Convolutional neural networks (CNN) are known for their excellent feature extraction capabilities to enable the learning of models from data, yet are used as black boxes. An interpretation of the convolutional filtres and associated features can help to establish an understanding of CNN to distinguish various classes. In this work, we focus on the explainability of a CNN model called as cnnexplain that is used for Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 classification with a focus on the interpretability of features by the convolutional filters, and how these features contribute to classification. Specifically, we have used various explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) methods, such as visualizations, SmoothGrad, Grad-CAM, and LIME to provide interpretation of convolutional filtres, and relevant features, and their role in classification. We have analyzed the explanation of these methods for Covid-19 detection using dry cough spectrograms. Explanation results obtained from the LIME, SmoothGrad, and Grad-CAM highlight important features of different spectrograms and their relevance to classification.


A derivative ratio spectrophotometric method was used for the simultaneous determination of β-carotene and astaxanthin produced from Phaffia rhodozyma. Absorbencies of a series of the standard carotenoids in the range of 441 nm to 490nm demonstrated that their absorptive spectra accorded with Beer's law and that the additivity when the concentrations of β-carotene and astaxanthin and their mixture were within the range of 0 to 5 μg/ml, 0 to 6 μg/ml, and 0 to 6 μg/ml, respectively.When the wavelength interval (△λ) at 2 nm was selected to calculate the first derivative ratio spectra values, the first derivative amplitudes at 461 nm and 466 nm were suitable for quantitatively determining β-carotene and astaxanthin, respectively. Effect of divisor on derivative ratio spectra could be neglected; any concentration used as divisor in range of 1.0 to 4.0 μg/ml is ideal for calculating the derivative ratio spectra values of the two carotenoids. Calibration graphs were established for β-carotene within 0-6.0 μg/ml and for astaxanthin within 0-5.0 μg/ml with their corresponding regressive equations in: y=-0.0082x-0.0002 and y=0.0146x-0.0006, respectively. R-square values in excess of 0.999 indicated the good linearity of the calibration graphs. Sample recovery rates were found satisfactory (>99%) with relative standard deviations (RSD) of less than 5%. This method was successfully applied to simultaneous determination of β-carotene and astaxanthin in the laboratory-prepared mixtures and the extract from the Phaffia rhodozyma culture.


Background Clubroot of canola ( Brassica napus ), caused by the obligate pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae Woronin, is a major disease worldwide. Genetic resistance remains the best strategy to manage this disease. The objective of the study was to identify and map new sources of resistance to clubroot in B. napus using genome-wide association mapping. The reaction of a collection of 177 accessions to four highly virulent pathotypes of P. brassicae was assessed. These pathotypes were selected because they were most recently identified and showed different virulence patterns on the Canadian clubroot differential (CCD) lines. The collection was then genotyped using genotyping by sequencing (GBS) method. Multi-locus mixed linear model (MMLM) was used to perform the association analysis. Results The majority of accessions were highly susceptible (70 –100 DSI), while few individual accessions showed strong resistance (0–20 DSI) to 5X (2 accessions), 2B (7 accessions), 3A (8 accessions) and 3D (15 accessions). In total, 301,753 SNPs were mapped to 19 chromosomes. Population structure analysis indicated that the 177 accessions belong to two major populations. SNPs were associated with resistance to each pathotype using MLMM. In total, 23 significant SNP loci were identified, with 14 SNPs mapped to the A-genome and 9 to the C-genome. The SNPs were associated with resistance to pathotypes 5X (4 SNPs), 2B (9), 3A (5) and 3D (5). A blast search of 2 Mb upstream and downstream identified 61 disease resistance genes, of which 24 belonged to TIR-NBS-LRR proteins and 20 belonged to CC-NBS-LRR proteins. The distance between a SNP locus and the nearest resistance genes ranged from 0.11–1.66 Mb. This indicated that NBS-LRR gene family might have an important role in clubroot resistance in B. napus . Conclusion The resistant B. napus lines and the SNP markers identified in this study can be used for breeding for resistance to clubroot and contribute to understanding the genetic mechanism of resistance to clubroot.


Content caching in small base stations or wireless infostations is considered to be a suitable approach to improve the efficiency in wireless content delivery. Placing the optimal content into local caches is crucial due to storage limitations, but it requires knowledge about the content popularity distribution, which is often not available in advance. Moreover, local content popularity is subject to fluctuations, since mobile users with different interests connect to the caching entity over time. Which content a user prefers may depend on the user's context. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm for context-aware proactive caching. The algorithm learns context-specific content popularity online by regularly observing context information of connected users, updating the cache content and observing cache hits subsequently. We derive a sublinear regret bound, which characterizes the learning speed and proves that our algorithm converges to the optimal cache content placement strategy in terms of maximizing the number of cache hits. Furthermore, our algorithm supports service differentiation by allowing operators of caching entities to prioritize customer groups. Our numerical results confirm that our algorithm outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms in a real world data set, with an increase in the number of cache hits of at least 14%.


The aim of this study is to investigate the creep-fatigue behavior of stainless steel materials. Based on the elevated-temperature tensile, creep and rupture test data, thermal creep-fatigue modelling was conducted to predict the failure life of stainless steels. In the low cycle thermal fatigue life model, Manson's Universal Slopes equation was used as an empirical correlation which relates fatigue endurance to tensile properties. Fatigue test data were used in conjunction with different modes to establish the relationship between temperature and other parameters. Then creep models were created for stainless steel materials. In order to correlate the results of short-time elevated temperature tests with long-term service performance at more moderate temperatures, different creep prediction models, namely Basquin model, Sherby-Dorn model and Manson-Haferd model, were studied. Comparison between the different creep prediction models were carried out for a range of stresses and temperatures. A linear damage summation method was used to establish life prediction model of stainless steel materials under creep-fatigue.


As Creusa finds the courage to reveal her long-concealed union with Apollo, Euripides aligns the powerful narrative at the heart of his Ion with the disclosure of a sexual secret. Such disclosures make good stories, interesting in part for their sexual content, but even more, I suggest, for the circumstances that lead to their telling. As Peter Brooks argues in Reading for the Plot, narratives engage us in the desires of their characters, which we follow through a trajectory of frustration and fulfillment, propelled by a corresponding passion for knowledge. Among the strongest of those desires, more powerful even than erotic longing or material ambition, is the wish to tell one's own story, "the more nearly absolute desire to be heard, recognized, listened to" (Brooks 1984: 53), so that narratives often include an account of their own origin in a character's quest for recognition. But a story like Creusa's can only be told after a difficult struggle with fear and shame, which have to be overcome before one party in a sexual encounter breaks the bond of silence to reveal what had been a shared and exclusive secret. Disciplines Arts and Humanities | Classics This book chapter is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/classics_papers/85


Background Malaria is known to cause severe health consequences due to its marked effects and alteration on the haematological parameters of infected individuals. This study evaluated the haematological profile of adult individuals infected with the malaria parasite. Methods A retrospective study was conducted using archived data of malaria positive cases from January 2017 to March 15, 2019. Data retrieved included subjects' demographics, malaria parasite count, malaria parasite species, and full blood count parameters. A total of 236 malaria positive subjects were included in the study. Results The study showed that more females were infected with the malaria parasite than males (69.07% and 30.93%, respectively). A total of 87.3% of the study population were infected with Plasmodium falciparum as compared to 12.7% infected with Plasmodium malariae. The commonest haematological abnormalities that were seen in this study were lymphopenia (56.78%), anaemia (55.51%), thrombocytopenia (47.46%), eosinopenia (45.76%), neutropenia (29.24%), monocytosis (21.19%), and leucocytosis (17.37%) in the infected subjects. The mean platelet count of P. falciparum-infected subjects was decreased as compared to the mean platelet count of P. malariae-infected subjects. There was a significant (P value <0.05) decrease in the number of platelet count with every unit increase in parasite density. Conclusion Study participants infected with malaria demonstrated vital changes in haematological parameters with anaemia, thrombocytopenia, lymphopenia, monocytosis, and eosinopenia being the most important predictors of malaria infection especially with P. falciparum species.P. falciparum-infected subjects was decreased as compared to the mean platelet count of


Objectives During the last 3 decades ultrasonographic and cross-sectional imaging techniques have been widely adopted in the pre-operative staging of renal masses with a progressive technological refinement. The aim of this study is to evaluate if, according to such a change, the accuracy of pre-operative staging is getting better. Materials and Methods A retrospective analysis of 1935 patients, surgically treated at our Institute since 1983 for a renal neoplasm, has been carried out. Dividing the experience in 2 periods, before and after the year 2000, the diagnostic tools adopted during pre-operative staging and their accuracy have been evaluated by a comparison with the post-operative data (accuracy=true positive+true negative/total number of cases), also taking into account each single aspect of staging (dimension of tumor, local extension, venous invasion, lymphnodal and distant metastasis). Results and discussion 994 patients have been treated before 2000, and 941 afterwards. During time, a progressive reduction in the use of urography and, on the other hand, a diffusion of chest CT have been observed, whereas NMR maintained a similar and limited field of application in both periods. During time, the overall accuracy of staging has not significantly improved (69.5% vs 72.3%, p=0.18), but a slightly better staging of distant (93.9% vs 96.7%, p=0.01) and lymphnodal metastasis (90.9% vs 94.8%, p=0.01) can be found. Conclusions The pre-operative staging of renal cancer has not really improved during the last 3 decades, in spite of the availability of more precise radiological tools. Anyway, due to the diffusion of CT scan, a slightly better definition of lymphnodal and distant metastasis can be observed. This fact could play a role in indicating a targeted therapy for advanced disease, especially in the light of a neoadjuvant setting.


A nonlinear speed control for a permanent magnet (PM) synchronous motor with a simple sequential parameter auto-tuning algorithm is presented. The nonlinear control scheme gives an undesirable output performance under the mismatch of the system parameters and load conditions. Recently, to improve the control performance, an adaptive linearisation, a nonlinear sliding mode control and an observer-based technique have been reported. However, these schemes are based on the assumption that a variation of an unknown disturbance is very small during each sampling interval. Even though good performance can be obtained, the performance is no longer satisfactory under specific conditions such as a large inertia variation, a fast speed transient or an increased sampling time. Although various work that effectively estimates only the specific interested parameter of motors can be found in the literature, the simultaneous estimation of principal parameters that give a direct influence on speed dynamics is generally not simple. To overcome this problem, a sequential parameter auto-tuning algorithm at startup is proposed in which dominant motor parameters are estimated in a prescribed sequential routine, one by one. The proposed control scheme is implemented on a PM synchronous motor using DSP TMS320C31 and the effectiveness is verified through simulation and experiment.


The development of bionic aids for paralyzed patients leads to the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) implementation with various obstacles, especially in interpreting brain signals as triggers for the bionic organ. The reading of electrical signal activity in the brain in the BCI system uses electroencephalography (EEG) signal, which comes from many electrodes in the head area and is non-stationary. The measured EEG signal contains much information, including information for the hands and feet motor imagery, so a classification system is needed to separate the information to be processed, such as hand and foot movements. This research aims to develop an imagery motor classification system for the hands and feet so that signals can be classified correctly. The system design is made through several stages of the signal processing process consisting of the pre-processing stage using centering, the feature extraction stage with wavelet packet decomposition (WPD), and multilayer perceptron back-propagation (MLP-BP) as the classifier. Based on the result, this study got the highest accuracy value, about 26.8% at level three, and gain above 0.02. This small accuracy is due to the large error due to under fitting.


The assessment of five emulsifiers for the production of stable coal-oil-water emulsions and the determination of the practicability of their use in a boiler system is being investigated. Four emulsifiers are on hand, the fifth is yet to be chosen. Ancillary equipment has been set up and experiments completed on two units. Mounting fixtures are being designed and fabricated for the third and fourth units. The stability of the emulsions is being evaluated on the K-scan unit.


Political survey data for nine West European countries show that women have become increasingly left-wing compared to men, and that this trend is positively correlated with the decline in marriage in these countries. This pattern is mirrored in German longitudinal data (GSOEP), where transitions out of marriage make women, but not men, significantly more left-leaning. Analysis of public spending data for high-income OECD countries (1980-98) suggests that the political impact of non-marriage extends to the allocation of State resources. We find that the relationship between the decline in marriage and public spending on children is U-shaped, that is, declines in marriage first reduce and then increase such spending. This finding both supports the hypothesis that the decline in marriage lies behind the political gender gap and highlights the salience of popular support, rather than need, in determining public spending.


The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between aggression and moral emotion including guilt, shame, and empathy in early adolescence. In a sample of 359 early adolescents (187 boys, and 172 girls) in Daejeon city, data were analyzed by frequency, t-test, Pearson's correlations, and multiple regressions. The following study results were obtained: 1. Boys showed more linguistic and roundabout aggression, and girls showed more anger, guilt and empathy. Older adolescents showed more shame than younger adolescents did, whereas younger adolescents showed more guilt and empathy than did older adolescents. 2. Shame had significant relationships with all types of aggression, whereas guilt and empathy had significant relationships with different types of aggression. 3. Moral emotions - guilt, shame, and empathy - showed significant effects on aggression among early adolescents. The degree of the effectiveness of moral emotions on aggression depends on the types of aggression, gender, and age of participants.


Esophagogastrostomy leakage is a severe complication after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. Cervical anastomosis usually has a higher leak rate than intrathoracic anastomosis. Esophageal stents will be considered in the management or prevention of esophagogastrostomy leaks. Previously we have used an externally fixed silicone tube in the treatment of cervical esophagogastrostomy leaks. Recently, we started to use anchoring silicone stent for managing or preventing esophagogastrostomy leaks. In the management of one patient with anastomotic leakage, the stent was kept in place for 27 days. In three patients who had a high risk of esophagogastrostomy leaks, the anchoring silicone stents were kept in place for 1 week to protect the anastomosis.


The differentiation model of the structures which secrete pharmacologically active substances appears a particularly interesting field of study, since it can be related to the type and way of secretion. Four different types of hair of Salvia officinalis L. were examined in this light concerning their nuclear structure and the quantity of DNA, both of which are very important parameters in differentiation. Results indicated quite intense metabolic activity in all types of hair with fairly high levels of endopolyploidy, the probable presence of polyteny, and probable differential DNA replication. The peltate glandular hairs proved to be the most active ones. In the long-stalked capitate hairs, the distal cell of the pedicel also appeared to have a particularly active metabolism, suggesting that it is in some way involved in the secretory process.


Processing techniques for producing microcellular silicon carbide, mullite, and cordierite ceramics with cell densities greater than 108 cells/cm3 and cells smaller than 30 μm have been developed by a reaction method that incorporates a polysiloxane and reactive fillers. The techniques developed in this study offer substantial flexibility for producing microcellular ceramics whereby cell size, cell density, degree of interconnectivity, composition, and porosity can all be effectively controlled. It is demonstrated that the adjustment of filler composition enables the possibility of tailoring the composition and properties of the microcellular ceramics. The present results suggest that the proposed novel processing techniques are suitable for the manufacture of microcellular ceramics with high morphological uniformity.


Out of the 6.7 million adults caught up in the criminal legal system, approximately 4.5 million are under correctional control outside of prisons and jails. Within this hidden world of "alternative corrections," people who are arrested, detained, imprisoned, put on probation or diversion, and even released are forced to pay a growing amount of money to various for-profit "criminal justice" actors. Alternatives to incarceration are conditioned on fines, fees, and other forms of wealth extraction, causing a vicious cycle of poverty and indebtedness that is virtually impossible to escape. This Article explores and analyzes the little-researched area of criminal justice debt arising from alternative corrections: how private corrections companies profit from supervising those individuals released, paroled, sent to rehabilitation or diversion, placed on probation, or subject to forensic or civil commitment. These under-examined forms of for-profit correctional supervision — the treatment-industrial complex — have turned supposedly progressive alternatives to incarceration into cash-register justice.


The purpose of this study was to assess 7 methods of fixation for a midtarsal osteotomy. Polyurethane foam models (N = 6) and cadaver specimens (N = 4-7) were used to examine the force generated by the different constructs of fixation. A midtarsal osteotomy was performed on each specimen in the test groups. The osteotomies were fixated either with 2 parallel 0.062-in Kirschner wires and 40-mm-long, 4-mm partially threaded, cancellous, cannulated titanium screws, an external ring fixator (frame), a frame with wires tensioned (tension), a frame with wires tensioned and compressed toward the osteotomy (tension and compression), a frame with tension, compression, and parallel Kirschner wires, or a frame with tension, compression, and two 4.0 cannulated parallel screws, respectively. Each model was fixated, and the force generated by the construct across the osteotomy was recorded via the use of pressure-sensitive film. Statistical analysis of the data in the polyurethane foam group determined that the use of frame with tension, compression, and two 4.0 parallel cannulated screws was statistically superior to 1) frame, 2) frame with tension, 3) 2 parallel Kirschner wires, 4) two 4.0 cannulated parallel screws, and 5) frame with tension and compression. A cadaver study determined that the frame with tension, compression, and 2 parallel Kirschner wires was statistically superior to 1) frame and 2) two parallel Kirschner wires. These findings suggest that there is a difference in the force generated by the type of fixation construct across a midtarsal osteotomy.


We present in detail a method we recently introduced [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 176404 (2009)] to describe finite systems in and out of equilibrium, where the evolution in time is performed via the Kadanoff-Baym equations within many-body perturbation theory. Our systems consist of small, strongly correlated clusters, described by a Hubbard Hamiltonian within the Hartree-Fock, second Born, GW, and T-matrix approximations. We compare the results from the Kadanoff-Baym dynamics to those from exact numerical solutions. The outcome of our comparisons is that, among the many-body schemes considered, the T-matrix approximation is superior at low electron densities while none of the tested approximations stands out at half filling. Such comparisons permit a general assessment of the whole idea of applying many-body perturbation theory, in the Kadanoff-Baym sense, to finite systems. A striking outcome of our analysis is that when the system evolves under a strong external field, the Kadanoff-Baym equations develop a steady-state solution as a consequence of a correlation-induced damping. This damping is present both in isolated (finite) systems, where it is purely artificial, as well as in clusters contacted to (infinite) macroscopic leads. The extensive numerical characterization we performed indicates that this behavior is present whenever approximate self-energies, which include correlation effects, are used. Another important result is that, for isolated clusters, the steady state reached is not unique but depends on how one switches on the external field. When the clusters are coupled to macroscopic leads, one may reach multiple quasisteady states with arbitrarily long lifetimes. (Less)


Beiranvand, H., Khorvash, M., Ghorbani, G. R., Homayouni, A., Bachmann, L. and Kargar, S. 2014. Evaluation of ketogenic vs. glucogenic substrates as energy sources in starter diets for Holstein dairy calves. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 717-723. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the inclusion of granular sugar and sodium propionate as ketogenic and glucogenic substrates, respectively, in calf starter diets on the performance, weaning age, rumen fermentation characteristics and plasma β-hydroxybutyrate (βHBA). Twenty-one newborn male Holstein calves were housed in individual pens until 10 wk of age, receiving starter ad libitum, fresh water free choice, and fed four liters of pasteurized waste milk daily until weaning. Calves were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments: (1) no supplemental additive (Control); (2) granular sugar (5% of dietary DM; Sugar); and (3) sodium propionate (5% of dietary DM; Propionate). Overall, no differences were observed among treatments for starter intake, average daily gain, feed efficiency, day of weaning, body weight at weaning and at the end of the study. Body measurements including body length, hip height, hip width, and heart girth were remained unchanged among treatments. Ruminal fluid pH (5.36 to 5.58) and concentrations of total volatile fatty acids (93.1 to 101.6 mM), acetate (43.6 to 53.1 mM), propionate (30.5 to 35.1 mM), and ratio of acetate to propionate (1.42 to 1.89) were not affected by treatments over the experimental period. However, the concentration of butyrate was greater at 35 and 70 d of age in calves receiving Sugar compared with calves receiving Propionate, but not compared with the Control. Greater blood βHBA at 45, 60 and 70 d of age was noticed in calves fed Sugar compared with those fed Control and Propionate. In conclusion, according to the concentrations of supplemental ketogenic and glucogenic substrates used in the current experiment, sugar and sodium propionate in starter diets did not improve calf performance.


The purpose of this study was to establish the determinants of student performance in mathematics. The study was prompted by persistent poor performance amongst secondary school students in Kenya and particularly in Nyamira North District of Nyamira County. The independent variables of the study included students' attitude towards mathematics, study habits, competence in mathematical notations, teacher training & qualification, textbook availability, teachers' work load, and teaching experience. The dependent variable was student performance in mathematics. The researcher adopted a survey method to collect and analyse data in order to meet the objectives of the study. Data was collected 340 students, and 23 teachers of mathematics using performance tests for students, questionnaire for mathematics teachers, and questionnaire for students. The reliability of the performance test was tested using the Kuder Richardson (formula 20) which gave a reliability of 0.91. The reliability of the questionnaires was estimated using testretest strategy and gave coefficients of 0.89 for the Students Questionnaire (SQ) and 0.89 for Mathematics Teachers Questionnaire (MTQ). The data collected were analysed mainly by use of descriptive statistics such as means, percentages, frequencies and charts. The first research question which sought to compare student attitude towards mathematics and performance in mathematics was answered by use of frequencies and percentages. The second research question sought to establish the relationship between student competence in mathematical notation and performance in mathematics. To answer the third research question, the study obtained quantitative data from the SQ and MTQ and analysed it using percentages and frequency distributions. The fourth research question sought to establish whether there was a significant difference in mathematics performance between County and District Schools. This was done using one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA-F). The study found out that most students in the District had negative attitude towards mathematics and this was reflected in their performance. It was also discovered that competence in mathematical notations was positively related to performance in mathematics (r = 0.887) at a = 0.05. The study also established that majority of teachers in the District were trained in mathematics education and were highly experienced. Students in County schools were found to perform better than those in district schools and the difference was significant Teachers had heavy workloads of up to 60 hours per which affected their efficiency.


Transformational cyber security and training programmes are urgently required to produce individuals and workforce capable of addressing company risks posed by existing and emerging cyber threats. This paper presents a cyber security model of India and give an analytical approach to the competence with the crime, a continuous hierarchy of learning. The chapter combines the cyber-security domain, academic development, and the pyramid of learning continuum, as well as cyber-security standards from state, to create a model of cyber-security skills appropriate for people's education and the broader workforce. This fundamental approach to building cyber skills and training programmes results in trained individuals and workers who can reduce cyber hazards in the business environment throughout the globe. In popular culture, such experts are sometimes depicted as lone hackers. Cybersecurity specialists, on the other hand, must communicate with a variety of people all of the time. They must also have a high level of personal integrity. The practise of cyber hunting is a different approach to traditional cyber security, in which technologies and human intelligence are used to discover potential threats. Using firewall, antivirus, and intrusion detection software, this strategy seeks to detect penetration and prevent hacker penetration.


Electronic information sharing benefits organizations and institutions in various aspects including increasing the level of information accuracy and timeliness, improving the accountability and decision making, and minimizing the cost of information management.
There is a high degree of information sharing between Iraqi public universities and Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR), however, limited electronic information sharing exists between them, which brings difficulties and delay in making decisions. This limitation also creates challenges and barriers in supporting the
decentralization principle taken by the public universities in universities' governance.
Thus, there is a need to conduct a study to identify the possible steps and strategies to
increase electronic information sharing between the ministry and universities. The main objective of this study is to propose a model of electronic information sharing between Iraqi public universities and MOHESR. Social Exchange Theory, Critical Mass Theory and Transactive Memory System Theory have been used to solve the problem and achieve the objectives. Purposive sampling has been used and multiple linear regression analyses were applied for data analysis. A total of 660 questionnaires have been distributed in five universities in Iraq and the returned response was 274 (42%). From the 16 factors proposed, ten factors are found to be significance which are IT capability, information quality, compatibility, complexity, data warehouse, top management, policy/legal
framework, interagency trust, upper level leadership and social network. Based on the
results obtained, the study presents a model of electronic information sharing between
public universities in Iraq and MOHESR. A comprehensive understanding of this model
will contribute to the improvement of the planning and implementation of three dimensions; technological, organizational and environmental of the public universities in their way forward to improvise electronic information sharing in the future. According to the findings, it can be concluded that three dimensions and ten factors can essentially increase the electronic information sharing among public universities and MOHESR.


Communication between trainer and trainee plays a central role in teaching and learning in the clinical environment. There are various strategies to frame the dialogue between trainee and trainer. These strategies allow trainers to be more effective in their supervision, which is important in our busy clinical environment. Communication strategies are well adapted to both in- and out-patient settings, to both under- and postgraduate contexts. This article presents three strategies that we think are particularly useful. They are meant to give feedback, to ask questions and to present a case.


The stacking sequence optimization of laminated composite plates while maximizing the structural performance or minimizing the weight is a subject investigated extensively in the literature. Meanwhile, research on the optimization of laminates with cut-outs has been relatively limited. Cut-outs being an indispensable feature of structural components, this paper concentrates on the stacking sequence optimization of composite laminates in the presence of circular cut-outs. The buckling load of a laminate is used as a metric to quantify the structural performance. Here the laminates are modeled as carbon fiber-reinforced composites using the finite element analysis software, ABAQUS. For the optimization, the widely used harmony search algorithm is applied. In terms of design variables, ply thickness, and fiber orientation angles of the plies are used as continuously changing variables. In addition to the stacking sequence, another geometric variable to consider is the aspect ratio (ratio of the length of the longer sides to the length of the shorter sides of the plate) of the rectangular laminates. The optimization is carried out for three different aspect ratios. It is shown that, by using dispersed stacking sequences instead of the commonly used 0°/±45°/±90° fiber angle stacks, significantly higher buckling loads can be achieved. Furthermore, changing the cut-out geometry is found to have a significant effect on the structural performance.


Tintinnids form one of the first links in the food chain. The ingestion of food particles by tintinnids is controlled by the diameter of the oral region. Tintinnids mainly feed on nannoplankton, naked flagellates, bacteria, detritus, coccolithophores, peridinians and diatoms and in turn they offer themselves to be preyed upon by larger zooplankters like salps, doliolids, oikopleura, cladocerans, copepods, Sagitta and mollusc veligers. Predators exhibited a preference for tintinnids with lorica open at both ends. Many fish and fish larvae analysed were also found to feed upon tintinnids


Interleukin 1 (IL 1) is a potent enhancer of nonspecific resistance to infection in mice. Since IL 1 also induces interleukin 6 (IL 6), we tested the hypothesis that IL 6 mediates the effect of IL 1 on nonspecific resistance. In a lethal Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in granulocytopenic mice, in which 80 ng of recombinant human IL 1α protects against death, IL 6 appeared to be much less effective. Dosages of 8 ng, 80 ng and 320 ng IL 6 did not differ from the control, whereas 800 ng had a marginal protective effect (0.05 < p < 0.1). IL 1 and IL 6 did not potentiate each other in animals treated with suboptimal dosages of both cytokines. Numbers of bacteria cultured from the blood, thigh muscle, liver, spleen, and kidney were similar in animals treated with 800 ng IL 6 and in control animals, arguing against activation of microbicidal mechanisms. The serum concentration profile of IL 6 after an i.p. injection of 80 ng IL 1 was similar to that after 80 ng IL 6 i.p. Only minute amounts of IL 1 were detected in serum after an i.p. injection of IL 6. Taken these data together, it appears that increased resistance to infection induced by IL 1 is not mediated by IL 6.


A large thrombus entrapped in an atrial septal defect is a rare condition that can lead to life-threatening systemic and pulmonary embolization. The use of thrombolysis may prove dangerous to the patient. Herein, we describe the emergency surgical management that contributed to a successful outcome in a 67-year-old man who was found to have a 23-cm-long thrombus across an atrial septal defect.


Live attenuated, cold-adapted (ca) monovalent and bivalent influenza A vaccines were evaluated in seronegative infants (ages 6-18 months) in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial to assess safety and immunogenicity. A total of 182 seronegative subjects received a single intranasal dose (10(6.2) TCID50) of ca A/Kawasaki/9/86 (H1N1) or ca A/Los Angeles/2/87 (H3N2), both as a bivalent vaccine, or placebo. Respiratory and systemic symptoms did not differ between groups after vaccination. Hemagglutination antibody seroconversions (> or = 1:8) to H3N2 exceeded 90%. In contrast, seroconversions to A/Kawasaki/9/86 (H1N1) were significantly less frequent in bivalent ca vaccine recipients (31%) than in monovalent ca H1N1 recipients (83%) (P < .002). During a subsequent H3N2 epidemic, nasal washes were cultured for viruses from any subject with respiratory illness. H3N2 infections documented by virus isolation were reduced by 65% in ca H3N2 recipients compared with placebo or ca HIM recipients (P = .01).


We demonstrate that commercially available poly(D,L-lactic acid) (PDLLA) is a suitable material for the fabrication of biodegradable optical fibers with a standard heat drawing process. To do so we report on the chemical and optical characterization of the material. We address the influence of the polymer processing on the molecular weight and thermal properties of the polymer following the preparation of the polymer preforms and the fiber optic drawing process. We show that cutback measurements of the first optical fibers drawn from PDLLA return an attenuation coefficient as low as 0.11 dB/cm at 772 nm, which is the lowest loss reported this far for optical fibers drawn from bio-resorbable material. We also report on the dispersion characteristics of PDLLA, and we find that the thermo-optic coefficient is in the range of −10−4°C−1. Finally, we studied the degradation of PDLLA fibers in vitro, revealing that fibers with the largest diameter of 600 μm degrade faster than those with smaller diameters of 300 and 200 μm and feature more than 84% molecular weight loss over a period of 3 months. The evolution of the optical loss of the fibers as a function of time during immersion in phosphate-buffered saline indicates that these devices are potential candidates for use in photodynamic therapy-like application scenarios.


We present two eddy-current field potential formulations to solve rotating electrical machine problems by applying the finite-element method (FEM) using the motional A *- A-potential formulation and the motional T, Phi-Phi-potential formulation. We use the single-phase and three-phase solid-rotor induction motors of Problem No. 30a of TEAM Workshops to compare the potential formulations. We have solved both problems in the time domain and the frequency domain.


The articles published in this special issue cover several dimensions of two insurance markets that are characterized by major imperfections such as high transaction costs, information asymmetries, and low competition. Furthermore, insurance premiums are high and coverage is limited. On the international scale, the supply of both private long-term care insurance and health insurance is limited, whereas populations are aging. According to Jeffrey Brown and Amy Finkelstein, there are important demand- and supply-side limits to the size of the U.S. private long-term care insurance market, and it is not clear how public policies could improve the situation in the short run. They document that only 4 percent of long-term care expenditures are reimbursed by private insurance policies. Brown and Finkelstein estimate that premiums in this market are very high relative to benefits that policies provide. For example, they estimate that, on average, the typical policy purchased by an average 65-year-old (about the average age of buyers) and held until death has a load of 18 cents; in other words, the typical policy will pay, on average, only 82 cents in expected present discounted value of benefits for every dollar paid in the expected present discounted value of premiums. Once they take into account that individuals often stop paying premiums at some point after purchase, the estimated load rises considerably from 18 cents on the dollar to 51 cents on the dollar. These high loads can reflect asymmetric information, limited competition, and/or high administrative costs. High premiums can also be linked to expensive benefits. Two factors may explain why average claims are high in the United States (Kessler, 2008). The insurance payment structure reimburses assistance costs using complicated cost-plus contracts instead of simple fixed-sum payments where clients (or their agents) can manage the assistance budget, as they do in France or Spain (Guillen and Pinquet, 2008). Moreover, this form of assistance cost reimbursement is subject to ex post moral hazard from the beneficiaries and service providers. This potential form of moral hazard (Picard, 2000; Dionne, Giuliano, and Picard, 2009) supplements the adverse selection and ex ante moral hazard already documented in this market by Finkelstein and McGarry (2006). Cost control expenses should then be very high in this market, which is another source of high premiums. These supply-side problems may contribute to the limited size of the private market. Brown and Finkelstein also present numerous demand-side factors that may explain the small size of the private insurance market even in the presence of a potentially high-risk situation for the decision makers: limited consumer knowledge, state-dependent preferences, and potential substitutes for private formal insurance such as Medicaid (Pauly, 1990; Brown and Finkelstein, 2008) or even the use of home equity to finance long-term care expenditures (Davidoff, 2008). In this issue, Thomas Davidoff shows that if consumers typically liquidate home equity only in the event of illness or very old age, long-term care insurance and annuities become less attractive and may become substitutes rather than complements. The reason for this is that the marginal utility of wealth drops when an otherwise illiquid home is sold, an event correlated with the payouts of both financial products. He concludes that extending the market for home equity products may contribute to expanding the market for long-term care insurance. These results were obtained without a bequest motive and with state-dependent preferences. Complementarity between annuities and long-term insurance should be weaker if a bequest motive exists (Pauly, 1990). Asymmetric information can also affect the relationship between annuities and long-term care insurance. David Webb examines the markets for long-term care insurance and annuities when there is asymmetric information and costs of administering contracts. …


SNARE proteins play a crucial role in intracellular trafficking by catalyzing membrane fusion, but assigning SNAREs to specific intracellular transport routes is challenging with current techniques. We developed a novel Förster resonance energy transfer-fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FRET-FLIM)-based technique allowing visualization of real-time local interactions of fluorescently tagged SNARE proteins in live cells. We used FRET-FLIM to delineate the trafficking steps underlying the release of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) from human bloodderived dendritic cells. We found that activation of dendritic cells by bacterial lipopolysaccharide leads to increased FRET of fluorescently labeled syntaxin 4 with VAMP3 specifically at the plasma membrane, indicating increased SNARE complex formation, whereas FRET with other tested SNAREs was unaltered. Our results revealed that SNARE complexing is a key regulatory step for cytokine production by immune cells and prove the applicability of FRET-FLIM for visualizing SNARE complexes in live cells with subcellular spatial resolution. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.23525.001


Giardia duodenalis is a common human and animal pathogen. It has been increasingly reported in wild and captive non-human primates (NHPs) in recent years. However, multilocus genotyping information for G. duodenalis infecting NHPs in southwestern China is limited. In the present study, the prevalence and multilocus genotypes (MLGs) of G. duodenalis in captive NHPs in southwestern China were determined. We examined 207 fecal samples from NHPs in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, and 16 specimens were positive for G. duodenalis. The overall infection rate was 7.7%, and only assemblage B was identified. G. duodenalis was detect positive in northern white-cheeked gibbon (14/36, 38.9%), crab-eating macaque (1/60, 1.7%) and rhesus macaques (1/101, 0.9%). Multilocus sequence typing based on beta-giardin (bg), triose phosphate isomerase (tpi) and glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) revealed nine different assemblage B MLGs (five known genotypes and four novel genotypes). Based on a phylogenetic analysis, one potentially zoonotic genotype of MLG SW7 was identified in a northern white-cheeked gibbon. A high degree of genetic diversity within assemblage B was observed in captive northern white-cheeked gibbons in Southwestern China, including a potentially zoonotic genotype, MLG SW7. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report using a MLGs approach to identify G. duodenalis in captive NHPs in Southwestern China.


Spongospora subterranea is the causal agent of powdery scab of potato (Solanum tuberosum), which can significantly reduce potato quality. In this study, we developed and evaluated a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for the detection of S. subterranea. A set of LAMP primers named PS-LAMP was designed and tested for specificity and sensitivity. In the specificity test, in silico analysis using the NCBI Primer-BLAST tool indicated that PS-LAMP was specific to S. subterranea. The in vitro tests confirmed specificity, showing that PS-LAMP could produce positive signals from DNA isolated from each of three potato tubers with powdery scab symptoms, but did not produce positive signal from DNA isolated from 38 non-target plant pathogens. The sensitivity of PS-LAMP was tested on both gBlocks and DNA isolated from potato samples with powdery scab symptoms. On gBlocks, the lowest number of copies for a positive LAMP reaction was six, which was similar to results obtained via qPCR, but 10 times more sensitive than conventional PCR. On a DNA sample from S. subterranea-infected potato, the lowest amount of template DNA for a positive LAMP reaction was 2 pg, which was in comparable with the sensitivity of qPCR. Considering the convenience of the LAMP technique, as well as the high specificity and sensitivity, this assay can be very useful for plant pathology practitioners and diagnostic labs interested in rapid, accurate, routine detection of S. subterranea and confirmation powdery scab disease.


Abstract With advancing technologies in orthopedics and increasing demands of the population for orthopedic interventions, younger patients are now receiving joint replacements. One of the potential risks of joint replacement is metallosis, or the local and systemic release of metal ions. Metallosis is caused by the release of metallic debris, secondary to hardware failure. The phenomenon is most commonly associated with failed metal-on-metal hip prostheses and is characterized locally by heavy staining of surrounding soft tissue, metallic synovitis, joint effusion, and gradual loosening of the prosthesis. Additionally, metallic debris can also lead to periarticular superficial skin manifestations. The release of metal ions has further been known to lead to systemic upsets including neurologic deficit (declining vision, hearing, or cognition; headaches), cardiac failure, and hypothyroidism. As the number of patients seeking major orthopedic interventions grows, the incidence of metallosis-related skin tattooing will also increase. The structural components of a failed joint replacement can be revised (improving patients' pain and functioning). However, any skin tattooing secondary to metallosis presents the treating dermatologist with clinical challenge, due to lack of research regarding treatment of this condition. Our aim is to review the published literature on metallosis, including the pathophysiology. After assessing publications on the treatment of traumatic and cosmetic tattooing, we hope to stimulate further research regarding treatment. This article should also serve to remind orthopedic surgeons that with increasing patient concern regarding cosmesis, a multispecialty approach including referral to a dermatologist is valuable.


Laboratory acquired infection occur globally. These infections are caused by multiple parasites and pathogens belonging to bacteria, fungi and the viruses. Laboratory acquired infections in laboratories of research and development; production installations and academic sectors i.e., teaching labs vary, but do contribute to morbidity and mortality with respect to their occurrence. The health status of a lab worker or technician is an important factor in keeping the community health as these acquired infections easily get introduced into the community. The current review gives an overview about the laboratory acquired infection, their past and the complications that are being faced in their control and management. The review focuses on one of the major problem now being faced in the lab acquired infections that is antibiotic resistance.


The human oral microbiome comprises of a complex and finely balanced consortia of microbial species, many of which interact with each other, form bio-films and is responsible for major periodontal diseases like dental decay, gingivitis, plaque formation and many others. Given the importance of this microbiome in oral disease, considerable scientific effort has been put into surveying the opportunistic pathogens. The present study was carried out to determine the effects and role of calcium and magnesium as stress relievers, making pathogen susceptible to antibiotics, increasing chances to form more and more biofilms on teeth. Studies revealed that acid produced by fermentation of carbohydrates and other nutrients in mouth by oral bacteria makes the calcium available to Streptococcus strains which are opportunistic pathogens and calcium helped these in attaining vigor. Excess of acid form a favorable environment for continuous and vigorous growth of Streptococci which are responsible for tooth decay. Once a plaque is formed, it will form more favorable conditions for the formation of bio-film.


The Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) and Boat-tailed Grackle (Q. major) are sister species that have expanded their ranges during historical times. This expansion has created an area of sympatry between these species in Texas and Louisiana, and between distinctive Great-tailed Grackle subspecies in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. We investigated the evolutionary histories of both Manuscript received 7 June 2007; accepted 27 January 2008. 3Present address: Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215. E-mail: email@example.com The Condor, Vol. 110, Issue 1, pages 170–177. ISSN 0010-5422, electronic ISSN 1938-5422. c © 2008 by The Cooper Ornithological Society. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions website, http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintInfo.asp. DOI: 10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.170. species using mitochondrial DNA sequence data and modern phylogenetic methods. Our results reveal genetic structure within Great-tailed, but not Boat-tailed Grackles. Great-tailed Grackles are separated into two clades, but range expansion in the north has led to secondary contact between them. Boat-tailed Grackles are monophyletic and are embedded within the Great-tailed Grackle assemblage, rendering the latter paraphyletic. These results reveal a complex phylogeographic pattern caused by recent range expansion and secondary contact of once allopatric units.


Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive volumetric imaging technique that offers micron scale resolution over several millimetres of depth penetration in tissue.
The aim of the project was to develop Full Field Swept Source OCT (FFSSOCT), charting the specifications of the system throughout and drawing comparisons with available Fourier domain OCT (FDOCT) systems. A super luminescent diode (SLD) light source was tuned to different optical frequencies using an acousto-optical tunable filter. The successive optical frequencies were distributed across the sample in parallel and the sequential interference spectra were recorded with a high speed digital camera. Using a 5mW optical source at 850nm, 70dB sensitivity was ultimately achieved in a single five second acquisition, improving the original performance by 5dB and increasing acquisition and processing time significantly. Ex vivo retinal images of rat and tree shrew were recorded with multiple layers visible. All software was custom written in Labview, improving the user interface and processing time over the existing Matlab code. To enhance the performance of the system, the camera was subsequently upgraded from 15 to 45% quantum efficiency and from 250k to 1.3M pixels. The light source was also upgraded to 20mW. The software was improved with spectral processing and dispersion compensation. 85dB sensitivity was ultimately achieved. Further ex vivo retinal images were taken, showing comparative image quality to those of the same retinal samples recorded with FDOCT. Further attempts to increase the system performance were limited by internal reflections and interfering surfaces within the FFSSOCT design leading to saturation of the digital camera. In vivo imaging was attempted using software based phase jitter compensation. Improvement could be seen with simple reflecting structures.


The authors discuss prostitution as a high-risk behavior for HIV infection and transmission, using data from interviews with prostitutes in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and New York City. "The primary objective is to share some of the information gained in research interviews and street work so that it can be utilized to assist efforts at reaching such high risk behavior populations with appropriate AIDS prevention information, testing, counseling and health services." Factors considered include prostitute characteristics, the pimp, perceived roles of the prostitute, power and control, risky sexual practices, and knowledge, attitudes, and behavior relating to AIDS.


Background: Anemia is one of the most common extraarticular manifestations in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). According to various sources, from 18.5 to 45.8% of patients with AS have anemia. In the pathogenesis of anemic syndrome in the AS, a leading role is given to proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-alpha), which is associated with the development of anemia of chronic disease (ACD) in this category of patients. Another type of anemia in patients with AS is iron deficiency anemia (IDA), and the relationship between the latter and the ACD varies significantly according to various literature data. As for other types of anemia in the AS, they are represented by anemia caused by drugs. Objectives: The purpose of the work was to investigate the prevalence of anemia in the Ukrainian population of patients with AS and evaluate the hematopoiesis in patients with the main types of it. Methods: The group with anemia included patients whose haemoglobin levels were below 120 g/l. The diagnosis of AS was determined according to the modified New York criteria (1984). Laboratory methods of research (general analysis of blood, erythrocytes, haemoglobin, color index, serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC) included in the list of standard examinations of patients were performed according to standard methods. To verify the diagnosis of ACD, ferritin (FN) and levels of soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) were determined. Results: 118 patients with AS were included into the study, 11 (32.3%) females and 23 (67.7%) males. It was found that 34 patients (28.8%) had anemia. Anemia of mild degree was manifested in 27 (79.4%) patients and with moderate severity - 7 (20.6%) patients. Among 34 patients with anemia, patients with ACD - 15 (44.1%) predominated. In the second place, 10 (29.4%) showed a combination of ACD with functional deficiency of iron, and 8 (23.5%) patients had signs of IDA. Only one of the subjects had signs of scarce anemia. Consequently, anemic syndrome in patients with AS is represented by ACD, ACD with iron deficiency and the actual IDA. The analysis did not reveal significant differences in hemoglobin levels in the groups of patients with different types of anemia, depending on gender, age and duration of the disease. The patients with different types of anemic syndrome did not have significant differences in haemoglobin content, the number of red blood cells and the magnitude of the MCH, but significantly differed in magnitude MCV. The lowest values of MCV (73.5 ± 3.14 ft) were in patients with IDA, intermediate (86.22 ± 2.6 ft) in the group of patients with ACD with functional deficiency of iron and the highest (94.2 ± 1.68 flask) among people with ACD (p <0.05). According to cytometric distribution, ACD was mostly (80%) normocytic, 13.3% macrocytic and only 6.65% microcytic. ACD with functional deficiency of iron was normocytic in 70% of cases, in 20% and 10% of cases, microcytic and macrocytic, respectively. Microcytic changes of erythrocytes most often in 75% were registered in the group of patients with IDA. The course of the AS was accompanied by significant violations of iron exchange. In particular, with anemia of the first degree, iron levels were 10.25 ± 0.26 mmol/l, and with anemia of the second degree 9.30 ± 0.63 mmol/l (p <0.05). With regard to the types of anemic syndrome, in patients with IDA, serum iron levels were 8.30 ± 0.21 mmol/l, or it was probably (38%) lower than in patients with "pure" ACD. It was at the IDA that the total iron binding capacity (TIBC) was the highest. Patients with a combination of ACD with functional deficiency of iron with this indicator occupied an intermediate position between patients with IDA and ACD. Conclusion: Thus, the most widespread variants of anemia in patients with AS are ACD, IDA and ACD with iron deficiency. ACD is in most cases a normocytic anemia, IDA - microcytic anemia, and ACD with iron deficiency mostly normocytic as well. Disclosure of Interests: None declared


The European Union and the United States are paradigmatic examples of multi-level governance systems that are also Regulatory States. In both settings, informal networks of regulators preceded and existed alongside supranational (federal) regulatory agencies. The literature understood their rationale as preparatory to the creation of higher level agencies. This approach, however, cannot explain why informal regulatory networks still exist, years after the establishment of higher level agencies. What explains the persistence of informal regulatory networks? The argument of this paper is that, in multilevel governance systems, the relationship between regulatory networks and the supranational level of governance is co-evolutionary and embodies struggles for autonomy and authority: as the multi-level governance system consolidates, the character of this relationship evolves from collaborative to competitive. The argument relies on a comparative historical analysis of two voluntary networks of energy regulators from the EU and the U.S., based on 27 interviews and archival research.


This paper studies the electricity generating capacity of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Unlike most of MFC research, which targets the long term goals of renewable energy production and wastewater treatment, this paper considers a niche application that may be used immediately in practice, namely powering sensors from soils or sediments. There are two major goals in this study. The first goal is to examine the performance characteristics of MFCs in this application. Specifically we investigate the relationship between the percentage of organic matter in a sample and the electrical capacity of MFCs fueled by that sample. We observe that higher percentage of organic matter in a sample results in higher electricity production of MFCs powered by that sample. We measure the thermal limits that dictate the temperature range in which MFCs can function, and confirm that the upper thermal limit is 40℃. The new observation is that the lower thermal limit is -5℃, which is lower than 0℃ reported in the literature. This difference is important for powering environmental sensors. We observe that the electricity production of MFCs decreases almost linearly over a period of 10 days. The second goal is to determine the conditions under which MFCs work most efficiently to generate electricity. We compare the capacity under a variety of conditions of sample types (benthic mud, top soil, and marsh samples), temperatures (0℃, 40℃, and room temperature), and sample sizes (measuring 3.5 cm × 3.5 cm × 4.6 cm, 10.2 cm × 10.2 cm × 13.4 cm, and 2.7 cm × 2.7 cm × 3.8 cm), and find that the electricity capacity is greatest at 0℃, powered by benthic mud sample with the largest chamber size. What seems surprising is that 0℃ outperforms both room temperature and benthic mud sample outperforms marsh sample, which appears to be richer in organic matter. In addition, we notice that although the largest chamber size produces the greatest capacity, it suffers from efficiency loss. The reasons of these observations will be explained in the paper. The study demonstrates that the electricity production of MFCs can be increased by selecting the right condition of sample type, temperature, and chamber size.


The Cornell University Library (CUL) personas were developed during April and May of 2007 as part of CUL's Web Vision Project. They are designed to provide insight into the various research practices and processes used by primary clients the library. The personas will be used both during the initial design of CUL's new platform for online access and to validate various design iterations for the platform as they are developed.


Abstract Background: Tuberculosis in patients with diabetes mellitus is characterised by rapid disease progression, poor treatment efficacy, poor prognosis and poses a new challenge in tuberculosis treatment and control. Methods: Patients with pulmonary TB and type 2 DM were recruited at Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College. A total of 348 patients were randomly assigned to two groups. The aspirin group (aspirin + TB/DM) included 174 patients who received anti-TB therapy and enteric-coated aspirin tablets (100 mg/tablet). The control group (placebo + TB/DM) included 174 patients who received anti-TB therapy and enteric-coated placebo tablets (an identical tablet containing no drug). Eighty-two patients in the aspirin group and 86 in the control group completed the trial and were included in the analysis. Clinical characteristics, laboratory test results, imaging data and side effects of aspirin were monitored. Results: Aspirin treatment affect certain signs and symptoms. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were lower in the aspirin group than in the control group after treatment (Both p = .000). The sputum-negative conversion rate was 86.7% in the aspirin group, significantly higher than in the control group (53.8%) (p = .031). After two months of treatment, the differences in the number of cases with cavities, the number of cavities, and maximum diameter of cavities in the aspirin group were statistically significant (p = .003, p = .023 and p = .015 respectively). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that aspirin may improve treatment in patients with pulmonary TB and type 2 DM.


Selective attention to the global and the local levels of hierarchical patterns was studied, using a simultaneous comparison task. Subjects were asked to determine whether two simultaneously presented patterns were the same or different at the designated level. On half of the trials the comparison outputs on the two levels were compatible, and on the other half they were incompatible. With patterns composed of many relatively small elements, global and local sameness and difference were detected equally fast in the compatible trials. When incompatible output was present, irrelevant global sameness and difference interfered with "same"/"different" judgments on the local elements and on texture, but not vice versa. With patterns composed of a few relatively large elements, global dominance was observed in the compatible trials. In the incompatible trials the interference from conflicting irrelevant output was mutual and affected mostly "same" judgments. These results are discussed in terms of the interaction between the separability and integrality of the dimensions involved and task demands. It is proposed that dimensional analysis is necessary but not sufficient for successful selective attention to a stimulus dimension.


Most current systems to detect malicious code rely on syntactic signatures. More precisely, these systems use a set of byte strings that characterize known malware instances. Unfortunately, this approach is not able to identify previously unknown malicious code for which no signature exists. The problem gets exacerbated when the malware is polymorphic or metamorphic. In this case, different instances of the same malicious code have a different syntactic representation. In this chapter, we introduce techniques to characterize behavioral and structural properties of binary code. These techniques can be used to generate more abstract, semantically-rich descriptions of malware, and to characterize classes of malicious code instead of specific instances. This makes the specification more robust against modifications of the syntactic layout of the code. Also, in some cases, it allows the detection of novel malware instances.


A study investigated the effects of test anxiety, as measured by the Test Anxiety Scale for Children (TASC), on memory processes in problem solvina and the extent to which memory support reduced this effect. Two experiments were performed on 40 and 96 subjects respectively, from grades 5 and 6. Each experiment utilized a factoral design involving two levels of test anxiety (Ss having upperor lower-quartile TASC scores) and two memory conditions (supported and not supported). Experiment 1 subjects, selected from 170 who had completed the TASC, were paired: high-anxious (upper quartile) subjects with low-anxious (lower quartile) subjects by matching with respect to sex and IQ before assignment to the two memory-support conditions. Experiment 2 subjects, selected on the same basis from a similar group of 379, were divided by sex and assigned at random (with some restrictions) to the two conditions. Experiment 1 involved a puzzle; dependent measures were errors committed and recognition of potential errors. Experiment 2 involved concept formation; dependent measures were trials to criterion, and positiveand negative-exemplar memory errors. Analyses of variance and chi square analyses were performed. Significant main and interaction effects indicated that test anxiety interfered with short-term memory, and memory support reduced differences between performance of highand low-anxious subjects. (Author/JS) STANFORD CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT


There are results of sampling study of longstanding dynamics of traffic intensity of motor vehicles, transport conditions and emissions of the main pollutants into the atmospheric air. It is detected that in 1991-2009 on the road traffic routes of the city there was a significant increase in the traffic intensity and deterioration of transport conditions that resulted in a significant increase in air pollution by the emissions of the motor vehicles.


Background: Left ventricular volumes (LVVs) and ejection fraction (LVEF) are key elements for the evaluation and follow-up of patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Therefore, a feasible and reproducible imaging method to be used by both experienced and in-training echocardiographers is mandatory. Aims: To establish if, in a large echo lab, echocardiographers in-training provide feasible and more reproducible results for the evaluation of patients with HFrEF, when using three-dimensional (3DE) vs. two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE). Methods: 60 patients with HFrEF (46 males, age 58±17) underwent standard transthoracic 2D acquisitions and 3D multi-beat full-volumes of the LV. One expert-user in echocardiography (Expert), and 3 echocardiographers with different levels of training in 2DE (Beginner, Medium, and Advanced) measured the 2D LVVs and LVEFs on the same consecutive images of patients with HFrEF. Afterward, the Expert performed a one-month training in 3DE analysis of the users, and both the Expert and trainees measured the 3D LVVs and LVEF of the same patients. Measurements provided by the Expert and all trainees in echo where compared.Results: 6 patients were excluded from the study due to a poor image quality. Mean end-diastolic LVV of the remaining 54 patients was 214±75 ml with 2DE, and 233±77 ml with 3DE. Mean LVEF was 35±10% with 2DE, and 33±10% with 3DE.When compared with the Expert user, the trainees showed acceptable reproducibility of the 2DE measurements, according to their level of expertise in 2DE (ICCs ranging from 0.75 to 0.94). However, after the short training in 3DE, they provided feasible and more reproducible measurements of the 3D LVVs and LVEF than with 2DE (ICCs ranging from 0.89 to 0.97).Conclusions: 3DE is a feasible, fast-learning, and more reproducible method for the assessment of LVVs and LVEF than 2DE, regardless of the basic level of expertise in 2DE of the trainees in echocardiography. In echo labs with a wide range of experience of the staff, 3DE might be a more accurate method for the follow-up of patients with HFrEF.


Public health clinical rotation in the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Islam Indonesia, was conducted in Puskesmas (community health center). This study aims to evaluate the public health clinical rotation in Puskesmas, part of the clinical clerkship of the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Islam Indonesia. Several concerns have been highlighted regarding the implementation of clinical rotations in public health in Puskesmas. A briefing session before placement in the village must be coherent with a guidebook. The placement of students in the village was based on community health issues determined by the Puskesmas supervisor. Priority in the curriculum was given to converting the alertness village (Desa Siaga) into a Program Indonesia Sehat-Pendekatan Keluarga (Healthy Indonesia Program-Family Education) program throughout implementation. Moreover, scheduling after four major clinical programs was difficult, and the writing of reports served as a guide for establishing the correct format. Therefore, the objective of the evaluation was to assess knowledge, skill, and psychomotor, and the burden of assignment in Puskesmas was difficult to accomplish a primary task in the community.


Enhanced oil recovery methods are used to recover the percents of oil that are not naturally recoverable from reservoirs. Water injection as a secondary recovery is used to maintain the pressure in water-drive reservoirs. An important point for having a successful injection is the compatibility of injection and formation waters. OLI ScaleChem software predicts mineral scaling potentials of 54 solids for virtually any oil and gas well and processing facility in the world. There are several advantages over other commercially available scaling software: (1) By including all brines in the calculations, the well and processing facility are modeled more accurately; (2) Scaling potential and scale buildup are reported at each calculation point; (3) Automatic correction of pH and charge balance, therefore the chance of unexpected problems from bad water analyses decreases. Also, more effective treatment can be made; (4) Automatical removal of organic acid concentrations from the measured alkalinity, therefore producing a true brine alkalinity; (5) Accurately predict the behavior of any mixture of chemicals in water and mixed solvent. This article presents the predicting of barium sulfate scale tendency of formation water, injection water, and mixing of injection water with formation water at different conditions. The experimentally measured chemical analyses of formation water and injection water were used by OLI ScaleChem software to determine the tendency of scale formation at different conditions. As pressure and temperature were increased, the scaling tendency of the barium sulfate scaling brine was found to decrease, as was predicted by OLI ScaleChem software.


For generations in Northern Ireland, unionist and nationalist communities have been frozen in isolation from one another, preferring demonstrations of communal solidarity to negotiation and cooperation. This absorbing book examines the many attempts to resolve the conflict in Northern Ireland, beginning with the civil rights movement and Prime Minister Terence O'Neill's reform efforts in the mid-1960's, continuing up to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. It finds that early attempts at peacemaking suggested only mechanical political solutions, which only deepened the antagonistic pattern of relationships. It was not until these existing relationships were challenged, most crucially through the Anglo-Irish agreement of 1985 and subsequent initiatives jointly determined by the British and Irish governments, that the main parties began to participate in efforts to create a democratic peace. The authors contend that a political and cultural process is now in motion that gives peace its first real chance in Northern Ireland's history.


In 2022, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Korean Society for Pediatric Neuron-Oncology (KSPNO), a commemorative meeting was held with former and current members. At the meeting, there was a special lecture for the retrospect of the Emeritus Professor Thad Ghim, one of the founders and the 1st president (2002–2003) of KSPNO. He celebrated the history and development of the KSPNO, along with the vision of our society. Especially he appreciated the efforts and endeavors of our senior members. In 2001, we started as "Korean Pediatric Neuro-Oncological Study Group." The next year, we changed our name to "Korean Society for Pediatric Neuro-Oncology (KSPNO)." KSPNO emphasized the multidisciplinary approach to patient care. These efforts were strengthened by "The National Cancer Moonshot Initiative" since 2005. Now our society goes forward together with "National Cancer Treatment Guideline Project and Childhood Cancer and Rare Disease Control Group Project." After all, we do not exist for ourselves, but for our sick children.


End-milling is intermittent cutting process performed by a tool with a number of teeth. Its cutting forces are commonly measured by the tool dynamometer which has rectangular coordinates. In this case, the pattern of cutting forces is different according to cutting conditions. At a certain cutting condition, the sign of cutting force changes from positive to negative during a revolution of one tooth. The change of force direction excites a cutting tool and severe vibration arises when radial depth of cut increases. In this study, cutting experiments and simulations were carried out in order to explain the cause of the change of the cutting force direction. In addition, the effect of the cutting force change was discussed in terms of chatter vibration in end milling.


This paper concerns the translational forces exerted on pulsating air bubbles in a stationary sound field. These forces, normally called Bjerknes forces, are derived by simple arguments and classified as to their origin. Measurements have been made of the relative velocity of appoach of two bubbles undergoing a mutual Bjerknes force. The measurements were made in a rigid glass container oscillated in a vertical direction at 60 Hz by a shaker table. The ambient pressure above the liquid was reduced in order to obtain large pulsations, and the attracting bubbles were photographed with a movie camera. Oberved and calculated values for the velocity of approach are in agreement provided a drag law assuming interfacial slippage is used.Subject Classification: 25.60.


This paper explores the feasibility of tracking motion and activities of humans using visible light. Shadows created by casting visible light on humans and objects are sensed using sensors that are embedded along with the light sources. Existing Visible Light Sensing (VLS) techniques require either light sensors deployed on the floor or a person carrying a device. Our approach seeks to measure light reflected off the floor to achieve an entirely device-free and light-source based system. We co-locate photosensors with LED light sources to observe the changes in light level occurring on the floor. Our system also uses a sensitive standard difference measurement technique to detect small voltage changes, together with a time division flickering scheme to differentiate between light nodes. We evaluate the feasibility of our system in detecting simple activities, and show that it can detect door opening events at 12% Equal Error Rate.


Early Paleozoic trondhjemites, gneissic granites and alkali granites in southern Yunnan preserve important records of the tectonic evolution of the Prototethyan Ocean and regional correlations. Zircon ages suggest that these granitoids were emplaced from 476 to 436 Ma. The trondhjemites are characterized by high Na2O and low K2O contents, with εNd(t) values of −1.9 to −3.5 and εHf(t) values of −2.8 to +3.9. The trondhjemites were derived from an amphibolite source with a juvenile mafic component. The gneissic granites belong to the metaluminous low-K calc-alkaline series with an εNd(t) value of −6.2 and εHf(t) values of −5.0 to −0.4. The alkali granites belong to the high-K calc-alkaline series and yield εNd(t) values of −10.1 to −10.7 and εHf(t) values of −7.9 to −2.3. The gneissic granites were derived from an 'ancient' lower mafic crust, whereas the alkali granites were derived from a meta-sedimentary source. These granitoids were formed during the subduction of the Prototethyan Ocean beneath the Simao Block and can be compared with similar igneous rocks from the Truong Son and Tam Ky-Phuoc Son zones in southern Laos. Our study, along with Early Paleozoic igneous suites from southern Laos, central Vietnam and the Malay Peninsula, suggests an arc–back-arc system along the northern margin of Gondwana. Supplementary material: Tables of zircon U–Pb and in-situ Hf and geochemical data are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5322386


Due to improved reliability and reduced risk of thromboembolic events, continuous flow left ventricular assist devices are being used more commonly as a long term treatment for end-stage heart failure. As more and more patients with these devices are leaving the hospital, a reliable control system is needed that can adjust pump support in response to changes in physiologic demand. An inlet pressure sensor has been developed that can be integrated with existing assist devices. A control system has been designed to adjust pump speed based on peak-to-peak changes in inlet pressure. The inlet pressure sensor and control system have been tested with the HeartMate II axial flow blood pump using a mock circulatory loop and an active left ventricle model. The closed loop control system increased total systemic flow and reduced ventricular load following a change in preload as compared to fixed speed control. The increase in systemic flow occurred under all operating conditions, and maximum unloading occurred in the case of reduced ventricular contractility.


Abstract First-generation heap profilers for lazy functional languages have proved to be effective tools for locating some kinds of space faults, but in other cases they cannot provide sufficient information to solve the problem. This paper describes the design, implementation and use of a new profiler that goes beyond the two-dimensional 'who produces what' view of heap cells to provide information about their more dynamic and structural attributes. Specifically, the new profiler can distinguish between cells according to their eventual lifetime, or on the basis of the closure retainers by virtue of which they remain part of the live heap. A bootstrapping Haskell compiler (nhc) hosts the implementation: among examples of the profiler's use we include self-application to nhc. Another example is the original heap-profiling case study clausify, which now consumes even less memory and is much faster.


We report a case of a 32 year old para 0+0 transferred from a peripheral unit at 24+1 with PPROM. Ultrasound showed estimated fetal weight 615g, breech, anhydramnious and upper placenta. At 25+3 she developed severe lower back pain and antepartum haemorrhage >500mls. She underwent emergency caesarean for suspected placental abruption with consultant present. The uterus was markedly abnormal looking; the pregnancy lay below the anatomical uterus in a distended, thin walled segment. A female weighing 700g was delivered in good condition through a transverse lower uterine incision. A massive post partum haemorrhage of 6 litres followed and attempts at stabilisation of the patient were unsuccessful. Emergency hysterectomy was performed. Histology confirmed a cervical pregnancy. The patient had a further PPH 17 days later and underwent embolisation via interventional radiology but thereafter made a good recovery. Cervical pregnancy is a very rare form of ectopic pregnancy with an incidence of approximately 1 in 9000 deliveries. On a very rare occasion, a cervical pregnancy results in the birth of a live baby, typically the pregnancy is in the upper part of the cervical canal and manages to extend into the lower part of the uterine cavity. The most effective treatment of cervical pregnancy is still unclear, with medical rather than surgical therapy recommended with multidose methotrexate in patients who are hemodynamically stable.


The pathological-anatomical and histological examinations of different organs from a calf that died at the age of 9 weeks indicated a disseminated candidiasis. Candida albicans was isolated from brain, lung, liver, spleen, kidney, intestinal lymph nodes and small intestinal contents. The antibiotics administered to the calf by the owner probably initiated the disseminated candidiasis.


There is an opportunity to make a major reduction in the acceleration noise level for the first Next Generation Gravity Mission by replacing the accelerometers used on the GRACE Follow-On Mission by a highly simplified version of the Gravitational Reference Sensors flown very successfully on the LISA Pathfinder mission of ESA. The reduced measurement noise level can make possible much-improved measurements of the short-period and short-wavelength variations in the geopotential. This would be particularly from the along-track analysis of the results, which can permit repeat measurements about half a day apart along ground tracks within 200 km of each other over a substantial part of the globe. Such a mission would permit considerably improved testing of geophysical models for the geopotential variations due to changes in the Earth's mass distribution.


The aim of this paper is to present existing propositional temporal logics with branching and partially ordered time. These logics are used for specifying and proving properties of programs and systems. The branching time approach is useful e.g. for non-deterministic programs and can be applied also for concurrent programs. The partial order approach is especially useful for concurrent programs and allows one to study more subtle properties than those based on branching time. A survey of branching time logics, computation tree logics, partial order temporal logics and logics based on event structures is given. The following issues are concerned in this paper: the completeness of proof systems, the nite model property, decidability, model checking and ex-pressiveness of the logics.


In the photovoltaic solar cell industry as in the semiconductor industry, efforts to reduce the thickness of silicon wafers are in progress. Wafer damage and breakage during handling can lead to unacceptable yields and alternative solutions have to be proposed. This paper presents a modular contact-free wafer handling system that responds to the industrial requirements in terms of throughput and flexibility. The system is based on simple unidirectional modules that can be assembled together to form the desired trajectory. A complete and accurate physical model of the modular system describing the motion of the wafer transported by directed air-jets is proposed. A decentralized control at the block level is realized to damp the object motion. The experimental results show a great reduction of the response time compared to free motion and a standard deviation of the servo error below the millimeter. In addition, simulations show that a 150 mm wafer could reach a speed up to 2.9 m/s on large conveyors.


Though the semiconductor silicon(Si) has been used to manufacture the integrated circuits, it I for the manufacturing of high speed and high frequency circuits. In order to improve the performance of Si transistors enough to be competitive with III-V devices for RF and microwave application, while preserving the yield cost and manufacturing advantages associated with conventional Si fabrication, silicon-germanium(Si-Ge) hetero junction bipolar transistor has been introduced. SiGe HBTs can provide faster switching speeds than Si bipolar transistors mainly because of reduced base resistance and collector-to-substrate capacitance.
Analyzing the small signal model of SiGe HBT, we computed its s parameters and plotted it in smith chart to a frequency variation of 1-18GHz. Again we analyzed the circuit while taking the external parasitic effect into account and drew the S-parameters in a smith chart. So, in this frequency range we compared the performance of the device with and without taking the external substrate effect into account.
We drew the graph for maximum available power gain of common emitter SiGe HBT , with and without taking the substrate parasitic effect. We compared the graph in both the cases and verified that the maximum available power gain decreases considerably due to the external substrate effect. We also verified the substrate effect in case of common base SiGe HBT and saw that, in this case also the maximum available power gain decreases due to the external substrate effect.
By plotting graph we verified that,if we don't consider the substrate parasitic effects then the gain of SiGe HBT in CB mode is much higher than that of in CE mode. But inclusion of parasitic degrades the superior power gain of HBT in CB mode and hence its gain reduces than that of in CE mode
Grounding the substrate is an effective way to reduce the effects of substrate parasitic on SiGe HBT used as an amplifier. We verified this, by plotting the graph of maximum available power gain of common base and common emitter SiGe HBT while grounding the substrate and comparing it with while not grounding the substrate.
Again we designed microwave oscillator using common base and common emitter SiGe HBT and saw how the oscillation frequency has been decreased due the substrate parasitic effect in both the cases.


Generation Y (Gen Y) dominates the Internet-using population. Their personal values and attitudes are crafted through online interactions. One such societal value is materialism, which determines how individuals regard material possession and its importance in life. Environmental factors such as interpersonal communication can influence materialism and are facilitated by the Internet and social media, making Gen Ys more susceptible to materialism. Thus, there is a need to understand Gen Y's Internet usage and its linkage to materialism in an effort to address the adverse effects of materialism on their personal well-being. A survey methodology was used to collect data from students from four Southwestern and Northeastern American universities. Pearson r correlations and t-test analyses were performed for hypothesis testing. Technology was found to allow societal values to be evenly shared among the Internet-using Gen Y without geographic limitations. Further, materialistic Gen Ys spend more time browsing websites looking for products/services. Implications are discussed in relation to educating Gen Ys about the influences of environmental factors on materialism and to thinking more consciously about consumption.


Due to growing uncertainties in the electricity grid, probabilistic load flow methods have achieved more attention. The Point Estimate Method (PEM) was introduced in 1975 and was enhanced since then. Within this method, statistical moments of the output variables are calculated. Afterwards, the probability density functions (PDF) and cumulative density functions (CDF) are determined using expansion methods. Nowadays, Cornish-Fisher-, Edgeworth-and Gram-Charlier-Expansion- (GCE) Methods are mainly used. Due to the combination of different renewable energy sources (RES) at the same grid node, correlated multimodally distributed input variables may result. The existing approaches of PEM and their expansion methods can only deal with normally or close to normally distributed input variables. This paper shows an enhancement to the two-PEM (2m-PEM) and GCE method in order to consider correlated multimodally distributed input variables. The proposed algorithm is demonstrated in a test grid and verified through the comparison of the results using Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) as reference method.


We investigate a photon recycling scheme using two-dimensional metallic photonic crystals made of silver to improve the energy efficiency of an incandescent light source. A theoretical framework is presented to analyze the resultant photon-recycled lighting system. Calculation results show that the system can reach a maximum luminous efficiency of 125 lm/W, which is 8 times higher than that of a bare blackbody radiation at 2800 K. The color temperature of the system is calculated to be around 3500 K or below, while the color rendering index is between 68 and 90. These results suggest that a photon-recycled incandescent light source using metallic photonic crystals can be a viable alternative future lighting solution.


This paper summarizes the progress in developing a rugged, low-cost, automated ground cone robot network capable of traffic delineation at lane-level precision. A holonomic omnidirectional base with a traffic delineator was developed to allow flexibility in initialization. RTK GPS was utilized to reduce minimum position error to 2 centimeters. Due to recent developments, the cost of the platform is now less than $1,600. To minimize the effects of GPS-denied environments, wheel encoders and an Extended Kalman Filter were implemented to maintain lane-level accuracy during operation and a maximum error of 1.97 meters through 50 meters with little to no GPS signal. Future work includes increasing the operational speed of the platforms, incorporating lanelet information for path planning, and cross-platform estimation.


At first glance, every metaphysics of laws (Humeanism, primitivism, Power metaphysics) can be combined with every ontology of time (eternalism, growing block, presentism). In contrast, the paper intends to show that Humeanism requires eternalism and that Power metaphysics must presuppose an existentially dynamical view of temporal existence, i.e. growing block or presentism. The presented arguments turn out to be completely independent of whether the laws of nature are deterministic or probabilistic: the world is non-productive and static or productively dynamical, the future be 'open' or not.


Infectious diseases are the current leading cause of human death and within this category nosocomial infections remain the most frequent complication of hospitalization. A range of infection prevention and control activities are employed to combat the selection and spread of these organisms. The principle components of which are: early identification of carriage/infection, patient isolation, improved hand hygiene, environmental control and good antimicrobial stewardship. In order to properly focus these interventions, it is essential to know how and when cross transmission has occurred. There is an ongoing debate about the role of the environment in the spread of healthcare associated infections and to what extent if any it acts as a potential vector for transmission. Within the healthcare setting patients spend a substantial amount of time surrounded by equipment and environmental surfaces that may be contaminated with microorganisms. In order to establish what role the environment could play, tracking the spread of organisms by molecular typing is key. The current methods used to do this are complex and often are only available at reference laboratories. This means that turnaround times are slow and only provide retrospective confirmation of cross-transmission events. Infection control interventions that can be used prior to receiving results play an important role. The selection and effectiveness of these interventions are often poorly supported by research studies, leading to problems with the introduction of evidence based practice and thus difficulty in selecting the most appropriate response to suspected cross transmission. This thesis aims to explore the role of the environment in cross transmission of infection by developing sampling methodologies to permit environmental surveillance, validating and developing typing techniques in order to establish epidemiological links between patients and environmental contamination and to evaluate infection control interventions to aid in prevention of cross transmission events.


What starts out as a fresh, breezy style of reporting on a new medical development for the layman unfortunately becomes nothing more than a big wind long before you reach the half-way mark in this book. Mrs. Walsh does not hesitate to answer a medical question that still puzzles a great many conservative medical men: Is routine estrogen (female hormone) replacement therapy indicated for menopause? Mrs. Walsh does more than just answer the question; she whips you with her answer until you wish you were a dead horse. While no one wants to be caught pooh-poohing, in spite of Mrs. Walsh's enthusiasm, all the facts pertaining to treatment with female hormones are not yet available! One thing is certain in matters of medicine, however, and that is that the "testimonial" may be the most dangerous guidepost of all in scientifically evaluating virtually any therapeutic modality. All any physician has


Results from a questionnaire study on work conditions, job satisfaction, job influence, health and well-being, based on a representative sample of 3,500 Swedish nurses, indicate a high rate of overall job satisfaction. High decision latitude, consistency between work assignments and education, as well as low sickness absenteeism did all associate with high job satisfaction, number of working years did not. Compared to nurses satisfied with their jobs, twice as many sick days were found among those dissatisfied. Greater job influence related to lower job demands, more stimulating work and skills development as well as more responsibility and involvement. Anxiety and depression, intellectual satisfaction, job demands, job control and perceived general health explained 22% of the total variance in job satisfaction. The study has identified some key factors influencing overall job satisfaction. By focusing on these, job satisfaction among nurses should improve.


For AC application, a number of superconducting strands are twisted to make a cable with a large current capacity. However, it has been observed in such cables that the AC quench current is much less than that of DC. This AC quench current degradation is caused by mechanical damage, localized current distribution due to non-uniform self and mutual inductance between strands and due to irregular contact electrical resistivity at the joint between superconducting strands and current leads. In non-insulated 7-strand cable, we investigated the current distribution near the joint between each strand and current leads affected by contact electrical resistivity in stationary state applying AC transport current. Then, we calculated current distribution in non-insulated 7-and (6+1)-strand cables applying AC transport current to investigate the influence of contact electrical resistivity on current redistribution in the quench process. (Initial quench occurs in one strand and the current in the strand are redistributed to the other strands.) In these analysis we adopt distributed constant circuit to solve the current distrbution. From these analytical results, the characteristics of current distribution in non-insulated 7-and (6+1)-strand cables are discussed.