Abstract In this research, the laminar, incompressible, unsteady oscillatory flow and convective heat transfer of nanofluid around a porous cuboid were studied two-dimensionally using particle resolved calculations. Several cuboids of different sizes and porosities and with a constant temperature were subjected to a nanofluid flow with a sinusoidal velocity profile. The effects of the Reynolds number (Re = 100–900), the volume fraction of nanoparticles, the aspect ratio of the porous cuboid, the Darcy number and the amplitude and frequency of the inlet velocity on the flow field and heat transfer were investigated. To evaluate the system's optimal performance, performance evaluation criteria (PEC) were also investigated. The results showed that increasing the Reynolds number improved thermal performance. Increasing the volume fraction of nanoparticles increased the Nusselt number; however, the pressure drop coefficient increased more strongly. The heat transfer and pressure drop coefficient increased in line with the growth of the porous cuboid aspect ratio. When the Darcy number was increased, the Nusselt number first increased and then decreased and the pressure drop coefficient continuously decreased. A higher amplitude of the inlet velocity profile augmented the heat transfer and pressure drop coefficient. An increase in the amplitude and frequency of the inlet velocity profile widened the range of drag and lift coefficients. Furthermore, flow at different inlet velocity frequencies (f * = 0–10) behaved differently; as a result, the maximum rate of heat transfer and pressure drop was obtained at f *=5. However, considering the ratio of the Nusselt number to the pressure drop coefficient and PEC parameter, the optimum frequency was f *=9.


Purpose of Study Over the years, epidemiology of infective endocarditis (IE) has been changing with the change in population at risk. The aging of our population, better antibiotics for treatment of infections and changes in predisposing conditions have contributed to the changing prevalence patterns of this disease in different patient groups. At present little data is available on the prevalence of IE in selected patient groups such as the medically indigent. We studied the prevalence of IE in patients evaluated in an inner city hospital. Methods Used We screened the clinical, laboratory and echocardiographic data of 246 consecutive patients referred for echocardiographic evaluation, with suspected IE during the period 04/1996 to 05/ 2001. Using the New Duke criteria for diagnosing endocarditis, these patients were classified as having 1. Definite IE 2. Possible IE and 3. Diagnosis of IE rejected. Summary of Results Of the 246 patients screened, 72 (29%) fulfilled criteria for diagnosis of IE. Twenty of these patients (8%) were classified as "definite" IE and 52 (21%) as "possible" IE. Diagnosis of IE was "rejected" in 174 (71%) of the screened patients. Conclusions Screening for IE in this medically indigent patient population of an inner city hospital, confirmed definite endocarditis in only 8% of the patients referred with suspected endocarditis. This represents a very small proportion of the patients screened and is much lower than reported in other studies, in a different patient population. This could be due to a higher degree of suspicion for IE in this patient group. Further inquiry is needed to confirm the underlying mechanism responsible for this observation.


The nonlinearity of full-waveform inversion (FWI) and parameter trade-offs can prevent convergence toward the actual model, especially for elastic anisotropic media. The problems with parameter updating become particularly severe if ultra-low-frequency seismic data are unavailable, and the initial model is not sufficiently accurate. We introduce a robust way to constrain the inversion workflow using borehole information obtained from well logs. These constraints are included in the form of rock-physics relationships for different geologic facies (e.g., shale, sand, salt, and limestone). We develop a multiscale FWI algorithm for transversely isotropic media with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI media) that incorporates facies information through a regularization term in the objective function. That term is updated during the inversion by using the models obtained at the previous inversion stage. To account for lateral heterogeneity between sparse borehole locations, we use an image-guided smoothing algorithm. Numerical testing for structurally complex anisotropic media demonstrates that the facies-based constraints may ensure the convergence of the objective function towards the global minimum in the absence of ultra-low-frequency data and for simple (even 1D) initial models. We test the algorithm on clean data and on surface records contaminated by Gaussian noise. The algorithm also produces a high-resolution facies model, which should be instrumental in reservoir characterization.


Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is one most cost-effective 3D printing technique for forming complex 3D components based on thermoplastic materials. The energy consumption analysis is one criterion to determine the capacity and sustainability of the FDM. In this paper, the energy consumption of a dual- extruder FDM is studied by differentiating the whole multi-material printing process into independent operation modes, which characterize the thermal behaviors of the printing parameters. By investigating the execution instruction which describe the tooling plan of the FDM, the nozzle temperature distributions with different filament materials are measured and simulated. The energy consumption details can be accurately captured in our work and therefore we are able to predicate the power demand changes with different working processes of the multi-material FDM 3D printing. This work will be beneficial for optimization of 3D printer design and manufacturing sustainability in next.


By modulating the small gas feed required to maintain a steady-state Tokamak discharge a small density perturbation may be induced from whose propagation particle transport parameters may be adduced. Experiments in TEXT show that the phenomena may be adequately described by a simple model with constant diffusion plus inward convection except near the density limit. Diffusion coefficients and convective velocities has been determined for a broad range of hydrogen discharges and found to scale approximately as (nq)-1. The results are plausibly related to impurity transport parameters, thermal diffusivity, and particle confinement times. Diffusion coefficients for deuterium are systematically lower than for hydrogen.


This article reports the results on the composition and antifungal effect of volatile extracts obtained from the aerial parts of Sardinian wild fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.), by supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and by hydrodistillation (HD). The extracts were analysed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry for qualitative composition and gas chromatography-flame ionisation detector to establish the percentage of constituents. The main components were fenchone (7.1% vs. 8.8%), estragole (34.9% vs. 42.6%) and (E)-anethole (24.6% vs. 43.4%) in the SFE and HD extract, respectively. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were measured according to the reference Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) broth macrodilution protocols. Minimum lethal concentrations were determined by subsequent subculturing of the same cell suspensions in solid medium. The essential oil was more active against Candida albicans, whereas the supercritical fluid extract possesses higher activity against Candida guillermondii and Cryptococcus neoformans, with MIC values of 0.32 μL/mL.


Applying a suitable threshold converts a handwritten image object to binary image. A modified medial axis transform is presented in this paper which skeletonizes handwritten image objects. The binary image object is scanned both in horizontal and vertical directions, which preserves the continuity of the handwritten strokes. Numerical derivatives on all elements of a scan line detect the binary edges on the line. To obtain the skeleton pattern, the median position indexes of all ones segment in a scan line are found. Applicability of the algorithm is tested on handwritten numerals, characters, words, and signatures. (


The world production of copper is steadily increasing. Although humans are widely exposed to copper‐containing items on the skin and mucosa, allergic reactions to copper are only infrequently reported. To review the chemistry, biology and accessible data to clarify the implications of copper hypersensitivity, a database search of PubMed was performed with the following terms: copper, dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, contact hypersensitivity, contact sensitization, contact allergy, patch test, dental, IUD, epidemiology, clinical, and experimental. Human exposure to copper is relatively common. As a metal, it possesses many of the same qualities as nickel, which is a known strong sensitizer. Cumulative data on subjects with presumed related symptoms and/or suspected exposure showed that a weighted average of 3.8% had a positive patch test reaction to copper. We conclude that copper is a very weak sensitizer as compared with other metal compounds. However, in a few and selected cases, copper can result in clinically relevant allergic reactions.


Bright reflections are observed within the upper 1000 m of the water column along a seismic reflection profile that traverses the northern margin of the Gulf of Mexico. Independent hydrographic calibration demonstrates that these reflections are primarily caused by temperature changes associated with different water masses that are entrained into the Gulf along the Loop Current. The internal wave field is analyzed by automatically tracking 1171 reflections, each of which is greater than 2 km in length. Power spectra of the horizontal gradient of isopycnal displacement, ϕex, are calculated from these tracked reflections. At low horizontal wavenumbers (kx < 10−2 cpm), ϕex ∝ kx−0.2±0.6, in agreement with hydrographic observations of the internal wave field. The turbulent spectral subrange is rarely observed. Diapycnal diffusivity, K, is estimated from the observed internal wave spectral subrange of each tracked reflection using a fine-scale parametrization of turbulent mixing. Calculated values of K vary between 10−8 and 10−4 m2 s−1 with a mean value of K ∼ 4 × 10−6 m2 s−1. The spatial distribution of turbulent mixing shows that K ∼ 10−7 m2 s−1 away from the shelf edge in the upper 300 m where stratification is strong. Mixing is enhanced by up to four orders of magnitude adjacent to the shoaling bathymetry of the continental slope. This overall pattern matches that determined by analyzing nearby suites of CTD casts. However, the range of values recovered by spectral analysis of the seismic image is greater as a consequence of significantly better horizontal resolution.


ABSTRACT:
This study aimed to investigate the effect of the fluorosis on the reproductive and thyroid disorders through its biochemical, histopathological and immunohistochemical findings in one of fluoride endemic area in Egypt. They carried out on forty adult ewes and does which grouped into two groups. The 1st group (20 animals: 10 ewes and 10 does) was control group that brought from the Animal Reproduction Research Institute farm. The 2nd group was a fluoride group (20 animals: 10 ewes and 10 does) that brought from abattoir and farms in Alexandria dessert way, North cost and Alexandria Governorate. Excess water fluorosis (2.9 mg/L) caused a significant (p


In a recent study, Long et al . (1) reported the short-term perioperative outcomes of a Chinese multicenter randomized controlled trial. The trial was designed to compare clinically relevant outcomes after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) or open lobectomy in the treatment of early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The authors are to be congratulated for taking on the hard and difficult task of performing a randomized clinical trial in this field (2).


With the failure of various amyloid-β-targeted drugs for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in clinical trials, tau protein has gained growing attention as an alternative therapeutic target in recent years. The aggregation of tau exerts neurotoxicity, and its spreading in the brain is associated with increasing severity of clinical symptoms for AD patients; thus tau-targeting therapies hold great potential against AD. Here, a tau-targeted multifunctional nanoinhibitor based on self-assembled polymeric micelles decorated with tau-binding peptide is devised for AD treatment. Through the multivalent binding effect with the aggregating protein, this nanoinhibitor is capable of efficiently inhibiting tau protein aggregation, recognizing tau aggregates, and blocking their seeding in neural cells, thus remarkably mitigating tau-mediated cytotoxicity. Moreover, the formed nanoinhibitor-tau complex after binding is more easily degraded than mature tau aggregates, which will be conducive to enhance the therapeutic effect. We believe that this multifunctional nanoinhibitor will promote the development of new antitau strategies for AD treatment.


The EU goals to decrease wind energy prices are driving the wind energy industry to give more attention to monitoring and improving turbine performance. Meanwhile, as turbines grow bigger and more are placed offshore, performance monitoring costs are increasing, making it more interesting to consider novel devices to measure turbine performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of these devices in power performance monitoring and evaluating the potential gains which can be achieved. A comparative study of the measurement accuracies was performed of the nacelle-based Lidar (WindIris) and a spinner anemometer (iSpins) against an IEC-compliant met-mast. Accuracies of both devices in measuring wind speeds, yaw misalignment and power curves were found to be comparable to a met-mast and therefore could be worthy replacements of met-masts for power performance measurements in the future. The impact of non-ideal wind conditions, like yaw misalignment, turbulence and wind shear, on power performance was also investigated using both experimental and Bladed simulated results. No conclusive results were found on the relationship between yaw misalignment and performance loss. The ideal yaw error was found to increase with increasing wind shear, caused by higher angles of attack in the top of the rotor area. The direct impact of turbulence intensity and wind shear on power curves was found to be wind speed dependent and not that significant on overall energy production. Finally, combining the knowledge acquired about yaw misalignment and device accuracies, a financial feasibility study was performed to evaluate future implementation of the novel devices for yaw misalignment correction. Since no conclusive evidence was presented that correcting for yaw misalignment could increase power performance significantly, current implementation of such a correction campaign is not recommended. If a deliberate yaw misalignment campaign were to be performed, however, the impact of yaw misalignment on turbine performance should be quantifiable and expectations are that implementation of novel devices should be financially feasible.


Geographic information systems (GIS) makes use of geographic data, such as streets, store points, and block or neighborhood areas, and attribute data, such as population, income levels, competition, and store sales, by integrating the two into a powerful spatial query. The techniques utilized include geographic mapping, digital mapping, aerial photographs, etc. Along with the convenience of using GIS, there are some concerns about privacy and security of the data and information. This paper addresses the security concerns related to this emerging technology.


Abstract : To measure the traffic pollutants with high temporal and spatial resolution under real conditions a mobile emission laboratory (MEL) was designed and built in KIST with close-cooperation with KIMM and Yonsei university. The equipment of the mini-van provides gas phase measurements of CO, NOx, CO 2 , THC (Total hydrocarbon) and number density & size distribution measurements of fine and ultra-fine particles by a fast mobility particle sizer (FMPS) and a condensation particle counter (CPC). The inlet sampling port above the bumper enables the chasing of different type of vehicles. This paper introduces the construction and technical details of the MEL and presents data from the car chasing experiment of diesel and CNG city bus. The dilution ratio was increased rapidly according to the chasing distance. Most particles from the diesel city bus were counted under 300 nm and the peak concentration of the particles was located between 40-60 nm. However, the most particles from the CNG city bus were nano particle counted under 50 nm.


Introduction of wireless vehicular communications enables a variety of new ITS use-cases [1, 2], allowing for cooperation between vehicles and infrastructure services. However the cooperation between vehicles and vulnerable road users (VRU) is not considered in these use cases. Currently there are already efforts to investigate the feasibility and the impact of systems to protect VRU [3-5]. Due to the continuously increasing number of traffic participants in urban environments this paper focuses on protecting cyclists in intersection scenarios. Therefore this paper provides a feasibility study on a cooperative safety application for vehicles and bicycles using a vehicle equipped with Vehicle-to-X communication (ETSI ITS G5) technology and a commercial mobile device using consumer WLAN (IEEE 802.11g) at the bicycle. Within a demonstration it is proven that the set up and the deployment of such a system is feasible. Thus it could help to decrease the number of accidents between vehicles and bicycles or at least mitigate the impact of an accident.


To the Editor. —In focusing on the lipid effects of estrogen, Drs Barrett-Connor and Bush1sharply restrict the scope of the debate on the sex difference in the risk of heart disease. An implicit assumption that sex is a nonmodifiable coronary risk factor further limits the discussion. The nature of the potent protective factor in menstruating women has not been established. We must take care not to overlook a mechanism that may also be protective in men and postmenopausal women. The suggestion that the effect of estrogen on lipid metabolism is the protective factor1is not tenable in light of well-documented findings on heart disease expression in women with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).2,3Genetic lesions provide us with extreme cases that can clarify basic questions. In heterozygous FH, the sex difference in heart disease expression is preserved despite the lack of a corresponding sex difference in lipid phenotype.


Abstract Service restoration is an emergency control in distribution control centers to restore out-of-service area as soon as possible when a fault occurs in distribution networks. therefore, it requires fast computation time and high quality solutions for load balancing. In this paper. a load balance index and heuristic guided best-first search are proposed for these problem. The proposed algorithm consists of two parts. One is to set up a decision tree to represent the various switching operations available. Another is to identify the most effective the set of switches using proposed search technique and a feeder load balance index. Test results on the KEPCO's 108 bus distribution system show that the performance is efficient and robust.


The objective of this study was to describe our NICU's (neonatal intensive care unit) experience with mobile surgical team and to demonstrate its effectiveness. Method: We analyzed the data of 17 consecutive very low birth weight and extremely low birth weight infants over 3 years who underwent 22 procedures (19 emergency and 3 elective). The gestational age at birth was a median of 25 weeks (range 24 - 39), and the median birth weight was 613 g (range from 340 g to 1100 g). The infants received their operations during their first 2 weeks of life (median 7 days, range from 1 to 14). Results: The spectrum of primary surgical diagnoses included spontaneous intestinal perforations (n = 8), gastric perforations (n = 3), necrotizing enterocolitis (n = 2), meconium ileus (n = 2), and miscellaneous (n = 2). An emergency laparotomy with either a bowel or a gastric procedure was performed in 16 cases. Postoperatively, all infants required mechanical ventilation from 1 to 43 days (median 6.5 days). Complications included a metachronous small bowel perforation, an ileostomy retraction, a prolapsed stoma, and impaired wound healing; we had one postoperative death. Two infants died later in the NICU (mortality 3 of 16; 19%). Conclusion: Off-site surgery for preterm infants in the NICU is feasible. This approach prevents the risks of transportation, and parents and neonatologists alike feel comfortable with this regimen. However, biases may exist regarding the surgeon's decision to operate, the choice of procedure, and the follow-up.


A general and transition-metal-free method for the construction of the carbazol-4-amine motif via a vinylogous Michael addition/cyclization/isomerization/elimination reaction of 3-nitroindoles with alkylidene malononitriles has been developed. This novel methodology allows the facile synthesis of a series of di- and trisubstituted carbazol-4-amine derivatives in moderate to good yields. A gram-scale experiment was successfully performed, highlighting the practicability of this method. Moreover, this strategy is also applicable to 3-nitrobenzothiophene, affording the corresponding dibenzo[ b, d]thiophen-1-amine derivatives in moderate yields.


Introduction: Peer-assisted learning (PAL) is a teaching method that develops new knowledge and skills through active learning support from peers.
Objectives: To assess the impact of PAL in medical education, by collecting quantitative data that explore its effectiveness. To evaluate students' perception of and satisfaction with PAL.
Methods: A 5-point Likert scale survey was developed for students participating in the PAL program either as tutors or learners. Data were compared and statistically analyzed according to gender, GPA, and year of study. Moreover, follow up of peer tutors and peer learner's achievement was done through comparing their grades with those that not shared in PAL and with their GPA of previous year.
Results: Statistical analysis of questionnaire data revealed that medical students regarded voluntary peer-teaching similarly to faculty teaching and have a generally positive perception of PAL. Most of the respondents reported that they benefited both professionally and personally from PAL activities. They recommended expanding the role of PAL and officially incorporating PAL sessions into the curriculum. Students' achievement was significantly increased for those who acted as peer learners and peer tutors.
Conclusions: Using PAL in conjunction with other teaching and learning methods provides additional value by fostering cooperation and social interaction among medical students and further prepares them for their future role as medical science educators. Additional research into the impact of PAL on academic achievement, both short- and long-term learning outcomes, in medical programs is warranted.


Digital video is one of the most popular multimedia data exchanged over the internet. Previous cryptography studies have focused on text data. The encryption algorithms developed for text data may not be suitable to multimedia applications because of large sizes of video. We present an algorithm in which a video file is encrypted by considering each frame as acolour image. Each video frame is broken down into RGB planes. Chaotic mapping algorithms are applied on all the planes of each frame, the temporal and horizontal domain of the video. For end-to-end authentication, semantically secure whirlpool hash has been used. Data integrity is verified using XOR hash which can detecttampering of data at any intermediate node. The algorithm was run on different videos, and satisfying results were obtained.


Covered self-expandable metallic stents (CSEMS) may provide palliative drainage for unresectable distal malignant biliary strictures. Laser-cut CSEMS allows easy positioning due to its characteristic of minimal stent shortening. Endoscopic stent removal is sometimes recommended for recurrent biliary obstruction (RBO). However, there are no previous reports of endoscopic removal of laser-cut CSEMS. The current study presents data from 6 patients who were placed a laser-cut CSEMS for unresectable distal malignant biliary strictures, and later endoscopic stent removal was attempted for RBO at the present institute. The duration of stent placement, the procedural success rate, the procedural duration, and accidental complications were evaluated. The mean duration of stent placement was 156±37.9 days (range, 117–205). The procedural success rate was 100%. The mean procedural duration was 11.8±7.5 min (range, 5–24). No complications were reported. Laser-cut CSEMS were safely removed from all patients. The present case report is the first to demonstrate that Endoscopic stent removal of laser-cut CSEMS was safely performed.


The Cattle Tracing System (cts) of Great Britain was examined to investigate the quality of its data in terms of known errors and omissions, and their distribution. The proportions of erroneous or missing data have decreased steadily over time, with a marked improvement in the quality of the data since 2001, when recording became mandatory. There is little variation between regions in the quality of the data, but there are potentially important variations between the types of agricultural premises that cattle move to and from, and in other factors correlated with the type of premises, such as the age of the animals and the number of animal movements associated with the premises.


Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas of the salivary glands are rare. Most of these tumors occur in the parotid gland. The most common subtype is extranodal B-cell lymphoma, which arises from mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue. A 63-year-old-woman with a painless swelling in the right parotid gland was examined with magnetic resonance imaging and fine-needle aspiration cytology. The mass was excised via superficial parotidectomy. Histological examination revealed a low-grade B-cell lymphoma originating from the lymphoid tissue associated with malignant mucosa. Lymphoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis in patients having a mass in the parotid gland and a systemic or autoimmune disease.


We relate models based on costs of switching beliefs (e.g. due to inattention) to hypothesis tests. Specifically, for an inference problem with a penalty for mistakes and for switching the inferred value, a band of inaction is optimal. We show this band is equivalent to a confidence interval, and therefore to a two-sided hypothesis test.


This article is a critical celebration of Title IX. Fifty years of this landmark civil rights legislation has brought tremendous progress for girls and women in all areas of the U.S. educational system—including sport. However, Title IX has yet to achieve its full potential. For this to happen, I propose nine pressing issues that must be addressed: enforcing compliance; roster management and other dubious compliance tactics; more opportunities for women of color; the leadership gap; sex-segregated sport; the inclusion of transgender athletes; name, image, and likeness opportunities; the athletic arms race; and sexual harassment and violence. Based on current, scholarship, published data, and contemporary examples, this "nine for IX" approach is not a critique of the law but rather a critique of those aspects of American interscholastic and intercollegiate sport that continually hamstring Title IX's power.


Covid-19 vaccination has proven to be an effective measure to reduce morbidity and mortality. However, some reports have linked Covid-19 vaccination with alterations in menstruation. Considering that menstruation is an important health component for people who menstruate, this information may cause hesitancy to get vaccinated. There are limited systematic reviews regarding the impact of Covid-19 vaccination on changes in menstrual patterns. Therefore, it is necessary to review the available literature on this topic. A systematic review was done in accordance with the PRISMA statement. The literature search was done by hand and on four databases: PubMed, EMBASE, ProQuest, and CENTRAL. All found articles were screened based on predetermined criteria. Articles that meet the requirements were critically appraised and analyzed. Fourteen (14) articles consisting of 11 cross-sectional studies and 3 cohorts were found. The outcomes mentioned in the studies include changes in menstrual cycle range, durations, estimated blood quantities, and menstruation symptoms. There are changes in the menstrual pattern after the administration of the Covid-19 vaccination, in the form of irregular menstruation, menorrhagia, worsening of menstruation symptoms, and intermenstrual bleeding. However, these changes only occur temporarily. Therefore, the administration of the Covid-19 vaccination is bene�cial for people who menstruate.


Almost 110 years after the first studies by Dr. Carlos Chagas describing an infectious disease that was named for him, Chagas disease remains a neglected illness and a death sentence for infected people in poor countries. This short review highlights the enormous need for new studies aimed at the development of novel and more specific drugs to treat chagasic patients. The primary tool for facing this challenge is deep knowledge about the similarities and differences between the parasite and its human host.


Thrombopoietin (TPO) is the major regulator of growth and differentiation of megakaryocytes. Recent studies have shown that TPO also has activity on hematopoietic lineages other than megakaryocytes. However, little is known about the effects of TPO on nonhematopoietic cells expressing the TPO receptor, such as endothelial cells (EC). We have previously shown that specific murine liver EC (LEC-1) located in the hepatic sinusoids coexpress TPO and its receptor, c-mpl. Likewise, we showed that TPO has a proliferative effect on LEC-1. In this study, we have further examined the effects of TPO on other biological functions of LEC-1. Stimulation with TPO induced secretion of proinflammatory cytokines (i.e., IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha) from LEC-1. TPO-induced proliferation of LEC-1 was synergistically enhanced with the addition of TNF-alpha. TPO also induced the proliferation of LEC-1 in the presence of IFN-gamma, which alone inhibited the growth of these cells. TPO has no effect on other endothelial cell functions such as nitric oxide production and adhesion molecule expression. These observations establish a novel activity of TPO on murine liver endothelial cells in terms of inducing cytokine production by these cells. Our results suggest that this cytokine may act synergistically with other cytokines to induce LEC-1 proliferation.


This is the final report of a three-year Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). At the forefront of chemistry are efforts to catalytically transform the inert C-H bonds in alkanes to more useful products using metal compounds. The goal is to observe binding and cleavage of alkane C-H bonds on metals or to use related silane Si-H bonding as models, analogous to the discovery of hydrogen (H{sub 2}) binding to metals. Studies of these unique sigma complexes (M{hor_ellipsis}H-Y; Y{double_bond}H, Si, C) will aid in developing new catalysts or technologies relevant to DOE interest, e.g., new methods for tritium isotope separation. Several transition metals (Mo, W, Mn, and Pt) were found to reversibly bind and cleave H{sub 2}, silanes, and halocarbons. The first metal-SiH{sub 4} complexes, thus serving as a model for methane reactions. A second goal is to study the dynamics and energetics of H-Y bonds on metals by neutron scattering, and evidence for interactions between bound H-Y and nearby H atoms on metal complexes has been found.


This essay discusses Cass Sunstein's book, Simpler, in order to advance our understanding of the concepts of complex and simple law. Many writers identify complexity with uncertainty and high cost. This essay argues that complexity bears no fixed relationship to costs or benefits. It also shows that complexity's relationship to uncertainty is so ambiguous that it is profitable to treat complexity and uncertainty as separate concepts. It develops useful separate concepts of legal and compliance complexity that will aid efforts to simplify law, like the one Sunstein claims to have embarked upon. It also argues that complexity is a hallmark of moderation, since it often arises from compromises reconciling competing interests and values. These basic points constitute important advances in the theory of complexity, which implicitly suggests something like this, but has not cleanly distinguished complex rules from costly or uncertain rules and not explicitly identified complexity with moderation. Sunstein's book, while quite valuable in many ways, does not greatly advance discussion of how to simplify law, because he assumes that whatever happens to coincide with his political philosophy must be simpler. He is not alone in assuming a happy coincidence between his values and the simplification ideal, but this essay shows that there is little overlap between Sunstein's endorsement of nudges and cost-benefit analysis and serious efforts to simplify the law. The theory I have articulated above leads to a keener appreciation of the need to accept some tradeoffs between simplicity and other values if we truly wish to make law "simpler." The essay closes with some thoughts about addressing these difficult tradeoffs.


6-chloro-6-deoxyglucose (24 mg/kg/day) produces infertility in male rats and marmosets. In the present study very high doses (480 mg/kg/day) were found not to impair the fertility of male mice. However, such doses induced the formation of vacuolated lesions in specific regions of central nervous system grey matter causing varying degrees of physical disability. A similar response has been obtained in marmosets. Astrocytes appear to be primarily affected with later involvement of nerve cells. The sites of lesions correspond closely to regions of high glucose utilization.


Herein we report an investigation of a CH3NH3PbI3 planar solar cell, showing significant power conversion efficiency (PCE) improvement from 4.88% to 6.13% by introducing a homogeneous and uniform NiO blocking interlayer fabricated with the reactive magnetron sputtering method. The sputtered NiO layer exhibits enhanced crystallization, high transmittance, and uniform surface morphology as well as a preferred in-plane orientation of the (200) plane. The PCE of the sputtered-NiO-based perovskite p-i-n planar solar cell can be further promoted to 9.83% when a homogeneous and dense perovskite layer is formed with solvent-engineering technology, showing an impressive open circuit voltage of 1.10 V. This is about 33% higher than that of devices using the conventional spray pyrolysis of NiO onto a transparent conducting glass. These results highlight the importance of a morphology- and crystallization-compatible interlayer toward a high-performance inverted perovskite planar solar cell.


The sarcolemma of fast-twitch muscle is organized into "costameres," structures that are oriented transversely, over the Z and M lines of nearby myofibrils, and longitudinally, to form a rectilinear lattice. Here we examine the role of desmin, the major intermediate filament protein of muscle in organizing costameres. In control mouse muscle, desmin is enriched at the sarcolemmal domains that lie over nearby Z lines and that also contain beta-spectrin. In tibialis anterior muscle from mice lacking desmin due to homologous recombination, most costameres are lost. In myofibers from desmin -/- quadriceps, by contrast, most costameric structures are stable. Alternatively, Z line domains may be lost, whereas domains oriented longitudinally or lying over M lines are retained. Experiments with pan-specific antibodies to intermediate filament proteins and to cytokeratins suggest that control and desmin -/- muscles express similar levels of cytokeratins. Cytokeratins concentrate at the sarcolemma at all three domains of costameres when the latter are retained in desmin -/- muscle and redistribute with beta-spectrin at the sarcolemma when costameres are lost. Our results suggest that desmin associates with and selectively stabilizes the Z line domains of costameres, but that cytokeratins associate with all three domains of costameres, even in the absence of desmin.


The regional organizations are becoming more and more the necessity of modern times. On vertically approaches the regional diplomacy and organizations are between international and national level of governmental institutions worldwide. Being in between global national levels the regional organizations are very interesting players to bring both above mentioned actors closer to each- other and to harmonize some time their contradictory approaches and interests. On horizontal approaches the regional organizations are located and operate in the common valuable areas with more or less the same or similar situations, in the common political landscape, in the same geography, geo-strategy, culture and markets. Therefore, they share the achievements and challenges together. That is why the increasing role of multilateral diplomacy through evolving regional organizations is very important facilitating mechanism to shift from old fashion bilateral oriented diplomacy toward globalization trends.


In order to determine the role of (Renaissance) humanism in the life and work of the "father of standard Slovenian" Primož Trubar (ca. 1508–1586), this study raises the following questions: 1) Where did or could Trubar encounter humanist ideas and meet their propagators? 2) Are there elements in his thought and writings that can be associated with humanism? 3) Did he help spread humanist values and, if so, to what extent? Trubar first encountered humanism around age sixteen at the court of the bishop of Trieste, Peter Bonomo (1458–1546), one of the leading Viennese humanists under Emperor Maximilian I (d. 1519). The young Trubar belonged to a group of clerics that attended the bishop's readings of Virgil and Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam. It was through Bonomo that Trubar must have come into contact with the Swiss humanist and Protestant reformer Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575). Trubar's writings, especially his letters and Bible translations, reveal the prevailing influence of Christian humanism. Criticizing clerical abuses and popular superstitions, Trubar presents himself as an advocate of Church reform and renewal. On the other hand, he often refers directly to Erasmus, "the crowning glory of the Christian humanists." Moreover, Kozma Ahacic's systematic analysis of Ta evangeli svetiga Matevža (The Gospel of Matthew, 1555) shows that Trubar's translation was based on the Basel edition of Erasmus's Novum Testamentum (1542). Apart from the written word, Trubar highly appreciated preaching; his sermons, aimed at promoting "the true Word of God," could likewise transmit (Christian) humanist ideals. However, the historical sources provide insufficient information to enable a reliable assessment of Trubar's contribution to the spread of humanism.


The objective of this work was to estimate genetic parameters for traits related to resistance to endoparasites in Santa Ines sheep, for a possible inclusion in sheep breeding programs, as well as to evaluate the additive genetic pattern of the animals using cluster analyzes, in order to assess whether there are groups within the population that can be used as candidates for selection for resistance to endoparasites. The studied traits were: Famacha score, fecal egg counts (FEC), packed cell volume (PCV), total plasma protein (TPP), body condition score (BCS), and body weight (BW). Heritability estimates ranged from 0.17 (0.05) for TPP to 0.31 (0.07) for BCS. The cluster analyzes based on the breeding values identified four clusters. Famacha and BCS can be recommended as selection criteria for resistance to hematophagous endoparasites because they can respond to selection and are easy to be measured. Animals from cluster 1 have great potential as candidates for selection because of their additive genetic pattern, taking into account body weight and endoparasite resistance due to higher breeding values for BW, BCS, PCV, and TPP and lower breeding values for Famacha and FEC.


This book presents the stories of eleven patients and family members who received the diagnosis of esophageal cancer. The stories, provided by esophageal cancer survivors, illustrate some of the setbacks and some of the triumphs, that these individuals and their families encountered. All of these patients underwent a remarkable surgical procedure known as an esophagectomy. During this operation, the majority of the esophagus is removed. In order to restore swallowing, the stomach is reconfigured into a tube that is repositioned in the chest and neck and sutured to the remaining esophagus. The stories convey courage and strength in the face of a major life-changing event and its consequences. The authors describe in detail what the experience was like for themselves and their loved ones. Their stories are inspiring and offer hope to others facing this illness. Book sales support patient and family education in the Thoracic Surgery section of the University of Michigan Health System.


Observations affirming the considerable time required for caretaking in classrooms for the severely and profoundly handicapped led to the development of a teacher-training module with the objective of maximizing instructional time. With a minimum of direct training focused on integrating instruction with caretaking, student teachers were able to significantly increase the amount of daily instruction. The importance of quantity of schooling as a critical education variable is discussed.


An integrated micro fluidic system was constructed with electrochemically actuated pumps and valves. It consists of a glass substrate with actuating electrodes and a PDMS substrate with micro flow channels and containers. A hydrogen bubble was generated or shrunk on a platinum black working electrode. This phenomenon was used to construct a syringe pump, a valve, and to separate the electrolyte solution from a sample solution. The system features low operating voltage and power consumption. Co-operative integration of system components facilitated withdrawal of external dye solutions from injection ports and subsequent microfluidic transport. A sheath flow was observed in a mixing channel at the end of the flow channels. Chemiluminescence originating from an enzymatic reaction was observed after transporting and mixing of the two precursor solutions.


The current shifts in the post-Cold War international order are bringing the attention to notions of great power competition, demonstrating once again the geopolitical significance of Europe and Asia for global politics. This article applies concepts from the classical geopolitical thinking of Halford Mackinder and Nicholas Spykman as an 'optic tool' for analysing current global events and for considering the European Union's (EU's) strategic direction in light of the interests of the United States, Russia, and China in Europe's wider region. With the American post-Cold War global preponderance steadily waning and the rising challenges from the east in the face of Russia and China, the EU finds itself in a position that requires the redefinition of its geopolitical identity and strategic pursuit of its own interests. A look through the classical geopolitical concepts of the Heartland and the Rimland reveals that the EU is an extraordinary player in geopolitics as it has the potential to determine (1) access to the Eurasian Heartland via its influence over Eastern Europe and (2) control of the maritime Rimland by virtue of its geography, alliances, and its potential participation in Beijing's New Silk Road initiative. These findings are discussed by considering the EU's potential foreign policy directions vis-à-vis the US, Russia, and China.
European Union, United States, Russia, China, Eurasia, Geopolitical theory, Foreign policy, Grand strategy, Strategic Autonomy


UNLABELLED
More than 185 million people around the world have been infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), of whom 350 000 die each year. HCV is a now a curable disease, and advances in HCV therapy have resulted in steadily higher cure rates. Therapies based on PegINF are still treatment of choice. However PegINF can induce severe adverse events including cardiovascular disease.

CASE REPORT
Here we report a 55 year old female patient with the severe hepatitis C and genotype 3 presented with recurring episodes of the loss of consciousness and palpitations in the course of therapy, combining interferon PegINF with ribavirin. During the diagnostics performed the occurrence of non-sustained ventricular. There were no other causes of arrhythmias, such as coronary heart disease or heart failure. It is considered that this is a result of treatment. Because of the confirmed viral clearance completed PegINF therapy at a lower dose, without further complications.

CONCLUSIONS
The presented case of our patient illustrates very well the level of difficulty of the taken decisions, especially when treatment complications occurred, while also confirming the fairly assistive and supportive role of the non-invasive methods of cardiovascular diagnostics.


Fine-scale population estimation is essential in emergency response and epidemiological applications as well as urban planning and management. However, representing populations in heterogeneous urban regions with a finer resolution is a challenge. This study aims to obtain fine-scale population distribution based on 3D reconstruction of urban residential buildings with morphological operations using optical high-resolution (HR) images from the Chinese No. 3 Resources Satellite (ZY-3). Specifically, the research area was first divided into three categories when dasymetric mapping was taken into consideration. The results demonstrate that the morphological building index (MBI) yielded better results than built-up presence index (PanTex) in building detection, and the morphological shadow index (MSI) outperformed color invariant indices (CIIT) in shadow extraction and height retrieval. Building extraction and height retrieval were then combined to reconstruct 3D models and to estimate population. Final results show that this approach is effective in fine-scale population estimation, with a mean relative error of 16.46% and an overall Relative Total Absolute Error (RATE) of 0.158. This study gives significant insights into fine-scale population estimation in complicated urban landscapes, when detailed 3D information of buildings is unavailable.


Coordinated orchestration of gene expression programs at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and posttranslational levels is essential for development and function of all cells, including lymphocytes. Normal tissue function also demands that the genome be faithfully passed from mother to daughter cell during the many rounds of cell division required to generate a mammalian organism. Genome integrity is maintained in part by integration of DNA damage signaling with cell cycle control. These mechanisms are especially critical for lymphocytes following V(D)J recombination, since V(D)J recombination involves genetic cutting and pasting of germline gene segments to form antigen receptors (AgRs). Using conditional deletion of the p53 tumor suppressor in mice, I found that p53 promotes genome stability in developmental stage-specific ways. Inactivation of p53 beginning in hematopoietic stem cells yields thymic tumors with aneuploidy; whereas deletion of p53 at the beginning of thymocyte development results in tumors bearing T cell AgR translocations. I also show that downregulation of the G1 phase cyclin D3 occurs in immature B and T cells in response to exogenously-induced DNA breaks through lineage-specific mechanisms. Further, this downregulation of D3 may be important for delaying S phase entry in response to DNA breaks, providing an additional mechanism to promote genome stability during lymphocyte development. Finally, I discovered novel roles of the HuR RNA-binding protein in regulating B cell function. Specifically, HuR is largely dispensable for B cell development and in vitro B cell function; however, it is crucial for the in vivo T cell-dependent immune response in mice, likely by facilitating the ability of B cells to interact with other immune cells in the follicular milieu. This work provides new insight into the lineageand developmental stage-specific ways in which complex gene expression programs contribute to the normal development and function of B and T lymphocytes, while suppressing malignant transformation. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Cell & Molecular Biology First Advisor Craig H. Bassing


Background: McGrath MAC videolaryngoscopy is a useful technique for successful intubation in cervical spine-injured patients with manual in-line stabilization of the neck during intubation. We aimed to identify radiographic predictors of difficult McGrath MAC videolaryngoscopy in patient undergoing cervical spine surgery. Methods: Patients undergoing cervical spine surgery who were intubated with a McGrath MAC videolaryngoscope under manual in-line stabilization of the neck between June 2016 and August 2018 were included in this study. Data on airway-related variables and radiographic indices obtained from preoperative lateral cervical spine x-ray, magnetic resonance imaging, and computed tomography (CT) scans were retrospectively collected. Patients were divided into difficult and easy McGrath MAC videolaryngoscopic intubation groups on the basis of intubation time and the number of intubation attempts. Results: In total, 183 patients were included in the study of which 33 (18%) showed difficult videolaryngoscopic intubation. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, atlanto-occipital distance (odds ratio [OR], 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62-0.89; P=0.001) on lateral cervical spine x-ray, incisor-C1-C6 angle in neck extension on lateral cervical spine x-ray (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.02-1.22; P=0.015), tongue area/oral cavity area ratio in the mid-sagittal plane of cervical magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.05-1.19; P<0.001), and interincisor gap (OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.86-0.98; P=0.015) were independent risk factors for difficult videolaryngoscopic intubation. Conclusions: Radiographic variables indicating enlarged tongue relative to the oral cavity and limited neck extension were associated with difficult McGrath MAC videolaryngoscopy in patients undergoing cervical spine surgery with manual in-line cervical stabilization during intubation.


Background : ECT, though not favoured in the West for treating schizophrenia, is regularly practiced in India for this indication, particularly in poorly responding/treatment resistant cases.Therefore, its role in treatment-resistant schizophrenia is a subject of systematic investigation. Aim : To compare the effectiveness and safety of Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in a group of treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients with a control group. Method : Eligible and consenting patients were randomly allocated to the ECT or Sham ECT groups. Both received antipsychotic drugs.Twenty-five patients completed the study (ECT, n= IS; Sham ECT, n= 10).The study was conducted in a double-blind manner. Clinical change was assessed weekly with BPRS, CGI and adverse event measures.ANOVA for repeated measures and other post-hoc comparisons were used for data analysis. Results: ECT treated patients improved significantly over successive weeks (p< 0.002) after 6 ECTs, whereas the group receiving sham-ECT did not In both the groups, however, CGI scores did not change significantly, suggesting a dissociated response pattern. ECT was associated with greater relief among carers and lower rehospitalization. Conclusion : ECT augmentation may well have a significant impact on the clinical course of patients with treatment resistance schizophrenia. It is unclear, but possible, that these changes may be reinforced and maintained by maintenance ECTs. Replication of the present investigation and further studies on maintenance ECT would be rewarding.


Aim This exploratory study draws on national register data for 2,638 opioid users from 2004-2008 to examine whether or not certain predisposing, enabling and need factors are associated with taking methadone or buprenorphine continuously on doctor's orders for one year or more. Design Chi-square analysis, one-way Anova and logistic regression methods were used to explore the association between self-reported demographic characteristics, alcohol/drug use severity, substance use disorder treatment history, criminal justice history, level of mental health symptomatology, mental health treatment history, and whether or not adult opioid users had taken methadone or buprenorphine continuously on doctor's orders for one year or longer. Results Having a job and having had more voluntary treatment episodes were significantly associated with using methadone or buprenorphine. Those opioid users who had a job were 19 times more likely to be on methadone or buprenorphine than opiate users who did not have a job. Conclusions In our study, individuals who were working were significantly more likely to medicate against their opioid abuse. This suggests that they may be more socially integrated than their non-medicating counterparts.


Microcystic adnexal carcinoma (MAC) is a recently described malignant neoplasm of the adnexal structures of skin that shows a marked propensity for early infiltrative and locally aggressive growth. Its banal clinical appearance may lead to a delay in diagnosing the tumor by biopsy, and its multifaceted histologic features may lead to an incorrect tissue diagnosis. Confusion with benign tumors and less aggressive malignancies can lead to inadequate initial treatment and extensive recurrences. We describe three cases of microcystic adnexal carcinoma and review the clinical and histologic features, treatment, and prognosis of this neoplasm.


This article explores the dynamics of workplace grapevine as performed and practiced by the administrative personnel of the University of the Philippines Diliman. The findings reveal that grapevine is a powerful channel of informal communication used to perpetuate organizational values, exert power, control and influence in the workplace. Relationships either 􀏔flourish or weaken which inevitably affect work relations and performance. Indeed grapevine is a natural phenomenon in organizations with far and wide ranging effects to both the workers and the workplace. To obtain valid and reliable information, a triangulation of data source and research method was done. Focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and diaries of administrative personnel from various units of the University were utilized.


In mono- and multifilamentary MgB2 wires with small filament diameters a homogeneous and fine-grained MgB2 phase is required for high transport currents and reactions with the sheath have to be avoided. Taking this into account we developed very thin steel reinforced MgB2 wires for application as current leads in a research satellite. In situ phase formation in the wire from Mg+B powders was chosen as the most favourable method to achieve good grain connectivity and thus high transport currents. We tested the current lead wires with transport current measurements and investigated the mechanical performance with applied tensile and bending strains. With an improved processing route applying a low-temperature anneal the superconducting properties of standard undoped in situ MgB2 wires could be further improved and critical current densities of 38 kA cm−2 at 6 T and 10 kA cm−2 at 8 T, 4.2 K could be achieved.


Introduction: The Vital Task of Planning for the Worst"Within a few hours [on September 11, 2001], the threats to our world had become exponentially more complex," the New York City Fire Commissioner concluded in the FDNY Strategic Plan 2004-2005, "[and] the Fire Department, in turn, needed to adapt." 1 The challenge for homeland defense and homeland security organizations is uncertainty as to what to adapt to, with a threat being too ambiguous and diverse to easily identify. For military planners at United States Northern Command, counter-terrorism planners at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and strategic planners in police and fire departments, there are many questions: What exactly is the threat? What part of this threat is our responsibility? What capabilities will we need to detect and to stop these threats? The next concern is often the perplexing question: how do I explain this plan to my boss? Because terrorist threat actors are both cunning and adaptive, relying on surprise to overcome security measures, military and security planners must embrace a more flexible, comprehensive, and comprehensible approach to contingency planning ? a method based on neither threats nor scenarios exclusively, but rather on integrating these two approaches into a planning process based on capabilities.The process of contingency planning and resource allocation poses one of the greatest current challenges for those responsible for protecting the United States because of the severity and diversity of the threats and the required timeliness of any defensive operations and security responses. The National Strategy for Homeland Security recognizes this by designating "manage risks and allocate resources judiciously" as guiding principles and goes on to declare, "because the number of potential terrorist acts is nearly infinite, we must make difficult choices about how to allocate resources against those risks that pose the greatest danger to our homeland." 2 At this task, military and security planners have struggled to develop a comprehensive and comprehensible planning system using existing approaches of traditional threat-based planning that focus on the "who," and scenario-based planning that address the "what." To present senior decision-makers with timely and effective contingency plans, planners need to transition to a more flexible and dynamic capabilities-based planning method that focuses on the "how" and can thus frame required capabilities and overcome uncertainty concerning the threat.Problems With Current Planning MethodologiesThe National Security Strategy identifies the vital function of having a formal and deliberate process of threat assessment, yet such process has yet to gain wide acceptance. Conceptually, there are three fundamental approaches to conducting a threat assessment, focusing on the "who," the "what," and the "how" of the threat. In a traditional threat assessment, analysts address the "who" of the threat: the threat actor(s), their "order of battle," and their most likely courses of action. The second conceptual approach looks at the "what" of the threat: what part of the threat is a specific agency's responsibility to defeat, and what aspect of the threat planners should address through threat scenarios.One of the critical products for decision-makers in concept development is the "intelligence estimate" or "threat assessment." As current DOD doctrine asserts, "intelligence should provide the commander with an understanding of the adversary in terms of the adversary's probable intent, objectives, strengths, weaknesses, probable course-of-action, most dangerous course-of-action, values, and critical vulnerabilities." 3 Based on this threat assessment and strategic guidance, planners develop a single course of action with branches and sequels. This traditional planning process results in decision-makers selecting a single contingency plan with a "throw the switch" type of action. …


Stewart MacLachlan considers recent case law that may allow some refugee children to apply to be reunited with their parents or siblings


BACKGROUND
Perforated peptic ulcers (PPU) present as serious surgical emergencies that carry high mortality and morbidity. Foreigners with PPU are also managed in our hospital setting. Their inclusion significantly alters the trend and pattern of PPU seen in Malaysia.

AIM
To compare per-operative and post-operative features and outcomes of perforated peptic ulcers between Malaysians and foreigners.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
This was an analytical crosssectional study. All patients who underwent repair of perforated peptic ulcer disease during a 6-year period were included. 50 consecutive patients' records with perforated peptic ulcer were analysed. Data were collected from operation theatre database and hospital medical records. Chi square and t test were performed using SPSS statistical software.

RESULTS
Total of 50 patients, of which 30 were Malaysians and 20 were foreigners. The mean age of Malaysian patients was 58.3 ± 15.2 years whereas the mean age for foreign patients was 30.3 ± 6.7 years, with foreign patients being significantly younger than local patients. Foreigners had significantly smaller ulcers with only 5% of them having ulcers more than 1cm while 36.7% of Malaysian patients had ulcers more than 1cm. Post-operative complications are significantly higher in Malaysian patients (p<0.05) with 40% of Malaysian patients and 10% of foreign patients developing post-operative complications.

CONCLUSION
Foreign patients are younger with significantly smaller perforated ulcers and better post-operative outcomes.


A review of the literature and the author's own reflections are devoted to the issues of detecting various forms of pathology, which, being often benign, could exist for a long time, if not all life. The author proposes a definition of the term. Adrenal incidentaloma is a combined working category (group) that includes various forms of adrenal pathology, mainly neoplastic, benign or malignant, with or without signs of hormonal activity, as well as formations of inflammatory, infectious, parasitic origin, the consequences of trauma, developmental abnormalities that are found accidentally when examining patients for extra-adrenal diseases. The epidemiological aspects of the adrenal incidentalomas are considered. Basically, these are tumors of the adrenal cortex or medulla, tumor-like formations (cyst, inflammatory "tumor", hematoma). Adrenal incidentalomas are accidentally found during examination of persons with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, retroperitoneal space, kidneys, spine, chest, and small pelvis. Another source of adrenal incidentaloma detection is autopsy systemic data and, rarely, abdominal surgeries. The prevalence of adrenal incidentalomas reaches 2–6 %. The most objective data can be obtained from autopsy materials. The frequency of adrenal incidentalomas found in vivo depends on the type of imaging techniques used (ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging), age, features of the surveyed populations, the presence of concomitant diseases (arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, etc.), and the qualifications of the researcher. Recently, clinical guidelines proposing a diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm have been published to help in clinical practice; however, several areas are still debatable and require further studies.


This paper analyzes the effect of tied-in sales by an essential goods monopolist in a two-sided market. In a two-sided market, the essential goods monopolist may tie a good essential for users, such as an operating system, with a platform, such as a media player, in the user side of the market, to extract profits not from the user side, but from the developer side of the market. From this simple idea, we build a simple two-sided market model and show how the essential goods monopolist may tie a platform with the essential goods on the user side of the market to foreclose a rival firm from the developer side of the market. We also analyze various welfare impacts of tying and discuss the antitrust implications.


As the complexity of VLSI circuits increases, a hierarchical design approach becomes essential to shorten the design period. Circuit clustering plays a fundamental role in hierarchical designs. Identifying strongly connected components in the netlist can significantly reduce the complexity of the circuit and improve the performance of the design process. A good clustering method should identify groups of cells which will eventually end up together in the final partitioning and placement stages. The sizes of today's circuits are so large that a top-down partitioning scheme alone is infeasible. Therefore, an effective bottom-up clustering approach is necessary as a preprocessing stage in a hierarchical placement approach. In this paper, new clustering techniques that can be used for circuit partitioning and placement are introduced.


The behaviour of a dislocation pileup with a finite-strength source is investigated in the presence of various stress gradients within a continuum model where a free-dislocation region exists around the source. Expressions for dislocation density and stress field within the pileup are derived for the situation where there are first and second spatial gradients in applied stress. For a pileup configuration under an applied stress, yielding occurs when the force acting on the leading dislocations at the pileup tips reaches the obstacle strength, and at the same time, it is required that the source be at the threshold stress for dislocation production. A numerical methodology is presented to solve the underlying equations that represent the yielding conditions. The yield stress calculated for a pileup configuration is found to depend on stress gradients, obstacle spacing and source/obstacle strengths. It increases with increasing the first stress gradient, yet dependent on the second stress gradient. Furthermore, while the dependency of yield stress on the obstacle spacing intensifies with increasing the first stress gradient, it diminishes with an increase of second stress gradient. Therefore, the second stress gradient, as a newly introduced parameter, can provide a new physical insight into the size-dependent plasticity phenomena at small length scales.


In automatic speech recognition, the standard choice for a language model is the well-known n-gram model. The n-grams are used to predict the probability of a word given its n-1 preceding words. However, the n-gram model is not able to explicitly learn grammatical relations of the sentence. In the present work, in order to augment the n-gram model with grammatical features, we apply the Whole Sentence Maximum Entropy framework. The grammatical features are head-modifier relations between pairs of words, together with the labels of the relationships, obtained with the dependency grammar. We evaluate the model in a large vocabulary speech recognition task with Wall Street Journal speech corpus. The results show a substantial improvement in both test set perplexity and word error rate.


This trial took place in an organic fruit growing farm located near Lake Constance with the variety 'Elstar'
planted in 1995. In 2004 and 2005 one variant (control) was pruned normally during the winter, the other
variant was pruned more intensively to reduce the amount of flower buds. In 2004 at both variants the number
of apples was reduced to 165 apples/tree at the end of May. Time for thinning by hand was cut down
significantly in the intensively pruned variant. In addition at harvest the number of apples with bigger diameters,
especially 75-80 mm, increased. Moreover the number of flower buds for the next season rose by 20 %.
Therefore in 2005 the yield per tree at the intensively pruned variant increased about 15 %, but also the
working hours for pruning rose, too. The research project was financed by the Bundesprogramm Okologischer
Landbau.


This study was investigated the effects of maintaining the freshness and stabilization of supply and demand for lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) by packaging methods in summer. Post-harvest lettuces were packaged by corrugated box, polypropylene (P) box, and individual wrapping using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) film. Then, the lettuce samples were stored at 2°C and evaluated the change of quality during storage. The lettuces wrapped individually with PVC film had lower weight loss rate, color change, and browning index compared to lettuces packaged by corrugated box and P box. The SPAD value and hardness were higher in lettuces wrapped individually with PVC film than other packaging methods. The lettuces wrapped individually with PVC film were showed the highest total phenolic contents and DPPH radical scavenging activity, but there were no significantly differences by packaging methods. The lettuces packaged by corrugated box were showed the inside browning after 14 days. However, the lettuces wrapped individually with PVC film were showed the best appearance. Therefore, the packaging method of wrapped individually with PVC film were effective in maintaining the freshness during 21 days and helpful for the stabilization of supply and demand for lettuce in summer.


This week-long pavement testing conference brought together national and international pavement experts to develop the strategy for a national pavement testing program. Eight different workshops involving 88 participants considered and developed recommendations for data needs and uses and for testing methods. Deliberations resulted in a substantial consensus for a national program whose primary mission would be to serve the major pavement rehabilitation program already underway. Inservice testing using selected sections of the operating highway network and mechanical testing using linear mobile testing equipment rated high priorities in the workshop recommendations. For special studies, contracts with existing test tracks were recommended over the construction of new facilities. Priority data needs were identified as those to serve studies of rehabilitation, network pavement management, and improved pavement performance models. The program, to be conducted by a long-term organization with continuously assigned staff and dedicated funding, is proposed for a 20-year period at a funding level (in 1984 dollars) of $546 million.


Mealtimes in long-term care (LTC) can reinforce relationships between staff and residents through relationship-centred care (RCC) practices; however, meals are often task-focused (TF). This cross-sectional study explores multi-level contextual factors that contribute to RCC and TF mealtime practices. Secondary data from residents in 32 Canadian LTC homes were analyzed (n = 634; mean age 86.7 ± 7.8; 31.1% male). Data included resident health record review, standardized mealtime observation tools, and valid questionnaires. A higher average number of RCC (9.6 ± 1.4) than TF (5.6 ± 2.1) practices per meal were observed. Multi-level regression revealed that a significant proportion of variation in the RCC and TF scores was explained at the resident- (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]RCC = 0.736; ICCTF = 0.482), dining room- (ICCRCC = 0.210; ICCTF = 0.162), and home- (ICCRCC = 0.054; ICCTF = 0.356) levels. For-profit status and home size modified the associations between functional dependency and practices. Addressing multi-level factors can reinforce RCC practices and reduce TF practices.


With growing numbers of distributed generators (DGs) getting connected to the network, new protection schemes are required. These schemes are aimed at responding to the changing fault current values, bi-directional current flow and distributed generation (DG) at all levels of the grid. For this purpose these schemes utilize comprehensive protection systems with extensive communication and coordination between DGs and protection devices such as relays. This paper details the assignment of two parameters which are critical for proper operation of a microgrid protection system. The first parameter, the fault current coefficient, represents the fault current supplied by any DG to any point inside the network whereas the second parameter is the adjustment of relay hierarchy for selective operation of relays. The automated assignment of these parameters serves the notion of self-operating microgrid protection system. Furthermore, elimination of manual design and calculation facilitates deployment of new DG units and thus makes it possible to design plug-and-play DGs and protection devices.


Sicklepod (Cassia obtusifolia L. ♯6 CASOB), hemp sesbania [Sesbania exaltata (Raf.) Cory ♯ SEBEX], and showy crotalaria (Crotalaria spectabilis Roth. ♯ CVTSP) were grown in controlled-environment greenhouses with day/night temperatures of 23/17, 26/20, 29/23, and 32/26 C. Plant height, leaf area, and total dry weight at 53 days after planting increased significantly with temperatures between 23/17 and 29/23 C in sicklepod and showy crotalaria, and between 23/17 and 32/26 C in hemp sesbania. In all species, leaves were produced more rapidly as temperature increased. Axillary branch leaf production was greatest at 29/23 C in sicklepod, and at 29/23 and 26/20 C in showy crotalaria; hemp sesbania showed little axillary branch development. Total dry-matter production in all species was closely correlated with leaf area duration, but not with net assimilation rate. Differences in total main stem leaf area in all species were primarily due to differences in leaf number rather than to differences in leaf size at maturity.


Colon stent self-expanding metallic stents(SEMS) are useful for obstructive colorectal cancers (CRC). SEMS placement has indicated in the palliation of malignant colorectal obstruc- tion, and bridge to elective surgery for resectable colorectal cancers. SEMS can reduce the risk of early complications, mortality, stoma creation rate, and shorten hospital stay. Although SEMS placement was associated with a risk of perforation of the colon and late complications, it also contributed significantly to better long-term quality of life. Perforation might occur with mishandling of guide wire during endoscopic procedure. Therefore, it is better to take careful attention and follow the mini-guide line of Japan colonic stent safe procedure research group during the procedure. SEMS could provide feasible outcomes for patients with obstructive unresectable CRC as palliative treatment.


To explore the many osseous irregularities that are found in the area between the basiocciput, the anterior arch of the atlas and the tip of the dens axis we studied 99 cadaver specimens using magnetic resonance tomography (MRT), computed tomography (CT), median saw‐cut sections, and histological sections. Additionally, "dry" specimens of the skull (n = 110), atlas (n = 56), and axis (n = 33) were investigated. In the median plane, the dry and cadaver specimens exhibited osteoarthritis‐related osseous outgrowths and osteophytes of the articular surfaces of the median atlanto‐axial joint (n = 63), and the presence of congenitally developed free ossicles (n = 22) and of third occipital condyles (n = 3). The largest osteophytes (giant osteophytes) (n = 4) of the anterior arch of the atlas formed osseous contact zones with the basiocciput that were visible histologically as real joints and were designated accessory median atlanto‐occipital joints. The third occipital condyles also formed osseous contact zones, visible histologically as real joints, with the anterior arch of the atlas or with the tip of the dens, and were designated accessory atlanto‐occipital or occipito‐odontoid joints. Frequent free ossicles, incorporated into the accessory joint, were found by histological examination to be covered with hyaline cartilage. Clin. Anat. 18:558–571, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) mucoid cysts are rare. They are often asymptomatic and unrecognized. Their clinical expression is polymorphic and MRI allows for an early diagnosis confirmed by histology. Arthroscopic resection is the gold standard treatment. Our study reports a case of ACL mucoid cyst treated with arthroscopic resection.


Commonly used tools to assess the probability of obstructive-coronary artery disease (CAD) were derived based on Caucasian cohorts, with their performance in China is still unknown. Furthermore, most were established based on non-laboratory variables, contributing to the limited predictive ability to some extent. Thus, we developed and internally validated a laboratory-based model with data from a Chinese cohort of 8963 inpatients, with suspected stable chest pain, referred to catheter-based coronary angiography (CAG) from September 2007 to April 2019, and then compared the present model's performance with the four most commonly used prediction tools, Coronary Artery Disease Consortium 1/2 Score (CAD1/2), Duke clinical score (DCS), and Diamond-Forrester score (DF). The final model was developed by random forest method, including 8 predictors derived from 70 variables. Five-fold cross-validation was performed to evaluate the model's prediction accuracy. In the external validation set, the present model showed a superior area under the receiver-operating curve (0.816), followed by DCS (0.66), CAD2 (0.61), CAD1 (0.59) and at last DF (0.58), respectively. Furthermore, the present model correctly classified 74.4% of obstructive-CAD patients as high-risk, and correctly classified more than one third of non-obstructive-CAD patients as low-risk. The present model's net reclassification improvement (NRI) showed a significant positive reclassification over CAD1 (NRI = 0.60, P < 0.001), DF (NRI = 0.59, P < 0.001), CAD2 (NRI = 0.57, P < 0.001), and DCS (NRI = 0.43, P < 0.001). Decision curve analysis demonstrated that the present model provided a larger net benefit compared with CAD1/2, DCS, and DF. In conclusion, the novel model, using 8 laboratory and non-laboratory variables, performed well in risk stratifying patients with suspected chest pain regarding the presence of obstructive-CAD in the present Chinese cohort.


Taxa-4(20),11(12)-dien-5α-acetoxy-10β-ol 6 has been identified as an early stage intermediate involved in the biosynthesis of taxol (Paclitaxel). This compound has been efficiently prepared by Barton deoxygenation of the C-2- and C-14-hydroxyl groups on a derivative semisynthetically prepared from taxa-4(20),11(12)-dien-2α,5α,10β-triacetoxy-14β-(2-methyl)butyrate (7), a major taxoid metabolite isolated from Japanese yew heart wood. The synthetic methodology is amenable for the preparation of isotopically labeled congeners that will be useful to probe further intermediate steps in the biosynthesis of taxol.


ABSTRACT
Background: Labor is a physiological event, but midwifery care is required to avoid complications in
the mother and fetus. Midwifery care is given during labor to reduce the incidence of perineum rupture.
Primiparous are considered most at risk of spontaneous perineum rupture. Perineum rupture may result in
bleeding.
The aim of this research is to know the influence of frangipani aromatherapy oil in the first stage of labor
massage on maternal perineum condition.
Research type Quasi-Experimental Design with posttest control group design. The sample size was
80 people, divided into 2 treatment groups and 40 respondents respectively. Sampling technique used
Consecutive sampling. Data is recorded on the observation sheet. Univariate and bivariate data analysis
"Mann-Whitney". The results showed perineum conditions in the treatment group mostly did not experience
laceration perineum, while the control group most respondents suffered perineum injury level one. Mann-
Whitney test result obtained 399.000 with value p = 0,000, indicating there is the influence of aromatherapy
frangipani in the first stage of labor massage to perineum condition at level of significance p <0,05. The
conclusion of research that there is the influence of aroma of frangipani therapy in the first stage of labor
massage to perineum condition
Keywords: massage, aromatherapy, frangipani, first stage, labor


Five sulfonyl aromatic alcohols, namely 4-((2-hydroxyethyl)sulfonyl)phenol, 4-((2-(2-((4-hydroxyphenyl)sulfonyl)ethoxy)vinyl)sulfonyl)phenol, 4-(ethylsulfonyl)phenol, 4-(vinylsulfonyl)phenol and 5-((4-aminophenyl)sulfonyl)-2-penten-1-ol were identified by LC-ESI-Qq-TOF-MS as products formed by electrolysis of the bisazo reactive dye Reactive Black 5 (RB5). Since electrolyses were performed in an undivided cell equipped with Ni electrodes in alkaline medium, amines like 4-(2-methoxyethylsulfonyl)benzene-amine (MEBA) with m/z 216 were also suspected to be formed due to the plausible chemical reaction in the bulk or the cathodic reduction of RB5 and its oxidation by-products. Aiming to check this hypothesis, a method was used for the preparation of MEBA with 98% purity, via chemical reduction also of the dye RB5. The logP of the synthesized sulfonyl aromatic compounds was calculated and their logkw values were determined chromatographically. These data were discussed in regard to the relationship between hydrophobicity/lipophilicity and toxicity.


Single view depth estimation models can be trained from video footage using a self-supervised end-to-end approach with view synthesis as the supervisory signal. This is achieved with a framework that predicts depth and camera motion, with a loss based on reconstructing a target video frame from temporally adjacent frames. In this context, occlusion relates to parts of a scene that can be observed in the target frame but not in a frame used for image reconstruction. Since the image reconstruction is based on sampling from the adjacent frame, and occluded areas by definition cannot be sampled, reconstructed occluded areas corrupt to the supervisory signal. In previous work arXiv:1806.01260 occlusion is handled based on reconstruction error; at each pixel location, only the reconstruction with the lowest error is included in the loss. The current study aims to determine whether performance improvements of depth estimation models can be gained by during training only ignoring those regions that are affected by occlusion.
In this work we introduce occlusion mask, a mask that during training can be used to specifically ignore regions that cannot be reconstructed due to occlusions. Occlusion mask is based entirely on predicted depth information. We introduce two novel loss formulations which incorporate the occlusion mask. The method and implementation of arXiv:1806.01260 serves as the foundation for our modifications as well as the baseline in our experiments. We demonstrate that (i) incorporating occlusion mask in the loss function improves the performance of single image depth prediction models on the KITTI benchmark. (ii) loss functions that select from reconstructions based on error are able to ignore some of the reprojection error caused by object motion.


The article studies the disability from an multicultural perspective and situates it in the context of the Spanish State. For it he analyzes the different forms that relate the immigration and the multiculturality to center on the intercultural disability. Of increasing form it is a question of a subject-matter that increasingly worries the investigators and professionals of the fi eld of the disability. His study is important to prepare situations of double or triple exclusion.


An experimental model for controlled massive bleeding in pigs was developed to evaluate a new method for intraoperative autotransfusion of concentrated whole blood. The animals were injured in the descending thoracic aorta, creating a massive bleeding into the left pleural cavity. By means of a new system for autotransfusion, the animals were kept alive by retransfusing the blood at the same rate as it was shed. All animals were in good condition after autotransfusion of bleeding corresponding to three blood volumes. The postoperative hematological status including hemoglobin, hematocrit, platelet counts and electrolytes was not significantly different from the values before the experiment. The coagulation assays, including platelet adhesiveness, were normal after the experiment. In one pig the urine was positive for hemoglobin using a Hemostix test although it was macroscopically clear. This new method allows autotransfusion of whole blood with a desired hematocrit, with intact platelets and coagulation factors.


Because the number of physicians available to perform abortions in the US is dwindling, certified nurse-midwives, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants should be trained and permitted to perform abortions. Roadblocks to this change are the fact that the Supreme Court would likely allow states to prevent mid-level practitioners from performing abortions in the name of protecting the health of the mother. Also, existing statutes would probably not be interpreted by courts to allow mid-level practitioners to perform abortions. However, physician assistants have been performing abortions in Vermont since 1975, and a 1981-82 comparative study affirmed that physician assistants are well-equipped to perform abortions (of 2458 procedures, the complication rate/1000 was 27.4 for physician assistants and 30.8 for physicians). However, controversy surrounds the provision of abortion by these physician assistants in Vermont, since the relevant statute suggests that abortion is illegal unless performed by a physician. However, the statute has not been changed since Roe vs. Wade and is likely unconstitutional. Court cases in Missouri and Tennessee suggest that courts may be willing to include abortion within the scope of progressive nursing practice acts, but a recent similar case in Massachusetts resulted in a narrow interpretation of nursing practice statutes. Because the definition of professional nursing varies with each state statute, it will be a formidable task to convince every jurisdiction to include abortion as a permissible mid-level practice. Even in Vermont, the nursing practice statute defines in an exclusive list what services the professional nurse may perform (whereas the physician assistant regulations limit their scope of practice only to that delegated by a supervising physician). States could, of course, pass statutes which include abortion as a permissible practice for the mid-level practitioner. However, specific legislation would provide a clear target for anti-choice forces and legal challenges. Other practical problems include a possible uproar in the medical community where obstetrical/gynecology specialists already oppose allowing nurse practitioners to provide routine gynecologic services. Also, if mid-level practitioners were allowed to perform abortions, physicians may abandon the practice altogether. However, given the present state of affairs, this may be the only practical starting point for approaching the crisis caused by the scarcity of abortion providers.


A dual-pass data assimilation scheme is developed to improve predictions of surface energy fluxes. Pass 1 of the dual-pass data assimilation scheme optimizes model vegetation parameters at the weekly temporal scale and pass 2 optimizes soil moisture at the daily temporal scale. Based on the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), land surface temperature (LST) data derived from the new generation of Chinese meteorology satellite (FY3A-VIRR) is assimilated into common land model (CoLM) for the first time. Four sites are selected for the data assimilation experiments, namely Arou, BJ, Guantao, and Miyun that include alpine meadow, grass, crop, and orchard land cover types. The results are compared with data set generated by a multi-scale surface energy flux observation system that includes an automatic weather station (AWS), an eddy covariance (EC) and a large aperture scintillometer (LAS). Results indicate that the CoLM can simulate the diurnal variations of surface energy flux, but usually overestimates sensible heat flux and underestimates latent heat flux and evaporation fraction (EF). With FY3A-VIRR LST data, the dual-pass data assimilation scheme can reduce model uncertainties and improve predictions of surface energy flux. Compared with EC measurements, the average model biases (BIAS) values change from 37.8 to 7.7 W m −2 and from −27.6 to 18.8 W m −2 ; the root mean square error (RMSE) values drop from 74.7 to 39.1 W m −2 and from 95.1 to 62.7 W m −2 for sensible and latent heat fluxes respectively. For evaporation fraction (EF), the average BIAS values change from −0.29 to 0.0 and the average RMSE values drop from 0.38 to 0.12. To compare the results with LAS-measured sensible heat flux, the source areas are calculated using a footprint model and overlaid with FY3A pixels. The four sites averaged BIAS values drop from 63.7 to −8.5 W m −2 and RMSE values drop from 118.2 to 69.8 W m −2 . Ultimately, the error sources in surface energy flux predictions are investigated, and the results show that both soil moisture and vegetation parameters caused the big model biases in surface energy flux predictions. With Pass 1 and Pass 2, the dual-pass data assimilation scheme can cut down the surface energy flux prediction biases (BIAS) to nearly zero.


For face recognition with image sets, while most existing works mainly focus on building robust set models with hand-crafted feature, it remains a research gap to learn better image representations which can closely match the subsequent image set modeling and classification. Taking sample covariance matrix as set model in the light of its recent promising success, we present a Discriminative Covariance oriented Representation Learning (DCRL) framework to bridge the above gap. The framework constructs a feature learning network (e.g. a CNN) to project the face images into a target representation space, and the network is trained towards the goal that the set covariance matrix calculated in the target space has maximum discriminative ability. To encode the discriminative ability of set covariance matrices, we elaborately design two different loss functions, which respectively lead to two different representation learning schemes, i.e., the Graph Embedding scheme and the Softmax Regression scheme. Both schemes optimize the whole network containing both image representation mapping and set model classification in a joint learning manner. The proposed method is extensively validated on three challenging and large scale databases for the task of face recognition with image sets, i.e., YouTube Celebrities, YouTube Face DB and Point-and-Shoot Challenge.


Objective Cochlear nerve deficiency (CND) is increasingly diagnosed in children with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). We sought to determine the prevalence of CND, its imaging characteristics, and correlations with audiologic phenotype in children with unilateral SNHL. Design Case series with chart review. Setting Tertiary pediatric hospital. Subjects/Methods In 128 consecutive children with unilateral SNHL who underwent high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, the diameters, area, and signal intensity of the cochlear nerve (CN) were measured and normalized to the ipsilateral facial nerve. Presence of CND was determined by comparison to normative data. Relationships among hearing loss severity, progression, and nerve size were investigated. Results Cochlear nerve deficiency was present in 26% of children with unilateral SNHL. Its prevalence was higher (48%) in severe to profound SNHL, especially when in infants (100%). Width of the bony cochlear nerve canal (BCNC) correlated strongly with relative CN diameter, density, and area (R = 0.5); furthermore, a narrow BCNC (<1.7 mm) strongly predicted CND. Severity of hearing loss modestly correlated with nerve size, although significant variability was observed. Progression never occurred unless there were other inner ear malformations, whereas in the non-CND group, it occurred in 22%. Ophthalmologic abnormalities were very common (67%) in CND children, particularly oculomotor disturbances. Conclusion Cochlear nerve deficiency is a common cause of unilateral SNHL, particularly in congenital unilateral deafness. Width of the BCNC effectively predicts CND, a finding useful when only computed tomography imaging is available. In an ear with CND, hearing can be expected to remain stable over time. Diagnosis should prompt evaluation by an ophthalmologist.


Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most prevalent and the best studied functional gastrointestinal disorder. The etiology and the pathogenesis of IBS are still not clear; however, recent studies have implicated a role for alterations in the intestinal microbiota (dysbiosis) in the pathophysiology of the disorder. Epidemiological observations have demonstrated that the development of IBS symptoms is often preceded by a disruption of the individual's normal intestinal microbiota, and microbiological studies have demonstrated compositional differences in the intestinal microbiota between patients with IBS patients and healthy controls. In addition, animal studies and a few recent human clinical studies have demonstrated that compositional changes in the intestinal microbiota in IBS are associated with relevant abnormal gastrointestinal and brain-gut axis functions that are often observed in patients with IBS. This article discusses points of interest from the current research on the microbiota-gut-brain interactions in IBS and highlights the relevance of the emerging data to our understanding of the disorder and the clinical implications for patients' care.


This research aimed to explore and understand teachers' experiences regarding parental involvement in classroom assessment. The study employed a qualitative design and a case study approach. Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit data from the teachers. The study utilized the conceptual framework based on the work of Epstein (2008) in which the following six types of involvement were identified; parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with community. Primary school teachers were selected and content analysis was used to make sense of the teachers' narratives. Textual data was analysed using content analysis. The teachers' narratives varied according to their background within the diverse contexts of school environments. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n10p472


With Tor being a popular anonymity network, many attacks have been proposed to break its anonymity or leak information of a private communication on Tor. However, guaranteeing complete privacy in the face of an adversary on Tor is especially difficult because Tor relays are under complete control of world-wide volunteers. Currently, one can gain private information, such as circuit identifiers and hidden service identifiers, by running Tor relays and can even modify their behaviors with malicious intent. This paper presents a practical approach to effectively enhancing the security and privacy of Tor by utilizing Intel SGX, a commodity trusted execution environment. We present a design and implementation of Tor, called SGX-Tor, that prevents code modification and limits the information exposed to untrusted parties. We demonstrate that our approach is practical and effectively reduces the power of an adversary to a traditional network-level adversary. Finally, SGX-Tor incurs moderate performance overhead; the end-to-end latency and throughput overheads for HTTP connections are 3.9% and 11.9%, respectively.


Background: The interest in morphological studies of cerebellum in different periods of postnatal ontogenesis is steadily increasing. The most acute lack of age anatomy data exists for elderly patients. Since the information on structural peculiarities of cerebellum and its cortex at old age is poorly represented in literature, being also contradictory in many ways, the study underlying the current paper was dedicated to this issue. Aims: The purpose of the study was to find regularities of age-related changes in organometric parameters of cerebellum and structural organization of its cortex at old age as compared to the young age at old age as using necropsy material. Methods: The paper is based on morphological study of cerebellums of 219 human corpses (108 male and 111 female) of young and old ages using organometric, histological and morphometric research methods. The study included comparative analysis of the mass, linear dimensions, thickness of the cerebellar cortex in young and old ages. Results: The regularities of age variability of organometric characteristics of cerebellum were identified, manifested in reduction of its weight and linear dimensions in people of senile age compared to younger people. It was found that the thickness of molecular and granular layer of cerebellum is characterized by age-related decrease in parameters. Conclusions: The results of this morphological study can serve as a basis for identifying specific regularities of age anatomy of cerebellum and have practical significance as standard indicators, which will allow using these data for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.


In the US and Europe, factory farm animal welfare has become a matter of significant public concern, leading to increased scientific research on animal welfare in order to guide public policy. In both locations, scientific opinion is growing that farm animals' welfare is directly related to their capacities for subjective experiences and, as a result, increased research is on cognition, behavior, and emotions. The geography of science and animal geography literatures have broadly examined, respectively but with overlap, the social construction of scientific knowledge and ideas about animal subjectivity. This article argues that these literatures should be further employed to better understand the current construction and social negotiation of the concept of farm animal welfare in Europe and particularly in the US, specifically through the exploration of three significant spaces of knowledge production: the geopolitical environments of the US and Europe, the particular scientific research spaces, and animal spaces or the "locations" of their subjectivity.