Aim Siblings sharing homes with abused children are thought to be at high risk of abuse. Studies have demonstrated occult fractures in the siblings of abused children. The RCPCH Child Protection Companion makes recommendations about the examination of siblings, timings of assessments and investigations to consider. This audit aims to evaluate a large city's Department of Community Paediatrics' performance in assessing siblings of index cases of child abuse. Method There are no prescriptive guidelines for the assessment of siblings of index child abuse cases. However, recommendations for sibling assessment from national and local bodies were used to create standards against which practice could be audited. The city's child protection database was searched from 1/5/13 to 31/5/13. All index children suffering abuse were identified and sibling details documented. The database was re-searched for evidence of these siblings being examined and details were recorded about the timescale of assessment and details of investigations performed. Any clinical suspicions of abuse were recorded. Results Only 27 of 70 siblings identified were examined (39%). Of those siblings examined abuse was suspected in 87%. 11 of 18 siblings of physically abused children (61%) were seen within 24 hours. Of the 6 siblings of physically abused children who were aged less than 24 months old, 2 were investigated with a skeletal survey and CT head and 4 had not been investigated. 8 of 9 siblings of sexually abused children were investigated for sexually transmitted infections; only 2 siblings having complete screening. Of the 43 siblings not examined, 2 were seen within the next month as index cases with evidence of abuse. Conclusion We are not seeing enough siblings of abused children and therefore may be missing evidence of abuse. We need to improve the timeframe in which siblings of physically abused children are seen. We need to consider investigating young siblings of physically abused children for evidence of occult injuries and perform more comprehensive screening of sexually transmitted infections in siblings of sexually abused children.


The recycled concrete technology has attracted increasing attention since it is one of the major measures to develop an ecological concrete, to achieve the sustainable development of building, resources, and environment. Durability performance of recycled concrete is such an important research direction in the field of recycled concrete that it has long been explored by many researchers. This paper is mainly devoted to the durability of recycled concrete, mainly carbonation resistance and freezing resistance. The advances of recycled concrete's durability, not only at home but also abroad, were reviewed and analyzed by the author.


Adenoviral gene transfer is a valuable tool in molecular biology research. In order to be an efficient and safe vector, adenovirus structure and infection mechanism as well as molecular biology of the used transgene need to be well studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of adenovirus as a gene transfer vector from several perspectives. Adenovirus uses receptor-mediated endocytosis in order to enter the target cell. The effect of Rab5 GTPase on adenovirus entry and gene transfer efficiency was examined first. Next, adenovirus was used as an investigatory tool in the cardiovascular research, focused on clarifying the role of adrenomedullin (AM) in heart and vascular remodeling. Finally, a model of adenoviral gene transfer into skin fibroblasts was used. The role of Rab5 GTPase in the adenovirus endocytosis was examined in HeLa cells using Cy3labeled adenovirus, and gene transfer efficiency using β-galactosidase encoding adenovirus. Rab5 increased both adenovirus uptake and gene transfer, whereas dominant negative Rab5S34N decreased both endocytosis and gene transfer. The data indicate that Rab5 is needed in mediating the adenovirus uptake into the target cell. In the rat heart, adenovirus-mediated AM gene transfer transiently improved systolic function both in vivo and in vitro. AM caused activation of translocation of protein kinases C e and δ, whereas phosphorylation of p38 mitogen activated protein kinase was decreased in the left ventricle. AM significantly attenuated the development of angiotensin II-induced cardiac hypertrophy. In rats with myocardial infarction, AM enhanced dilatation of left ventricle and thinning of anterior wall. The role of AM in neointima formation was evaluated in rat artery after endothelial injury. Intravascular AM gene transfer decreased neointimal growth and increased neointimal myofibroblasts apoptosis. These results show that AM regulates left ventricular systolic function and remodeling in the heart, and plays a role in pathological vascular remodeling. Adenovirus-mediated lysyl hydroxylase (LH) gene transfer into skin fibroblasts of type VI EhlersDanlos syndrome patient and rat skin increased functional LH production, elevated LH activity, and human LH mRNA production both in vitro and in vivo. LH gene replacement therapy may thus lead to possibilities to improve skin wound healing in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome patients.


Failure to appropriately measure Value is one of the reasons for slow reform in health. Value brings together quality and cost, both defined around the patient. With technology we can measure value in the new ways: commercially developed algorithms are capable of mining large, connected data sets to present accurate information for patients and providers. But how do we align these new capabilities with clinical and operational realities, and further with individual privacy? The right amount of information, shared at the right time, can improve practitioners' ability to choose treatments, and patients' motivation to provide consent and follow the treatment. Dynamic Consent, where IT is used to determine just what patients are consenting to share, can address the inherent conflict between the demand from AI for access to data and patients' privacy principles. This chapter describes a pragmatic Commercial Development framework for building digital health tool. It overlays Value Model for healthcare IT investments with Patient Activation Measures and innovation management techniques.


Peroxisomal beta-oxidation system consists of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha)-inducible pathway capable of catalyzing straight-chain acyl-CoAs and a second noninducible pathway catalyzing the oxidation of 2-methyl-branched fatty acyl-CoAs. Disruption of the inducible beta-oxidation pathway in mice at the level of fatty acyl-CoA oxidase (AOX), the first and rate-limiting enzyme, results in spontaneous peroxisome proliferation and sustained activation of PPARalpha, leading to the development of liver tumors, whereas disruptions at the level of the second enzyme of this classical pathway or of the noninducible system had no such discernible effects. We now show that mice with complete inactivation of peroxisomal beta-oxidation at the level of the second enzyme, enoyl-CoA hydratase/L-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (L-PBE) of the inducible pathway and D-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydratase/D-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (D-PBE) of the noninducible pathway (L-PBE-/-D-PBE-/-), exhibit severe growth retardation and postnatal mortality with none surviving beyond weaning. L-PBE-/-D-PBE-/- mice that survived exceptionally beyond the age of 3 weeks exhibited overexpression of PPARalpha-regulated genes in liver, despite the absence of morphological evidence of hepatic peroxisome proliferation. These studies establish that peroxisome proliferation in rodent liver is highly correlatable with the induction mostly of the L- and D-PBE genes. We conclude that disruption of peroxisomal fatty acid beta-oxidation at the level of second enzyme in mice leads to the induction of many of the PPARalpha target genes independently of peroxisome proliferation in hepatocytes, raising the possibility that intermediate metabolites of very long-chain fatty acids and peroxisomal beta-oxidation act as ligands for PPARalpha.


Despite the growing interest in brand awareness for enhancing loyalty among mobile phone users, there is limited empirical evidences that focuses on contingencies of how brand awareness can enhance the brand loyalty. This work focused on the role of brand awareness in creating loyalty through process mediation of brand reputation, customer engagement, and brand trust. Self-administered questionnaires are used to collect the data from 356 young mobile users through online survey and personal visits. These results indicated that brand awareness enhances the loyalty of mobile users. Furthermore, the link between the brand awareness and the loyalty is fully meditated through brand reputation, customer engagement and brand trust. The mediating mechanism is significantly proved individually as well as through the process mediation. The findings of the study make a significant contribution in branding literature by providing a comprehensive model which will help the brand managers and mobile companies to understand the value of brand reputation, customer engagement and trust towards the specific brand.


The World Wide Web has become one of the principal sources of information since its inception. With large amount of content added and deleted, the amount of change in hypertextual data is massive. This rapidly changing nature of the WWW makes the task of tracking information intractable when done manually. In this paper we propose an approach for intelligently monitoring the website for changes, taking into consideration the user interests and ranking of these changes according to relevance. A prototype system WebMon based on this approach is presented.

WebMon consists of basic components performing infrastructural activities such as crawlers and indexers. Also it takes as input keyword weights based on the user interests. It then represents the hypertextual data in the website in the form of a vector space model (VSM). Periodically this process is carried out to get the VSM representing the hypertextual data of the website at that instance of time. To monitor for changes, the data in VSMs at different instances of time is compared and the corresponding changes are ranked according to their relevance according to the user. A modified nearest neighbor algorithm (NN) is implemented for the same. To further improve the accuracy and self-adjustability of the relevance rankings, the system employs a modified supervised learning
algorithm thereby taking into account the behavior of the user intelligently. The WebMon system has been tested extensively on many websites giving results as expected. In this paper we report some experimental results showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


Induction and synchronous machines have traditionally been the first choice of automotive manufacturers for electric/hybrid vehicles. However, these conventional machines are not able anymore to meet the increasing demands for a higher energy density due to space limitation in cars. Flux-switching PM (FSPM) machines with their high energy density are very suitable to answer this demand. In this paper, the energy conversion loop technique is implemented on FSPM for the first time. The energy conversion technique is a powerful tool for the visualization of machine characteristics, both linear and nonlinear. Further, the technique provides insight into the torque production mechanism. A stepwise explanation is given on how to create these loops for FSPM along with the machine operation.


Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a potentially lethal disorder with no specific medical treatment. AP is characterized by a spectrum of symptoms, ranging from a local inflammatory process to the more severe form (acute necrotizing pancreatitis) which is associated with a systemic inflammatory response and a mortality rate of 27-45%. A number of risk factors have been identified for AP including alcohol abuse, gallstones, abdominal surgery/injury, cigarette smoking, cystic fibrosis, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, hypercalcemia, hyperparathyroidism, hypertriglyceridemia, infection, pancreatic cancer, and injury to the abdomen (Pandol et al., 2007). Alcohol abuse and the development of gallstones account for the majority of AP cases. In AP, inappropriate intracellular activation of digestive enzymes within the pancreas (e.g. trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastase) is the main initiating event. The development of acute necrotizing pancreatitis is usually associated with pancreatic glandular necrosis. Acinar cell apoptosis, the release of cytokines, activation of coagulation, tissue ischemia, and tissue necrosis are key factors in the progression of the condition, as well as in the development of associated extrapancreatic complications (Steinberg & Tenner, 1994; McKay & Buter, 2003; Pandol et al., 2007).


The downstream water-air heat and moisture transfer system in a moving coordinate was studied. The relationship between the diameter of the misted droplets and the spray pressure was determined. Based on the theory of the relative velocity,the two-phase flow mode of the spray chamber and the efficiency equation for heat and moisture exchange were established. Corrections were carried out for the efficiency equation with spray pressure of 157 kPa. The results show that the pressure plays an important part in determining the efficiency of heat and moisture exchange. When the spray pressure is less than 157 kPa,better coincidence is noticed between the theoretical analysis and the test results with the error less than 6%. Greater error will be resulted in the case when the spray pressure is beyond 157 kPa. After the correction treatment,the coincidence between the theoretical and the experimental results is greatly improved.


Background and Objectives: Infection of pleural fluid is a common disease and because of antibiotic administration, the microbiology of this fluid has changed. The aim of this study was to determine the common bacteria and suitable antibiotics for treatment in pleural effusion (PE). Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study, 1210 samples with exudative features were cultured for possible growth of microbial pathogens and then examined for antibiotics sensitivity. Samples' characteristics were then analyzed according to the age and sex difference. Results: Among 1210 exudative pleural effusions, 38.2% were obtained from females and 61.8% from males. Of 142 pleural fluid samples, 11.7% had a positive culture. Aerobic gram negative organism was the most common type among the other samples with a prevalence of 52% followed by aerobic gram positive (25.3%), non- aerobic gram negative (15.7%), non- aerobic gram positive (6.2%) and fungi (0.8%). E. coli, Staphylococcus Aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii were the most common types of organism among adult population. Conclusion: Aerobic gram positive bacteria had the highest prevalence among the pathogens, and cephalosporins, aminopenicillins and β-lactams were the most effective antibiotics for their treatment.


Lymphotoxin-alpha (LT-alpha) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) promote inflammation in autoimmune diseases and have been detected in the multiple sclerosis (MS) brain lesions and blood, suggesting these cytokines are also present in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). To study this, mononuclear cells (MNC) were examined for transcripts of LT-alpha and TNF-alpha, using in situ hybridization (ISH) with synthetic oligonucleotide probes. Most patients with MS had LT-alpha and TNF-alpha mRNA-expressing MNC in their CSF at mean frequencies of about 1/2800 cells for both cytokines. Numbers were dramatically higher than in the paired blood specimens. Control patients with other inflammatory neurological diseases (OIND) also had LT-alpha and TNF-alpha mRNA-expressing cells in CSF but at mean frequencies of only 1/36,000 and 1/18,000 cells, respectively. In blood, levels were similar in OIND and MS. To elucidate the influence of myelin antigen stimulation on LT-alpha and TNF-alpha expression, MNC were cultivated with or without myelin basic protein. Strongly elevated levels of MBP-reactive TNF-alpha mRNA-expressing cells were detected in the MS patients' CSF, in particular when examined during clinical exacerbations, as well as MBP-reactive LT-alpha mRNA-expressing MNC. No such patterns were observed in the OIND controls. The strong accumulation of LT-alpha- and TNF-alpha-producing cells and of MBP-reactive LT-alpha and TNF-alpha mRNA-positive cells in the immediate vicinity of the demyelinating process in MS patients implicates a role of these cytokines in the development of MS.


Thermodynamic calculation of formation of spherical gas bubbles different in water – wetting on flat surfaces by metal melt is made. This process consists of two stages. The first stage is formation of equilibrium gas bubble in the form of ball segment. The second stage is its swinging into a spherical bubble. Calculations were made for gas bubbles with constant volume. It is shown that Gibbs energy of spherical gas bubble formation on water – wetting metal melt substrate is three times less than on nonwettable melt substrate. Thus, gases released by solidification of the castings will preferably be formed and removed as bubbles on the molten metal surfaces of the crystallizable phases of the alloys and directly affect on their microstructure.


The aim of the present study was to establish an immunofluorescence method of antibody detection to identify melanocytes in the serum of vitiligo patients. Furthermore, we aimed to establish a method for the culture and proliferation of autologous pure melanocytes and to observe the effect of their transplantation for the treatment of vitiligo. Suspension of epidermal cells with melanocytes was performed using trypsin digestion of normal epiderm from eyelid operation and melanocytes were selectively cultured and proliferated in serum-free M2 medium. FITC-labeled rabbit anti-human antibody was used to detect the relative fluorescence intensity of the melanocytes. After identification with immunological and biological examinations, the melanocytes were transplanted to depigmented areas of vitiligo. Repigmentation was observed continuously. The results indicated that melanocytes could be selectively proliferated in the medium. Subsequently, pure melanocytes without contamination of fibroblast and keratinocyte were harvested. A total of 34 patients suffering vitiligo for between 3 months and 20 years with depigmented area (between 4 cm2 and 70% of body surface) were divided into 19 cases of developing stage and 15 cases of stable stage, according to the change of depigmentation. A total of 15 developing cases were positive for the antibody against melanocytes, with the positive rate of 79%. The titers of serum was >1:50 in 10 patients at the developing stage, and 5 developing patients were 1:10. Among the 15 stable cases, four were positive, with a positive rate of 27%. Fluorescence of antibody was localized in the cytoplasm of the melanocytes. Autologous melanocytes of vitiligo patients could be selectively proliferated in the medium. Next, pure melanocytes without contamination with fibroblasts and keratinocytes were harvested. A total of 16 vitiligo patients with 28 depigmented areas (2–200 cm2) were treated with transplantation of melanocytes. Repigmentation of the transplanted areas appeared as red coloration after one month. All the vitiligous areas received transplantation were repigmented significantly with hypo- or hyper-pigmentation after 3–5 months. After 6–8 months, 87.5% of lesions showed repigmentation of >50% of the lesion area. No scarring or other side-effects occurred. After follow-up of 5 years, no relapse was observed in transplantation area. Thus, an immunofluorescence method for the test of antibody to melanocytes in the serum of vitiligo patients was established. Transplantation of cultured autologous melanocytes was an effective and safe measure for treatment of vitiligo, particularly for patients with a large depigmented area.


Feasibility and preliminary phases of space projects are aimed to answer to the very fundamental question whether a spacecraft (S/C) exists that can fulfil the mission objectives. In particular the thermal engineers must assess whether a possible configuration is feasible from the thermal point of view, or what modifications could make it suitable. The paper presents the Thermal Concept Design Tool (TCDT), a new software tool under development at Blue Engineering and Alenia Spazio for the European Space Agency (ESA), designed with the objective to assist the thermal engineers in reducing at minimum the effort required by simulation activities and focusing mainly on conceptual activities during feasibility and preliminary studies.


Understanding the interfacial impedance between the solid electrolyte and the electrode is a critical issue for the design of solid-state batteries. We propose a new equivalent circuit model that treats the interface not only as a capacitor but also includes the space charge layer resistance and the resultant polarization resistance. Moreover, the elements of the circuit model are quantified by the physical quantities based on the recently proposed modified Planck-Nernst-Poisson (MPNP) model, which includes the effect of the unoccupied regular lattice sites (vacancies) in the electro-diffusion problem and takes both the ion and electron contributions into the account. We provide a new analytical solution for the space charge layer capacitance. Comparative numerical results demonstrate that our proposed model with additional polarization resistance can explain well the real impedance tail at the low-frequency region, for which the pure capacitor interface model fails. The model is verified against the experimental impedance spectra of LiPON.


The effects of implicit and explicit associative processes for false recognition were examined by manipulating exposure duration of studied items; 20 ms or 2000 ms. Participants studied lists of words that were high associates to a nonpresented word (critical lure) in either condition. After learning each list, they took a recognition test and remember/know judgements immediately (Experiment 1) or 1 minute later (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, know responses for critical lures were more in the 20 ms than in the 2000 ms conditions, while remember responses for them were more in the 2000 ms condition. Implicit associative processes create familiarity of critical lures, and explicit associative processes create details of false memories. Comparing the results of Experiment 1 with those of Experiment 2, remember responses for critical lures were increased with the prolonged time only in the 20 ms condition. Characteristics of false memory made by implicit associative processes could be changed by prolonged time.


The respiratory sleep HERMES task force:

Wilfred de Backer, Paolo Palange, Anita Simonds, Stefan Andreas, Johan Verbraecken, Winfried Randerath, William Donic, Renata Riha, Mary Morrell, Ha Trang, Patrick Levy, Walter Mc Nicholas, Marisa Bonsignore

Launched in 2009, the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Respiratory Sleep HERMES project aimed to design and implement core educational activities supported by a network of initiatives to standardise training and education in respiratory sleep medicine (fig. 1).

Figure 1
The HERMES structure for developing standardised training and education in specialist areas of respiratory medicine.

Using the framework established by HERMES, the project task force has begun to move through each development phase successfully publishing a syllabus of what a respiratory sleep specialist should know [1], and supporting these modules through the publication of the ERS Handbook of Respiratory Sleep Medicine [2].

Perhaps the greatest challenge of the HERMES initiative is the application of a standardised methodology to medical specialties that are in essence different. To date, seven HERMES projects have been launched (fig. 2). The training characteristics vary from skills-based training, services-based training and sub-specialty or tertiary-based training. For each project, all healthcare professionals are considered from medical physicians and multidisciplinary teams to non-medical practitioners.

Figure 2
HERMES Project family 2005–2012.

The purpose of this editorial is to revisit how the …


Abstract Background: The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered a devastating effect worldwide. Objectives: This review of rehabilitation strategies and neurological consequences in patients with COVID-19 sought to consider potential neurorehabilitation strategies for managing the emerging neurological consequences of COVID-19. Methods: An exploratory review was conducted that comprised a narrative synthesis in two parts. Part I focused on neurological consequences and physiotherapy and rehabilitation approaches. Part II focused on general principles of rehabilitation interventions and precautions that should be considered. Literature on the use of neurorehabilitation approaches was also included in the review. Results: Rehabilitation should be initiated as quickly as possible. Neurorehabilitation protocols include public health training valid for the whole community and providing intensive care, pulmonary rehabilitation, mobilization, exercise and strengthening, whole-body vibration, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, telerehabilitation, and other rehabilitation interventions. Interventions should be conducted while correctly implementing personal protective equipment (PPE), hand hygiene, sterilization procedures, and other precautions to avoid the risk of contamination. Conclusions: Multidimensional assessment should be followed by development of individualized and progressive treatment and neurorehabilitation plans. These plans should focus on existing potential and recovery of mobility and function in particular. It is important for rehabilitation teams to keep gathering and reporting data on patients with COVID-19 and the neurologic complications of COVID-19 during and after the pandemic.


The difference between the 14CO2 outputs from [1-14C]glucose and [6-14C]glucose has frequently been used as a measure of activity in the hexose monophosphate shunt without considering the exact significance of this difference. Assuming only 1) that all C-1 of glucose is released to CO2 on entry to the shunt and 2) that the shunt provides the only mechanism for increasing C-1 of glucose over C-6 of glucose in CO2, it is very simply shown that the flux from glucose to the shunt is not less than the difference between the 14CO2 outputs at any time after adding labeled glucose nor more than the steady-state output of 14CO2 from [1-14C]glucose. Moreover, absence of a 14CO2 difference does not prove that the shunt is absent or inactive. The value for the minimum flux rate can be maximized by following the time course of the C-1 - C-6 difference in 14CO2 during the transient phase before isotopic equilibration is complete, but useful values can be obtained when the time course is not available. The above relationships are applicable to gluconeogenic as well as non-gluconeogenic tissues. Applications of these relationships to peripheral ganglia from chicken embryos, in which the 14CO2 difference passes through a maximum during incubation, show that 27-37% of the glucose taken up enters the pentose cycle in sympathetic ganglia from 10-day-old embryos, while 17-36% enters the cycle in 15-day-old dorsal root ganglia.


The paper presents a linear solution that allows a simultaneous computation of the transformations from robot world to robot base and from robot tool to robot flange coordinate frames. The flange frame is defined on the mounting surface of the end-effector. It is assumed that the robot geometry, i.e., the transformation from the robot base frame to the robot flange frame, is known with sufficient accuracy, and that robot end-effector poses are measured. The solution has applications to accurately locating a robot with respect to a reference frame, and a robot sensor with respect to a robot end-effector. The identification problem is cast as solving a system of homogeneous transformation equations of the form A/sub i/X=YB/sub i/,i=1, 2, ..., m. Quaternion algebra is applied to derive explicit linear solutions for X and Y provided that three robot pose measurements are available. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the uniqueness of the solution are stated. Computationally, the resulting solution algorithm is noniterative, fast and robust. >


For any $r\geq 2$ and $k\geq 3$, the $r$-color size-Ramsey number $\hat R(\mathcal{G},r)$ of a $k$-uniform hypergraph $\mathcal{G}$ is the smallest integer $m$ such that there exists a $k$-uniform hypergraph $\mathcal{H}$ on $m$ edges such that any coloring of the edges of $\mathcal{H}$ with $r$ colors yields a monochromatic copy of $\mathcal{G}$. Let $\mathcal{P}_{n,k-1}^{(k)}$ denote the $k$-uniform tight path on $n$ vertices. Dudek, Fleur, Mubayi and R\H{o}dl showed that the size-Ramsey number of tight paths $\hat R(\mathcal{P}_{n,k-1}^{(k)}, 2) = O(n^{k-1-\alpha} (\log n)^{1+\alpha})$ where $\alpha = \frac{k-2}{\binom{k-1}{2}+1}$. In this paper, we improve their bound by showing that $\hat R(\mathcal{P}_{n,k-1}^{(k)}, r) = O(r^k (n\log n)^{k/2})$ for all $k\geq 3$ and $r\geq 2$.


One of the key regulators of gene expression in mammals is DNA methylation. The Tet family (Tet1–3) is suggested to be involved in regulating the level of methylation by hydroxylating a methyl group from 5-methylcytosine to form 5-hydroxymethylcystosine. This hydroxylation alters the 3-dimensional structure of the DNA and results in altered gene expression. Previous studies conducted in the mouse have shown that Tet1 is important for inner cell mass specification by regulating the apparent level of methylation on a specific promoter region in blastocysts and Tet3 is related to the apparent paternal DNA demethylation after fertilization by hydroxylating the paternal genome. The objective of this study was to investigate the expression profile of the Tet family in porcine oocytes and pre-implantation-stage embryos derived from IVF and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The RNA was isolated from donor cells, germinal vesicle (GV), MII and 2-cell and blastocyst stage embryos (20 oocytes or embryos per group). Levels of mRNA for each Tet gene were measured by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. The levels of each mRNA transcript were compared to YWHAG, a housekeeping gene that shows a constant level of expression throughout pre-implantation embryo development and normalized to the GV stage. The analysis was repeated with 3 biological replications and 2 experimental replications. Differences in gene expression were compared by ANOVA and P < 0.05 was considered significant. No difference was found in the levels of the Tet family members between GV and MII stage oocytes. Compared with GV stage oocytes, up-regulation of Tet3 at the 2-cell stage was detected in both IVF and SCNT embryos, 4.7 and 6.2 fold, respectively. A dramatic increase in Tet1 was also observed at the blastocyst stage in IVF and SCNT embryos when compared with the GV stage, 65.7 and 79.7 fold increases, respectively. Interestingly, the level of Tet3 was down-regulated in blastocyst embryos at a 25 or more fold decrease compared with GV. The level of Tet2 remained constant throughout embryo development. Embryos (2-cell and blastocyst) compared from IVF and SCNT showed no difference in Tet expression levels. Donor cells had significantly lower levels of Tet2 and Tet3 when compared with GV. Our results indicate that the Tet family shows a dynamic expression profile during porcine pre-implantation embryo development. High expression of Tet3 in 2-cell stage embryos suggests its importance during the post-activation demethylation process. The increase of Tet1 transcript in blastocysts suggests that Tet1 is involved in regulating the type of methylation at the blastocyst stage. These results are consistent with results from previous mouse studies. There was no misregulated expression of the Tet family in SCNT embryos compared with IVF embryos, thus indicating successful reprogramming of the Tet family after SCNT. Lower levels of Tet2 and Tet3 would indicate that Tet1 is important for maintaining type of methylation in donor cells. This is the first report on the profile of the Tet family during porcine pre-implantation embryo development and further studies are needed to clarify their role during this stage.


— A developer needs to evaluate software performance metrics such as power consumption at an early stage of design phase to make a device or a software efficient especially in real-time embedded systems. Constructing performance models and evaluation techniques of a given system requires a significant effort. This paper presents a framework to bridge between a Functional Modeling Approach such as FSM, UML etc. and an Analytical (Mathematical) Modeling Approach such as Hierarchical Performance Modeling (HPM) as a technique to find the expected average power consumption for different layers of abstractions. A Hierarchical Generic FSM "HGFSM" is developed to be used in order to estimate the expected average power. A case study is presented to illustrate the concepts of how the framework is used to estimate the average power and energy produced.


Purpose: To review the high-resolution computed tomography (CT) findings in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) recipients who had proven human metapneumovirus (HMPV) pneumonia. Materials and Methods: The study included 5 HCT recipients who had proven HMPV pneumonia. The patients included 4 men and 1 woman ranging in age from 23 to 58 years (mean age = 42 years). The CT scans were assessed for the presence, appearance, size, and distribution of parenchymal abnormalities. Results: Human metapneumovirus was isolated in all 5 patients in this series. None of these patients had any other infectious organism identified in cultures or bronchoalveolar lavage. The predominant CT findings were bilateral abnormalities in all patients, consisting primarily of a mixture of patterns, including, most commonly, ground-glass attenuation and nodular opacities. Areas of ground-glass opacification had no zonal predominance and were bilateral, asymmetric, and patchily distributed. Multiple nodules were identified in 4 (80%) of 5 patients. Nodules were multiple; less than 5 nodules were identified in 1 case, and 5 to 10 nodules were identified in 3 cases. All nodules in all cases were less than 10 mm in diameter. Areas of air-space consolidation were identified in 2 (40%) patients. All patients were available for follow-up; lesions improved in 4 patients. Conclusion: The thin-section CT manifestations of HMPV pneumonia usually consist of a mixture of patterns, including, most commonly, ground-glass attenuation and nodular opacities.


Analytical and experimental investigations were performed to examine the transient heat characteristics of water-saturated porous media with freezing. As a physical model, a two-dimensional vertical cavity was considered. One vertical wall was abruptly cooled below the fusion temperature. Other three walls were thermally insulated. Three different sizes of glass, and iron, alumina and copper beads were used as the porous media in this study. The cold energy stored up in the porous media and the average thickness of frozen layer were measured in the experiments. Comparisons of the analytical results with the experimental ones were made, and the effects of Darcy number, Stefan number and modified Prandtl number on the transient heat characteristics were discussed. The dimensionless equations for predicting the averaged frozen layer thickness and the stored cold energy were obtained as a function of various dimensionless parameters.


Background: Malaria has become a threat to health in the tropical and other developing countries. No wonder this has become one of the components of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Malaria accounts for one in five of all childhood deaths in Africa. Yet much of the impact of this disease on the world's children could be prevented with currently available interventions. Methods & Materials: This study was carried out in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria between the months of July and October, 2012. Three hundred patients were tested using thick film method for the presence of malaria parasites. A pre-tested structural questionnaire was used to obtain the demographic data and home management practices from parents of the children. Results: Out of 300 children sampled, 195 (65.0%) were infected with malaria parasites. Ninety seven (62.2%) of those infected were males, while 98 (68.1%) were females. However, the prevalence rate of infection among the males and females were statistically insignificant (P-value < 0.05). Children of age five had the highest prevalence of 73.8%, followed by the children of age two with prevalence rate of 68.0%. Children living in homes where preventive measures were adopted recorded lower rate of infection. Those using insecticide treated nets (ITNs) had the lowest rate of infection (23.1%). This is followed by those using combined window/door net plus insecticide sprays (45.5%), while the homes where no control measures were adopted recorded 92.7% rate of infection. Conclusion: The difference in prevalence rates among homes using different control measures were statistically significant (Pvalue > 0.05) and therefore malaria infection is dependent on the control measures adopted.


l-Asparaginase catalyzes the hydrolysis of l-asparagine to aspartic acid and ammonia and is used in the medical and food industries. In this investigation, from the proteomes of 176 archaeal organisms (with completely sequenced genomes), 116 homologs of l-asparaginase were obtained from 86 archaeal organisms segregated into Asp1, Asp2, IaaA, Asp2like1, and Asp2like2 families based on the conserved domain. The similarities and differences in the structure of selected representatives from each family are discussed. From the two novel archaeal l-asparaginase families Asp2like1 and Asp2like2, a representative of Asp2like1 family Picrophilus torridus asparaginase (PtAsp2like1) was characterized in detail to find its suitability in therapeutics. PtAsp2like1 was a glutaminase-free asparaginase that showed the optimum activity at 80 °C and pH 10.0. The Km of PtAsp2like1 toward substrate l-asparagine was 11.69 mM. This study demonstrates the improved mapping of asparaginases in the archaeal domain, facilitating future focused research on archaeal asparaginases for therapeutic applications.


The seasonal reproductive cycle in rams was monitored in Mouflon (wild-type), Soay (feral type) and a variety of domesticated breeds of sheep (Shetland, Blackface, Herdwick, Norfolk, Wiltshire, Portland and Merino) by measuring the changes in the diameter of the testes (first three years of life in all breeds) and the blood plasma concentrations of FSH and testosterone (first four to six years of life in Mouflon and Soay rams). In the Mouflon rams there was a pronounced seasonal cycle in all the reproductive parameters from one to six years of age. The plasma concentrations of FSH increased from June to September associated with redevelopment of the testes; maximum testicular size and plasma concentrations of testosterone occurred in October at the onset of the rut. In the Soay and domesticated breeds the seasonal maximum in testicular size occurred in late September or October except in two of the southern breeds (Portland and Merino) which showed an earlier peak to the sexual cycle in August. The change in size of the testes from the minimum to the maximum was less in the domesticated breeds (135–157%) compared to the Soay (171%) and Mouflon (160%). Crossbred rams produced by mating Soay ewes (highly seasonal breed) with Portland or Merino rams (less seasonal breed) had a seasonal testicular cycle intermediate in timing compared to the pattern characteristics of the parent breeds; this is consistent with the involvement of multiple genes in the mechanism controlling the sexual cycle in the ram. The earlier seasonal onset of full testicular activity in the southern breeds is assumed to be the result of selection for a prolongation of the breeding season for early lambing.


The geometrical structures, electronic structures, energetics and vibrational frequencies of bent and linear NFeN molecules with different spin multiplicities were studied at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d) level. We find that: (1) the Fe―N bond length is about 155 pm for singlet states and this is shorter than those in triplets and in quintets; (2) the electronic structures of triplet bent NFeN are more complicated than that of the others. Natural bonding orbital and Mulliken population data indicate that the Fe―N bond displays ionicity; (3) the most stable electronic state among all the states is 15A2 and the energies of 13B1, 13A2, 13B2, and 11A1 are similar, however, the most stable electronic state of linear NFeN is 3Δg. This reaction is endothermic because the energies of all the states are higher than those of the ground state Fe(a5D)+N2(X1Σg+) reactants while Fe(a5D)+2N(4S) is exothermic; (4) according to the calculated structure and vibrational characteristics the 13B1 state might be observed in the reported experiments; (5) compared with our previous results the structures of the FeN2 complexes are very different from that of the NFeN compound; (6) the Fe atom direct insertion reaction into the triple bonds of N2 is especially difficult because of the energy barriers in the reaction potential energy curves.


In the classical Burmese state, land and labour were categorized as either crown or private. State or crown land (mye-taw) was composed largely of the best irrigated tracts in the dry zone, usually worked by crown labour called kyun taw or ahmudan—depending upon the period of study—subject to service tenure, whose produce went to kyi-taw or royal granaries. These crown lands and labour were administered by temporary and permanent clients of the king in return for certain rights and privileges. Exempt communal or ancestral land (bòbábaing mye) was owned collectively, usually by villages of non-indentured people (athi) who, in lieu of corvée, submitted per capita taxes to the crown, determined by a complicated system based on their occupations. Sańghika or religious lands (wáthúkan mye) were either owned outright by the church or held in perpetuity as endowments. The tax exempt produce from glebe lands paid for the maintenance of religious buildings and monasteries, the monks, and for the care of their students and their servants (hpayà-kyun) who were exempt from both corvée as well as per capita tax.


During ageing, cell-intrinsic and extrinsic factors lead to the decline of tissue function and organismal health. Disentangling these factors is important for developing effective strategies to prolong organismal healthspan. Here, we addressed this question in the mouse intestinal epithelium, which forms a dynamic interface with its microenvironment and receives extrinsic signals affecting its homeostasis and tissue ageing. We systematically compared transcriptional profiles of young and aged epithelial cells in vivo and ex vivo in cultured intestinal organoids. We found that all cell types of the aged epithelium exhibit an inflammation phenotype, which is marked by MHC class II upregulation and most pronounced in enterocytes. This was accompanied by elevated levels of the immune tolerance markers PD-1 and PD-L1 in the aged tissue microenvironment, indicating dysregulation of immunological homeostasis. Intestinal organoids from aged mice still showed an inflammation signature after weeks in culture, which was concurrent with increased chromatin accessibility of inflammation-associated loci. Our results reveal a cell-intrinsic, persistent inflammation phenotype in aged epithelial cells, which might contribute to systemic inflammation observed during ageing.


Feedback lighting provides illumination primarily during the subjective night (i.e., the photosensitive portion of the circadian cycle) in response to a given behavior. This technique has previously been used to test the nonparametric model of entrainment in nocturnal rodents. In three species (Rattus norvegicus, Mesocricetus auratus, and Mus musculus), the free‐running period of the locomotor activity rhythm was similar whether the animals were exposed to continuous light or discrete light pulses occurring essentially only during the subjective night (i.e., feedback lighting). In the current experiments, feedback lighting was presented to squirrel monkeys so that light fell predominately during the subjective night. Feedback lighting was linked to the drinking behavior in this diurnal primate so that when the animal drank, the lights went out. Despite this seemingly adverse predicament, the monkeys maintained regular circadian drinking rhythms. Furthermore, just as the period of the free‐running activity rhythms of nocturnal rodents exposed to continuous light or feedback lighting were similar, the period of the drinking rhythms of the squirrel monkeys in continuous light and feedback lighting were comparable (25.6 ± 0.1 and 25.9 ± 0.1 hours, respectively), despite a substantial decrease in the total amount of light exposure associated with feedback lighting. The free‐running period of monkeys exposed to continuous dark (24.5 ± 0.1 hours) was significantly shorter than either of the two lighting conditions (P < 0.001). The results presented for the drinking rhythm were confirmed by an examination of the temperature and activity rhythms. Therefore, discrete light pulses given predominately during the subjective night are capable of simulating the effects of continuous light on the free‐running period of the circadian rhythms of a diurnal primate. The response of squirrel monkeys to feedback lighting thus lends further support for the model and suggests that the major entrainment mechanisms are similar in nocturnal rodents and diurnal primates.


Euphorbia lateriflora is a popular traditional medicinal plant whose leaves are used in Africa, especially Nigeria, to treat wounds and many diseases. This study investigated the preliminary phytochemical constituents, secondary metabolites by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography "HPLC" technique, and antimicrobial potentials (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration "MIC", Minimum Fungicidal Concentration "MFC" and disc diffusion assay) of various concentrations (100 mg/mL, 50 mg/ml, and 25 mg/mL) of the solvents (ethyl acetate and n-hexane) extracts of E. lateriflora against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans. The phytochemical screening revealed that out of the thirteen constituents screened for, n-hexane extract contained seven components, including flavonoids, coumarin, steroid, glycosides, triterpenes, terpenoids, and alkaloids. In contrast, the ethyl acetate extract contains saponin, flavonoids, coumarin, steroid, glycosides, triterpenes, terpenoids, and alkaloids. The HPLC chromatogram of n-Hexane and ethyl acetate extracts of E. lateriflora detected numerous unidentified compounds along with a potential antimicrobial compound identified as caffeic acid. The low MIC (6.25 - 50 mg/mL), shown by the n-hexane extract signified a greater antimicrobial activity than ethyl acetate extract. This was further implicated by the varying concentrations levels, rather than the strain-dependent zone of inhibitions obtained. The highest diameter of zone of inhibition (14.23 mm) was obtained at 100 mg/mL by n-hexane extract against E. coli and S. aureus, respectively, while the lowest zone of inhibition (6.00 mm) was obtained by n-hexane at 25 mg/mL concentrated tested against S. aureus. However, the diameter of the zone of inhibition of Ciprofloxacin (50 mg/mL) ranged between 10-16 mm for E. coli and 6-10 mm for S. aureus. At the same time, 14.00 mm was obtained by itraconazole (antifungal agent) against C. albicans. Thus, this study shows that E. lateriflora harbors active compounds and supports the claim that its extract may be effective against infections caused by the test organisms, as practiced for years among rural dwellers in Nigeria.


Generative text-to-image (GTI) models produce high-quality images from short textual descriptions and are widely used in academic and creative domains. However, GTI models frequently amplify biases from their training data, often producing prejudiced or stereotypical images. Yet, current bias mitigation strategies are limited and primarily focus on enforcing gender parity across occupations. To enhance GTI bias mitigation, we introduce DiffusionWorldViewer, a tool to analyze and manipulate GTI models' attitudes, values, stories, and expectations of the world that impact its generated images. Through an interactive interface deployed as a web-based GUI and Jupyter Notebook plugin, DiffusionWorldViewer categorizes existing demographics of GTI-generated images and provides interactive methods to align image demographics with user worldviews. In a study with 13 GTI users, we find that DiffusionWorldViewer allows users to represent their varied viewpoints about what GTI outputs are fair and, in doing so, challenges current notions of fairness that assume a universal worldview.


This study assessed the performance of extension services in efforts to maintain the food security of paddy-rice farmers households in Bondowoso, Indonesia. The farmers satisfaction with extension services is very closely related to the management of extension services that can be identified through feedback from farmers as users of extension services. This study was aimed to analyze the performance of extension services and promote the development strategies. The survey method was used to determine the level of innovation needs and availability of innovations through extension services as well as the level of farmer satisfaction with the performance of extension services. Data obtained from structured interviews with 200 respondents and the observation process. Data analysis used the Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) and Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) methods. The results of the analysis showed that the innovation needs of rice farmers in maintaining production and productivity, farming sustainability, self-development, and farm security are sufficiently available and quite following farmer needs. The availability of innovations that must be the priority of extension workers in the development of rice farming is on marketing the harvest, sources of financing, the quality of products desired by consumers, and opportunities for farmers to develop themselves by trying out innovations with other farmers. This result is strengthened by the results of CSI analysis which shows that rice farmers are quite satisfied with the availability of innovations in extension services. The strategy that needs to be developed in improving the quality of extension services is to increase the competency of extension workers in accessing technology and management of farmer groups.


The paper is aimed at investigating the basic legal principles of interpreter's participation in the criminal proceedings in the Russian Federation. The topic under consideration is relevant due to the massive migration processes sweeping most European countries and Russia. Statistics show that in 2017 about 41,147 crimes were committed by foreign citizens in the territory of the Russian Federation. More recent survey shows that resident aliens committed approximately 10,415 criminal offenses, from January to March 2018. Very often offenders do not speak Russian, and therefore, the statistics of criminal offenses involving stateless persons and foreign citizens is only growing. Most of the above-mentioned individuals do not understand the language of legal proceedings and cannot participate in it on their own. The legislation of the Russian Federation provides for an interpreter who can supply them with qualified and professional assistance. Similar provision is envisaged in regulations of most of the Western and Asian countries, and though all of them are guided by the international rules, the national laws vary in many ways. Russian laws regulate this sphere in terms of rights, obligations and proceedings that are to be observed at different stages of investigating, court hearing and post-trial stages of criminal cases demanding professional assistance of interpreter and/or translator. The research methods involve theoretical and practical approaches, comparative analysis of relative rules in western countries and classification, description and other methods of reasoning allowing to reach objective results and conclusion. The practical relevance of the work rests in outlining pitfalls in laws concerning engagement of an interpreter into criminal proceedings in Russia. The output of the research can also be of certain value to professionals involved in court interpreting and government policies in this sphere and scholars interested in the topic.


This is a postscript to The New European Legal Culture which was written for the Chinese translation almost a decade after the original essay was published. That essay argued that Europe was facing a shift from a rather formal, dogmatic and positivistic approach to a more substance-oriented and pragmatic approach to private law. Ten years on, has the trend towards a new, less formal legal culture in Europe been confirmed or is there now a reverse tendency? As this paper points out, the picture is mixed: there are both examples of neo-formalism and new examples of a more substantive approach to private law. Four milestones and their implications for European legal culture are addressed: the sudden end of the postmodern era after 9/11, the failed European constitution and related neo-nationalism, the arrival of the new Member States, and the CFR process. Overall, today the neo-formalist tendencies seem to be stronger than a decade ago.


Objective To understand middle school students' current cognition, attitude, self daily behaviors and injury situation of using electronic equipment while walking and to provide a scientific basis for invention strategies. Methods a total of 696 students selected from 4 junior high schools and 4 senior high schools in 4 districts in Hangzhou by multistage random cluster sampling were investigated with a questionnaire survey. Results 89.91% of the students were distracted by using electronic devices while walking. 77.81% of surveyed students were listening to music while walking. 72.70% were on the phone. 71.66% were sending messages. 45.52% were seeking information. 35.06% were playing electronic games, and 25.94% of the students were watching the video. As for the rate of the reported distracted behaviors by electronic equipment, the senior high school students had a higher rate than junior high school students. Girls had a higher reported rate of listening music while walking than that of boys. While boys had a higher rate of playing games while walking than that of girls. 95.40% of students believed that their peers would be distracted by using electronic devices while walking. 50.51% of the surveyed students said they had been hit by a motor vehicle or were almost hit while walking, of which 14.57% were related to the distraction of using electronic devices. 52.61% of students using electronic devices during their daily walk were hit by a motor vehicle or were almost hit, higher than the proportion of non-use electronic device students (30.4%). Conclusion Most of the junior/senior high school students would use electronic equipment frequently in the walk, leading to the distraction, influencing personal safety and certain measures should be taken as soon as possible to reduce the occurrence of related accidents.


The aim of this chapter is to map the current situation in the entrepreneurship education of 22 European transition economies and to develop a shared source of data on entrepreneurship education in the region. The analysis covers 774 higher education institutions from the region, of which 363 had entrepreneurship-oriented courses, modules or curricula. The creation of entrepreneurship profiles in the schools as well the level of teaching is analysed. The chapter also identifies examples of the best practice in entrepreneurship teaching from the three viewpoints: how the specialised units co-ordinating teaching and research of entrepreneurship are designed; the best examples of curricula; and the level of internationalisation of the programmes offered in these schools.


During October 1969 a piece of land was fenced out of the Kruger National Park, Republic of South Africa, near Numbi Gate in the south western tip of the Park. Impenetrable diamond mesh fencing material was used. In spite of concentrated and repeated efforts to drive game from this excised bit of land, some game still remained within the area. As this piece of land was designated for concentrated human habitational purposes and lay within the region where movements are restricted by foot-and-mouth control regulations, it was decided to shoot and use the remainder of the antelope population for research purposes. This report documents the findings on eight reedbuck Redunca arundinum which were collected in this area. Very little is known of the disease spectrum of this species in the wild state.


The United States has imposed a hard-line law enforcement drug control strategy on source and transit countries in Latin America, an approach that has not been successful to date and has caused significant collateral damage. This paper provides an overview of the impacts of current international anti-drug efforts and the debate in Washington about funding for such efforts, examining the cases of Bolivia and Colombia.


In a within-subject cross-over clinical trial, psychometric and functional measurements were taken while 15 completely edentulous subjects wore mandibular fixed prostheses and long-bar removable implant-supported prostheses. In this paper, the results of a psychometric assessment are presented. Eight subjects first received the fixed bridge and seven the removable type. After having worn a prosthesis for a minimum of two months, subjects responded to psychometric scales that measured their perceptions of various factors associated with prostheses. They also chewed test foods while masticatory activity was recorded. The prostheses were then changed and the procedures repeated. At the end of the study, patients were asked to choose the prosthesis that they wished to keep. Patients assigned significantly higher scores, on visual analogue scales, to both types of implant-supported prostheses than to their original conventional prostheses for all factors tested, including general satisfaction. However, no statistically significant differences between the two implant-supported prostheses were detected except for the difficulty of chewing carrot, apple, and sausage. For these foods, the fixed prostheses were rated higher. Subjects' responses to category scales were consistent with their responses to the visual analogue scales. These results suggest that, although patients find the fixed bridge to be significantly better for chewing harder foods, there is no difference in their general satisfaction with the two types of prostheses.


This report documents five cases of supernormal (SN) conductivity in the sense of unexpected normalization of the previously existing bundle-branch block (BBB) and three cases of SN excitability in which impulses delivered to the ventricles propagated to the myocardium only during a well-defined interval in the cardiac cycles corresponding to the U waves of the preceding beat. In none of the patients could SN be abolished by atropine, suggesting absence of an important vagal role. In the five patients with SN conductivity there were three examples of right BBB in which spontaneous, as well as electrically induced premature atrial beats, were followed by normal QRS complexes only if they reached the right bundle during its SN phase. In the other two patients with bilateral BBB, strategically placed sinus P waves and electrically induced atrial impulses were conducted to the ventricles with normal P-His and His-Q intervals. Analysis of the electrocardiograms and His bundle electrograms indicated that SN conductivity resided in the bundle branches, and not in the A-V node. In one of two patients with bilateral BBB and SN conductivity in the right bundle branch, the SN-conducted beats occurred after both left and right ventricular escape beats, but were coupled to the preceding escape beats by longer intervals after left ventricular escape beats than after right ventricular escape beats. The difference was accounted for by the later activation of the right bundle branch when the preceding escape beat originated from the contralateral left ventricle. These observations favor an electrophysiologic explanation for the phenomenon of supernormality which is most probably related to the increased voltage of the transmembrane action potential in the period commonly known as the period of negative afterpotentials. This study provides no support for the hemodynamic or vagal theory of supernormality.


(1) The somatic number of chromosomes is three, both in the male and female of Culex pipiens. (2) The number of chromosomes in the spermatogonia as well as in the primary and secondary spermatocytes and spermatids is three. (3) The spermatogonial cells are not characterised by a synizesis stage, which latter stage marks off the spermatogonial from the spermatocyte I stage. (4) The nuclear membrane persists throughout mitosis. (5) The synizesis stage represents an inactive phase of the nucleus in spermatogenesis. (6) A synizesis stage occurs in somatic nuclei.


It is possible to forward minimum-sized packets at rates of hundreds of Mbps using commodity hardware and Linux. We had a preference for the Click Modular Router platform due its flexibility and the fact that it claimed to have equal or higher performance than native forwarding if used with its polling drivers. Moreover, the NetFPGA is an open networking platform accelerator that enables researchers and instructors to build working prototypes of high-speed, hardware-accelerated networking systems. NetFPGA reference designs comprised in the system include an IPv4 router, an Ethernet switch, a four- port NIC, and SCONE (Software Component of NetFPGA). Researchers have used the platform to build advanced network flow processing systems. We have followed the RFC1242 - Benchmarking Terminology for Network Interconnection Devices - and the RFC2544 - Benchmarking Methodology for Network Interconnection Devices - in order to define the specific set of tests to use to describe the performance characteristics of the two routers. We have also shown a test comparison between the NetFPGA and the Click router about a file transfer using the FTP and the HTTP protocol.Overall, the NetFPGA router performance outperforms the Click router performance.


The purified extract of a new bacterial mutant, which exhibits antibiotic activity against paramecia and amoebae, was tested on various smooth muscle preparations. Spontaneous activity as well as the response to a variety of smooth muscle stimulants was diminished or completely suppressed. Intravenous injection of the extract lowered the blood pressure of the anaesthetized cat or dog. These properties may explain the beneficial effect of the extract on the intestinal symptoms of human amoebiasis, before eradication of the parasites.


We study the effect of substrate coupling on the variability and the device characteristics of monolayer MoS2 field-effect transistors (FETs). Our electrical measurement results reveal significant improvements of key FET device metrics and marked reduction of device variability with reducing the interfacial energy. We attribute the observed improvements of the device characteristics to the reduction of the interface trap density and the suppression of the charged impurity scattering. This study establishes the critical role of substrate coupling on the performance and variability of monolayer MoS2 FETs.


Single‐atom catalysts have become a popular choice in various catalysis applications, as they take advantages of both homogeneous catalysis (e.g., high efficiency) and heterogeneous catalysis (e.g., easy catalyst recovery). The atom support plays an indispensable role in anchoring atomic species and interplaying with them for ultimate catalytic performance. Therefore, development of new support materials for superior catalysis is of great importance. Here the synthesis of carbon nanofibers based on the reaction between phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5) and N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (NMP) is reported. The underlying reaction process is systematically investigated by Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The carbon nanofibers have interesting PN units in their chemical structure, which act as anchoring sites for the single‐atom catalyst. The Pt atoms anchoring carbon nanofibers exhibit high activity for hydrosilylation with a turnover frequency (TOF) of 9.2 × 106 h−1 and a selectivity of >99%. This research affords not only a new in situ chemical strategy to synthesize multiatom doped carbon nanofibers but also presents a potential superior support in catalysis, which opens a hopeful window in materials chemistry and catalysis applications.


Background: More than half of United States nurses are estimated to be overweight or obese. Interventions are needed that help nurses live healthier lifestyles. With most registered nurses being female and with an average age of 45.5 years in the category most likely to be obese, it is not promising that US nurses will become healthier over time without intervention. The Nurses Living Fit (NLF) program, an exercise- and nutrition-based intervention innovated by nurses, was developed to decrease body mass index in nurse participants and to help nurse's care for themselves and their families and patients. Subjects: A total of 217 nurses self-selected to the NLF intervention (n = 108) or contrast (no intervention; n = 109) groups. Methods: The NLF program included exercise (12 once-weekly sessions, 1 hour each), yoga (4 once-monthly sessions, 1 hour each), nutrition education (4 once-monthly sessions, 1 hour each taught by registered dietitians), diary completion (completed daily for 4 weeks specifying time spent on exercise/yoga, types and amount of food consumed, amount of water consumed, and hours slept), and healthy lifestyle principles education. Evaluation of the NLF program components was also completed. Results: The NLF participants had significant decreases in body mass index (NLF = −0.5 kg/m2; contrast = −0.2 kg/m2) and waist circumference (NLF = −0.9 in; contrast = −0.2 in). Overall, program component evaluation demonstrated that participants wanted more personalized exercise, more nutrition education, and year-round program provision. As a result of the NLF program, nurses specified they exercised more and improved nutrition. Conclusions: Evidence-based intervention or programs are needed to educate nurses on healthy lifestyles. Nurse leaders need to promote healthy workplace environments, which can be done in part through the facilitation of exercise- and nutrition-based programs, such as NLF, to help nurses better care for themselves and their families and patients.


Miniemulsion polymerization is a powerful technique to produce a whole variety of latexes with controlled colloidal and chemical properties, which has gained an increasing importance in the past years. For many applications, the following of the kinetics of polymerization is of crucial importance. In this study, we developed a technique based on the use of fluorescent probes that could be a very promising noninvasive method to follow the reaction in situ. It was possible to follow qualitatively the kinetics of methyl methacrylate (MMA) polymerization by measuring the photophysical properties of fluorescent probes sensitive to the modification of the viscosity of the microenvironment along the reaction course. Two fluorescent sensors have been considered: 1,1-dicyano-4-(4′-dimethylaminophenyl)-1,3-butadiene) and pyrene. In this article, we will show that using these two different fluorescent probes allow the detection of MMA polymerization in miniemulsion. The results will be compared with a classical NMR method. This method could be easily adapted to different monomers. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011


Background: Late-onset multiple sclerosis (LOMS) is defined as symptoms initiating at an age above 50. Objective: This study aims to determine the clinical and epidemiological aspects of LOMS in East-Azerbaijan province, Iran. Methods: This population-based study recruited nearly all MS patients to the end of 2020, who were diagnosed at age≥50, by referring to the only local MS registry center. We investigated prevalence, sex, age-of-onset, first clinical presentation, family history, and gap of diagnosis. Also, we compared the disease characteristics between male and female cases. Results: Out of 4905 total cases of MS, 217 cases (4.42%) were LOMS. The mean age of onset was 53.80±3.41 years with a maximum age of 68 years. The most common age group of the patients was 50 to 55 years (69.1%). The frequency by sex of LOMS in females (150) was greater than males (67). Positive family history was seen in 6.17%, and in 41% of the patients, the disease was diagnosed in a timely manner. Early symptoms were motor (31.3%), sensory (24.8%), optic neuritis (23%), cerebellar symptoms (13.8%), and brainstem symptoms (6.9%). The first presentation of the disease was different between male and female cases (P-value<0.01). Motor symptoms were the most prevalent first clinical presentation in female cases (37.6%), while in male cases, cerebellar symptoms (25.8%) were the most common. Conclusion: LOMS is not a rare condition. Increasing knowledge in the diagnosis, as well as increasing awareness of the disease in the general population, leads to early diagnosis of LOMS and prevention of consequences.


In Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems of breast cancer, extraction of the breast region and delineation of the breast contour with the pectoral muscle being removed is an essential preprocessing step. Primarily it allows the search for abnormalities to be limited to the region of the breast without undue effect from the background of the mammogram. This paper presents a new method for the identification and removal of the pectoral muscle in medio-Iateral oblique (MLO) view of mammogram using iterative thresholding. Our algorithm also identifies the presence of abnormal axillary lymph nodes, which is a major sign of breast carcinoma, and detects the breast border.


Abstract The appropriate use of digital information requires skills that enable regulation of cognitive thinking. This research is focused on building a scale that measures the learning strategies used by teachers and the ones they observe being practiced by their students, either adopting classical media technologies or the internet, besides pursuing evidence of internal consistency for such scale. Altogether, 515 teachers from Parana and Mato Grosso do Sul states in Brazil participated in the research. The first stage was focused on preparing the questions, and the second on the search for evidence of internal consistency for the Learning Strategies Used and Observed by Teachers (LSUOT) scale. The results revealed the reliability of the tool by internal structural analysis, showing its psychometric properties. It is safe to consider that the results can make contributions to teachers in the utilization and teaching of strategies that make the learning process in this current digital society easier.


Currently, unsupervised heterogeneous domain adaptation in a generalized setting, which is the most common scenario in real-world applications, is under insufficient exploration. Existing approaches either are limited to special cases or require labeled target samples for training. This paper aims to overcome these limitations by proposing a generalized framework, named as transfer independently together (TIT). Specifically, we learn multiple transformations, one for each domain (independently), to map data onto a shared latent space, where the domains are well aligned. The multiple transformations are jointly optimized in a unified framework (together) by an effective formulation. In addition, to learn robust transformations, we further propose a novel landmark selection algorithm to reweight samples, i.e., increase the weight of pivot samples and decrease the weight of outliers. Our landmark selection is based on graph optimization. It focuses on sample geometric relationship rather than sample features. As a result, by abstracting feature vectors to graph vertices, only a simple and fast integer arithmetic is involved in our algorithm instead of matrix operations with float point arithmetic in existing approaches. At last, we effectively optimize our objective via a dimensionality reduction procedure. TIT is applicable to arbitrary sample dimensionality and does not need labeled target samples for training. Extensive evaluations on several standard benchmarks and large-scale datasets of image classification, text categorization and text-to-image recognition verify the superiority of our approach.


This study aims to analyze the policy strategy for the development of effective effort to increase the income of seaweed fishermen. The data were collected through observation, interview, questionnaire and documentation. Data were analyzed by using descriptive analysis, indicator analysis and policy succesfull, and SWOT analysis. Results showed that seaweed fishermen have problems associated with human resources, capital, facility availability, marketing of seaweed product, seaweed seeds supply, weather and networking. The policies and efforts which have been done by local government in Tarakan have not solved the problems yet. This study suggest to maximize the strength and opportunity (SO strategy), utilize the internal strength and minimize external threaten (ST strategy), utilize the opportunity and minimize the weakness (WO strategy) and minimize weakness and anticipate threaten (WT strategy).


Purpose: This study aimed to identify molecular prognostic biomarkers for gastric cancer. Methods: mRNA and miRNA expression profiles of eligible gastric cancer and control samples were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus to screen the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRs), using MetaDE and limma packages, respectively. Target genes of the DEmiRs were also collected from both predictive and experimentally validated target databases of miRNAs. The overlapping genes between selected targets and DEGs were identified as risk genes, followed by functional enrichment analysis. Human pathways and their corresponding genes were downloaded from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database for the expression analysis of each pathway in gastric cancer samples. Next, co-pathway pairs were selected according to the Pearson correlation coefficients. Finally, the co-pathway pairs, miRNA–target pairs, and risk gene–pathway pairs were merged into a complex interaction network, the most important nodes (miRNAs/target genes/co-pathway pairs) of which were selected by calculating their degrees. Results: Totally, 1,260 DEGs and 144 DEmiRs were identified. There were 336 risk genes found in the 9,572 miRNA–target pairs. Judging from the pathway expression files, 45 co-pathway pairs were screened out. There were 1,389 interactive pairs and 480 nodes in the integrated network. Among all nodes in the network, focal adhesion/extracellular matrix–receptor interaction pathways, CALM2, miR-19b, and miR-181b were the hub nodes with higher degrees. Conclusion: CALM2, hsa-miR-19b, and hsa-miR-181b might be used as potential prognostic targets for gastric cancer.


The article shows how problems in Soviet and later Russian sinology contributed to the uneven development of the discipline because ideology and dwindling resources, both material and human, influenced the integrity of the research and led to a transformation of Chinese Studies in post-Soviet Russia. By presenting an overview of Chinese Studies in Russia in key disciplinary segments over the last twenty-five years, the article reveals how the appearance of modern research themes addressing foreign policy issues, history, and law helped to produce methodologies for an integral interdisciplinary China research program that did not exist during Soviet times.


Property marking is a popular tool used by police agencies in burglary prevention programmes. 345 property marking kits were distributed to households in a treatment area in an English city. Changes in burglary in the treatment area were compared to three control areas. Crime type displacement to vehicle crime, criminal damage and violent crime, and changes in crime while controlling for geographic displacement were examined. Burglary decreased significantly by 82% in the treatment area in comparison to control areas during the first six months of the intervention. A significant diffusion of benefit effect to vehicle crime and criminal damage was also observed. The decreases, however, were short-lived with burglary levels returning to pre-intervention levels in the treatment area after 12 months.


ABSTRACT This paper identifies the dilemma faced by the stakeholders of existing buildings in regards to a decision making process for energy retrofitting. This paper also identifies the missing stage viewed as the "integrity audit "which can lead to substantial savings in the area of building operation. The methodology is centered on identifying energy waste first, reducing the overall peak electrical demand and then retrofitting for energy-efficiency. A proposed "integrity audit" leads to the classification of three main energy culprits: the identification of waste, missed opportunities, and rescheduling the operation of equipment use. A case study indicating the financial advantages of applying this methodology for a commercial building are presented. The energy retrofitting strategy is divided into two main categories, namely building control improvements and building component implementation. The payback periods are often within months if not immediate.


Comparative judgement (CJ) is often said to be more suitable for judging exam questions inviting extended responses, as it is easier for judges to make holistic judgements on a small number of large, extended tasks than a large number of smaller tasks. On the other hand, there is evidence it may also be appropriate for judging responses to papers made up of many smaller structured tasks. We report on two CJ exercises on mathematics and science exam papers, which are constructed mainly of highly structured items. This is to explore whether judgements processed by the simplified pairs version of CJ can approximate the empirical difference in difficulty of pairs of papers. This can then be used to maintain standards between exam papers. This use of CJ, not its other use as an alternative to marking, is the focus of this paper. Within the exercises discussed, panels of experienced judges looked at pairs of scripts, from different sessions of the same test, and their judgements were processed via the simplified pairs CJ method. This produces a single figure for the estimated difference in difficulty between versions. We compared this figure to the difference obtained from traditional equating, used as a benchmark. In the mathematics study the difference derived from judgement via simplified pairs closely approximated the empirical equating difference. However, in science, the CJ outcome did not closely align with the empirical difference in difficulty. Reasons for the discrepancy may include the differences in the content of the exams or the specific judges. However, clearly, comparative judgement need not lead to an accurate impression of the relative difficulty of different exams. We discuss self-reported judge views on how they judged, including what questions they focused on, and the implications of these for the validity of CJ. Processes used when judging papers made up of highly structured tasks were varied, but judges were generally consistent enough. Some potential challenges to the validity of comparative judgement are present with judges sometimes using re-marking strategies, and sometimes focusing attention on subsets of the paper, and we explore these. A greater understanding of what judges are doing when they judge comparatively brings to the fore questions of judgement validity that remain implicit in marking and non-comparative judgement contexts.


The large amounts of data collected during a typical flight with an unmanned aerial vehicle creates challenges for rapid analysis and inspection. A single two-hour flight can collect about 7200 images if the camera captures at 1 Hz, yielding about 20 GB of data. Additional instruments and sensors all add to the size and complexity of the dataset generated by a flight. Efficient visualization of data is one way to deal with the resulting complexity. This paper presents Norut Geo Viz, a system for visualizing data from unmanned aerial vehicles both in realtime and after landing in 3D on a virtual globe. The system has been developed from the ground up to provide control and customizability of the resulting visualization. The architecture, design and implementation of the system is presented, as well as experiences using the system for visualization in the field during flight campaigns conducted by Norut.


We report a case of 90-year-old patient who underwent preoperative 3-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) volumetric analysis using SYNAPSE VINCENT imaging software and anatomical resection of segment VIII using ultrasound-guided vessel compression. Preoperative abdominal CT revealed a liver mass measuring 5.0 cm in diameter, and the patient was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver function was preserved. Preoperative 3D volumetry using SYNAPSE VINCENT revealed the volume of the entire liver to be 1,339 mL and the volume of segment VIII to be 327 mL. Anatomical hepatic resection of segment VIII was performed using ultrasound-guided vessel compression. Operative duration was 372 min and estimated blood loss was 760 mL. Resected liver volume was 290 g. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and there has been no evidence of recurrence since the surgery.


ABSTRACT Following pioneering work in Norway, cirque glaciers have widely been viewed as rigidly rotating bodies. This model is incorrect for basin-filling cirque glaciers, as we have demonstrated at West Washmawapta Glacier, a small glacier in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Here we report observations at the same glacier that assess whether complex temporal variations of flow also occur. For parts of three summers, we measured daily displacements of the glacier surface. In one year, four short-duration speed-up events were recorded. Three of the events occurred during the intervals of warmest weather, when melt was most rapid; the fourth event occurred immediately following heavy rain. We interpret the speed-up events as manifestations of enhanced water inputs to the glacier bed and associated slip lubrication by increased water volumes and pressures. No further speed-ups occurred in the final month of the melt season, despite warm temperatures and several rainstorms; the dominant subglacial water system likely transformed from one of poorly connected cavities to one with an efficient channel network. The seasonal evolution of hydrology and flow resembles behaviors documented at other, larger temperate glaciers and indicates that analyses of cirque erosion cannot rely on simple assumptions about ice dynamics.


Educational hackathons are a new way to respond to some of the biggest challenges in education. This exploratory study seeks to define the key elements of these hackathons and to offer a theoretical and practical starting point for future publications and research. A literature review is carried out, with the information then contrasted with the experience as organizers of EDhack Raval, the first community-focussed educational hackathon in Catalonia. Observations, a questionnaire and interviews are used to add depth and objectivity to the wealth of data derived from field work. The results point to the valorization of the freedom of the creative process, the generation of community networks and social learning over the creation of solutions, findings that coincide with the latest research.Thus, the study concludes that educational agents would do well to appropriate, adapt and evaluate the assets of the hacker culture, making sure not to commit the error or organising hackathons that promote solutionism, elitism and competition.


Recent confirmation of widespread microbial activity in the deep subsurface has raised the question whether microbes were transported to their current residence from the surface or whether they have survived in situ since sediment deposition. As a part of a larger study addressing these and related questions, we have characterized the microbiology and hydrogeology of a Late Cretaceous sandstone and shale sequence in the southeastern San Juan Basin New Mexico, near a 3.39 Ma volcanic intrusion. Deep core samples were analyzed for microbial activity to assess recolonization of the previously sterilized zone around the intrusion. Groundwater geochemistry and isotopic data were used to improve the understanding of the flow regime. We modeled the geochemical evolution of the groundwater from the recharge area to each sample location and used the resultant mass transfers to correct measured 14C activities. The 14C ages provided the basis for calibrating a cross‐sectional flow model that intersects the intrusion. Based on microbial activity data, hydrogeologic modeling results supported the inference that groundwater velocities were adequate to transport microbes into the previously sterilized region in the time since the volcanic intrusion. Evidence of upward groundwater flow near the intrusion and high vertical hydraulic conductivities for shale suggest considerable hydraulic connection between lithologie units, which may influence the nutrient distribution and promote enhanced microbial activity near lithologic interfaces.


The emergent Semantic Web community needs a common infrastructure for testing the scalability and quality of new techniques and software which use machine processable data. Since ontologies are a centerpiece of most approaches , we believe that for an accurate evaluation of tools for quality, scalability and performance, the research community needs a freely available ontology with a large description base. If the use of tools is to be for advanced semantic applications, such as those in business intelligence and national security, then instances in the knowledge base should be highly interconnected. Thus, we propose and describe a Semantic W Eb Technology evaluation Ontology (SWETO) test-bed. In particular, we address the requirements of a test-bed to support research in semantic analytics, as well as the steps in its development, including, ontology creation, semi-automatic data extraction, and entity disambiguation.


The contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization(CLAHE) is an advanced method for the histogram equalization which is a common contrast enhancement technique. The CLAHE divides the image into sections, and applies the contrast limited histogram equalization for each section. X-ray images can be classified into three areas: skin, bone, and air area. In clinical application, the interest area is limited to the skin or bone area depending on the diagnosis region. The CLAHE could deteriorate X-ray image quality because the CLAHE enhances the area which doesn't need to be enhanced. In this paper, we propose a new method which automatically determines the clip limit of CLAHE's parameter to improve X-ray image quality using fuzzy logic. We introduce fuzzy logic which is possible to determine clip limit proportional to the interest of users. Experimental results show that the proposed method improve images according to the user's preference by focusing on the subject.


OBJECTIVE
Explore the status quo of eye bank in each province in China.

METHODS
Design questionnaires according to the eye bank permit standard. Questionnaires were sent to members of Chinese Medical Association Chinese Ophthalmological Society's Cornea Group, large eye hospital and department of ophthalmology in provincial hospital, from February to September 2009. The content involved institution set-up condition of eye bank, request of ground and equipment, personnel, quality management, and propaganda. Subjective questions were also raised about the difficulty and solution. 81 questionnaires were sent out and 59 were replied, in which 18 had no eye bank, and the other 41 had eye banks.

RESULTS
More than 35 eye banks equipped with the essential equipment of eye bank; more than 37 (90.2%) did safe detection through blood; 34 (82.9%) eye banks' supply was unable to meet the demand; 32 eye banks (78.0%) in iteratively promoted cornea donation. 24 eye banks reflected that the most important difficulty was unsound of the law, and legislation was to petition; 17 reflected the insufficient of funds; 14 reflected the lack of the unified standard; and 12 advocated the consciousness of contribution.

CONCLUSIONS
Most of the eye banks in China have the essential hardware equipment and the quality management, but the unbalanced development and the lack of the unified management. The supply of cornea donator is unable to meet the demand.


Risk assessments are valuable for identifying, analysing and evaluating risks. However, there seem to be a general tendency to accept the analyses as objective measures of risks, when in reality a fair amount of subjectivity is involved. The primary reason for this subjectivity results from utilising expert judgement. Experts exhibit the same types of biases as lay people with respect to perception of risk, especially when forced to go beyond the limits of their observable expertise. Problems associated with using expert judgements stem from the lack of adequate understanding and treatment of biases. As risk analyses are rational procedures for evaluating risks, values and limitations should be taken into account in a realistic and well documented manner. The contributions from the risk analyses may then be combined with considerations of subjective perceptions of risk and value judgements in the decision making process.


Nowadays, numerous organizations in Romania are aiming to improve health, safety and wellbeing at work conditions. Certain companies, having given these conditions such a high level of priority that, beyond compliance with legislative requirements, are trying to create a culture of safety built into their corporate culture. Integration of occupational health and safety management at all levels is increasingly perceived as an effective way to develop a strong and sustainable safety culture, which is the best way to ensure compliance with legislative requirements and social expectations and as well to obtain economic benefits. The aim of the present article is to express in a systematic, coherent and pragmatic manner the meaning and interconnections of the three pillars that now are considered necessary to effectively implement safety management and occupational health processes in global economic performance conditions for Romanian organizations.


ABSTRACT Based on findings from a study examining the lived experiences of dementia carers in their neighbourhoods, this article offers a vision of what dementia-friendly communities could look like from a carer perspective and in a Canadian context. Twelve carers in Ottawa and its surrounding regions were interviewed using a combination of social network maps, mobile interviews, and participant-driven photography. The findings, organized according to the categories "relationships", "places", and "everyday practices", reveal that many of the carers' choices regarding businesses, services, home location, outings, and everyday practices, are based on a desire to maintain social connections and social citizenship. The article concludes with recommendations for consideration in the planning of dementia-friendly neighbourhood initiatives.


Purpose. The purpose of the study was to assess the results of the proposed method of surgical treatment of massive subretinal macular hemorrhage in the wet form of age-r elated macular degeneration. Material and methods. A comparative study of the results of treatment of massive subretinal hemorrhage associated with the exudative AMD-related. 17 patients (17 eyes) were being observed in the clinic with submacular hemorrhages of varying severity, which occurred against the background of exudative AMD-related. The average age of the subjects was 71.47±6.15 years. The maximum corrected visual acuity at the time of admission averaged 0,04±0.03. All patients were previously treated with anti-VEGF therapy, and number intravitreal injections was in the range from 3 to 14. The experience of the disease was 2,35±0,77 years, the prescription of hemorrhage – 5,47±3,55 days. The mean size of the subretinal hemorrhage was 21.41±3.37 DD. According to optical coherence tomography, the average value of retinal thickness in the macular region was 1081,29±389,67 microns. The day before surgery all patients underwent surgical treatment according to the author's method (patent No. 2696056) – intravitreal injection Gemase® 3000 ME, 0,2 ml. The next day was performed vitrectomy 25G, local removal of the ILM and subretinal injection Gemase® 3000 ME – 0.3 ml and 0.2 ml of sterile air, fluid-air exchange 70% of the volume vitreal cavity, intravitreal injection Eylea® 0.05 ml, tamponade of vitreous cavity with 20% SF6. After the operation, the patient was placed «horizontally on the back» for 2 hours, then he had to be in an upright position to move the blood clot to the lower parts of the ocular floor . Results. Intraoperative complications were not observed in any of the cases. A complete dislocation of subretinal hemorrhage from under fovea zone was achieved in every patient's postoperative period. Conclusion. The proposed surgical method provides rapid recovery of subject vision and can be used in the treatment of massive submacular hemorrhages of any etiology.


The three parts of the scapegoat cognitive mechanism (crisis, aggressiveness to an individual or a minority group, catharsis which restores even strengthens the cohesion of the social group) are present in Barres' novels, especially in the trilogy Le Roman de l'energie nationale. The presence of scapegoats in these novels presents a number of peculiarities, that is why it cannot be interpreted using an external interpretative model, like Rene Girard's. In regards to the historical context, it takes on a different perspective. The scapegoat representation in these novels helped Barres develop a nationalist ideology, during the time of the Dreyfus' affair, as well as his observation of a social crisis which he calls uprooting. This representation connects to the rising sociological thoughts, because the scapegoat has been used by Durkheim to explain anti-Semitism. However, Barres and Durkheim diverge: the sociologist gives a demystifying explanation, whereas the nationalist novelist uses the scapegoat to introduce his readers to the necessity of defending the social body against invaders.


Cinnamyl alcohol (1) and two derivatives 2 and 3 have been incorporated in dehydrated HMor and HZSM-5 zeolites with the aim to characterize spectroscopically the corresponding carbocations generated within the solids. Product studies of the supernatant liquid phase combined with diffuse reflectance UV-vis and IR spectroscopy provide unequivocal evidence for the carbocations. Thus, cinnamyl alcohol (1) affords the 1,5-diphenylpentadienyl cation in HMor and HZSM-5 as a persistent species. In the case of HMor with larger pore dimensions the bulkier 1-(2'-cinnamyl)-3-phenylpropenyl cation was also spectroscopically detected. No persistent carbocation was observed when the alpha-methylcinnamyl alcohol (2) was incorporated in the acid zeolites, wherein a complete cyclization to 2-methylindene takes place. Finally, incorporation of 2-methyl-4-tolyl-3-buten-2-ol (3) in HZSM-5 allowed detection of the gem-dimethyl-subsituted p-methylcinnamyl cation, with a lifetime of hours. This cation is not persistent enough in HMor to be characterized. The present study illustrates how structurally related allylic substrates may give distinct carbenium ions whose persistence depends on the host-guest fit in the interior of the acid zeolites.


The verification of planning domain models is crucial to ensure the safety, integrity and correctness of planning-based automated systems. This task is usually performed using model checking techniques. However, unconstrained application of model checkers to verify planning domain models can result in false positives, i.e.counterexamples that are unreachable by a sound planner when using the domain under verification during a planning task. In this paper, we discuss the downside of unconstrained planning domain model verification. We then introduce the notion of a valid planning counterexample, and demonstrate how model checkers, as well as state trajectory constraints planning techniques, should be used to verify planning domain models so that invalid planning counterexamples are not returned.


While ecological sustainability of organic agriculture (OA) has been frequently investigated, there are limited studies on its social sustainability, especially in developing countries. Given significant benefits of OA, screening the potential social risks associated with OA seems necessary. This paper introduces a socio-political ambiguity approach based on a hybrid model of 'risk and social impact assessment' for screening the risks of OA. As a case study, the paper focuses on the OA development in Iran using qualitative research to elicit opinions and judgments of farmers, consumers, and policy-makers. The results of the study revealed that there are serious ambiguities and risks associated with OA. This paper demonstrates that risks (especially social risks) of OA have received too little attention and were considered as can be neglected.