Chimeric antigen receptor-engineered T cells targeting CD19 (CART19) have revolutionized the management of relapsed and refractory B cell malignancies. Despite high initial response rates, many patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) ultimately relapse after CART19. In contrast, most patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma experience only partial or no responses. Collectively, <50% of patients treated with CART19 achieve durable disease remission. Identification of the biology responsible for these failures is central to improving CAR T cell efficacy. Several clinical reports have demonstrated that a common cause of resistance to CART19 is antigen escape, in which ALL clones emerge that have lost surface expression of CD19. The mechanisms of antigen escape that have been recognized to date all rely on disruption of CD19 genomic loci or transcribed CD19 mRNA; alterations of fully-translated CD19 protein that lead to CART19 failure have not been described.
 To identify pathways responsible for enabling tumor-intrinsic resistance to CART19 we performed a genome-wide loss-of-function screen in the Nalm6 ALL cell line. The second-most enriched gene in this screen was SPPL3 (Figure 1a), encoding a Golgi-resident aspartyl protease. Previous studies have determined that SPPL3 functions to broadly limit protein glycosylation by cleaving glycosyltransferases from the Golgi membrane, impairing their ability to add complex glycans to proteins as they pass through the Golgi (Voss M. et al. EMBO, 2014). Using targeted genomic disruption, we confirmed that loss of SPPL3 results in resistance to CART19 in human ALL and non-Hodgkin lymphoma models (Figures 1b-c). CART19 cells exposed to SPPL3KO ALL demonstrated significantly lower expression of CD69, PD1, Tim3 and CD107a, as well as less activation of the central T cell transcription factors NFAT and NFκB, indicating a global suppression of T cell stimulation.
 Consistent with its known function, loss of SPPL3 resulted in increased addition of complex glycans to CD19. Surface staining of SPPL3KO cells revealed that CD19 antibodies were less capable of binding this hyperglycosylated CD19. This included decreased binding of the antibody used to construct the anti-CD19 CAR (clone FMC63). Protein modeling revealed that an asparagine residue known to be normally glycosylated on CD19 (N125) is in close physical proximity to the FMC63 binding site (Figure 1d), suggesting that the addition of complex glycans at this site may be responsible for disruption of CAR binding that led to impaired T cell activation. We next turned our attention to CD22, another B cell antigen that is normally glycosylated and the target of CAR therapy. In contrast to CD19, loss of SPPL3 had no impact on CD22 glycosylation or antibody binding. Similarly, loss of SPPL3 did not enable resistance to CD22-targeted CAR T cells. These findings substantiated our hypothesis loss of SPPL3 lead to CART19 failure directly via modifying CD19 glycosylation, and not through another CD19-independent mechanism. To further validate the impact of CD19 glycosylation in regulating CART19 efficacy, we over-expressed SPPL3 in ALL cells, previously shown to promote global hypoglycosylation. We confirmed decreased glycosylation of CD19 (Figure 1e), and found that this resulted in loss of FMC63 binding to CD19 and complete resistance to CART19 activity (Figure 1f).
 In summary, our findings identify that changes to CD19 glycosylation, either enhanced or decreased, impair the ability of CARs to bind and initiate T cell effector function against malignant B cells. Further, these data identify post-translational protein modification as a novel mechanism of antigen escape from CAR-based T cell immunotherapy.
 Figure 1 Figure 1.

 Ruella: AbClon: Consultancy, Research Funding; viTToria biotherapeutics: Research Funding; BMS, BAYER, GSK: Consultancy; Novartis: Patents & Royalties; Tmunity: Patents & Royalties. Gill: Interius Biotherapeutics: Current holder of stock options in a privately-held company, Research Funding; Novartis: Other: licensed intellectual property, Research Funding; Carisma Therapeutics: Current holder of stock options in a privately-held company, Research Funding.


The National Laboratory for Ionizing Radiation Metrology (LNMRI/IRD/CNEN) of Rio de Janeiro performed primary and secondary standardization of different radionuclides reaching satisfactory uncertainties. A solution of 134 Cs radionuclide was purchased from commercial supplier to emission probabilities determination of some of its energies. 134 Cs is a beta gamma emitter with 754 days of half-life. This radionuclide is used as standard in environmental, water and food control. It is also important to germanium detector calibration.The gamma emission probabilities (Pγ) were determined mainly for some energies of the 134 Cs by efficiency curve method and the Pγ absolute uncertainties obtained were below 1% (k=1).


Let us record the atoms as they fall upon the mind in the order in which they fall, let us trace the pattern, however disconnected and incoherent in appearance, which each sight or incident scores upon the consciousness.

— Virginia Woolf, "Modern Fiction," 1925

The National Gallery of Canada's summer crowd-pleaser this year is Monet, Renoir and the Impressionist Landscape, a selection of 70 canvases from the extensive Impressionist collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. This survey of French landscape painting from the 1850s to the end of the 19th century attests to the depth of the Boston collection, even if the definition of "landscape" is somewhat strained by the inclusion of Renoirs that in another context would be called portraits. But there is no need to quibble here.

Those in the mood for a bolus dose of Impressionist dazzle might find this show rather studious. The exhibition is framed by a roomful of paintings representing the precursors to Impressionism, and by another roomful of works by contemporaries of the Impressionists who found acceptance through the official Salons rather than via the harder (or higher) road of the Salon des Refuses. But this contextualization illustrates how Impressionism was not a unitary movement. It was the product of an infusion of ideas from a number of sources, and those ideas took a different shape in each practitioner. The flecked application of paint by the Dutch marine artist Jongkind, whom the young Claude Monet met in 1861, showed the way for the rendering of light in a raw form, as if to replicate the moment of sensation that precedes the moment of perception. What Virginia Woolf proposed some years later for writing, the Impressionists accomplished in the representation of light.

The Impressionists' famed dedication to painting en plein air, where nuances of light and colour could be viewed with a new immediacy, was in part a legacy of the Barbizon painters who preceded them by roughly a generation. And their interest in landscape as a subject was both a revival of and a departure from earlier, classical traditions. But not all the Impressionists were equally committed to landscape, and not all were equally happy in the open air. Pissarro, the Impressionist who more than any other stayed the course, exhibiting at all eight Impressionist group exhibitions from 1874 to 1886, said that "the unity that the human mind gives to vision can only be found in the studio. It is there that our impressions, scattered as they are at first, become coordinated."1 Perhaps he was making a virtue of necessity, for by the time he made this remark Pissarro's chronic dacryocystitis was forcing him indoors, away from wind and dust.2 Degas' preference for working in the studio may have been related to his sensitivity to light, perhaps as a result of macular degeneration.3 But it is the arch-impressionist Monet whose failing eyesight is the most well-known, and whose love of painting outdoors never faltered. We picture him in his last years, in his garden at Giverny, tormented by his distorted perception of colour as he struggled to produce his Waterlilies, the tribute to the glory of France exacted from him by the statesman George Clemenceau.4 In the end, Monet's art transcended the affliction of his eyes. His paintings are a tribute to the glory of subjectivity.

Monet, Renoir and the Impressionist Landscape continues at the National Gallery in Ottawa until August 27.


Screening for public safety positions (e.g., police officers, fire fighters, military service members) is a difficult and challenging task. Notably, the military has been widely criticized because of the general lack of an empirically based system or program for mental health screening. The purpose of the present study is to describe the use of statistical prediction rules for this task. Prediction rules were derived and validated using U.S. Air Force (USAF) recruits in basic military training (N = 50,322). Items from the Lackland Behavioral Questionnaire were used as predictors. General attrition (discharge for any reason before completing term of service) and disciplinary offenses (including criminal charges) were used as outcomes. For trainees in the top 2% or 1% of the general attrition prediction rule, 63% and 68% were discharged before they completed their first 4 years. The base rate was 25%. Similarly, for trainees in the top 2% or 1% of the disciplinary offenses prediction rule, 35% and 39% had a significant disciplinary offense over the following 4 years. The base rate was 15.5%. The results suggest that we may be able to use biographical data inventories and statistical prediction rules to identify a small percentage of trainees in public safety fields with significant mental health or behavioral histories who are at elevated risk for general attrition and disciplinary offenses.


The current issues of sintering technology in the iron and steel making industry are how to increase productivity of sintering process and to maintain proper quality of sintered ore. In the conventional sintering bed, combustion of solid fuel supplies heat required for sintering while it generates imbalance of heat concentration in the bed. The unevenly distributed heat is considered to be problematic on the quality aspect of sintered ore. Therefore, in order to maximize the production rate and quality of the products, an investigation for improved operational mode is indispensable. In this study, the effect of additional oxygen supply with an adjustment of injection location is discussed. Scale downed pot tests in addition to computation by previously developed unsteady 1-dimensional sintering bed model are employed for the examination. Also, quantitative parameters are applied to evaluate the changes of sintering process and the combustion characteristics are systemically analyzed among designed cases. The reactivity of coke combustion tends to increase with the enrichment of oxygen in the induced air. However, the degree of change in the sintering time as well as effective heat supply varies according to the locations of oxygen injection.


The issues of improving enterprise cost management in modern conditions have been studied. Enterprise costs and product cost are the most important indicators that determine its financial results and the efficiency of economic activity in general. The effectiveness of cost management allows you to determine the reserves of their reduction and the possibility of intensive development. The main directions of analytical procedures for cost management and production cost have been considered. Production cost indicators have been analysed: cost of unit of goods, cost of all realized production, costs per one ruble of realized production and their change in time. The main factors that reduce the cost of production, which are generally divided into external and internal, have been assessed. Separate cost elements and possibilities of their decrease as well as reserves of cost management in perspective have been reviewed. The impact of inflation on the cost and prices of the enterprise's manufactured products has been estimated, the main measures to improve cost management in order to increase the efficiency of the enterprise work have been given. The presented analysis is recommended for use at the machine-building industry enterprises, as well as at the enterprises that produce a wide range of products.


We propose a knowledge-based multiple access protocol for the extension of wireline ATM to wireless networks. The objective is to enable efficient transmission of all kinds of ATM traffic in the wireless channel with guaranteed QoS. The proposed protocol utilizes knowledge of the main characteristics of the traffic for allocating bandwidth efficiently to CBR, VBR and ABR/UBR connections by a compromise of assignment, contention, reservation and polling access techniques. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol can achieve a very high channel utilization of 90% while providing guaranteed QoS requirements to a variety of ATM applications.


We studied the effect of excessive salt intake on vascular lesion development in hypertensive transgenic mice that overproduce angiotensin II, ie, Tsukuba hypertensive mice (THM). At 6 weeks of age, THM and C57BL/6J (controls) were given either 1% sodium chloride ("salt-loaded") drinking water or tap water for 30 days. Salt-loaded THM, but not controls, suffered frequent thoracic or abdominal cavity hemorrhage. THM mortality after 7 days of salt loading was 23%; after 30 days of salt loading, it rose to 67%. Hemorrhaging occurred due to the development of aortic aneurysm and rupture at the aortic arch and aorta near the renal arteries. Vascular lesions progressed with structural degeneration of the aortic media. Electronmicroscopic analysis revealed that intact THM already exhibited vascular remodeling consisting of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) with developed organelles and an increased extracellular matrix. Salt-loaded THM suffered aggravated vascular hypertrophy and vascular structure destruction by plasma material invasion, necrosis of VSMCs possessing extremely swollen cytoplasm and abundant organelles, and interlamellar bleeding, resulting in aortic aneurysm and eventual rupture. Interestingly, blood pressure levels and heart rates in salt-loaded THM did not differ significantly from those of controls; plasma renin activity between drinking regimens was also comparable between the two groups. Drinking volume and the concentration of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in plasma, however, were significantly higher in salt-loaded THM than in intact THM. In addition to aneurysm localization, the findings regarding drinking volume and plasma ANP suggest that aortic aneurysm and rupture in salt-loaded THM occurred as the result of an unknown mechanical stress, other than blood pressure, on the aortic wall. High salt ingestion is involved in the development of thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysm in the presence of hypertension in the activated renin-angiotensin system. THM should therefore serve as a useful animal model for studying the pathogenesis of aortic aneurysm accompanied by hypertension.


Mount Ruapehu is an apex for New Zealand's North Island. Not only does the grand scale of the mountain captivate many, the geological features of this vast landscape are also part of the maungas charm and unique to this place.
In 1887 this sacred landscape was gifted to the people by paramount chief of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Heuheu Tukino IV. This gift lunched the creation of New Zealand's first National Park. Overtime this place of significance has become commercialized. Hosting two ski fields which gathers hundreds of thousands of people every year and constantly growing.
This thesis addresses the question, how do we engage visitors with such an extraordinary landscape, representing the unique place it is.
Researching through design around key themes such as place, cultural landscapes, therapeutic landscapes and meaningful experience. Unraveling many key qualities of the site, merging a pathway of discovery, joining both cultural and physical needs into design.
Design explorations take place at three quintessential sites of Ruapehu. The River. The Peak. The Summit Zone. Drawing from the elemental qualities that make up each site, atmosphere within each design and overall form strives to represent these natural properties. Each site works through four design phases investigating the possibilities of development amongst the landscape.
Ruapehu is a unique site carrying the weight of a long history of cultural and geological significance. This thesis introduces a discussion about the future of tourism in our sacred landscapes. Exploring possibilities of how architecture can respect and enhance such a unique place.


Physical evidence in case of services refers to something associated with service, which can be seen, touched or experienced by the customer. In case of online shopping of goods, which basically involves dominance of services, there are few areas where physical evidence is involved like suitable packaging of the product at the time of delivery or physical stores of such online service providers. Recent scholars have classified physical evidence related to e-tail industry under two categories- traditional physical evidence and virtual physical evidence. In the present research work physical evidence related four factors have been selected and consumer preferences regarding such evidences have been collected. It is analysed that among those four factors which factor/s have been preferred by consumers. Consumer's actual online purchase related data has also been collected and its relationship with consumer's preferences towards physical evidence related factors has been analysed in the research work. For analysis purposes reliability analysis, central tendencies, correlation and regression analysis have been applied in the related data.


ABSTRACT Public value has become an important, but contested, idea in public administration and management. It has developed considerably since its genesis in the 1980s and more formal articulation in the 1990s. Public value attracted plenty of attention through the 2000s, being adapted, extended, and debated by a range of scholars and practitioners. This article reflects on the development, debate, and future prospects for public value, arguing that whilst it has come a long way, considerable work remains for it to be embedded as a stable construct in the field.


The law of restitution and unjust enrichment has emerged as an important and independent branch of private law. However, it has attracted relatively little economic analysis. The aim of this paper is to develop a general conceptual framework for the economic analysis of the core example of restitution - mistaken payments. Our framework distinguishes between scenarios with unilateral and bilateral harms from mistakes, and unilateral and bilateral precaution by payers and recipients. Using this taxonomy, we develop a formal model in a parsimonious setting with two buyer-seller pairs. This model generates several novel insights, based on the idea that mistaken payments impose a "transaction tax" on contracting parties. It implies that full restitution is socially optimal when harm is unilateral (i.e., when a mistaken payment harms only the payer). When harm is bilateral (i.e., the recipient would suffer net harm from receiving the payment and making full restitution), partial restitution is generally optimal. However, we propose a hypothetical decoupled regime that would (if it were feasible) lead to more efficient outcomes than would partial restitution. The decoupling regime is intended as a thought experiment that can arguably shed light on some of the foundational debates surrounding the law of restitution.


A conversion matrix approach to solving network problems involving time-varying circuit components is applied to the method of moments for electromagnetic scattering analysis. Detailed formulations of this technique's application to the scattering analysis of structures loaded with time-varying circuit networks or constructed from general time-varying media are presented. The computational cost of the method is discussed, along with an analysis of compression techniques capable of significantly reducing computational cost for partially loaded systems. Several numerical examples demonstrate the capabilities of the technique and validate it against conventional methods of modeling time-varying electromagnetic systems, such as finite difference time domain and transient circuit co-simulation.


The Kiangsi Soviet period, the second phase of the Chinese Communist movement, began with the establishment of the Chingkangshan base by Mao Tse-tung in late 1927 and ended in the "Long March" in October 1934. The study of this important period had long remained sketchy because of lack of materials. With the release of the Ch'en Ch'eng Collection—a collection of Communist documents, papers, and publications from the Kiangsi Soviet period—in 21 microfilm reels, a comprehensive study of this period is possible for the first time. The bulk of materials of the Collection falls in the years, 1930–1934. The Collection contains over 70 periodicals, six of which were published with regularity and duration. Scattered in several journals, we found 17 articles from the pen of Mao Tsc-tung, which are not included in his Selected Works (Peking, 1965). The materials cover a variety of subjects from the Soviet congresses, the establishment of the Soviet economy, peasantry and labor, the intraparty struggle to the Red Army and its many campaigns against the Chinese Nationalists. Major works in all these areas are briefly introduced here.


Layout symmetry is used to minimize the impact of mismatch on the performance of analog circuits. In this paper, an efficient algorithm is presented to detect automatically the mask layout symmetry. It consists of identifying signal nets, isolating circuit devices and detecting their symmetry, and finally, synthesizing the layout symmetry. Combined with layout compaction with symmetry constraints, this technique provides a methodology for automatic analog-layout recycling.


It is shown that the simplex of classical states, i.e. the set of those statistical operators which admit an integral representation by means of coherent states, can be explained as a result of the quantum analogue of the Poisson limit of de Finetti's theorem.


Due to their desire for a strong Central European nation to counterbalance France and Russia and their belief that any people should have the right to unification, the British supported the German nationalist movement after 1866. Due to French meddling in the affairs of other countries and French opposition to what the British thought was the legitimate aim of the German people, the British became anti-French in the late 1860s. Due to the belief of the British in progress, they could view most of the events on the Continent, even the violent ones, as the gradual advancement of civilization. The Franco-Prussian War required the British to re-evaluate all of these views, as well as many others, and conclude that Germany, not France, constituted the threat to Europe.


In this Appendix we describe in a more systematic and thorough manner the variables used in the analysis. We also provide a discussion of some differences between the two surveys that were mentioned but not described in detail in the text. Finally, we also describe here variables that we constructed to identify objective characteristics of gas stations. Both surveys measure customer satisfaction (S) as the answer to the same question on a scale of 0-10, – What is your degree of satisfaction with the services provided and the purchases made at this gas station? All the distribution services were measured on the same 0-10 scale as customer satisfaction in both surveys. Furthermore, three of the five distribution services were measured in exactly the same way in both surveys. Two of them are measured as answers to a single question: information (D 2) was measured in terms of – To what extent the employees and the signs in this establishment facilitate your information needs with respect to gasoline, other products and services, their location in the station, prices, sales, etc.? ; and assortment (D 3) was measured in terms of –To what extent the assortment of other products and services of this station facilitates your solving other demands you usually have at this station? A third distribution service, assurance of product delivery (D 4), was measured in both surveys as the simple average of the answers to the following three questions: To what extent is it quick and convenient to pay for your purchases at the station?; To what extent the hours and the days the station is open facilitate making your purchases when you need to do so?; To what extent access to the pumps and their utilization make the services you derive from the station quick and convenient? With respect to the other two distribution services, there was a difference between the 1998 and the 2007 survey in that the 1998 question was split in two to capture different


Background Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) plays an essential function in host defense. On the other hand, its overexpression may be deleterious and lead to autoimmune disorders. Therapeutic inhibition of TNF (mostly by recombinant anti-TNF antibodies) is effective in rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease and other autoimmune disorders. In spite of this success, detailed knowledge concerning sites and dynamics of TNF overexpression in the course of developing disease, as well as in the course of treatment is lacking. Most of the current methods of TNF detection in tissues of experimental laboratory animals are invasive, and they may themselves affect the course of the disease. A molecular probe, which could help to visualize TNF production in vivo, would be useful. Objectives To generate a fluorescent sensor of TNF which would specifically accumulate at the sites of its expression and can be used for in vivo imaging. To test such sensor in various autoimmune disease models in mice. Methods Single domain antibodies with high affinity to TNF were selected by phage display from immunized Bactrian camel1. They were genetically fused to far-red fluorescent protein Katushka2. The resultant fluorescent sensor of TNF was expressed in E.Coli (Bl21) and purified from bacterial lysates by IMAC on Ni-NTA resin. Protein concentration was measured by BCA assay, sample purity was assessed by SDS-PAGE. Multimerization in native confirmation was detected by HPLC. Binding to TNF was measured by ELISA and SPR. TNF inhibitory properties of fluorescent sensor of TNF were assessed in vitro by cytotoxic assay on L929 fibroblasts and in vivo in LPS/DgalN toxicity model on C57Bl6 mice. In vivo fluorescence in Collagen Induced Arthritis (CIA) model was measured using Carestream FX Pro In-vivo imaging system. Ex-vivo fluorescence in ConA induced hepatitis and CIA were detected by confocal microscopy. Results We generated, expressed and purified fluorescent sensor of TNF, which is a fusion protein comprising anti-TNF recombinant single domain antibody and the far-red fluorescent protein Katushka. This fluorescent sensor can be visualized in-vivo, as it specifically accumulates in inflamed tissues during model pathologies. This fusion protein binds TNF with high affinity but does not interfere with simultaneous TNF receptor binding and does not inhibit TNF biological activity. It can be used to highlight sites of TNF overexpression in model diseases. Conclusions We have generated a novel type of molecular probe for in vivo imaging of TNF in autoimmune pathologies which may be applied for elucidation the patterns of TNF expressions during the onset and acute phase of disease, as well as during its treatment. References Efimov, G. A., Kruglov, A. A., Tillib, S. V., Kuprash, D. V., & Nedospasov, S. A (2009). Tumor Necrosis Factor and the consequences of its ablation in vivo. Molecular immunology, 47(1), 19–27. Shcherbo, D., Merzlyak, E., Chepurnykh, T., Fradkov, A., Ermakova, G., Solovieva, E., Lukyanov, K., et al. (2007). Bright far-red fluorescent protein for whole-body imaging. Nature Methods, 4(9), 741–746. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Background: Under the global epidemic condition,the telemedicine was widely used in the world, especially in the period of long-term care and treatment. The aim of study is to verify the effectiveness of telemedicine in the management of chronic disease by using scientific methods such as hypertension, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis by using Meta-analysis and systematic review methods. The purpose of this study was to systematic review of the effect of telemedicine in chronic disease, so as to provide inspiration for chronic disease management in the future.Methods: Article searching were performed using Web of Science, PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE and other library or database to retrieve articles which published from database and library establishment to October 31st, 2020. Literature quality assessment, systematic review and Meta-analysis were then performed.Results: 12 articles were included in the literature quality assessment (7 diabetes,3 hypertensions,2 rheumatoid arthritis), the article included in this study is of high quality. There are 7 articles included in the Meta-analysis, the result shows there have effect in glycosylated hemoglobin after 12 months of intervention (95%CI=-1.53, -0.16; Z=2.42; P=0.02), compare with 6 months (95%CI=-1.32, -0.01; Z=1.99; P=0.05). It also showed that there was no significant difference in fasting blood glucose after 6 months of intervention (95%CI=-1.19,0.21; Z=1.37; P=0.17). Both systolic blood pressure (95%CI=-12.79, -3.69; Z=3.55; P= 0.0004) and diastolic blood pressure (95%CI=-9.90, -0.43; Z=2.14; P= 0.03) showed statistically significant. Moreover, we also found positive influence of telemedicine about good behaviors and rehabilitation for rheumatoid arthritis patients.Conclusion: The results showed that telemedicine had a positive effect on the management of diabetes, hypertension and rheumatoid arthritis, especially on the management of glycosylated hemoglobin and blood pressure. Telemedicine technologies have great promotion to access the medical services and improve the quality of care, especially for people with chronic diseases.


The binding of annexin II (p36) and of its complex ((p36)2 (p11)2) to model phospholipid vesicles led to conformational changes of the proteins which were studied by fluorescence spectroscopy. Titrations with liposomes of different kinds showed that the presence of the p11 dimer in the complex enhances the conformational change of the annexin II. Comparative liposome titrations were carried out in the presence of Mg2+: the binding of the protein to liposome induced a much smaller protein conformational change in this case. Moreover, Ca2+ and phospholipid binding order experiments showed that the protein conformational change only occurred when both are bound.


This paper gives a critical review of miscibility-measurement techniques published in the open literature along with recommendations and lessons learned. Many of these published methods violate the inherent assumptions for multicontact miscibility (MCM). The confusion often arises from a failure to distinguish between first-contact miscibility (FCM), in which two fluids can be mixed in all proportions without forming two phases, and MCM, in which fluid compositions that arise during the flow of two phases in a porous medium approach a specific critical point within the constraints of the MCM definition.
 There are many analytical, numerical, correlational, and experimental methods available to estimate the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) for MCM flow. The numerous available methods, some of which are quite inexpensive, have caused significant misunderstandings in the literature and in practice regarding their ability to estimate MMP. Our experience has shown that the best methods are those that honor the multicontact process (MCM), in which flow interacts with phase behavior in a prescribed way. Good methods that achieve this are slimtube experiments, detailed slimtube simulations, multiple-mixing-cell calculation methods, and the method of characteristics (MOC). Techniques such as the rising-bubble-apparatus (RBA) and vanishing-interfacial-tension (IFT) (VIT) experiments are subject to significant uncertainties, although they can still provide useful information. Numerous MMP correlations have been developed. They should be used with caution for systems similar to those used to develop the correlation. Use for other fluid systems can lead to significant errors. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of most current methods and show that various combinations of methods can reduce uncertainty.


Foraminiferal species abundances are used to estimate seasonal variability of late Quaternary sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Empirical orthogonal functions analysis of 28 time series isolates two patterns (modes) of variation. The dominant mode 1 reflects seasonal temperature contrast of the South Equatorial Current region 5°–6°C higher at the glacial maximum than at present, probably indicating larger seasonal variations of the southern trade winds. Forcing for this pattern may have come from equatorward compression of glacial climate zones due to high-latitude cooling in both hemispheres and/or suppression of meridional monsoonal circulation via feedback from northern hemisphere ice cover. When compared with CLIMAP estimates of lower seasonal variations of glacial age sea ice fronts in Antarctica, mode 1 suggests decoupling of low- and high- latitude seasonal cycles in the southern hemisphere on a glacial-interglacial scale. Mode 2 variations reflect seasonal contrast in sea surface temperature of 2°–3°C less 9000 to 14,000 years B.P. than at present along the equator and in the eastern subtropical Atlantic, perhaps related to an equatorial position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, weakened trade winds, and/or strengthened monsoonal circulation during deglaciation. Our findings emphasize the need to isolate spatially coherent (and thus dynamically linked) patterns of climate change from a complex record of multiple climatic effects. Only then can effective tests of hypotheses be made with a coupled strategy of data acquisition and climate modeling.


Crown characteristics have been the parameter most frequently utilized in studies of tooth morphology. Dental root structures have received relatively little attention. Examination of unusual molar roots in a kindred has enabled us to (1) establish a typology for classifying molar roots, (2) devise a methodology for evaluating the degree of taurodontism and (3) hypothesize about phylogenetic, ontogenetic and genetic aspects of root morphology. The roots of molar teeth were studied radiographically in 20 members of a family of English–German ancestry in which there was no consanguinity. Taurodont, pyramidal (single conical root) and fused molar roots were common. Other ectodermal and mesodermal anomalies (unusual upper lip, glaucoma, syndactyly and clinodactyly) were also present. This unique constellation of dental, cutaneous, ocular and bone abnormalities constitutes a previously undescribed syndrome. Unusual roots may be a genetic marker, and the finding of unusual roots, such as prismatic or wholly pyramidal, should prompt a search for other abnormalites. Dental trait analysis for genetic and microevolutionary studies should include root, as well as crown, characteristics.


Samples of the system [YBa2Cu3O7−δ]1−x[TeO2]x with x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.7, 1.2, 1.7 and 2.2% by weight, were prepared using the solid-state reaction technique. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern for the obtained samples shows that they are composed of two secondary phases, Ba2CuTeO6 and Y2BaCuO5 mixed with the parent phase Y123. The latter showed a transformation tendency to tetragonal phase with increasing Te content. Direct current resistivity measurements have shown that increasing Te content decreases the Tc values for the samples and increases the semiconducting behaviour in the normal state. The six samples were irradiated with 60Co gamma source four successive times with 250 kGy dose each time. The XRD pattern for the irradiated samples showed no significant change in the characteristic diffraction peaks of the Y123 phase, except for a slight shift toward the lower 2θ values. The transformation tendency of Y123 to the tetragonal phase was slightly increased. The repeated exposure to gamma radiation decreased the degree of orthorhombicity and also found that Tc values decreased after each dose.


In our deadline-based network resource management framework, each application data unit (ADU) is characterized by a (size, deadline) pair, which can be used to convey the resource and QoS requirements of the ADU. Specifically, the ADU's bandwidth requirement can be implicitly estimated by the ratio: size / (deadline - current time), and the time at which the ADU should be delivered is specified by the deadline. The ADU deadline is mapped onto deadlines at the network layer, which are carried by packets and used by routers for channel scheduling. In an earlier work, we have shown that deadline-based channel scheduling achieves good performance in terms of the percentage of ADUs that are delivered on-time. However, when a network is under heavy load, congestion may occur, and deadline-based scheduling alone may not be sufficient to prevent performance degradation. The level of congestion can be reduced by admission control. In this paper, two application-layer admission control algorithms are developed. The performance of these two algorithms is evaluated by simulation.


Absract: Dental implants represent one of the most successful treatment modalities in dentistry. However, failures do occur in the range from 5 to 8% for routine procedures and up to 20% in major grafting cases after at least 5 years of function . The majority of implant losses may be explained as biomechanically induced failures, since low primary implant stability, low bone density, short implants and overload have been identified as risk factors . Hence, achievement and maintenance of implant stability are pre-conditions for a successful clinical outcome with dental implants. The review focuses on different methods used to assess implant stability and recent advances in this field.


In this guideline by Keohane et al., the wording for recommendation R26, especially the portion "very high-risk lesions, such as pT2 or greater lip cSCC" was insufficiently clear, opening it to interpretations and has caused some confusion. To clarify, advanced cSCC of the lip may overlap into the oral cavity and fall into the same risk as oral SCC. Routine ultrasound surveillance of head and neck lymph nodes is common practice for oral SCC.


The past few years have seen a dramatic rise in the distribution channels available to media companies. While media companies once distributed their programming through one or two mediums, such as TV broadcasts and video tapes, the same programming is now also distributed through additional mediums such as the Internet and mobile phones. As a result, the IT systems of these companies are now required to handle both new content formats and to ensure that content is simultaneously and successfully prepared in order to meet scheduling and distribution requirements for multiple delivery pathways. This paper describes a solution that was developed to address the problem. The system presented here was implemented by the Taiwan¡¦s Public Television Service (PTS) in an effort to improve the effectiveness of daily operation in January 2010 and is currently providing complete support to the company¡¦s daily operations. Since implementation, this automated process has increase the average number of transcoding jobs completed daily from 500 to 700 ¡V and increase of 40 percent.


The addition of chemical groups to cellular RNA to modulate RNA fate and/or function is summarized under the term epitranscriptomic modification. More than 170 different modifications have been identified on cellular RNA, such as tRNA, rRNA and, to a lesser extent, on other RNA types. Recently, epitranscriptomic modification of viral RNA has received considerable attention as a possible additional mechanism regulating virus infection and replication. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) and C5-methylcytosine (m5C) have been most broadly studied in different RNA viruses. Various studies, however, reported varying results with regard to number and extent of the modification. Here we investigated the m5C methylome of SARS-CoV-2, and we reexamined reported m5C sites in HIV and MLV. Using a rigorous bisulfite-sequencing protocol and stringent data analysis, we found no evidence for the presence of m5C in these viruses. The data emphasize the necessity for optimizing experimental conditions and bioinformatic data analysis.


Infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV) infection is currently detected by fish sampling for PCR and immunohistochemistry analysis. As an alternative to sampling fish, we evaluated two different membrane filters in combination with four buffers for elution, concentration, and detection of ISAV in seawater, during a bath challenge of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) post-smolts with high and low concentrations of ISAV. Transmission of ISAV in the bath challenge was confirmed by a high mortality, clinical signs associated with ISA disease, and detection of ISAV RNA in organ tissues and seawater samples. The electronegatively charged filter, combined with lysis buffer, gave significantly higher ISAV RNA detection by droplet digital PCR from seawater (5.6 × 104 ISAV RNA copies/L; p < 0.001). Viral shedding in seawater was first detected at two days post-challenge and peaked on day 11 post-challenge, one day before mortalities started in fish challenged with high dose ISAV, demonstrating that a large viral shedding event occurs before death. These data provide important information for ISAV shedding that is relevant for the development of improved surveillance tools based on water samples, transmission models, and management of ISA.


: Several methodologies are available to evaluate how animals discrimi- nate and perceive stimuli. These methodologies are described herein, and the kinds of questions that can be addressed with each technique, and its strengths and limitations, are addressed. Detection and discrimination studies are described that measure animal abilities, followed by classification and judgment studies that measure animal pro- clivities. The choice of methodology is a consideration in experimental design, because the format of the question can direct, and sometimes define the answer. The experi- ments discussed emphasize that animals have multiple processing modes available to them that they use to classify stimuli. Detection and discrimination experiments may tap into one of those modes, while categorization and judgment experiments may address a different mode. A feature of these experiments is that they reduce the extent to which we view animal perception and cognition as distinct from human perception and cognition.


Many researches have been carried out in many countries of the world on the factors affecting the students' academic performance in university examinations. Some of these factors have been identified as attendance of lectures, knowledge of English of students, income of the parents, perceptions of learning, attitudes of students and lecturers towards education, teaching aids and methods, and environmental factors. In countries such as United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and USA, it has been recorded that gender has a significant relationship with the examination performance. According to this, it can be identified that there are theoretical explanations in respect of influence of gender on university students' academic performance. Most studies examining the relationship between gender and university students' academic performance have been conducted in the Western context. To fi ll this gap, it is important to conduct research in non-Western context. However, no substantive empirical study has been conducted to investigate, the influence of gender on university students' academic performance in Sri Lanka. This is the research gap that was primarily addressed in this research. Further, this study focused the gap of not having conduct a research before, to find out the influence of gender on academic performance of undergraduates at the Department of Human Resource Management, University of Kelaniya.  The objective of the research was to investigate whether there is a significant difference on the Bachelor of Business Management (Human Resource) Special Degree Examination's performance of university students with respect to variables are neither manipulated nor controlled for the study. Hence, the study was conducted in a non contrived setting.  As the data for this study was collected at a single point in time, the study was cross sectional in time horizon. Sample for this study was selected from the Department of Human Resources Management at University of Kelaniya. The survey was carried out using 5 years' data which are related to the period, from 2002/2003 academic year to 2006/2007 academic year. The sample consisted of 382 students. The unit of analysis was at the individual level. For this study, independent sample T-Test was used to compare the academic performance of two gender categories. Results indicated that significant differences exist between the academic performance of the male and female students in this study. Exploratory data analysis indicated that in all the course units considered, female students tend to perform better at university examinations than their male counterparts. Keywords: Gender, Academic Performance, University Students, Examination For full paper: email@example.com


OBJECTIVE. The objective of this study was to determine if moderate to severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) can be predicted on routine non-ECG-gated CT images of the chest with contrast agent. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Non-ECG-gated CT images of the chest in 674 people who had undergone echocardiography within 24 hours of CT were retrospectively reviewed. CT images were reviewed, and measurements of the tricuspid annular diameter were recorded. Echocardiogram reports were independently reviewed, and the presence and severity of TR was recorded. TR was graded in a multiparametric approach using a combination of qualitative, quantitative, and objective measures. TR grades of either "moderate" or "severe" were considered significant, and grades reported as "no regurgitation," "trace," "trivial," or "mild" were considered insignificant. RESULTS. The overall prevalence of significant (moderate or severe) TR was 15.0% (10.7% prevalence in men and 19.8% in women). Using ≥ 41 mm as a cut point on CT, the prediction accuracy reached an AUC of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.89-0.96). Specificity was 96.5% (95% CI, 95.0-97.9%), sensitivity was 75.7% (95% CI, 67.6-83.8%), positive predictive value was 80.2%, and negative predictive value was 95.5%. CONCLUSION. Using a cut point of ≥ 41 mm, measurement of the tricuspid valve annulus on routine CT of the chest can predict moderate to severe TR with a specificity of 96.5% and sensitivity of 75.7%. Measurements below threshold had a 95.5% negative predictive value. Tricuspid annular diameter can be measured on routine contrast-enhanced CT images of the chest, and, when above threshold, further evaluation with echocardiography should be recommended.


This paper presents global optimization algorithms that incorporate the idea of an interval branch and bound and the stochastic search algorithms. Two algorithms for unconstrained problems are proposed, the hybrid interval simulated annealing and the combined interval branch and bound and genetic algorithm. The numerical experiment shows better results compared to Hansen's algorithm and simulated annealing in terms of the storage, speed, and number of function evaluations. The convergence proof is described. Moreover, the idea of both algorithms suggests a structure for an integrated interval branch and bound and genetic algorithm for constrained problems in which the algorithm is described and tested. The aim is to capture one of the solutions with higher accuracy and lower cost. The results show better quality of the solutions with less number of function evaluations compared with the traditional GA.


Throughout the history of science, technological innovation has facilitated improved understanding of our human nature and characteristics and our complex relationships with our environment. In medical history, such innovations have allowed a more accurate and nuanced ability to intervene in promoting health and preventing and treating disease and disorder. Of course, the ability to correctly apprehend the meaning of the observations that are available to us through innovative breakthroughs is dependent on the conceptual adequacy of our endeavor. This conceptual adequacy has shown evolutionary progress and broadening, partially achieving the goal of consilience, articulated by the evolutionary biologist EO Wilson (1). The aim of this paper is to explore this expanding base and then describe an exemplar of our greater ability to understand and intervene in pursuit of global health. The scope of inquiry ranges from individual remotely obtained data to global health evaluation by advanced computational methods, with the objective of clarifying the conceptual, methodological and operational aspects of such a systemic approach.


The objective of this research is to propose an effective method to determine an optimal solution for strategic investment planning in power system environment. The proposed method will be formulated by using mean-variance analysis approach in the form of mixed-integer quadratic programming problem. Its target is to minimize the risk and maximize the expected return. The proposed method consists of two phase neural networks combining Hopfield network at the first phase and Boltzmann machine in the second phase resulting the fast computational time. The originality of the proposed model is it will delete the unit of the second phase, which is not selected in first phase in its execution. Then, the second phase is restructured using the selected units. Due to this feature, the proposed model will improve times and the accuracy of obtained solution. The significance of output from this project is the improvement of computational time and the accurate solution will be obtained. This model might help the decision makers to choose the optimal solution with variety options provided from this proposed method. Therefore, the performance of strategic investment planning in power system engineering certainly enhanced.


Attachment disturbance such as, infant-mother separation causes prolonged depressed behavior and sympathetic withdrawal plus vagal activation(i.e.vagal bias).Vagal neural pathways mediate airway constriction in asthma. Miller's ANS Dysregulation Model posits that depression, accompanied by ANS vagal bias potentiates airway instability. Purpose: Our study tests the hypothesis that insecure attachment is linked to child depression, which potentiates vagal bias and pulmonary compromise under stress. Method: 171 child asthmatics watched the film "E.T." The ET death scene elicited separation/loss-related emotions. Self-report indexed insecure attachment (IS), and the CDI indexed depression (D). Asthma disease activity (ADA) was assessed using NHLBI criteria. Children viewed the film while ECG and impedance measures indexed sympathetic activation (pre-ejection period,PEP) and vagal activation(RSA). ANS vagal bias was measured: Zrsa-Zpep (i.e.,RSA minus PEP standardized scores). Respiratory resistance (Rint) indexed pulmonary function. Results: Children with IA had higher D (t=3.6,p=.001), greater vagal bias in the death scene (t=1.9,p=.06) and greater ADA (t=2.1,p=.04) When stratified by D score, D versus non-D children had greater vagal bias in response to ET death scene (t=2.25,p=.03), and greater ADA(t=3.2,p=.002). Finally both D and vagal bias were correlated with post-movie Rint (r=.43,p =.001;r=.39, p=.004). Conclusion: These findings suggest that insecure attachment may contribute to depression, stress vulnerability, and ANS dysregulation which potentiate pulmonary compromise in child asthma under stressful conditions.


Software development tools need to support more and more phases of the entire development process, because applications must be developed more correctly and efficiently. The tools therefore need to integrate sophisticated checkers, generators and transformations. A feasible approach to ensure high quality of such add-ins is to base them on sound formal foundations. In order to know where such add-ins will fit, we investigate the use of an existing successful commercial tool and identify suitable places for adding formally supported checking, transformation and generation modules. The paper concludes with a discussion of feasibility of developing the proposed add-ins and how to give conditions such that they will actually be used.


The paper is aimed at examining criminal prosecution of the collaborationists, which is one of the most important activities of the post-war Soviet state security bodies. The research is based on the files of state security bodies in the Molotov region. In historiography, the issue is in general explored. Particularly, some papers describe well the evolution of legislative environment for criminal justice and penal sanctions for collaborationism. However, scholars, as a rule, do not verify information that can be found in official documents. Therefore, the author focuses mainly on the opportunities of using the investigations' files as sources for the assessment of validity of imputations of collaborationism. The source analysis shows that, in general, a style of the significant part of accused persons' evidences which can be found in the records of interrogations, bills of indictment, and other materials of the studied trials, shows an adequate representation of the most part of events. The author demonstrates that the state security bodies of Molotov region did an important work for the state and society, disclosing collaborationists and initiating criminal prosecution against them. They did a large-scale and intensive work to identify the criminals and prove their guilt. The analysis of declassified documents of investigation bodies and tribunals lets the author to conclude that a large part of those evidences are persuasive. However, the ability to extend the research results to the activity of the state security service as a whole depends on whether historians would have the opportunity for studying all the documents of the Soviet state security service of the war and post-war period dealing with the trials against collaborationists.


The flow development of Herschel–Bulkley fluids in a sudden three-dimensional square expansion is studied numerically. The flow is modeled using the mixed-Galerkin finite element formulation to solve the conservation of mass and momentum equations. The Herschel–Bulkley material behavior is described using a regularized model based on the Papanastasiou model. Solutions are obtained for a downstream-to-upstream expansion ratio of 2:1 and for a wide range of pressure gradient values and rheological parameters. The results show that, during the evolution of the flow, two core regions and dead zones at the corners are formed. The extent of the core regions decreases with the pressure gradient and the Reynolds number, and increases with the power-law index. It is also found that the volume flow rate at steady flow increases with the pressure gradient, power-law index, and Reynolds number.


The workshop is aimed at enhancing children's development of artistic aesthetics and verbal skills. Acquaintance with one of the famous types of Russian folk designs — the Zhostovskiy podnos [Zhostovo fl oral design on metal lacquer trays] — takes place with the help of creative assignments, playing exercises, readings of stories and engaging in craftwork. During the training sessions the children receive not only new knowledge, but also the elementary skills of discourse about the object of art. The tutorial materials are accompanied by colorful illustrations. The workshop is aimed at cooperative studying workshops of either teachers or parents with children.


The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of the antioxidant and reactive oxygen scavenger alpha-phenyl-N-tert-butyl nitrone (PBN) was examined in the male cynomolgus monkey after intravenous administration. Following an i.v. bolus dose of 5 mg/kg, plasma concentrations of PBN declined in a bi-exponential fashion. PBN demonstrated a moderate plasma clearance (CL(p) = 27.02 +/- 6.46 ml/min/kg) and a moderate volume of distribution at steady state (Vd(ss) = 1.70 +/- 0.23 l/kg), resulting in a terminal elimination half-life of 0.76 +/- 0.25 h. The corresponding area under the curve (AUC(0-infinity)) was 3.20 +/- 0.77 microg-h/ml. Scale-up of the in vitro microsomal intrinsic clearance data for PBN afforded a blood clearance (CLb) value of 22 ml/min/kg, which was in reasonable agreement with the observed in vivo CLb. Monkey liver microsomes catalyzed the NADPH-dependent monohydroxylation of PBN to the corresponding alpha-4-hydroxyphenyl-N-tert-butylnitrone (4-HOPBN) metabolite. The formation of 4-HOPBN and its corresponding O-glucuronide was also discernible upon qualitative analysis of pooled (0-24 h) monkey plasma and urine samples. Less than 5% of the administered dose was excreted as unchanged PBN in the urine, suggesting that P450-catalyzed metabolism constituted the major route of PBN clearance in the primate. In conclusion, the pharmacokinetic attributes and the clearance mechanism of PBN in the cynomolgus monkey is similar to that observed in the Sprague-Dawley rat.


Statistical entropy was introduced by Shannon as a basic concept in information theory measuring the average missing information in a random source. Extended into an entropy rate, it gives bounds in coding and compression theorems. In this paper, I describe how statistical entropy and entropy rate relate to other notions of entropy that are relevant to probability theory (entropy of a discrete probability distribution measuring its unevenness), computer sciences (algorithmic complexity), the ergodic theory of dynamical systems (Kolmogorov–Sinai or metric entropy) and statistical physics (Boltzmann entropy). Their mathematical foundations and correlates (the entropy concentration, Sanov, Shannon–McMillan–Breiman, Lempel–Ziv and Pesin theorems) clarify their interpretation and offer a rigorous basis for maximum entropy principles. Although often ignored, these mathematical perspectives give a central position to entropy and relative entropy in statistical laws describing generic collective behaviours, and provide insights into the notions of randomness, typicality and disorder. The relevance of entropy beyond the realm of physics, in particular for living systems and ecosystems, is yet to be demonstrated.


What comes after neoliberalism? To answer that question we must ask a more fundamental question: What do neoliberalism and neoconservatism have in common with the antiglobalization and antiwar movements? The answer is that all ostensibly share a focus on redefining democracy in the contemporary world system. "Spreading democracy" is the rallying cry of both the Washington Consensus and the Bush Doctrine. The "Washington Consensus" is the claim that global neoliberalism and core finance capital's economic control of the periphery and the entire world by means of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only realistic alternative to misery and disaster. The "Bush Doctrine" is the bald neoconservative justification of U.S. global military domination and preemptive war—as part of a renewed attempt to make the world safe for democracy. For the antiglobalization and antiwar movements these establishment doctrines, insofar as they profess to be "spreading democracy," are nothing but window dressing for the global dictatorship of the U.S. and core corporate governing elites. While focusing their attack on the institutions that enforce this dictatorship, these movements also strive to create an alternative, a genuine participatory democracy.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


It is suggested that topological membranes play a fundamental role in the recently proposed topological M-theory. We formulate a topological theory of membranes wrapping associative three-cycles in a seven-dimensional target space with G_2 holonomy. The topological BRST rules and BRST invariant action are constructed via the Mathai-Quillen formalism. In a certain gauge we show this theory to be equivalent to a membrane theory with two BRST charges found by Beasley and Witten. We argue that at the quantum level an additional topological term should be included in the action, which measures the contributions of membrane instantons. We construct a set of local and non-local observables for the topological membrane theory. As the BRST cohomology of local operators turns out to be isomorphic to the de Rham cohomology of the G_2 manifold, our observables agree with the spectrum of d=4, N=1 G_2 compactifications of M-theory.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to show how sausages produced with lantern fish (Benthosema pterotum) protein isolate at two levels 4% (sample A) and 2% (sample B), and then, the physicochemical and sensory properties of sausages (A and B) were determined during the storage (14, 30, and 60 days) at 4°C. Firstly, fish protein isolate (FPI) prepared at alkaline pH (12). It was found that the acidic value, peroxide value (PV), and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) value of sausages increased during the storage. The highest level of TBA value was found at the second month of storage as 0.51 mg malonaldehyde/kg. The PV and acidic value reached to 9.45 meq/kg and 4.82 at the end of storage, respectively. Moreover, the stiffness, adherence, and springiness were assessed by texture profile analysis which was found sausages containing FPI had stronger texture and structure compared to control sample. The SDS–PAGE analysis identified the proteins from 15.4 to 202.3 kDa, which exhibit no major differences in protein patterns of two types of sausages. Furthermore, sensory evaluation diagnostic was carried out in terms of the sensory attributes such as texture, flavor, odor, color, and overall acceptability, and the results indicated the greatest overall acceptability in samples containing 2% FPI.


Background and Objectives: In this study we retrospectively evaluated data of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients diagnosed at our center over a span of 7 years. The data was categorized according to FAB classification and then studied for demographic features and for any evidence of seasonality. Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted at Shaikh Zayed Medical Complex (SZMC), Lahore. In this study we retrospectively evaluated data of AML patients diagnosed over a span of 7 years from 1st July 2001 to 30th June 2008. The data was categorized according to FAB classification and studied for demographic features. We also analysed the cohort for number of acute myeloid leukemias presenting in each month of the year to assess for any evidence of seasonality. Results: Ninety eight patients of AML were studied, 55 males and 43 females. Eleven patients belonged to the paediatric age group with a male to female ratio of 1.2:1; and 87 were adults, male to female ratio of 1.28:1. The mean age of the entire cohort was 37.08 ± 21.63 years. For adult cases the mean age came to 40.93 ± 19.91 years and for paediatric group the mean age was 7.33 ± 4.05 years. M2 category was most common (38 cases) and collectively M2 and M4 contributed 57% of the entire cohort. Monthly distribution of cases showed a prominent peak (30 cases, 30.5%) in the months of September and October. M2 and M4 collectively contributed 22 out of these 30 cases (p value < 0.05). Conclusion: AML M2 and M4 were the most common categories of FAB classification at our Centre. There was a significant increase in the presentation of AML M2 and M4 cases in the months of September and October.


Information about the work of the electronic library of the Educational and instructional center for railway transportation, created to provide remote access of the students, teachers and employees of educational organizations under the jurisdiction of the Federal Agency for railway transport (Roszheldor), as well for industry professionals, is presented.


Cell systems are as of now confronting movement over-burden issue because of extreme developing interest of advanced mobile phones, tablets and portable PCs. The after effect of which top of the line gadgets twofold their information movement consistently and this pattern is relied upon to proceed with given the fast advancement of versatile social applications. This expansion in information movement is gauge to quicken and after effect of which they brought on a prompt requirement for offloading activity for ideal execution of both voice and information administrations. Subsequently, extraordinary inventive arrangements have risen to oversee information movement. A financially savvy and one of sensible arrangement is to offload cell movement through Wi-Fi, Femtocells or Delay Tolerant System (DTN) to decrease the weight on the cell organizes and furthermore increment the quality of service (QoS). Wi-Fi offloading is a procedure for tending to the portable information blast issue. Offloading portable information activity through pioneering correspondences is answering for tackle this issue. The thought is that the specialist organizations convey data over cell systems to just clients in the objective set.


In this paper, we consider a wireless broadcast network with a base station sending time-sensitive information to a number of clients through unreliable channels. The Age of Information (AoI), namely the amount of time that elapsed since the most recently delivered packet was generated, captures the freshness of the information. We formulate a discrete-time decision problem to find a transmission scheduling policy that minimizes the expected weighted sum AoI of the clients in the network. We first show that in symmetric networks, a greedy policy, which transmits the packet for the client with the highest current age, is optimal. For general networks, we develop three low-complexity scheduling policies: a randomized policy, a Max-Weight policy and a Whittle's Index policy, and derive performance guarantees as a function of the network configuration. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to derive performance guarantees for scheduling policies that attempt to minimize AoI in wireless networks with unreliable channels. Numerical results show that both the Max-Weight and Whittle's Index policies outperform the other scheduling policies in every configuration simulated, and achieve near optimal performance.


This paper reviews the economic literature that, for policy evaluaton purposes, assigns a value to risking human lives. It argues the ethical justification for evaluating risk by observing how much people are willing to pay personally to avoid risks. Most willingness-to-pay figures are based on observations of how much compensation workers must be paid to work at a risky job. The conceptual and practical problems and biases in these figures are explained. The main studies of financial value of life calculation are reviewed in light of this discussion. The review concludes that a conservative estimate for the value of risking a life is $8 million (1984 dollars), a figure far greater than is typically used in policy analysis. Policy-makers are often required to weigh the benefits of instating safety precautions in a project or policy alternative against its costs. Making these tradeoffs requires an evaluation of the alternative relative risk, i.e., a translation of potential risks into dollars and cents. In this article, I will summarize and critically review from an economist's point of view the literature on the dollar value of risking life¿the ``value of life (VOL)''¿concentrating on the literature written by fellow economists. Evaluation of nonfatal injury and illness is just as critical a part of risk evaluation; however, space constraints prevent me from including it in this discussion. VOL figures are not meant to be equivalent to what you would pay in ransom money to a kidnapper in order to save your life.


As a result of the increasing popularity of knowledge management numerous knowledge management tools have appeared on the software market. Therefore, selecting a tool that suitably meets their requirements is difficult and confusing for many organisations. Consequently a methodology is designed that describes the issues and factors that should be taken into consideration during the selection of a knowledge management tool.


The data on monoclonal or mixed cryoglobulinaemia patients admitted to Pavia University's 1st Medical Division since 1970 were examined. Complications included peripheral microangiopathies caused by immune complexes and especially kidney lesions of varying severity caused by immune complexes precipitated in the basal membrane. Although the course of the condition was ameliorated in all patients given immunosuppressive treatment alone, this could not prevent the appearance of progressively worsening kidney conditions. Terminating in severe renal failure these were often complicated by encephalopathies, disturbed microcirculation in the brain and hypertension patients given plasmapheresis at an early stage, at the first sign of renal or brain circulation problems, responded brilliantly with regression of all clinical symptoms. Where plasmapheresis was not given until an advanced stage of the kidney disease, a satisfactory improvement was obtained and the quality and expectancy of life enhanced, even though a total cure was not achieved. Regular cycles of plasmapheresis indubitably protect the patient from irreversible renal or microvascular conditions so that immunosuppressive treatment can effectively control the cryoglobulinaemia.


To allow spectroscopic measurements within a high pressure sodium lamp, the translucent tube of the lamp is substituted by a transparent sapphire tube. Moreover, the sodium pressure in the lamp is adjusted by an external control of its cold spot temperature. The temperature distribution along the anode of a sodium dc discharge is determined pyrometrically with a special set-up for spectroscopic measurements in the near infrared in dependence on the arc current and the sodium vapour pressure. The power input from the arc plasma into the anode was determined by comparison with temperature distributions obtained by numerical simulation. A physical analysis of the power input yields a lowering of the work function of the tungsten anode to 2.6 eV in accordance with the reduced work function, which was found for the cathode of the sodium lamp.


This chapter surveys seven decades of theorizing about European Union policy-making and policy processes. It begins with a discussion of theories of European integration, including neo-functionalism, intergovernmentalism, liberal intergovernmentalism, institutionalism, constructivism, and postfunctionalism. It then considers the increasing number of studies that approach the EU through the lenses of comparative politics and comparative public policy, focusing on the federal or quasi-federal aspects of the EU and its legislative, executive, and judicial politics. It finally explores the vertical and horizontal separation of powers in the EU and concludes by looking at the 'governance approach' to the EU, with emphasis on multi-level governance and EU policy networks, Europeanization, and the question of the EU's democratic deficit.


This paper deals with a relatively new area of radio-frequency (RF) technology based on microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS). RF MEMS provides a class of new devices and components which display superior high-frequency performance relative to conventional (usually semiconductor) devices, and which enable new system capabilities. In addition, MEMS devices are designed and fabricated by techniques similar to those of very large-scale integration, and can be manufactured by traditional batch-processing methods. In this paper, the only device addressed is the electrostatic microswitch - perhaps the paradigm RF-MEMS device. Through its superior performance characteristics, the microswitch is being developed in a number of existing circuits and systems, including radio front-ends, capacitor banks, and time-delay networks. The superior performance combined with ultra-low-power dissipation and large-scale integration should enable new system functionality as well. Two possibilities addressed here are quasi-optical beam steering and electrically reconfigurable antennas.


Spatial navigation can depend on path integration or environmental cues (e.g., landmarks), which are thought to be integrated in hippocampal and entorhinal circuits. This study investigates the anatomical basis of path integration and navigation based on a single local landmark using an individual differences approach, since people vary substantially in their ability to navigate with path integration cues and landmarks. In two experiments, we dissociated the use of path integration and a local landmark in the same navigation task, and investigated whether morphological variability in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex could explain behavioral variability in young healthy humans. In Experiment 1, participants navigated in a fully immersive virtual reality environment, with body-based cues available for path integration. The participants first walked through a series of posts before attempting to walk back to the remembered location of the first post. We found that gray matter volume of the hippocampus positively predicted behavioral accuracy of retrieving the target's distance in relation to the local landmark. Hippocampus also positively predicted path integration performance in terms of walking-distance to the target location. Experiment 2 was conducted in a desktop virtual environment, with no body-based cues available. Optic flow served as path integration cues, and participants were tested on their memory of a learned target location along a linear track. Consistent with Experiment 1, the results showed that hippocampal volume positively predicted performance on the target's distance in relation to the local landmark. In contrast to Experiment 1, there was no correlation between hippocampal volume and path integration performance. Together, our two experiments provide novel and converging evidence that the hippocampus plays an important role in encoding egocentric distance to a single local landmark during navigation, and they suggest a stronger hippocampal involvement when path integration is based on body-based compared to optic flow cues.


We investigate the effect of amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) films passivated on silicon surfaces based on high-pressure water-vapor annealing (HWA). The effective carrier lifetime of samples reaches the maximum value after 210°C, 90min HWA. Capacitance-voltage measurement reveals that the HWA not only greatly reduces the density of interface states (Dit), but also decreases the fixed charges (Qfixed) mainly caused by bulk defects. The change of hydrogen and oxygen in the film is measured by a spectroscopic ellipsometer and a Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer. All these results show that HWA is a useful method to improve the passivation effect of a-Si:H films deposited on silicon surfaces.


The increasing clinical importance of drug resistance of fungal and bacteria pathogen has lent additional urgency to microbial research and new antimicrobial compound development . For this purpose a series of N-(substituted aryl -1,3,4-oxadiazole -2 yl) methyl-N-(4H-1,2,4 – triazol-4 yl) benzamide derivative was synthesized by condensation of 4amino triazole and benzoyl chloride . The treatment of benzoyl derivative of 4-amino Triazole with sodium ethoxide and ethylchloro acetate produce ester derivative of Triazole (2). Subsequently compound (2) was converted to hydrazide by (3) the treatment with hydrazine hydrate after esterification. More over the reaction of compound (3) with aromatic acid in phosphorus oxychloride afforded N- (substituted aryl -1,3,4-oxadiazole -2 yl) methyl-N-(4H-1,2,4 –triazol-4 yl) benzamide 4(a-h). The identification and characterization of the synthesized compounds were carried out by Elemental analysis, melting point,Thin Layer Chromatography, FT-IR, NMR data to ascertain that all synthesized compounds were of different chemical nature than the respective parent compound. Antimicrobial and antifungal activities of the final compounds have been evaluated and all the compounds have shown significant inhibition of bacterial and fungal growth.


Congo red, a dye of high self‐assembling tendency, has been found to form complexes with proteins by adhesion of the ribbon‐like supramolecular ligand to polypeptide chains of β‐conformation. Complexation is allowed by local or global protein instability, facilitating penetration of the dye to the locus of its binding. At elevated temperatures, L chain λ of myeloma origin was found to form two distinct complexes with Congo red, easily differentiated in electrophoresis as slow‐ and fast‐migrating fractions, bearing four‐ and eight‐dye‐molecule ligands, respectively, in the V domain of each individual chain. The slow‐migrating complex is formed after displacement of the N‐terminal polypeptide chain fragment (about 20 residues) from its packing locus, thereby exposing the entrance to the binding cavity. In this work the formation and stability of this complex was studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The effect of three‐ and five‐molecule ligands introduced to the site binding the dye was also analyzed in an attempt to understand the formation of fast‐migrating complexes. The wedging of the ligand containing five dye molecules, hence longer than established experimentally as the maximum for the slow‐migrating complex, was found to generate significant structural changes. These changes were assumed to represent the crossing of the threshold on the way to forming a fast‐migrating complex more capacious for dyes. They led to almost general destabilization of the V domain, making it susceptible to extra dye complexation. Theoretical studies were designed in close reference to experimental findings concerning the number of dye molecules in the ligand inserted to the site binding the dye, the location of the site in the domain, and the conditions of formation of the complexes. The results of the two kinds of studies appeared coherent. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers, 2005


Three short cores of Windsor Group carbonates from the northeast Newfoundland Shelf yielded Late Visean foraminifers of Zones 15 and 16Inf. This most northeastward occurrence of the marine Lower Carboniferous on the American continent has foraminifers identical to those reported from Windsor carbonates exposed in southwestern Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. The foraminifera belong to the North American realm and not to the Tethyan realm. The algae are exceptionally well preserved. Except for a single species, they are also 'American' and not Tethyan. This confirms that the proto-Atlantic effectively separates the North American and Euro–African continental blocks in Early Carboniferous time.


Magnetic materials are commonly used in inductor and transformer cores to increase inductance density. The emerging field of stretchable electronics poses a new challenge since typical magnetic cores are bulky, rigid and often brittle. This paper presents, for the first time, stretchable inductors incorporating ferrofluid as a liquid magnetic core. Ferrofluids, suspensions of nanoscale magnetic particles in a carrier liquid, provide enhanced magnetic permeability without changing the mechanical properties of the surrounding elastomer. The inductor tested in this work consisted of a liquid metal solenoid wrapped around a ferrofluid core in separate channels. The low frequency inductance was found to increase from 255 nH before fill to 390 nH after fill with ferrofluid, an increase of 52%. The inductor was also shown to survive uniaxial strains of up to 100%.


Introduction: The notion that depression is a disorder that moves along a continuum is well-established. Similarly, the belief in the continuity of mental illness is considered an important element in the stigma process. Against this background, it is the aim of this study to examine whether public continuum beliefs vary with the severity of depressive symptoms. Methods: Analyses were based on computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATIs) conducted in winter 2019/2020 in Germany (N = 1,009, response rate 46.8%). Using three vignettes representing mild, moderate, and severe depressive symptoms, beliefs regarding the continuity of symptoms, specifically a fundamental difference, were assessed with seven items. Sociodemographic characteristics and own experiences with depression (affliction and contact) were introduced as covariates. Results: Significant differences between the three groups of severity were found for the majority of the items measuring continuum beliefs or perceived fundamental difference. However, only few items showed a linear trend indicating a parallel between symptom severity and beliefs. Multivariate regression models showed that a moderate degree of depression was positively associated with stronger continuum beliefs but also with greater perceived difference compared to the mild degree, while no significant associations emerged for the severe vignette. Limitations: Although a comparison of our sample with official statistics supports the external validity, we cannot rule out a selection bias. It is arguable in how far short case vignettes convey a holistic picture of a person affected by depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Our results do not indicate a parallel between symptom severity and public continuum beliefs.


This paper presents the analysis, modeling and control of a grid connected photovoltaic generation system. The model contains a detailed representation of the solar array, grid side multilevel neutral point clamped voltage source inverter. Fuzzy logic controller for the maximum power point tracking of a photovoltaic system under variable temperature and insulation conditions is discussed. The PQ control approach has been presented for the multilevel inverter. One of the most common control strategies structures applied to decentralized power generator is based on power direct control employing a controller for the dc link voltage and a controller to regulate the injected current to the utility network. The proposed models were implemented in Matlab/Simulink.


Background: Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is a common and disabling disorder, affecting 2-4% of the adult population worldwide. Pharmacological treatment is often the only available option, however medication is not sufficient for 50-70% of the adults. Thus, it is necessary to develop and evaluate complementary treatments. Although treatments such as cognitive and dialectic behavioral therapy (CBT and DBT) in the treatment of ADHD have been promising, they have each targeted different aspects of ADHD symptomatology, thus neither one has addressed the total variety of symptoms typically displayed in adults. Moreover, accessibility to these treatments is low. Aims: General aims of this thesis were to develop and evaluate the efficacy of new psychological interventions for adult ADHD, addressing a variety of common impairments associated with the diagnosis, with the intention to make these interventions accessible and available through internet. Methods: Three clinical trials were conducted. In study I, a randomized controlled trial (RCT; n=57), adults with ADHD or probable ADHD, with pronounced difficulties with inattention and organization, took part in an internet-based course on how to structure their everyday life with smartphone applications and online-tools and were compared to a wait-list control group. Study II, an uncontrolled study (n=18), evaluated the feasibility and preliminary effect of a novel treatment based on a combination of CBT and DBT. Study III, an RCT evaluating internetbased treatment for adults with ADHD (n=104), explored the efficacy of the combination treatment (ICBT) compared to an active and credible control group (internet-based applied relaxation training, IART) and to treatment as usual (TAU). Results: The intervention in study I showed large effects on attention and organization skills for participants in the intervention group. Moreover, the improvements on hyperactivity and depression severity were also significantly better compared to the wait-list condition. The combined group treatment in study II turned out to be feasible and beneficial with large reductions of ADHD symptoms and related problems such as depression and experienced stress. Reductions in ADHD symptoms were maintained up to 6 months after treatment. In study III, ICBT and IART were shown to be equally effective with moderate effects on ADHD symptoms compared to TAU up to one year after treatment. The only significant interaction between both treatments over time was for level of general everyday functioning, favoring ICBT. Satisfaction ratings were high in the ICBT group, however some of the participants experienced the treatment as stressful or overwhelming. Conclusions: The smartphone course, as well as the combination treatment administered in a group format, seems to be feasible and effective in improving ADHD symptoms and related problems. The internet-based combined treatment was also effective compared to treatment as usual and has the potential to increase accessibility and availability to treatment. Sustained effects were also found for the combination treatment (studies II-III) in the long term. However, future adjustments in content need to be made to enhance the specific effects on ADHD and


Set in the context of four-year colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, this study examined how the level of thriving differs for international students and their domestic peers, how the level of thriving differs across various subgroups within international students, and how academic self-confidence is associated with the level of thriving for international students. Using data from the 2017 Thriving Quotient, this study found that international students were less likely to thrive during their college years than their domestic peers and that Asian international students were less likely to thrive than their international peers of other racial groups. Findings also suggested that academic self-confidence was significantly and positively related to international students' thriving during their college years.


Dengue disease usually occurs in tropical countries. In 2020, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Indonesia was the highest number in the mortality of dengue.  For that reason, analysis of spread dengue is indispensable.  One of the statistical modelling methods to spread dengue and its factors based on spatial analysis is Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR). GWR was developed to Geographically Weighted Poisson Regression (GWPR) and Geographically Weighted Negative Binomial Regression (GWNB) as handling overdispersion. GWNB has improvement analysis into Geographically Weighted Bivariate Negative Binomial regression (GWBNB) model. This paper applied the GWBNB model for the number of dengue cases and their mortality (as dependent variables) based on population density, percentage of poverty, the number of doctors, the number of health facilities, and the percentage of the area that has good sanitation (as independent variables). It resulted from the BNB model, the factors that impacted the dengue's number and their mortality were poverty, health facilities, and the percentage of areas with good sanitation. In BNB model resulted in 364.4725 of AIC. However, the spatial testing has shown spatial contiguity of dengue's number and their mortality. As a result of the GWBNB model, shown most of the variables were significant and it established the cluster based on its estimation. Besides, with the GWBNB model, the heterogeneity of spatial can be solved. The accuracy of GWBNB estimation was 73% for predict the number of dengue and their mortality in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The GWBNB model resulted better than the BNB model based on AIC's value.


Purpose: Our aim was the evaluation of EGFR gene and protein alterations in NSCLC and the potential role of telomerase in the regulation of its expression. Methods: Using tissue microarray technology, forty (n=40) paraffin embedded histologically confirmed primary NSCLCs were cored twice at a diameter of 1mm and re-embedded into a recipient block. Immunohistochemistry was performed by the use of monoclonal antibodies anti-EGFR (31G7), and anti-telomerase/h-TERT (44F12). Also, a Chromogenic in situ hybridization protocol was applied based on the use of EGFR gene and chromosome 7 centromeric probes. Computerized Image Analysis was performed for the evaluation of immunohistochemistry results. Results: EGFR overexpression was observed in 23/40 (57.5%) cases correlating to stage (p=0.001) and histological type (p=0.04). Telomerase was overexpressed in all examined cases (high and moderate levels) correlating to stage (p=0.001). A significant value of concordance (kappa=0.686, 0.677-0.695) was assessed comparing telomerase and EGFR protein expression. EGFR gene amplification was identified in 2/40 (5%) cases associating to histological type (p=0.027) and chromosome 7 aneuploidy in 7/40 (17.5%) cases. Conclusions: NSCLC is characterized by rare cases of EGFR gene amplification and this genetic event maybe affect the efficacy of targeted therapeutic strategies based on monoclonal antibodies. Also, the strong concordance between EGFR and telomerase overexpression demonstrates that the enzyme is potentially involved in the growth-controlling gene expression.


Wear-related complications have been a major cause of revisions and reoperations following total hip arthroplasty. In the past, several materials have shown promise for reducing polyethylene wear, but they have draw-backs. Elimination of polyethylene from prosthetic designs has not gained wide acceptance because it limits design flexibility and introduces other risks: fractures with ceramic-on-ceramic bearings and metal-ion release with metal-on-metal bearings1,2. In an attempt to address the problem on the femoral side, opposite the polyethylene, ceramic modular heads were introduced because their surfaces are more abrasion-resistant and produce less friction than do metal surfaces, thereby reducing abrasive and adhesive wear of the polyethylene3. The use of oxide ceramics for the articulating femoral head can reduce wear by 25% to 50%4-6. However, ceramics such as monolithic zirconia and alumina are susceptible to brittle fracture, with the need for immediate revision1. On the acetabular side, highly crosslinked ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene was used for liners more than thirty years ago7-9. This practice was ended after a brief time because of commercial considerations, but subsequent clinical results have indicated that these liners undergo substantially less wear than do conventional ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene liners.

Recently, manufacturers have introduced new highly crosslinked ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene acetabular liners, which also offer the potential of reducing wear10,11. However, laboratory results have indicated that the relative advantage of such polyethylene can be reduced when it articulates against rougher surfaces12. Metallic cobalt-chromium (CoCr) femoral heads do not have the same risk of fracture as ceramic heads, but their surfaces become roughened as a result of abrasive and oxidative wear3. Evidence of this roughening can be seen on retrieved heads, and both clinical and …


To explore possible etiologic factors of childhood leukemia, a case-control study was performed in the Netherlands. Cases were selected from a complete nationwide register of cases of childhood leukemia which were diagnosed between 1973 and 1980. Controls were matched with cases for year of birth, sex, and place of residence at the time of diagnosis. Information about possible exposures was collected by a postal questionnaire addressed to the parents. This report concerns the results of the analysis of parental occupations and occupational exposures for 519 children with acute lymphocytic leukemia and 507 controls. During pregnancy, more mothers of patients were working in "hydrocarbon-related" occupations; relative risk (RR) = 2.5 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.7-9.4). Likewise, greater occupational exposure to chemicals (paint, petroleum products, and unspecified chemicals) during pregnancy was found for mothers of patients (RR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.2-4.6). The kind of work being performed by the mothers one year before diagnosis did not differ between cases and controls. For the fathers, no relationship was found between a hydro-carbon-related occupation or occupational exposure to chemicals and leukemia in the offspring. Adjustment for birth order, social class, and degree of urbanization did not materially change the relative risks.


This is a simple method for estimating preoperatively the underlying bone volume of a proposed edentulous site for dental implant placement. It entails a localized imprint of the ridge, measurement of the depth of the overlying gingival of the site, and correlating the measurements on a tracing of the ridge arch taken from the imprint. The resultant shape shows a slice of the underlying bone, giving the surgeon insight regarding the width of implant the site will accept, angulation, and the need for bone augmentation.


The article focuses on the history of juridical ideas concerning the question of power and discipline within the family as a key institution for the general practices of control and social discipline in the passage towards modernity. It analyses mainly the juridical-political ideas around the debates dating from the end of the 17th century in Portugal and also in the context of the Brazilian political emancipation (1822) when it became public the intention of creating a modern civil and criminal code. This piece of work contemplates, firstly, the process of circulation of the ideas from the Enlightenment in the law field, taking the relationship center-periphery as an underlined assumption concerning where these ideas were produced. Secondly, it focuses on the patria potestas and the ideological factors for the woman, children and family situation, as well as the discussion on civil marriage present in the process of secularization and modernization in Portugal and Brazil. The conclusion is that the delay on the modifications of the civil law in Brazil is due to the difficulties faced by the reformers from the juridical field in articulating the restrictions that the modern vision of the rights of the person (full of individualism as influence of the French civil law) imposed to the patria postestas attitude in the country, which, in its turn, was based on a pre-modern conception combined with a conservative and clerical affection upon authority in the family.


Background: The application of science is important for physiotherapy practice, but levels of scientific/academic physiotherapy education and practice vary between countries. In Austria, physiotherapists have been qualifying at bachelor level only since 2009. It is unknown to what extent practising physiotherapists in Austria have opportunity to become involved in scientific research, and how this impacts job satisfaction.
Methods: In spring 2019, an anonymous cross-sectional online survey was disseminated via professional networks and completed by a convenience sample of 586 qualified physiotherapists in Austria. Respondents rated generic and research-related items of job satisfaction with respect to personal importance and realisation in their current workplace, on a scale from 7 (very important/fully realised) to 1 (unimportant/not at all realised). Data were analysed descriptively and using Wilcoxon Signed Rank test (two-sided, alpha=0.05).
Results: Most respondents were female (n=456/77.8%) and in age groups 26-35 (n=149/25.4%), 36-45 (n=178/30.4%) and 46-55 years (n=173/29.5%). One-hundred sixty-four (28.0%) had qualified since 2009. Most were self-employed (n=342/57.3%) or combined self-employed/employed (n=139/23.3%). One third (n=194/33.1%) were engaged in teaching and education. Ratings for generic job satisfaction items were overall high, e.g. 'financial security': mean (SD) importance 6.2 (0.9), realisation 5.7 (1.2). Research-related items were rated of high to moderate importance and moderate to low realisation, e.g. 'support to develop into a researcher role': mean (SD) importance 4.4 (2.0), realisation 3.2 (2.0); 'contributing to research projects': importance 4.4 (1.9), realisation 3.1 (2.0). For all research-related items importance was rated significantly higher (p<0.001) than realisation, with effect sizes ranging from small (r=-0.17) to medium (r=-0.33).
Discussion: On average, physiotherapists in this sample considered opportunities to become involved in scientific research to be important, but less so than generic aspects of job satisfaction. Importance of research-related aspects was consistently rated greater than their realisation. A study limitation relates to the sampling strategy, resulting in a self-selected convenience sample with possible prior interest in research. The sample represents 4.0% of 14,705 state-registered physiotherapists in Austria.
Conclusion: There is scope for developing research opportunities for practising physiotherapists in Austria to facilitate linkage between the clinical and scientific domains, and to ultimately benefit patient care.