To the Editor. —Iatrogenic disease existed even before Socrates reported iodine-induced rash in his asthmatic patients following administration of a burned sponge. A case of vasomotor rhinitis induced by eye drops is reported herein. The case appeared to be drug induced and iatrogenic in nature. Report of a Case. —A 71-year-old woman was seen for chief complaints of "constant runny nose, postnasal drip, and stuffy nose, worse in the evening." She denied pulmonary symptoms. Significant findings on examination were limited to pale edematous nasal mucosa covered with clear glistening mucus. Similar-appearing mucus was seen on the posterior pharyngeal wall. On auscultation, her chest was clear, and heart sounds were normal, supported by a blood pressure of 140/80 and regular pulse rate of 76 beats per minute. The patient had a two-year history of the aforementioned complaints. A year ago, she suffered two episodes of sinusitis for which she consulted an


The reactions of the bulky primary alane (H2AlC6H3-2,6-Mes2)2 (Mes=–C6H2-2,4,6-Me3) with H2EPh (E=N, P or As) are described. With aniline, H2NPh, the dimeric products 2,6-Mes2H3C6{Ph(H)N}Al{µ-N(H)Ph}2Al(H)C6H3-2,6-Mes2 (1) and [2,6-Mes2H3C6(H)Al{µ-N(H)Ph}]2 (2) are obtained. The structures of both 1 and 2 feature two –C6H3-2,6-Mes2 substituted aluminums bridged by two –N(H)Ph groups. In 2 each aluminum is also bound to a terminal hydrogen whereas in 1 one of these hydrogens is replaced by a terminal –N(H)Ph substituent. The structure of the –P(H)Ph derivative [2,6-Mes2H3C6(H)Al{µ-P(H)Ph}]2 (3) is very similar to that of 2 (and presumably the arsenido derivative 4) and features bridging phosphido groups and four-coordinate aluminums. The arsenido dimer 4 is cleaved by ether to give the ether adduct 2,6-Mes2H3C6(H)Al{As(H)Ph}(OEt2) for which a partial X-ray structure was determined. Thermolysis of 2, 3 and 4 led to decomposition. However, heating (H2AlC6H3-2,6-Mes2)2 with excess H2AsPh led to the unique cluster (2,6-Mes2H3C6Al)2{µ-As(H)Ph}2(µ-PhAsAsPh) which has a basket-type Al2As4 core.


Aggregate health expenditures as a share of GDP have risen in the United States from about 5 percent in 1960 to nearly 14 percent in recent years. Why? This paper explores a simple explanation based on technological progress. Medical advances allow diseases to be cured today, at a cost, that could not be cured at any price in the past. When this technological progress is combined with a Medicare- like transfer program to pay the health expenses of the elderly, the model is able to reproduce the basic facts of recent U.S. experience, including the large increase in the health expenditure share, a rise in life expectancy, and an increase in the size of health-related transfer payments as a share of GDP.


Learning from many real-world datasets is limited by a problem called the class imbalance problem. A dataset is imbalanced when one class (the majority class) has significantly more samples than the other class (the minority class). Such datasets cause typical machine learning algorithms to perform poorly on the classification task. To overcome this issue, this paper proposes a new approach Neighbors' Progressive Competition (NPC) for classification of imbalanced datasets. Whilst the proposed algorithm is inspired by weighted k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) algorithms, it has major differences from them. Unlike k-NN, NPC does not limit its decision criteria to a preset number of nearest neighbors. In contrast, NPC considers progressively more neighbors of the query sample in its decision making until the sum of grades for one class is much higher than the other classes. Furthermore, NPC uses a novel method for grading the training samples to compensate for the imbalance issue. The grades are calculated using both local and global information. In brief, the contribution of this paper is an entirely new classifier for handling the imbalance issue effectively without any manually-set parameters or any need for expert knowledge. Experimental results compare the proposed approach with five representative algorithms applied to fifteen imbalanced datasets and illustrate this algorithm's effectiveness.


Taxi service is an important mode of modern public transportation. However, operated by a large number of selfcontrolled and profit-driven taxi drivers, taxi systems are quite in efficient and difficult to analyze and regulate. While there has been some work on designing algorithms for improving taxi system efficiency, the state of the art algorithm, unfortunately, cannot scale up efficiently. To address the inadequacy, we propose a novel algorithm—FLORA—in this paper. Using convex polytope representation conversion techniques, FLORA provides a fully compact representation of taxi drivers' strategy space, and avoids enumerating any type of schedules. Experimental results show orders of magnitude improvement of FLORA in terms of the complexity.


Surgery is the first of the branches of medicine to be severely hampered in its graduate teaching by the changing economic status of patients. Halsted introduced to the United States the present type of residency training, which is modified from the German system. This type of training, now adopted by most other branches of medicine, provides gradually increasing experience and responsibility until the final year, when complete or nearly complete responsibility is given to the resident. Surgery is the first specialty to be seriously affected, because voluntary surgical fee insurance is the most popular type of medical fee insurance today. Thus, surgery, the most popular type of graduate medical training, is the first specialty to have its graduate medical training affected by the changing economic status of patients. It is also obvious that, when in the future there is complete or nearly complete coverage of all individuals by professional fee


his paper aims to conceptualize the notions of relational matrix and matrix as the basis of therapeutic exercise clinical dynamics. The method followed was critical documentary. We conclude that (1) dynamic psychology can be thought of as status within school psychology; (2) the human being is subject thanks to the world of relationships that make him (serelaci??n); (3) therefore, the psychological development occurs in a relational matrix and (4) the clinical setting occurs within a therapeutic matrix, which allows the patient to reconfigure their world of relationships with self, the world and the other. On the concept of intervention, technical neutrality, clinical ethics and narrative dimension in clinic: some implications for clinical practice are discussed.


Background
 Functional bowel disorders (FBDs) are the most common gastrointestinal problems managed by physicians. We aimed to assess the burden of chronic symptomatic FBDs on ambulatory care delivery in the United States and evaluate patterns of treatment.

 Methods
 Data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey were used to estimate annual rates and associated costs of ambulatory visits for symptomatic irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic functional abdominal pain, constipation, or diarrhea. The weighted proportion of visits associated with pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic (stress/mental health, exercise, diet counseling) interventions were calculated, and predictors of treatment strategy were evaluated in multivariable multinomial logistic regression.

 Results
 From 2007-2015, ∼36.9 million [95% CI, 31.4-42.4] weighted visits in non-federal patients for chronic symptomatic FBDs were sampled. There was an annual weighted average of 2.7 million [95% CI, 2.3-3.2] visits for symptomatic IBS/chronic abdominal pain, 1.0 million [95% CI, 0.8-1.2] visits for chronic constipation, and 0.7 million [95% CI, 0.5-0.8] visits for chronic diarrhea. Pharmacologic therapies were prescribed in 49.7% [95% CI, 44.7%-54.8%] of visits, compared to non-pharmacologic interventions in 19.8% [95% CI, 16.0%-24.2%] of visits (P < .001). Combination treatment strategies were more likely to be implemented by primary care physicians and in patients with depression or obesity. The direct annual cost of ambulatory clinic visits alone for chronic symptomatic FBDs is ∼$358 million USD [95% CI, $233-482 million].

 Conclusions
 The management of chronic symptomatic FBDs is associated with considerable health care resource utilization and cost. There may be an opportunity to improve comprehensive FBD management as fewer than 1 in 5 ambulatory visits include non-pharmacologic treatment strategies.


This paper presents a novel game theoretic attack-defence decision making framework for cyber-physical system (CPS) security. Game theory is a powerful tool to analyse the interaction between the attacker and the defender in such scenarios. In the formulation of games, participants are usually assumed to be rational. They will always choose the action to pursuit maximum payoff according to the knowledge of the strategic situation they are in. However, in reality the capacity of rationality is often bounded by the level of intelligence, computational resources and the amount of available information. This paper formulates the concept of bounded rationality into the decision making process, in order to optimise the defender's strategy considering that the defender and the attacker have incomplete information of each other and limited computational capacity. Under the proposed framework, the defender can often bene¿t from deviating from the minimax Nash Equilibrium strategy, the theoretically expected outcome of rational game playing. Numerical results are presented and discussed in order to demonstrate the proposed technique.


Considering the fact that many Muslims with diabetes prefer to fast in spite of inhibitory advises and to answer several conflicts and controversies regarding diabetes and Ramadan, IDF in collaboration with Diabetes and Ramadan (DAR) International in Alliance decided to develop a comprehensive guideline to be used by health care professionals. This guideline was then developed on April 2016 by 12 main authors and 20 co-authors from all around the world, and published by International Diabetes Federation. The guideline is provided in nine chapters: 1) Introduction to the IDF-DAR Practical Guidelines, 2) Epidemiology of Diabetes and Ramadan Fasting, 3) Physiology of Ramadan Fasting, 4) Risk Stratification of Individuals with Diabetes before Ramadan, 5) Diabetes and Ramadan: A Medico-religious Perspective, 6) Pre-Ramadan Education, 7) Ramadan Nutrition Plan (RNP) for Patients with Diabetes, 8) Management of Diabetes during Ramadan and 9) Identifying and Overcoming Barriers to Guideline Implementation. This guideline tries to answer three main questions: 1) Is fasting during Ramadan associated with a significant risk? 2) What are the criteria that predispose patients with diabetes to increased risk during fasting? 3) What is the most appropriate oral anti-diabetic drug(s) or type and regimen of insulin for patients with type 2 diabetes who fast? IDF-DAR Practical Guideline is now available at: http://www.idf.org/sites/default/files/IDF-DAR-Practical-Guidelines-Final-Low.pdf


Background
Globally, nearly 19 million people with Lymphatic filariasis (LF) who require surgery have not been attended. To reach them needs the scaling up and expansion of surgical services. In Tanzania, hydrocele is more prevalent in the coastal belt, where surgical workforce is also scarce. Thus, scaling up hydrocele surgery services would require the use of non-physician clinicians (NPCs) that are currently based there by offering procedure specific training. With new technique of partial sac excision, constant support and mentorship would be required. We therefore sought to test if use of mobile platform would be an adjunct to supervision and support to practicing non surgeon clinicians in Tanzania.

Methods
This was a prospective cohort study done in Mtwara and Lindi regions during the period of 2014-2015. Training model followed the West African Morbidity Management protocol for hydrocele followed by practical sessions in the operating room in each locality. Subsequently, patients were screened and discussed by sharing pictures on WhatsApp created to link the hydrocele teams and the two consultant surgeons. Patients with simple hydrocele not to require scrotoplasty and with non-coexistent of hernia were recruited. Data collected included: number of cases performed, time spent per procedure, hematoma formation and adherence to local anesthesia. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the findings.

Results
Fifteen NPCs were successfully trained and mentored throughout the study period and were subsequently able to perform 1,337 hydrocelectomies in 1,250 patients with 387 having bilateral hydrocele. The use of local anesthesia was successful in nearly all the patients and case selection was appropriate as can be seen with only 7/1,250 requiring additional procedures other than hydrocelectomy. The mean procedure duration was 50.2±0.24 minutes and complications rates were low at 2.16%.

Conclusions
Mobile platform with instant photo and video sharing capacity can be a reliable tool in offering support and supervision in surgical service provision.


Two requirements must be met for efficient and stable cycling of Li metal: (1) intimate and uniform nucleation of Li metal on an electrode substrate for constant current distribution throughout the electrode surface and (2) chemical and electrochemical stability of electrolyte components for high coulombic efficiency. With a focus on the electrode substrate, in this work, we coat a very thin and highly conductive carbon layer as the Li plating primer onto the surface of an existing Cu substrate. It is shown that the carbon primer layer greatly increases coulombic efficiency and cycling stability of Li metal. Microstructural characterization and ac-impedance analysis reveal that the improvement is due to the preferential nucleation of Li metal on the surface of carbon granules, which results in low contact resistance between the plated Li and the electrode substrate. The results of this work indicate that applying a conductive carbon primer layer is a simple and cost-effective approach for the efficient and stable cycling of Li metal.


Abstract. Background: Research indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic caused increases in psychological distress and suicidal ideation. Aims: To describe the ways suicidal callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) perceived COVID-19 to have impacted them and assess whether these callers perceived COVID-19-related stress as contributing to their suicidal thoughts. Method: Telephone interviews were conducted with 412 suicidal callers to 12 Lifeline centers. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the associations between demographic factors and individual COVID-19 stressors and to determine whether callers who endorsed COVID-19-related stress as contributing to their suicidal thoughts differed from those who did not regarding demographics, current suicide risk, history of suicidality, Lifeline use, or individual COVID-19 stressors. Results: Over half of callers reported that COVID-19-related stress contributed to their suicidal ideation (CRSSI). Callers who endorsed CRSSI had higher odds than those who did not of mentioning financial difficulties when asked how COVID-19 impacted them. The two groups of callers did not differ on the other factors examined. Limitations: Interviewed callers may not be representative of all Lifeline callers. Conclusion: Despite the subjective burden of COVID-19-related stress on suicidal Lifeline callers, this was not associated with new suicidality or heightened suicide risk.


It has become obvious that the tasks attributed to the UN by Article 1 of its Charter have not been carried out. During the fifty years of its existence, the UN has not been able either 'to maintain international peace and security', or 'to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character'. The number of people who still believe that some day the organization will become more efficient is diminishing with time. Public opinion finds no answer to its anxiety and frustrations about catastrophic humanitarian situations, about the failure of peace-keeping operations or the spread of unemployment at world level. Everyone feels that the UN and the UN system are unable to propose any solution. Criticisms are growing and scepticism about any possibility of 'revitalization' is widespread. Some people already speak of the UN's death. But it would be naive to think that an objective critique of the UN organization, structure or functioning is currently possible. No criticism is neutral or objective, but part of a larger debate on the concept of global society. A survey of the various ideas and proposals for reform shows that acknowledgement of UN failure opens a larger discussion on global governance. At present the conservative approach prevails, there is no hope of any reforms being implemented, and radical views are still considered Utopian. But the evolution of the global situation will probably completely change the nature of the debate in the near future as well as the attitude of the political establishment towards UN reform.


This paper deals with obtaining a data base for test and evaluation of large software systems, when at most, only a few typical pattern instances are available. Data structure variation is proposed and demonstrated for some simple images. Relationships to fundamental concepts in computer science methodology are discussed.


Cloud computing has revolutionized the modes of computing. With huge success and diverse benefits, the paradigm faces several challenges as well. Power consumption, dynamic resource scaling, and over- and under-provisioning issues are challenges for the cloud computing paradigm. The research has been carried out in cloud computing for resource utilization prediction to overcome over- and under-provisioning issues. Over-provisioning of resources consumes more energy and leads to high costs. However, under-provisioning induces Service Level Agreement (SLA) violation and Quality of Service (QoS) degradation. Most of the existing mechanisms focus on single resource utilization prediction, such as memory, CPU, storage, network, or servers allocated to cloud applications but overlook the correlation among resources. This research focuses on multi-resource utilization prediction using Functional Link Neural Network (FLNN) with hybrid Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The proposed technique is evaluated on Google cluster traces data. Experimental results show that the proposed model yields better accuracy as compared to traditional techniques.


Organoids, the 3D culture systems derived from stem cells, are promising models for human organs. However, organoid study requires large-volume imaging with single cell resolution, which is beyond the spatial bandwidth limit of conventional optical microscopy. Herein, we propose a lensless holographic microscope empowered with a time and memory-saving algorithm. It solves the trade-off between the imaging field of view, resolution, and processing speed, and provides a practical tool for the study of organoids. We first build a compact microscopy system using a multi-angle LED illumination scheme and an on-chip structure. Then we develop a fast angular spectrum formula for fast reconstruction of oblique-illuminated coaxial holography under the under-sampling condition. Additionally, we derive a multi-angle illuminated filtered backpropagation algorithm to achieve high-precision and slice-wise recovery of 3D structures of objects. The reconstruction process demands only 1/50 of the memory required by a traditional optical diffraction tomography algorithm. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method can achieve 6.28 mm × 4.71 mm × 0.37 mm volume imaging within 104 s. Through the standardized polystyrene beads test, we demonstrate that the proposed microscope has micrometer-scale resolution in both lateral and axial directions. In addition, the 3D imaging results of salivary gland organoids show great application prospects of the proposed method in the field of living biological sampling imaging.


Waterborne pathogens outbreaks are major reasons of diarrhea disease worldwide. Detecting and monitoring emerging waterborne pathogens (EWPs) is important for drinking water microbiological safety. The microbiological safety of household water hollow fiber membrane filter which is the end of drinking water treatment process was studied with heterotrophic plate count (HPC) and real-time PCR method. The effect of the flow rate, idle time and washing fashion were investigated. Among the selected filters from three manufacturers, only the PVDF membrane water filter (Brand B) could achieve a good water purification criteria. Brand A was found a certain degree of EWPs in its effluent. The lowest bacteria-removing efficiency of the PVC membrane water filter was found Brand C. Our study showed that the microorganisms could reach up to 10(6) CFU ml(-1) and the 16s rDNA could reach up to 10(6) copies ml(-1) in the initial filtrate of Brand C. More species and amounts of EWPs were detected in the washing water. These results suggested that the popular household membrane filters might cause microbiological risks at certain circumstances such as the shock load of EWPs and leakage of the membranes in the case of abnormal source water or poor membrane filter quality.


With the increasing growth of electronic communications, it is becoming important to provide a mechanism for enforcing various security policies on network communications. This paper discusses our implementation of several previously proposed protocols that enforce theell LaPadula security model. We also introduce a new protocol called "Quantized Pump" that offers several advantages, and present experimental results to support our claims.


To monitor recent changes in Japan in diet and risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), in the light of the decline on coronary heart disease, total serum cholesterol levels and other risk factors were compared between two nationwide health surveys in 1980 and 1989 conducted in the same population as the annual National Nutrition Surveys. Between 1980 and 1989, age-adjusted total serum cholesterol levels increased from 4.84 to 5.22 for men and from 4.91 to 5.24 mmol/l for women. Prevalence of age-adjusted hypercholesterolaemia of > or = 5.68 mmol/l (220 mg/dl) increased from 15.8% to 29.4% for men and from 18.4% to 30.6% for women. Decline in blood pressure was observed for both sexes. Prevalence of smoking decreased from 64.7% to 58.7% in men while prevalence in women remained low (from 10.1 to 9.9%). Considerable increases in total serum cholesterol levels do not offer an explanation of the recent decline in mortality from coronary heart disease in Japan. This may, in part, be related to a decline in blood pressure levels.


*Originally printed in Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology 2001 29(2). Studies that utilize Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data reveal more problems than they resolve. HMDA data include limited variables used by lenders. Even when supplemented with additional information, researchers question their results by hypothesizing additional variables that might account for race. Criteria of adequacy for utilizing HMDA data are proposed that are adequate to the planning task of identifying the effects of impediments to fair housing. While HMDA data provide questionable evidence for discrimination, they provide adequate evidence to determine if a minority population experiences impediments to fair housing. A methodology is derived from a literature review.


Where the sea meets the land, life has blossomed into a myriad of unique forms in the turbulence of water, sand, and wind. At another seashore between the land of atoms and the sea of bits, we are now facing the challenge of reconciling our dual citizenships in the physical and digital worlds. Our visual and auditory sense organs are steeped in the sea of digital information, but our bodies remain imprisoned in the physical world. Windows to the digital world are confined to flat square screens and pixels, or "painted bits." Unfortunately, one can not feel and confirm the virtual existence of this digital information through one's hands and body.


The graduate medical education (GME) system is heavily subsidized by the public in return for producing physicians who meet society's needs. Under the terms of this implicit social contract, decisions about how this funding is allocated are deferred to the individual training sites. Institutions receiving public funding face potential conflicts of interest, which have at times prioritized institutional purposes and needs over societal needs, highlighting that there is little public accountability for how such funding is used. The cost and institutional burden of assessing many fundamental GME outcomes, such as specialty, geographic physician distribution, training-imprinted cost behaviors, and populations served, could be mitigated as data sources and methods for assessing GME outcomes and guiding training improvement already exist. This new capacity to assess system-level outcomes could help institutions and policymakers strategically address the greatest public needs. Measurement of educational outcomes can also be used to guide training improvement at every level of the educational system (i.e., the individual trainee, individual teaching institution, and collective GME system levels). There are good examples of institutions, states, and training consortia that are already assessing and using GME outcomes in these ways. The ultimate outcome could be a GME system that better meets the needs of society and better honors what is now only an implicit social contract.


The process of differentiation and maturation of sea urchin gonads were studied at the molecular levels with the aim of controlling gonadal maturation. To find germ cell-specific makers, genes for vasa, PL10 and nanos were cloned. RT-PCR and in situ hybridization demonstrated that vasa and nanos genes were specifically expressed in germ cells in both sexes. Then, expression levels of those genes during embryonic development were measured by real-time PCR. Transcripts for vasa were accumulated in unfertilized eggs as a maternal factor whereas the expression of nanos gene enhanced during embryonic development. An ovary cDNA library was screened to find genes expressed with a stage-specific manner during ovarian maturation by the combination of EST and microarray analyses. Further analysis by real-time PCR on selected 18 genes demonstrated that 15 genes increased in their expression levels in the ovary during oogenesis. These genes encoded a component of cortical granules, cell division controlling factor, growth factor, enzyme, spermactivation factor, unknown products, etc. We discuss about perspectives on the control of sea urchin maturation in relation to our study.


Video frame interpolation aims at synthesizing intermediate frames from nearby source frames while maintaining spatial and temporal consistencies. The existing deep-learning-based video frame interpolation methods can be roughly divided into two categories: flow-based methods and kernel-based methods. The performance of flow-based methods is often jeopardized by the inaccuracy of flow map estimation due to oversimplified motion models, while that of kernel-based methods tends to be constrained by the rigidity of kernel shape. To address these performance-limiting issues, a novel mechanism named generalized deformable convolution is proposed, which can effectively learn motion information in a data-driven manner and freely select sampling points in space-time. We further develop a new video frame interpolation method based on this mechanism. Our extensive experiments demonstrate that the new method performs favorably against the state-of-the-art, especially when dealing with complex motions. Code is available at https://github.com/zhshi0816/GDConvNet.


Background The New compositions of white mineral trioxide aggregate (WMTA) or use of various additives like nanoparticles might affect MTA's ideal characteristics This study was performed to evaluate the cytotoxicity of WMTA and WMTA with Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (1% weight ratio) at different storage times after mixing on human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs). Material and Methods HGFs were obtained from the attached gingiva of human premolars. HGFs were cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle medium, supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum, penicillin and streptomycin. The cells were exposed to WMTA (groups 1 and 2) and WMTA+TiO2 (groups 3 and 4). The fifth and sixth groups served as controls. Each group contained 15 wells. After 24h (groups 1, 3 and 5) and 48 h (groups 2, 4 and 6) of exposure, HGF viability was determined by Mosmann's tetrazolium toxicity (MTT) assay. Statistical analysis of the data was performed by using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test, with significance of p < 0.05. Results With both materials, the viability of HGFs significantly decrased with increasing the incubation time from 24h to 48 h (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the materials regarding HGF viability (P>0.05). Conclusions Under the limitations of the present study, incorporation of TiO2 nanoparticles into MTA at 1 wt% had no negative effect on its biocompatibility. Key words:Cytotoxicity, fibroblast, MTA, MTT assay, nanoparticle, TiO2.


Understanding decadal changes in the coastal carbonate system is essential for predicting how the health of these waters responds to anthropogenic drivers, such as changing atmospheric conditions and riverine inputs. However, studies that quantify the relative impacts of these drivers are lacking. In this study, the primary drivers of decadal trends in the surface carbonate system, and the spatiotemporal variability in these trends, are identified for a large coastal plain estuary: the Chesapeake Bay. Experiments using a coupled three-dimensional hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model highlight that, over the past three decades, the changes in the surface carbonate system of Chesapeake Bay have strong seasonal and spatial variability. The greatest surface pH and aragonite saturation state (Ω AR ) reductions have occurred in the summer in the middle (mesohaline) Bay: −0.24 and −0.9 per 30 years, respectively, with increases in atmospheric CO 2 and reductions in nitrate loading both being primary drivers. Reductions in nitrate loading have a strong seasonal influence on the carbonate system, with the most pronounced decadal decreases in pH and Ω AR occurring during the summer when primary production is strongly dependent on nutrient availability. Increases in riverine total alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon have raised surface pH in the upper oligohaline Bay, while other drivers such as atmospheric warming and input of acidified ocean water through the Bay mouth have had comparatively minor impacts on the estuarine carbonate system. This work has significant implications for estuarine ecosystem services, which are


The study was conducted to assess milk and milk products handling, processing, utilization and marketing systems in Hulet Eju Enesie district, East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia. For the study, 247 respondents were selected through systematic random sampling and data were collected using semi structured questionnaire, FGD, key informant interview and field observation. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi square test, analysis of variance by SPSS version 20 Software. Hand milking was the sole milking method in the study area and washing hand before milking was practiced by 93.5% of respondents. All of the interviewed respondents practiced smoking of milk handling equipment mainly to improve the taste and flavor of milk and milk products reported by 76.1% of respondents. Majority of respondents (86.6%) used gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) for milking but most of the respondents (95.7%) in Motta town and few respondents (9.3%) in mid altitude were used plastic material. All of the interviewed respondents were processed raw milk into various milk products. The average amount of milk produced per day per HH was 2.6±0.14 liters and significantly varied (P<0.05) among the study areas with the highest amount of milk produced (5.6±0.94 liters) in Motta town. Only 13.4% of respondents were participated in milk marketing but 86.2% of respondents sold butter. In general, the handling, and processing practice of milk and milk products was in a traditional system and milk and milk products marketing is very limited. Therefore awareness creation for the farmer to improve the handling practice of dairy products and motivation of the farmers to increase their participation in milk marketing is essential. Keywords : Altitude, Cow milk, Handling, Marketing, Processing, Utilization


This study has been written to examine the channels through which the global economic crises spread to the markets of countries with growing economies like Turkey. According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), stock market index data of the seven countries with high trade volume (Germany, France, UK, Russia, China, United States of Amerika and Italy) and of the seven countries with low trade volume (Botswana, Gabon, Kenya, Southern Cyprus, Iceland, New Zealand and Jamaica) between 2005 and 2011 was used. With the data used, volatility transfers occurred during the 2007-2008 crisis period were tried to be introduced with the aid of the multivariate GARCH models. As a result of the analyses, it has been determined that trade is an effective channel for transferring volatility.


Low-luminosity Type II supernovae (LL SNe II) make up the low explosion energy end of core-collapse SNe, but their study and physical understanding remain limited. We present SN 2016aqf, an LL SN II with extensive spectral and photometric coverage. We measure a V-band peak magnitude of −14.58 mag, a plateau duration of ∼100 d, and an inferred 56Ni mass of 0.008 ± 0.002 M⊙. The peak bolometric luminosity, Lbol ≈ 1041.4 erg s−1, and its spectral evolution are typical of other SNe in the class. Using our late-time spectra, we measure the [O i] λλ6300, 6364 lines, which we compare against SN II spectral synthesis models to constrain the progenitor zero-age main-sequence mass. We find this to be 12 ± 3 M⊙. Our extensive late-time spectral coverage of the [Fe ii] λ7155 and [Ni ii] λ7378 lines permits a measurement of the Ni/Fe abundance ratio, a parameter sensitive to the inner progenitor structure and explosion mechanism dynamics. We measure a constant abundance ratio evolution of $0.081^{+0.009}_{-0.010}$ and argue that the best epochs to measure the ratio are at ∼200–300 d after explosion. We place this measurement in the context of a large sample of SNe II and compare against various physical, light-curve, and spectral parameters, in search of trends that might allow indirect ways of constraining this ratio. We do not find correlations predicted by theoretical models; however, this may be the result of the exact choice of parameters and explosion mechanism in the models, the simplicity of them, and/or primordial contamination in the measured abundance ratio.


The aim of this study was to assess the information literacy (IL) and cyber-wellness skills of Secondary 3 (grade 9) students, age 14-15, in Singapore. The Ministry of Education in Singapore has introduced aspects of IL in schools through incorporating components into the syllabi of various subjects. A pilot-tested online survey, validated by IL experts from Canada, Hong Kong, Kuwait and Thailand, was used for data collection. The survey was taken by 2,458 students from 11 secondary schools in different geographical zones of Singapore. It was found that the use of school libraries and their resources was at a very low level. The majority of the students approached classmates and friends for help in solving their information-related problems. Only a small fraction consulted their school librarian. The overall IL assessment score showed that the students possessed a 'middle' level of IL skills which is better than previous (pre-curriculum integration) IL assessment studies in Singapore. As curriculum-embedded IL skills are taught by subject teachers, their level of preparedness could be a matter of concern. Similarly, fragmentation of IL concepts in different subject textbooks may cause co-ordination problems among teachers. This paper highlights the need for developing a roadmap for providing IL skills at different grade levels and in different subject areas. It is expected that the findings of this study will be useful to curriculum planners, teachers, schools librarians and others involved in IL education.


Multilocus house-keeping gene sequence analysis is a hotspot of taxonomy and phylogeny of prokaryotes. In this research, we used atpD and gln II gene sequences to analyze the phylogeny of nine rhizobia strains of Albizia spp., Acacia spp. and Leucaena leucocephala and compared the results to that of 16S rDNA. The phylogenetic relationships based on the sequence analysis of these three genes were congruent at the genera level. CCBAU43060 and CCBAU 61139 were located in the branch of Rhizobium-Agrobacterium. CCBAU51471, CCBAU35220, CCBAU51276 and CCBAU61158 belonged to the genera of Mesorhizobium. CCBAU35234, CCBAU61178 and CCBAU35085 were assigned to Bradyrhizobium. Differences were found for some strains, for example CCBAU 61158, CCBAU43060, CCBAU61178, at the species level. Insertion fragment and mosaic gene were also found in some isolates. These results indicated that there was recombination between species in the same genera. It is reliable to determine the taxonomy status at genera levels based on the sequence analysis of 16S rDNA. If the relationships between strains belonging to the same genera were studied using the phylogeny methods, researches should be carried out with more than one house-keeping genes.


Hydrothorax secondary to trans-diaphragmatic fluid leakage through a peritoneo-pleural communication is an occasional, potentially serious complication of peritoneal dialysis. The etiology of this condition is not clear, being thought to be due either to congenital or acquired diaphragmatic fenestrations or acquired scarcity of muscle fibers in the tendinous part of the diaphragm which are compounded by increased intra-abdominal pressure during the dwell period of peritoneal dialysis. We report a 54-year-old woman who developed irreversible acute renal failure from adjuvant chemotherapy for ovarian cancer previously resected surgically. Three days after the onset of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, she developed acute respiratory distress associated with a massive right hydrothorax secondary to a peritoneo-pleural communication demonstrated by scintigraphy. At autopsy 2 weeks later, systemic amyloidosis was surprisingly found and histologic examination of the right hemidiaphragm showed the presence of amyloid, among sparse muscle fibers. This is the first case report of a distinct pathological process, i.e. amyloidosis, involving the diaphragm associated with a peritoneo-pleural communication causing massive hydrothorax at the onset of peritoneal dialysis.


This paper analyzes how citizens of two countries that underwent democratization during the past twenty years — Russia and Indonesia — understand "democracy." Evaluating both large-N public opinion surveys and open- and closed-ended questions from interviews with a quota sample of the population in Russia and Indonesia, this paper provides a comprehensive picture of popular conceptualizations of democracy in these two distinct societies. I find that while both Russians and Indonesians view democracy through the lens of freedom, Russians have expressed their freedom by not participating in politics, while Indonesians have increased their engagement in contentious activities. These differences may help explain Russians' general indifference to Russia's authoritarian backsliding and low levels of political participation, as well as Indonesians' unusually high levels of political activism. This paper further finds that measures of popular understandings of "democracy" depend heavily on how the question is worded and the scope of possible responses.


The present article discusses Neutrosophic logic view to Schrodinger's cat paradox. We argue that this paradox involves some degree of indeterminacy (unknown) which Neutrosophic logic can take into consideration, whereas other methods including Fuzzy logic cannot. To make this proposition clear, we revisit our previous paper by offering an illustration using modified coin tossing problem, known as Parrondo's game.


Launch environments, such as lift-off acoustic (LOA) and ignition overpressure (IOP), are important design factors for any vehicle and are dependent upon the design of both the vehicle and the ground systems. LOA environments are used directly in the development of vehicle vibro-acoustic environments and IOP is used in the loads assessment. The NASA Constellation Program had several risks to the development of the Ares I vehicle linked to LOA. The risks included cost, schedule, and technical impacts for component qualification due to high predicted vibro-acoustic environments. One solution is to mitigate the environment at the component level. However, where the environment is too severe for component survivability, reduction of the environment itself is required. The Ares I scale model acoustic test (ASMAT) program was implemented to verify the Ares I LOA and IOP environments for the vehicle and ground systems including the mobile launcher (ML) and tower. An additional objective was to determine the acou...


This paper investigates the ownership and control of Thai public firms in the period after the East Asian financial crisis, compared to those in the pre-crisis period. Using the comprehensive unique database of ownership and board structures, we find that the ownership and control appear to be more concentrated in the hands of controlling shareholders subsequent to the crisis. Interestingly, even though families remain the most prevalent owners of Thai firms and are still actively involved in the management after the financial crisis, their role as the controlling shareholder becomes less significant. In addition, our results show that direct shareholdings are most frequently used as a means of control in both periods. Pyramids and cross-shareholdings, however, are employed to the lesser extent following the crisis.


A boy presenting with a severe congenital nephrotic syndrome diagnosed by histological analysis at the age of 3 weeks was biopsied again 7 years later. The ultrastructural glomerular basement membrane abnormalities depicted in the first biopsy were no longer present in the second one. The number of completely hyalinized glomeruli was not significantly decreased. The GFR remained normal, but a moderate persistent, non-selective proteinuria (800 mg/24 h) was noted without oedema. The patient however developed a progressive perceptive deficit of hearing.


We study the energy level structure of two-dimensional charged particles in inhomogeneous magnetic fields. In particular, for magnetic anti-dots the magnetic field is zero inside the dot and constant outside. Such a device can be fabricated with present-day technology. We present detailed semiclassical studies of such magnetic anti-dot systems and provide a comparison with exact quantum calculations. In the semiclassical approach we apply the Berry-Tabor formula for the density of states and the Borh-Sommerfeld quantization rules. In both cases we found good agreement with the exact spectrum in the weak magnetic field limit. The energy spectrum for a given missing flux quantum is classified in six possible classes of orbits and summarized in a so-called phase diagram. We also investigate the current flow patterns of different quantum states and show the clear correspondence with classical trajectories.


To the Editor: As clinical researchers involved in conducting rigidly controlled, statistically sound, clinical studies involving antiseptic prepara t ions using the "glove juice" procedure, we are compelled to comment on "Brief Report: The Antiseptic Efficacy of Chlorxylenol-Containing vs. Chlorhexidine Gluconate-Containing Surgical Scrub Preparations" (Soulsby ME, Barnett JB, Maddox S: Infect Control 1986; 4:223-226). The authors state that their study was "designed after the criteria set forth in the guidelines developed for review of antiseptics as to their safety and efficacy by the FDA." However, there are some significant deviations from these guidel ines in the procedures described, and some other issues explained below that lead one to question the validity of the entire study. 1. Instead of a minimum of 30 subjects, only 12 subjects were studied. This means that only three hands were available for the 3and 6-hour evaluations of each product, too few for reliable statistical analysis. 2. The comparison was between a prepackaged commercial Anti-Sept® sponge-brush containing a standardized amoun t of PCMX and a dry sponge-brush with Hibiclens® applied "as needed" (no amount given). Why didn't the authors use prepackaged Hibiclens sponge-brushes, which are also commercially available and which contain a s tandardized amount of chlorhexidine gluconate and a special foam to ensure that the chlorhexidine gluconate is not bound to the sponge material? The present study may have actually been a comparison of AntiSept with an inadequate amount of Hibiclens or with Hibiclens bound to the sponge material. 3. It is standard practice in "glove juice" studies to prepare tenfold serial dilutions and to perform all plating in triplicate, incorporat ing chemical neutralizers for the antimicrobial into t h e d i l u t i n g f lu id a n d p l a t i n g medium. In this study, single plates were apparently used, and the authors relied upon extreme sample dilution (1 mL of 1:50 dilution added to 199 mL sampling fluid to yield 1:10,000) to eliminate concern for carryover of residual antimicrobial. 4. The data presented in the two tables are very confusing, with those of Table 2 seemingly contradicted by those of Table 1. The standard procedure is to determine the logarithm, base 10, of each individual bacteria count and then summarize the logs in terms of means and standard deviations. Thus, the mean log counts displayed in a summary table would be the mean of individual counts. The authors, however, used a different and unusual approach. They apparently first calculated the mean of the individual raw counts and then determined the log of that mean. This value is improperly called the mean log count in Table 1. The authors summarized the raw counts rather than the log counts, resulting in a possible distortion of the data. Published results of "glove juice" s tudies , i nc lud ing ou r own with Hibiclens sponge-brushes 1 2 and Hibiclens liquid, have indicated that if Hibiclens is used correctly and the data analyzed properly, much greater log reductions will be obtained than reported in this study, explaining why Hibiclens is used as a standard against which other formulas are evaluated.


The tolerable voltage limits and the maximum predicted voltage values calculated using empirical formulae given in five currently applicable standards, namely IEEE 80 (2000), EA-TS 41-24 (1992), BS 7354 (1990), ITU-T K.33 (1996) and CENELEC HD 637 S1 (1999) are compared. The calculated results from CDEGS-HIFREQ are also included. The step, touch and mesh voltages, and hot zones are calculated according to the recommendations given in the five standards, and the differences between them are investigated and clarified. The results show that IEEE 80 with 50 kg body weight touch voltage case gives the lowest tolerable limits whereas BS 7354 gives the highest in most cases. The maximum predicted touch voltage obtained from CDEGS-HIFREQ is higher than that obtained from the empirical formulae of EA-TS 41-24 and BS 7354, and the mesh voltage is lower than that from IEEE 80. The derivation of 'safety limit-curves' is proposed related to the magnitude and duration of fault current for a given earthing grid design based on the assumptions used in each standard. Following this new proposed procedure, it is established that, if the fault current parameters, i.e. grid current magnitude and duration, are within the safety zone of IEEE 80, they also satisfy the criteria of EA-TS 41-24 and BS 7354.


Interfacing carbon nanodots (C-dots) with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) produces a metal-free system that has recently demonstrated significant enhancement of photo-catalytic performance for water splitting into hydrogen [Science, 2015, 347, 970-974]. However, the underlying photo-catalytic mechanism is not fully established. Herein, we have carried out density functional theory (DFT) calculations to study the interactions between g-C3N4 and trigonal/hexagonal shaped C-dots. We find that hybrid C-dots/g-C3N4 can form a type-II van der Waals heterojunction, leading to significant reduction of band gap. The C-dot decorated g-C3N4 enhances the separation of photogenerated electron and hole pairs and the composite's visible light response. Interestingly, the band alignment of C-dots and g-C3N4 calculated by the hybrid functional method indicates that C-dots act as a spectral sensitizer in hybrid C-dots/g-C3N4 for water splitting. Our results offer new theoretical insights into this metal-free photocatalyst for water splitting.


Multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) have been proved successfully in many different applications. Over 900 publications [4] have since proposed various MOEA implementations and applications. However, there is still a significant lack of studies on metrics for MOEA comparison. In this paper, we propose a new visualization technique that will provide better analysis of the non-dominated solutions for any number of objectives.


This work presents a thermal modeling of a new cold-start system technology designed for Otto cycle combustion based on the electromagnetic heating principle. Firstly, the paper presents a state-of-the-art review and presents the context of automobile industry where heated injectors are necessary. The novel method of electromagnetic heating principle to solve the cold-start problem is still in the development phase and it enables engine starting at low temperatures in vehicles powered by ethanol or flex-fuel vehicles (FFV). This new system technology should be available as an alternative to replace the existing system. Currently, the cold-start system uses an auxiliary gasoline tank, which brings some inconvenience for the user. Secondly, the aim was also to create a physical model that takes into consideration all the parameters involved on the heating process such as power heating and average heat transfer coefficient. The study is based on the lumped system theory to model the ethanol heating process. From the analysis, two ordinary differential equations arise, which allowed an analytical solution. Particularly, an ethanol heating curve inside the injector was obtained, an important parameter in the process. Comparison with experimental data from other authors is also provided. Finally, a sensitivity analysis of controlling parameters such as heating power and heat transfer coefficient variation. The paper is concluded with suggestions for further studies.


This article memorializes the tragic death of filmmaker, teacher, writer, community builder and activist Helen Hill (1970–2007). A New Orleans-based artist, Hill had much of her life's work damaged or destroyed in the floods following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The article reports on the recent preservation and restoration of her films and the creation of the Helen Hill Collection at the Harvard Film Archive. A filmography of her known works is appended.


This research examined the relationship of morally based self-esteem with drinking motives and alcohol consumption among college students. Basing self-esteem on morals was expected to be negatively associated with drinking behavior. We further expected this relationship to be mediated by drinking motives. Participants (N = 201; 45% male, 55% female) completed self-report measures of contingencies of self-worth, drinking motives, and drinking behavior. Previous research was supported in that college students whose self-esteem was more strongly contingent upon following personal morals consumed less alcohol. The current research extended these findings by showing that this relationship was mediated by drinking motives. Results suggest that it may be useful to better incorporate personal values into interventions for college students. The implementation of personal values in combination with brief treatments is discussed.


The correlated Kondo insulator state of the plutonium monochalcogenides is investigated using the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) in fluctuating-exchange approximation and the local-density $\text{approximation}+U$ $(\text{LDA}+U)$. The DMFT-dynamical fluctuations lead to a correlated insulator state at elevated temperature, in sharp contrast to the static $\text{LDA}+U$ approach that fails to reproduce both the insulating behavior and anomalous lattice constant. The DMFT conversely predicts the experimentally observed anomalous increase of the gap with pressure and explains the lattice constant very well.


The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of longevity amongst the elderly on their consumer needs and how business should cater for these specific needs. The study focuses on the perception of senior citizens with regards to businesses' recognition of, and catering for these needs. Five specific daily needs were investigated viz. clothing, food, cosmetic, entertainment and health needs. A qualitative study was executed with five separate focus group interviews, involving 20 senior respondents (aged 60+years) in each group. A semi-structured interview guide led the discussions; all responses were tape-recorded and data were content analyzed Summary tables reflected the main themes emerging from the interviews. Results were structured according to five assumptions deduced from available literature. These assumptions were examined, based on responses from participants. Results suggest that there is ample room for business to improve their catering for clothing, food, cosmetic and health needs of elderly consumers. Businesses' should enhance training of salespeople serving elderly consumers specific needs in the areas mentioned above. However, more research is needed to verify these findings.


In the Philippines, under an integrated and diversified system of farming called Palayamanan, rice hull biochar (carbonized rice hull) has a lot of uses. Among other things, it is popularly used as soil conditioner and as main ingredient in the production of organic fertilizers. It is also used as bedding or absorbent material to facilitate urine and manure collection as well as help eliminate foul odor in poultry, swine and livestock. Once saturated, it is collected and applied to the soil as fertilizer. This study tries to further explore more uses of biochar and was generally conducted to determine the effects of rice hull biochar on the growth of upland kangkong and peanut and its effects on residual properties of sandy loam soil. Specifically, it aimed to (a) determine the appropriate level of rice hull biochar for peanut and upland kangkong grown in sandy soils, (b) evaluate N, P and K uptake of peanut and upland kangkong with different rates of rice hull biochar grown in sandy soils, and (c) evaluate the nutrient holding capacity of rice husk biochar in sandy soil. The experiment was carried out in a sandy loam with the following particle size distribution: 71.22% sand, 20.41% silt, and 8.37% clay; had a pHKCl of 4.93 , 0.64 % organic C, 0.16% total N, 1.53 mg kg-1 extractable P, 2.88 cmol kg-1 soil exchangeable Al, 3.08 cmol kg-1 soil exchangeable acidity, 0.25 cmol kg-1 soil exchangeable K, 3.57 cmol kg-1 soil exchangeable Ca, 1.38 cmol kg-1 soil exchangeable Mg, and 0.25 cmol kg-1 soil exchangeable Na. There were six treatment combinations from levels of amendment (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 g kg 1 soil). The processed biochar was applied at levels specified in the treatment on oven-dried weight basis. It was added and mixed well with the soil just immediately before filling the pots. The pots were allowed to stabilize for 3 days before planting. Blanket application of 70 mg each of N, P2O5 and K2O kg-1 soil using urea, solophos and muriate of potash was done five days after seedling emergence. Urea and muriate of potash were applied as aqueous solution while solophos was applied as granules. A linear trend in the liming benefit and positive change in pHKCl with biochar application were observed in two "plant biotest" especially at higher levels (30, 40 and 50 g kg-1 soil). On the other hand, the positive change in extractable P due to residual effect of rice hull biochar application was obtained even at 10 and 20 g kg-1 soil in both upland kangkong and peanut. In peanuts, direct effects of application of uncharred or charred poultry litter resulted in better plant growth, nodulation, biomass, and K uptake than the control plants. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that the application of biochar can enhance fertility of acid sandy loam soil. The rice hull biochar holds nutrient in place that is needed for plant growth and development. Application at 30-40 g kg-1 soil appears to be the most appropriate rate for both upland kangkong and peanut grown in acid sandy loam soils.


Seawater reverse osmosis desalination concentrate may have chronic/acute impacts on the marine ecosystems in the near-field area of the discharge. Environmental impact of the desalination plant discharge is supposedly site- and volumetric specific, and also depends on the salinity tolerance of the organisms inhabiting the water column in and around a discharge environment. Scientific studies that aim to understand possible impacts of elevated salinity levels are important to assess detrimental effects to organisms, especially for species with no mechanism of osmoregulation, e.g. presumably corals. Previous studies on corals indicate sensitivity towards hypo- and hyper-saline environments with small changes in salinity already affecting coral physiology. In order to evaluate sensitivity of Red Sea corals to increase salinity levels, we conducted a long-term (29 days) in situ salinity tolerance transect study at an offshore seawater reverse osmosis discharge on the coral Fungia granulosa. While we measured a pronounced increase in salinity and temperature at the direct outlet of the discharge structure, effects were indistinguishable from the surrounding environment at a distance of 5 m. Interestingly, corals were not affected by varying salinity levels as indicated by measurement of the photosynthetic efficiency. Similarly, cultured coral symbionts of the genus Symbiodinium displayed remarkable tolerance levels in regard to hypo- and hypersaline treatments. Our data suggest that increased salinity and temperature levels from discharge outlets wear off quickly in the surrounding environment. Furthermore, Fungia granulosa seem to tolerate levels of salinity that are distinctively higher than reported for other corals previously. It remains to be determined whether Red Sea corals in general display increased salinity tolerance, and whether this is related to prevailing levels of high(er) salinity in the Red Sea in comparison to other oceans.


We analyzed the ultrastructure of apoptotic nuclear fragmentation in U937 cells treated with many different apoptogenic agents. We found that this characteristic apoptotic feature can be achieved through multiple alternative pathways, depending on the apoptogenic inducer, leading to slightly different final nuclear morphologies. In most instances, the irregularly shaped nucleus of U937 rounds up; then, chromatin condenses at the nuclear periphery. Condensed chromatin can form protruding patches, which eventually bud from the nucleus in sealed vesicles through a process which is actin-dependent, since it could be blocked by cytochalasins. Alternatively, chromatin condenses in tiny, nonprotruding crescents, and a cleavage in the nuclear sap forms, beginning from the inner nuclear membrane and growing inward, thus splitting the nucleus. In U937 induced to apoptosis by hydrogen peroxide in the presence of ADP-ribosylation inhibitors, the nuclei fragment in many vesicles before chromatin even begins to condense: chromatin condensation probably occurs as a consequence. While all the apoptotic morphologies described above evolve from interphase cells, a peculiar apoptotic morphology, possibly deriving from mitotic cells, is detected upon oxidative stress, recalling the formation of micronuclei by clastogenic treatments; it shows partially membrane-bound chromatin patches, which look midway between condensed chromosomes and apoptotic condensed chromatin. The existence of these multiple pathways for nuclear fragmentation may indicate an evolutionary convergence, suggesting that this event may play an important physiological role in apoptosis.


The purpose of this paper is to study boundary value problems for elliptic pseudo-differential operators which originate from the problem of existence of Markov processes in probability theory. We prove existence and uniqueness theorems for these boundary value problems in the framework of Sobolev spaces. Our approach permits us to interpret sufficient conditions for the unique solvability of boundary value problems in terms of Markovian motion.


We present a quantitative theory of the suppression of the optical linewidth due to charge fluctuation noise in a ${p}$$-$${n}$ diode, recently observed in Anderson et al., Science 366, 1225 (2019). We connect the local electric field with the voltage across the diode, allowing for the identification of the defect depth from the experimental threshold voltage. Furthermore, we show that an accurate description of the decoherence of such spin centers requires a complete spin$-$1 formalism that yields a bi-exponential decoherence process, and predict how reduced charge fluctuation noise suppresses the spin center's decoherence rate.


Cancer is a major health concern as the incidence is growing worldwide and still lacks successful therapies. Plant-derived functional foods are getting considerable attention, primarily due to their safety and therapeutic potential. Polyphenols are a group of mostly natural, water-soluble organic compounds. Here, we review the functions of selected polyphenols and their anticancer properties on numerous cancer cell lines and their mechanisms. The literature search was performed using the electronic database PubMed, Google scholar up to June 2020, with the following keywords—polyphenol, polyphenol anticancer, quercetin anticancer, resveratrol anticancer, curcumin anticancer, and kaempferol anticancer. Chemical structures of the selected polyphenols were obtained using the ChemDraw program. The initial search identified 40,554 polyphenols papers and among that, 2,559 were limited to polyphenol and cancer, 987 quercetin and cancer, 2,174 curcumin and cancer, 1,079 resveratrol and cancer, and 226 were limited to kaempferol and cancer. A total of 84 papers are included in this review paper. Most studies report the multiple anticarcinogenic properties of plant-derived polyphenols, including its inhibitory effects on the proliferation of cancer cells, tumor expansion, angiogenesis, inflammation, and metastasis. Besides, some studies shows potential synergistic effects when polyphenol treatment combined with chemotherapeutic agents. Anticancer effects of polyphenolic compounds like quercetin, curcumin, resveratrol, and kaempferol are investigated on numerous cancer cell lines and have shown prominent results. The present review provides a direction to determine the anticarcinogenic ability of the selected polyphenols in vitro and in vivo. Consequently, the use of polyphenols in cancer treatment should be investigated in-depth in the future.


Greenhouse and laboratory research at the Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture IPB has been conducted about treatment of drying on acid sulphate soil coloum from Musi Banyuasin to examine the effect on soil physical properties. Soil coloum of 95 cm height is maintained submerged, aside from other soil coloums drained at 50 cm and 75 cm depth are drying treatment of 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks. Drying treatment at 75 cm depth lowering soil surface 0.8 and 2.9 crn at the first and eighth week of drying, respectively. The soil subsidence is affected by organic matter decomposition and swelling - shrinkage characteristic of 2:1 clay mineral. Drying treatment significantly increasing aggregate stability from 54.69 to 57.19 at 15 cm depth, decreasing it from 57.29 to 51.19 at 45 cm depth at sixth week, and 49.59 to 45.82 at 75 cm depth at fourth week.Although the result has irregular pattern, drying treatment significantly increasing soil bulk density at 15 an depth from 0.83 to 0.95 glcm3, decpasing at 45 cm depth from 0.69 to 0.45 glcm3at sixth week, and increasing from 0.63 to 0.72 g/cm at 75 cm depth at fourth week. The incremental and decreasing is more caused by organic matter decomposition and soil aggregate sementation by iron resulted from pyrite oxidation. Drying treatment significantly affecting soil porosity, permeability and COLE at several depth, atthough the pattern is irregular.


New and cost-efficient methods for use in supply chains for energy wood should be found, to reach the targets of the renewable energy utilisation set by the European Union. The longdistance waterway transportation of forest fuels should be thoroughly investigated, especially in areas where the transport distance is long and waterways could provide a feasible method of conveying forest fuel. In comparison to transport of forest chips by truck, barge-based waterway transport shows a competitive advantage due to the larger loads and higher bulk density of chips it allows. The cost-efficiency of waterway transportation operations related to forest chips in Finland's Lake Saimaa region was studied using practical demonstrations and discrete-event simulation. The varying demand for fuel wood in three separate bio-power plants on the Saimaa lakeside (near the cities of Varkaus, Mikkeli, and Savonlinna) was addressed in several barge transportation scenarios. Finally, the economy of barge transportation was compared to the economy of truck transportation as a function of transportation distance and in terms of the annual performance of the transportation methods examined. The waterway supply chain of forest chips was cost-competitive to road transport by truck after 100–150 km. According to the simulation study, the most economical waterway transport options were based on fixed barge system and shift-independent harbor logistics where loading and unloading of barges were carried-out with a wheeled loader and a belt conveyor. Total supply chain costs including the best waterway logistics from road side storage to power plant ranged from €10.75 to €11.64/MWh in distances of 100–150 km by waterways. The energy-density of forest chips in the barge load was found to be, on average, 25% higher than that in truck hauling, because of the better compaction of chips. Waterway transport is a viable option for long-distance transportation of forest chips in Eastern Finland.


We are developing a portable integrated tool environment, called "Annai", for distributed memory parallel processors (DMPPs), as part of the joint CSCS-ETH/NEC collaboration in parallel processing. As we design and implement a sequence of tool prototypes, these are used and evaluated by a team of application developers. This close interaction allows rapid feedback, as requests from the application developers for functionality enhancements can be promptly considered for inclusion in future tool designs and prototypes. Our tool environment consists of an extended High Performance Fortran (HPF) compiler, a performance monitor and analyzer and a source-level debugger for distributed programs, all sharing a common user interface. The recently-defined Message Passing Interface (MPI) serves as our low-level machine interface and allows portability independent of the target hardware architecture. The key features of the tool environment comprise HPF language extensions to allow dynamic data distributions, and support for both high-level data-parallel and low-level message-passing programming paradigms by the interactive debugger and the interactive performance monitor and analyzer. The language extensions are particularly useful for the efficient parallelization of unstructured problems, and they are fully supported by both the debugger and the performance analyzer. We outline the structure of the tool environment, and summarize the functionality of its components. We also demonstrate an example user session and present performance results on two DMPPs.<<ETX>>


A cDNA that encodes a putative Ca(2+)-sensing receptor (HuKCaSR) was cloned from human kidney with the use of the polymerase chain reaction. The predicted HuKCaSR protein consists of 1078 amino acids and shares 93.1 and 93.8% overall identity with the bovine parathyroid Ca(2+)-sensing receptor (BoPCaR1) and rat kidney Ca(2+)-sensing receptor (RaKCaR), respectively, with least similarity in the carboxyl-terminal regions. The HuKCaSR gene was mapped by fluorescence in situ hybridization to chromosome 3q21, at which region the gene responsible for familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia has previously been localized by genetic linkage analyses. RNA blot analysis revealed HuKCaSR mRNA in human kidney, but not in brain, lung, liver, heart, skeletal muscle, or placenta.


We conduct a field experiment designed to test theories of time-inconsistency, namely a "Beta-Delta" model of present bias. The experiment takes place in the context of a saving decision made by low-income tax filers who can deposit their income tax refund into an illiquid account. We find qualitative evidence consistent with present-biased preferences. The tradeoff between an earlier payment or a later one is much more skewed toward taking the early payment when the decision is made on the spot than when the decision is made in advance. We estimate a β and δ of 0.34 and 1.08 over an 8-month horizon, respectively, which translates into an annual discount rate of 164%.


A numerical analysis is used to formulate the conditions for the manifestation of bistable reflection of a quasimonochromatic light pulse from a thin layer of a resonant medium with nonlinear refraction. The duration of the light pulse is assumed to be less than the phase relaxation time of the nonlinear material. The nonlinearity is due to the existence, in the energy structure of the active atoms, of transitions adjacent to resonances.


This paper expounds the tactics of architecture education in China under the contemporary cultural environment. It is said that we should cultivate the students to possess the Philosophy and the Art qualities, with which they would not be restricted with many regulations and would design the real shock-hearted great works.


Background: Pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms(p-NENs) are classified into neuroendocrine tumors (NET) G1, G2, G3, and neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) according to WHO classification. NET and NEC are different pathogenesis. The two kinds of tumors that occurred in the same part have not been reported. We found 4 foci of NEN G3 in a primary pancreatic NET G2. The cell atypia was obvious with Ki67 index of 50-70%, focal necrosis, there were 12 hepatic metastatic nodules with similar morphology to NEN G3, which is difficult to identify NEC and NET G3.Case presentation: A patient with pancreatic NET was selected to perform whole exome sequencing on primary pancreatic NET G2 and liver metastatic NEN G3 paraffin tissues.NET G2 had 13 somatic mutations, while NEN G3 had 72 somatic mutations and Copy number variation in 4 genes. P.S493N point mutation of TRIOBP gene was detected in NET G2 and NEN G3. 5-fold amplification of MDM4 is found in the metastatic liver lesion.Conclusion: NET G2 and NEN G3 are closely related to TRIOBP gene. Oncogene amplification (MDM4) in liver metastases may be associated with morphological malignant transformation.


The entrepreneurial idea and opportunity are formed in the entrepreneurial process, which is characterized by entrepreneurial learning. During the entrepreneurial journey, the entrepreneur repeatedly reassesses the maturity of his business/venture idea and venture creation process to enter the market. The entrepreneur's decisions are influenced by both objective and affective circumstances. This study aims to identify and map the fluctuations of idea–opportunity perception and affection by a student entrepreneur throughout the entrepreneurial learning journey simulating a genuine entrepreneurial (learning) process. The data collection of variables took place during an entrepreneurship course that modeled the entrepreneurial journey via process-based entrepreneurship training and applying feasibility and attractiveness self-assessment, observation and in-depth interviews. A small group of doctoral students developed their business ideas during a process-based entrepreneurship course. After each lesson and homework, they assessed the feasibility and attractiveness of their idea and opportunity. The results showed asynchronous fluctuations in these individual context-based perception variables, frequently depending on the progression of the entrepreneurial journey. The study added the concept of affective artifact and some generalizing dimensions to describe the entrepreneurial journey. Recommendations are given for the implementation and research of entrepreneurial process-based training.


Abstract Despite the abundance of minor salivary glands within the larynx, pleomorphic adenomas are rarely found. It is therefore not surprising that there are few reports of malignant mixed tumours in this site. We describe a case of carcinoma arising in a pleomorphic adenoma of the epiglottis which, to our knowledge, has not been described previously. The patient underwent a horizontal partial laryngectomy and functional neck dissection and is well one year post-operatively. We feel this represents a suitable approach to treatment for this rare tumour.


Background In community mental health care, knowledge about costs of care is very limited. Only few studies have related costs to outcome measures. Method This German study assesses the cost of psychiatric care of 66 schizophrenic patients during one year of living in the community. Predictors of high cost were identified. Results The average cost of comprehensive community care of one patient of the cohort was US$ 353 per week. This was only 43% of the cost of constant long-term care in a psychiatric hospital. Significant predictors of total cost of community care were the number of rehabilitative problems at the beginning and at the end of the study period, the type of accommodation before index hospitalisation and the gender of patients. Conclusions Results must be understood in terms of the characteristics of the special patient group and the catchment area we studied and are of high relevance in planning future care.


Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) are ectopic immune cell aggregations that develop in peripheral tissues in response to a wide range of chronic inflammatory conditions, including infection, autoimmune disease, and cancer. In the tumor microenvironment (TME), the structures of TLSs, including B-cell- and T-cell-enriched areas indicate that the TLSs might be the local site during the initiation and maintenance of humoral and cellular immune responses against cancers. Numerous studies have evaluated the expression of TLSs in different cancer patients and their association with prognoses of cancer patients. It was shown that well-developed TLSs characterized by mature B cells synthesized tumor specific antibodies, which were considered as specific markers for a good prognosis. However, there are still some immunosuppressive factors existing in the TLSs that may affect anti-tumor responses. These factors include dysfunctional B cells, regulatory T cells, and T follicular regulatory cells. The complexity and heterogeneity of the TLS composition may affect the function and activity of TLSs; it is therefore essential to fully understand the function and influencing factors in TLSs. It has been reported that checkpoint inhibitors and vaccines are currently being developed to reprogram the TME by establishing mature TLSs to improve cancer immunotherapies. In this review, we focused on recent advances in TLSs in human solid tumors, including structural characteristics and classes, antitumor mechanisms, immunosuppressive factors, and TLS-based therapeutic approaches.


Recognized for its multifaceted functions, melatonin is a hormone found in both animals and plants. In the plant kingdom, it plays diverse roles, regulating growth, development, and stress responses. Notably, melatonin demonstrates its significance by mitigating the effects of abiotic stresses like drought. However, understanding the precise regulatory mechanisms controlling melatonin biosynthesis genes, especially during monocots' response to stresses, requires further exploration. Seeking to understand the molecular basis of drought stress tolerance in wheat, we analyzed RNA-Seq libraries of wheat exposed to drought stress using bioinformatics methods. In light of our findings, we identified that the Myelocytomatosis oncogenes 2 (MYC2) transcription factor is a hub gene upstream of a main melatonin biosynthesis gene, N-acetylserotonin methyltransferase (ASMT), in the wheat drought response-gene network. Promoter analysis of the ASMT gene suggested that it might be a target gene of MYC2. We conducted a set of molecular and physiochemical assays along with robust machine learning approaches to elevate those findings further. MYC2 and ASMT were co-regulated under Jasmonate, drought, and a combination of them in the leaf tissues of wheat was detected. A meaningful correlation was observed among gene expression profiles, melatonin contents, photosynthetic activities, antioxidant enzyme activities, H2 O2 levels, and plasma membrane damage. The results indicated an evident relationship between jasmonic acid and the melatonin biosynthesis pathway. Moreover, it seems that the MYC2-ASMT module might contribute to wheat drought tolerance by regulating melatonin contents.


The fracture and fatigue behaviors of polysilicon thin film structures with arbitrary shapes were formulated by taking the stress distribution into account. The parameters appearing in both Weibull distribution and Paris' law that describe the static strength and fatigue behaviors, respectively, are estimated using the maximum likelihood method on the basis of the results of tensile static fracture and fatigue tests performed on two types of polysilicon thin film specimens with different shapes fabricated using the same conditions. The difference between the fatigue lifetime distributions between the two types was well explained by applying the formula with a unique set of parameters. These results suggest that the fracture and fatigue behaviors of polysilicon thin films have a unique characteristics regardless of stress distributions.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


One of the affixs used extensively in the Turkish language is /+lIk, +lUk / affix. This affix has thirteen different qualities functionally. One of them is to derive the names that have a meaning the grade and office such as presidency, prime ministry, governorship, rectorate, the work of a mukhtar. The derivation of the names of these office is related to the use of the /+llk, +lUk / affix which is brought to the titles of the persons governing that office. In this study, formation and quality in terms of meaning of structures such as presidential election, rectorship election, the work a mukhtar election, mayorship election was examined in the context of the written language used since the first Turkish inscriptions. By being made the examination, it was determined that persons with titles such as president or rector representing that office should be elected, not the offices such as the presidency or the rectorship. In the context of meaning and logic, electing the person representing that office, not an office is a more feasible approach to language and narrative principles. Eventually, the reasons put forward and sample of usage belong to previous period of Turkish language have been taken into consideration, and it has been reached the end of that the structure we tried to explain above should be formed not as "+lIk,+lUk / +lIğI,+lUğU election", but formed as "office name election" election of president, election of rector.


Background Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of mortality in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are depleted and contribute to increased cardiovascular (CV) risk in RA.1 Olmesartan exerts a protective cardiovascular effect in diabetes by augmenting EPCs.2 However, this vasculoprotective effect of olmesartan has not yet been investigated in RA. Objectives To investigate the impact of olmesartan on circulating endothelial progenitor cell population in RA. Methods Forty RA patients fulfilling the 2010 Rheumatoid Arthritis classification criteria were randomized to receive 24 weeks of treatment with olmesartan (10mg/day, n=20) or placebo (n=20) as an adjunct to existing stable antirheumatic drugs. EPCs (CD34+/CD133+) were quantified by Flow cytometry. Flow mediated dilatation (FMD) was assessed by AngioDefender™ (Everest Genomic Ann Arbor, United States). Inflammatory measures included DAS28, CRP, ESR, pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1), serum nitrite and adhesion molecules (ICAM-1 and VCAM-1) at baseline and after 24 weeks treatment. Results At baseline, inflammatory measures, pro-inflammatory cytokines, adhesion molecules and nitrite levels were elevated and EPCs and endothelial function were impaired among both groups. EPCs significantly 0.018±0.001 to 0.031±0.001 increased p<0.01 after treatment with olmesartan but did not show significant change with placebo 0.019±0.001 to 0.022±0.001, p=0.14. After 24 weeks of treatment, FMD improved significantly from (5.2±1.4 to 9.0±1.10, p=0.01) as compared to placebo (p=0.47) group. Olmesartan significantly decreased systolic/diastolic blood pressure (mean difference, -7.5/-1.6, p=0.01) as compared with placebo (mean difference, -4.1/-1.2, p>0.05). After 24 weeks: inflammatory measures DAS28, ESR, CRP (All p=0.01) and nitrite (p=0.03) were significantly reduced after treatment with olmesartan. Proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6 and VCAM-1 significantly (p=0.38, p=0.02 and 0.01 respectively) reduced in olmesartan group. Significant negative correlation was observed between EPCs and CRP (Fig. 1A), TNF- α (Fig. 1B), IL-6, VCAM-1 (Fig. 1D) and FMD (Fig. 1C) after treatment with olmesartan. Conclusions First study to show that olmesartan improves inflammation, EPC biology and endothelial dysfunction in RA possibly through its anti-inflammatory effect via inhibition of proinflammatory cytokines. This anti-inflammatory effect may be of therapeutic relevance in RA. References Grisar J et al. Circulation. 2005;111:204-211. Bahlmann FH et al. Hypertension. 2005;45:526-29 Acknowledgements This study was supported by Research Grant from Universal Grant Commission, New Delhi [F. No.41-725/2012 (SR)]. Disclosure of Interest None declared


: 68 cases of lung carcinoma, 3 carcinoids and 15 fibrosing alveolitis with foci of adenomatosis and bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma were studied. Oncoproteins c-fos, c-jun, c-ets-1, c-myc L and L-myc were identified in the tumour and surrounding tissue. Expression of c-fos was revealed in 79 of 138(59.4%) of proliferative and dysplastic changes of lung epithelium; c-jun in 40 of 61 (65.6%), c-ets-1 in 22 of 41 (53.7%), c-myc in 41 of 96(42.7%) and L-myc in 15 of 61 (24.6%), mainly in altered bronchial epithelium with a positive reaction to the antibodies against neuron specific enolase and S100 protein. More pronounced expression of nuclear oncoproteins, heterogeneity of their location in tissues, frequent cytoplasmic location in tumour cells were typical for lung carcinoma.


Objective To investigate the trends of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) and find the correlation with effects on the pulmonary system in such patients. Methodology A multicentric prospective study was conducted in the city of Solapur, India. Data were collected from 250 patients through interpersonal interrogation using a questionnaire to capture basic demographic details, the history of ESRD, and relevant respiratory symptoms like breathlessness, cough, fever, etc. related to their disease. Symptoms that are likely associated with the pulmonary system were analyzed and referred to the pulmonology department. Appropriate diagnoses were made using relevant diagnostic tools like X-rays and sputum studies. The association between various disease attributes and pulmonary diagnoses was analyzed using the chi-square (χ2) test, with a p-value of value less than or equal to 0.05 considered statistically significant. Various socio-demographic variables, existing comorbidities, occupation-related risk factors, smoking history, past or current history of any respiratory conditions, the association between the causes of ESRD, time since the first dialysis and sociodemographic factors, and frequency of pulmonary complications were the other covariates in the study. Results Our study reports that 31.6% of our patients had significant impairment in their functioning due to respiratory complaints. The prevalence of respiratory complications was 27.2%. Major contributors were pleural effusion (33.8), pneumonia (25), pulmonary edema (20.58), pleuritis (11.76), collapse (8.8), tuberculosis (5.8), fibrosis (4.4), pericardial effusion (4.4), calcification (2.9), and hydrothorax (1.47). We report one case of Urinothorax as a rare cause of hydrothorax in such patients. Overall, our analysis found a significant association between non-reporting of respiratory complaints and acute admissions to the intensive care unit (ICU) with a respiratory cause at p-value 0.0076 with a greater predilection toward the rural populations. Conclusion Our study results highlight the prevalence of pulmonary complications in ESRD patients. The occurrence of pulmonary complications, irrespective of the presence of symptoms and a greater association between non-reporting of respiratory symptoms and acute admissions to the ICU, is a hallmark to consider the importance of history and clinical vigilance during patient visits.


S. ABBAD‐ANDALOUSSI, E. GUEDON, E. SPIESSER AND H. PETITDEMANGE. 1996. Glycerol catabolism by Clostridium butyricum DSM 5431 into acetate, butyrate and 1,3‐propanediol (1,3‐PD) was studied in chemostat culture. The fact that the intracellular concentrations of NADH (18–22 μUmol g‐1dry cell mass) were extremely high suggested that the dehydratase activity was the rate limiting step in 1,3‐PD formation. This limitation was proved by the addition of propionaldehyde, another substrate of propanediol dehydrogenase, into the culture medium. This resulted in an increase in (i) glycerol utilization, (ii) biomass formation and (iii) product biosynthesis.


Mead's theory defines the individual as a rational and an active being. While at the time Freud's influence was substantial, the notion of the unconscious plays a limited role in Mead's discussion of the rational 'me' or the ego. Most often the unconscious refers to social action that is not thought of consciously. The main object of Mead's analysis is the self and its bases in the social interaction.


CALMET meteorological model was evaluated during a typical period of dry season in a coastal domain in the Jagua bay at the south of Cuba, for TERRAD parameter. Several resolutions and four different CALMET input datasets were used. The evaluation was focused in terms of model performance of wind and surface temperature issues. As input data, the WRF model results and meteorological measurements of different stations were combined. WRF model surface speed results has been significantly improved by CALMET model. A slightly improvement is obtained with resolution increasing. A high value of TERRAD of 80 km was obtained as the best fit for this parameter that matches with the domain size. The statistical results (both relative and absolute) were calculated on the stations that were not used as input data. Statistical relative values of wind speed were high, due to weak winds over the study period. However, the absolute ones were better. Significant improvement was also observed in wind speed and temperature for relative and absolute statistical values, when more stations as input data were provided.


Energy conservation is a primary concern in sensor networks. Several MAC protocols have been proposed to address this concern. However, the tradeoff between power consumption and latency has not been thoroughly studied. In this paper, we propose a sensor medium access control protocol with dynamic duty cycle, DSMAC, which achieves a good tradeoff between the two performance metrics without incurring much overhead. Moreover, DSMAC is able to adjust its duty cycle with varying traffic conditions without assuming any prior knowledge of application requirements. Both analytical and simulation results have been presented in this paper.


Wilson's disease is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by an accumulation of a toxic amount of copper in the body. Triethylene tetramine dihydrochloride (trientine, 2HCl) is a new chelating agent that may be effective in the removal of excess copper but long-term efficacy has not yet been investigated. Here we report the use of trientine over more than 8 years in 2 patients with Wilson's disease who could not tolerate D-penicillamine. We found no significant side effect, except a decreased serum iron concentration without clinical symptoms of anemia. In annual examinations at a steady state, the serum copper levels remained below 20 micrograms/100 ml. The 24-hour urinary copper excretion was less than that found using D-penicillamine, while the basal copper excretion, after 5 days abstinence from trientine, was maintained below 100 micrograms/day. Both hepatic and neurological manifestations except bulbar symptoms were recovered without any initial deterioration.


Over the last several decades, considerable contamination by hexavalent chromium has resulted from the land disposal of Chromite Ore Processing Residue (COPR). COPR contains a number of hexavalent chromium-bearing compounds that were produced in high temperature industrial processes. Concern over the carcinogenic potential of this chromium species, and its environmental mobility, has resulted in efforts to remediate these waste sites. To provide support to analytical measurements of hexavalent chromium, a candidate National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standard Reference Material® (SRM 2701), having a hexavalent chromium content of approximately 500 mg kg−1, has been developed using material collected from a waste site in Hudson County, New Jersey, USA. The collection, processing, preparation and preliminary physico–chemical characterization of the material are discussed. A two-phase multi-laboratory testing study was carried out to provide data on material homogeneity and to assess the stability of the material over the duration of the study. The study was designed to incorporate several United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) determinative methods for hexavalent chromium, including Method 6800 which is based on speciated isotope dilution mass spectrometry (SIDMS), an approach which can account for chromium species inter-conversion during the extraction and measurement sequence.


We analyze the anomalous wave structure appearing in flow dynamics under the influence of magnetic field in materials described by non-ideal equations of state. We consider the system of magnetohydrodynamics equations closed by a general equation of state (EOS) and propose a complete spectral decomposition of the fluxes that allows us to derive an expression of the nonlinearity factor as the mathematical tool to determine the nature of the wave phenomena. We prove that the possible formation of non-classical wave structure is determined by both the thermodynamic properties of the material and the magnetic field as well as its possible rotation. We demonstrate that phase transitions induced by material properties do not necessarily imply the loss of genuine nonlinearity of the wavefields as is the case in classical hydrodynamics. The analytical expression of the nonlinearity factor allows us to determine the specific amount of magnetic field necessary to prevent formation of complex structure induced by phase transition in the material. We illustrate our analytical approach by considering two non-convex EOS that exhibit phase transitions and anomalous behavior in the evolution. We present numerical experiments validating the analysis performed through a set of one-dimensional Riemann problems. In the examples we show how to determine the appropriate amount of magnetic field in the initial conditions of the Riemann problem to transform a thermodynamic composite wave into a simple nonlinear wave.


This paper presents a polymer strain sensor integrated with an NFC tag to detect strain semi-quantitatively. The strain sensor is fabricated using flexible and transparent polymer Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel having conductive polymer poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) as an active material. The sensor was tested with different bending conditions and it was found that the resistance increases with higher bending. A maximum of 3 order change in resistance was observed for $\sim$100□ bending. The sensor was finally tested using a custom-developed passive NFC tag having an LED connected in series with the strain sensor and powered from the reader via the NFC antenna in the tag.


This paper could be considered as a microhistory of El Penol town, since there was a research, about the elements that have left a mark in it, such as monuments, memories, papers and even, about some matters that seem to be unrelated to the main topic. Besides, some issues like the geography and the territorial contrasts were also appointed. In order to understand the purpose of this research, it is necessary to know the recent events in the region, which include the industrial boom of the capital city (Medellin) as well as of the Aburra Valley, sites that have been causing since 1926, everyone to place all of the expectations for electricity supply, in the Nare River basin. The hydroelectric project of the Empresas Publicas de Medellin (Colombia), consisted of many changes, not only physical, but also economic and social in the population of El Penol, nevertheless, its people have struggled and negotiated moving to a new municipal capital.


Measurements of the dust environment of Comet P/Halley by the dust experiments on the Giotto and Vega spacecraft are discussed, as well as some aspects of the dust modelling that was carried out before the spacecraft encounters with the comet. These data have highlighted certain shortcomings in the models. For example, significant fluxes of grains (m < 10-17 kg) smaller than allowed by the models have been detected, as well as a far higher ratio than predicted of light to dark side emission from the cometary nucleus. The mass-loss rate is determined and implications for the past history of the comet are discussed. It is also shown how the dust-impact data from the spacecraft experiments can be used to derive information on the distribution of emission over the surface of the nucleus.


Abstract Study objective: We evaluated effect of late adolescence during pregnancy and its confounding factors on neonatal and maternal results. Objective: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of late adolescence on maternal, perinatal outcomes and preterm labor. Methods: This retrospective study was carried out on 172 late adolescents and 160 adult women who delivered in a tertiary center. The demographic features, obstetrical and neonatal properties of the patients were analyzed. Results: Marital status, education levels, preeclampsia–eclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), urinary tract infections during pregnancy, intrauterine growth restriction, bleeding in last trimester, postpartum hemorrhage, perinatal mortality incidence, and mode of delivery for both groups were similar. Regular antenatal follow up and hemoglobin levels during admission to hospital were low in late adolescents. Anemia during pregnancy, preterm labor incidence was high for late adolescents compared with adults. When a logistic regression analysis was made for preterm labor, lack of antenatal follow up, urinary tract infection during pregnancy and history of still birth was risk factors for preterm labor rather than age. Conclusion: We assume that regular antenatal follow up can reduce preterm labor among late adolescents.


Family building (FB) is a building where residents of different flats are close relatives. Being quite common in metropolitan areas, these unique psychosocial environments remain underexamined. We aimed to research into the interactions within the family and psychosocial features of FBs. One hundred and one children living in FBs and FB-experiences of their parents were assessed by semi-structured interviews using K-SADS-PL. Mothers scored their satisfaction from FB-lifestyle in the scale of 0-100. The sample consisted of 35 girls and 66 boys. Mean age was 108±37.4 months. ADHD and anxiety disorders were the common diagnoses. Eighty-two families lived with paternal relatives. Number of relativeneighbors in the building changed between 2-10. Forty-one mothers scored ≤50 for their satisfaction; 58% believed FBs affected their children's symptoms negatively. Examining the perceived advantages and disadvantages of FBs, 'extreme criticism' and 'social support' were the decisive items to predict mothers' satisfaction levels. Having both positive and negative effects, FB-lifestyle seem to complicate interpersonal relations within the family. This study has revealed some preliminary findings, but further studies are required in the field.