In recent months we have encountered a pandemic caused by a new highly contagious virus that has evolved into a global healthcare crisis. The World Health Organization has named the virus SARS-CoV-2 (SARS-coronavirus-2) and disease caused by it COVID-19 ("coronavirus disease"). The primary route of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is direct person-to-person contact and through droplets. It seems that there is a possibility of ocular transmission of the virus by contagious ocular surface and discharges. Close contact between ophthalmologists and patients is unavoidable during clinical examination and this may pose a risk for infection transmission. Although conjunctivitis is not a common sign of COVID-19, there are reports about possible ocular manifestations of the disease. Therefore, the importance of implementation of preventive measures to control the transmission of infection for ophthalmologists, healthcare professionals and patients during the ophthalmological examination is emphasized. We report the latest published data from literature and guidelines for ophthalmologic practice and introduce our experience from Department of Ophthalmology, Clinical Hospital Center Zagreb during SARS-CoV-2 epidemic. Ključne riječi:


INTERACTIONS among skin micro-organisms have begun to receive attention in recent years, but detailed quantitative work has apparently been restricted to growth studies in liquid media (Marsh and Selwyn, 1977). However, such culture systems bear little or no relationship to the skin surface. As a first step towards a more realistic approach, we have devised a quantitative method to study pure and mixed cultures growing on the surface of agar media, and experiments were carried out on antagonistic activities between skin bacteria by means of this procedure. The method, and representative results obtained with it, are described in this paper.


or the past several years, the teachers and administrators at the Eliot-Pearson Children's School in Medford, Massachusetts, have worked to create a culture of research and reflection by conducting schoolwide inquiries into teaching and learning. Near the end of the 2005–06 school year, the staff developed a documentation technique called Zooms to improve teachers' abilities to respond to children in new ways and help children listen and learn from each other. Each teaching team created a Zoom panel that focused on a "moment" from their classroom. The main purpose of this article is to describe a collaborative teacher research project examining how the Zooms contribute to the way we foster children's learning. The article begins by describing the evolution of the schoolwide inquiry from which the Zooms emerged. At the end of the article, we reflect on whether the Zooms helped promote a culture of inquiry among the educators at the Children's School, and we discuss the way Zooms influenced the quality of our staff meetings. Ben Mardell, Debbie LeeKeenan, Heidi Given, David Robinson, Becky Merino, and Yvonne Liu-Constant


BACKGROUND
Tetanus is an acute, often fatal, disease caused by an exotoxin produced by Clostridium tetani. It occurs in newborn infants born to mothers who do not have sufficient circulating antibodies to protect the infant passively, by transplacental transfer. Prevention may be possible by the vaccination of pregnant or non-pregnant women, or both, with tetanus toxoid, and the provision of clean delivery services. Tetanus toxoid consists of a formaldehyde-treated toxin which stimulates the production of antitoxin.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effectiveness of tetanus toxoid, administered to women of childbearing age or pregnant women, to prevent cases of, and deaths from, neonatal tetanus.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (31 October 2012), The Cochrane Library (2012, Issue 10), PubMed (1966 to 31 October 2012), EMBASE (1974 to 31 October 2012). We also used the results from handsearching and consultations with manufacturers and authors.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised or quasi-randomised trials evaluating the effects of tetanus toxoid in pregnant women or women of childbearing age on numbers of neonatal tetanus cases and deaths.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Three review authors independently assessed trials for inclusion and trial quality, and extracted data.

MAIN RESULTS
Two trials (10,560 infants) were included. It should be noted that these trials are very old,1966 and 1980 respectively, and one trial randomised exclusively non-pregnant women. The main outcomes were measured on infants born to a subset of those randomised women who became pregnant during the course of the studies. One study (1919 infants) assessed the effectiveness of tetanus toxoid in comparison with influenza vaccine in preventing neonatal tetanus deaths. After a single dose, the risk ratio (RR) was 0.57 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.26 to 1.24), and the vaccine effectiveness was 43%. With a two- or three-dose course, the RR was 0.02 (95% CI 0.00 to 0.30); vaccine effectiveness was 98%. No effect was detected on causes of death other than tetanus. The RR of cases of neonatal tetanus after at least one dose of tetanus toxoid was 0.20 (95% CI 0.10 to 0.40); vaccine effectiveness was 80%. Another study, involving 8641 children, assessed the effectiveness of tetanus-diptheria toxoid in comparison with cholera toxoid in preventing neonatal mortality after one or two doses. The RR was 0.68 (95% CI 0.56 to 0.82); vaccine effectiveness was 32%. In preventing deaths at four to 14 days, the RR was 0.38 (95% CI 0.27 to 0.55), and vaccine effectiveness 62% (95% CI 45% to 73%).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Available evidence supports the implementation of immunisation practices on women of childbearing age or pregnant women in communities with similar, or higher, levels of risk of neonatal tetanus, to the two study sites. More information is needed on possible interference of vaccination by malaria chemoprophylaxis on the roles of malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency, and on the quality of tetanus toxoid production and storage.


In this paper a novel method to assess a crack growing/damage event in fiber reinforced plastic, or adhesive using Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors embedded in a host material is shown. Different features of the crack mechanism that induce a change in the FBG response were identified. Double Cantilever Beams specimens made with glass fibre glued with structural adhesive, were instrumented with an array of FBG sensors embedded in the material and tested using an experimental fracture procedure. A digital image correlation technique was used to determine the presence of the specific phenomena caused by the crack, and to correlate with the FBG sensor. An algorithm was developed that analyses the reflected peak at each measurement time, and calculates the contribution of each fracture phenomenon to the change in the FBG response. This Material-Sensor model was implemented in a Finite Element Method (FEM) Model of the DCB specimen, to simulate the response of the FBG sensor during the process of crack growth, proving that this Material-Sensor model can be used as an analysis tool for future application of this measurement technology in more complex structures.


This research focuses on how the factors influencing the characteristics and the words-of-mouth effect influences the consumer's purchase decision. Especially, it was researched how the word-of-mouth influences the characteristics of social commerce and purchase decision. As a result, decision-making support system and social influence seemed to have variables and influences on word-of-mouth effect, and cost-reducing and impulse buying did not seem to have any variables or influences on the word-of-mouth effect. Also, the variables influencing the characteristic of social commerce and word-of-mouth effect seemed to influence the purchase decisions of the consumer. The variables influencing the word-of-mouth effect seemed to be influenced much greatly by the characteristics of the sender and the receiver rather than the characteristic of the message. This research has revealed that the word-of-mouth effect of social commerce influenced the purchase decisions of customers using social commerce. The significance of this research is in providing the basis for more efficient and effective marketing by social commerce corporations.


This article looks at the impact of the Education and Childcare Minister on the provision of early childhood education and care in England. Policies being developed and promoted by Elizabeth Truss predate her appointment as a minister and are consistent with the radical neo-liberal agenda pursued by Secretary of State Michael Gove. The author draws on news articles and policy announcements and calls into question the misuse and abuse of international comparisons to justify changes to early years policy in England.


Summary form only given. The Bosch Si etch process combines the desirable etching characteristics of SF/sub 6/ with the polymerization properties of fluorocarbon gases to anisotropically etch deep and narrow features at a high etch rate. This process is currently being explored for SCALPEL (Scattering with Angular Limitation in Projection Electron Beam Lithography) mask fabrication. Due to the large number of process variables available, optimization of the Bosch process is a nontrivial task. There are also stringent requirements for etch rate, uniformity and feature sidewall angle. To aid in Bosch etch process development, an integrated plasma equipment feature scale model has been developed. This model couples a 2-dimensional simulation of the plasma reactor (based on Hybrid Plasma Equipment Model from the University of Illinois) with a string based feature profile model. The chemical mechanisms for the etching (SF/sub 6//O/sub 2/) and passivation (c-C/sub 4/F/sub 8/) plasmas incorporate known information about electron impact processes in these gases, as well as many heavy particle collisions. The surface etching and passivation mechanisms for the feature scale simulation are based on qualitative information available in the published literature. Quantitative data such as sticking coefficients has, however, been inferred indirectly from process experiments. The resulting model closely replicates experimentally observed plasma and etch characteristics. In this presentation, we describe the integrated model, discuss our experimental validation strategy and apply the model to understanding the Bosch etch process. Results show that Si etching is mainly due to F atoms, polymerization in c-C/sub 4/F/sub 8/ is due to sticking of C and CF/sub x/ radicals under ion bombardment, and polymer is etched through ion-assisted physical sputtering. An optimum etch process is obtained by carefully controlling polymerization and etching times, wafer temperature, ion energy and process variables that control species fluxes to the wafer.


Moisture content control is a very effective way of protecting timber. Treatments with environmentfriendly, biodegradable tall oil are known to reduce the capillary water uptake of pine sapwood greatly, but despite the good results achieved there have been two problems that limit the use of tall oil for wood protection, the large amount of oil needed and the tendency for the oil to exude from the wood. This work was undertaken in order to obtain an understanding of the mechanism of wood protection by means of crude tall oil (CTO) and to find technical solutions to the main problems limiting its use for industrial wood protection. It is shown that the emulsion technique is one way of solving the first problem, as it provides high water-repellent efficiency at considerably lower oil retention levels. The fact that water is used as a thinner in this technique instead of the commonly used organic solvents is beneficial from environmental, economic and safety points of view. It is also shown that although the drying properties of CTO are inadequate for use as such in wood preservation, its oxidation and polymerization can be accelerated considerably by means of iron catalysts, which prevent the oil from exuding out of the wood. This also increases the water repellent efficiency of CTO treatment. Most impregnation oils do not dry when applied in large quantities, because they hinder the diffusion of air through the wood, which supplies the necessary oxygen. Limiting of the oil uptake by the means of the emulsion technique disturbs the airflow to a lesser extent, and thus enhances the drying process. Hence, both the emulsion technique and the use of an iron catalyst improve both the water-repellent efficiency of tall oil treatment and the rate of drying of the oil, thus solving the two main problems related to wood impregnation with tall oil in one single-stage treatment which can be used in existing wood preservation plants. This is advantageous from both an industrial and an economic point of view.


The following research tries to understand how the lives of the Crimean
Armenians were impacted after the collapse of the Soviet Union. After briefly
discussing the Crimean Armenian communities in the Soviet Period, the article
mainly focuses on the social and political issues that Armenians of Crimea have
faced during the post-Soviet period. There are two research questions: 1. What key
problems have the Crimean Armenians encountered during the post-Soviet
transformational period? 2. How did the 2014 events impact the Crimean
Armenians? With the help of content analysis and interviews, the research looks
into these and a set of other relevant questions. The main findings are that Crimean
Armenians have mostly perceived the peninsula to be more Russian than Ukrainian,
that is why their lives were not dramatically affected after Crimea came under the
control of Russia, apart from some issues concerning traveling and visas,
documentation and social protection.
Keywords: Crimea, Armenian diaspora, Ukraine, Russia, Identity politics


Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of high amniotic fluid pressure (AFP) created by amnioinfusion on fetal circulation. Five pregnant goats whose fetuses had a mean gestational age of 131 ± 2 days (term 145 days) were used. After a 30 minute control period, 1500 ml of warm saline was infused to the amniotic cavity over a period of 30 minutes. The AFP gradually increased during amnioinfusion and remained 2–3 mmHg above the control level for 3 hours after amnioinfusion. Fetal arterial pH (FpH) tended to decrease, and there was a significant negative correlation between the FpH and AFP (r= −0.723). Fetal arterial pO2 also tended to decrease and negatively correlated to the AFP (r= −0.59). On the other hand, fetal arterial pCO2 tended to increase and positively correlated with the AFP (r = 0.75). Although amnioinfusion is useful for improving the status of a distressed fetus, the fetal condition may be jeopardized at the same time. Therefore, careful monitoring of the AFP and fetal status is recommended during amnioinfusion.


Practical Applications Summary In Do as I Say, Not as I Do: An Analysis of Portfolio Development Recommendations Made by Financial Advisors, from the Spring 2020 issue of The Journal of Wealth Management, authors John Grable (of the University of Georgia), Amy Hubble (of Radix Financial), and Michelle Kruger (of Loras College) explore the variation of financial advisors' asset allocations, from general best practices to hypothetical scenarios. While they find advisors' general allocation strategies align with their scenario-specific allocations in most regards, they also discover that, in practice, advisors tend to subconsciously overweight their clients' age and employment status. This overweighting leads to suboptimal allocation portfolios with lower risk and a higher ratio of bonds to equities. TOPICS: Portfolio construction, risk management, wealth management


This paper aims to perform the minimization of the yearly energy supply cost from the main electricity and natural gas grids related to an energy district, considering the installation of different equipments. The case study refers to energy consumption of a medium density urban district and involves the exploitation of different energy sources and devices (photovoltaic systems, electrical energy storage, heat pumps and cogenerators). The analysis of the district energy supply is accomplished through an energy hub model. After a cost analysis related to the considered energy systems, a MILP algorithm was used for the optimization of a cost function and the simulation of various scenarios. Moreover, a study about CO2 emissions is reported. The same study is then repeated considering the Vietnamese economic and environmental context, keeping constant the energy losses and performance of the equipment, in order to compare these countries and provide useful conclusions about the improvement of energy supply systems in developed and developing countries.


This study explores the magnitude-versus-distance sensitivity of the Kansas Geological Survey (KGS) microearthquake network. The ability of each seismograph station to record earthquakes of various magnitudes as a function of epicentral distance is investigated, and a series of magnitude-versus-distance graphs results. The ability of the network to monitor seismic activity in eastern Kansas is excellent to magnitude 1.5 and is sufficient to detect events greater than magnitude 2.3 in western Kansas. Station detection radii for magnitude 1.5 events range from 145 km for the Emporia seismograph station (EMK) to 225 km at Tuttle Creek (TCK); and for a magnitude 2 event, from 245 km at EMK to 385 km at TCK. The sensitivities of the nine seismographs of the network are similar despite their widespread locations across eastern Kansas.


Aim. To evaluate the effects of long-term wet treatment of porcine aortic wall fragments with biocidal solutions (glutaraldehyde, antibiotics, alcohol-glycerin mixture, complex alcohol solution (CAS)) on the severity of degradation of samples' connective matrix and their long-term ability to accumulate calcium during subcutaneous implantation in laboratory rats (1 and 3 months). Methods. Histological analysis of freshly collected material was performed after 50 days of treatment with various biocidal solutions and after subcutaneous implantation of samples in small laboratory animals at 1 and 3 months. Calcium was measured with the atomic absorption spectroscopy after 3 months of subcutaneous implantation. Results. Histological analysis reported that connective matrix of samples treated with glutaraldehyde, antibiotics, and CAS was similar to the native one (with the exception of partial loss of cellular components in samples). After 1 month of implantation, a moderate degradation of connective tissue was found. The treatment with the alcohol-glycerin mixture was associated with the most severe degradation. After 3 months of implantation, glutaraldehyde-treated samples had the most preserved connective matrix, while alcohol-glycerin-treated samples demonstrated severe connective matrix injury. However, severe calcific deposits were found in samples treated with glutaraldehyde, whereas mild ones were detected in samples treated with alcohol-glycerin. Atomic absorption spectroscopy reported that calcific deposits in Cas- and alcohol-glycerin-treated samples were 2.3 and 1.8 times lower than those in glutaraldehyde-treated samples. The calcium content in samples treated with antibiotics did not differ significantly from those in glutaraldehyde-treated samples Conclusion.The comprehensive analysis of the effects of various treatment media on the stability of connective matrix to subsequent degradation and its ability to accumulate calcium found that CAS was the most preferred medium for long-term wet treatment of xenoprosthetic vascular tissue.


A 70-year-old female who was diagnosed as myxoid chondrosarcoma by fine needle aspiration of a pleural mass is described. She presented with left chest discomfort of 4 months' duration and aggravating dyspnea and chest pain for 2 months. Chest X-ray and CT scan revealed a large lobulated low density mass invading chest wall at the left pleural cavity and massive pleural fluid. Fine needle aspiration was done under the impression of mesothelioma or metastatic cancer. The aspirates from the mass were very cellular and composed of isolated or clustered forms of large plump cells. Abundant cytoplasm was blulsh opaque and the margin was rounded in the isolated cells, whereas clustered cells show ill-defined ceil borders and aggregating tendency. The nuclei were eccentric, round to ovoid, and had fine chromatin pattern and multiple small nucleoli. Cellular pleomorphism or mitotic figure was not definite. These findings were consistent with cytologic features of chondrosarcoma. Final diagnosis was confirmed as myxoid chondrosarcoma by mediastinoscopic biopsy and the tumor showed strong positivity for S-100 protein.


BACKGROUND
The goal of the present study was to provide accurate data on the prevalence and morphometrical aspects of the cranio-orbital foramen (COF), which can surely be of use by surgeons performing procedures on the lateral orbit. Furthermore, the embryology and the clinical significance of this osseous structure were thoroughly discussed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Major online medical databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched to find all relevant studies regarding COF.

RESULTS
Eventually, a total of 25 studies that matched the required criteria and contained complete and relevant data were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of COF was found to be 48.37% (95% CI: 41.67% - 55.10%). The occurrence of the COF unilaterally was set to be 71.92% (95% CI: 41.87% - 96.97%). The occurrence of the COF bilaterally was set at 26.08% (95% CI: 3.03% - 58.13%).

CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, we believe that this is the most accurate and up-to-date study regarding the anatomy of the COF. The COF is prevalent in 48.37% of the cases, and it is most frequently unilateral (73.92%). Furthermore, the prevalence of accessory COFs was found to be 16.72 percent. The presence of these foramina may represent a source of hemorrhage that ophthalmic surgeons should be aware of when performing procedures in the lateral part of the orbit.


Abstract Laboratory studies were conducted using 14C-aminocyclopyrachlor (DPX-MAT28) and its 14C-methyl ester formulation (DPX-KJM44) to (1) determine the adjuvants' effects on absorption, (2) compare the absorption and translocation of aminocyclopyrachlor free acid with the methyl ester, and (3) determine the rate at which aminocyclopyrachlor-methyl ester is metabolized to the free acid in Canada thistle. Canada thistle plants were grown from root cuttings and treated in the rosette growth stage. The effect of different adjuvants on absorption was determined by treating individual leaves with formulated herbicide plus 14C-herbicide alone or with methylated seed oil (MSO), crop oil concentrate, or nonionic surfactant with and without urea ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate. Plants were harvested 96 h after treatment (HAT). For absorption and translocation experiments, plants were oversprayed with aminocyclopyrachlor or its methyl ester at a rate of 0.14 kg ae ha−1 in combination with 1% MSO. Formulated herbicide plus 14C-herbicide was then applied to a protected leaf, and plants were harvested 24 to 192 HAT. Plants were harvested and radioactivity was determined in the treated leaf and in aboveground and belowground tissues. Metabolism of aminocyclopyrachlor-methyl ester to the free acid was determined 2, 6, and 24 HAT. All aboveground biomass was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography to establish the ratio of methyl ester to free acid. MSO applied with either herbicide formulation resulted in the highest absorption compared with no surfactant. Significantly greater aminocyclopyrachlor-methyl ester was absorbed, compared with the free acid, which was reflected in the greater aboveground translocation for the methyl ester. Both formulations had similar amounts of translocation to the roots, with 8.6% (SE ± 3.3) for the methyl ester compared with 6.2% (SE ± 2.5) for the free acid. Approximately 80% of the methyl ester was converted to the free acid at 6 HAT. Based on this conversion rate, aminocyclopyrachlor translocated as the free acid in Canada thistle. Nomenclature: Aminocyclopyrachlor (6-amino-5-chloro-2-cyclopropyl-4-pyrimidinecarboxylic acid), aminocyclopyrachlor-methyl ester (6-amino-5-chloro-2-cyclopropyl-4-pyrimidin methyl ester) Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense L. CIRAR


In this paper, we propose TROY, the first track router with yield-driven wire planning to optimize yield loss due to random defects. As the probability of failure (POF) computed from critical area analysis and defect size distribution strongly depends on wire ordering, sizing, and spacing, track routing plays a key role in effective wire planning for yield optimization. TROY formulates wire ordering into a preference-aware minimum Hamiltonian path problem. For simultaneous wire sizing and spacing optimization, TROY solves it optimally by formulating the problems into a second order conic programming (SOCP). Experimental results show that TROY can reduce the random-defect yield loss by 18% on average without any overhead in wirelength, compared with the widely used greedy approach.


Various kinetic approaches were carried out to investigate kinetic attributes for the dual coenzyme activities of mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase from rat liver. The enzyme catalyses NAD(+)- and NADP(+)-dependent oxidations of ethanal by an ordered bi-bi mechanism with NAD(P)+ as the first reactant bound and NAD(P)H as the last product released. The two coenzymes presumably interact with the kinetically identical site. NAD+ forms the dynamic binary complex with the enzyme, while the enzyme-NAD(P)H complex formation is associated with conformation change(s). A stopped-flow burst of NAD(P)H formation, followed by a slower steady-state turnover, suggests that either the deacylation or the release of NAD(P)H is rate limiting. Although NADP+ is reduced by a faster burst rate, NAD+ is slightly favored as the coenzyme by virtue of its marginally faster turnover rate.


Abstract The study presents a characterization of an inclusive secondary school in Bratislava and provides information about the forms and methods used in the work of the teachers, school psychologists, special teachers with regard to students with special needs (students with Attention and Hyperactivity Disorder, i.e. ADHD, with learning difficulties, with emotional and behaviour difficulties, etc.), who are educated together with mainstream students. It also provides information on the first results of the measurements of the socio-emotional health of the students in the inclusive school, both as to its overall level (covitality index) and as to the level of the four psychological dimensions of mental health. The pilot project of the inclusive school confirms that inclusive secondary schools and inclusive education operating within the intentions of positive psychology help the students to develop their cognitive and socio-emotional competences, to create favourable attitudes to diversity, to form the students' scale of positive values and to encourage positive interpersonal relationships, social cohesion and social classroom climate.


A novel colon targeted multiparticles of resveratrol were prepared by solvent evaporation method, using Eudragit S-100 & Eudragit L-100 as polymer. These polymers were pH dependent so that variability in gastric emptying time can be overcome & a colon specific release can be achieved. Different combinations of polymers were selected to achieve suitable lag time for treatment of colon diseases. In-vitro release studies for prepared microparticles were carried out in 0.1 N HCl, 7.4 phosphate buffer and in pH 6.8 phosphate buffer. The morphology of microparticle was studied using scanning electron microscopy and it was observed that microparticle had a spherical shape and smooth surface. The percentage yield of microparticles of all formulation was in the range of 73.89% to 89.57%. The drug content determination showed that even if the polymer composition was changed the solvent evaporation process was highly efficient to give microparticle having maximum drug loading. In conclusion, the prolonged sustained release time and enhanced stability of resveratrol. In vitro studies revealed that multiparticles prepared have limited drug release in stomach and small intestinal environment and release maximum amount of drug in the colonic environment


The paper considers the problem of robust control redesign of a class of linear discrete-time systems with norm-bounded parametric uncertainties and controller-gain perturbations. In both cases of additive and multiplicative perturbations, the control objective is to design a resilient feedback-stabilisation schemes using guaranteed cost control and H∞ control approaches. The problem under consideration is cast as convex optimisation over linear matrix inequalities which led to the derivation of necessary and sufficient conditions for closed-loop robust quadratic stability. Three system examples are provided to illustrate the theoretical developments.


While in classical text collections documents are regarded as atomic units, in XML collections nested elements of varying granularity are considered. This augmented view increases the number of potentially retrieved objects, e.g. documents, elements within documents, or aggregations of elements or of documents. The increase in the number of objects to be indexed and retrieved by XML retrieval systems leads, for XML collections of comparably small size (several 100 MB), already to the necessity to apply strategies for scalability, such as paralell and distributed processing, term, document and database pre-selection. We report in this paper on our approach for dealing with XML collections in general, and with the INEX collection in particular, using a scalable indexing and retrieval architecture.


This study was carried out to investigate the possible use of first carbonation sludge from the sugar industry in layer diets. 324 Babcock B-300 hens were used. Ground marble was replaced in the experimental diets by the sludge to provide the calcium requirements at the rates of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that there were significant differences between percentages (P 0.05). The result of this study suggest that first carbonation sludge from the sugar industry could replace ground marble and the level of replacement should be 20% if the sludge is used in the layer diets.


Abstract The recent increase in the elderly population, current health trends and awareness of age-related changes in the male endocrine system, have led to discussions about the role of the hormonal changes in the aging process in males. Better prevention and treatment of suboptimal health status and age-related diseases in aging men are based on an improved understanding of aging, particularly of the significance of age-associated hormonal changes. The aims of this study were 1) to evaluate the age dependence of the serum concentrations of the following important hormonal parameters in adult males using the IMMULITE® 1 automated assay system (DPC, Los Angeles): testosterone, dehydro-epiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), estradiol (E2), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), lutropin (LH), follitropin (FSH), cortisol, prolactin, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (fT3), free thyroxine (fT4) and the growth hormone-dependent parameters insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) and IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) and 2) to derive the following parameters: calculated free testosterone (cFT), ratio of calculated free testosterone to total testosterone (% cFT) and free androgen index (FAI). We found a significant decrease between the 1–30-year age group and the >70-year agegroup for total testosterone (−42.4%), FAI (−65.5%), cFT (−60.0%), % cFT (−30.0%), DHEAS (−71.9%), E2 (−35.4%), TSH (−23.6%), IGF-I (−40.3%) and IGFBP-3 (−26.5%). Since the decreases in the FAI and cFT were greater than that of total testosterone and because these derived parameters reflect the biologically active fraction of testosterone, FAI and cFT are better markers for androgen deficiency in males. In contrast, a significant increase with age was observed for SHBG (+61.2%73), LH (+40.0%), FSH (+98.3%) and cortisol (+54.2%). No significant alterations with age were observed for prolactin, fT3 and fT4. The study demonstrates that determining complete profiles of the androgenic, gonadotropic, adrenocortical, thyroid, pituitary and growth hormone/IGF endocrine axes in middle-aged and elderly men may be helpful in obtaining a correct clinical diagnosis for various hormonal disorders.


The development of apomorphine-induced (1.0 mg/kg s.c. once daily) aggressive behavior of adult male and female Wistar rats obtained from the same breeder was studied in two consecutive sets. In male animals, repeated apomorphine treatment induced a gradual development of aggressive behavior as evidenced by the increased intensity of aggressiveness and shortened latency before the first attack toward the opponent. In female rats, only a weak tendency toward aggressiveness was found. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates gender differences in the development of the apomorphine-induced aggressive behavior and indicates that the female rats do not fill the validation criteria for use in this method.


Abstract A new species of semi-terrestrial crab of the genus Geosesarma (Sesarmidae) is described from a limestone cave in central Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Geosesarma sodalissp. nov. is characterised by its quadrate carapace, absence of a flagellum on the exopod of the third maxilliped, presence of 10 or 11 sharp tubercles on the dactylus of the chela and a diagnostic male first gonopod structure. This is the sixth species of Geosesarma reported from Sarawak, and the first member of the genus collected from inside caves.


Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma is a bronchogenic carcinoma that presents an insidious growth, arises from the walls of the distal air spaces and spreads using the alveolar septa as a stroma, preserving the lung architecture. In this work we analyze the high-resolution computed tomography of 17 patients with bronchioloalveolar carcinoma. Conversely to the data presented in the literature, male preponderance (71%) and a higher frequency of association between multinodular and consolidation patterns (53%) in comparison to single nodular (12%), multinodular (12%) and consolidation (23%) patterns were observed. The most common findings were: consolidation areas (76%), air bronchogram (71%), low attenuation areas (60%), thickening of interlobular septa, ground-glass attenuation and confluent nodules (54% each), and crazy paving pattern (36%). Cavitated nodules, atelectasis, halo sign and "tree in bud" pattern were observed in only one case each.


BACKGROUND
Fetal growth has geographical and ethnic variations. Fetuses from different parts of the world show also different growth patterns. Using individualized fetal biometry charts increase the detection of fetuses at risk, probably due to a better identification of intrauterine growth restriction; moreover they correlate better with anthropometric parameters than conventional curves.

OBJECTIVE
To determine and describe the reference curves of fetal biometric parameters in the population of western Mexico.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Cross-sectional and descriptive study, conducted between September 2006 and December 2011 in patients admitted to the Maternal Fetal Medicine Unit at Civil Hospital of Guadalajara Dr. Juan I. Menchaca. We included 1,833 patients with single pregnancies without fetal or maternal pathology with established gestational age by the date of the last menstrual period and confirmed by first trimester ultrasound. Percentils 3, 5, 10, 50 and 95 were calculated for every biometric variable.

RESULTS
The largest growth rate was seen between 26 to 38 weeks of gestation and a progressive flattening of the growth curve was observed from the 38th week of gestation.

CONCLUSION
The percentiles of fetal biometric parameters in the population of western Mexico are lower than those reported in previously published literature.


Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) production in the Southeast United States can be limited by periodic drought. Irrigation and furrow diking tillage may improve economic yield and water use efficiency of cotton. Timing of rainfall may interfere with the efficiency of irrigation. Field studies were conducted during 2001 to 2010 near Shellman, Georgia to examine four irrigation rates based on Irrigator Pro for Cotton consisting of 100, 66, 33, and 0%. The objectives were to determine the value of irrigation and the economic water use efficiency of irrigation among irrigation rates over years. In-season rainfall ranged from 270 to 760 mm and irrigation volume ranged from 110 to 455 mm. Total water applied (rainfall + irrigation) ranged between 560 and 870 mm. In all but 2003, irrigation improved yield by 247-645 kg lint ha -1 . Years with average or below average rainfall had incrementally higher yields as irrigation rate increased except for 2007. Water use efficiency for irrigation was highest for the 33% rate in 2001 and 2002 and higher in 2004 and 2007 for the 66% rate. In severe drought years, the 33% rate did not sufficiently relieve drought stress. Irrigation provided profit in all but one year of the study. Although 100% irrigation is not the most efficient irrigation level, it often provides the most economic return. Furrow diking improved yield and water use efficiency in 3 of 6 years tested.


This article examines whether organized interests alter the strong opinion-policy linkage observed by Erikson, Wright, and McIver (1993). We first replicate the EWM model circa 1980 with the addition of measures of interest organization density and diversity under a variety of specifications. We then extend the analysis to the contemporary period, using EWMs' new public opinion data through 1999. To execute this second stage of the analysis, we construct a new index of policy liberalism circa 2000 comparable to EWMs' 1980 measure. Our results suggest that interest community bias in favor of traditional economic interests modestly weakens policy liberalism responsiveness, but that simply having many organized interests registered to lobby may promote more liberal policy.


We show that the method of Christiansen and Taylor, from which complete tokamak equilibria can be determined given only knowledge of the shape of the flux surfaces, can be extended to 3-dimensional equilibria, such as those of stellarators. As for the tokamak case, the given geometric knowledge has a high degree of redundancy, so that the full equilibrium can be obtained using only a small portion of that information.


Laminar flow in theatres has become standard of care in orthopaedic implant surgery. Most of the evidence for laminar flow use is based on arthroplasty surgery, with early studies showing significant reduction in infections. We conducted a retrospective comparative study to assess Surgical Site Infection (SSI) rates in consecutive patients undergoing surgery for trauma in laminar and non-laminar flow theatres.

 Due to COVID restrictions our trauma care provision was restructured. This resulted in trauma surgery being performed in non-laminar flow theatres. We identified consecutive patients who had trauma surgery pre and post pandemic from February 2019 to June 2021 to avoid selection bias. There were 1010 in laminar theatre group and 1000 in non-laminar theatre group. SSI rates within the first 90 days. The two groups were statistically similar in terms of age and gender of the patients.

 28 patients developed surgical site infections in non-laminar flow theatres and 29 patients in laminar flow theatres. There was no significant difference between the SSI rate in laminar flow theatres (2.87%), as compared to non-laminar flow theatres (2.80%) (p = 0.92034). There was no link between infections and duration of surgery. 2 patients in the laminar flow group were MRSA positive and were excluded.

 In our study, laminar flow theatres did not show a statistically significant reduction in surgical site infections. We conclude in the practical environment of trauma theatres; the theoretical advantage of laminar flow does not translate to an observable reduction of infections.


Investigations showed that heat plants pollute atmospheric air in towns of Khabarovsk district. Concentrations of benzo(a)pyrene in air of Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and Amursk are 4-14 times higher than its maximum allowable concentration.


The electron spin resonance spectra from irradiated glycine have been investigated as a function of dose and time. Single crystals were examined at various orientations, with the most significant changes occurring in the (0, 0, 1) direction. The portion of each spectrum attributed to the radical NH3+ C H COO- appeared unchanged, but that due to ·CH2COO- showed considerable alteration. These changes occurred comparatively slowly at low doses, but were enhanced due to heating effects above 100 megarads. Two competing mechanisms are postulated to account for the results.


Leak rates on two pressure vessels were experimentally determined. The first vessel was tested with a pair of 24″ flanges class 150 raised face weld neck flanges, the second vessel had a pair of 16″ class 300 RFWN. Comparisons between the experimental data and the predictions made by the ROTT gasket constants were made.Copyright © 2002 by ASME


Achieving oxygen reduction at high positive potentials with fast heterogeneous electron transfer is desirable for the biocathode of fuel cells based on enzymes. Here, we present an effective interface for obtaining direct electron transfer from a laccase (Lac)-based cathode for O2 reduction, starting from a potential very close to the redox equilibrium potential of the oxygen/water couple. The interface between Lac and single-walled carbon nanotubes was improved by modification with the steroid biosurfactant sodium cholate. The heterogeneous electron-transfer rate between the type-1 Cu site of Lac and the modified electrode was determined to be 3000 s(-1). The electron-transfer rate was sensitive to the side chain of the steroid biosurfactant, and the rate decreased more than 10-fold when sodium deoxycholate was used as the side chain.


Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari's analysis of minor literature, deterritorialization and agrammaticality, this article explores the possibility of a 'minor poetry', considering various interpretations of the term, and interrogating the value of the distinction between minor poetry and minor literature. The article considers Bakhtin's work, which offers several parallels to Deleuze and Guattari's in its consideration of the language system and the place of literature within it, but which also addresses questions of genre. It pursues Christian Prigent's hypothesis, in contrast to Bakhtin's account of poetic discourse, that Deleuze and Guattari's notion of deterritorialization might offer a definition of poetic language. Considering the work of two French-language poets, Ghérasim Luca and Olivier Cadiot, the article argues that the term 'minor poetry' gains an additional relevance for experimental twentieth-century poetry which grapples with its own generic identity, deterritorializing established conceptions of poetry, and making 'minor' the major poetic discourses on which it is contingent.


How do you keep a large group of first year mathematics students with a large ability spread engaged? Following changes in the school maths curriculum, students increasingly come with different abilities and skills, necessitating recapping of key parts of the A-level syllabus alongside the introduction of new material.  Some students are bored whilst others are lost, and thus support mechanisms are needed, at both ends of the spectrum, to ease transition (Hoyles, 2010).  In September 2010 the Mathematics department set up the Maths Cafe as a result of a successful internal bid for funding.  Weekly one-hour sessions have been run which have been well attended by a wide variety of students from varied backgrounds.  Some students attend for help with tutorial work and some to engage in a wide variety of fun mathematical games and activities with staff and their peers.  This, we believe, has been helpful in getting a wider than usual number of students engaged and imbedded early on in their programmes and has increased first year attainment. This 40-minute workshop will explore the ideas behind the setting up of the Maths Cafe and will be of interest to anyone who is concerned about how to engage students from a wide variety of different backgrounds and with differing levels of ability.  We will discuss how delegates could create similar schemes that will work in other disciplines and how this could be used to increase maths attainment across the whole university as done by a similar scheme at Portsmouth University (Pevy, 2007).  We will show how the Maths Cafe has been a) used as a tool for developing the inquiring mind b) involved in developing the effective student journey c) used to develop an enterprising and creative UG culture Our aim is to make this workshop enjoyable and highly interactive with plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion throughout as well as the chance to try out some of the games and puzzles which we hope to display throughout the day.


Abstract Several countries in Southern Africa now see large numbers of their population barely subsisting at poverty levels in years without shocks, and highly vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather, the economy and government policy. The combination of HIV/AIDS, food insecurity and a weakened capacity for governments to deliver basic social services has led to the region experiencing an acute phase of a long-term emergency. "Vulnerability" is a term commonly used by scientists and practitioners to describe these deteriorating conditions. There is particular concern about the "vulnerability" of children in this context and implications for children's future security. Through a review of literature and recent case studies, and using a widely accepted conceptualisation of vulnerability as a lens, we reflect on what the regional livelihoods crisis could mean for children's future wellbeing. We argue that an increase in factors determining the vulnerability of households – both through greater intensity and frequency of shocks and stresses ("external" vulnerability) and undermined resilience or ability to cope ("internal" vulnerability) – are threatening not only current welfare of children, but also their longer-term security. The two specific pathways we explore are (1) erosive coping strategies employed by families and individuals; and (2) their inability to plan for the future. We conclude that understanding and responding to this crisis requires looking at the complexity of these multiple stressors, to try to comprehend their interconnections and causal links. Policy and programme responses have, to date, largely failed to take into account the complex and multi-dimensional nature of this crisis. There is a misfit between the problem and the institutional response, as responses from national and international players have remained relatively static. Decisive, well-informed and holistic interventions are needed to break the potential negative cycle that threatens the future security of Southern Africa's children.


Background: Haloperidol is highly effective against the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, but is less effective against the negative symptoms. It also produces marked extrapyramidal symptoms. The newer atypical antipsychotics are believed to have an equal efficacy with a favourable side-effect profile. Aim: We assessed the effects of risperidone and haloperidol in patients with schizophrenia to compare their clinical efficacy and side-effect profile. Methods: A double-blind, randomized, prospective, comparative trial with a parallel treatment design of 6 weeks' duration was undertaken on 46 drug-naive schizophrenics to compare the efficacy and adverse effects profile of risperidone and haloperidol. Results: The study showed no difference in the positive and negative subscale scales on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). However, risperidone was found to have an edge over haloperidol in improving the general psychopathology as well as in bringing about global improvement. Conclusion: Of the two drugs, the adverse effect profile of risperidone is better, with less need for the use of antiparkinsonian medication.


One major challenge in computer vision is to go beyond the modeling of individual objects and to investigate the bi- (one-versus-one) or tri- (one-versus-two) relationship among multiple visual entities, answering such questions as whether a child in a photo belongs to the given parents. The child-parents relationship plays a core role in a family, and understanding such kin relationship would have a fundamental impact on the behavior of an artificial intelligent agent working in the human world. In this work, we tackle the problem of one-versus-two (tri-subject) kinship verification and our contributions are threefold: 1) a novel relative symmetric bilinear model (RSBM) is introduced to model the similarity between the child and the parents, by incorporating the prior knowledge that a child may resemble one particular parent more than the other; 2) a spatially voted method for feature selection, which jointly selects the most discriminative features for the child-parents pair, while taking local spatial information into account; and 3) a large-scale tri-subject kinship database characterized by over 1,000 child-parents families. Extensive experiments on KinFaceW, Family101, and our newly released kinship database show that the proposed method outperforms several previous state of the art methods, while could also be used to significantly boost the performance of one-versus-one kinship verification when the information about both parents are available.


The arbitrarily varying channel (AVC) is a conservative way of modeling an unknown interference, and the corresponding capacity results are pessimistic. We reconsider the Gaussian AVC by relaxing the classical model and thereby weakening the adversarial nature of the interference. We examine three different relaxations. First, we show how a very small amount of common randomness between transmitter and receiver is sufficient to achieve the rates of fully randomized codes. Second, akin to the dirty paper coding problem, we study the impact of an additional interference known to the transmitter. We provide partial capacity results that differ significantly from the standard AVC. Third, we revisit a Gaussian MIMO AVC in which the interference is arbitrary but of limited dimension.


Background Orthohantavirus infection is a neglected global health problem affecting approximately 200,000 people/year, spread by rodent hosts and associated to fatal human diseases, such as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and orthohantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS). Circulation of HFRS-associated orthohantaviruses, such as Seoul, Gou, Amur, Dobrava and Hantaan, are supposed to be restricted to Eurasian countries even though their hosts can be a worldwide distribution. Few confirmed HFRS orthohantavirus infections in humans have been reported in American countries, but due to lower medical awareness of the symptoms of this zoonosis, it could be associated to viral underreporting or to misdiagnosis with several tropical hemorrhagic diseases. Serological evidence of orthohantavirus infections, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the presence of immunoglobulin M and G against recombinant nucleoprotein protein, remains as an essential assay for viral surveillance. In this study, we aimed to identify in silico immunogenic B-cell linear epitopes present on orthohantavirus nucleoprotein that are exclusive to HFRS-related species. Methodology/Principal findings In silico analysis were performed using Seoul orthohantavirus nucleoprotein (SHNP) sequence as a model. Linear B-cell-epitopes on SHNP and its immunogenicity were predicted by BepiPred-2.0 and Vaxijen algorithms, respectively. The conservancy of predicted epitopes was compared with the most clinically relevant HFRS or HCPS-associated orthohantavirus, aiming to identify specific sequences from HFRS-orthohantavirus. Peptide validation was carried out by ELISA using Balb/c mice sera immunized with purified recombinant rSHNP. Peptides cross-reactivity against HCPS orthohantavirus were evaluated using immunized sera from mice injected with recombinant Juquitiba orthohantavirus nucleoprotein (rJHNP). Conclusion/Significance In silico analysis revealed nine potential immunogenic linear B-cell epitopes from SHNP; among them, SHNP(G72-D110) and SHNP(P251-D264) showed a high degree of sequence conservation among HFRS-related orthohantavirus and were experimentally validated against rSHNP-IMS and negatively validated against rJHNP-IMS. Taken together, we identified and validated two potential antigenic B-cell epitopes on SHNP, which were conserved among HFRS-associated orthohantavirus and could be applied to the development of novel immunodiagnostic tools for orthohantavirus surveillance.


The urinary excretion of ORG NC 45 (Vecuronium) and of pancuronium was studied in unanesthetized rats and the biliary excretion was studied in anesthetized rats. Urine and bile were analyzed for unchanged drug by a new and specific mass spectrometric assay. Pancuronium was eliminated primarily in the urine (85% ± 6% of the dose in 12 hours), but little ORG NC 45 appeared in the urine (3.5% ± 1.1 % in 12 hours). Biliary excretion accounted for 46% ± 4% of the ORG NC 45 dose in 7 hours, but only 7.5% ± 5.3% of an injected dose of pancuronium appeared in the bile. Thus, it appears that ORG NC 45 (a monoquaternary ammonium compound) has a higher biliary clearance than pancuronium (a bisquaternary ammonium compound). The different biodisposition of these two compounds may be due to the greater lipophilicity and concomitant enhanced permeability into the hepatocyte of ORG NC 45. We conclude that in the rat elimination of pancuronium is primarily via the kidney whereas elimination of ORG NC 45 is dependent on nonrenal mechanisms.


Extensive research, intervention equipment, money, and media coverage have been directed at controlling Escherichia coli O157:H7 in beef cattle. However, much of the focus has been on controlling this pathogen postcolonization. This study was conducted to examine the performance, health, and shedding characteristics of beef calves that were vaccinated with an E. coli O157:H7 SRP bacterial extract. These calves had been born to cows vaccinated prepartum with the same vaccine. Cows and calves were assigned randomly to one of four treatments: (i) neither cows nor calves vaccinated with E. coli O157:H7 SRP (CON), (ii) cows vaccinated with E. coli O157:H7 SRP prepartum but calves not vaccinated (COWVAC), (iii) calves vaccinated with E. coli O157:H7 SRP but born to cows not vaccinated (CALFVAC), (iv) cows vaccinated with E. coli O157:H7 SRP prepartum and calves also vaccinated (BOTH). Calves born to vaccinated cows had significantly higher titers of anti-E. coli O157:H7 SRP antibodies (SRPAb) in circulation at branding time (P < 0.001). Upon entry to the feedlot, overall fecal E. coli O157:H7 prevalence was 23 % among calves, with 25 % in the CON treatment group, 19 % in the CALFVAC group, 32 % in the COWVAC group, and 15 % in the BOTH group (P > 0.05). Fecal shedding of E. coli O157 on arrival to the feedlot was not correlated with fecal shedding at slaughter (Spearman's rho = -0.02; P = 0.91). No significant effects of cow or calf E. coli O157:H7 SRP vaccination treatment were found on feedlot calf health or performance (P > 0.05), prevalence of lung lesions or liver abscess (P > 0.05), or morbidity, retreatment, or mortality numbers (P > 0.05). The findings of this study indicate that the timing of vaccination of calves against E. coli O157:H7 may be an important consideration for maximizing the field efficacy of this vaccine.


Copulas are very efficient functions in the field of statistics and specially in statistical inference. They are fundamental tools in the study of dependence structures and deriving their properties. These reasons motivated us to examine and show various types of copula functions and their families. Also, we separately explain each method that is used to construct each copula in detail with different examples. There are various outcomes that show the copulas and their densities with respect to the joint distribution functions. The aim is to make copulas available to new researchers and readers who are interested in the modern phenomenon of statistical inferences.


Background: We investigated the additional diagnostic yield of the mutation test and evaluated the frequency of the BRAF mutation in conventional PTC (cPTC) according to ultrasound (US) features and the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (BSRTC) based on the BRAFV600E mutation status. Materials and Methods: During the study period, 279 patients who underwent FNA with an additional BRAFV600E mutation test were diagnosed as cPTC after surgery. We analyzed the association between the mutation and several clinical factors. Results: Of the 279 cPTCs, 250 (89.6%) had the BRAFV600E mutation. The BRAF mutation test was helpful in diagnosing an additional 19% (53/279) of cPTCs. The frequency of the BRAF mutation in cPTCs with suspicious US features was higher than that of cPTCs with negative US features regardless of the BSRTC. Conclusions: Suspicious US features may be helpful in deciding whether an additional BRAFV600E mutation test should be done in thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology.


Abstract Habitat use, activity pattern, foraging behaviour and habitat selection of the Ouvéa Parakeet (Eunymphicus cornutus uvaeensis) were studied from July 1994 to December 1996 on the island of Ouvéa (New Caledonia, south-west Pacific), using line transects, quadrats, and radio-telemetry techniques. Home ranges of juveniles were small (mean 2.3 ha), and no dispersal from the natal area was observed up to nine weeks post- fledging. Parents spent 80% of their time during the breeding season within the home range of the juveniles and were seen near the nest site throughout the year. Parakeet densities on two study quadrats were higher (0.31 and 0.42 birds ha−1) than the average density found in a previous transect census (0.22 ± 0.09 birds ha−1). More than 20 plant species were foraged, seven of which represented 70% of the diet (31% for the single Ficus sp.). The phenology of the plants foraged on by the parakeet was marked by a long fruiting season, leading to a relative abundance of food throughout the year, especially during the breeding season. Observations on behaviour (time spent on foraging, absence of inter-or intra-specific competition for food) suggest that food is not a factor limiting the population size of the parakeets. The parakeet's habitat is tall forest, including Melanesian fields, where its distribution is remarkably patchy. The possibility of nest-site limitation is assessed in the context of the conservation of this endangered parakeet.


TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I. HISTORY A. FLDS 1. Short Creek Raid 2. Eldorado Raid B. Modern Day Communal Living II. THE NEED FOR A FEDERAL STANDARD A. Relevance of a Federal Standard B. Parens Patriae C. Finding Parental Liberty in Substantive Due Process 1. Meyer v. Nebraska, Pierce v. Society of Sisters 2. Prince v. Massachusetts 3. Santosky v. Kramer 4. Troxel v. Granville 5. Circuit Split over Temporary Emergency Action III. FORMULATING AND APPLYING THE STANDARD A. Three Factor Due Process Test 1. Weight of the Parents' Interest 2. Risk of Error and Alternative Measures 3. Costs to the Government B. Applying the Standard in the Texas Case 1. Preponderance of the Evidence 2. Risk of Serious Harm 3. No Time Element CONCLUSION INTRODUCTION By removing 468 children from an exclusive ranch community on one April day (the Eldorado, Texas raid), Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (the Department) social workers and investigators attracted national headlines. (1) Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) religious sect inhabited the Eldorado community located in the rural western part of the state. (2) The Department began its investigation of the community after someone purporting to be a sixteen-year-old female phoned the department to report physical and sexual abuse occurring within the confines of the ranch. (3) Prior to removing the children, social workers and police investigators interviewed members of the sect (4) and determined that the children faced "immediate danger to [their] physical health or safety." (5) Less than four weeks later, a Texas Supreme Court ruling (the Texas case) sent all of the FLDS children back to their homes and stated that "[the] removal of the children was not warranted." (6) Many people were outraged that children living in close quarters with suspected sex offenders had to return to those conditions; (7) others expressed frustration and anger that the Department racked up a hefty bill for the state without adequate evidence to support its actions or to sustain state intervention. (8) In defense of Texas's social workers, there is a good reason for them not to have their "ducks in a row" (9) before removing the children: Texas law does not defer to their professional expertise but requires them to formulate a belief as to what an ordinary prudent person would find dangerous to a child. (10) Moreover, the United States Courts of Appeals are split over the federal standard for when child removal is acceptable. (11) Without a clear standard for temporary removal even in traditional cases, social workers face a double-edged sword: risking large expenditures and heavy criticism in fruitless cases (12) or taking no action and facing punishment, termination by their employers, and brutal (potentially deadly) abuse of children by not pursuing credible reports. (13) A clearly stated standard recognizing the difficulty of investigation and high risk to children in complex cases would lead to greater predictability, less confusion among nonattorney professionals, and more effective collaboration among child protective services workers, investigators, and attorneys. Studies show that in effectively implemented child protection programs, "the ability of committed and empowered professionals to 'transcend professional boundaries' and work collaboratively" allows social workers and state attorneys to form effective partnerships and achieve optimal results. (14) Complex cases feature greater numbers of children, more potential predators, and difficult (or impossible) preintervention investigations. (15) When social workers have to weigh these factors within a complex framework that does not value their professional expertise, they become "frustrat[ed]" and start to "resent" the process instead of working effectively through it. …


Motivation research distinguishes two types of goals: (a) ideals, which relate to people's hopes, wishes, and aspirations, and (b) oughts, which relate to people's duties, obligations, and responsibilities. We propose that, in persuasion, the accessibility of ideals increases consumers' reliance on their subjective affective responses to the ad relative to the substance of the message, whereas the accessibility of oughts increases consumers' reliance on the substance of the message relative to their subjective affective responses. This phenomenon is accompanied by a relative change in the perceived diagnosticity of the two types of information under accessible ideals versus oughts — a change that can be related to the distinct modes of self-regulation that ideals and oughts trigger. The phenomenon appears to be unrelated to the kind of change in depth-of-processing posited by the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Heuristic-Systematic Model.


Personal freedom is an inalienable property of a person embedded in his very essence, it is the embodiment of individuality and self-sufficiency of everyone, a normal condition for the development of an individual and society as a whole. We suggest that socially dangerous acts, which are provided by art. 146, 1461, 147, 149, 151, 349, 3491, 371, 444 of Criminal Code of Ukraine.Every time, researching the issue of the existence of criminal responsability and the forms of its implementation, scientists do not bypass the question of the social conditioning of these legal phenomena. In modern conditions of globalization, all civilized countries are trying to build their legislation, including criminal legislation, and, accordingly, to develop a system of countermeasures against socially dangerous acts, based on international normative acts. The international legal need to establish criminal law prohibitions in Ukrainian legislation depends on the international obligations that Ukraine has assumed before the international community. In accordance with such obligations, national legislation must be brought into line with the requirements and recommendations established in international legal documents to which Ukraine is a party. All these conventions establish the right of a person to personal freedom. In addition, some of them contain provisions on the need to establish criminal responsability and punishment for crimes related to illegal deprivation of liberty.Characterizing the criminally illegal acts connected with illegal deprivation of liberty to date, and analyzing in detail their crime-forming features, one should talk about their social danger. And the nature and degree of public danger of such criminally illegal acts is determined by the value of the entire system of criminal law protection objects, which are negatively affected.


Multipliers are key components of many high performance systems such as FIR filters, microprocessors, digital signal processors, etc. A system's performance is generally determined by the performance of the multiplier. In most of the cases, the multiplier is the slowest element which affects the performance of the system. Hence, optimizing the speed of the multiplier is a major design issue. KaratsubaOfman Multipliers (KOM Multipliers) have less delay compared to other conventional multipliers which greatly increase the performance of a system. In this work we have designed and implemented 'n' bit KOM Multiplier by using FPGA. Using VHDL as the language we have implemented the hardware design and simulated using Xilinx ISE System edition.


An Introduction to Quasisymmetric Schur Functions is aimed at researchers and graduate students in algebraic combinatorics. The goal of this monograph is twofold. The first goal is to provide a reference text for the basic theory of Hopf algebras, in particular the Hopf algebras of symmetric, quasisymmetric and noncommutative symmetric functions and connections between them. The second goal is to give a survey of results with respect to an exciting new basis of the Hopf algebra of quasisymmetric functions, whose combinatorics is analogous to that of the renowned Schur functions.


Wetlands are among the most threatened habitats in the world, and so are their species, which suffer habitat loss due to climate and land use changes. Freshwater species and arthropods receive little attention in research and conservation, and the goals to stop and reverse the destruction of wetlands published 25 years ago in a manifesto by the Union of Concerned Scientists have not been reached. In this study, we investigated the occurrence and habitat requirements at two spatial scales of two species of European fishing spiders Dolomedes, which rely heavily on declining wetland habitats in Sweden and southern Norway. We collected occurrence data for Dolomedes plantarius and Dolomedes fimbriatus, using a live-determination-method. We modelled the placement of nursery webs to describe fine scaled habitat requirements related to vegetation and microclimate. Using a machine learning approach, we described the habitat features for each species, and for co-occurrence sites, to provide insight into variables relevant for the detectability of Dolomedes. We found that habitat requirements were narrower for D. plantarius compared to D. fimbriatus; that the detection of nursery webs can be affected by weather conditions and that nursery placement is mostly dependent on the proximity to water, the presence of Carex sp. (Sedges) and of crossing vegetation structures, and on humidity. Furthermore, co-occurring sites were more similar to D. plantarius sites than to D. fimbriatus sites, whereby surrounding forest, water type and velocity, elevation and latitude were of importance for explaining which species of Dolomedes was present. We provide a detailed field protocol for Dolomedes studies, including a novel live-determination method, and recommendations for future field protocols.


Flow aggregation will be a key technology for offering real-time communication services in large scale networks, because it can greatly reduce the flow management cost. In this paper, we exactly analyze the performance of flow aggregation of constant bit rate type traffic, especially the call blocking probability at the ingress routers. Through our numerical results, we have shown the characteristics of flow aggregation. As a result, although the flow aggregation scheme, in fact, needs more capacity than the per-flow management to achieve the same blocking probability, it enables us to manage a great number of flows of relatively small bandwidth requirements, e.g., voice flows in high speed backbone networks without much redundant capacity. Our analysis is so general that it can treat various kinds of heterogeneous cases, and helps to determine the capacity allocation to different kinds of aggregated flows.


Both, cis- and trans-3,4-disubstituted thiadiazolidines 5 and 6 can enantioselectively be obtained from thiadiazoles 2 which, in turn, are efficiently prepared from the respective 1,2-diketone by an improved protocol. An asymmetric ruthenium-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation followed by a diastereoselective hydride addition furnishes exclusively the cis-isomers 5 which, under acidic conditions, undergo a novel isomerization into the trans-isomers 6. These cyclic sulfamides can be transformed into 1,2-diamines as well as 2,3-diamino acids.


A total of 166 cases were divided into 3 groups: group A comprised 55, group B 54 and group C 57 cases. Group A received ivermectin 0.1 mg/kg orally at a single dose, the cure rates were 100%, 3.8% and 50% for ascaris, hookworm and trichuris, infections respectively: group B received ivermectin 0.2 mg/kg orally at a single dose, the corresponding cure rates were 95.5%, 11.8% and 76.5% respectively; group C received pyrantel pamoate 10 mg/kg orally at a single dose, the corresponding cure rates were 95.5%, 29.6% and 31.6% respectively. Although the cure rates were very low for hookworm infection in both group A and B, however, a number of adult worms of Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus were expelled aster medication; It indicates that ivermectin has some effects on these two species of human hookworm. Side effects were mild and transient in all groups.


Direct contact with domestic animals and wildlife is linked to zoonotic spillover risk. Patients presenting with animal-bite injuries provide a potentially valuable source of surveillance data on rabies viruses that are transmitted primarily by animal bites. Here, we used passive surveillance data of bite patients to identify areas with high potential risk of rabies transmission to humans across Brazil, a highly diverse and populous country, where rabies circulates in a range of species. We analyzed one decade of bite patient data from the national health information system (SINAN) comprising over 500,000 patients attending public health facilities after being bitten by a domestic or wild animal. Our analyses show that, between 2008 and 2016, patients were mostly bitten by domestic dogs (average annual dog bite patients: 502,043 [436,391–544,564], annual incidence per state: 258 dog bites/100,000 persons) and cats (76,512 [56,588–97,580] cat bites, 41 cat bites/100,000/year), but bites from bats (4,172 [3,351–5,365] bat bites, 2.3/100,000/year), primates (3,320 [3,013–3,710] primate bites, 2.0/100,000/year), herbivores (1,908 [1,492–2,298] herbivore bites, 0.9/100,000/year) and foxes (883 [609–1,086] fox bites, 0.6/100,000/year) were also considerable. Incidence of bites due to dogs and herbivores remained relatively stable over the last decade. In contrast bites by cats and bats increased while bites by primates and foxes decreased. Bites by wild animals occurred in all states but were more frequent in the North and Northeast of Brazil, with over 3-fold differences in incidence between states across all animal groups. Most bites reported from domestic animals and wildlife occurred in urban settings (71%), except for bites from foxes, which were higher in rural settings (57%). Based upon the Ministry of Health guidelines, only half of patients received the correct Post-Exposure Prophylaxis following a bite by a suspect rabid animal. We identified areas and species of high-risk for potential zoonotic transmission of rabies in Brazil and reveal that, despite increasing human encroachment into natural ecosystems, only patients reporting bites by bats increased. Our study calls for future research to identity the socio-ecological factors underlying bites and the preventive measures needed to reduce their incidence and potential risk of rabies transmission.


Abstract The use of the "degrees of freedom for signal" is proposed as a design criteria for comparing different designs for satellite and other measuring systems. It is also proposed that certain eigensequence plots be examined at the design stage along with appropriate estimates of the parameter λ playing the role of noise to signal ratio. The degrees of freedom for signal and eigensequence plots may be determined using presently available prior information in the spectral domain along with a description of the system, and simulated data for estimating λ. This study extends work by previous investigators. Implicit is an approach to combining direct and indirect measurements of atmospheric temperature in a spectral forecast model.


In the pipeline system of nuclear industry, shock wave pressure in a pipe will be caused by the fast closing check valve after the pumping stops. This phenomenon is known as water hammer, which brings hidden danger to the security and reliability of the pipeline system. Specially, water hammer may cause serious damage on the pipeline system by the valve misoperation, by the valve malfunction, or by other unexpected events. A vortex diode is used as a highly reliable check-valve in nuclear applications, where it mainly benefits from the intrinsic properties of no moving parts and no leakage. In this paper, we proposed a novel method based on a vortex diode to protect water hammer.
 In the traditional analysis, a simple one-dimensional (1D) model is often used to simulate the water hammer. However, it is difficult to get the transient flow characteristics in a vortex diode using a 1D model. Thus, a three-dimensional (3D) model using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is proposed to analyze water hammer in a pipeline system with a vortex diode. The 3D model was firstly verified by comparing the numerical results of CFD with experimental results of a water hammer test. Based on the 3D model, the water hammer was simulated at different inlet conditions in a pipeline system with a vertex diode. In order to investigate the vortex diode used as a leaky check-valve, the inlet pressure was decreased by the corresponding value of pump head to simulate the pump stop after the quasi-steady state was achieved in the vortex diode. It is found that the pressure fluctuation of water hammer is comparable to the pump value, which is not varying with initial velocity in the pipeline system. Thus, we have proved that a vortex diode in the pipeline system acts significantly in suppressing pressure fluctuation of water hammer. This study presents a CFD-based numerical method for water hammer and could be useful in protecting water hammer in nuclear industry.


With the development of social media, social networks have become an important platform for people to share and communicate. In social network communication, each participant can only pass information correctly if we find the goal of our communication. In other words, when people carry mobile devices for data transmission, they need to find a definite transmission destination to ensure the normal conduct of information exchange activities. In social networks, this is manifested in the process of data transmission by nodes, which requires analysis and judgment of surrounding areas, and finds suitable nodes for effective data classification and transmission. However, the node cache space in social networks is limited, and the process of waiting for the target node will cause end-to-end transmission delay. In order to improve such a transmission environment, this paper proposes a node trajectory prediction method named EDPPM algorithm. This algorithm can guarantee that nodes with high probability are given priority to obtain data information, which realized an effective data transmission mechanism. Through experiments and comparison of opportunistic transmission algorithms in social networks, such as Epidemic algorithm, Spray and Wait algorithm, and PRoPHET algorithm, our algorithm can improve the cache utilization of nodes, reduce data transmission delay, and improve the overall network efficiency.


A comparative analysis is made of laser diodes based on Stranski-Krastanow (SK) and sub-monolayer (SML) InAs/GaAs quantum dots, emitting at about 940 nm. Owing to the better uniformity of sub-monolayer quantum dots, the SML QD laser surpasses the SK QD one in power characteristics. A maximum output power of 3.9 W and a peak power conversion efficiency of 59% have been achieved for SML QD 100 µm wide lasers at 10 °C.


ABSTRACT A robust hydrological information system is a pre-requisite for efficient water resources assessment of a region. Decision makers tend to make low use of external depositories of problem-solving water data if conditions exist by way of distance, cost, etc. which dissuade or inhibit them from seeking or using it. This is true even when users are aware of the potential benefits that accrue from long term data in decision making. Planners and researchers need to be cautious about the uncertainties in using data of short length for water resources assessment. In this context, the paper examines the hydrological information system in the country, and studies the effect of data length on water resources assessment with real life examples. Use of operational hydrology techniques for assessment of water resources yield and flood potential is illustrated, in the context of a study on effect of data length water resources assessment. The results show that, in general, lower the data length, higher is the l...


ABSTRACT: The 56 US State Wildlife Action Plans provide strategic guidance and direction for the state, territorial, and federal wildlife and natural resource management agencies in the United States. Funding associated with these plans supports a broad spectrum of state wildlife diversity and nongame programs, state natural heritage programs, and state natural areas programs. The implementation of these plans is being coordinated by the state and territorial fish and wildlife agencies, which have legal management authority for much of the native pollinator diversity in the United States. Forty of the 56 plans published in 2005 included taxa from one or more pollinator groups, including representatives of the insect orders Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera (Insecta), as well as nectar-feeding bats and hummingbirds. We document specific examples of pollinator conservation projects that have been conducted by state fish and wildlife agencies between 2005 and 2015 in order to achieve conservation objectives identified in the State Wildlife Action Plans. Comprehensive revisions of these plans, completed in 2015 and now under review by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for final approval, will include significant increases in coverage of pollinator taxa. Based on our surveys of state wildlife planners in May and June 2015, we document increases in the number of states that are including moths, nectar-feeding bats, bumble bees, and other native bees in their revised plans. The increased coverage of pollinator taxa in these plans will generate additional opportunities for pollinator conservation for the state agencies and their partners


A 23-year-old woman who presented in the 17th week of her third intrauterine pregnancy was diagnosed as having active Wegener's granulomatosis. Therapy, consisting of corticosteroids, cyclophosphamide and hemodialysis, was instituted and maintained until delivery. Although Wegener's granulomatosis complicated by pregnancy has been reported previously, this is the first reported patient to be treated successfully with the above agents during the second and third trimesters without apparent harm to her or her infant.


Antibody levels in 41 Indian girls were measured 6 years after measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination. Rates of seropositivity were 88% (measles antibodies), 95% (mumps antibodies), and 100% (rubella antibodies). The MMR vaccine induces long-term immunity in a majority of vaccinees; however, due to the observation of some seronegative vaccinees, the policy of administering a second dose of the MMR vaccine seems appropriate.


The hedonic model of Rosen (1974) has become a workhorse for valuing the characteristics of differentiated products despite a number of well-documented econometric problems. For example, Bartik (1987) and Epple (1987) each describe a source of endogeneity in the second stage of Rosen's procedure that has proven difficult to overcome. In this paper, we propose a new approach for recovering the marginal willingness-to-pay function that altogether avoids these endogeneity problems. Applying this estimator to data on large changes in violent crime rates, we find that marginal willingness-to-pay increases by ten cents with each additional violent crime per 100,000 residents.


We consider fast algorithms for monotone submodular maximization subject to a matroid constraint. We assume that the matroid is given as input in an explicit form, and the goal is to obtain the best possible running times for important matroids. We develop a new algorithm for a \emph{general matroid constraint} with a $1 - 1/e - \epsilon$ approximation that achieves a fast running time provided we have a fast data structure for maintaining a maximum weight base in the matroid through a sequence of decrease weight operations. We construct such data structures for graphic matroids and partition matroids, and we obtain the \emph{first algorithms} for these classes of matroids that achieve a nearly-optimal, $1 - 1/e - \epsilon$ approximation, using a nearly-linear number of function evaluations and arithmetic operations.


From the 1st to 19th centuries AD, Bantu migrated in sub-Saharan Africa on three routes: west, East and south, and formed three agricultural economic types. On the western front, after arriving in the Congo Basin, Bantu mainly engaged in simple agricultural economy. On the Eastern Front, Bantu learned animal husbandry from the Nilots and Kushts, and developed a mixed farming and animal husbandry economy. As Bantu continued to migrate southward, they taught the indigenous Koisans how to graze, which directly contributed to the origin of animal husbandry in South Africa. During the thousands of years of Bantu migration, a variety of crops, livestock, agricultural technologies (especially iron farming tools) spread in sub-Saharan Africa, greatly promoting the development of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa.


Laser photocoagulation is a type of laser surgery that uses an intense beam of light to burn small areas of the retina and abnormal blood vessele beneath the macula. The burns form scar tissue that seala the blood vessels, keeping them from leaking under the macula. By sealing the leaky blood vessels, laser photocoagulation slows down, The buildup of fluid under the retina that distors the shape and position of the macula. The growth of scar tissue and the abnormal membrane under the retina, both of which damage the cells in the macula. But, also there is some of riskk of using a laser.. laser photocoagulation burns and destroys part of the retina and often resuls in some permanent vision loss. This is usually unavoidable. In this paper we show a case report of patient with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. We perfomed a panretinal Argon laser photocoagulation. After the laser treatment and regulation a level of glucosis in blood, our patient a good visual acuity and he will not need vitreoretinal surgery.


Law is a must subject in many courses due to its importance. However, law is perceived as a difficult subject and consume a lot of time. This subject needs to be taught in a manner acceptable to the students to attract attention and interest. During Covid-19 pandemic, all learning activities are conducted through online platform. The lecturer need to have good teaching plan in ensuring the students are able to learn and enjoy law subject. In School of Business and Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Business Law (MGM 3352) is one of the law subjects offered to the students. Literature shows that non-law students are having difficulty to learn law. This paper aim to study further on this issue. The objective of this paper are to learn about the business students' experience of learning law and to study the effectiveness of the method adopted in teaching the subject. This paper adopts qualitative method in collecting data where 3 surveys and 2 short interviews were conducted.  From the findings, the students admitted that law subject is difficult but they like the subject and the students agreed the activities are appropriate and have assisted the in learning and understand the subject.


Diarrheal and respiratory illness surveillance was conducted during the 2014 Republic of the Philippines-U.S. Exercise Balikatan in the Philippines. Seven stool and three respiratory specimens that met the inclusion criteria were collected. Diarrhea stool specimens were tested with commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for 12 viral, bacterial, and protozoan pathogens. Campylobacter, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) were detected in four of seven (57%), two of seven (29%), and four of seven (57%) specimens, respectively. There were co-infections of EPEC and ETEC in two cases and EPEC and Campylobacter spp. in one case. Respiratory samples were tested using RT-PCR. One of three samples was positive for influenza B. Laboratory-based surveillance is important in determining causative agents for illnesses experienced by military personnel during deployment. Development of vaccines for enteric diseases should be expedited to mitigate their impact on operational readiness.


The research was carried out in Lahat district, South Sumatera from January until October 2002, with objective to analyze community structure of predatory arthropods, to analyze the community similarities among those inhabiting the paddy ecosystems, and to evaluate the potential of the predator as biocontrol agent for planthopper. The predators were sampled using pitfall traps. The result indicated that carabid beetles and lycosid spiders had the highest relative abundance compared to other arthropod predators. The beetles, Pheropsophus spp. and the lycosid spider, Pardosa pseudoannulata dominated the paddy ecosystems. The most important planthopper predator was P. pseudoannulata that frequently consumed 3 up to 4 the planthopper adults or nymphs per day. Species diversity of the arthropod predators inhabiting paddy field near the coffee plantation and field bunds was higher than those on other fields. Similarity indices of predatory community between paddy field near the plantation and forest were higher than those on paddy field near other simple ecosystems. The complex ecosystems, such as the plantation and the forest, could functioned as sources of predators between two paddy growing seasons.


Contemporary views on physics education in high schools promote the need for students to develop their conceptual understanding about physics phenomena. However, teaching in this way requires specialized professional knowledge and for pre-service physics teachers, such knowledge needs to be scaffolded and developed. A strategy to support this knowledge development includes eliciting metacognition, where pre-service teachers have opportunities to explore and reconstruct their own knowledge, views, and attitudes about teaching physics. The conceptual understanding procedure (CUP) was developed in the late 1990s at Monash University, initially to support physics students in their first year at university. In particular, a CUP was used to support these students' understanding of mechanics and highlight their potential alternate conceptions. Researchers found that two thirds of the students involved in this procedure reported that it had positive effects on their understanding and their ideas were clarified. In this paper, we investigate our own use of CUPs as physics teacher educators as a strategy to elicit metacognition with pre-service physics teachers to support their professional knowledge development. Our pre-service physics teachers act as high school physics students to complete the task, and then as physics teachers to explore the pedagogical purposes of the CUP. Ultimately, this process of working in these two roles, while reflecting on their immediate experiences, elicits metacognition in a meaningful way that scaffolds and supports the development of the specialized knowledge required for effective teaching. Thus, we recommend a CUP is a suitable and worthwhile pedagogical strategy to use when supporting pre-service physics teachers' to elicit metacognition and support professional knowledge development to promote teaching for conceptual understanding.


Museums represent institutions connected to local communities and their cultural life. Museums are not confined to a building and its collections, but may be located in 'open-air' spaces, allowing a tangible relationship between people and the surrounding landscape to be studied. Based on this ecological understanding, we would like to apply Gambardela's idea of an "Mediterranean Museum System of Design and Applied Arts" to the Turkish context. The idea is for an integrated museum system to link different archaeological and handcraft sites along D550 road from Canakkale to Assos. Archaeological and handcraft sites are chosen due to their heritage significance and impact on tourism in Turkey. The route from Canakkale to Assos has been less explored in terms of tourism and poses an opportunity to work with the local government to devise sustainable interventions. An inventory of the cultural landscape as well as strategies for landscape branding will be used to promote a sustainable intervention and to serve as a catalyst for the cultural and economic transformation of that region. The paper emphasizes an action-oriented approach to museology and concludes by asserting the role of architecture and landscape design in shaping cultural heritage and tourism in a sustainable way.


Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology has been successfully used for realization of ultra-compact, highly integrated photonic devices due to large refractive index contrast between core and cladding of waveguiding structures and very sharp bending. Unfortunately the diffraction limit of light does not allow to decrease the core size below half of the wavelength of the guided light and so puts the limit for photonics to reach the real nano-scale and match the size of CMOS electronics. Alternative solutions in form of surface plasmon (SP) waveguides can provide the nano-scale waveguiding with subwavelength light confinement, but introduce very high losses. In this talk we will present our theoretical and experimental work on hybrid plasmonic waveguides and devices that enable nano-scale light confinement and sub-micrometer bending with reasonable propagation losses.


ABSTRACT The first small-molecule CCR5 antagonist, TAK-779, could not be developed as an anti-human immunodeficiency virus type (anti-HIV-1) agent because of its poor oral bioavailability. TAK-652 is an orally bioavailable TAK-779 derivative with potent anti-HIV-1 activity. TAK-652 inhibited the binding of RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted), macrophage inflammatory protein 1α (MIP-1α), and MIP-1β to CCR5-expressing cells at nanomolar concentrations. TAK-652 could also suppress the binding of monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1) to CCR2b-expressing cells. However, its inhibitory effect on ligand binding to other chemokine receptors was limited. TAK-652 was active against CCR5-using (R5) HIV-1 but totally inactive against CXCR4-using (X4) HIV-1. The compound was active against R5 HIV-1 clinical isolates containing reverse transcriptase and protease inhibitor-resistant mutations, with a mean 50% effective concentration (EC50) and EC90 of 0.061 and 0.25 nM, respectively. In addition, recombinant R5 viruses carrying different subtype (A to G) envelope proteins were equally susceptible to TAK-652. A single oral administration of TAK-652 up to 100 mg was safe and well tolerated in humans. The compound displayed favorable pharmacokinetics, and its plasma concentration was 7.2 ng/ml (9.1 nM) even 24 h after the administration of 25 mg. Thus, TAK-652 is a promising candidate as a novel entry inhibitor of HIV-1.


The article deals with the author's views on certain aspects of the problem of reconstructive and restorative surgery of the biliary tract. Original methods are suggested for external drainage (through the inferior surface of the right hepatic lobe in the region of the gallbladder seat and through the round ligament of the liver) in formation of ++hepato-hepatico- and hepaticojejunoanastomoses. Problems of operative techniques in formation of the anastomoses are discussed. Thirty-nine operations have been carried out in the clinic in the recent decade in high strictures and traumas of the biliary tract, 25 were reconstructive and 14 restorative. Postoperative mortality was 28.2% (11 patients). Intoxication and hepatargia associated with cholangiolytic abscesses of the liver were the main causes of death.


Background Bone mineral density (BMD) as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is considered the gold standard for the management of osteoporosis. Recently, quantitative ultrasound (QUS), which is easy to use, inexpensive, portable, does not use ionizing radiation, and has also been shown to provide information about bone quality and to predict fracture risk, has gained growing interest in this area. Objectives The aim of this study was to compare the capability of one-third radius (33% radius) DXA BMD measurements and calcaneal QUS (cQUS) variables for identifying axial osteoporosis as measured by DXA in men. Methods Axial BMD measurements at the lumbar spine and at the hip (femoral neck and total hip), 1/3 radius BMD of the non-dominant forearm were made using DXA and cQUS variables at both sides as measured twice were obtained in 179 men aged between 24 and 85 years. Osteoporosis was defined based on the WHO criteria in men aged 50 and over, a man having been considered as osteoporotic in the presence of a T-score ≤-2.5 in any of the axial regions measured. For defining axial osteoporosis or BMD below the expected range for age, Z-scores of ≤-2.0 were used in men younger than the age of 50 years. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the osteoporosis identification capability of measurements. Results The areas under ROC curves (AUCs) for 1/3 radius BMD, its T-score, the lowest means (as calculated as the mean of the two calcaneal QUS measurements for each heel) of quantitative ultrasound index (QUI), QUI T-score, broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), speed of sound (SOS), and estimated heel BMD (eBMD) for identifying axial osteoporosis or BMD below the expected range were found as 0.755, 0.767, 0.760, 0.758, 0.717, 0.768, and 0.764 (p<0.001 for all), respectively. Conclusions In conclusion, AUCs pointed to similar (for QUI, QUI T-score, and eBMD) or even better (for SOS) osteoporosis discriminative capability of cQUS variables in comparison to radial DXA BMD variables. These findings may have implications that cQUS variables, particularly SOS, may be used for the identification of osteoporosis in men whose axial BMD cannot be measured by DXA due to certain circumstances as well as in circumstances where DXA is not available. References Marín F, González-Macías J, Díez-Pérez A, Palma S, Delgado-Rodríguez M. Relationship between bone quantitative ultrasound and fractures: a meta-analysis. J Bone Miner Res 2006;21:1126–35. Moayyeri A, Adams JE, Adler RA, Krieg MA, Hans D, Compston J, Lewiecki EM. Quantitative ultrasound of the heel and fracture risk assessment: an updated meta-analysis. Osteoporos Int 2012;23:143–53. Kilappa V, Moilanen P, Xu L, Nicholson PH, Timonen J, Cheng S. Low-frequency axial ultrasound velocity correlates with bone mineral density and cortical thickness in the radius and tibia in pre- and postmenopausal women. Osteoporos Int 2011;22:1103–1113. Disclosure of Interest None declared