Introduction Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is a condition with increasing prevalence. Individuals with severe OSA have significant intermittent nocturnal hypoxia. Erythropoiesis is stimulated through the renal secretion of erythropoietin in response to hypoxia, and is responsible for polycythaemia found in chronic respiratory failure. There are case reports of secondary polycythaemia attributed to OSA, but there are limited data assessing the relationship of OSA physiological parameters and haemoglobin. We aimed to investigate this. Methods Clinical information was collated prospectively from patients assessed at the Newcastle Regional Sleep Service with suspected OSA. None of those included had been referred to investigate polycythaemia. All patients included underwent either a domiciliary or in-patient sleep study as per standard clinical practise, and had a Full Blood Count (FBC) taken. Results There were 103 patients included: 70% males, mean (SD) age 52 years (range 26–76 years), BMI 36.1kg/m2 (8.3), Epworth Sleepiness Scale 13 (5), daytime SpO2 on air 96% (2.7) [six patients had SaO2 <92%]. Sleep study results showed the Apnoea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) to be <5 in 13% [no OSA], ≥5 and <15 in 30% [mild OSA], ≥15 and <30 in 19% [moderate OSA], and ≥30 in 38% [severe OSA]. Analysis of FBC results showed no statistical difference in Haemoglobin between the four patient groups; mean (SD), no OSA 14.3g/dl (2.1), mild 14.6g/dl (1.5), moderate OSA 14.5g/dl (1.2), severe OSA 14.7g/dl (1.4). There was no correlation between Haemoglobin (Hb) and AHI, oxygen desaturation index (ODI), % time SpO2<90%, % time SpO2<80%, or awake SpO2. There was no significant difference in haematocrit or RBC between groups. A weak positive correlation was observed between total WBC and ODI, r=0.319, p=0.001, but there was no statistical difference between patient groups. Conclusions In this sleep clinic patient group, we found no correlation between haemoglobin and any OSA severity marker. This suggests that the nocturnal intermittent hypoxia which occurs in OSA alone does not lead to secondary polycythaemia. Further work will evaluate the prevalence of OSA in people with secondary polycythaemia, and whether the OSA is contributory or reflects the general population prevalence of OSA.


Early in December 2019, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, had an epidemic of the Coronavirus illness 2019 (COVID-19), which was brought on by a brand-new severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The epidemic was deemed a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization on January 30, 2020. Many governments have implemented a range of control measures as a result of perceived illness risk.

The pandemic revealed that COVID-19 affects a variety of organs in addition to the lungs, including the heart and brain, raising the risk of long-term health consequences. The illness can affect someone's health even after recovery in a variety of ways. The long-term effects of COVID-19 on locals are still being researched. The objective is to compile knowledge regarding the virus and the present Post pandemic complications in Long Haulers.

We reviewed the body of publicly available literature. To discover publications published between December 2019 and October 2020, we conducted a systematic search utilizing the keywords in online databases such as Pub Med, Scopus, Science Direct, Up to Date, and Web of Science. The review includes peer-reviewed original publications published that matched the qualifying requirements.

Although the majority of patients recovered quickly after receiving COVID-19, the possibility of long-term issues induced by COVID-19 necessitates the search for and research of its late consequences. This article aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of COVID-19 late complications in order to determine how prevalent these symptoms are and who is most likely to be impacted.

There are a number of difficulties with the COVID-19 pandemic that has yet to be resolved. Review of the literature reported several long-lasting clinical problems that affect different phases of health, including chronic fatigue, reduced physical capacity, muscle weakness, increased depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep problems. A complete turndown in quality of life has been observed even one year after major Coronavirus outbreaks.
The pandemic revealed that COVID-19 affects a variety of organs in addition to the lungs, including the heart and brain, raising the risk of long-term health consequences even after years making them to be "Long Haulers".
The causal agent, pathogenesis, immunological responses, epidemiology, diagnosis, therapy, and management of the disease, as well as control and preventive efforts, are all included in this review of the literature.


An evaluation of anaerobic treatment of potato-processing wastewater using an up flow Anaerobic Sludge Bed (UASB) reactor at 37°C was conducted. Wastewater from a potato-processing plant in Harare, with an average of 6.8 g COD/l, (COD = chemical oxygen demand) a high concentration of total solids (up to 6725 mg/l) and low pH of 4 - 4.9 was subjected to anaerobic treatment in an UASB reactor. The start up period, which was indicated by gas production and stabilization of COD reduction was 21 days. The organic loading rates (OLRs) investigated varied between 1.3 g COD/l/d and 13.1 g COD/l/d, the maximum methane yield was 0.3 l/g COD removed at an organic loading rate of 6.6 g COD/l/d. An increase in OLRs to values above 13.1 g COD/ l/d resulted in digester failure. The maximum treatment efficiency (TE) in terms of COD reduction achieved was 90% at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2.1 d and OLR of 3.3 g COD/l/d. The TE was reduced at higher reactor influent velocities, with a minimum TE (71%) recorded at HRT of 0.5 d. Total solids (TS) removal was inconsistent with an average reduction around 50% and phosphorus removal was poor and erratic. pH from the effluent oscillated around 7 with a notable decrease from 7.8 to 6.2 at HRT of 0.5 d. Based on these observations, the UASB process has potential to treat potato-processing wastewater as a pretreatment step before discharge into municipal sewerage system of Harare. Key words : UASB reactor, potato wastewater, anaerobic digestion, methane yield, organic loading rate.


BACKGROUND: Applications for natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) to access the abdominal cavity have increased in recent years. Despite potential advantages of transanal and transcolonic NOTES for colorectal pathology, it has not been widely applied in the clinical setting. This study describes a series of nine patients for whom we performed transanal retrograde ("Down-to-Up") total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Under IRB approval, informed consent was obtained from each patient with rectal adenocarcinoma. Rectosigmoidectomy with total mesorectal excision was performed using low rectal translumenal access to the mesorectal fascia and subsequent dissection in a retrograde fashion. This was achieved using either a single port device or flexible colonoscope with endoscopic instrumentation and laparoscopic assistance. This was followed by transanal extraction of the specimen and hand-sewn anastomosis. RESULTS: Mean operative time was 311 min. Mean hospital stay was 7.56 days. Complications occurred in two patients, and consisted of one anastomotic leakage with reoperation and one intraoperative conversion to open surgery because of impossibility to dissect the specimen. TME specimen integrity was adequate in six patients. CONCLUSION: This series suggests that a retrograde mesorectal dissection via a NOTES technique is feasible in patients with rectal adenocarcinoma. This technique may act as a complimentary part of operative treatment for rectal cancer alongside other minimally invasive strategies. Long-term follow up will be needed to assess oncological results.


This paper analyses the decision process of the Gilhoe Line construction of the Manchurian Railway and consignment process of the North Korea Line to the South Manchuria Railways as part of the 12-year Chosun railway plan. It was found that these two events were connected and could be explained by Japan's consistent continental policy, which had expanded its territory toward China. This paper explicates Japan's railroad policy and the characteristics of the Chosun railway. Moreover, evidence to identify connections among Japan's national railway, the Manchurian railway, and the Chosun railway has been scrutinized. One territory policy between Chosun and Manchuria is also examined. Comparison of new resources on the Gilhoe Line construction of the Manchurian railway and the 12-year plan of the Chosun railway, and their correlations, is expounded. This paper elucidates that the Gilhoe Line construction and the North Korea line consignment operation by the South Manchuria Railways had the intention of obtaining Japanese military and economic supremacy over East Asia.


Health knowledge is fundamental for everyone, including children. This knowledge provides understanding for children in preparation for entering puberty. However, health education which discusses personal hygiene, anemia, puberty, and healthy relationships, as well as reproductive health is still very limited in formal schools. Because of these limitations, children need to get informal education. One of the ways this is done is through health education activities at Kampung Belajar. The research objective was to analyze health knowledge on personal hygiene, anemia, puberty, healthy relationships, and reproductive health taught through health education at Kampung Belajar in Jambangan, Surabaya. This study used secondary data sources obtained from the teaching team at the learning village. The data obtained were the result of evaluating learning activities related to health knowledge. The research subjects were 22 students from grade 1 to 7. The results of this study were 0.031 with p < 0.05. It can be concluded that there was a difference in health knowledge, which included personal hygiene, anemia, puberty, healthy relationships, and reproductive health in the study group after receiving health education provided by the teaching team at Kampung Belajar.


A performance comparison of microstripline circuits using thin and thick film techniques has been studied, in which a Microstrip rejection filter, in the X-band of microwaves, is used as test circuit. A thick film technique is capable of giving good adhesive films with comparable d.c. sheet resistivity, but other parameters such as open area (porosity), particle size, and edge definition are inferior to thin-film microstrip filters. Despite this drawback, the average value of transmission, transmission loss, reflection coefficient, resonant rejection frequency, and quality factor for thick-film filters indicate that screen printed Ag films are intermediate between thin-film1,2,9 and etched-thick-film9 microstrip filters in performance, making it a feasible method for microstrip circuits.


Water transport across epithelia results from local osmotic gradients set up within the epithelium by active solute transport. These gradients arise in long, narrow, dead-end channels, which function as standing-gradient flow systems. Mathematical analysis of a simple model of such a flow system suggests that the ultrastructural geometry of epithelia accounts for the principal features of water-to-solute coupling. 'Backwards' channels are expected to differ from 'forwards' channels in being hypotonic rather than hypertonic, in their capacity for osmotic filtration, and in being restricted to the active transport of major plasma constituents. Epithelial pumps and other biological systems distinguish remarkably between closely similar ions, such as Na $^+$ and K $^+$ , Cl $^-$ and I $^-$ , and Ca $^{2+}$ and Mg $^{2+}$ . Qualitative regularities in discrimination, the so-called selectivity sequences, and quantitative regularities, the so-called selectivity isotherms, make it possible to predict the potencies of untested ions in a given biological system, once the relative effects of two related ions are known for that system. The observed selectivity sequences for the principal inorganic ions of biological interest have been correctly reconstructed by comparing the ions' hydration energies with their interaction energies with membrane sites of different strengths. Details of the selectivity isotherms may provide information about the molecular structure of the biological sites.


We introduce and solve a model of hardcore particles on a one-dimensional periodic lattice which undergoes an active-absorbing-state phase transition at finite density. In this model, an occupied site is defined to be active if its left neighbor is occupied and the right neighbor is vacant. Particles from such active sites hop stochastically to their right. We show that both the density of active sites and the survival probability vanish as the particle density is decreased below half. The critical exponents and spatial correlations of the model are calculated exactly using the matrix product ansatz. Exact analytical study of several variations of the model reveals that these nonequilibrium phase transitions belong to a new universality class different from the generic active-absorbing-state phase transition, namely, directed percolation.


The recent interest in reconfigurable soft materials may lead to the next paradigm in the development of adaptive and actuating materials and structures. Actuating soft materials eventually can be precisely designed to show stimuli-sensing, multi-length scale actuation, tunable transport, programmed shape control and multifunctional orthogonal responses. Herein, we discuss the various advances in the emerging field of reconfigurable soft materials with a focus on the various parameters that can be modulated to control a complex system behavior. In particular, we detail approaches that use either long-range fields (i.e. electrical, magnetic) or changes in local thermodynamic parameters (e.g., solvent quality) in order to elicit a precise dimensional and controlled response. The theoretical underpinnings and practical considerations for different approaches are briefly presented alongside several illustrative examples from the recent studies. In the end, we summarize recent accomplishments, critical issues to consider, and give perspectives on the developments of this exciting research field.


Given the division of labor inherent to modern society, it is inevitable that some people end up doing society's "dirty work." However, little research has been done to enhance our understanding of such occupational contexts. This study aims to explore how individuals working at jobs with negative or dirty associations may achieve positive psychological outcomes by joining a community. Data are collected over three time periods from 107 cabbies in Taipei; the cabbies are all affiliated with the city's largest taxi fleet, which makes use of the Global Positioning System dispatching technology. The study helps build our understanding of the relationship between the sense of belonging to a community and the resulting positive psychological outcomes (i.e., trust on the part of individuals for the management team of the community, job satisfaction, and confidence belief in technology use). In addition, we also investigate the moderating role of technology use. The results show that the sense of belonging to a community has positive effects on trust and job satisfaction. The moderating effects exist that technology moderates the relationship between the sense of belonging to a community and trust, job satisfaction, as well as confident belief in technology use.


A computed tomography (CT) division can be viewed as a business subsidiary of a larger corporation-the radiology department. While a large amount of radiologic literature has been devoted to specific CT techniques and applications, there has been less of a focus on the operational structure required to achieve quality and efficiency in a CT division. This report includes discussion of the managerial structure, equipment purchases, continuing education, protocols, billing, and quality assurance measures that can be used to administer a CT division.


Biological nitrogen fixation is the microbial process by which atmospheric dinitrogen (N 2 ) is reduced to ammonia. In all microbes studied, dinitrogen reduction is catalyzed by a highly conserved enzyme complex, called nitrogenase. The nitrogenase subunits and functions required for nitrogenase assembly and activity are encoded by the nitrogen fixation (nif/fix) genes. Nitrogen-fixing organisms can be roughly divided into two major groups: the free-living nitrogen fixing (diazotrophic) species, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Azotobacter vinelandii and Rhodobacter capsulatus, and symbiotically N 2 fixing organisms, such as Rhizobium species and Bradyrhizobium japonicum. The fate of the ammonia produced by these two distinct groups of nitrogen fixing organisms is quite different. While free-living nitrogen-fixing organisms will assimilate the ammonia produced for their own growth (diazotrophy), the strictly symbiotically nitrogen-fixing organisms (predominantly) excrete the ammonia into the cytoplasm of infected plant cells, to be assimilated by the host. The regulation of nitrogen fixation (nif/fix) gene expression is quite different as well, and has been difficult to compare directly between diazotrophs and strictly symbiotic nitrogen fixing organisms. The discovery of Azorhizobium caulinodans ORS571, a tropical rhizobium capable of both diazotrophy and symbiotic nitrogen fixation in stem- and root nodules induced on its host, the tropical shrub Sesbania rostrata, changed this situation and has allowed a direct comparison of (nif/fix) gene regulation in the diazotrophic versus symbiotic state. This unusual organism was chosen for the research reported in this thesis, which focuses on the expression of the central (nif/fix) regulatory gene nifA , a gene which is essential for diazotrophic growth and symbiotic nitrogen fixation, and which responds to a complex regulatory circuit. In chapter 2 a current review of the regulation of nitrogen fixation genes is presented. The review focuses on the regulation of nifA gene expression and NifA activity in different bacterial species. In chapter 3 the involvement of ntr-mediated control of the nifA promoter via the -24/-12 element is analyzed by site-specific mutagenesis and chimeric nifA - lacZ reporter gene fusions integrated into the A. caulinodans chromosome. The -24/-12 promoter element was shown to be important for nifA gene expression suggesting the involvement of a σ54 (NtrA; RpoN)-type transcription factor in nifA gene regulation. Chapter 4 addresses the involvement of a ntrA(rpoN) -like sigma factor in nifA expression, and reports the cloning and analysis of an A. caulinodans ntrA(rpoN) gene. Although the ntrA(rpoN) gene identified in this study was shown to control the expression of some of the A.caulinodans nif genes (like nifHDK) and nitrate assimilation genes, it did not appear to regulate the expression of nifA , suggesting the presence of an additional ( nifA specific) ntrA ( rpoN )-equivalent gene. To search for trans -acting factors involved in the regulation of the nifA expression, the in vitro interaction of proteins in A. caulinodans crude cell extracts with the nifA regulatory region was studied by gel retardation assays. Chapter 5 presents the binding of (a) sequence-specific protein(s) in extracts of A.caulinodans to the nifA 5' upstream region. However the nature of the protein(s) and the exact location of the binding site in the nifA 5' upstream region remains to be determined. During the preparation of crude cell extracts from A. caulinodans fi xLJ and fixK mutant strains, large amounts of a red/pink, UV fluorescent pigment was observed in the culture medium. Chapter 6 describes the isolation and characterization of this pigment. Chapter 7 describes the isolation and characterization of an leuA -like gene of A.caulinodans which was incidentally identified with an Escherichia coli fnr probe. Comparison of the 5' upstream region of the A. caulinodans leuA gene with the leu operons of other organisms suggest a conserved regulation mechanism for the expression (transcription attenuation), found in many amino acid biosynthetic operons. Finally in chapter 8 the current model for nitrogen fixation gene regulation in A.caulinodans, deduced from the studies presented in this thesis and previous data, is presented.


BACKGROUND
Acute renal failure (ARF) in the setting of end-stage liver disease has a dismal prognosis without liver transplantation. Renal replacement therapy (RRT) is a common bridge to liver transplant despite a paucity of supportive data. We investigated our single-center patient population to determine efficacy of RRT in liver transplant candidates with ARF.

METHODS
We identified 102 liver transplant candidates receiving RRT for ARF between April 30, 1999 and January 31, 2004. Patients that had initiated RRT intra- or postoperatively or received outpatient hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis prior to admission were excluded. Survival to liver transplant, short-term mortality following liver transplant, and selected clinical characteristics were examined.

RESULTS
Of patients who received RRT, 35% survived to liver transplant or discharge. Mortality was 94% in patients not receiving a liver and was associated with a higher Acute Physiological and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II, lower mean arterial pressure, and the use of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). Patients receiving CRRT had greater severity of illness than those on hemodialysis. The 1-year mortality of patients initiating RRT prior to liver transplant was 30% versus 9.7% for all other liver recipients (P < 0.0045).

CONCLUSION
RRT is justifiable for liver transplant candidates with ARF. Though mortality was high, a substantial percentage (31%) of patients survived to liver transplant. Postoperative mortality is increased compared with all other liver transplant recipients, but is acceptable considering the near-universal mortality without transplantation.


This article analyses how biomedicine evaluates the disabled body in determining the inclusion of a person with disabilities in Brazilian social protection system. An empirical research was conducted with 58 people who tried to have access to Continuous Cash Benefit Program (BPC), a social protection policy for impoverished disabled people. In order to have access to BPC, a disabled person undergoes a medical examination by physicians from Social Security National Institute (INSS), in which labor incapacity and the dependency are attested. Based on the cases that had or did not have access to BPC, this article explores the thin line between biomedical knowledge and moral beliefs about the normal and productive body.


In food establishments, cleaning and disinfection programmes contribute to provide the environmental conditions that are necessary for the production of safe and healthy food. Compliance with validated programmes is evaluated through verification activities, in order to establish, through objective evidence, if they are implemented as they were written and if they are effective, achieving continuous improvement of the sanitation programmes. In accordance with the specific guidelines of each country, food companies set up their technical specifications and develop their own cleaning and disinfection programmes. Depending on the analytical method used, one of the main challenges was to establish a reasonable limit of acceptability according to the impact that each surface has on the safety and hygiene of the food that is prepared. This review was focused on the procedures implemented to verify the cleaning and disinfection programmes in food establishments. In particular, this study examines the methodologies used (audits and analytical methods), sites for the collection of samples, acceptance criteria and main findings. The results of the analysed studies constitute a scientific basis for designing or improving sanitation procedures and their verification in food companies, and also provide relevant information for food safety authorities.


The decreased hepatic drug metabolism (predominately first phase) is one of the essential reasons for numerous side effects and for increased drug toxicity during influenza virus infection (IVI). The present study aims to investigate some mechanisms of the preventive effect of a standardized polyphenol complex from the medicinal plant Geranium sanguineum L. (PPhC) (10 mg/kg nasally). A verified experimental model of IVI A/Aichi/2/68 (H3N2) (4.5 lg LD50) in male ICR (Institute of Cancer Research, USA) mice was used. Changes in hepatic monooxygenase activities as well as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-cytochrome C reductase activity and cytochtome P450 content were studied on days 2, 6, 9, 21 of the infection together with thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in the liver supernatant. Our data clearly demonstrates that IVI affects all components of the electronic chain of cytochrome P-450. N-demethylases and hydroxylases as well as the activity of cytochrome C reductase and cytochtome P-450 content were decreased in the course of the virus infection. This implies that free radicals play an important role not only in the pathogenesis of IVI, but also in the modulation of the hepatic monooxygenase activity. This is also consistent with the established polyphenol complex PPhC from the medicinal plant Geranium sanguineum L. preventive effect against increased thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS)-levels. PPhC restored most of the monooxygenase activities that were inhibited in IVI animals, even over the control levels, probably via multiple mechanisms that may entail antioxidant activity and selective antiviral and protein-binding effects. In contrast to infected animals, in healthy mice, PPhC showed moderate reversible inhibitory effect on hepatic monooxygenase activities.


The composite load model is one of the most comprehensive and widely used load models, as it includes and differentiates between static and dynamic load components. The simulation results, in which various load models were used, showed that the use of this model provides a good agreement between the simulated and measured responses. In order to obtain information about the composition of the load for the day ahead, a simple but improved artificial neural network (ANN) was used. It requires forecast active and reactive load data and gives as output the participation of each component of the composite load model. Forecast values of total active and reactive demand were obtained using another ANN which has the same settings as the one for load decomposition, but with different input and target. To show how much the forecast values of active and reactive demand affect the accuracy of the forecasted components of the composite load model, a load decomposition forecast was made for 7 days. The results showed that the forecast values of the total active and reactive demand do not proportionally affect the load decomposition error and depend on the variability of daily consumption and the use of the most recent historical data.


A fast, adaptive, rule based fault diagnostician for distribution networks is described. It uses two distinct types of rules. A fixed set of core rules, expressed in terms of breaker trips and bus status, is applied for all faults and networks. For particular cases in which the core rules fail, exception rules are generated by interaction with operators. These rules make use of suitable features of the faulted system, in particular, of the islands formed in the faulted network. The data used by the rules is topological information and the real time data normally available from a modern SCADA system. Test results using a distribution system protection simulator show that the diagnostician is accurate, and that speed compares very favourably with earlier schemes described.


Wuest's (1998, 2001) caregiving theory was tested with 282 women self-identified as caregivers of family members with dementia to examine how quality of past relationship within caregiving dyads and sense of obligation to care affected their health outcomes and health promotion over 9 months, using latent growth curve analysis. The model explained 62% of the variance in women's health (Time 4). Health was affected positively by past relationship and negatively by obligation. Health promotion was positively affected by health (Time 1) and by obligation. Change observed in health promotion was nonlinear and positively affected health (Time 4). Findings suggest past relationship and obligation to care predict health outcomes for caregivers and that interventions to increase caregivers' health promotion may improve health outcomes.


Starting from the variable separation solution obtained by using the extended homogenous balance method, a class of novel localized coherent structures such as the multi-peakon-antipeakons solution and the multi-compacton-anticompactons solution of the (2 + 1)-dimensional dispersive long wave equation are found by selecting appropriate functions. These new structures exhibit some novel interaction features that are different from one of the known results.Their interaction behaviour is very similar to the completely elastic collisions between two classical particles.


Abstract The usual descriptions of depth perception have traditionally required the simultaneous presentation of disparate views presented to separate eyes with the concomitant demand that the resulting binocular parallax be horizontally aligned. Our work suggests that the visual input information is compared in a short -term memory buffer which permits the brain to compute depth as it is normally perceived. However, the mechanism utilized is also capable of receiving and processing the stereographic information even when it is received monocularly or when identical inputs are simultaneously fed to both eyes . We have also found that the restriction to horizontally displaced images is not a necessary requirement and that improvement in image acceptability is achieved by the use of vertical parallax. Use of these ideas permit the presentation of three -dimensional scenes on flat screens in full color without the encumbrance of glasses or other viewing aids.


Summary
A series of radiocarbon dates from critical levels in a pollen diagram from a site near Scourie, Sutherlandshire, proves the recorded events to be much younger than the trend of the pollen curves would suggest. Evidence of pine forest growing in the area during the late Atlantic and Sub-boreal confirms earlier observations that these forests persisted in north-west Scotland later than in many other parts of the British Isles. The extremely slow rate of accumulation between about 420 cm and 455 cm, 1320 years, implies a break in deposition, but there is no biostratigraphic or lithostratigraphic evidence of this.


A case of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) associated with minimal-change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) is described. A 41-year-old woman with SLE presented with symptoms of nephrotic syndrome. Renal biopsy revealed minor glomerular abnormalities without the deposition of immune complexes. The initial heavy proteinuria promptly decreased after the prednisolone dosage was increased and disappeared 4 weeks later. The patient had a relapse of nephrotic syndrome without exacerbation of immunoserological reactions when the prednisolone dose was subsequently decreased. Remission was achieved 5 days after methylprednisolone pulse therapy. T cell dysfunction, which is present both in SLE and MCNS, might have triggered MCNS during the course of SLE.


Young people experiencing houselessness are at high risk for revictimization. As has been identified in other populations, symptoms of psychological distress may be an indirect pathway by which initial victimization may increase risk for later revictimization among youth experiencing houselessness. The current study used cross-sectional mediation analyses to examine the hypothesis that there would be an indirect effect of interpersonal victimization that occurred before young people left home on subsequent victimization while experiencing houselessness, through posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms. Youth (N = 245) residing in a shelter provided responses during an in-person interview screening prior to participating in a larger clinical study. Relevant to the current study, youth reported victimization experiences before and after leaving home (Childhood Trauma and Juvenile Victimization Questionnaires, respectively), and PTSD and depression symptoms on the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Results replicated and extended previous findings determining high rates of victimization among houseless young people both before (92%) and after (75%) leaving home. Further, exposure to more types of childhood victimization significantly predicted likelihood of experiencing more types of victimization after leaving home. Significant indirect effects of childhood victimization risk on revictimization after leaving home were found, occurring through both PTSD and depression symptoms. Results are discussed in terms of existing theories of revictimization, with particular emphasis on the state-dependence theory of victimization. These findings have implications for intervention with young people experiencing houselessness, particularly with regard to addressing the consequences of childhood victimization and trauma-informed support systems.


Background: Homocysteine (Hcy) is considered to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. No study has evaluated the distribution of Hcy on a large-scale health examination. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate the level and distribution of Hcy in the healthy physical examination population and the correlation with other biomarkers, and analyzed for cardiovascular and other diseases. The prevention provides an important scientific basis.Methods: From February 2017 to April 2020, 8063 medical examination populations were selected for analysis. Determination of serum Hcy, TC, TG, LDL-c, HDL-c, ALT, ALP, γ-GT, TBIL, GLU, urea, Cr, UA and related metabolic risk factors. According to the multivariate regression model of age, gender, smoking, drinking, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), the relationship between Hcy and other biochemical indicators was evaluated. Results: Among 8063 cases, the age, BMI, SBP and DBP of the high-Hcy group were higher than those of the low-Hcy group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05), and the proportion of males, smoking and drinking were higher than the low In the Hcy group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05); the ALT, ALP, γ-GT, TBIL, Urea, Cr, UA, and TG in the high Hcy group were higher than those in the low Hcy group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05 ); HDL-c in the high-Hcy group was lower than that in the low-Hcy group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in TC, LDL-c, and GLU between the high- and low-Hcy groups (P>0.05). In multivariate analysis, lnHDL-C was negatively correlated with lnHcy (β=-0.038, SE=0.016, P<0.05), lnCr was positively correlated with lnHcy (β=0.055, SE=0.016, P<0.05), lnUA and lnHcy were positive correlation (β=0.043, SE=0.019, P<0.05). Conclusion: Hcy is closely related to HDL-c, Cr and UA, which indicates that Hcy may affect the metabolism of HDL-c and UA, and can also be used as an auxiliary diagnostic index for kidney injury.


OBJECTIVES In Japan, so-called "medical examinations for those engaged in specified work" involve the same tests as those in general medical examinations, regardless of the type of work engaged in. The role of these medical examinations and "medical examinations with specified items for those engaged in harmful work operations" is also unclear. Therefore, questions have been raised about the appropriateness of the work covered by this medical examination. However, its legal system is complex and difficult to interpret. This study clarifies the changes in the type of work and their criteria covered by this medical examination. METHODS We investigated laws and regulations, notifications, papers, and publications related to the history of medical examinations for those engaged in specified work. RESULTS In 1947, Article 48 of the former ordinance on industrial safety and health stipulated that those engaged in work involving the handling of harmful substances that require special safety and health management shall undergo so-called "medical examinations for those engaged in specified work." Quantitative criteria for this work were indicated in a notification in 1948 in the form of tentative reference values, and they have not changed significantly since then. As a result, many of the standards used to determine who is subject to medical examinations for those engaged in specified work have exceeded allowable concentrations. CONCLUSION The work covered by medical examinations for those engaged in specified work and its criteria have hardly been modified in approximately 70 years. In view of the changes in social environment and improvement in management methods for harmful work, it is necessary to rearrange the purposes and roles of the medical examinations with specified items for those engaged in harmful work operations and medical examinations for those engaged in specified work and to reconsider the method of the medical examinations for those engaged in specified work.


This descriptive study investigated the use of distance learning programs in schools of nursing. Postcards were mailed to all members of the American Association of College of Nursing, asking them about distance learning at their schools. Seven schools were selected for further interviews. Of the 353 schools (80%) that responded, 135 schools (38%) reported offering off-site courses. Forty-one schools reported plans for future offerings. The schools in this study offered a total of 33 master's and doctoral degrees by distance learning. A variety of media were used by the schools with the most common forms being one- and two-way video. Common themes identified from the interviews included faculty need for comfort, support, additional preparation time, and help developing courses. Student needs included structure, faculty contact, and a sense of belonging. The need for socialization was mentioned by all the informants.


[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Demand for talented and experienced CPAs is high. As CPAs consider their career paths, many aspire to become a CFO in industry. A limited number of these positions are available, and the competition is intense. How can candidates best prepare themselves for the CFO role? Here is what some successful CPAs who have attained the position have to say. SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE CPAs with designs on a CFO position need to distinguish themselves with skills that go far beyond the basic foundation of accounting competencies. The significance of these skills varies based on the company's size and industry, but all of them should be considered in a self-assessment to prepare for a career move. It is important to develop experience in a specialized area or master knowledge of a subject that makes you valuable and helps you stand out from the crowd. Michael Dinkins, CPA, the CFO of Texas-based medical technology manufacturer Greatbatch, said that in choosing a CFO, there are two equally important and necessary parts to the decision--"Can Do" and "Can Fit." "Can Do" covers the required knowledge, experiences, and strengths a candidate must have to meet the needs of the business. "Can Fit" covers the ability to collaborate, build working relationships, and influence others to get things done. BUSINESS AND OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE If you do not understand the business of the company, you cannot be an effective CFO. One of the most important responsibilities for these leaders is to create and implement company strategies and policies and to define the organization's future direction. This requires an entrepreneurial perspective about where the organization is and where it is going. Leaders must be able to provide analysis to change behavior. To do this effectively, you must build a collaborative relationship with operational colleagues. Some CPAs have strong accounting and finance backgrounds but no operational experience. To get it, aspiring CPAs can volunteer for projects outside of finance, take lateral positions in different areas, and seek out and visit others who work in operational areas such as manufacturing and sales. CPAs can broaden their perspectives by asking questions, even if it is uncomfortable; reading contracts from a business perspective; and attending and participating in meetings. "If you stay in a staff position working with other finance people, that's a very difficult way to get to a CFO seat," Dinkins said. "You have to get into the operating positions ... and hopefully at a divisional or plant level be responsible for a P&L or portion of one, and show that you have successfully worked with people in that operational environment." Valuable relationships also can be developed by educating other, departments on how their performance and results become part of the organization's overall financial results. PEOPLE SKILLS AND NEGOTIATION Effectiveness in leadership roles requires being open with other employees. A positive attitude and enthusiasm are essential. Having an executive presence is critical, as you will be dealing with customers and shareholders, bankers and lawyers, partners, and boards of directors. But while it's important to be able to speak the language of the boardroom, you must also be able to alter your behavior and learn different ways to communicate with all levels of an organization, and to build relationships with people with different levels of education and experience. Jenine Dalrymple, CPA, CGMA, the CFO at Tucson, Ariz.-based mining contractor Southwest Energy LLC, learned about the business by leaving her office and traveling to the locations where the company's miners were working. Her background and education were very different from theirs, but she gained their trust by showing a personal interest in what they did and by asking them questions. …


The colonization of biodegradable polymer scaffolds with cell populations has been established as the foundation for the engineering of a number of tissues, including cartilage, liver, and bone. Within these scaffolds, the cells encounter a porous environment in which they must migrate across the convoluted polymer surface to generate a homogenous cell distribution. Predicting the interactions between cells and pores is important if scaffold characteristics are to be optimized. Therefore, we investigated the behavior of two model cell types over a range of defined pore features. These pore features range from 5 to 90 microm in diameter and have been fabricated by photolithographic techniques. Quantitatively, the behavior of the cells is dependent on three factors: 1) percentage cell coverage of the surface; 2) pore size; and 3) cell type. Fibroblast cells displayed a co-operative pattern of cell spreading in which pores with diameters greater than the cell dimensions were bridged by groups of cells using their neighbors as supports. Endothelial cells were unable to use neighbors as support structures and failed to bridge pores greater than the cell diameter.


: Kinetic aspects of reactions in homogeneous multienzyme systems under nonsteady state conditions were investigated. An analysis of formal-kinetic relationships, describing the time course of system was conducted with a bienzyme system. Presteady state kinetics of processes in lineal multienzyme systems was investigated. Relax-kinetics methods were applied for the analysis of processes in lineal sequences. Methods of determination of number of stages initial substrate transformations and of number of enzymes were developed as well as methods for the analysis of sequences of intermediates in reaction pathway. Methods of determination of Vmax and Kmax for each individual enzyme are considered.


Biological activity of the soil is an indicator characterizing the number of organisms living in the soil, and quantitatively evaluating the results of their vital activity. High biological activity is a factor in increasing soil fertility and its phytosanitary state, achieved by creating optimal living conditions for soil microorganisms: providing nutrients, especially organic matter, moisture, heat and soil aeration. In this paper, we assess the effect of hydrogels of different chemical bases on the microbiological activity of sod-podzolic sandy loam soil. The effect of hydrogels on the microbiological activity of sod-podzolic soil was studied in a microfield experiment in a special installation ("dry place") under conditions of soil drought and field conditions (Menkovsky branch of the FSBIU API, Gatchinsky district, Leningrad region). The experience was laid with two types of hydrogels (potassium and sodium base) with a single dose (40 g/m2). In the experiment, the indicators of soil biological activity were compared in the following variants: soil - control with the addition of 90 kg ha-1 NPK in the form of an azofoska, hydrogel introduced to a depth of 10–12 cm + N90 P90 K90, hydrogel introduced to a depth of 20–22 cm + N90P90K90. Samples of sod-podzolic sandy loam soil were taken from depths (10–12 cm and 20–22 cm) at the beginning and at the end of the growing season. In the course of the studies, it was found that when the hydrogel is introduced, both in the upper root-inhabited soil layer and in the 20–22 cm layer, favorable conditions are created for the microbiological activity of sod-podzolic sandy loam soil. It has been established that the chemical basis of the hydrogel does not inhibit the activity of the microbial community.


The Study was done to find out the perception and impact of Anti-Sheesha Smoking Messages. Sheesha Smoking is very prevalent in the young generation and is alarmingly causing hazards and prevalence of Cancers in young age. And unfortunately it is considered as fun practice inspite of knowing its health hazards especially among youngsters. This study was done to find out the way to do Anti-Sheesha Campaign and see the impact of best methods i.e. written messages, videos and pictures. Three undergraduate universities were visited and students were shown multimedia messages including pictures, videos and written messages and its perception and impact was seen via questionnaires.


We present a high efficiency terahertz (THz) 90°-bend electromagnetic crystal (EMXT) waveguide using Si-based microelectromechanical systems technology. The 2-D EMXT consists of a periodical array of square-shaped gold rods (13 × 13 cells) deposited on a silicon substrate, and a 200-nm gold layer is further sputter-coated on the gold rod array. The dimension of each rod is 48 × 48 × 241 μm3, and the total size of the EMXT is 1756 × 1756 ×787 μm3. The 90°-bend waveguide is fabricated by removing three rows of rods from the EMXT. Through rigorous numerical simulation, it is found that transmittance higher than 90% are found in the whole range from 0.365 to 0.578 THz. The bending performance of the waveguide is further experimentally measured, where transmittance as high as 91.2% is observed at 0.5 THz. The proposed 90°-bend EMXT waveguide can be widely used for applications in THz circuit integrations and THz communications.


High-squint angle synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging has applications in specific situations such as providing looking angle-dependent scattering information and revisiting an area of interest. It is very difficult for current SAR-imaging algorithms to be used directly in high-squint configurations. This is due to the large range-cell migration and the nonnegligible cubic-phase term in the signal. In this paper, an improved algorithm called the time-varying step-transform algorithm is proposed. It uses different chirp rates to deramp the signal in different subapertures to alleviate the range-focus problem. The interval between subapertures is also varied according to the deramping chirp rate. The nonnegligible cubic-phase term is included in the focusing procedure. The performance of the proposed algorithm in high-squint-angle mode is excellent. By reducing the subaperture length as the squint angle is increased, the performance of the algorithm is almost independent of squint angle. The proposed algorithm is also flexible for multilook processing and motion-error compensation.


The purpose of this study is to conduct a discussion on facilities and amenities of luxury tourism. It is a qualitative study exploring the opinions of travelers on luxury tourism. The study participants consist of 48 respondents who are members of 7 different Facebook travel groups. Data collection was carried out by posting a topic of discussion on luxury travels to the Facebook groups. The results indicate that the conventional way of understanding luxury tourism is highlighted by top class facilities and amenities. These include 5 star and above standard of accommodation, chartered flight, private jet and yacht, butler and limousine service, and spectacular structures. However, contemporarily, luxurious travel is defined more broadly, it does not always connote, e.g. marble bath tub with gold plated tap, it could mean anything comfortable or ease. Luxurious facilities and amenities in tourism are defined differently by different market segments either first, middle or lower class. Thus, there is always a luxurious element for any travel regardless of its class, e.g. a private toilet in the Himalaya is considered as a luxury; there is a luxury for shoestring travelers. It is expected that the analysis could widen the perspective and enrich the discussion on luxury tourism.


The purpose of this paper is to empirically determine the effects of political instability on economic growth. By using the system-GMM estimator for linear dynamic panel data models on a sample covering up to 169 countries, and 5-year periods from 1960 to 2004, we find that higher degrees of political instability are associated with lower growth rates of GDP per capita. Regarding the channels of transmission, we find that political instability adversely affects growth by lowering the rates of productivity growth and, to a smaller degree, physical and human capital accumulation. Finally, economic freedom and ethnic homogeneity are beneficial to growth, while democracy may have a small negative effect.


Earl D. Smith, Grace Construction Products, W.R. Grace & Co., North and Latin America, discusses ways to address the cement shortage using Quality Improver technology.


The ability to generate high-fidelity synthetic data is crucial when available (real) data is limited or where privacy and data protection standards allow only for limited use of the given data, e.g., in medical and financial data-sets. Current state-of-the-art methods for synthetic data generation are based on generative models, such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). Even though GANs have achieved remarkable results in synthetic data generation, they are often challenging to interpret.Furthermore, GAN-based methods can suffer when used with mixed real and categorical variables.Moreover, loss function (discriminator loss) design itself is problem specific, i.e., the generative model may not be useful for tasks it was not explicitly trained for. In this paper, we propose to use a probabilistic model as a synthetic data generator. Learning the probabilistic model for the data is equivalent to estimating the density of the data. Based on the copula theory, we divide the density estimation task into two parts, i.e., estimating univariate marginals and estimating the multivariate copula density over the univariate marginals. We use normalising flows to learn both the copula density and univariate marginals. We benchmark our method on both simulated and real data-sets in terms of density estimation as well as the ability to generate high-fidelity synthetic data


Long terminal-repeat retrotransposons (LTR-RTs) are prevalent in plant genomes. Identification of LTR-RTs is critical for achieving high-quality gene annotation. Based on the well-conserved structure, multiple programs were developed for de novo identification of LTR-RTs; however, these programs are associated with low specificity and high false discovery rate (FDR). Here we report LTR_retriever, a multithreading empowered Perl program that identifies LTR-RTs and generates high-quality LTR libraries from genomic sequences. LTR_retriever demonstrated significant improvements by achieving high levels of sensitivity (91.8%), specificity (94.7%), accuracy (94.3%), and precision (90.6%) in model plants. LTR_retriever is also compatible with long sequencing reads. With 40k self-corrected PacBio reads equivalent to 4.5X genome coverage in Arabidopsis, the constructed LTR library showed excellent sensitivity and specificity. In addition to canonical LTR-RTs with 5'-TG..CA-3' termini, LTR_retriever also identifies non-canonical LTR-RTs (non-TGCA), which have been largely ignored in genome-wide studies. We identified seven types of non-canonical LTRs from 42 out of 50 plant genomes. The majority of non-canonical LTRs are Copia elements, with which the LTR is four times shorter than that of other Copia elements, which may be a result of their target specificity. Strikingly, non-TGCA Copia elements are often located in genic regions and preferentially insert nearby or within genes, indicating their impact on the evolution of genes and potential as mutagenesis tools.


There is no doubt that Nigeria needs to engage more in alternative off grid energy sources to improve its power supply. Although several countries have for decades successfully operated nuclear power plants, the adoption of nuclear power plants in Nigeria remain contentious mostly because of the real risks associated with disposal of its waste products and accidents. Nuclear technology has however advanced greatly, reducing these risks even in developing countries. This paper therefore examines the law and policy for operating nuclear power projects in Nigeria to determine the adequacy or otherwise of same and to make proposals to ensure that the foundation for implementing and adopting this technology is gotten right. The basic principles of nuclear law are also identified and highlighted for inclusion in the Nigerian legal framework. It is hoped that this paper will create awareness as regards nuclear power generation, as well as address the concerns that the adoption of nuclear power generation can throw up in a developing economy such as Nigeria.


We report on similar pathological bone microstructure in an extant turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) and a nonavian dinosaur from Transylvania. Both these individuals exhibit distinctive periosteal reactive bone deposition accompanied by endosteal bone deposits in the medullary cavity. Our findings have direct implications on the two novel bone tissues recently described among nonavian dinosaurs, radial fibrolamellar bone tissue and medullary bone tissue. On the basis of the observed morphology of the periosteal reactive bone in the turkey vulture and the Transylvanian dinosaur, we propose that the radial fibrolamellar bone tissues observed in mature dinosaurs may have had a pathological origin. Our analysis also shows that on the basis of origin, location, and morphology, pathologically derived endosteal bone tissue can be similar to medullary bone tissues described in nonavian dinosaurs. As such, we caution the interpretation of all endosteally derived bone tissue as homologous to avian medullary bone. Anat Rec, 292:1478–1484, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This review will present a new concept on the etiology of the development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Conventionally, two known etiological factors for the development of BPH have been aging and the presence of functional testes. Assignment of these two factors, although reasonable, has not been conducive to aid the research community to identify and isolate the patho‐physiological agents that are directly responsible for the development of this disease. In the present review, we proposed a broadened concept of intrinsic and extrinsic factors for BPH. This concept offers identifiable research opportunities that will facilitate our quest in search for etiological agents for BPH. A brief description of various intrinsic and extrinsic factors and justifications for their selection will be discussed. Prostate 31:131–138, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Passive mode locking of a Nd:KGW laser with hot-band diode pumping at 910 nm was demonstrated. A semiconductor saturable absorber mirror was used as a mode locking mechanism. The laser generated 2.4 ps pulses at a repetition rate of ~83.8 MHz. An average output power of 87 mW was obtained at 1067 nm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on passive mode locking of a Nd:KGW laser with low quantum defect pumping which holds great promise for further output power scaling.


INTRODUCTION: Antiphospholipid (aPL) antibody mediated interference with the anticoagulant effect of annexin A5 (A5) - designated "annexin A5 resistance" (A5R) - has been implicated in adverse clinical outcomes. In this study, we ask whether A5R is associated with anamnestic thrombotic complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes in patients with the lupus anticoagulant (LA). PATIENTS & METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study including 143 patients (median age: 40.5 years, interquartile range (IQR): 31.8-60.0; female: n=119) who tested persistently positive for LA according to ISTH criteria (Miyakis et al. J Thromb Haemost 2006; 4: 295). Thrombotic complications were defined as a composite of arterial and/or venous thromboembolic events. Pregnancy complications were defined according to the modified Sapporo criteria. Out of the 143 patients, 94 (65.7%) had a history of a thrombembolic event (arterial: n=21, venous: n=80, both: n=7). Ninety-three women had at least one pregnancy, and 40 (43.0%) out of these women had at least one pregnancy complication as defined by the above mentioned criteria. It is important to mention that on average, these pregnancy complications had occurred more than ten years before study inclusion. A5R assays were done using phospholipid that was first exposed to patient plasmas as previously described; A5R results were expressed as the ratio of coagulation times with and without annexin A5. In a subsample (n=109), a blinded external validation using two separate measurements of the A5R was performed. RESULTS: In blinded analysis, the concordance between the two A5R measurements was very high (Liu9s concordance correlation coefficient=0.83, average difference=12.2 units (95% limits of agreement from Bland-Altman analysis: -37.0 - 61.3). The A5R was inversely correlated with levels of antibodies against cardiolipin (Spearman9s rho for IgG and IgM: -0.65 and -0.24, respectively), and against beta2-glycoprotein I (Spearman9s rho for IgG and IgM: -0.57 and -0.28). The median A5R level was 205 units (IQR: 205-250, range: 130-336). Patients with a prior history of a thrombotic complications had significantly lower median levels of A5R (193.1 vs. 238.7 units, mean difference: 26.7 units (95% CI: 11.0-42.4), p=0.001). This difference was independent of both IgG and IgM isotype antibody levels against cardiolipin and beta2-glycoprotein I (adjusted mean difference: 20.7 units (95% CI: 6.4-35.0), p=0.005), and of whether patients were on anticoagulation or not (adjusted mean difference: 24.8 units (95% CI: 4.3 - 45.2), p=0.018). In the 95 women with at least one pregnancy, average A5R were lower in women with (n=40) compared to those without (n=53) at least one pregnancy complication (median: 200.9 vs. 231.9 units), however, this difference was not statistically significant (t-test p=0.255). CONCLUSION: A5R is associated with a history of thromboembolic complications in LA positive patients, suggesting that the ex vivo measurement of the A5R may reflect a prothrombotic phenotype in this patient population. Interestingly, we found no clear association between the A5R and anamnestic pregnancy complications was observed, however, the generalizability of this finding is hampered by the long time interval between anamnestic pregnancy complications and inclusion in this study. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


INTRODUCTION
Although rare, the malignant degeneration of epidermoid cysts is well documented. Its occurrence with leptomeningeal dissemination and malignant cells in CSF is scarce. To the best of our knowledge only four cases have been reported.

CASE REPORT
The authors report the case of malignant transformation of an epidermoid cyst with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (which simulates aseptic meningitis) in a 54 year-old woman. Changes in CSF and radiological features are not correlated with the clinical course. Despite improvement of both the lesions on the scan images and the malignant cells in the CSF under chemotherapy the patient died.

CONCLUSION
The differential diagnosis of malignant degeneration of epidermoid cyst, and leptomeningeal carcinomatosis are discussed. The diagnosis of malignant transformation should be retained when MRI (or CT scan) shows contrast enhancement at the epidermoid site, and malignant cells are detected in CSF The prognosis is generally poor.


It has been found that the colony size of bacteria grown on agar plate decreases with increasing agar gel concentration. Evidences from recent studies suggest that the bacterial colony dynamics is closely related with the mechanical properties of the substrate. We investigate whether bacterial growth on the agar substrate is controlled mostly by nutrients diffusion which is hindered more in porous medium than in solution. The number of bacterial cells in single colonies is found to be inversely correlated with agar concentration. High-resolution live cell imaging at the single bacterium level confirms that the bacterial growth rate is reduced with increasing agar concentration. There is a strong correlation between the slowed diffusion and the reduced number of cells in a high concentration of agar medium.


Microwave response near zero magnetic field was observed in YAIO 3 and CaYAIO 4 crystals dilutely doped with Mn in concentration ranging from 0.05 to 2 atomic %. The response is due to non-resonant microwave absorption, which co-exists with normal electron paramainetic resonance (EPR) absorption due to different paramagnetic valence states of manganese. Mn + and Mrn charge states were identified in Mn-doped YA10 3, and Mn +, W+ and MnW+ in Mndoped CaYAlO4, The low field response has the opposite phase with respect to the paramagnetic absorption. This shows that Mn-doped YAIO 3 and CaYAIO4 exhibit magnetically induced microwave absorption, which has a minimum at zero magnetic field and increases with the applied magnetic field. This effect is similar to microwave magneto-resistance effects observed in manganite perovskites, where spin-dependent electron tunneling occurs between ferromagnetically coupled manganese ions in different valence states. We show, however, that in the present case of diluted paramagnetic systems, magneto-induced microwave losses are due to intramolecular spin-dependent tunneling, where central paramagnetic ion does not change its charge state and spin-dependent charge migration occurs in the first coordination sphere of 2+ paramagnetic ion. Evidences are presented that this ion is Mn exhibiting the highest electron spin S = 5/2.


Abstract The identification and recovery of endangered species is difficult because of their rarity, the continuing threats to their survival, and inadequate funding for research and conservation. There have been some success stories, but also a number of failures. Have biologists learned from our failures, or are we repeating the same mistakes? While habitat availability and cost are important limitations to species recovery, other, more easily addressed issues also hamper recovery programs. The Wyoming toad (Bufo baxteri) is an endangered species whose recovery has been stalled by problems that are common to species recovery efforts, especially for animals without significant "charisma." I summarize the research undertaken on the Wyoming toad since its listing, highlight the difficulties in building a scientifically based recovery program, and identify some of the unmet challenges impeding recovery. Although specific to the Wyoming toad, these recommendations are relevant to recovery programs facing similar issues.


For the prognosis of the relatively rare bone tumours the time of neglect has an essential importance. At every suspicion of a bone tumour a systematic diagnostics which is directed to the clarification of the malignity should be carried out. The anamnesis often contains references which particularly allow an early recognition of the disease. Only the synopsis of anamnestic, clinical and paraclinical, radiological and bioptical findings ascertains the correct diagnosis. The modern diagnostic methods are discussed concerning their differential-diagnostic valency and range of indications. The close collaboration between peripheral and central institutions on the one hand and between surgeons, radiologists and pathologists on the other is necessary to make a certain diagnosis of the bone tumour in shortest time. A national and central register of cases of bone tumours would be recommendable.


Pesticide dissipation on foods like vegetables, fruits, and cereals is one of the most concerning aspects in pesticide toxicology as it involves risks to human health and food safety. In light if this, a laboratory-scale study was conducted for two separate systems, green onions (Allium fistulosum) and mustard greens (Brassica juncea),in order to identify the dissipation of fipronil and cypermethrin, two commonly used insecticides, under a tropical climate. After the pesticide application, vegetable samples from these microcosms were collected each day for 7 days to measure fipronil and cypermethrin (n=3) residues. The analytical method was validated and showed repeatability and trueness. The decay equations fit well to first-order kinetics with a correlation coefficient of R2>0.93 and p<0.0005. The calculated half-life values of fipronil were 2.9 d for green onions and 3.2 d for mustard greens while those of cypermethrin were, respectively, 4.5 d and 3.2 d. To meet the maximum residue levels (MRL) of fipronil (0.02 mg/kg) and cypermethrin (0.7 mg/kg) on vegetables, the estimated pre-harvest intervals should be updated to 23 d and 7.5 d, respectively.


A variety of ocular diseases are caused by viruses, and most treatments rely on the use of systemic formulations and eye drops. The efficient ocular barriers that oppose antiviral drug penetration have prompted the development of improved topical delivery platforms. The aim was to design hydrogel contact lenses endowed with an affinity for acyclovir (ACV) and its prodrug valacyclovir (VACV), first-choice drugs against herpes simplex virus (HSV) ocular keratitis, and that can sustain the release of therapeutic doses during daily wearing. Functional monomers suitable for interaction with these drugs were screened using computational modeling. Imprinted and non-imprinted hydrogels were prepared with various contents in the functional monomer methacrylic acid (MAA) and characterized in terms of swelling, transmittance, mechanical properties, and ocular compatibility (hen's egg test on chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM) assay). The values were in the range typical of soft contact lenses. Compared to ACV, the capability to load VACV was remarkably higher due to stronger electrostatic interactions with MAA. The advantages of the imprinting technology were evidenced for VACV. Stability of VACV loading solution/hydrogels under steam heat sterilization and subsequent drug release was investigated. Permeability studies through bovine and porcine cornea and sclera of the drug released from the hydrogels revealed that VACV accumulates in the cornea and can easily cross the sclera, which may facilitate the treatment of both anterior and posterior eye segments diseases.


Most surgeons use metal clips in laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The aim of this prospective randomized controlled study was to evaluate the efficacy of absorbable clips in elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. One hundred consecutive patients with symptomatic gallstones without complications were randomized into groups; group T had two metal clips (titan clip ETHICONR), group R (laproclipR Davis and Geck) had one absorbable clip applied on the cystic duct and cystic artery. The patients were followed for one year. There was no difference between the two groups concerning operative time, hospital stay and postoperative complications. The absorbable clips seem to be as effective as metal clips in providing hemostasis in cystic artery and in cystic duct ligation.


NASA has announced that our next destination in the solar system is the unique, richly organic world Titan. Advancing our search for the building blocks of life, the Dragonfly mission will fly multiple sorties to sample and examine sites around Saturn's icy moon.


I report on two programs, "gTybalt" and "nestedsums", which were originally developed for the calculation of quantum loop corrections in particle physics. However, these programs solve tasks, which are not specific to particle physics. The first one, "gTybalt", is a free computer algebra system based entirely on open-source code. The program is build on top of other packages. It offers the possibility of interactive symbolic calculations within the C++ programming language. Mathematical formulae are visualized using TeX fonts. The second package, "nestedsums", is a program library containing algorithms which allow the expansion of higher transcendental functions. These algorithms were developed by ourselves and used to solve otherwise unknown loop integrals. Applications of these algorithms extend to other branches of science, for example to number theory in mathematics.


A 14-year-old boy with past history of seizure disorder was referred to us, for jaundice and encephalopathy in March 1993. In January 1993 he was put on valproate (600 mg/day) and phenobarbitone (60 mg/ day) following a second episode of right focal seizure with secondary generalization. There was no recurrence of seizures while he was on this therapy for the next 10 weeks. In March he developed moderate grade fever and vomiting. Two days later he developed altered sensorium and lapsed into coma. Jaundice was also noted at this stage and he was shifted to this hospital. Both anticonvulsants were stopped after the onset of jaundice. Examination revealed him to be deeply comatose. Vital signs were normal except for tachycardia (120/min). Icterus was present; stigmata of chronic liver disease were absent. Liver span was 12 cm. There was no splenomegaly or free fluid in the abdomen. Pupillary size was 4 mm bilaterally, oculocephalic reflexes were elicitable. All deep tendon reflexes were exaggerated. Planters showed bilateral extensor response.


To considerfiner biochemicalchanges,studiesof the cell enzymesare of first importance. Such work as has been done on this shows considerablevariations. Most of the work so far has been done on blood, but the few tissues which have been examinedshow variations sometimesof from tenfold to fifty-fold. These differences must be associatedwith marked differences in cell metabolism. Endocrine concentrationsin blood and urine show great variations. Most work has been done on the thyroid hormoneand sex hormones. Every individual producesand excretesin the urine both androgensand <estrogens,and examinationof urine shows very large variations in the relative proportions of the two. The excretion of substancesin the urine, besidesbeing affected by changesin food intake, also shows variations which cannot be associated with intake. These must demonstratedifferences in metabolism. Pharmacological manifestations are of particular interest. Thereare largevariationsin the effect drugs have on different persons; they may be wholly favourable in some, highly unfavourablein others. These must'be associatedwith variable cell activities.


The low of customer satisfaction gives an impact, both for the consumers and producers. For the consumer, the low of customer satisfaction led to customers being disappointed and select the products or services offered by the competitors. As for the producers, the low of customer satisfaction affects the volume of sales. The number of ISP Mobile Telkomsel Flash customers, especially in the city of Semarang seen from data on the number of customers has fluctuated. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of service quality and price to customer satisfaction Telkomsel Flash. This type of research is explanatory research. Samples were set at 97 respondents who are students of undergraduate programme FISIP UNDIP using snowball sampling technique. The techniques of data analysis using validity test, reliability test, crosstab analysis, correlation coefficient, multiple correlation coefficient, determination coefficient, simple linear regression analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, significance test (t-test), and a simultaneous test (F-test) were processed using SPSS programme 20th version. Based on the analysis, the quality of service and price has an influence on customer satisfaction, either partially or simultaneously. The variable of price provide a greater influence on customer satisfaction amounted to 65,2% of the variable quality of service amounted to 41,3%. Suggestions for PT. Telkomsel Regional Central Java and Yogyakarta as a service provider Telkomsel Flash is to improve the quality of services provided, particularly in terms of the distribution of quotas are balanced, both national quotas and quota based zone region when doing activation and policies to raise the price, expected according to the purchasing power of customers and services rendered so as to provide more value for customers.


Background For patients of Takayasu arteritis with severe renal artery stenosis, the graft restenosis rate after interventional therapy is 77.3%, thus aorto-renal artery bypass would be the main treatment for this type of patients and can decrease the restenosis rate. Methods From Mar 1993 to Dec 2017, 31 cases of pediatric/adolescent Takayasu arteritis patients with severe renal artery stenosis were admitted to our center. All patients were diagnosed by the American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for the classification of Takayasu arteritis. All patients underwent aorto-renal artery bypass. The location and degree of renal artery stenosis were evaluated by preoperative total aortic enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan, and the potential position of renal artery trunk or renal artery branches for graft anastomosis was also selected by analysis of CT. Saphenous vein graft (SVG) or Gore PROPATEN Vascular Graft was used for the bypass. The procedure of surgery was as follows: using median incision or lumbar incision to expose the abdominal aorta and renal artery trunk and its branches; using 8-cm SVG or Gore PROPATEN Vascular Graft as the graft for bypass; the distal was anastomosed to abdominal aorta end-to-side, the proximal was anastomosed to renal artery trunk or branch side-to-side. All patients were treated with glucocorticoid for 3 months postoperatively, and were regularly followed up by vascular ultrasonography and aortic enhanced CT scan. Results In this study there were 24 female and 7 male patients. The patients' age was 8–18 years. The follow-up time was 3–300 months. The average blood pressure was (175±26)/(100±19) mmHg before operation, and decreased to (139±15)/(85±13) mmHg after operation. SVG graft was used in 26 patients and Gore PROPATEN Vascular Graft in five patients. In SVG graft group, the graft restenosis occurred in seven patients in 1 year after surgery, and aneurysmal degeneration occurred in three patients (incidence of 10%) in 5–7 years postoperatively and was treated with endovascular exclusion; while in Gore PROPATEN Vascular Graft group there was such complications. Conclusions Aorto-renal artery bypass is an effective treatment for Takayasu arteritis patients with severe stenosis of renal artery trunk, but using SVG graft for the bypass has a high risk of late aneurysmal degeneration of the graft. In pediatric/adolescent patients of Takayasu arteritis, the requirement for the future growth and the long-term control of disease should be considered, thus these patients could benefit more from the use of Gore PROPATEN Vascular Graft in aorto-renal artery bypass, by reducing the incidence of aneurysmal degeneration while guaranteeing the patency of the bypass graft.


Aim. This article presents a model of how gaming involvement and informal learning come together in practice. Method. Based on a series of interviews, case studies, and a wider survey, the Gaming Involvement and Informal Learning (GIIL) framework indicates how involvement with a variety of gaming practices can lead to a range of different learning experiences. Results. The framework is able to account for both how and what people learn from gaming while also highlighting the influence of player identity. Further, the iterative relationship between identity, involvement, and learning is emphasized: The more strongly someone identifies themselves as a gamer, the greater their micro- and macro-level involvement and the more likely they are to learn from their gaming experiences. Conclusion. The implications of the findings are discussed with regard to informal and formal learning.


Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) represents a chronic relapsing–remitting condition affecting the gastrointestinal system. The specific triggering IBD elements remain unknown: genetic variability, environmental factors, and alterations in the host immune system seem to be involved. An unbalanced diet and subsequent gut dysbiosis are risk factors, too. This review focuses on the description of the impact of pro- and anti-inflammatory food components on IBD, the role of different selected regimes (such as Crohn's Disease Exclusion Diet, Immunoglobulin Exclusion Diet, Specific Carbohydrate Diet, LOFFLEX Diet, Low FODMAPs Diet, Mediterranean Diet) in the IBD management, and their effects on the gut microbiota (GM) composition and balance. The purpose is to investigate the potential positive action on IBD inflammation, which is associated with the exclusion or addition of certain foods or nutrients, to more consciously customize the nutritional intervention, taking also into account GM fluctuations during both disease flare-up and remission.


To artist-writer-naturalist Hannah Hinchman, the blank pages of a journal are a call to awaken the soul, to celebrate being alive in the world, to get to know both the wilderness of our inmost selves and the "unpredictable and potent" natural world. In the richly illustrated pages of this book, she unfolds a myriad of wonders - the pattern of a bee abdomen, varieties of ice forms and sky colors, the joys of a garden - and shows us how to capture them on the page. Hinchman's respect for the miracle of our five senses, and her passion for what they can tell us about the world, is contagious. "Start with a smell, like a crushed marigold leaf, the sea, coal smoke," she advises, and from such raw materials begin to "decant the stuff of life" into journal form, "where it remains fresh, still tasting of its source." Even for one who has no intention of journal-keeping, to delve into Hinchman's own work is to see with new eyes. A Trail Through Leaves is a true gift and inspiration, a treasure-box of ways to write, draw, and be alive to the world. * "This is an important book, brilliantly produced. Its light will linger a long, long time." - John R. Stilgoe, professor in the history of landscape, Harvard University * "[B]oth a rich work of performance art and a personal growth tool with many handles." - Boston Globe


The dinuclear complex [{Ru(phen)2}2(μ-HAT)]4+ (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, HAT = 1,4,5,8,9,12-hexaazatriphenylene), can exist in three different stereoisomeric forms: the meso (ΔΛ) and rac diastereoisomers, the latter of which has two enantiomeric forms, namely ΔΔ and ΛΛ. Each of the stereoisomers was studied in the presence of the mononucleotides guanosine 59-monophosphate (GMP) and adenosine 59-monophosphate (AMP), and deoxyguanosine (dG) at pH = 7 and 9. Absorption studies revealed the formation of ion pairs or aggregates between the complexes and the mononucleotides (GMP and AMP) and dG. The equilibrium constants for the formation of these species were higher for the meso form than for the ΔΔ and ΛΛ enantiomers. Laser flash photolysis indicated the existence of a stereoselective photo-induced electron-transfer between the guanine of GMP and the stereoisomers. Luminescence data with the purine mononucleotides also indicated the existence of an equilibrium between the free excited complex and a luminescent ion pair or an emitting aggregate between the complex and the mononucleotide. The luminescence of these species depended on the pH and on the identity of the stereoisomer. The investigated spectroscopic behaviour of the complex stereoisomers in the presence of denatured CT-DNA was also isomer-dependent, in agreement with the conclusions drawn from the data with the mononucleotides. The results of this work clearly indicate stereoselectivity of the interaction with the purine mononucleotides and denatured CT-DNA in the ground and excited state of the complex, in favour of the meso form in both cases.


Fryns and his colleagues described two children with a remarkably similar phenotype, and suggested their condition was due to a partial or total deletion of the long arm of chromosome 16 distal to band q21. We report the same phenotype in a boy whose blood karyotype was normal.


The aim of the present study was to develop and test the psychometric properties of the Attitudes, Subjective Norms, Perceived Behavioural Control, and Intention to Pursue a Career in Mental Health Nursing (ASPIRE) scale, an instrument to assess nursing students' intention to work in mental health nursing. Understanding the factors influencing undergraduate nursing students' career intentions might lead to improved recruitment strategies. However, there are no standardized tools to measure and assess students' intention to pursue a career in mental health nursing. The present study used a cross-sectional survey design undertaken at a large tertiary institution in Western Sydney (Australia) between May and August 2013. It comprised three distinct and sequential phases: (i) items were generated representing the four dimensions of the theory of planned behaviour; (ii) face and content validity were tested by a representative reference group and panel of experts; and (iii) survey data from 1109 first- and second-year and 619 third-year students were used in exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to test the factorial validity of the scale. Internal consistency was measured using Cronbach's alpha. Items generated for the ASPIRE scale were subject to face and content validity testing. Results showed good factorial validity and reliability for the final 14-item scale. Principal axis factoring revealed a one-factor solution, the hypothesized model being supported by confirmatory factor analysis. The ASPIRE scale is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring intention to pursue a career in mental health nursing among Bachelor of Nursing students.


The objective of genetic screening is informed choice. The UK Confidential Enquiry into Genetic Counselling by Non-Geneticists (CEGEN) aims to assess the attainment of this objective at the community level. Antenatal screening for thalassaemias and sickle cell disorders has long been standard practice in the UK. National registers of patients and of prenatal diagnoses identify all known conceptions with a fetus with thalassaemia major, and their outcomes. CEGEN viewed the obstetric records of women with an affected pregnancy in 1990–1994: risk had been detected in only half the cases. Hence nationally only half the couples at risk for thalassaemia have access to an informed choice. Most uninformed couples were British Pakistanis: the records revealed that screening had a low priority because of an assumption that they would decline genetic abortion for religious reasons. CEGEN showed that in fact over 70% of British Pakistanis request prenatal diagnosis, providing it is offered in the first trimester. This work demonstrates the power of a confidential enquiry based on genetic diagnosis registers for both assessing the delivery of screening, and eliciting the preferences of the population. The results offer an appropriate guide to acceptable service development.


Encapsulated larvae of Trichinella spiralis were found in wild-trapped, Microtus pennsylvanicus and Sigmodon hispidus. In addition, Peromyscus leucopus and Mus musculus again were found infected. These mammals were trapped from a farm site in Henrico County, Virginia, remote from known potential sources of trichinosis. The possible zoonotic relationship between wild rodent trichinosis and swine trichinosis is discussed.


I plan to summarize the discussion of my three eminent colleagues along the following framework (incorporating the Islamic perspective): (i) What is the root cause of the current subprime crisis? (ii) What is the impact of the crisis on the global economy? and (iii) What lessons do we derive from the ongoing crisis to restructure the Islamic financial architecture and to improve the economic status of the underprivileged? All three colleagues discuss issues (i) and (iii). Dr. Chapra is the only exception shedding some light on issue (ii). My perspective is slightly different from all three, as I have been trained as a theorist in financial economics especially focusing on the twin issues of asset pricing and financial contracting. I will therefore emphasize on the areas of my expertise and not comment on issues relating specifically to monetary economics, where I have no exposure. Likewise, I will not comment on the issue of bayc al-dayn (sale of debt), which is highly debatable and needs to be re-analyzed in the light of the Qur'OEn, Sunnah and modern financial economics. JEL classification: Z12, G10, K00 Key words: Islamic economics, Islamic banking, Maqasid al-Shariah.


Appropriate and simple analysis methods for an accurate estimation of soil N mineralization potential are required to optimize N fertilizer recommendations. We used soils from non-cultivated and cultivated plots in central Cote d'Ivoire to investigate the quantum of ammonium (NH4+) that could potentially be mineralized. The soil was first treated with H2O2 at 60°C for 2, 4, 6 or 8 h (and referred to as hot extraction) or at room temperature (25°C and referred to as 0 h). The NH4+-N extracted increased with the heating time but decline slightly after 6 h. More NH4+-N was extracted in non-cultivated plots with the hot extraction, and the difference was significant at 6 h. The NH4+-N measured with the hot extraction correlated significantly with the CEC. We obtained the strongest correlation in non-cultivated plots (r2 = 0.88, p < 0.0001) at 6 h, and the weakest also at 6 h but in cultivated plots (r2 = 0.64, p < 0.0001). Similarly, we observed a significant correlation between the NH4+-N extracted and the amount of N taken up by rice seedlings grown in pots, and the best correlation was again at 6 h. The study illustrated that N mineralization with H2O2 at 60°C for 6 h is an appropriate procedure for extracting potentially mineralizable NH4+-N in soils.

 Key words: Cation exchange capacity (CEC), extractable ammonium, ferralsol, N mineralization, total N.


This study examines regret for withholding relational complaints. The study sample of 393 participants completed measures of irritant frequency, irritant importance, relational intimacy, emotional distress from withholding, and regret for withholding. Irritant frequency mediated the positive relationship between length of withholding and irritant importance. This process predicted less intimacy and more emotional distress from withholding, the latter of which related to regret. Alternative paths were also found between length of withholding and regret. Results offer important implications for the role of regret management in hurtful confrontations and may inform other avoidance forms.


We present data in this paper showing that non-thermal plasma in combination with heterogeneous catalysis is a promising technique for the treatment of NOx in diesel exhaust. Using a commonly available zeolite catalyst, sodium Y, to treat synthetic diesel exhaust we report approximately 50% chemical reduction of NOx over a broad, representative temperature range. We have measured the overall efficiency as a function of the temperature and hydrocarbon concentration. The direct detection of N2 and N2O when the background gas is replaced by helium confirms that true chemical reduction is occurring.


Research on programs offering senior-specific housing supports and enabling "aging in the right place" (AIRP) for "older persons with experiences of homelessness" (OPEH) is limited. This paper presents an environmental assessment of a "transitional housing program" (THP) in Metro Vancouver, Canada, for OPEH to AIRP. Data were collected using Aging in the Right Place Environmental (AIRP-ENV) and Secondary Observation (AIRP-ENV-SO) audit tools designed to evaluate multi-unit housing for OPEH. The 241-item AIRP-ENV tool was used to assess the built environmental features of four multi-unit buildings of the THP. The AIRP-ENV-SO tool was used to collect contextual data on the function, safety, and land use of the surrounding neighborhood. Findings identified built environment and urban design features that support THP residents' safety, security, accessibility, functionality, social activity, autonomy, and identity. The THP buildings were rated 'Good' for accessibility, functionality, autonomy and identity, while 'Satisfactory' or 'Poor' for safety, security, and social activity. Findings point to the built environmental features (e.g., size and layout of spaces) required in the THP to create opportunities for increased social engagement among residents and enhanced safety and security. The AIRP-ENV and AIRP-ENV-SO audit tools can help inform programs across the housing continuum to develop supportive built environments that promote AIRP for OPEH.


BABCOCK-BACON method and invagination method were performed to the radical operation for rectal cancer preserving sphincter function. After the operation sphincter function examined with kimographion and electromyogram. 1) Voluntary contraction relatively early recovevs after the operation. It showed almost the same contraction power after 1 month by invagination method and after 3 months by BABCON-BACON method. 2) The reflectoric contraction and fecal continence after the BABCOCK-BACON operation, recover almost the same as before the operation in 3 or 6 months. 3) From the results in histological studies on retrograde spread mentioned in part 1 and also from the examined results in this part, it could be said that the radical operation preserving sphincter function could be performed to almost all rectal cancers which posses their lower end of tumor beyond the ampullar part without any fear on radicality and postoperative sphincter function.


Solar still is a best alternative solution against most of the conventional water distillation system. The multilayer absorber plate type solar still is the more effective technique to enhance the passive solar still productivity. The experiment has been carried out to find out the best thickness of copper conduction path for the multilayer absorber plate type solar still. The results have concluded that the productivity of solar still is reduced with increasing the conduction path thickness and water depth. The maximum productivity of distilled water has been produced in the multilayer absorber type solar still with 0.5cm thick copper conduction path and 1cm water depth. KeywordsMultilayer absorber plate, solar still, solar radiation, Glass cover, Multi effect. __________________________________________________*****_________________________________________________


Internet of Things (IoT), together with fifth-generation (5G) mobile systems and related enabling communication technologies, constantly contributing for the enhancement in various industrial applications and driving towards the vision of complete industrial automation. In this context, both Blockchain and Edge computing are considered as promising technologies to fulfill the vision and requirements for the future Industry 4.0. The integration of these technologies together with massive scale Industrial IoT (IIoT) applications would be vital in addressing several key challenges related to e.g. latency, scalability and security of data processing and sharing, among others. However, such complex IIoT systems are constantly exposed to security threats from various sources. This paper focuses on identifying the major security challenges in the IIoT blockchain-edge related networks. In addition, some potential security solutions are presented in order to overcome these challenges.


Cloud computing combines the best practices of Virtualization, Grid Computing, Utility computing and Web technologies that inherits the agility of Virtualization,Scalability of Grid computing and simplicity of Web 2.0. The educational institutions are under increasing pressure to deliver more from less due to current resource crunch and the growing demand for quality education. Both public and private educational institutions can use the potential benefit of Ccloud computing to deliver better services even with fewer resources. Deployment of cloud computing in education will not only relieve the educational institutions from the burden of handling the complex IT infrastructure management activities but also lead to huge cost savings. Advances in e-Government oriented technologies and services are taking place with a considerable speed around the world. Recent attention has shifted from traditional e-Government to a new initiative called Government Cloud(G-Cloud). The G-Cloud Program's core benefits are Cost reduction, Improved & faster delivery of Government services and the sustainability agenda. This book highlights the prospects of Cloud Computing in Education & e-Governance.


In this paper, we present a set-membership identification algorithm for systems with unknown but bounded disturbance. The algorithm contains a weighting factor which is selected according to whether the new observed data contains sufficient information. The proposed approach ensures that the estimation error is bounded and nonincreasing. Furthermore, it is shown that the parameter estimates provided by the algorithm will converge to a region containing the true parameters, and its upper bound is also given.


We present quad-constellation (namely, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo) time group delay (TGD) and differential code bias (DCB) correction models to fully exploit the code observations of all the four global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) for navigation and positioning. The relationship between TGDs and DCBs for multi-GNSS is clearly figured out, and the equivalence of TGD and DCB correction models combining theory with practice is demonstrated. Meanwhile, the TGD/DCB correction models have been extended to various standard point positioning (SPP) and precise point positioning (PPP) scenarios in a multi-GNSS and multi-frequency context. To evaluate the effectiveness and practicability of broadcast TGDs in the navigation message and DCBs provided by the Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX), both single-frequency GNSS ionosphere-corrected SPP and dual-frequency GNSS ionosphere-free SPP/PPP tests are carried out with quad-constellation signals. Furthermore, the author investigates the influence of differential code biases on GNSS positioning estimates. The experiments show that multi-constellation combination SPP performs better after DCB/TGD correction, for example, for GPS-only b1-based SPP, the positioning accuracies can be improved by 25.0%, 30.6% and 26.7%, respectively, in the N, E, and U components, after the differential code biases correction, while GPS/GLONASS/BDS b1-based SPP can be improved by 16.1%, 26.1% and 9.9%. For GPS/BDS/Galileo the 3rd frequency based SPP, the positioning accuracies are improved by 2.0%, 2.0% and 0.4%, respectively, in the N, E, and U components, after Galileo satellites DCB correction. The accuracy of Galileo-only b1-based SPP are improved about 48.6%, 34.7% and 40.6% with DCB correction, respectively, in the N, E, and U components. The estimates of multi-constellation PPP are subject to different degrees of influence. For multi-constellation combination SPP, the accuracy of single-frequency is slightly better than that of dual-frequency combinations. Dual-frequency combinations are more sensitive to the differential code biases, especially for the 2nd and 3rd frequency combination, such as for GPS/BDS SPP, accuracy improvements of 60.9%, 26.5% and 58.8% in the three coordinate components is achieved after DCB parameters correction. For multi-constellation PPP, the convergence time can be reduced significantly with differential code biases correction. And the accuracy of positioning is slightly better with TGD/DCB correction.