Context: About 490 million cases of curable Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI) occur throughout the world, of which 79 million cases occur in India annually. Sexually Transmitted Infections/Reproductive Tract Infections (STI/RTI) confers a huge economic burden on the individual and the health system. Complications of RTI/STI are many, ranging from chronic pain syndrome to infertility. Most of these complications can be prevented by early diagnosis and treatment. Aims: To assess knowledge, attitude and practices on STI/RTIs among married women aged 15-45 years in rural Haryana. Setting and Design: Cross-sectional study, conducted in selected villages under the primary health centre Mandi, Sonepat, Haryana. Subjects and Methods: Systematic sampling was used to cover 10 villages. In each village, every tenth house was sampled, taking first house from the center of the village. Face-to-face interview was conducted using pretested questionnaire. Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive statistics and results were described in percentages. Results: A total of 344 women were interviewed. About 44% women had never heard of STI/RTI. The prevalence of self-reported symptoms of STI/RTI was very high (60%). Only 40% of them opted for treatment and most common cause for not opting for treatment was that they considered it as a minor problem. Advice for use of condom during the treatment was received by only 20% of patients and only 26.5% of their husbands also received treatment. Conclusions: Overall knowledge, attitude and practices relating to STI/RTI among married women in rural Haryana was poor. The prevalence of self-reported STI/RTI was found to be high and treatment seeking behavior was poor.


Background Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) have been increasingly deployed to bridge gaps in mental health care, particularly given their promising efficacy. Nevertheless, attrition among DMHI users remains high. In response, human support has been studied as a means of improving retention to and outcomes of DMHIs. Although a growing number of studies and meta-analyses have investigated the effects of human support for DMHIs on mental health outcomes, systematic empirical evidence of its effectiveness across mental health domains remains scant. Objective We aimed to summarize the results of meta-analyses of human support versus no support for DMHI use across various outcome domains, participant samples, and support providers. Methods We conducted a systematic meta-review of meta-analyses, comparing the effects of human support with those of no support for DMHI use, with the goal of qualitatively summarizing data across various outcome domains, participant samples, and support providers. We used MEDLINE, PubMed, and PsycINFO electronic databases. Articles were included if the study had a quantitative meta-analysis study design; the intervention targeted mental health symptoms and was delivered via a technology platform (excluding person-delivered interventions mediated through telehealth, text messages, or social media); the outcome variables included mental health symptoms such as anxiety, depression, stress, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, or a number of these symptoms together; and the study included quantitative comparisons of outcomes in which human support versus those when no or minimal human support was provided. Results The results of 31 meta-analyses (505 unique primary studies) were analyzed. The meta-analyses reported 45 effect sizes; almost half (n=22, 48%) of them showed that human-supported DMHIs were significantly more effective than unsupported DMHIs. A total of 9% (4/45) of effect sizes showed that unsupported DMHIs were significantly more effective. No clear patterns of results emerged regarding the efficacy of human support for the outcomes assessed (including anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, stress, and multiple outcomes). Human-supported DMHIs may be more effective than unsupported DMHIs for individuals with elevated mental health symptoms. There were no clear results regarding the type of training for those providing support. Conclusions Our findings highlight the potential of human support in improving the effects of DMHIs. Specifically, evidence emerged for stronger effects of human support for individuals with greater symptom severity. There was considerable heterogeneity across meta-analyses in the level of detail regarding the nature of the interventions, population served, and support delivered, making it difficult to draw strong conclusions regarding the circumstances under which human support is most effective. Future research should emphasize reporting detailed descriptions of sample and intervention characteristics and describe the mechanism through which they believe the coach will be most useful for the DMHI.


The aim of our research was retrospective analysis of poisoning with cardiovascular drugs (T46 according to ICD 10 classification) in patients over 59 years old, hospitalized in Province Poisoning Centre in Lublin, in the period from 1995 to 2001. There were hospitalized 288 patients at this time age, over 59 years old. Among this 16 persons were poisoned with cardiovascular drugs (one accidental and 15 suicidal intoxications), and 3 of them died. Different kinds of cardiovascular medications were used e.g. digoxin, nitrates, hypotensive drugs (as single and multiplied drug poisonings). At 3 of the patients depression was diagnosed.


This chapter reviews the nature of scientific consensus and how it can be communicated in the digital age. Specifically, the role of professional and social media in representing anthropogenic climate change around the United Nations Copenhagen Summit (also known as COP-15), are explored. Two examples are analysed in detail: the publication of emails from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (also known as 'climategate'); and the rate of decline of the Himalayan glaciers from the fourth assessment report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is argued that attempts to promote, maintain, destabilise and repair the scientific consensus of anthropogenic climate change may have profound implications for science communication. Digital media have extended the ways that scientific information can be circulated and discussed in the public sphere, making it easier for actors to challenge a scientific consensus. Communication around COP-15 may indirectly influence the ways that scientific knowledge is produced, verified and archived, and what information and data are required to be circulated in the public sphere when a peer reviewed paper is published. Within this wider context calls for social change in how we respond to a changing climate may be more effectively sought via the rhetoric of precaution.


The one way function based on Collatz problem is proposed. While Colatz ($3x+1$) problem is well known and undecided, the proposal is actually based on the problem's underlying conditional branching structure. The analysis shows why the $3x+1$ problem is so difficult and how the algorithm conditional branching structure can be used to construct an one way function.


Prior research on school climate has focused on relationships between teachers and students, peer relationships, order and discipline, student engagement, and academic support to create an environment where students can be academically successful. No universally accepted standard definition encompasses all facets of the school climate construct. Although teacher working conditions have a direct impact on the future of students, few studies exist on teacher and principal perceptions of this construct. This comparative analysis study used archival data from the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey (NCTWCS) to determine if differences existed between teacher and principal perceptions of the working environment. A dataset containing 101,846 responses was used to analyze one research question. After data cleaning, a random selection of 100 teachers and 100 principals was taken from 33,379 clean cases. A multivariate analysis of variance was used to compare eight NCTWCS scale scores of the teachers and principals. Significant differences were found between teachers and principals on all eight scales. Principals and teachers are the driving forces behind school culture and a positive school climate. Understanding these differences can help to design policies that can create positive school climates and increase school improvement efforts. Implications are numerous because researchers can now state definitively that there are differences in teacher and principal perceptions of the working environment. Researchers can begin to ask why these differences exist and propose a way to lessen the gap. Principals and teachers may never completely agree on their perceptions of working conditions but they can work together to create an environment that inspires teacher retention and increased student achievement.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
We evaluated the influence of gender on the formation and rupture of familial cerebral aneurysms.

METHODS
We studied 30 patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysms from 14 consecutive families. These patients were compared with the patients with sporadic aneurysms reported by the first Cooperative Study.

RESULTS
Eighty percent of familial aneurysms occurred in women versus 59% of sporadic aneurysms (P < .05, chi 2 test). This overrepresentation of women occurred at below the age of 50 years, where 78% of patients with familial aneurysms were women compared with 45% for sporadic aneurysms (P < .01, chi 2 test). Above this age, there was no statistical difference in incidence of familial aneurysms in men or women compared with sporadic aneurysms. In women with familial aneurysms, rupture occurred before the age of 50 years in 59%, compared with 31% for sporadic aneurysms (P < .01, chi 2 test). In four of five families, aneurysms ruptured within 10 years of each other in sisters (mean, 6 years). Multiple aneurysms were equal in both groups (17%), but multiple familial aneurysms occurred mainly in women. There was no difference in the site of single cerebral aneurysms in either group, but familial aneurysms in females occurred at the same site in five of eight families (62%) and in 11 of 17 mother-daughter or sister pairs (65%), compared with 20% for two randomly selected sporadic aneurysms (P < .01).

CONCLUSIONS
There is an overrepresentation of women with ruptured familial aneurysms compared with those with sporadic aneurysms. Familial aneurysms rupture in females predominantly before the age of 50, in the same decade, and at the same site within families in the majority of cases. These observations support a possible genetic cause for cerebral aneurysms and a possible hormonal contribution to their rupture.


The availability of affordable head-mounted display technology has facilitated new, potentially more immersive, interactive multimedia experiences. These technologies were traditionally focused on entertainment; however, academia and industry are now exploring applications in other domains such as health, learning and training. Key to the success of these new multimedia experiences is the understanding of a user's perceived quality of experience (QoE). Subjective user ratings have been the primary mechanism to capture insights into a user's experience. Such ratings have generally been captured post experience and reflected using a mean opinion score (MOS). However, user perception is multifactorial and subjective ratings alone do not express the true measure of an experience. As a result, recent efforts to capture QoE have included exploring the use of implicit metrics (e.g., physiological measures). This article presents the results of an experimental QoE evaluation and comparison of immersive applications delivered across three multimedia platforms. The platforms compared were augmented reality, tablet and virtual reality. The QoE methodology employed considered explicit (post-test questionnaire) and implicit (heart rate and electrodermal activity) assessment methods. The results indicate comparatively higher levels of QoE for users of the augmented reality and tablet platforms.


Docetaxel belongs to taxane family of antineoplastic agents that are indicated for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. Docetaxel is associated with many adverse effects, and pulmonary reaction has an incidence of 41%. However, interstitial pulmonary disease is found to occur only in <1% of the population as per the post-marketing surveillance reports. Here, we report a case of docetaxel-induced interstitial lung disease (ILD). The patient information and details were collected using the hospital information system. The adverse drug reaction (ADR) of ILD occurred after 5 cycles of chemotherapy with docetaxel at a dose of 60 mg/m2 that is 80 mg IV. The causality of the event in our case was assessed using the Naranjo ADR probability scale which marked a score of 7 (probable). It is necessary that all physicians be aware of the reaction and to closely monitor clinicoradiological and functional status of the patients at regular intervals after administration of docetaxel.


Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) recognize peptide antigens in the context of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. CTL-mediated immunity is important for defense against cancers and virus infections, and thus viruses and tumors have evolved CTL-evasion mechanisms. The transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) is a key factor for MHC class I assembly, and TAP is a frequent target of immune evasion by viruses and tumors. WO2009008713 discloses potential therapeutic uses of TAP inhibitors encoded by Epstein–Barr virus and its lymphocryptovirus (LCV) homologs. In particular, WO2009008713 proposes the use of LCV TAP inhibitors and their combinations with other viral TAP inhibitors to elicit novel categories of CTLs that destroy target cells in which the function of TAP or other components of the MHC class I assembly pathway is inhibited. Alternatively, WO2009008713 proposes the use of LCV TAP inhibitors and their combinations with other viral TAP inhibitors to more efficiently generate tumor-specific T-cell epitopes for immunotherapy. The methods described in WO2009008713 offer the promise of new strategies of cancer immunotherapy. However, significant optimization of therapy conditions and characterizations of eligible tumor types will be needed to further develop therapeutic use of TAP inhibitors.


For Class 1 components, the consideration of the environmental effects on fatigue has been suggested to be evaluated through two different methodologies: either NUREG/CR-6909 from March 2007 or ASME-Code Case N-761 from August 2010. The purpose of this technical paper is to compare these two methods. In addition, the equations from Revision 1 of the NUREG/CR-6909 will be evaluated.For these comparisons, two stainless steel component fatigue test series with documented results are considered. These two fatigue test series are completely different from each other (applied cyclic displacements vs. insurge/outsurge types of transients). Therefore, they are producing an appropriate foundation for these comparisons.In general, the severities of the two methods are compared, where the severity is defined as the actual number of cycles from the fatigue tests, including an evaluation of the scatter, divided by the number of design cycles from the two methods. Also, how stable the methods are is being evaluated through the calculation of the coefficient of variation for each method.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


More people in the world to feed, rising wealth and a new focus on healthy foods are generating a rising tide of demand for fish. This rise in demand is happening just when the main sources of fish and other aquatic life are struggling to keep pace, and prices of many aquatic commodities are increasing. Fish is caught from natural or wild fisheries stocks, from enhanced and restored fisheries stocks and is cultured on farms. All sources of supply present economic opportunities but each faces major problems. Most natural fish stocks are heavily depleted already, and continue to be over-exploited because fisheries management is inadequate to counter the drive to exploit. Aquaculture has made great progress in some countries, largely driven by markets and specific innovations but ignoring externalities such as the environment, feeds and social equity. Stock restoration and stock enhancement show promise for some species and some environments but have received little development attention. Whether the poor will rise on or submerge under the tide of fish demand depends on how affordable fish remains, and what access they have to the means of fish production for income and livelihood. Policy, technical and business solutions are needed to help the poor meet the challenges. The solutions are location and country-specific, but advances should be sought on three fronts: (1) domesticating key species for aquaculture production systems and selecting good candidate species for restoring and enhancing stocks in the wild, (2) making fish trade, development assistance and fisheries cooperation strategies coherent to enhance developing country capacity to capture equitable benefits of fish trade, and (3) managing natural fisheries resources to restore them and make them sustainable.


Estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER and PR) in 18 cases of ovarian endometriosis and 13 cases of adenomyosis were determined with dextran coated charcoal (DCC) method. The levels of ER and PR in those specimens were lower than those of normal endometrium. Among the 18 cases of ovarian endometriosis, 6 (33.4%) were negative for PR, which accounted for the unsatisfactory results of progesterone treatment for some endometriosis. In the 13 cases of adenomyosis there were 10 (76.9%) showing positive PR. It is suggested that the hormone therapy may be useful to treat those young patients with adenomyosis instead of surgery. The correlation of the ER and PR levels, the treatment and prognosis in endometriosis and adenomyosis are worth further studying.


In November 2022, Wejo Data Services Inc. provided Purdue with a national data set comprised of approximately 470 billion connected vehicle records covering all 50 states for the month of August 2022. The goal of the evaluation data set was to create a series of summary graphics to evaluate the scalability of work zone analytics graphics and electric/hybrid vehicle counts at a national level. This report illustrates several performance measures developed using this dataset for all interstate routes, both state wise and cross-country. State wise graphics are organized with 50 subdirectories containing graphics for each interstate in the 50 states. There are also a series of multi-state graphics for I-5, I-10, I-15, I-35, I-55, I-65, I-75, I-80, I-90, and I-95. Performance measures include absolute and normalized trip counts classified by type of trip (electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle or internal combustion engine vehicle), weekly heatmaps based on vehicle speed overlaid with hard-braking events and finally, speed profiles by interstate mile markers. Additional details on the directories and how to interpret these performance measures can found inside the document (after extracting the .zip file) titled "National_Mobility_Analysis_README.pdf".


The aim of this work was determined turbulent burning velocities of air-syngas-methane flames at sub-atmospheric conditions using the angle method and Schlieren imaging. We analyzed a high hydrogen content syngas that can be obtained with a Conoco-Phillips coal gasification process. Equivalence ratios evaluated here correspond to lean combustion conditions: 0.8-1.0. Experiments were carried out at room temperature of 297 K and 849 mbar. The chemical-turbulence interaction was evaluated considering geometric parameters, laminar flame properties, and turbulence length scales. It was found that the turbulent burning velocity and the ratio between turbulent and laminar burning velocities increases with the turbulence intensity. Additionally, the addition of syngas to methane increases the laminar and turbulent burning velocity.


A method for manufacturing a polarizing layered film, for drawing and contracting a polarizing layered film in a drawing step while the TD scale factor and the MD scale factor satisfy the relationship in the formula (1) below in a first interval in which 1.0 3.0, the TD scale factor being the length during drawing in relation to the length at the start of the drawing step in the width direction of a polyvinyl alcohol resin layer, and the MD scale factor being the length during contraction in relation to the length at the start of the drawing step in the longitudinal direction. Formula 1: MD scale factor <= (-0.2) x TD scale factor + 1.2 Formula 2: MD scale factor <= (-0.1/3) x TD scale factor + 0.7


This research aimed to discuss zakat in the context of contribution and community economic welfare in the perspective of zakat institutionalization and regulation, sources of foreign exchange, and distribution of capital and human development. The method used was the qualitative approach through academic literature to obtain the concepts that were relevant to the study of zakat and the community economic welfare. The data analysis process was based on the theory and concept of zakat and then followed by the data interpretation process later on. The research results showed that the dimensions of zakat institutionalization and regulation, sources of foreign exchange, and distribution of capital and human development had a very strong pattern and relationship with the dimension of community economic welfare, and this was because these three dimensions were the important determinants of the contribution of zakat for the community economic welfare. On the other hand, the instrument of community economic welfare through the zakat mechanism needs to be continuously encouraged with the awareness of the entire community to pay zakat, increase the effectiveness of zakat management, and strengthen the zakat regulations.


Background This study evaluates the management of frontal sinus disease using osteoplastic flap surgery (OPFS) in the current era of image-guided endoscopic sinus surgery (IGESS). Study Design: A retrospective chart review was performed of patients who underwent OPFS and imaged-guided endoscopic frontal sinus surgery in the past 10 years at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods Chart reviews of clinic patients and inpatients who underwent OPFS were performed. Indications for surgery, prior sinus surgeries, time to OPFS, post-OPFS sinus surgeries, and associated comorbid factors were reviewed. Results In the period under review, 710 IGESS cases were performed. Thirty patients, who were candidates for OPFS, underwent IGESS for frontoethmoid disease. Fourteen patients from this group failed IGESS and underwent OPFS. The indications for OPFS included mucocele in 10 cases, tumors in 2 cases, and trauma in 2 cases. Four patients underwent revision OPFS. The patients who failed IGESS had prior trauma, tumor resection, radiation, or large septate frontal sinus with lateral extension in which the mucocele could not be drained endoscopically. The average time to OPFS was 6.2 years (0–27 years). Nine patients had prior sinus surgery (1–7 prior surgeries) and five patients had subsequent endoscopic surgical procedures. Conclusion In all patients with frontal mucocele, surgery should be attempted endoscopically using IGESS because of the low morbidity of the procedure. Patients with risk factors for failure should be considered for OPFS if IGESS proves to be unsuccessful.


A new evaluation method with accompanying software was developed to precisely calculate uniformity from catch-can test data, assuming sprinkler distribution data to be a continuous variable. Two interpolation steps are required to compute unknown water application depths at grid distribution points from radial distribution of catch-cans' data: using both radial and peripheral interpolations. Interpolation by cubic splines was used to give more accurately interpolated values. This method has higher accuracy theoretically compared with conventional methods to analyze catch-can data. Water application depths were calculated at each grid point and uniformity coefficients were computed from the grid distribution maps of water application depths. This has value in assessing application uniformity of sprinkle irrigation designs.


In order to reach better Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements for multimedia application, the 802.11e task group was formed and has proposed EDCA (Enhanced Distributed Channel Access) for contention period and HCCA (HCF Controlled Channel Access) for contention-free period in the HCF (Hybrid Coordination Function) to enhance the original IEEE 802.11 Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol. However, the problem of choosing the right set of MAC parameters and strict QoS mechanism to provide guaranteed QoS in IEEE 802.11e Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) remains unsolved. In this paper, a pragmatic Call Admission Control (CAC) scheme with a novel polling based uplink scheduling policy for CBR traffic in IEEE 802.11e WLANs is proposed. The proposed CAC scheme computes the expected delay variation of every session upon arrival of new connection for admission decision. In addition, the proposed packet based delay constrained scheduling policy can derive sufficient conditions such that all accepted sources satisfy their time constraints to provide deterministic QoS guarantees. In addition to theoretical analysis, simulations are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme. As it turns out, our design works very well in providing performance improvement in the noisy IEEE 802.11e WLANs environment.


The paper discusses the process of devising an editorial policy template intended for Serbian Open Access journals and the role of librarians in this process. The template was developed with the idea to provide assistance to journals involved in the reapplication process in the Directory of Open Access Journals, as well as to those intending to apply for indexing in the Web of Science and Scopus. This ready-made solution has a modular structure and it covers the publication ethics, editorial and publishing procedures, and rights. Librarians also provided assistance in the process of aligning journal policies with the offered template. An early result of these actions is the positive outcome of the reapplication process for all journals that defined their editorial policies relying on the proposed template. The paper also identifies the future challenges associated with the implementation of the newly defined policies.


Odd electrons of benzenoid units and the correlation of these electrons having different spins are the main concepts of the molecular theory of graphene. In contrast to the theory of aromaticity, the molecular theory is based on the fact that odd electrons with different spins occupy different places in the space so that the configuration interaction becomes the central point of the theory. Consequently, a multi-determinant presentation of the wave function of the system of weakly interacting odd electrons is utterly mandatory on the way of the theory realization at the computational level. However, the efficacy of the available CI computational techniques is quite restricted in regard to large polyatomic systems, which does not allow performing extensive computational experiments. Facing the problem, computationists have addressed standard single-determinant ones albeit not often being aware of the correctness of the obtained results. The current chapter presents the molecular theory of graphene in terms of single-determinant computational schemes and discloses how reliable information about the electron-correlated system can be obtained by using either UHF or UDFT computational schemes.


ABSTRACT Few studies have examined the impact of resilience training on youth in lower/middle income countries (LMICs). This study assessed feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of GROW, a 24-week character-based resilience curriculum rooted in positive psychology and spirituality and taught via storytelling. Our pilot design – a mixed method, cluster-randomized controlled trial – was conducted with 28 classes of 643 Zambian youth ages 10–13 (M = 11.39, SD = 0.95, 55.4% female). Classes were divided into initial-start and delayed-start intervention phases. In 17 focus groups, parents, teachers, GROW leaders, and children affirmed the program's excellent cultural fit. Adult stakeholders observed positive impacts on school attendance, academic performance, and students' character and behavior. Initial-start students showed a pre-post increase in psychological resilience (p < .05). Together, these findings suggest GROW has promise for improving early adolescents' positive development. This strengthens the evidence base for the potential impact of culturally appropriate, spiritually-oriented programs delivered by lay providers for LMIC youth.


Glycoprotein, which has glycan branches on its protein surface, is one of major forms of proteins existing in human body [1]. Its sugar composition and branched structure are known to be very specific to differentiation stages or pathologic changes of cell [1]. Therefore, as a glycoprotein-based biomarkers (glyco-biomarkers), it has been already used as laboratory tests like hemoglobin A1c for blood glucose monitoring or carbohydrate-deficient transferrin for chronic alcohol consumption [1, 2]. A new glycobiomarker named Mac-2 binding protein glycosylation isomer (M2BPGi, Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2 binding protein) is emerging as a serum marker for liver fibrosis. Liver fibrosis results from sustained hepatic injury and is characterized by excessive accumulation of fibrotic tissue and distortion of the normal hepatic architecture [3, 4]. Fibrotic change is originally considered irreversible; however, liver fibrosis regression or restoration of the functional capacity can be achieved by controlling hepatic damage with some antiviral agents [3, 4]. Therefore, the extent and degree of liver fibrosis can provide important prognostic information on patient outcomes [4]. For assessing liver fibrosis, conventional liver biopsy still remains the gold standard method [5]. However, due to its invasiveness and discomfort for patients, liver biopsy cannot be performed frequently [4]. In addition, various non-invasive scoring systems using elastographic methods or serum markers have been proposed as surrogate tools [3]. Among serum biomarkers for liver fibrosis, M2BPGi, has been recently introduced in laboratories as a commercially available form. Many clinical and laboratory data have been accumulated to show that M2BPGi can be a useful serum marker for evaluating liver fibrosis in various chronic liver diseases such as chronic hepatitis C virus infection, autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cholangitis, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease [6]. In this issue, we introduce two respective original studies investigating its diagnostic availability for assessing liver fibrosis. The authors reported interesting results of comparison between M2BPGi and other serologic markers, transient elastography, and various scoring systems [3, 7]. M2BPGi is on the status of surrogate marker, which cannot fully substitute for liver biopsy; however, based on continuous efforts for finding new blood markers and promoting their diagnostic efficacy, we carefully hope that the new era for non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis towards liquid biopsy might be realized in the field of liver diseases in the near future [4].


Wave energy devices operate in resonant conditions to optimize power absorption, which leads to large displacements. As a result, nonlinearities play an important role in the system dynamics and must be accounted for in the numerical models for realistic prediction of the power generated. In general, time domain (TD) simulations are employed to capture the effects of the nonlinearities. However, the computational cost associated with these simulations is considerably higher compared to linear frequency domain (FD) methods. In this regard, the following work deals with the nonlinear analysis of an oscillating wave surge converter (OWSC) in the FD via the statistical linearization (SL) technique. Four nonlinearities for the proposed device are addressed: Coulomb-like torque regulated by the direction of motion, viscous drag torque, nonlinear buoyant net torque, and parametric excitation torque modulated by the flap angle. The reliability of the SL technique is compared with nonlinear TD simulations in terms of response probability distribution and power spectrum density (PSD) of the response and torque; and mean power produced. The results have demonstrated a good agreement between TD simulations and SL, while the computation time of the SL model is approximately 3 orders of magnitude faster. As a result, SL is a valuable tool to assess the OWSC performance under various wave scenarios over a range of design parameters, and can assist the development of such wave energy converters (WECs).


Background: The complex nature and heterogeneity involving pituitary surgery results have increased interest in machine learning (ML) applications for prediction of outcomes over the last decade. This study aims to systematically review the characteristics of ML models involving pituitary surgery outcome prediction and assess their reporting quality. Methods: We searched the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Knowledge databases for publications on the use of ML to predict pituitary surgery outcomes. We used the Transparent Reporting of a multivariable prediction model for Individual Prognosis Or Diagnosis (TRIPOD) to assess report quality. Our search strategy was based on the terms "artificial intelligence", "machine learning", and "pituitary". Results: 20 studies were included in this review. The principal models reported in each article were post-surgical endocrine outcomes (n = 10), tumor management (n = 3), and intra- and postoperative complications (n = 7). Overall, the included studies adhered to a median of 65% (IQR = 60–72%) of TRIPOD criteria, ranging from 43% to 83%. The median reported AUC was 0.84 (IQR = 0.80–0.91). The most popular algorithms were support vector machine (n = 5) and random forest (n = 5). Only two studies reported external validation and adherence to any reporting guideline. Calibration methods were not reported in 15 studies. No model achieved the phase of actual clinical applicability. Conclusion: Applications of ML in the prediction of pituitary outcomes are still nascent, as evidenced by the lack of any model validated for clinical practice. Although studies have demonstrated promising results, greater transparency in model development and reporting is needed to enable their use in clinical practice. Further adherence to reporting guidelines can help increase AI's real-world utility and improve clinical practice.


Flavonoids are the main active constituents of Dalbergia odorifera. The excretion of the major flavonoids in rat urine after oral administration of D. odorifera extract was investigated by HPLC-UV and HPLC-MS methods. Utilizing the HPLC-MS technique, 18 flavonoids, including five isoflavones, four isoflavanones, four neoflavones, two flavanones, two chalcones and one isoflavanonol were identified in free form in a urine sample based on the direct comparison of the corresponding tR, UV maximum absorbance (lambda(max)) values and MS data with the authentic standards. The amounts of the prominent flavonoids, (3R)-4'-methoxy-2',3,7-trihydroxyisoflavanone and vestitone, were determined by HPLC-UV with the internal standard method, and the validation procedure confirmed that it afforded reliable analysis of these two analytes in urine after oral administration of D. odorifera extract.


Limit theorems for the thinning of renewal point processes according to two different schemes are studied. In the first scheme when a point is retained a random number of succeeding points are deleted. According to the second scheme a random number of points are deleted by an inhibitory Poisson process.


Abstract During mitosis, cells undergo symmetrical cell division, while oocyte meiotic maturation undergoes two consecutive, asymmetric divisions that generate a totipotent haploid oocyte and two small polar bodies not involved in DNA replication. This specialized division allows most maternal components to be maintained in the oocytes for early embryo development. Nuclear positioning, germinal vesicle breakdown, spindle migration, spindle rotation, chromosome segregation, and polar body extrusion are the most critical cellular processes during oocyte meiosis I and II, and a growing number of studies primarily using the mouse oocyte model revealed that actin filaments were critical for these processes, especially for spindle migration. Several important molecules have been reported to be involved in these processes. One family of molecules are the small GTPases, such as Rho GTPases, Ran GTPases, and Rab GTPases and another are the actin nucleators, such as the formin family and the Arp2/3 complex. The present review summarizes recent progress made regarding the roles of actin filaments in the asymmetric oocyte division. Summary Sentence Actin filaments widely involve into multiple cellular processes such as nuclear positioning, germinal vesicle breakdown, spindle migration, chromosome segregation, spindle rotation and polar body extrusion in oocyte mammalian meiosis.


Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides were extracted by boiling water from the fruiting bodies of red ganoderma lucidum, then protein was removed by Sevage reagent, with ethanol precipitation, run water dialysis, centrifugation and freeing-drying. Monosaccharides were acetylated and quantified by external standard, and the polysaccharides the amount of total carbohydrates was determined by phenol-sulfuric acid method. The monosaccharide constituents, structure and Mw distribution were analyzed by UV-Vis, IR, GC, GC-MS and HPSEC with ELSD. The results demonstrated that ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides were beige, the yield was about 2%, and the content > or = 43%. IR spectrometry showed that the structure of ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide was pyranoid glucan with beta-glycosidic bond. The quantitative result of external standards indicated that the monosaccharide constituents were mainly composed of glucose, at about 89% percent, and contained a small amount of D-arabinose, D-xylose, D-mannose and D-galactose. It was a homogeneous polysaccharide with the amorphous structure, attributed to biological macromolecules, its Mw distribution was at 80-2000 Kda, and a primary Mw at 2000 Kda.


The renewal of public finance accounting in 2014 can be labelled as one of the greatest changes in the Hungarian public sector. The accounting information system used previously had significant shortcomings, which ultimately led to disruptions in the operation of the local government system and its indebtedness. The aim of the research is to explore the experience of the local governments regarding the process of the introduction of the accounting reform and the emerging system. In the research, interviews and small group sessions were conducted with 18 experts from 8 institutions. Based on what was said, the transitional period was a turbulent process, and compliance with the new regulation tested the adaptability of local governments. The opinions regarding the new system are heterogeneous. According to the involved experts, the new approach can provide a more true and fair view and present up-to-date information about the given organisational unit. However, the introduction of the new system was not fully successful as the new system proved to be more complex and more difficult to handle. In addition, it was also revealed that in most cases the data of the accounting information system fail to fulfil their intended purpose in financial management.


Objective. To reveal the clinical and epidemiological features of еnterovirus meningitis (EVM) in 140 children of Krasnoyarsk in the period of seasonal rise of morbidity in 2017.Materials and methods. For the etiological interpretation of the enterovirus infection (EVI), a molecular biological and virological study of the cerebrospinal fluid, two samples of feces, a swab from the oropharynx, the contents of the vesicles was carried out. Statistical processing of data was carried out using the PASW Statistics 17.0 program.Results. In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, an annual increase in the incidence of EVI is registered, exceeding the average for the country. Serous meningitis is traditionally the main clinical form of EVI. Among the observed patients with EVM, the main group consisted of preschool children (32.9%) and school age (30%), mainly organized in children's groups (84.3%), and the summer-autumn seasonality of the disease remains. Meningitis was observed in 82.8% of patients, meningitis combined with exanthema — in 10%, with herpangina — in 2.1%, with myalgia  — in isolated cases . Mediastinal forms of the disease predominated (96.4% — 135 people), severe forms of the EVM were diagnosed only in 3.6% (5 patients). The clinical picture is traditionally represented by three leading syndromes: intoxication, cerebral and meningeal. The implementation of the epidemic process in 2017 was mainly represented by enteroviruses Coxackie B, B1, B2, B4. Despite the relatively favorable course of the EVM, residual events were in 10% of patients (14 people) at the time of discharge.


Epidemiology has been defined by Hirsch 1 as "a science which will give, firstly, a picture of the occurrence, the distribution and the types of the diseases of mankind in distinct epochs of time and at various points of the earth's surface; and, secondly, will render an account of the relations of these diseases to the external conditions surrounding the individual and determining his manner of life." As applied to a small community, such as a general hospital, it is with this second phase that epidemiology is concerned chiefly. Among its primary objectives become the exposing of the transmission paths of disease, or the recognition of conditions which may affect adversely the health of this particular community. Although such studies ordinarily are prompted only by the occurrence of actual cases of illness, there is no necessary reason why this should be so. If the epidemiologic approach is to have preventive


Background: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have demonstrated an anti-tumorigenic effect in several cancers. However, their use is associated with an increased risk in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and their effect has not been assessed in patients with metastatic disease. Objective: We investigated the impact of NSAIDs on survival outcomes in patients with metastatic RCC (mRCC). Methods: We conducted a pooled retrospective analysis of 4,736 mRCC patients treated on phase II and III clinical trials. Patients were categorized as: aspirin (ASA) only users, non-ASA NSAIDs only users, ASA and non-ASA NSAIDs users, and NSAIDs non-users. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Progression free survival (PFS), overall response rate (ORR) and adverse events (AEs) were secondary endpoints. OS and PFS were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method and were assessed using multivariate Cox regression analysis. Results: We identified 457 (10%) ASA only users, 639 (13%) non-ASA NSAIDs only users, 61 (1%) ASA and non-ASA NSAIDS users, and 3579 (76%) NSAIDs non-users. OS and PFS were significantly worse in non-ASA NSAIDs users compared to the NSAIDs non-users (OS hazard ratio (HR): 1.47, p < 0.0001, median 11.6 versus 21.1 months; PFS HR: 1.29, p < 0.0001, median 4.6 versus 7.4 months). There was no difference in survival in ASA users or ASA and non-ASA NSAIDs users compared to NSAIDs non-users. Conclusions: Our analysis demonstrates that NSAIDs do not confer a survival advantage in mRCC patients. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the interaction of NSAIDS with targeted therapy in mRCC.


The architecture of trademark protection systems rests on the assumption that brand imitation strategies are particularly harmful when they seek to achieve a high level of similarity by copying specific trademarked features of the original brand. Marketing research, however, shows that this assumption is doubtful. Subtle, theme-based imitation strategies – aiming at a modest degree of similarity – may allow copycats to garner greater profits and manipulate consumers' purchasing decisions. Like an enchanting siren song, they may lure customers away from the original products of brand owners. Against this background, the paper discusses the question whether trademark law should be recalibrated. To lay groundwork for this discussion, the analysis outlines central functions of trademarks in today's market economy before describing, on the basis of EU trademark law, the traditional approach to copycat strategies from a marketing and legal perspective. Introducing insights from recent marketing research, the paper explains why subtle, theme-based strategies may be more harmful than blatant, feature-based copying. The further examination places this insight in a legal context. Contrasting the empirical findings of marketing research with traditional assessment schemes in EU trademark law, it becomes apparent that there is a remarkable mismatch between legal theory and market reality. Current trademark provisions are not aligned with "real life" consumer perception. As a result, copycats with a subtle imitation strategy remain under the radar of applicable infringement tests. This dilemma is taken as a starting point to discuss the need for reforms in trademark law.


Street lighting has a big impact on the energy consumption of Spanish municipalities. To decrease this consumption, the Spanish government has developed two different regulations to improve energy savings and efficiency, and consequently, reduce greenhouse-effect gas emissions. However, after these efforts, they have not obtained the expected results. To improve the effectiveness of these regulations and therefore to optimize energy consumption, a study has been done to analyze the different devices which influence energy consumption with the intention of better understanding their behavior and performance. The devices analyzed were lamps, ballasts, street lamp globes, control systems and dimmable lighting systems. To improve their performance, they have been analyzed from three points of view: changes in technology, use patterns and standards. Thanks to this study, some aspects have been found that could be taken into account if we really wanted to use energy efficiently.


Estimates of the basic reproduction number (R0) for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are particularly variable in the context of transmission within locations such as long-term health care (LTHC) facilities. We sought to characterise the heterogeneity of R0 across known outbreaks within these facilities. We used a unique comprehensive dataset of all outbreaks that have occurred within LTHC facilities in British Columbia, Canada. We estimated R0 with a Bayesian hierarchical dynamic model of susceptible, exposed, infected, and recovered individuals, that incorporates heterogeneity of R0 between facilities. We further compared these estimates to those obtained with standard methods that utilize the exponential growth rate and maximum likelihood. The total size of an outbreak varied dramatically, with a range of attack rates of 2%-86%. The Bayesian analysis provides more constrained overall estimates of R0 = 2.83 (90% CrI [credible interval] 0.25-7.19) than standard methods, with a range within facilities of 0.66-10.06. We further estimated that intervention led to 67% (56%-73%) of all cases being averted within the LTHC facilities. Understanding the risks and impact of intervention are essential in planning during the ongoing global pandemic, particularly in high-risk environments such as LTHC facilities.


Heat shock suppresses secretory protein synthesis in GA(3)-stimulated barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. Himalaya) aleurone layers by selectively destabilizing their mRNAs and dissociating the stacked rough endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lamellae upon which they are translated. Heat shock also increases phosphatidylcholine (PC) synthesis, and these PC molecules have increased levels of fatty acid saturation. This appears to be adaptive, for aleurone layers maintained at heat shock temperatures for 18 h resynthesize secretory protein mRNAs, rebuild stacked ER lamellae, and resume secretory protein synthesis. In the present study aleurone layers were incubated at warmer than normal pre-heat shock temperatures to determine whether this would favor the formation of heat-resistant ER lamellae that could continue secretory protein synthesis during heat shock. Western blot and SDS-PAGE analyses showed that such treatment did not induce heat shock protein (HSP) synthesis, but it preserved significant secretory protein synthesis during heat shock. Northern hybridizations revealed that levels of mRNAs encoding secretory proteins were several-fold elevated as compared to 25°C preincubated controls, and transmission electron microscopic observations revealed stacked ER lamellae. Thin layer and gas chromatography showed that PC molecules in warm-incubated barley aleurone layers had more fatty acid saturation than did controls. These observations indicate that previous incubation temperature influences both the induction of HSP synthesis and the suppression of normal protein synthesis in the heat shock response. However, we found that it does not affect the temperature at which heat shock becomes lethal.


Cytoplasmic microinjection (CI) of the CRISPR/Cas9 system enabled the induction of site-specific mutations in porcine zygotes and resulting pigs. However, mosaicism is a serious problem for genetically modified pigs. In the present study, we investigated suitable timing and concentration of CRISPR/Cas9 components for introduction into oocytes/zygotes by CI, to reduce mosaicism in the resulting blastocysts. First, we introduced 20 ng/μl of Cas9 protein and guide RNA (gRNA), targeting the α-1,3-galactosyltransferase (GalT) gene in oocytes before in vitro fertilization (IVF), in zygotes after IVF, or in oocytes/zygotes before and after IVF, twice. CI treatment had no detrimental effects on blastocyst formation rates. The highest value of the rate of mutant blastocysts was observed in zygotes injected after IVF. Next, we injected Cas9 protein and gRNA into zygotes after IVF at a concentration of 20 ng/μl each (20 ng/μl group) or 100 ng/μl each (100 ng/μl group). The ratio of the number of blastocysts that carried mutations to the total number of blastocysts examined in the 100 ng/μl group was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that in the 20 ng/μl group. Although no blastocysts from the 20 ng/μl group carried a biallelic mutation, 16.7% of blastocysts from the 100 ng/μl group carried a biallelic mutation. In conclusion, increasing the concentration of Cas9 protein and gRNA is effective in generating biallelic mutant blastocysts. To reduce mosaicism, however, further optimization of the timing of CI, and the concentration of CRISPR/Cas9 components, is needed.


[1] The quasidecadal oscillation (QDO) of 9- to 13-year period in the Earth's climate system has been found governed by a delayed action oscillator (DAO) mechanism in the tropical Pacific Ocean similar to that governing the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) of 3- to 5-year period. It also fluctuated in phase with the ∼11-year-period signal in the Sun's total irradiance throughout the twentieth century. In earlier attempts to explain this association, a conceptual ocean-atmosphere coupled model of the DAO mechanism in the tropical Pacific Basin was driven by 11-year-period solar forcing, producing a QDO that was in damped resonance with the solar forcing. In the present study, we likewise force a fully coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (i.e., Fast Ocean-Atmosphere Model (FOAM)) of Jacob et al. (2001), adding an 11-year-period cosine signal of amplitude ∼2.0 W m−2 to the solar constant in the model. In the presence of this 11-year-period solar forcing the FOAM simulates both the ENSO and the QDO, while in its absence the FOAM simulates only the ENSO. We find the model QDO governed by a tropical DAO mechanism with patterns and evolution similar to those observed. We find its warm phase lagging peak solar forcing by ∼1–3 years, as observed and consistent with damped-resonant excitation of the tropical DAO of the QDO by the 11-year-period solar forcing in the earlier conceptual model.


Clock synchronization is becoming an increasingly important characteristic of modern wide area monitoring and control systems such as the power grid. It provides an opportunity to coordinate control actions and measurement instants across hundreds of miles and numerous network topologies. Devices and networks have advanced to a point where synchronization across a wide area can be achieved within 1 μs of UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). Along with these advances in clock synchronization must come a shift in the way analysis is performed. Modeling techniques must incorporate the effects of a clock synchronized device, and control techniques can leverage the knowledge of "time" to achieve unique results. This paper discusses various ways in which clock synchronization affects analysis and performance of the power grid, and presents a few projects related to the technology. Preliminary work has demonstrated the ability of various commercially available devices to provide reliable 1 μs synchronization of clocks, and large variation across devices in terms of clock performance under transient events.


Objective To measure residents' abilities to acquire, analyze and evaluate information on media in southwestern China and to explore its predictive factors. Methods The convenience sampling method was used. A web-based questionnaire survey was conducted among 774 residents during the Spring Festival in 2020. Results Young, highly educated, unmarried, high-income, and urban residents preferred to seek and acquire information about COVID-19 epidemic through new media channels. Elderly residents tended to obtain information through television. Residents with low educational background and rural residents were more dependent on community information media. To analyze residents' abilities in the judgement of 15 statements about COVID-19, residents with a master's degree or above (OR = 2.755, [95% CI 1.160-6.542]) had better media literacy in identifying false health information released on social networking. Rural residents (OR = 0.609, [95% CI 0.433-0.855]) had lower media literacy. The total score decreased by 2.6% for every one-year increase of age. Conclusion Residents' abilities to acquire, analyze and evaluate information were affected by their demographic characteristics in southwestern China. The authorities and local communities should develop different approaches of information dissemination, with the help of traditional and new media. It is important to improve the level of residents' media literacy, in order to achieve better effect in information dissemination and reception.


The most effective treatment strategy for patients with hemophilia is replacement therapy with FVIII or FIX concentrates, which usually requires long-term, uncomplicated venous access. However, central venous access device (CVADs, ports) insertion requires inpatient admission and general anesthesia, and presents some problems regarding health insurance coverage. Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) were inserted in two severe hemophilia patients aged 7 and 11 years with high titers of inhibitors. They experienced frequent bleeding episodes and required replacement therapy, which eventually resulted in difficulty in acquiring venous line access. Factor VIII activity was below 1%, and inhibitor titers were 160 and 26.3 BU/ml. In an outpatient setting, PICC lines are easily placed by radiological guidance and require local anesthesia alone. PICC has been feasible, in particular, for hemophilia patients with frequent bleeding episodes.


The treatment of breast cancer (BC) leaves emotional and functional sequels affecting the quality of life (QOL) of the survivors. We aim to investigate, intense exercises in the rehabilitation of BC survivors. Using the systematic search model in the PubMed databases; Lilacs Bireme and Scielo. Meta-Analysis used the Meta package implemented in software R (version 3.3.2) p < 0.05. We selected 29 articles, and after reading in the integra we excluded 27 texts being included in the meta-analysis only 2. In the QOL, the heterogeneity in the emotional function showed a difference of 75%, in the social function 36% and in the physics 32%. Using intense exercises in BC survivors during rehabilitation improves overall QOL, muscle structure, and preserves functional capacity.


Summary: We investigated the effects of endothelin (ET) and thrombin on the production of interleukin 6 (IL-6) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). ET-1 increased IL-6 production twofold in HUVECs incubated for 18 h with 10-10 M ET-1. Thrombin also significantly increased IL-6 production. However, stimulation of HUVECs with ET-1 together with thrombin produced an 18-fold increase in IL-6 production. The ET-1-induced increase was concentration-dependent, with an optimal effect at 100 pM. We then examined the effect of ET-1 on IL-6 mRNA expression in thrombin-stimulated HUVECs. Unstimulated HUVECs spontaneously expressed IL-6 mRNA, which was not modulated by thrombin. Endothelin 1 upregulated IL-6 mRNA expression, with a maximal increase at 100 pM ET-1. These data indicate that the interaction of thrombin and ET-1 induces a synergistic increase in IL-6 production by HUVEC and suggest that ET-1 may therefore play a significant role in inflammation.


Summary In this paper, a robust method for the extraction of instantaneous attributes is proposed in wavelet domain. A new class of analytic wavelets, the Generalized Morse Wavelets (GMWs), which have some desirable properties, are applied during the procedure of the proposed method. Compared to the conventional method based on Hilbert transform (HT), the new method is proved to yield higher precision and better anti-noise performance. Experimental results on synthetic signals and real seismic data show the validity of the method.


The paper describes the application of tunnel diodes to electronically tunable microwave oscillators. The properties of tunnel diodes are described, and oscillators with a wide tuning range are considered in detail. In order to achieve frequency stability, the tunnel diode should be weakly coupled to a relatively high-Q factor resonator, and this principle is applied to the design of electronically tuned oscillators using varactor diodes as tuning elements. Some comparisons are made with mechanically tuned oscillators designed according to similar principles. The form of construction is described and some results are discussed.


Aims Exposure to airborne particulate matter has been consistently associated with early death and increased morbidity, particularly raising the risk of cardiovascular disease. Obesity, one of the leading cardiovascular disease risk factors, increases susceptibility to the adverse effects of particulate matter exposure. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 has been related to a large number of cardiovascular risk factors, e.g. atherogenic lipoproteins, arterial stiffness and platelet activation. Thus, the present study was aimed at evaluating, in a series of obese individuals, the effects of particulate matter less than 10 µm in diameter (PM10) on proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 circulating levels. Methods and results In 500 obese subjects, participating in the cross-sectional Susceptibility to Particle Health Effects, miRNAs and Exosomes (SPHERE) study, we evaluated the effects of long- and short-term PM10 exposure on circulating proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 levels. In the studied individuals (body mass index: 33.3 ± 5.2 kg/m2) with an annual average PM10 exposure of 40.12 ± 4.71 µg/m3, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 levels were 248.7 ± 78.6 ng/mL. In univariate analysis, PM10 exposure (annual average) was associated with proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 levels (β=1.83, standard error = 0.75, p = 0.014). Interestingly, in a multivariable linear regression model, this association was observed only for carriers of lower concentrations of interferon-γ, whereas it was lost in the presence of higher interferon-γ levels. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 levels were positively associated with the Framingham Risk Score, which was raised by 15.8% for each 100 ng/ml rise of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9. Conclusions In obese individuals, more sensitive to the damaging effects of environmental air pollution, PM10 exposure positively associates with proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 plasma levels especially in those with low levels of interferon-γ.


This book covers a wide range of topics that comprise robotic grasping. The book is an edited collection of chapters from a variety of experts in the field of grasping. The book contains 17 chapters divided into four sections, each with its own theme. The four sections are "Background," "Mechanical Design," "Control and Motion Planning," and "Applications." As with most collections, the writing style varies among chapters; however, each chapter is readable and details useful, interesting concepts.


The conventional concrete has lost its usage in modern days as it does not serve the present needs. Hence to improve the workability, durability and the ultimate strength of the concrete, high performance concrete (HPC) with super plasticizers and pozzolans are used. Another major problem which demands the use of HPC is the reduction in the CO2 level for a green environment. There are various studies and research that are emerging related to the HPC. This study is mainly concentrated on the durability characteristics of HPC with partial replacement of cement by fly ash (F) and silica fume (SF). The cement was replaced with 25% F & 12.5% SF, 30% F & 15% SF, 35% F & 17.5% SF. Water cement ratio is kept constant for all mixtures. The main properties that are observed are water absorption capacity, the alkalinity to test and the durability. It was observed that for the increase in the percentage of fly ash and silica fume there was steady increase in the water absorption and alkalinity which significantly indicates the markable change in strength and durability characteristics of concrete. KeywordsDurability, fly ash, High Performance Concrete, silica fume, strength, workability


Objective Goal setting is an effective strategy to promote physical activity. Commercial apps that tackle physical activity often include goal setting; however, it is unknown whether the implementation of the goal-setting components is congruent with the theory. This study evaluated the quality of goal setting in popular free and paid physical activity apps by assessing the presence of effective goal-setting components. Methods A six-item scale was developed based on the goal-setting literature and used for coding each app for the presence/absence of goal-setting components (i.e. specificity, difficulty, action planning, timeframe, goal evaluation and goal re-evaluation). Cohen's Kappa was used to evaluate inter-rater reliability for each scale item. The number of goal-setting components included in the 40 apps was calculated and the difference between free and paid apps was assessed. Results All scale items achieved satisfactory inter-rater reliability except 'goal evaluation'. The most frequently included goal-setting components in popular physical activity apps were 'goal specificity' (95% of the apps) and 'goal timeframe' (67.5%). Conversely, only 47.5% and 25% of the apps implemented 'action planning' and 'goal difficulty', respectively, and none included 'goal re-evaluation'. No differences emerged between free and paid apps. Conclusions The quality of the goal-setting strategy in popular physical activity apps could be improved by introducing components scarcely implemented to date. In particular, tailoring the goal difficulty to the users' ability level and re-evaluating the goals based on achievements should be implemented to increase the quality of goal setting.


The outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria contains an outer leaflet composed of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) that is transported to this location by a pathway that is essential for viability. It has been suggested that inhibitors of this pathway could be useful antibiotics. Herein we reconstitute the activity of the ATPase component (LptB) of the ABC transporter that initiates LPS transport and assembly. We developed a high-throughput assay and screened a library of kinase inhibitors against LptB. We identified two classes of ATP-competitive inhibitors. These are the first inhibitors of the ATPase component of any bacterial ABC transporter. The small-molecule inhibitors will be very useful tools for further biochemical studies of the proteins involved in LPS transport and assembly.


Learn functional programming concepts and techniques to build Python applications
Key Features
Study in detail all aspects of functional programming, including immutability, generators, and more

Reinforce your learning through elaborate examples

Learn how to implement advanced topics like closures, memoization, and monads in your applications
Book Description
Python supports four programming paradigms – imperative, procedural, object-oriented, and functional. Of these, functional programming is probably the least understood and the least used. This book covers several topics that are directly and indirectly related to functional programming.

After a quick overview of functional programming and its characteristics, Functional Programming in Python explains the various concepts of Python, starting with functions. You'll learn how to change the value of an object by using mutability. You'll then look at recursion as a more functional alternative to looping for certain algorithms, and learn how memoization alleviates the limitations of recursion in certain situations. The book further explains how to use closures as function factories and how to handle errors and exceptions with functors and monads.

By the end of this book, you'll have all the knowledge you need for developing your applications with functional programming in Python.
What you will learn
Understand the advantages and disadvantages of functional programming

Use closures in your code to dynamically create functions

Create your own iterators

Use the general-purpose functools to create your own specialized reducing functions

Study and implement list and generator comprehensions to create lists

Create customized iterators with generators
Who this book is for
If you are a developer looking to create applications in Python using functional programming, this book is ideal for you. You will only need a basic knowledge of Python. Prior knowledge or experience of functional programming is not required.


The effects of mid-rotational treatments (herbicide, prescribed burn, combination of herbicide and burn, and fertilization) on growth of loblolly pine were evaluated. Five replicates were established in a split-plot experimental design with fertilizer treatments as the whole-plot factor and competition control treatments as the sub-plot factor. Growth response was measured (as change in diameter, total height, and volume) at 8 months and gain 4 years after treatments were applied. Mid-rotational treatments failed to enhance diameter, height, and volume growth of loblolly pine. However, a small positive response of diameter growth to fertilization was detected. Height growth was not significantly affected by any treatment 8 months after application date, while it was slightly negatively affected by herbicide and the combination of herbicide and prescribed burning 4 years after application of treatments. In this study, no substantial positive growth response to mid-rotational treatments was detected. However, loblolly growth response may vary from site to site based on differences in soil type, soil condition, and competition level. In addition, associated factors such as seedling quality and planting method may greatly influence loblolly growth response to mid-rotational treatments.


Armenia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan share a common historical background and face similar challenges in the transformation of their agricultural sectors since the countries' independence in the 90s. The underlying social, economic and political changes had simultaneously impacts on the entire higher education system, which has to cope with significantly altered demands of employment markets on the competence profiles of their graduates. Higher Education Institutes from Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland and Romania cooperate with partner universities in the mentioned non-EU countries in adapting agrarian studies. The ERASMUS+ funded project TOPAS aims at filling the gap between the theoretical, formal higher education in agricultural sciences and practical training. The objective is a better match between job market needs and the qualifications offered. The project's concept focuses on concerted improvements in the interaction between teaching approaches, vocational student placements and the collection of local empirical data for teaching and research. Fostering partnerships between universities and local stakeholders, i.e. farming enterprises, industry and associations, by activities of TOPAS supports the suitability of the improvements for the demands of the local job markets. Promoted teaching follows the learning outcomes and competencies approach, with flexible learning pathways and permeability among the different agrarian management programs. An additional element is the development of Massive Open Online Courses on core subject matters, which allow for distance learning by professionals and employees in agricultural enterprises. The reorganisation of student placements includes the installation of networks with adequate enterprises, the definition of placement contents and reproducible assessments in curricula. The European Quality Charter on Internships and Apprenticeships (EQCIA) sets the framework, which consider also aspects of labour legislation and social care. Teaching content in the partner countries relies predominantly on information and data from agricultural research stations and do reflect the situation of existing farming enterprises insufficiently. Improved student placements and related visits by supervisors offer the opportunity for the collection of local empirical data on agriculture and allow for the continuous improvement of teaching content. Preconditions are the definition of relevant data and the establishment of appropriate data management systems at the partner universities.


This case represents an impressive finding of a young male who developed cutaneous sarcoid-like reactions that arose secondarily to tattoo ink. Cutaneous manifestations of sarcoidosis can present themselves in various ways, be caused by different inducing factors, and may present themselves not only cutaneously but as one of the many findings of systemic sarcoidosis. A 24-year-old black gentleman presented to the dermatology clinic with a manifestation of papules in his tattoos that covered a majority of his body. The patient tried hypoallergenic tattoo ink to see if this would prevent the formation of these bumps; however, this only further provoked the production of these papules confined to tattooed areas. Skin findings revealed linear raised papules in a continuous fashion in areas where the patient had tattoo ink on his torso, bilateral arms and legs, and face. At presentation, he denied any constitutional, pulmonary, or ophthalmologic symptoms. Pathological findings revealed sarcoidal granulomatous dermatitis showing nodular non-necrotizing granulomatous inflammatory infiltrate involving the superficial and deep dermis. The patient was then evaluated by pulmonology to rule out any systemic findings of sarcoidosis, which showed a negative chest x-ray. The patient was started on oral prednisone and topical pimecrolimus cream, and when he returned for his one-month follow-up, there were minimal to no visible cutaneous lesions. Tattoo ink has been shown to cause a variety of cutaneous reactions such as infections, neoplasms, and inflammatory dermatoses such as eczema, lichen planus, psoriasis, vitiligo, and sarcoidosis. Cutaneous sarcoid-like reactions secondary to tattoo ink are rare findings; however, they must be taken seriously due to the risk of systemic sarcoidosis involvement both at initial presentation and in the future.


In a previous study (J.B. West et al., J. Comput. Assist. Tomogr., vol. 21, p. 554-66, 1997) the authors demonstrated that automatic retrospective registration algorithms can frequently register magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT) images of the brain with an accuracy of better than 2 mm, but in that same study the authors found that such algorithms sometimes fail, leading to errors of 6 mm or more. Before these algorithms can be used routinely in the clinic, methods must be provided for distinguishing between registration solutions that are clinically satisfactory and those that are not. One approach is to rely on a human observer to inspect the registration results and reject images that have been registered with insufficient accuracy. In this paper, the authors present a methodology for evaluating the efficacy of the visual assessment of registration accuracy. Since the clinical requirements for level of registration accuracy are likely to be application dependent, the authors have evaluated the accuracy of the observer's estimate relative to 6 thresholds: 1-6 mm. The performance of the observers was evaluated relative to the registration solution obtained using external fiducial markers that are screwed into the patient's skull and that are visible in both MR and CT images. This fiducial marker system provides the gold standard for the authors' study. Its accuracy is shown to be approximately 0.5 mm. Two experienced, blinded observers viewed 5 pairs of clinical MR and CT brain images, each of which had each been misregistered with respect to the gold standard solution. Fourteen misregistrations were assessed for each image pair with misregistration errors distributed between 0 and 10 mm with approximate uniformity. For each misregistered image pair each observer estimated the registration error (in millimeters) at each of 5 locations distributed around the head using each of 3 assessment methods. These estimated errors were compared with the errors as measured by the gold standard to determine agreement relative to each of the 6 thresholds, where agreement means that the 2 errors lie on the same side of the threshold. The effect of error in the gold standard itself is taken into account in the analysis of the assessment methods. The results were analyzed by means of the Kappa statistic, the agreement rate, and the area of receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curves. No assessment performed well at 1 mm, but all methods performed well at 2 mm and higher. For these 5 thresholds, 2 methods agreed with the standard at least 80% of the time and exhibited mean ROC areas greater than 0.84. One of these same methods exhibited Kappa statistics that indicated good agreement relative to chance (Kappa>0.6) between the pooled observers and the standard for these same 5 thresholds. Further analysis demonstrates that the results depend strongly on the choice of the distribution of misregistration errors presented to the observers.


Person Search is a practically relevant task that aims to jointly solve Person Detection and Person Re-identification (re-ID). Specifically, it requires to find and locate all instances with the same identity as the query person in a set of panoramic gallery images. One major challenge comes from the contradictory goals of the two sub-tasks, i.e., person detection focuses on finding the commonness of all persons while person re-ID handles the differences among multiple identities. Therefore, it is crucial to reconcile the relationship between the two sub-tasks in a joint person search model. To this end, We present a novel approach called Norm-Aware Embedding to disentangle the person embedding into norm and angle for detection and re-ID respectively, allowing for both effective and efficient multi-task training. We further extend the proposal-level person embedding to pixel-level, whose discrimination ability is less affected by mis-alignment. We outperform other one-step methods by a large margin and achieve comparable performance to two-step methods on both CUHK-SYSU and PRW. Also, Our method is easy to train and resource-friendly, running at 12 fps on a single GPU.


Rat spleen supernatant contained two forms of calcium-dependent cellular phospholipase A2 which could be separated from each other by TEAE-cellulose chromatography. The phospholipase A,, named PLA, S-1, present in the major flow-through fraction was purified to homogeneity. The structural and catalytic properties of splenic PLA2 s-1 were systematically compared with those of rat pancreatic phospholipase A2. Structural evidence, including the sequence of the Nterminal 32 residues, peptide maps obtained on Achromobacter protease I digestion and cyanogen bromide cleavage, and the amino acid composition, showed the close similarity of the two enzymes. Their catalytic and immunochemical properties were also similar. These results demonstrated the existence of a pancreatic type phospholipase A, in a non-pancreatic organ as a member of the cellular phospholipases A, and suggest the potential functional involvement of pancreatic type phospholipase A2 in cellular phospholipid metabolism.


AIM
To determine the effect of pH, osmolality, and buffering system on the oxygen permeability (Dk) of soft contact lenses.

METHODS
Two hydrogel lenses (nelfilcon A and etafilcon A) and 2 silicone hydrogel lenses (lotrafilcon A and balafilcon A) were used in the study. These lenses were incubated in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and borate-buffered saline (BBS) solutions adjusted by 0.8 pH increments to a pH in the range of 5.8-9.0 or in hypotonic (280 mOsmol/kg), isotonic (310 mOsmol/kg) and hypertonic (380 mOsmol/kg) PBS solutions. Polarographic method was used for measuring the Dk and lenses were stacked as 4 layers to correct the boundary effect.

RESULTS
Dk values of all contact lenses measured in BBS solutions were more stable than those in PBS solutions. Especially the etafilcon A lens showed a relative big change compared with other types of contact lenses at the same conditions. When the osmolality of PBS solution increased from hypotonic to hypertonic, Dk of all contact lenses decreased. Variations in Dk existed depending on lens materials, etafilcon A lens was the most affected and nelfilcon A was the least affected by osmolality.

CONCLUSION
From the result obtained, it is revealed that Dk of contact lenses is changed by the pH, osmolality, and buffering condition of tear. Thus, Dk of contact lens can be varied by the lens wearers' physiological and/or pathological conditions.


The gravitational collapse of a wide class of self-interacting homogeneous scalar fields models is analyzed. The class is characterized by certain general conditions on the scalar field potential, which, in particular, include both asymptotically polynomial and exponential behaviors. Within this class, we show that the generic evolution is always divergent in a finite time, and then make use of this result to construct radiating star models of the Vaidya type. It turns out that blackholes are generically formed in such models.


The development and maintenance of today's software systems is an increasingly effort-consuming and error-prone task. A major cause of this problem is the lack of formal and human-readable documentation of software design. In practice, software design is often informally documented (e.g. texts in a natural language, `boxes-and-arrows' diagrams without well-defined syntax and semantics, etc.), or not documented at all. Therefore, the design cannot be properly communicated between software engineers, it cannot be formally analyzed, and the conformance of an implementation to the design cannot be formally verified.

In this chapter, we address this problem for the design and documentation of the behavior implemented in procedural programs. We introduce a solution that consists of three components: The first component is a graphical language called VisuaL, which enables engineers to specify constraints on the possible sequences of function calls from a given program. Since the specifications may be inconsistent with each other, the second component of our solution is a tool called CheckDesign, which automatically
verifies the consistency between multiple specifications written in VisuaL. The third component is a tool called CheckSource, which automatically verifies that a given implementation conforms to the corresponding specifications written in VisuaL.

This solution has been evaluated empirically through controlled experiments with 71 participants: 23 professional developers of ASML, and 49 Computer Science M.Sc. students. These experiments showed that, with statistical significance of 0.01, the solution reduced the effort of typical maintenance tasks by 75% and
prevented one error per 140 lines of source code.


Base excision repair (BER) is one of the important systems for the maintenance of genome stability via repair of DNA lesions. BER is a multistep process involving a number of enzymes, including damage-specific DNA glycosylases, apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease 1, DNA polymerase β, and DNA ligase. Coordination of BER is implemented by multiple protein–protein interactions between BER participants. Nonetheless, mechanisms of these interactions and their roles in the BER coordination are poorly understood. Here, we report a study on Polβ's nucleotidyl transferase activity toward different DNA substrates (that mimic DNA intermediates arising during BER) in the presence of various DNA glycosylases (AAG, OGG1, NTHL1, MBD4, UNG, or SMUG1) using rapid-quench-flow and stopped-flow fluorescence approaches. It was shown that Polβ efficiently adds a single nucleotide into different types of single-strand breaks either with or without a 5′-dRP–mimicking group. The obtained data indicate that DNA glycosylases AAG, OGG1, NTHL1, MBD4, UNG, and SMUG1, but not NEIL1, enhance Polβ's activity toward the model DNA intermediates.


The present invention provides a hydraulic control circuit comprising hydraulic control oil discharge pump and the plurality of hydraulic control valves of the hydraulic control valve controlling the oil supplied to the hydraulic pressure control of hydraulic operation of the plurality of switching, reducing the operating oil held by the oil hydraulic control pressure caused heating, even if the simultaneous operation of a plurality of hydraulic control valves, can be sufficiently supplied to the hydraulic control valve controls the hydraulic oil, the operability is not compromised. Variable displacement pump as the pilot pump. By operating the operation state detecting means detects the hydraulic control valve, calculated by the controller operating the hydraulic switching valve required discharge amount from the hydraulic pump to control the state, only the hydraulic pressure control pump discharge amount of oil necessary.


In this article, biodegradable poly(e-caprolactone)/layered silicate nanocomposites were prepared and characterized. The dispersion state of modified clay in PCL matrix and its effect on thermal, rheological and mechanical properties of PCL were studied. The PCL/clay nanocomposites were then foamed using chemical foaming method. Cellular parameters such as mean cell size, cell wall thickness and cell densities of nanocomposite foams with different clay loading were collected. Effect of layered silicate on the structure and mechanical properties of PCL foams were evaluated. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010


This study investigates the relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) variability occurring over the Indian Ocean and winter rainfall variability in eastern Australia. Six indices of SST variability are compared and their relationship to rainfall over eastern Australia is determined. An analysis of historical rainfall data for Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria reveals that a strong relationship exists between a number of these indices and winter rainfall. In particular, anomalous SSTs over the Indonesian region provide a good indication of winter rainfall variability in eastern Australia. Additionally, this relationship is shown to hold true irrespective of potential impacts on rainfall by the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO). A possible physical process by which the Indian Ocean SST anomalies may influence winter rainfall is proposed, involving their impact on the nature of the northwest Australian cloud band. This study demonstrates marked controls on winter climate variability comparable to that induced in summer by the better known ENSO processes and hence offers improved understanding of year‐round seasonal climates.


Omaolo© electronic symptom checkers (ESCs) have been developed to make triage for primary health care patients in Finland. Based on the analysis of the patient's responses to a set of questions, the ESC classifies him/her as emergent, urgent, not urgent, or advices on self-care. In this study the user answered the questions posed by the electronic symptom checker, after which a nurse assessed the urgency of the same user's symptom. The triage nurse was not allowed to know the result of the electronic symptom assessment until he or she had assessed the patient's condition. The level of triage was compared between ESC and nurse in each individual case. Findings from 825 individual cases were analyzed. The mean "exactly matched" for all symptom estimates was 52.6%. The mean "exactly matched" or "overconservative but suitable" for all symptom assessments was 66.6%. Safe assessments of electronic symptom checkers accounted for 98.6% of all assessments. A case was defined as "safe" if the recommendation for action given by the symptom assessment was at most one level less urgent than the nurse's triage assessment of the same case. The findings show that electronic symptom assessments are safe compared to the assessment of an experienced nurse.


The presence of oligoclonal bands in clinically isolated syndromes is an independent risk factor for developing multiple sclerosis and has been largely excluded from the more recent multiple sclerosis diagnostic criteria. Therefore, our objective was to explore the value of oligoclonal bands in the context of the 2010 McDonald criteria, especially in patients fulfilling exclusively dissemination in space at baseline. For this purpose, we selected 566 patients from a clinically isolated syndrome inception cohort who had IgG oligoclonal bands determination and sufficient data on baseline brain MRI to assess dissemination in space and time. We excluded the cases already fulfilling both dissemination in space and time and divided the remaining 398 into 'no dissemination in space and time' (n = 218), 'dissemination in space' (n = 164) and 'dissemination in time' (n = 16). We assessed Cox proportional hazards regression models with 2010 McDonald as the outcome, using 'no dissemination in space and time' with 0 lesions and negative oligoclonal bands as the reference for different subgroups according to oligoclonal bands status (positive/negative). To assess the diagnostic properties, we selected cases with a follow-up ≥3 years or fulfilling 2010 McDonald within 3 years of the clinically isolated syndrome (n = 314), and compared the performance of all 'dissemination in space' cases (n = 137) versus patients with 'dissemination in space' and positive oligoclonal bands (n = 101). The remaining patients classified as fulfilling 'dissemination in time' or 'no dissemination in space and time' were taken into account to calculate the diagnostic properties. The respective adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) were 1.5 (0.4-5.7) for 'no dissemination in space and time' with 0 lesions and positive oligoclonal bands, 3.1 (1.4-7.2) for 'no dissemination in space and time' with ≥1 lesions and negative oligoclonal bands, 7.4 (3.5-15.7) for 'no dissemination in space and time' with ≥1 lesions and positive oligoclonal bands, 10.4 (4.8-22.6) for 'dissemination in space' with negative oligoclonal bands, 15.3 (7.5-31.3) for 'dissemination in space' with positive oligoclonal bands, and 9.1 (3.5-23.4) for 'dissemination in time' (not subdivided due to the sample size). The specificity for all cases with 'dissemination in space' was 80.6 and increased to 88.1 after selecting those with positive oligoclonal bands. According to these results, we propose radiological dissemination in space at any time plus positive oligoclonal bands as an additional criterion for diagnosing multiple sclerosis.


In this paper, a scheme for the generation of long-living entanglement between two distant Λ-type three-level atoms separately trapped in two dissipative cavities is proposed. In this scheme, two dissipative cavities are coupled to their own non-Markovian environments and two three-level atoms are driven by the classical fields. The entangled state between the two atoms is produced by performing Bell state measurement (BSM) on photons leaving the dissipative cavities. Using the time-dependent Schördinger equation, we obtain the analytical results for the evolution of the entanglement. It is revealed that, by manipulating the detunings of classical field, the long-living stationary entanglement between two atoms can be generated in the presence of dissipation.


The Canary Islands in the Northeast Atlantic are a wonderful place to study volcanic, structural and sedimentological aspects of ocean island volcanoes. Their geology is varied and superbly exposed, with over fourteen million years of submarine and subaerial, effusive and explosive volcanic activity, intrusion, caldera collapse, landslides, and erosion recorded. Visitors should not be put off by the recent over-sensationalist TV documentaries predicting future landslides and the inundation of Florida and New York by tsunami! The presence of voluminous felsic explosive products, sediments and uplifted submarine successions, make the Canaries more varied than the Hawaiian islands with which they are often compared. With low-cost flights, accommodation and car-hire, they have become particularly accessible to northern Europeans.

To my knowledge Canary Islands is the only field guidebook that attempts to cover the geology of all seven main islands in the Canary archipelago. This is an ambitious remit, and the authors …


We report the power scaling of a diode-pumped GaAs-based 850-nm vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser, by use of an intracavity silicon carbide (SiC) heatspreader optically contacted to the semiconductor surface. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of bonding of SiC to a III-V semiconductor structure using the technique of liquid capillarity. High output power of >0.5 W in a circularly symmetric, TEM/sub 00/ output beam has been achieved with a spectral shift of only 0.6 nm/W of pump power. No thermal rollover was evident up to the highest pump power available, implying significant further output-power scaling potential using this approach.


Rehabilitation of stroke patient is a continuum, starting within days of onset and ending only when it no longer produces any positive effects. Although rehabilitation intervention is important during the acute phase of care, it is secondary to the activities involved in diagnosis and acute medical treatment. However, when a patient has a persisting major continuing impairment, such as hemiplegia with disabilities, the rehabilitation components of care quickly become the main focus of management. Stroke rehabilitation is always done by the patient, rather than to the patient .The major theme of rehabilitation is the enhancement of quality of life of stroke patient. The comprehensive rehabilitation management programme is characterized by a holistic approach and understanding the rehabilitation of the patients who sustain stroke. It is important because it involves virtually all elements of rehabilitation activity and all members of the rehabilitation team. In this article we aim to provide an overview of the area of rehabilitation in the management of ischemic stroke to improve the quality of service for the stroke patients.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) represents the major form of dementia in the elderly. In recent years, accumulating evidence indicate that obesity may act as a risk factor for AD, while the genetic link between the two conditions remains unclear. This bioinformatics analysis aimed to detect the genetic link between AD and obesity on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), gene, and pathway levels based on genome-wide association studies data. A total of 31 SNPs were found to be shared by AD and obesity, which were linked to 7 genes. These genes included PSMC3, CELF1, MYBPC3, SPI1, APOE, MTCH2 and RAPSN. Further functional enrichment analysis of these genes revealed the following biological pathways, including proteasome, osteoclast differentiation, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, Epstein-Barr virus and TLV-I infection, as well as several cancer associated pathways, to be common among AD and obesity. The findings deepened our understanding on the genetic basis linking obesity and AD and may help shape possible prevention and treatment strategies.


In this paper, undoped and tin-doped ZnO nanostructures were grown onto non-conductive substrates by a simple solution method. Structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of the structures were investigated with respect to tin concentration. From XRD studies, all the ZnO nanostructures were found as hexagonal wurtzite type structures growing preponderantly oriented with c -axis nor- mal to the substrate. An increase in tin content resulted in a decrease in grain size, whereas the dislocation density in- creases. SEM observations indicated that all the structures were textured throughout the substrates without any cracks or pores. The influence of incorporation of tin on surface morphology of the samples was clearly seen. Average diameter of the nanostructures decreased with increasing tin content. Absorption spectra of the structures revealed that the band gap of the films increases with increasing tin concentration. It is found that the tin-doped samples have higher average transmittance than the undoped one. The 1 % tin-doped sample exhibited ∼ 80 % average transparency, which was the best transparency among the doped samples. Electrical measurements showed that resistivity of the structures increased with increasing dopant concentration. This increasing was attributed due to a decrease in carrier con- centration caused by carrier traps at the grain boundaries.


Migration is so far little discussed in the CSR literature and CSR is little discussed in the migration literature. Where these discourses do come together, it is most commonly regarding how private companies affect migration patterns, the need for employers to adhere to State immigration policies, and the possible involvement of the private sector in activities relating to trafficking. However, European countries frequently use the services of private companies to carry out a range of migration related activities. This paper looks at the use of private companies to support a State's pre-entry measures (carrier sanctions), internal measures (detention) and ejection (deportation). It presents some of the ways in which this delegation may be considered problematic and suggests a possible direction for a CSR case for corporations sometimes not to carry out States' wishes in this sector. In particular, it suggests that there is scope for considering a business case for CSR in this sector, an ethical case and a legal case. It offers a brief discussion of how access to passenger transportation could in some circumstances be seen as a vital need. This paper uses the discussion of the involvement of the passenger transport industry in migration control to draw attention to two wider concerns. First, how can European CSR respond in situations where the European States themselves may be violating international norms? Second, is there scope for developing an understanding of CSR in the wider migration control sector?


Device free communication is getting more and more popular. A comfortable and easy way to accomplish this is interaction with hand gestures. A very good gesture recognition system is required in order to avoid frustration among users. The major challenge in hand gesture recognition lies in an accurate segmentation of the hand. The accurate segmentation of skin colored body parts is an active field of research, and much research has been done to solve this segmentation problem with skin models or skin classification rules. In this paper we address hand segmentation and introduce a novel approach based on the extraction, tracking and verification of skin clusters in color space during runtime. An evaluation shows, that our approach performs significantly better than other approaches used for comparison.


A 57-year-old man of northern Italian and Polish descent with a late-onset, mild form of hereditary factor VII deficiency developed bilateral intracranial subdural hematomas after performing sit-ups while he was in a head-down position on an inversion table. The pertinence of the Valsalva maneuver and increased intracranial venous and intraocular pressure associated with sit-ups and other exercises in the causation of subdural hematomas and other types of intracranial and ocular hemorrhage are discussed in this study.