Russia's fate, the sense of belonging to the masses, and being an individual. In this way, the novel can be regarded as a philosophical and panhuman view of World War I. Following the traditions of classical Russian literature to a considerable extent, Andreyev is concerned with questions based not on narrow class or national foundations but on panhuman ones.


A 51 year old male, with typical "Prinzmetal-Angina", is presented. The ECG during the attacks exhibits ST-Elevation and concomitant ventricular ectopies. The coronary arteriography reveals a spasm in the normal left anterior descendens artery. The therapeutic combination of Nifedipine and Isosorbiddinitrat is effective and the patient has been free of pain since 9 months.


This paper investigates the benefit of an energy management system that autonomously can recognize when a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle is driven along known commuting routes. The presented route recognition algorithm compares the GPS trajectory of the ongoing trip with stored commuting routes using the well known cross-correlation operation. If a route is recognized the energy management system switches from a charge depleting charge sustaining discharge strategy to a strategy where the battery discharge rate is adapted to the length of the recognized route, thereby decreasing the average discharge current and the resistive losses. The proposed system is evaluated using simulations on one month of logged commuter driving data. The results for an energy management system based on the equivalent consumption minimization strategy indicate an overall fuel cost reduction of 1.5% compared to an system that only utilize a charge depleting charge sustaining strategy.


Abstract: The limited supply of today's main energy sources (oil, coal, uranium) will force us sooner or later to replace most of the currently used power plants with renewable energy sources. According to recent predictions, the inevitable permanent decline in the global oil production rate is expected to start within the next 10-20 years. The new category of renewable energy resource is Organic solar cell. Considerably less effort and production energy is necessary if organic semiconductors are used because of simpler processing at much lower temperatures (20-200oC) than the inorganic cells. Another interesting alternative to inorganic cells is given by the semiconducting polymers, which combine the opto-electronic properties of conventional semiconductors with the excellent mechanical and processing properties of polymeric i.e. "plastic" materials. These can be processed from solution at room-temperature onto e.g. flexible substrates using simple and therefore cheaper deposition methods like spin or blade coating. The advantage of polymeric photovoltaic cells when compared to electro-chemical cells is predominantly the absence of a liquid electrolyte, which generates problems with sealing against air, but also the prospect of even cheaper production using large area devices and the use of flexible substrates. Possible applications may range from small disposable solar cells to power smart plastic (credit, debit, phone or other) cards which can display for example, the remaining amount, to photo-detectors in large area scanners or medical imaging and solar power applications on uneven surfaces.


................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Motivation ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Research on Continuous Deposition of Nanoparticles .......................................................... 3 1.3 Research on Spray Deposition Modeling .............................................................................. 3 1.4 Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 5 1.5 Thesis Outline ....................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 7 2.1 Carbon Nanotubes ................................................................................................................. 7 2.2 Carbon Nanopaper ................................................................................................................. 8 2.3 Digital Fabrication Techniques of CNT-Inks ...................................................................... 12 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 15 3.


Cortical function critically depends on inhibitory/excitatory balance. Cortical inhibitory interneurons (cINs) are born in the ventral forebrain. After completing their migration into cortex, their final numbers are adjusted - during a period of postnatal development - by programmed cell death. The mechanisms that regulate cIN elimination remains controversial. Here we show that genes in the protocadherin (Pcdh)-γ gene cluster, but not in the Pcdh-α or Pcdh-β clusters, are required for the survival of cINs through a BAX-dependent mechanism. Surprisingly, the physiological and morphological properties of Pcdh-γ deficient and wild type cINs during cIN cell death were indistinguishable. Co-transplantation of wild type and Pcdh-γ deficient interneuron precursor cells demonstrate that: 1) the number of mutant cINs eliminated was much higher than that of wild type cells, but the proportion of mutant or WT cells undergoing cell death was not affected by their density; 2) the presence of mutant cINs increases cell death among wild-type counterparts, and 3) cIN survival is dependent on the expression of Pcdh-γ C3, C4, and C5. We conclude that Pcdh-γ, and specifically γC3, γC4, and γC5, play a critical role in regulating cIN survival during the endogenous period of programmed cIN death. Significance Inhibitory cortical interneurons (cIN) in the cerebral cortex originate from the ventral embryonic forebrain. After a long migration, they come together with local excitatory neurons to form cortical circuits. These circuits are responsible for higher brain functions, and the improper balance of excitation/inhibition in the cortex can result in mental diseases. Therefore, an understanding of how the final number of cINs is determined is both biologically and, likely, therapeutically significant. Here we show that cell surface homophilic binding proteins belonging to the clustered protocadherin gene family, specifically three isoforms in the Pcdh-γ cluster, play a key role in the regulation cIN programmed cell death. Co-transplantation of mutant and wild-type cINs shows that Pcdh-γ genes have cell-autonomous and non-cell autonomous roles in the regulation of cIN cell death. This work will help identify the molecular mechanisms and cell-cell interactions that determine how the proper ratio of excitatory to inhibitory neurons is determined in the cerebral cortex.


Using 7 MeV electron pulses from a linear electron accelerator, the triplet excited state of cyclooctatetraene (COT), a commonly used triplet scavenger in dye lasers, has been characterised in hydrocarbon solvents. In deoxygenated cyclohexane and benzene, 3COT shows an absorption due to a triplet–triplet (T–T) transition between 300 and 400 nm with a peak at 350 nm in cyclohexane and at 360 nm in benzene, and with a lifetime of 100 µs in cyclohexane. Unlike many other solute triplets, 3COT exhibits comparatively low reactivity towards molecular oxygen and the measured rate constant was 3 × 107 dm3 mol–1 s–1. The triplet nature of the transient was confirmed by T–T energy-transfer processes from triplet donors like biphenyl, p-terphenyl and pyrene in a deoxygenated cyclohexane matrix and the molar absorptivity of 3COT at 350 nm was estimated to be 7000 ± 300 dm3 mol–1 cm–1. In benzene, the T–T energy transfer rate constants using various 7-aminocoumarin laser dyes as donors were estimated. These values (of the order of 109 dm3 mol–1 s–1) are 6.5 for Coumarin 47 (C47), 5 for C102, 6 for C120, 2.8 for C152 and 1.5 for C153. Similarly, rate constants were also measured using aromatic triplet donors. These values in the same order are 3.8 for p-terphenyl, 13.3 for biphenyl, 3.3 for both naphthalene and benzil, 0.74 for pyrene, 0.3 for anthracene and 0.7 for acridine. Based on the results of equilibrium studies in cyclohexane with 3anthracene as the donor, the energy of the first excited 3COT (ET) was estimated to be 41 ± 1 kcal mol–1.


To measure the contact force between a pantograph and contact wire the author is proposing to use a new inversion method, the distinct feature of which is to reduce restraints on the sensor arrangement to facilitate contact force measurement. The contact force is calculated using the convolution between the sensor output and impulse response function, which is defined as the relationship between the former and the contact force. To achieve sufficient levels of precision, high order vibration modes of the panhead have to be taken into consideration by applying a pseudo-inverse matrix. The author has confirmed the accuracy of this method by numerical calculations and an excitation test on a currently-used pantograph.


Ldays, the quality ofvehicle's cabin air has become one of the health concerns a lffiers. Typical air filters used in an air conditioning system of a vehicle are m:1fiber materials such as fiberglass and polymeric materials. Nanofibers have a tial to be used as high efficient filter materials due to their nanoscale diameters facturers claim that filters made of nanofibers can trap dusts or particles with % efficiency. However, there is limited information available on the effectiven ospun nanofiber filter media in filtering submicron particulates. Therefore, this ned at developing and studying the performance of nanofiber-coated filtering submicron particles. The filters were incorporated with electrospun ny ibers at 1 Ok V of applied voltage and 10 em spinning distance. The coated filten
lced at varying collection times ranging from 1 to 10 minutes. The filter sample~ I using a dedicated test rig to simulate an actual air conditioning system. Parti
:r (PM) measurement technique was used in measuring air particle concentnt across the filter. The morphology of the nanofiber coated filters was an on Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) micrographs. It was observed thospun nanofibers have diameters ranging from 1 04 nm to 11 7 nm. The nano:i filters showed a significant improvement of around 33% in efficiency who spinning collection time was 10 minutes compared to control samples. The revealed that a longer electrospinning collection time produced a thicker la~ibers producing filters with higher filtration efficiency for capturing fine partirs.


The paired oviducal glands of immature and mature females of Mustelus schmitti were examined macro and microscopically. Findings indicate that these glands possessed the same zonation as in most chondrichthyans from anterior to posterior: club, papillary, baffle and terminal zones. The whole gland is composed by simple tubular glands that connect with transverse grooves all along the organ. The club zone presents a typical indian club shape with a simple columnar and ciliated epithelium including secretory cells PAS (+) and AB (+). The papillary zone is characterized by lamella forming small and long cones in numbers of three. The epithelium of this zone contains ciliated cells with apical nuclei and secretory cells with basal nuclei that stain AB (+)The baffle zone consists of apically flattened lamellae alternating with spinnerets which are small projections disposed by both sides of the plateau. This whole structure is present in number of 8 or 9 units. A simple columnar ciliated epithelium covers the plateau and spinnerets and no AB or PAS staining is observed. The epithelium of the terminal zone is PAS (-) and AB (+), and elongated tubules, that run adjacent to the baffle zone are the site where groups of spermatozoa are clearly observed in the lumen. The epithelium of the sperm storage tubules do not stain with any of the dyes tested. Sperm was also observed in the baffle zone, presumably in its way to the fecundation in the oviduct because it displays no aggregation pattern and was between the folds of the epithelium. By scanning electron microscopy sperm was observed in the club and baffle zones in a gland which belonged to a pregnant female.


Mania has not been reported as a manifestation of bromism. This paper describes a manic patient who had an elevated serum bromide level. The author suggests that the possibility of bromide-induced mania should be considered when patients who manifest manic symptoms are evaluated. The implications of the bromide-mania relationship for a better understanding of manic-depressive illness are also discussed.


Visual recognition of cyanosis is an important clinical activity. While pulse oximetry is almost universal in the hospital environment, there are circumstances where it is not available or may be unreliable. Cyanosis recognition is affected by lighting colour. In addition, there is, mainly anecdotal, evidence that people with greater colour vision deficiencies (CVDs) have particular difficulty and there is no effective lighting strategy to assist in the observation. The change of blood colour with oxygenation has been shown to lie close to the direction of colour confusions made by congenital red‐green dichromats. The important sites of observation are lips, nail beds and palm creases. 10 subjects who were known to be chronically hypoxaemic were recruited from the chronic respiratory program. Their blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) varied from 84% to 96% pre‐exercise, and 61–84% post‐exercise. Ten normal subjects were recruited whose SpO2 was 99% or 100%. The spectral radiances of lips, nail beds and palm creases were measured using a telespectroradiometer and compared with the spectral radiances of a white tile of known spectral reflectances measured in the same location. This is a non‐contact method of measurement, avoiding the blanching caused by pressure of contact methods. The spectral reflectances were calculated, and the chromaticities calculated for a Planckian radiator T = 4000K. Measurements on lips yielded the most consistent results. The colour changes pre‐ and post‐exercise and compared with normal colour lie generally along a deutan confusion line. These results show the direction of the colour change and confirm the, previously anecdotal, difficulties in detecting cyanosis by observers with CVDs.


Background

Characteristic bile duct and colonic microbiotas have been identified in patients with chronic biliary tract disease. Therefore, a characteristic microbiota is likely also formed in cholangio- and gallbladder carcinoma patients. This study aimed to characterize the faecal and bile microbiotas in biliary tract cancer (BTC) patients and their relationship to each other.
Methods

Patients with BTC (n = 30) and benign biliary disease (BBD) without cholangitis (n = 11) were prospectively included. Ten healthy, age-matched subjects were also recruited for faecal microbiota comparison. The colon and bile duct microbiotas were analysed by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene V3-V4 region. We also obtained live bacteria in the bile collected from three BTC patients by culture and performed metagenomics-based identification.
Results

The faecal microbiota composition differed in the BTC patients. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) showed a higher Enterobacteriaceae abundance and a lower Clostridia abundance, including that of butyrate-producing bacteria including Faecalibacterium and Coprococcus, in the BTC patients than in the other subjects. Notably, 10 of 17 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) assigned to Enterobacteriaceae in the bile samples were matched with the OTUs found in the BTC subject faecal samples. Further metagenomic approaches revealed a bile-isolated strain that possessed the carcinogenic bacterial colipolyketide synthase (PKS)-encoding gene.
Conclusions

Enterobacteriaceae was enriched in the BTC faeces. Taken together with the finding that more than half of Enterobacteriaceae in the bile matched that in the faeces at the OTU level, our data suggest that faecal microbiota dysbiosis possibly contributes to BTC onset.


The purpose of this article is to consider both the merits of the recent Delaware venue controversy-is Delaware venue a good or a bad thing?-- and the question whether efforts to eliminate Delaware bankruptcy venue are likely to succeed. In doing so, I will place particular emphasis on two perspectives that are almost entirely lacking in the existing debate. First, both proponents and critics of Delaware venue have failed to fully consider the relationship between Delaware's rise to prominence in bankruptcy and its role in corporate law generally. I argue that the two are integrally related. Just as the efforts of Delaware and other states to attract corporations have induced Delaware to regulate corporate law in a generally efficient manner, the same forces will have a beneficial effort on Delaware's bankruptcy judges. Second, the article offers a detailed historical perspective on the venue controversy. I focus in particular on a series of debates in the 1930s that raised almost precisely the same issues that are being addressed today. Not only does the historical analysis underscore the connection between Delaware venue and Delaware's role in corporate law generally, but it also provides important insights into the political question of whether venue reform is likely to be adopted. While my analysis focuses on the Delaware venue controversy, it is important to emphasize that preserving the existing framework is only one way to use venue decisions to improve the performance of bankruptcy judges. I briefly decision two other approaches as well, "domicile-only" venue and contractual choice of venue.


Abstract Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake is suboptimal in the United States. School-based health centers (SBHCs) could improve rates of uptake by making HPV vaccination available in schools and more accessible and convenient to adolescents and families. To explore the potential of SBHCs to expand HPV vaccine uptake, we sought to determine whether a pilot program to actively promote the SBHC as a venue for HPV vaccine receipt could improve HPV vaccination status. Methods A pilot program aimed at increasing HPV vaccine uptake was implemented at a SBHC affiliated with a hospital-based primary care center (PCC) between October 2016 and June 2017. This SBHC is located in a high school and provides vaccination services, including HPV vaccine, but no systematic protocol existed to actively identify, and target for vaccination, patients who accessed clinical services at the PCC and were also enrolled in the SBHC. Immunization status of adolescents enrolled in the SBHC who were also patients of the PCC was screened by review of the common electronic health record (EHR) that is shared between both sites. Patients were eligible for inclusion if they were in need of ≥1 dose of HPV vaccine. Eligible patients were contacted by clinic staff and offered the opportunity to receive HPV vaccine at the SBHC in accordance with usual clinic practices. Results Of 86 patients screened, 13 were found to be eligible for HPV vaccination at the SBHC (Figure 1). By the end of the project period, 62% of those eligible had received ≥1 dose of HPV vaccine (n = 8) and 38% (n = 5) also received another vaccine (flu, meningococcal) at the same time as HPV vaccination. Conclusion A pilot program consisting of determining HPV immunization status and actively offering the opportunity to receive needed doses of HPV vaccine at a SBHC resulted in improvement of vaccination status among eligible patients. Success was limited by the relatively small number of patients identified. While SBHCs may be one strategy to address missed opportunities for HPV vaccination, lack of centralized immunization records among patients who receive care from multiple providers and processes to directly communicate with parents about vaccination during school hours were identified as primary challenges.Figure 1. Flow diagram of HPV vaccination pilot program at SBHC. Disclosures L. M. Niccolai, Merck: Scientific Advisor, Consulting fee.


The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of a coating displaying increased conductivity which contains at least one conductive polymer derived from optionally substituted thiophene, optionally together with at least one further conductive polymer, in particular polyaniline, in which process firstly an aqueous or organic dispersion or solution which contains the at least one conductive polymer is applied to a substrate; thereafter the forming or formed layer is dried; and at least one polar solvent is brought into contact with the formed or forming layer during or after the drying. The invention also relates to the preparation of an article in which a coating according to the present invention is applied to the surface of a transparent substrate. Furthermore, the present invention relates to the use of a polar solvent for increasing the conductivity of a coating containing at least one conductive polymer derived from optionally substituted thiophene.


This report is based on an analysis of administrative data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services. The data provide information on monthly approvals of applications for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medi-Cal, and General Relief for January 1996 to January 1998. The data show that the number of non-citizen monthly approvals for these benefits has dropped significantly since 1996, while the number of citizen approvals has either remained the same or declined more moderately. The report explores a number of reasons why fewer immigrants are applying for assistance for which they remain eligible.


The implantation rate is reduced in the human species and a great number of embryos present developmental anomalies. The past, present, and future of artificial reproductive technology (ART) strategies to improve the chances of implantation are discussed, in addition to the social, clinical, and epidemiological aspects of a progressively lower human fertility potential. The increasing age of couples looking to become pregnant for the first time, and the general tendency of deferring motherhood, are aspects that only a long‐term social policy can address. A general proposal for oocyte and sperm cryopreservation is discussed as an option to reduce the impact of age and the possible risks of unethical use of gamete donation. Investing in gamete banking resources may be a unique option for the future.


Stereology is a technique that enables acquisition of data on number, volume, length or surface area of identifiable objects in a three-dimensional structure by sampling in two dimensions. That is, it provides a technique for quantifying objects on a slice from the structure such as a histological specimen viewed under the microscope or a computerised tomography (CT) scan. It has the enormous virtue of having a rigorous mathematical foundation and rules for counting that also give a reliable measure as well as an indication of precision. First-order stereology denotes estimating volume, surface area, length or number of any biological object. Terms such as degeneration, toxicity, atrophy hypertrophy, dysgenesis, and proliferation all refer to alterations in one or more of these parameters. However, as it is the case with almost all pertinent studies, it is not possible to count the number of relevant units directly. Yet the information is essential if we want to know how experimental or environmental interventions affect an organ's development. For example, what effect does the absence of a particular growth factor or reduced nutrition have on the number or size of islets, and at what stage of development does this occur; or has behavioural experience or environmental insult affected the number of chromophobes in the pituitary gland? The mainly unbiased and reliable way to obtain such information is by means of stereology. This technique is an absolutely essential tool for any biologist who needs to know the number of units in any system — whether they be functional units like number of islets within the pancreas, or cell organelles like mitochondria. It also provides a means of obtaining size, length and surface area of any object under consideration. In this review the current practical applications of two first-order stereology parameters in relation to diabetes and endocrine research are highlighted.


It is shown that, for any constrained Hamiltonian system, one can locally construct a complete set of independent gauge transformations that depend only on the canonical coordinates and on arbitrary functions of time. The number of elements in this complete set is equal to the number of primary first-class constraints.


on the treatment of scieroderma, Rook and Frain-Bell2 mention one case who died in uraemia six months after treatment with H.P.C. (1.5 g. daily for six weeks). This patient had albuminuria before therapy commenced. Of Dr. Ross's twelve cases, apart from the rashes, four had diarrhoea and in one there was a small rise in the blood urea. It may be that if the dose of the drug is reduced or stopped when diarrhoea occurs it will be found to be safe, but I would suggest that work with H.P.C. is continued with great caution.-I am, etc.,


Date: 2008 June 08 Course: Master thesis Authors: Haiyan Wang, Teewin Wongrattanavichit Tutor: Jan Lowstedt Title: The study of marketing communication effectiveness and customer perception of Tuna Park shopping centre Introduction: The research about the effectiveness of marketing communication tool and customer perception was studied in Tuna Park shopping center, Eskilstuna. The marketing strategy and objective was to compare with the results from the questionnaire in order to measure the effect of each advertising and marketing communication tools. Problem: "How should the company invest in the marketing communication tool in the years to come". Purpose: The purpose of the study is to measure the effectiveness of marketing communication tools used in Shopping center through the focal company 'Tuna Park Eskilstuna' using the framework of Hierarchy-of-effects model and its variation and FCB grid. Method: The primary data was collected by the interview and the questionnaire was conducted with respondents that were randomly invited to answer the questionnaire on the webpage. Analysis and conclusion: The television media has the highest reach and high effect on respondents, The radio media is lesser in effect. Newspaper is another high reach media while the outdoor advertising considered effective but has the least reach


Recent policy announcements by the Thai government: Thailand 4.0, and its education component: Education 4.0, advocate the use of innovation and digital technology in schools and universities to improve the quality of education. We explore here the effectiveness of blended learning at an institute of higher education with a case study for one subject taught at the undergraduate level at Assumption University. Blended Learning in this study is defined as supplementing traditional classroom lectures with an online eLearning course in the same subject, using the same lecturers and course materials. Students had the opportunity to watch online video lectures before and/or after attending classes throughout the semester. At the end of the semester an online survey was conducted to determine the frequency of access to the online course, the level of student satisfaction, and the effectiveness of blended learning in terms of their understanding of the subject. Lecturers were interviewed to determine their view of the success or otherwise of the program and to inquire about exam results. Evaluation of survey questionnaires and lecturers' opinions revealed that students were satisfied with the program because it had impacted positively on their understanding of the subject and had improved their exam results above prior expectations.


Doggen CJM, Rosendaal FR. Effects of oestrogen dose and progestogen type on venous thrombotic risk associated with oral contraceptives: results of the MEGA case-control study. BMJ 2009; 339: b2921. 14 Dinger J. Oral contraceptives and venous thromboembolism: old questions revisited. J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 2009; 35: 211–213. 15 Shapiro S, Dinger J. Risk of venous thromboembolism among users of oral contraceptives: a review of two recently published studies. J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 2010; 36: 33–38. 16 Dinger JC, Heinemann LA, Kuhl-Habich D. The safety of a drospirenone-containing oral contraceptive: final results from the European Active Surveillance Study on oral contraceptives based on 142,475 women-years of observation. Contraception 2007; 75: 344–354. 17 Seeger JD, Loughlin J, Eng PM, Clifford CR, Cutone J, Walker AM. Risk of thromboembolism in women taking ethinylestradiol/drospirenone and other oral contraceptives. Obstet Gynecol 2007; 110: 587–593. 18 Lewis MA, Heinemann LA, MacRae KD, Bruppacher R, Spitzer WO. The increased risk of venous thromboembolism and the use of third generation progestagens: role of bias in observational research. The Transnational Research Group on Oral Contraceptives and the Health of Young Women. Contraception 1996; 54: 5–13. 19 Spitzer WO. The 1995 pill scare revisited: anatomy of a nonepidemic. Hum Reprod 1997; 12: 2347–2357. 20 Van Lunsen HW. Recent oral contraceptive use patterns in four European countries: evidence for selective prescribing of oral contraceptives containing third-generation progestagens. Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care 1996; 1: 39–45. 21 Heinemann LA, Lewis MA, Assman A, Gravens L, Guggenmoos-Holzmann I. Could preferential prescribing and referral behaviour explain the elevated thrombosis risk found to be associated with third generation oral contraceptives? Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 1996; 5: 285–294. 22 Jamin C, de Mouzon J. Selective prescribing of third generation oral contraceptives (OCs). Contraception 1996; 54: 55–56. 23 Jamin C, Benifla JL, Madelenat P. The role of selective prescribing in the increased risk of VTE associated with thirdgeneration oral contraceptives. Hum Reprod Update 1999; 5: 664–671. 24 Heinemann LAJ, Garbe E, Farmer R, Lewis M. Venous thromboembolism and oral contraceptive use: a methodological study of diagnostic suspicion and referral bias. Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care 2000; 5: 183–191. 25 Krattenmacher R. Drospirenone: pharmacology and pharmacokinetics of a unique progestogen. Contraception 2000; 62: 29–38. 26 Golbs S, Domhardt R, Presl J, Ganev M, Wisser KH, Zimmermann T. Clinical findings with the oral contraceptive combination ethinylestradiol/dienogest in the Czech Republic. Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol 2002; 24: 689–696. 27 Golbs S, Domhardt R, Radowicky S, Kaluzny Z, Wisser KH, Zimmermann T. Clinical findings with the oral contraceptive combination ethinylestradiol/dienogest in Poland. Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol 2002; 24: 585–592. 28 Zimmermann T, Dietrich H, Wisser KH, Hoffmann H. The efficacy and tolerability of Valette: a postmarketing surveillance study. Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care 1999; 4: 155–164. 29 International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology. Guidelines for Good Epidemiology Practices (GPP). 1996. http://www. pharmacoepi.org/resources/guidelines_08027.cfm [Accessed 17 March 2010]. 30 International Epidemiological Association (IEA). Good Epidemiological Practice (GEP). IEA Guidelines for Proper Conduct of Epidemiological Research. 2007. http://www.ieatemp.com/pdfs/GEPNov07.pdf [Accessed 17 March 2010] 31 Grimes DA, Schulz KF. Compared to what? Finding controls for case-control studies. Lancet 2005; 365: 1429–1433. 32 Skouby SO. Contraceptive use and behavior in the 21st century: a comprehensive study across five European countries. Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care 2004; 9: 57–68. 33 Strom BL. Appendix A – Sample size tables. In: Strom BL (ed.), Pharmacoepidemiology. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 1994; 659–692. 34 Heinemann LA, Moehner S, Assmann A, Heinemann K. Use of oral contraceptives containing dienogest and risk of venous thromboembolism – an extended summary report of a casecontrol study. Life and Medical Science Online 2001, 2: DOI 10.1072/LO211329. 35 Susser M. What is a cause and how do we know one? A grammar for pragmatic epidemiology. Am J Epidemiol 1991 133: 635–648. 36 Samuelsson E, Hedenmalm K, Persson I. Mortality from venous thromboembolism in young Swedish women and its relation to pregnancy and use of oral contraceptives – an approach to specifying rates. Eur J Epidemiol 2005; 20: 509–516. 37 Schwarz T, Siegert G, Oettler W, Halbritter K, Beyer J, Frommhold R, et al. Venous thrombosis after long-haul flights. Arch Intern Med 2003; 163: 2759–2764. 38 Heinemann LA, Garbe E, Farmer R, Lewis MA. Venous thromboembolism and oral contraceptive use: a methodological study of diagnostic suspicion and referral bias. Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care 2000; 5: 183–191.


A problem hindering the adoption of formal methods in the industry is how to integrate the models and results used during formal verification with existing processes. Indeed, formal verification is a complex process involving multiple methods, models, level of formality, ... If we want to use formal verification results in an assurance case, it is therefore necessary to build confidence on this process.
The integration of formal methods raises particular problems like, for instance, with the construction of the verification models: a model may not preserve all properties of the system to be verified; it may only cover a subset of these properties; or it may be intractable. In practice, this means that the verification process involves a collection of models whose soundness (with the original system design, but also between each others) shall be justified. Furthermore, formal techniques are usually restricted in terms of the set of properties that can be checked. It is therefore necessary to justify (and trace back) that these restrictions are consistent with the hypotheses made about the system, its application and its environment.
This short abstract gives an overview of a methodology for building verification arguments, that is convincing arguments that a system design complies with a set of properties.


Defect characterization by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) requires the extraction of two key quantities of the carrier emission rate from the defects-activation energy (Ea) and pre-exponential factor (ν0)-the latter is related to the carrier capture cross section. This task, ubiquitous to thermally activated processes besides defect-carrier interaction, is traditionally accomplished by constructing an Arrhenius plot with DLTS peak locations and fitting it with a line. We present a transformation method based on the Arrhenius equation that extracts Ea and ν0without constructing or line-fitting the Arrhenius plot and bypasses peak identification. This method is developed on the basis of the fundamental temperature-rate duality relationship and extracts Ea and ν0 by matching the curvatures the Arrhenius-transformed spectra of the iso-thermal and iso-rate DLTS scans in the 2D temperature-rate plane. The extraction can be conducted with data in a small temperature range and is, therefore, capable of unambiguously resolving Ea and ν0 at any temperature point and their temperature dependence, if any.


Abstract The Affordable Care Act included a provision to gradually eliminate the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap between 2011 and 2020, which substantially lower medication costs in the gap. Using 2007–2016 Medicare claims data, we estimate how filling the gap affects individuals' out‐of‐pocket spending and medication use, separately for branded and generic drugs. One important difficulty in estimating the policy impact is that around the same time, many blockbuster drugs commonly used by the Medicare population experienced patent expiration and began to see generic entry. Because generic entries affected different therapeutic classes at different times, we run difference‐in‐differences models by therapeutic category at the beneficiary‐month level to isolate the effect of the gap closure from that of generic entry. Overall, we find that filling the gap substantially reduced out‐of‐pocket spending and increased the use of branded drugs, which had larger discount rates during the analysis period. Beneficiaries reaching the gap, at older ages, or with comorbidities experienced larger reduction in out‐of‐pocket spending. We show that without accounting for generic entry, the effect of filling the coverage gap on medication use is underestimated for branded drugs and overestimated for generic drugs.


Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a mass spectrometric method for detection of ions generated in an atmospheric plasma ion source. It provides multi-elemental detection of most elements of the periodic table combined with high sensitivity and large dynamic range. The method provides quantitative or isotopic information of elements in a sample. Two different types of instruments are found: Single-collector instruments are usually used in a scanning mode of the magnetic field for quantitative elemental analysis of a sample to measure one isotope after the other, whereas multicollector instruments are operated in a static mode of the magnetic field for precise isotope ratio analysis measuring all isotopes of interest simultaneously. In this chapter the "state of the art" of both types of instruments is discussed including fundamentals, special features, components, operation and the performance together with a description of the commercially available instrumentation and a discussion of selected applications.


In this study, I examine the effect of drug use on poverty. The main objective of the paper is to provide descriptive empirical information about the relationship between drug use and poverty, and to explore, in a preliminary fashion, the question of whether drug use causes poverty. Toward this end, I present the results of both descriptive and multivariate analyses of the relationship between drug use and poverty for two national samples of young adults. One sample is drawn from the National Household Survey of Drug Abuse (NHSDA), and the other from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). The results of the analysis indicate that for both samples, drug use is associated with greater poverty.


In this paper we present a Base-matrix based decoder architecture for multi-rate QC-LDPC codes proposed in broadband broadcasting system. We use the Modified Min-Sum Algorithm (MMSA) as the decoding algorithm in this architecture, which lowers the complexity of the LDPC decoder while keeping almost the same performance or even better. Based on this algorithm, we designed a novel check node processing unit to reduce the complexity of the decoder and facilitate the multiplex of the processing units. The decoder designed with hardware constraints is not only scalable in throughput, but also easily configurable to support different QC-LDPC codes flexible in code rate and code length.


Personalization is the ability to retrieve information content related to users' profile and facilitate their information-seeking activities. Several environments, such as the Web, take advantage of personalization techniques because of the large amount of available information. For this reason, there is a growing interest in providing automated personalization processes during the human-computer interaction. In this paper we introduce a new approach for user modeling, which grounds in the Search of Associative Memory (SAM) theory. By means of implicit feedback techniques, the approach is able to unobtrusively recognize user needs and monitor the user working context in order to provide important information useful to personalize traditional search tools and implement recommender systems. Experimental results based on precision and recall measures indicate improvements in comparison with traditional user models.


The main purpose of this action research was to examine the process of the resource room (RR) application designed for the mainstreamed primary school aged student with hearing impaired (SHI). The participants were three mainstreamed fourth grade SHI, the researchers as the teacher of the RR, advisor of this thesis project, the expert of education of HI education teachers. The advisor and the expert secured the trustworthiness of the research. The regular education teachers contributed the research efforts when requested. The data were collected cyclically through videotaping actual classroom interactions, audio taping the trustworthiness meetings, writing the meeting reports, lesson plans and reflective research journals, the students' artifacts and the documents. The problems and solution attempts faced during the implementation phases of the RR were described by utilizing various data collection and analysis techniques. The compiled data were critically analyzed by the trustworthiness committee and the researcher during and after the research effort. The activities implemented in the RR were designed concerning the principles of effective RR programs suggested by the literature. The implementations included the areas of Turkish Language Art, Science, Social Study and Mathematics. Although various problems occurred before and during the implementation process, this RR education effort conducted based on the action research methodology created positive changes in the students. The students were observed demonstrating improvements in their academic, communicative and social skills. The research findings can be useful for developing overview for the future RR programs for SHI in Turkey and abroad.


Background: Plastic waste that ends up in the ocean can undergo a degradation process into small plastic particles measuring 5 mm called microplastics. The presence of microplastics in the sea can contaminate marine products such as sea salt. Microplastics in the salt consumed by humans can cause adverse health effects. This study aims to determine the difference in the content of microplastics in commercial salt and local salt from the semiringkai coast in Kupang City and Kupang Regency. Material and Methods: This research is an observational analytical study with a comparative analysis design. The method used is laboratory observation using a microscope. This study used 10 salt samples which were divided into 2 groups, namely the commercial salt group and the local salt group, each consisting of 5 salt samples. Samples were taken using non-probability sampling method with purposive sampling technique. Data were analyzed univariately and bivariately using the independent T-comparison test. Results: The results of the analysis test in this study were P = 0.065 (P > 0.05). Conclusion: There is a content of microplastic in commercial salt and local center salt of the semiringkai coast in Kupang City and Kupang Regency with an average that is not significantly different.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the impact of state- and school district-level policies on the prevalence of physical education (PE) and recess in a nationally representative sample of US public elementary schools.

DESIGN
Analyses from annual, nationally representative, cross-sectional surveys of school administrators in the United States.

SETTING
Data were collected through surveys conducted between February and June during the 2006-2007 through 2008-2009 school years. State laws and district policies were compiled annually by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago using established legal research techniques.

PARTICIPANTS
The sample size was 47 states, 690 districts, and 1761 schools.

MAIN EXPOSURES
State- and school district-level PE and recess-related laws.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Twenty minutes of daily recess and 150 min/wk of PE.

RESULTS
The odds of schools having 150 min/wk of PE increased if they were located in states (odds ratio [OR], 2.8; 95% CI, 1.3-5.7) or school districts (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.3-4.3) having a law or policy requiring 150 min/wk of PE. Schools located in states with laws encouraging daily recess were significantly more likely to have 20 minutes of recess daily (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.2-2.8). District policies were not significantly associated with school-level recess practices. Adequate PE time was inversely associated with recess and vice versa, suggesting that schools are substituting one form of physical activity for another rather than providing the recommended amount of both recess and PE.

CONCLUSION
By mandating PE or recess, policy makers can effectively increase school-based physical activity opportunities for youth.


This paper analyses the influence of Yamaganda period in investor's decision to trade, based on the relationship between Yamaganda timing and Stock trading volume using minuteby minute data(combined fromtick data) of Nifty 200 companies traded at India's National Stock Exchange (NSE) for the period of one year from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015 (This period consists of 245 Trading days) and is done using Big data tool Spark. Yamaganda is an Indian cultural variable; it is a time period defined in the astrology which is considered inauspicious. The study is done on Yamaganda period, Non-Yamaganda period, Pre-Yamaganda period (half an hour before Yamaganda Period) & Post-Yamaganda Period (half an hour after Yamaganda period). The analysis shows that this cultural variable has very less impact on the Trading decisions of investors. A separate test done only on Tuesday (in order to eliminate day of the week effect and further the absence of Yamaganda period in the trading hours of Wednesday and Thursday) also shows that this cultural variable has very less impact on the Trading decisions of the investors.


Interconnection of devices through Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) brings enormous applications that are increasing constantly day by day. Due to the rapid growth of such applications, security of RFID networks becomes crucial and is a major challenge. Classical or lightweight cryptography primitives and protocols are the solutions to enhance the security standards in such networks. Authentication protocols are one of the important security protocols required to be integrated before exchange of secured information. This work surveyed the recently developed authentication protocols. Further, classifications, security challenges, and attack analysis are explored. A comparative analysis of different types of authentication protocols explains their applications in resourceful and resource constraint Internet of Things (IoT). Authentication protocols are categorized into: symmetric, asymmetric, lightweight, ultra-lightweight and group protocols. Symmetric and asymmetric protocols are more suitable for resourceful devices whereas lightweight and ultra-lightweight protocols are designed for resource constraint devices. Security and cost analysis shows that asymmetric protocols provide higher security than any other protocol at a reasonable cost. However, lightweight authentication protocols are suitable for passive RFID devices but do not provide full security.


Maize ( Zea mays ) is one of graminae plants that widely spread for many purposes wheter in food industry, feed, or bioenergy. Those high utilization required an increment in production, but unfortunately the needs were not meet to the demands since conversion of agricultural area increase lately. Indonesia has 99.093 km of shoreline that recognize as marginal land where the salinity is high as well. This research try to obtain tolerant variant from two local cultivars that planted in Madura Island. Manding and Talango varieties were used as an explant for callus induction stage in MS supplemented with 2.4 D. The result show that 4 ppm of 2.4 D were the best concentration to induce the callus in both varieties. The induced callus were exposed to medium MS that contain NaCl (0, 2500, 5000, and 7500 ppm). In 7500 ppm of NaCl, Manding variety has 100% of surviving callus, while Talango variety only 66.7%. Furthermore, Manding variety shows a better performance in callus weight improvement with 170 mg, while Talango shows no improvement of callus weight. The result of RAPD analysis indicate that the genome characteristic were different between initial callus and surviving callus. Out of ten primers, only five primers shows polymorphism i.e OPA 13, OPB 07, OPC 02, OPK 20, and OPU 19. Manding can be further developed as high tolerance variety in Salinity stress, thus it proposed to be developed furthermore. How to Cite Saputro, T. B., Finariyah, F., Dianawati, S., Sholihah, N. F., & Ermavitalini, D. (2016). In Vitro Selection of Local Maize ( Zea mays ) on NaCl Stress and Its Genetic Characterization using RAPD. Biosaintifika: Journal of Biology & Biology Education , 8(3), 344-352.


The standard analysis that the pronominal count noun one is an N- or NP-level element is challenged and it is argued to be an N0. Moreover, the behavior of one is identified with that of a phonologically empty counterpart. The fact that these N heads lack descriptive content is shown to be the source of two of their distinctive properties: their inability to take arguments, which accounts for their superficially phrasal status, and their triggering of pronominal reference. The existence of a [pronominal] feature is argued against; instead, such noun heads' lack of descriptive content is claimed to be what LF interprets as pronominal.


The paper presents an investigation of fix-referenced and self-referenced wave energy converters and a comparison of their corresponding wave energy conversion capacities from real seas. For conducting the comparisons, two popular wave energy converters, point absorber and oscillating water column, and their power conversion capacities in the fixed-referenced and self-referenced forms have been numerically studied and compared. In the numerical models, the device's power extractions from seas are maximized using the correspondingly optimized power take-offs in different sea states, thus their power conversion capacities can be calculated and compared. From the comparisons and analyses, it is shown that the energy conversion capacities of the self-referenced devices can be significantly increased if the motions of the device itself can be utilized for wave energy conversion; and the self-referenced devices can be possibly designed to be compliant in long waves, which could be a very beneficial factor for device survivability in the extreme wave conditions (normally long waves). In this regards, the self-referenced WECs (wave energy converters) may be better options in terms of wave energy conversion from the targeted waves in seas (frequently the most occurred), and in terms of the device survivability, especially in the extreme waves when compared to the fix-referenced counterparts.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Breast cancer is classified as either Estrogen Receptor (ER) positive or ER negative, depending on the presence or absence of the ERα. Approximately, 70% of breast cancers express ERα, with tamoxifen being the most commonly used treatment. However, prolonged treatment often results in the development of acquired resistance, which has presented a major challenge in development of more effective therapeutics for breast cancer. While many studies have focused on understanding the mechanisms behind the development of tamoxifen resistance, few have been successfully implemented into clinical practice. To mimic acquired resistance, we have established a tamoxifen-resistant cell line by treating MCF-7 cells with tamoxifen over prolong period of time in order to select for the resistant phenotype. Our lab has preliminary data that suggest that the Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is downregulated in tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer cells (MCF-7TamR) when compared to the parental MCF-7 cells. The role of VDR in tamoxifen resistance is unclear; however our preliminary data suggest that tamoxifen resistant cells transfected with a VDR overexpression plasmid displayed decrease cell proliferation when treated with tamoxifen in comparison to cells transfected with an empty vector, suggesting that restoring VDR expression may restore tamoxifen responsiveness. Data from this study will give us a better understanding about the role of VDR in the development of acquired resistance.

Citation Format: Maggie C. Louie, Johnny Laim. VDR overexpression restores tamoxifen responsiveness. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 516. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-516


During antidiuresis, renal papillary cells accumulate organic osmolytes preferentially over inorganic ions. It has been previously demonstrated that sodium infusion increased all of these organic osmolytes except myo-inositol (1). Conversely, urea infusion increased only glycerophosphorylcholine significantly. In addition to sodium and urea, potassium localized in tissue and urine influenced the composition of organic osmolytes. The goal of this study was to clarify how the level of mRNA of osmoregulatory protein is regulated by the extracellular solutes and how it affects the accumulation of organic osmolytes. To clarify the relationship between intra- or extracellular solutes and the regulation of Na/myo-inositol cotransporter and aldose reductase, mRNA of these osmo-regulatory proteins were determined in water-deprived sodium chloride-, potassium chloride-, and urea-loaded rats. Medullary content of sorbitol and myo-inositol, and aldose-reductase enzymatic activity were measured simultaneously in these animals. In water-deprived, sodium-loaded, and potassium-loaded rats, the inner medullary sorbitol content increased significantly in accordance with the rise in the enzymatic activity and the level of aldose reductase mRNA. In urea-loaded rats, both the sorbitol content and the level of aldose reductase mRNA were equal to that in hydrated rats. In the outer and inner medullary tissues, the level of myo-inositol transporter mRNA was increased in all hyperosmolality protocols, including urea infusion, which corresponded with the rise in myo-inositol content. In conclusion, potassium chloride infusion is as effective as water deprivation and sodium chloride infusion in raising the level of aldose reductase and myo-inositol transporter mRNA, whereas urea influenced only myo-inositol transporter. Although aldose reductase and myo-inositol transporter are osmoregulatory proteins in the renal medulla, the levels of aldose reductase and sodium-dependent myo-inositol transporter mRNA are regulated independently.


This manuscript gave a detailed description of a centralized seismograph. As is introduced in the manuscript, extensional functions of electrical data acquisition and NB-IoT had also been added to improve the functionality and novelty. In fact, a single piece of equipment that can deal with seismic and electrical data acquisition is difficult to find. Thus, the proposed instrument seems to be a good choice of joint exploration in engineering and geological prospecting. Besides, the result of field test was also provided to show the performance of the proposed instrument in electrical data acquisition. However, there are still a couple of technical points that should be refined and there are also several spelling and writing mistakes need to be corrected. Given that, I recommend that the manuscript under review could be accepted after minor revision.


The analysis of the dynamics of changes in serological and hematological blood parameters of cattle over the period of comprehensive healthrelated measures against Bovine Leukemia Virus (BLV) infection is presented to assess their effectiveness. For analysis of the epizootological situation, veterinary reporting data and the results of serological and hematological diagnostics for cattle leukemia were used. The work was performed in three agricultural enterprises of the Siberian Federal District: Irkutsk Region Altai Territory and Novosibirsk Region. According to the principle of an individual approach, a programme of comprehensive diagnostic and health anti-leukemia measures for each enterprise was developed. The main purpose of these measures was to break the epizootic chain in chronic BLV infection and ultimately change the epizootic situation by reducing the percentage of infection in the livestock population. The positive dynamics of the reduction of infected and leukemiasick cattle was shown as part of a complex of antiepizootic measures, which was made possible by a deviation from the generally accepted regulations for serological diagnostics in agar gel (AGID). During the quarterly diagnosis, the infection rate decreased over 2 years from 72.41 to 1.94% in cows and from 66.6% to negative results in heifers of the breeding age. Using a more sensitive method of enzymelinked immunosorbent assay in the recovery of young and repair livestock, it was possible to reduce infection from 20.9 to 4.0% and from 43.0 to 2.7%, respectively. In this case the epizootic situation for BLV infection may be more stable due to the identifi cation of hidden carriers of the infection.


In November 2000, a money manager needs to make a decision regarding an offering of convertible bonds by Corning. The analysis requires her to compare the insights available from standard descriptive ratios with those available from valuation analysis. This case is intended to be a student's first exercise in analyzing convertible bonds and assumes some familiarity with option-pricing theory and bond valuation. In addition, the case highlights the importance of going beyond the convertible-bond calculations. The volatility of Corning stock has increased in the past year, making the call option more valuable, but at the same time, Corning appears to be issuing converts at a time when both its share price and stock-market valuations are at historic highs. Thus, it is imperative that the student have a view on the sustainability of stock-market valuations and the outlook for Corning. See also the B case (UVA-F-1367).


PurposeThis case study urges the future of visitor economy to rely on regenerative tourism to make tourism systems resilience in the long run.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on published research and industry reports to discuss the future visitor economy and its impact on all dimensions of well-being focused on the case of Aotearoa New Zealand.FindingsResults show that post-pandemic tourism transformation must protect and promote local identities, and enhance and enrich visitor experiences with a focus on cultural and natural heritage.Originality/valueThe recovery of tourism must not implement regenerative tourism as a new specific type of tourism but as a holistic understanding of tourism futures that encompasses communities and the environment, and where visitors are committed to preserve and protect our natural and socio-cultural environment.


We describe a high-speed, two-frame shadowgraph method for the two-dimensional visualization of an expanding laser-induced plasma and shock wave in two time instances. The developed experimental method uses a 30 ps, green-laser, polarized pulse for the direct and delayed illumination separated by a variable time delay in the range from 300 ps to 30 ns. Since the exposed images of a single event are captured with two CCD cameras, the established method enables velocity measurements of the fast laser-induced phenomena within the nanosecond excitation-laser pulse as well as at later times-when the excitation-laser radiation has already ended.


Much research studies US inflation history with a trend-cycle model with unobserved components. A key feature of this model is that the trend may be viewed as the Fed's evolving inflation target or long-horizon expected inflation. We provide a new way to measure the slowly evolving trend and the cycle (or inflation gap), based on forecasts from the Survey of Professional Forecasters. These forecasts may be treated either as rational expectations or as adjusting to those with sticky information. We find considerable evidence of inflation-gap persistence and some evidence of implicit sticky information. But statistical tests show we cannot reconcile these two widely used perspectives on US inflation and professional forecasts, the unobserved-components model and the sticky-information model.


As single computer systems approach the technological limits of their performance, computer scientists are turning to multiprocessing as a means of solving computationally difficult problems. In addition, symbolic computing has emerged as a promising field of scientific endeavor. These two fields have recently combined into a new area of research: parallel symbolic computing.
One candidate language for parallel symbolic computing is Prolog. Numerous ways for executing Prolog in parallel have been proposed, but current efforts suffer from several deficiencies. Many cannot support fundamental types of concurrency in Prolog. Other models are of purely theoretical interest, ignoring implementation costs. Detailed simulation studies of execution models are scarce; at present little is known about the costs and benefits of executing Prolog in parallel.
In this thesis, a new parallel execution model for Prolog is presented: the PPP model or Parallel Prolog Processor. The PPP supports AND-parallelism, OR-parallelism, and intelligent backtracking. An implementation of the PPP is described, through the extension of an existing Prolog abstract machine architecture. Several examples of PPP execution are presented, and compilation to the PPP abstract instruction set is discussed. The performance effects of this model are reported, based on a simulation of a large benchmark set. The implications of these results for parallel Prolog systems are discussed, and directions for future work are indicated.


This work is dedicated to the experimental analysis of the statistics of the scattering of sound by a complex cavity in a duct. It is shown that the application of the Random Coupling Method based on the Random Matrix Theory can explain very well the fluctuations of reflection due to those cavities. An emphasis is made in this study to the effect of dissipation and of flow on the statistics of the scattering coefficients of the cavity.


The oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds is a pivotal reaction in organic synthesis. However, traditional oxidants are often toxic and release considerable amounts of by-products. As an alternative, oxygen (or even better air) is among the cheaper and less polluting stoichiometric oxidants, since it produces no waste or water as the sole by-product. The implementation of a transition metal-based catalyst in combination with oxygen represents an emerging alternative to the traditional procedures. This review aims to give an overview on the most important advances made by the scientific community in the last 15 years in the field of aerobic oxidations of alcohols catalyzed by transition metals in the form of homogeneous catalysts, heterogeneous catalysts and, more recently, nanoparticles.


In ADPIC, the deposition emerging from washout has thus far been modelled rather crudely, since the only option has been to turn the rain on and off at different times. This kind of modelling is particularly unsatisfactory when ADPIC is used to model continuous releases over long periods of time. The assumption of simultaneous rain throughout such a large plume is simply not true. In this report a modified version of ADPIC with a three-dimensional (3-D) washout coefficient is presented. The effect of space variable precipitation is examined via two separate releases that are simulated for a period of 48 hours: one continuous {open_quote}Chernobyl-like source{close_quote} release and one instantaneous {open_quote}nuclear explosion-like{close_quote}. Simulations with both the new and old formulation are made and the resulting deposition patterns are compared.


The spectra of gravity and magnetic anomalies due to a prismatic body can be expressed as sums of exponentials. The complex exponents of these exponentials are functions of frequency and locations of the corners of the body. An exponential approximation method is used for the analysis of the radial spectra of an anomaly and its first order moments for obtaining accurate estimates of the depths to the top and bottom of the body. A method has also been developed for determining approximately the location of the centroid of the body. When the location of the centroid and the depths to the top and bottom are known for the causative body, it is possible to calculate the horizontal dimensions with the help of the spectrum of the anomaly.


Hums - low frequency noises - cause much annoyance and may have other non-auditory effects on health. The issue is one of the most enigmatic factors in the assessment and control of environmental noise.

Over the past 20 years both scientific and lay publications have repeatedly drawn attention to mysterious hums, for which there often seems to be no explanation.1, 2 Universities, government departments, research establishments, and industrial and public companies have all been concerned,3, 4 as have learned societies, charities, and sufferers' associations. 5, 6 What are these hums, and why are there no clear explanations?

Audible sound is in the frequency range 20-20 000 Hz. "Infrasound" is inaudible sound in the frequency range 1-20 Hz - and if it is sufficiently intense it is sensed rather than heard. "Low frequency sound" is audible sound in the range 20-150 Hz. Hums seem to be perceived in the range 1-150 Hz, in which physical measurement is difficult.

Hums are …


In an inter-laboratory test programme (ILT) for the measurement of airborne sound insulation of lightweight walls, reproducibility values of up to 12dB were obtained from the sound reduction index measured in 21 participating laboratories. These high reproducibility values were for a test structure composed of lightweight plasterboard panels, forming a double wall, mounted on separate metal 'C' channels. This paper presents possible reasons for the large reproducibility values for the double wall using experimental investigations and theoretical models using Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA). Whilst the sound reduction index (SRI) does take into account the different test wall areas and reverberation times of the respective laboratories involved, some factors which may influence the measured SRI values are not. It is suggested that the principle factor which may have effected the SRI values of this test programme for the double wall was the lining material of the test aperture in the various laboratories which can provide a flanking transmission path between both sides of the double wall. Other factors are discussed which may also play a contributory role in causing differences in the measured SRI values such as sill/reveal size, aspect ratio, panel-channel connections and workmanship


The technology of biogas production is a complex one, since biological processes need to be optimised taking individual structural and hydraulic requirements into account. Perfect thermo statisation, continuous blending, homogenisation, reduction and injection of the substrate are all vital preconditions. Biogas from liquid manure can be used to provide hot water, electricity and automotive energy without any further processing (desulphurization). The energy is provided by methane gas (CH4) which is produced by highly specialised bacteria when organic material decomposes in an oxygen-free atmosphere. Combined heat and power (CHP) systems generate electricity and useful thermal energy in a single, integrated system. This contrasts with the common practice of separate heat and power (SHP) where electricity is generated at a central power plant, while onsite heating and cooling equipment is used to meet non-electric energy requirements.


Collected here are Althusser's most significant philosophical writings from 1965 to 1978. Intended to contribute, in his own words, to a "left-wing critique of Stalinism that would help put some substance back into the revolutionary project here in the West," they are the record of a shared history. At the same time they chart Althusser's critique of the theoretical system unveiled in his own major works, and his developing practice of philosophy as a "revolutionary weapon." Attesting to the unique place which Althusser has occupied in modern intellectual history - between a tradition of Marxism which he sought to reconstruct, and a "post-Marxism" which has eclipsed its predecessor - these texts are indispensable reading.


Resumo Four continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) sections were built at the University of Sao Paulo campus in order to analyze the pavement performance in a tropical environment. The sections short length coupled with particular project aspects made the experimental CRCP cracking be different from the traditional CRCP one. After three years of construction, a series of nondestructive testing were performed - Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) loadings - to verify and to parameterize the pavement structural condition based on two main properties: the elasticity modulus of concrete (E) and the modulus of subgrade reaction (k). These properties estimation was obtained through the matching process between real and EverFE simulated basins with the load at the slab center, between two consecutive cracks. The backcalculation results show that the lack of anchorage at the sections end decreases the E and k values and that the longitudinal reinforcement percentage provides additional stiffness to the pavement. Additionally, FWD loadings tangential to the cracks allowed the load transfer efficiency (LTE) estimation determination across cracks. The LTE resulted in values above 90 % for all cracks.


Recurrence and metastasis are the foremost causes of morbidity and mortality for breast cancer (BC). Recent studies have highlighted the critical role of the tumor microenvironment, in particular, because it is related to tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), in metastasis of BC. TAMs are mainly derived from macrophages that are recruited by C-C motif chemokine ligand 5, which are secreted by cancer cells and cancer-related stromal cells. Although E-cigarettes (E-cigs) were originally proposed as a healthy substitute for conventional cigarette smoking, clinical and experimental evidence has highlighted the potentially lethal effects of this alternative. Several studies have illustrated the immune or macrophage activation and DNA damaging effects of E-cigs. However, the potentially pivotal role of TAM-BC crosstalk during BC progression and metastasis for E-cig vaping has not been explored. This review discussed the significant effect that E-cig use had on the BC tumor microenvironment, which ultimately led to enhanced tumor malignancy and metastasis, with an emphasis on the extent that E-cig uses had on the crosstalk between cancer and immune cells, as well as the potential underlying mechanisms that drive this aggressive phenotype of BC. This review advances our understanding of this matter and provides scientific evidence that could highlight risks associated with vaping and suggest a potential intervention for the treatment of aggressive BCs that present an increased risk of metastasis.


In today's medical world, the patient's data with symptoms and diseases are expanding rapidly, so that analysis of all factors with updated knowledge about symptoms and corresponding new treatment is merely not possible by medical experts. Hence, the essential for an intelligent system to reflect the different issues and rec-ognize an appropriate model between the different parameters is evident. In recent decades, rough set theory (RST) has been broadly applied in various fields such as medicine, business, education, engineering and multime-dia. In this study, a hybrid intelligent system that combines rough set (RST) and bijective soft set theory (BISO) to build a robust classifier model is proposed. The aim of the hybrid system is to exploit the advantages of the con-stituent components while eliminating their limitations. The resulting approach is thus able to handle data incon-sistency in datasets through rough sets, while obtaining high classification accuracy based on prediction using bijective soft sets. Toward estimating the performance of the hybrid rough-bijective soft set (RBISO)-based classification approach, six benchmark medical datasets (Wis-consin breast cancer, liver disorder, hepatitis, Pima Indian diabetes, echocardiogram data and thyroid gland) from the UCI repository of machine learning databases are utilized. Experimental results, based on evaluation in terms of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy, are compared with other well-known classification methods, and the proposed algorithm provides an effective method for medical data classification.