ABSTRACT To determine the stability of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the nosocomial setting, we analyzed isolates from long-term carriers (>1 month) and from patients involved in well-defined nosocomial epidemics. The number of fragment differences between the first isolate and subsequent isolates in long-term carriers showed a bimodal distribution, with one group having 0 to 6 fragment differences and the other group having 14 to 24 fragment differences. The PFGE patterns of isolates involved in epidemics also presented a similar bimodal distribution of the number of fragment differences. Typing these isolates with another molecular method (inter-IS256 PCR) showed that isolates of the first group (i.e., with 1 to 6 fragment differences) were clonally related, whereas the second group (with 14 to 24 fragment differences) could be considered genetically different. Among long-term carriers with clonally related isolates, 74 of 84 (88%) of consecutive isolates showed indistinguishable patterns, whereas 10 of 84 (12%) showed related patterns differing by one to six fragments. Moreover, the frequency of apparition of related patterns is higher when the time between the first and the subsequent isolate is longer. During seven nosocomial epidemics lasting from 1 to 15 months, only 2 of 120 isolates (1.7%) showed a pattern which was different, although related, from the predominant one involved in each of these outbreaks.


This study examines the impact of social capital on the export success of domestic SMEs
in Vietnam, looking at both export propensity (whether they export at all) and export
performance (how much they export). Two stylized facts inspire the research. The first is
the relatively modest performance of Vietnamese SMEs in export activities to date,
despite their potential and increasing importance in the economy. The second is the
widespread perception within Vietnam about the power of social relationships of firms in
the Vietnamese business environment.
This study uses a mixed methods approach, combining a qualitative thematic
analysis of semi-structured interviews of SME owners/managers with quantitative testing
of hypotheses on a secondary panel dataset from 2007 to 2015. Logistic regression models
were employed to test hypotheses related to export propensity and multiple linear
regressions were used to test those related to export performance.
The results indicate that social capital is positively related to export propensity of
domestic SMEs, but that its impacts on their export performance are not consistent. Each
type of network impacts differently on export performance indicators of the studied SMEs
(positive, negative and sometimes non-significant). Similarly, the qualitative study
provides evidence that social capital supports SMEs in the initial stage of their export
venture, but not their continuous export sustainability. One of the significant findings to
emerge from the qualitative study is that the impact channels of social capital on SMEs'
export success may have changed from relying on rent-seeking opportunities provided by
close connections with authorities towards being a tool for improving credibility and
building capability for SMEs.
This study highlights the importance of establishing an appropriate networking
strategy for SMEs who wish to pursue export ventures. It suggests that, if SMEs aim at
long-term export success, they may need to diversify their networks, including business
networks and social networks, both domestically and internationally, rather than focus on
connections with politicians and authorities. This is because the expected benefits from
rent appropriation in export activities will eventually diminish as a more transparent
system is put in place. Hence, SMEs should utilize their networks to improve their
knowledge, credibility and capability, which help in enhancing their long-term
competitiveness. The present study also implies that the government and relevant trade associations, in supporting SMEs to participate successfully in the international market,
may need to focus on long-term network building and capacity-building activities.


Abstract The Law of One Price (LOP) is important to models of international trade and exchange rate determination. This study investigates a variant of the LOP applied to developed and developing countries. The competing hypotheses are (1) that one price prevails in both developed and developing countries and (2) that one price prevails in developed countries and another single price in developing countries. Using data from an internationally competitive commodity (soybean meal), we found evidence favors the first hypothesis, although two large developing countries under study are active participants in regional trade integration, which may bias them against the first hypothesis.


The media forges a direct link between the public and emergency organizations and plays a very important role in disseminating vital information to the public before, during and after disasters. The media assists in the management of disasters by educating the public about disasters; warningm of hazards; gathering and transmitting information about affected areas; alerting government officials, relief organizations and the public to specific needs; and facilitating discussions about disaster preparedness and response for continuous improvement. To help the media fulfill these roles, direct working relationships between the media and disaster management organizations should be established and maintained. Experience shows that regular interactions with the mediabefore a disaster strikes, aids the effective flow of information and lays the groundwork for effective working relationships in the aftermath of a disaster. 1 The Press Day on November 16, 2000 was observed with the theme of "Role of Media in Disaster Management – Preparing People to Cope with Disasters." A National Seminar was organised at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, whichwas inaugurated by the President of India. In his inaugural address, the Hon'ble President emphasized the need for disseminating preparedness aspects of disaster management among all sections of society and making special provisions for the more vulnerable sections of the community viz. women and children.


In this work I argue that UNESCO intangible heritage inscriptions discursively root fluid and moveable food traditions in place. The nomination forms for the French gastronomic meal and Mexican traditional cuisine reign in the symbolic meaning of their food traditions through the process of definition and description, connecting them to territory, national history, and kinship in order to promote fixed and essentialized national culinary identities.

Through an examination of the nominations submitted by each respective Member State, I show how the intangible becomes tangible and how this tangibility serves to assuage anxieties over contamination, the dissolution of the nation state, and the fading away of historical narratives. Embedding and fixing these traditions within place portrays the nation as a site of agency with a unique (and, more problematically, fixed) cultural identity. Taking on solid form, these traditions also come to narrate collective pasts, providing a place for those in the present as cultural protectors and propagators.


This paper correlates the magnetic properties of iron-oxide nanoparticles in the size range 5-18 nm with the occurring heating loss mechanisms when magnetic nanoparticle colloidal suspensions are subjected to high-frequency ac magnetic fields. The narrow size distribution of the nanoparticles enabled their clear classification into: 1) the superparamagnetic region (as large as 10 nm) where heating is mainly attributed to Neel relaxation; 2) the intermediate superparamagnetic-ferromagnetic transition region (10-13 nm); and 3) the ferromagnetic region (above 13 nm) where hysteresis losses dominate. The results from specific loss power measurements suggest that for size and concentration optimization, superparamagnetic nanoparticles may release significant amounts of heat to the surroundings, while the hysteresis losses mechanism appears to be much more efficient and the heat transfer provided through may be easier tuned for magnetically driven hyperthermia applications.


Stone is often regarded as the ideal medium for the long-term preservation of knowledge, as it is resistant to change. Early to middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey has repeatedly been treated as a prime example for such external memorial storage in durable stone. The present paper challenges this view. A close examination of pillars and their reliefs in Building F reveals the fluid character of imagery with repeated and frequent phases of erasure and re-making. It is argued that it is not the durability of stone that made it suitable for the preservation of 'cultural memory', but the possibility to re-shape the image carriers continuously over a long period of time, which resulted in processes of transmission, learning and memorization.


Recent real-world deployments of Stackelberg security games make it critical that we address human adversaries' bounded rationality in computing optimal strategies. To that end, this paper provides three key contributions: (i) new efficient algorithms for computing optimal strategic solutions using Prospect Theory and Quantal Response Equilibrium; (ii) the most comprehensive experiment to date studying the effectiveness of different models against human subjects for security games; and (iii) new techniques for generating representative payoff structures for behavioral experiments in generic classes of games. Our results with human subjects show that our new techniques outperform the leading contender for modeling human behavior in security games.


The traditional house is able to adapt the climate around them and it can reduce the burden of energy use to adjust the comfort of occupants. The development pattern of occupants' activity adjusts to a modern life that indirectly affects the function and condition of the building. This gives rise to a new phenomenon, whether development sheath openings in buildings can still meet the needs of lighting for the activity of the occupants. This research was conducted with the aim to clarify and identify the deployment sheath openings in buildings on the performance of natural lighting in Betang House. The method experiment with the help simulation is used to find a causal relationship from deployment sheath openings in Betang House building performance against natural lighting. The experiment is conducted with the simulation using Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2011. The final result of the research indicates deployment openings in the facade have natural lighting performance that already meet the standards of the lighting for the activity. Deployment openings with the addition of extents openings could increase illuminantion and daylight factor space by 10% and 14%, but the value of the resulting illuminantion uniformity is not too high. The addition of height can increase the value of daylight factor of 13%. The ratio of lighting uniformity additional height opening is higher, but that resulted being lower illuminantion 0.3%. Rumbak tahansengan deployment at facade can improve the ratio of the lighting uniformity for activity up to 9.6%.


Sample-average approximations (SAA) are a practical means of finding approximate solutions of stochastic programming problems involving an extremely large (or infinite) number of scenarios. SAA can also be used to find estimates of a lower bound on the optimal objective value of the true problem which, when coupled with an upper bound, provides confidence intervals for the true optimal objective value and valuable information about the quality of the approximate solutions. Specifically, the lower bound can be estimated by solving multiple SAA problems (each obtained using a particular sampling method) and averaging the obtained objective values. State-of-the-art methods for lower-bound estimation generate batches of scenarios for the SAA problems independently. In this paper, we describe sampling methods that produce negatively dependent batches, thus reducing the variance of the sample-averaged lower bound estimator and increasing its usefulness in defining a confidence interval for the optimal objective value. We provide conditions under which the new sampling methods can reduce the variance of the lower bound estimator, and present computational results to verify that our scheme can reduce the variance significantly, by comparison with the traditional Latin hypercube approach.


This article explores some common themes that emerge in the therapy of traumatised children where memory of significant events in their lives is not consciously or verbally available to them or the therapist. Children may initially present layered pictures and/or play repetitive scenarios either in the sand tray or with toys. The layered pictures are gradually unpacked in therapy as trust and a sense of containment develop. The play is at first unusual in that it has little accompanying emotion and is told as a story that often peters out with no clear ending. Events in the therapy room between child and therapist or sometimes events in the child's life outside the therapy may be a catalyst for moments of re-living the trauma which is given words and becomes available to be thought about together and then the presenting symptoms ease. These themes will be demonstrated through discussion of the therapy of a boy age seven. Those who work with children in areas of inner city deprivation and social exclusion will be familiar with this kind of presentation. His struggles with traumatic memory and to achieve an active sense of self emerging from a protective relationship with his mother will be discussed with particular attention to the changing transference initially to the images, in play to the therapist as maternal object and to the therapist as paternal object. This article follows on other recent writing exploring images and enactments in therapeutic relationships (Case 2009; Case 2009a submitted for publication). Key words: bereavement, layered pictures, haunted houses, memory, repetitive play, enactments, domestic violence, maternal depression


In both the hardware and the software domains, non-canonical circuit-based state set representations have recently been the subject of intensive investigations. One of the limiting factors of these representations has been the difficulty to control their size during key operations. For example, existentially and universally quantifying a variable implies doubling the circuit size in the worst case. In this paper, we present a probabilistic approach to keep under control the size of circuit-based representations when manipulating them. Every time a formula is becoming too cumbersome, we estimate it instead of building the exact result. The nature of the estimate, i.e., under- or over-approximation, depends on the problem that is being computed. The key idea of this process is to boost the expressiveness of the formula, delivering a dense representation, i.e., a formula compact in size but more expressive for the given verification problem. Experimental results show decisive reductions in terms of circuit size, and an increase in terms of density, i.e., the ratio between the cardinality of the on-set of a formula and the size of its representation. We applied the strategy to Bounded Model Checkingm, and circuit-based backward Unbounded Model Checking. We present experimental results from applying the approach to hard-to-solve verification instances. We observed speedups of more than one order of magnitude in some cases.


OBJECTIVE To set up a large scale sequencing system and explore the gene expression profiles of CD(34)(+) hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs). METHODS CD(34)(+) cells were isolated from umbilical cord blood and subjected to cDNA library construction. A primary profile of gene expression in HSPCs was emerged by EST sequencing and bioinformatics analyzing. RESULTS Among 9,866 ESTs thus obtained, 7 476 meaningful ESTs were clustered into 2,060 unique sequence species (USSs), representing 1,054 known gene species and 1,006 unknown gene fragments. The 1054 known genes were divided into 8 categories: (1) hematopoiesis associated: 73, (2) chromatin structure and cell division/apoptosis: 91, (3) signal transduction and receptors: 111, (4) cell structure/mobility: 48, (5) cell/organism defense/homeostasis: 41; (6) Gene expression (transcription, translation and modification): 265, (7) metabolism: 192; and (8) unclassified: 233. CONCLUSION A gene expression profile including 1,054 known genes and 1006 new gene fragments of HSPCs was primarily obtained, which may lay a basis for the further study on the molecular mechanism of hematopoiesis regulation and provide candidates for new gene cloning.


ABSTRACT In 2005 Rev. Michael Roden, the vicar at Church of England church of St Mary's in Hitchin (a small town about 30 miles north of London) was invited to India to give a series of sermons to Indian Church of England congregations. He was struck during his visit by the scars in Indian society that he thought were the remnants of Partition's aftermath. His visit set him thinking about the ways in which Partition has shaped British as well as Indian and Pakistani society, and about how little people in the UK know about the calamitous results of British policy at the time of decolonization. In particular, he wondered about why it was the case that Partition had never been taught in schools in the UK, and why children were coming out of school with no understanding of the forces which had created a multi-cultural society in the UK over the course of the twentieth century. Reverend Roden contacted the University of Cambridge's Centre of South Asian Studies and set in train a series of events that would lead to Partition being included in the curriculum of all Church of England schools in England and Wales. This process was to engage politicians, academics, playwrights, television companies and members of the general public. It would lead to more than teaching in the classroom – a swathe of television documentaries, for example, were broadcast around he 70th anniversary of Partition in 2017, providing information about a part of the shared UK/South Asian past which has been largely neglected in Britain. Alongside this process, the Centre of South Asian Studies also prepared an exhibition of materials from its own archive collections which ran from August 2017 and drew in thousands of visitors. This paper will examine the ways in which the process of presenting Partition to the people of the UK was fashioned and followed, and the nature of the output which resulted from it, looking at the ways in which academe can interact with public opinion and public knowledge in meaningful and positive ways.


A method of handling a wind turbine blade (23) and mounting said blade (23) on a wind turbine hub (29) located at a nacelle at the top of a wind turbine tower is provided. Said method comprises the steps of:
a) lifting the wind turbine blade (23) with a lifting system for handling wind turbine blades (23), in doing so said wind turbine blade (23) being oriented in a substantially horizontal position;
b) fixing the wind turbine blade (23) in the substantially horizontal position to the wind turbine hub (29);
c) releasing the lifting device from the blade (23) using a remote control unit; and
d) removing the lifting device from the blade (23).


The timing-based localization, which utilize the triangulation principle with the different arrival time of gammaray photons, with a fleet of Cubesats is a unique and powerful solution for the future all-sky gamma-ray observation, which is a key for identification of the electromagnetic counterpart of the gravitational wave sources. The Cubesats Applied for MEasuring and Localising Transients (CAMELOT) mission is now being promoted by the Hungarian and Japanese collaboration with a basic concept of the nine Cubesats constellations in low earth orbit. The simulation framework for estimation of the localization capability has been developed including orbital parameters, an algorithm to estimate the expected observed profile of gamma-ray photons, finding the peak of the cross-correlation function, and a statistical method to find a best-fit position and its uncertainty. It is revealed that a degree-scale localization uncertainty can be achieved by the CAMELOT mission concept for bright short gamma-ray bursts, which could be covered by future large field of view ground-based telescopes. The new approach utilizing machine-learning approach is also investigated to make the procedure automated for the future large scale constellations. The trained neural network with 106 simulated light curves generated by the artificial short burst templates successfully predicts the time-delay of the real light curve and achieves a comparable performance to the cross-correlation algorithm with full automated procedures.


The case of a 14-year-old girl who had severe subarachnoid bleeding as the first manifestation of a benign astrocytic tumor of the lateral aspect of the third ventricle is reported. Tumors that cause bleeding are usually neuroectodermal tumors in children and malignant tumors in adults. A review of the literature serves as the basis for a discussion of the frequency of bleeding as the first manifestation of brain tumors (1 to 10%) and of the pathogenesis of these hemorragies for which three theories (vascular, mechanical, and metabolic) have been put forward.


The Quality Index is a useful tool allowing to assess the metallurgical quality of aluminium AlSiMg foundry alloys (AlSi7Mg03/AlSi7Mg06, or A356/357 in North America). Its value, calculated from the ultimate tensile strength and elongation, increases with the metallurgical quality of the casting, i.e. with finer dendrites, lower microporosity, lower iron content and cleaner metal. This Quality Index does not depend on the degree of temper applied during the heat treatment (aging time and temperature). This paper will briefly explain how solidification modeling can provide the local value of the Quality Index, via the secondary dendrite arm spacing and level of microporisity calculated from the predicted values of the local solidification time and solidus velocity. The validity of the predictions has been assessed against the properties of tensile specimens excised from parts of different geometries produced by a variety of casting processes, as reported in the literature. The case study of a race car bell housing poured by two processes, namely gravity sand casting (GSC) and low pressure die casting (LPDC, or LPPM for Low Pressure Permanent Mold in North America), will be the focus of the present paper. The Quality Index has been measured and predicted at 3 locations in the castings after a T6 temper was applied which resulted in a minimum elongation of 5% for both the GDC and LPDC bell housings. Metallographic examination and image analysis allowed to quantify the superior metallurgical quality of the LPDC housings when compared to their GDC competitors.


Alternatively to using time-consuming Monte-Carlo simulations the irradiation at a target plane can also be calculated by differential optics methods. In the case of caustics, these methods yield to infinite irradiance and its results are not directly comparable to those of Monte-Carlo simulations. In this paper, a differential based algorithm for an on axis point source and a rotationally symmetric optical system is presented, which yields to the same results as a Monte-Carlo simulation. However, the differential optical methods are about three orders of magnitude faster than the latter one, thus allowing fast trial and error design of such kind of illumination systems. An applet is presented that uses sliders to change the shape of the lens and other properties of the illumination system whereas the irradiance profile is nearly immediately perceived. For beginners in the field, this does not only accelerate the design process itself but also the learning process is improved considerably. Some extensions and special cases are shortly discussed.


Computational thinking is to use heuristic reasoning to seek the solution of the problem, and has a strong ability to innovate. In the teaching of computer courses, it is one of the important subjects of teaching research to cultivate students' computational thinking ability. The traditional teaching model ignores the cognitive role of the students, which is not conducive to the cultivation of students' innovative thinking and creative ability. Blending learning is an inevitable trend of development in the field of higher education, and a hot research topic in the field of education. Inspired by "Database Principles" course model at University of Missouri, Kansas City, a multi-dimensional blending learning flipped class model of computer courses in colleges and universities based on students' computational thinking ability is proposed to construct teaching model and design theoretical and practical teaching system and diversified teaching process evaluation system. In the course of "Database Principles", the teaching practice is carried out to verify the teaching effect.


Despite the considerable progress that has been made over recent years, wound healing remains a challenge to many clinicians regardless of professional discipline or experience. This paper aims to evaluate the literature concerned with the implementation of evidence-based wound management. It shows that wound care research is badly designed, resulting in a lack of good quality research findings to underpin clinical practice. Many barriers exist preventing effective implementation of evidence. These need to be removed to improve the utilisation of evidence-based wound care.


The YKL condensate gas reservoir is one of the biggest condensate gas reservoirs in China and has been developed more than 10years. At present, the combination of subdivision layer, production speed optimization and horizontal well drilling has been the key to economically unlocking the vast reserves of the YKL condensate gas. The primary recovery factor, however, remains rather low due to high capillary trapping and water invasion. While primary depletion could result in low gas recovery, CO2 flooding provides a promising option for increasing the recovery factor.
 The objective of this work is to verify and evaluate the effect supercritical CO2 on enhancing gas recovery and analyze the feasibility of CO2 enhance gas recovery (CO2 EGR) of condensate gas reservoir.
 Firstly, novel phase behavior experimental procedures and phase equilibrium evaluation methodology for gas-condensate phase system mixed with supercritical CO2 with high temperature were presented. A unique phase behavior phenomena was also reported. Then, CO2 floodingmechanism in condensate gas reservoir was analyzed and clarified based on experiments. Finally, a series of numerical simulation work were conducted as an effective and economical means to maximize natural gas recovery with the lowest CO2 breakthrough by varying strategies, including CO2 injection rate, injection composition, andinjection timing. Meanwhile the CO2 storage volumes of different strategies were calculated.
 The results show that higher gas recovery factor can be achieved with CO2 injection through appearing interphase between two fluids, maintaining reservoir pressure, driving gas like "cushion" and controlling water invasion. All strategies have moderate to significant effects on gas production. The control of injection and production ratio needs to be balanced between pressure transient and CO2 breakthrough over the producer to obtain the maximum gas production. The varying injection pressure shows a positive effect of enhancing gas production. Numerical simulation indicated that the recovery of gas reservoir was improved by around 10 percent. The total CO2 storage would be around 30-40% HCPV.
 The research showed that CO2 flooding presents a technically promising method for recovering the vast condensate gas while extensively reducing greenhouse gas emissions.


Between 1969 and 1982 8 patients of ours were operated on for gallstone ileus. Signs found in the preoperative x-ray examination indicating this condition are analyzed retrospectively. The frequency and specificity of the x-ray signs found in the abdominal survey radiograph are compared with those reported in the literature. The value of oral contrast media administration in the detection of a cholecystointestinal fistula and localization of the obstruction is discussed.


The OECD Water Governance Principles provide a guideline for good water governance. However, these principles can conflict with each other when applied in practice. This contribution aims to understand which dilemmas arise and how such conflicts play out. It is explored in an in-depth case study on Dutch flood risk management in which conflicts between the principles emerge when applied to flood risk management practice. Interviews with water managers were used to collect data on which principles contradict each other and how these conflicts work out in practice. The study reveals that although the principles seem obvious, some principles indeed clash when applying them, while others do not lead to conflicts. Principles on efficiency, trust, and engagement have high potential for conflicts.


Abstract The formation of an air gap has been experimentally studied during solidification of several aluminium based alloys. Air gap widths and temperature distribution have been measured during solidification in a cylindrical mould. The effect of grain refinement on heat transfer and air gap formation has been studied. Mathematical modelling has been performed to increase the understanding of the solidification process and air gap formation. A model was developed for description of air gap formation in alloys solidifying with varying solidification intervals. The model includes the effect of formation and condensation of lattice defects on the solidification process and air gap formation. The calculated shrinkage using this model shows good agreement with the experimental data.


The retinotopic organization, position, and functional responsiveness of some early visual cortical areas in human and non-human primates are consistent with their being homologous structures. The organization of other areas remains controversial. A critical debate concerns the potential human homologue of macaque area V4, an area very responsive to colored images: specifically, whether human V4 is divided between ventral and dorsal components, as in the macaque, or whether human V4 is confined to one ventral area. We used fMRI to define these areas retinotopically in human and to test the impact of image color on their responsivity. We found a robust preference for full-color movie segments over a luminance-matched achromatic version in ventral V4 but little or no preference in the vicinity of the putative dorsal counterpart. Contrary to previous reports that visual field coverage in the ventral part of V4 is deficient without the dorsal part, we found that coverage in ventral V4 extended to the lower vertical meridian, including the entire contralateral hemifield. Together these results provide evidence against a dorsal component of human V4. Instead, they are consistent with human V4 being a single, ventral region that is sensitive to the chromatic components of images.


We employed the autoregressive distributed lag [ARDL] model. This was estimated based on the Bound co-integration technique. We indeed attempted to shed light to relationship between human capital development and economic growth in Nigeria.  Thus, while it cannot be concluded that human capital development has significant contribution to economic growth in Nigeria because both variables of education and health were not found to be jointly significant, it can be concluded that education has contributed significantly and positively to economic growth in Nigeria in the long run. The finding thus holds that education is a catalyst for influencing economic growth in Nigeria. This finding is in line with theory. Therefore, policymakers should take imperative steps in embarking on strategic education in Nigeria with emphasis on secondary schools. Key words: Human capital, GDP growth, Nigeria, ARDL model, education, health


Transplantation is the replacement for therapeutic purposes of organs, tissues, cellular material for a human, usually donated from another living or dead human. In recent years organ transplantation has been developed by medical surgical technology and immunosuppressive drugs. Due to the frequency of transplants that are performed it is common to treat transplant patients in the dental office to receive stomatological treatment.
Objective: Review of literature regarding oral manifestations in transplant patients and stomatological treatment before and after transplantation.
Material and methods: Literature articles that were obtained from the PubMed and MedLine databases were reviewed.
Results and conclusion: We describe the most common oral manifestations due to drugs in transplant patients (viral, bacterial, fungal infections, gingival alterations, xerostomia) and the stomatological treatment that transplant patients should receive before and after being transplanted.


Semantic browser technologies such as Magpie require the construction of lexicons to support the identification of terms in Web pages which are linked to a user's chosen ontology. We frame the generation of such lexicons from ontologies as a problem of finding synonyms and hyponyms. Synonym finding using the hypothesis of semantic substitutability relies upon the discovery of patterns in which the target word occurs. Information extraction has the potential to find a range of patterns in text. We present a methodology for finding synonyms for inclusion in lexicons in this way and preliminary tests of the method using standard tools.


The Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris has progressively expanded its range in South Africa since its introduction into Cape Town in the late 19th century. In the past few decades it has extended this range into Gauteng province. Using data from the Southern African Bird Atlas Project 2, this paper examines the spread and relative abundance changes for the species across South Africa over the past 10 years, with a detailed look at the recently-colonised Gauteng. Across South Africa, the Common Starling's distribution has shifted, and grown. As it spreads north along the coastline and northwards inland, some of the former range has been lost. In Gauteng, the species has shown a range and abundance expansion over the same period. If the observed trends are to continue, this species is likely to eventually become a prominent species across the entire country, and further north into the sub-region. However, the potential impact that this species has on indigenous avifauna is unknown and, in the face of rapid anthropogenic change, remains to be investigated.


BACKGROUND: There has been a recent surge of interest in exploiting the process of reconsolidation to weaken maladaptive memories, in the hope this will drive the next wave of innovation in psychotherapy. Reconsolidation normally functions to stabilise and maintain memories in the long-term, and is critical in enabling memory updating. However, this process can be disrupted pharmacologically to weaken memories, or harnessed to allow destructive interference of a memory trace. Work has already begun to exploit this mechanism to disrupt pavlovian fear memories in the treatment of maladaptive anxiety and threat processing, and additionally being able to target instrumental memories may provide further clinical benefit. METHODS: Expanding our rat intravenous (i.v.) self-administration paradigm, we tested whether disruption of instrumental memory reconsolidation with the non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist MK-801 could reduce relapse of cocaine seeking in response to stress, drug-priming or presentation of a drug-associated cue. RESULTS: Spontaneous responding for i.v. cocaine was reduced by reconsolidation-disruption. Furthermore, responding was not rescued by pharmacologically-induced stress. However, responding was restored following systemic administration of the drug, or presentation of a drug-associated cue. CONCLUSIONS: These data are consistent with hypothesis that there exist multiple routes to relapse, and suggest that at least some of these routes could be blocked by reconsolidation-disruption. This work provides important proof-of-principle that reconsolidation based therapies are a viable means of reducing the rates of relapse in substance use disorders.


A V-trough PV system with polysilicon cell array and super cell array has been constructed and tested. Open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, output power, fill factor and influence of temperature on V-trough PV concentration system have been analyzed. The results indicate that the output power of 10 pieces of polysilicon cell array is 6.198W and it is 1.21 times as that of non-concentration condition. Maximum output power of V-trough PV system with water cooling increase to 8.28W and power increment rate reach 62.67% compared with the non-concentration PV system. For the super cell array with no water cooling, the maximum output power of V-trough PV system varies from 7.834W to 14.223W. The results of this work provide some experimental support to the applications of the V-trough PV system.


This paper presents results from field tests of the CDMA system developed by Qualcomm, Incorporated. The CDMA system, now EIA/TIA digital standard IS-95, has undergone extensive field tests since its early inception. The latest series of technical tests was conducted in San Diego, California by Qualcomm in cooperation with several cellular carriers and equipment manufacturers during the month of August 1993. The goals of the tests were to provide an accurate measure of the capacity of the system, to validate the standard with compliant equipment, and finally to aid service providers in understanding the tradeoff of system parameters as large CDMA cellular networks begin to be deployed.<<ETX>>


BACKGROUND
A causal association links high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) and cervical cancer, which is a major public health problem. The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between male circumcision (MC) and the prevalence of HR-HPV among young men.

METHODS
We used data from a MC trial conducted in Orange Farm, South Africa, among men aged 18-24 years. Urethral swab samples were collected during a period of 262 consecutive days from participants in the intervention (circumcised) and control (uncircumcised) groups who were reporting for a scheduled follow-up visit. Swab samples were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction. HR-HPV prevalence rate ratios (PRRs) were assessed using univariate and multivariate log Poisson regression.

RESULTS
In an intention-to-treat analysis, the prevalences of HR-HPV among the intervention and control groups were 14.8% (94/637) and 22.3% (140/627), respectively, with a PRR of 0.66 (0.51-0.86) (P = .002). Controlling for propensity score and confounders (ethnic group, age, education, sexual behavior [including condom use], marital status, and human immunodeficiency virus status) had no effect on the results.

CONCLUSIONS
This is the first randomized controlled trial to show a reduction in the prevalence of urethral HR-HPV infection after MC. This finding explains why women with circumcised partners are at a lower risk of cervical cancer than other women.


A healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of cardio-vascular disease. As wheelchair-bound individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) are challenged in their activities, promoting and coaching an active lifestyle is especially relevant. Although there are many commercial activity trackers available for the able-bodied population, including those providing feedback about energy expenditure (EE), activity trackers for the SCI population are largely lacking, or are limited to a small set of activities performed in controlled settings. The aims of the present study were to develop and validate an algorithm based on inertial measurement unit (IMU) data to continuously monitor EE in wheelchair-bound individuals with a SCI, and to establish reference activity values for a healthy lifestyle in this population. For this purpose, EE was measured in 30 subjects each wearing four IMUs during 12 different physical activities, randomly selected from a list of 24 activities of daily living. The proposed algorithm consists of three parts: resting EE estimation based on multi-linear regression, an activity classification using a k-nearest-neighbors algorithm, and EE estimation based on artificial neural networks (ANNs). The mean absolute estimation error for the ANN-based algorithm was 14.4% compared to indirect calorimeter measurements. Based on reference values from the literature and the data collected within this study, we recommend wheeling 3 km per day for a healthy lifestyle in wheelchair-bound SCI individuals. Combining the proposed algorithm with a recommendation for physical activity provides a powerful tool for the promotion of an active lifestyle in the SCI population, thereby reducing the risk for secondary diseases.


The employment of 3D Virtual World (VW) platforms in an educational field is an emerging phenomenon that enlarges the concept of learning environments, providing users technology that creates an immersive learning experience. This is one of the main reasons for the selection of a 3D VW platform for the development of an innovative and motivating tool under an umbrella of a V-ALERT project. The project aims to support the establishment of Information Security culture through providing awareness and facilitating learning process using the developed 3D Virtual World Learning Environment (VWLE). The provision of recommendations to users within 3D VWLE is a novel research field and to the best of our knowledge there are no publications in the field. This paper aims to provide an insight into the design and development of a context-aware recommendation in the V-ALERT 3D VWLE that considers available relevant information such as the context, user (learner) individual characteristics and user history to provide personalized content to assist the user during the learning activities. The paper also offers results of pilot usability evaluations which will be taken under consideration in the final, redesigned version of the 3D VWLE.


The incidence of candidiasis meningitis in infants has lately increased. This required choosing of the dose and regimen for the use of amphotericin B, the only drug effective in the treatment of generalized mycoses. The antibiotic levels in the blood and CSF were determined in 14 infants at various periods after discontinuation of intravenous drip infusion of amphotericin B. It was shown that the therapeutic concentrations of the antibiotic in the blood were attained when it was administered in a dose of 120-200 units/kg twice a day. For attaining the therapeutic concentrations of the antibiotic in the CSF, daily endolumbar administration of amphotericin B in a dose more than 10 units in addition to its intravenous drip infusions was required. Therefore, the tactics of amphotericin B use in the treatment of candidiasis meningitis in infants was developed.


A frequency modulation broadcast station trainer was developed to expose the students to the basic equipment needed in radio broadcasting. The cost of portable FM broadcast trainer is much lower than the cost of the traditional commercially available equipment because of the materials used. The FM broadcast trainer is laboratory equipment that can be used by schools offering academic programs in industrial courses specifically Electronics and Communication Technology courses. At present there is no portable FM broadcast station available in the local market. Some schools are reluctant to buy new FM station equipments since these are quite costly nowadays. To resolve this problem, the researchers deemed that it is necessary to design and develop a portable FM broadcast trainer that is simple and affordable to fulfil the basic curricular requirements for offering courses in Electronics and Communications Technician at Bulacan State University. This is a requirement for the graduates to qualify to take the Radio Telephone Operator examination given by the National Telecommunication Commission, the telecommunication body in the Philippines counterpart of Federal Communication Commission in the US. Aside from this, the station will be a venue for mass communications students and a vehicle for channelling important announcement from the school.


Due to population growth and urban congestion, the space available for the development of public infrastructure is sharply decreasing. Engineers are therefore resorting to the efficient use of underground space, which involves the construction of tunnels and other underground structures. Many such projects will be located in rock/soil with time-dependent behavior or under high overburden pressure. Thus, under such stress conditions, there may be a need for a deformable supporting system that can serve as a buffer layer to protect tunnel linings from time-dependent deformations of the excavated rock/soil. This paper investigates the use of cement mortars containing crumb recycled tire rubber to develop a flexible interface material for such applications. The effects of the w/c ratio, rubber content, and particle size on the mechanical properties of rubber filled mortars were studied using uniaxial and triaxial compression tests. A statistical factorial experimental plan was designed to obtain response surfaces for the parameters under study. A model tunnel was made, instrumented, and tested in a specially designed pressure cell under hydrostatic pressure to investigate the effect of using flexible rubber-filled mortar layers around tunnel linings on the development of stresses. The findings of this research suggest that cement mortars containing crumb tire rubber have superior ductility and may be used to accommodate deformations around tunnel linings, pipelines, and other buried infrastructure.


A physical model is formulated to evaluate the steady temperature field of honeycomb-core panel. The model takes into account the coupled effect of aerothermal heating and radiate energy from front and rear plate and honeycomb thermal conduction. The equations that are established based on the model are solved in numerical method and the equivalent thermal conductivity is obtained. The model is also used to investigate the effect of coming fluid and the geometric parameters of honeycomb structure on the TPS capacity.


We studied the potential benefit of using artificial neural networks (ANNs) for the diagnosis of thyroid function. We examined two types of ANN architecture and assessed their robustness in the face of diagnostic noise. The thyroid function data we used had previously been studied by multivariate statistical methods and a variety of pattern-recognition techniques. The total data set comprised 392 cases that had been classified according to both thyroid function and 19 clinical categories. All cases had a complete set of results of six laboratory tests (total thyroxine, free thyroxine, triiodothyronine, triiodothyronine uptake test, thyrotropin, and thyroxine-binding globulin). This data set was divided into subsets used for training the networks and for testing their performance; the test subsets contained various proportions of cases with diagnostic noise to mimic real-life diagnostic situations. The networks studied were a multilayer perceptron trained by back-propagation, and a learning vector quantization network. The training data subsets were selected according to two strategies: either training data based on cases with extreme values for the laboratory tests with randomly selected nonextreme cases added, or training cases from very pure functional groups. Both network architectures were efficient irrespective of the type of training data. The correct allocation of cases in test data subsets was 96.4-99.7% when extreme values were used for training and 92.7-98.8% when only pure cases were used.


The National Geographic Society did an excellent job on developing these captioned filmstrips and showing realistic pictures of the environment. Cassettes are included, and booklets provide supplementary notes in addition to each captioned frame. Saving Our Planet introduces the causes of environmental damages and ways that people can preserve the land, water, and air. Two filmstrips, "Saving Our Land" and "Saving Our Air And Water," are included under this title. Discovering the Powers of Nature introduces the natural forces that change the earth's surface and atmosphere. Three filmstrips are included: "Earthquakes And Volcanoes," "Weather And People," and "Forest Fires And Flood."


The authors present a technique of palliative treatment of trapezius paralysis after injury to the spinal accessory nerve. The transfer of the levator scapulae associated, or not, with the rhomboid minor allows regression of functional signs and a return to normal function of the shoulder. Five cases are exposed, with results ranging from 3 months to 15 years.


Introduction Evidence suggests that most patients want to die at home, however most die in hospital. Aim To identify specific action points to facilitate more patients to achieve home death, should they wish to do so. Methods A two-step study design was adopted. A systematic literature review (SLR) and primary qualitative data collection. In the SLR 3241 papers were retrieved. 72 articles remained after screening and filtering processes. Qualitative articles were analysed using meta-ethnography and quantitative articles were analysed using a descriptive approach. 33 in-depth interviews were conducted with experts in end-of-life care delivery, with approval from Imperial College Research Ethics Committee. Thematic Analysis of interview transcripts was conducted. The results from both the SLR and primary data collection were then amalgamated to produce a set of overarching barriers and facilitators. Subsequently, action points were produced to overcome the barriers and facilitators identified. Results Ten action points were identified to enable patients to achieve home death. These action points include: 'coordinate services' and 'evaluate the efficiency of current resource allocation to enhance quality'. Conclusions By implementing these ten action points, the barriers to achieving home death would be dissolved, allowing patients to die in their preferred location. However, it is important to acknowledge that these action points are both time-consuming and potentially financially straining to achieve. Consequently, further research is required to identify how susceptible these action points are to implementation, prioritising those with the greatest impact.


The effects of ionizing radiation (electron beam) on poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) were studied by analyzing changes in viscosity-average and weight-average molecular weight and radius of gyration, and by performing sol-gel analysis and swelling tests. Samples were irradiated under various conditions: solid and molten PCL in the presence or absence of air. The overall efficiency of crosslinking is higher for samples irradiated in the molten state than in the solid state, and is reduced in the presence of oxygen. Based on three kinds of experiments (molecular weight dependence on the dose in the pre-gelation region, sol-gel analysis, and swelling study), radiation-chemical yields of intermolecular crosslinking and scission were determined and are discussed in terms of the mechanism of radiation-induced reactions in PCL. Properties of the gels formed by high-dose irradiation and mechanical properties of irradiated PCL were analyzed. Irradiation causes an increase in the compression modulus of PCL. This process occurs at the pre-gelation stage and continues in the gel-containing system. We have demonstrated, for the first time, that irradiation of solid PCL is accompanied by a pronounced post-effect, which manifests itself by changes in the average molecular weight. EPR data indicate that this effect, at least in part, is caused by the presence of long-lived radicals trapped in the crystalline regions. Irradiation with the sterilizing dose does not cause a statistically significant change in the biocompatibility of PCL after subsequent storage for 79 d, as determined by preliminary osteoblast vitality tests.


When oxygen becomes limiting (hypoxia), mammalian cells respond by increasing transcription of genes that enhance oxygen delivery or that facilitate metabolic adjustment to reduced oxygen availability. The hypoxia-inducible transcription factor HIF-α plays a pivotal role in this adaptive response, and recent work has revealed that HIF-α activity is controlled in part by oxygen-dependent proline hydroxylation, which reduces protein stability. Lando et al. (see the Perspective by Bruick and McKnight) identify asparagine hydroxylation as a second oxygen-dependent protein modification regulating HIF-α activity and show that the critical asparagine target resides in the transactivation domain of HIF-α. Hydroxylation of this asparagine, which occurs under normal oxygen conditions, appears to suppress the transcriptional activity of HIF-α by preventing its interaction with the coactivator protein p300. D. Lando, D. J. Peet, D. A. Whelan, J. J. Gorman, M. L. Whitelaw, Asparagine hydroxylation of the HIF transactivation domain: A hypoxic switch. Science 295, 858-861 (2002). [Abstract] [Full Text] R. K. Bruick, S. L. McKnight, Oxygen sensing gets a second wind. Science 295, 807-808 (2002) [Full Text]


The paper is based on interviews with key informants during a brief field visit inAugust 2012. The researcher returned to the area in Tanzania where he wrote his PhDthesis, starting 20 years ago. The thesis (presented 1996), with the title "Society andEnvironment Eroded" painted a gloomy picture of decreasing soil fertility, soil erosion,overgrazing, and increasing social stratification. Recent brief visits (in 2008, 2009 and2011) pictured an area that had become remarkably greener, with more diversifiedcropping, improvements in the infrastructure, more shops and business, etc. The central theory is Henry Bernstein"s "simple reproduction squeeze" pointingout declining terms of trade for agricultural products as the driving force of agriculturalchange, requiring intensified production. The squeeze hence often results in overuse anddegradation of both natural and human resources. The situation in most of the 1990scould definitely be explained by the "squeeze". The study has three central questions; is the perceived picture of social andecological improvements confirmed when properly investigated? What are the socialstructures behind this seemingly positive development? Is Henry Bernstein"s simplereproduction squeeze still a valid theory to explain the agrarian change in the twovillages? The study confirms the picture of progress both in the agrarian economy and inecological sustainability. When it comes to the reasons behind this change, the resultsindicates that no single factor could be pointed out but that rather a combination offactors such as growth of the national economy, the work of extension and aid anddemographic changes coincide and thereby facilitate the change. Key words: Tanzania, Agrarian change, Deagrarianisation


This section features synopses of pertinent practical publications that appear in pathology journals in the respective sub-specialties. The summaries are mere guidelines and personal opinions of the two authors. The articles selected are diverse but occasionally reflect the authors' bias and are from the more widely read pathology journals. It is not intended to be an assiduous search of every publication in every pathology journal, but more of a general indication of some of the monthly highlights through the eyes of the authors.

Hopefully, these snippets will provide the reader with enough to glean some facts and tips, as well as encourage them to read the entire article if necessary.

Ahmad Z, Qureshi Z, Khurshid A. The practice of histopathology in a developing country: difficulties and challenges; plus a discussion on the terrible disease burden we carry. J Clin Pathol 2009; 62 :97–101.

The next time you have the urge to complain about aspects of our surgical practice in the West, be it volume issues, staffing, salary, teaching, infra-structure (including administration), quality control, or even the autopsy, please read the sobering and humbling experiences of our pathologist colleagues at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Pakistan.

Puppa G, Caneva A, Colombari R. Venous invasion detection in colorectal cancer: which approach, which technique? J Clin Pathol 2009; 62 :102–3.

The authors advocate advance ordering of serial sections to avoid tissue wastage when a block is re-cut.

Clarke B, McCluggage WG. Iatrogenic lesions and artefacts in gynaecological pathology. J Clin Pathol 2009; 62 :104–12.

Another excellent overview of iatrogenic lesions and artefacts in gynaecological pathology. These include mechanical displacements of neoplastic tissue into lymphovascular spaces (see later), thermal artefacts (eg, post-ablation of endometrium or cautery granulomas following endometriosis), chemotherapy-induced tissue changes, and leiomyomata changes secondary to GnRH agonists, to name a few. …


Considers polynomial time testability of combinational circuits generated by input decomposition, especially those generated by the logic synthesis tool FACTOR. First, the complexity of the fault detection problem in this class of circuits is explored using a stuck-at fault model. An O(2/sup k/m) algorithm for detecting a single stuck-at fault is given that is faster than the O(16/sup k/m), previously reported best algorithm proposed by Fujiwara(1990), where k is the number of inputs in a subcircuit and m the number of signal lines in the circuit. Efficient, polynomial time algorithms are described for generating a test set for all single stuck-at faults in the circuit. The basic strategy is to eliminate backtracks during line justification by constructing tables or vector sets in each subcircuit, which makes the fault propagation procedure very simple and eventually results in an efficient test generation procedure. This presentation of efficient polynomial time test generation algorithms for FACTOR-generated circuits is important, since it shows that it is possible to synthesize circuits that are optimized for area and are polynomial time testable at the same time. >


In a multi/many-core system, the network-on-chip (NoC)-based communication backbone is responsible for a relevant fraction of the overall energy budget. Reducing the voltage swing for signaling in crossbars and links results in significant energy saving. Unfortunately, as voltage swing reduces, the bit error rate increases, that in turn compromises the communication reliability. Starting from the assumption that not all the communications need same level of reliability, in this paper we propose techniques and architectures for run-time tuning of the voltage swing of the crossbars and interrouter links. The proposed technique is compared with the state of the art in link energy reduction through data encoding under both synthetic and real traffic scenarios. We found that the proposed techniques allow to significantly reduce the energy consumption of the NoC fabric without degrading the performance metrics. Energy savings ranging from 20% to 43% have been observed without any relevant impact on the performance metrics.


Japanese woodblock prints, or ukiyo-e, occupy a singular position in world art. These "pictures of the floating world" were created by artists and craftsmen of plebeian or low samurai background. The prints depict scenes from the everyday life and entertainments of the urban classes, and their popularity lay among these same townspeople. Ukiyo-e was successor to previous aristocratic traditions and represents the last flowering of traditional pictorial art before Japan entered the modern era. Outside Japan, it was ukiyo-e that was discovered in the mid-nineteenth century by such artists as Whistler, Manet, Degas, and van Gogh, creating an era of "Japanism" that was to have a lasting effect on the art of the West. The present volume offers a comprehensive survey of the history of ukiyo-e, from its origins in lavish works commissioned by aristocratic patrons in the sixteenth century, through its apogee at the end of the eighteenth, to its decline and demise in the last years of the nineteenth century. Social conditions, printing techniques, styles, artists, engravers, printers, and the tastes of the public itself - all are discussed as the story of ukiyo-e unfolds. In addition to the overview provided in the text, detailed commentaries of the prints and their subjects are provided. As a result, the reader becomes familiar not only with the history of ukiyo-e, an art of universal significance, but also with the colorful urban culture of which it is a remarkable record.


The authors made an analysis of results of surgical treatment of 129 patients with hepatic hemangiomas and of the 9-year follow-up of these patients. The dynamic care of these patients is recommended in cases of 5 cm diameter hemangiomas and the absence of clinical symptoms. The surgical treatment was necessary but in 10% of such patients. In the majority of such patients embolisation of the hepatic artery is expedient if surgical treatment is necessary. Indications for resection of the liver are restricted.


A laser rapid-alloy-prototyping technique, was used to produce a number of alloys with compositions lying in the Fe-rich corner of the Fe-Cr-C system. These alloys were prepared in the form of thick coats deposited on a carbon steel by variable powder feed rate laser cladding. The microstructure of the alloys was analyzed by SEM and their mechanical properties were evaluated by microhardness tests, ball-cratering micro-scale abrasive wear tests and scratch tests. Although a poor correlation between the hardness of the alloys and their wear behavior was observed, the correlation between their wear resistance and the fab factor, measured from the scratch tests, is acceptably good. These results are discussed and analyzed on the basis of the microstructural characteristics of the alloys.


Abstract The R package monitoR contains tools for managing an acoustic-monitoring program including survey metadata, template creation and manipulation, automated detection and results management. These tools are scalable for use with small projects as well as larger long-term projects and those with expansive spatial extents. Here, we describe typical workflow when using the tools in monitoR. Typical workflow utilizes a generic sequence of functions, with the option for either binary point matching or spectrogram cross-correlation detectors.


As the history of television industry goes, multiview video (MW) and its applications draw more and more attentions by the realistic 3D scene it can bring. In these applications, virtual view synthesis is required for providing free view point sequences so as to fulfill a real-time display system. In this paper, a low-area architecture is proposed. By employing the linear-interpolated approximation algorithm, the large area requirement due to the synthesis parameters is resolved. In addition, redundant information for fraction bits of parameters is further reduced by precision fitting analysis. As a result, 95.9% of area for matrix parameter rendering stage and 69.5% for vector transform stage are reduced with only 0.0059 dB overhead of PSNR performance.


It is well known that traditional inference do not apply when the spectral density of a stationary process vanishes for some frequency. This paper examines some properties of several new non parametric tests of this hypothesis which have been recently proposed by Lacroix (1999). These tests exploit the asymptotic behavior of the periodogram for some well-chosen sequence of frequencies. In particular, we investigate the power properties of the tests from both theoretical and empirical approach. We first derive the limiting properties of the tests under a sequence of local alternatives. Then, we use Monte Carlo experiments to study the size and power of the tests for two particular ARMA models. The distribution of the statistics in finite sample is also investigated.


Background: Lack of laboratory diagnostic capacity is a crucial barrier preventing an effective response to early and appropriate case detection and treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). To date, limited representative drug resistance data are available from India on second-line drug (SLD) resistance.

Objectives: To study SLD resistance patterns in MDR-TB patients of Gujarat, western India.
Materials and Methods: Antituberculosis drug susceptibility testing of 50 MDR-TB isolates particularly for SLDs, namely p-aminosalicylic acid, ciprofloxacin, amikacin, D-cycloserine, kanamycin, and ethionamide, was conducted on solid Lowenstein–Jensen medium using the 1% proportion sensitivity method.

Results: Of 50 MDR-TB isolates tested, 24 (24/50, 48%) were found to be resistant to one or more SLDs. Of 50 MDR-TB isolates, 18 (18/50, 36%) showed resistance to ethionamide, 13 (13/50, 26%) to D-cycloserine, 11 (11/50, 22%) to ciprofloxacin, 7 (7/50, 14%) to kanamycin, 6 (6/50, 12%) to p-aminosalicylic acid, and 5 (5/50, 10%) to Amikacin.

Conclusion: High levels of SLD resistance were found to be present in this study. There is an urgent need for more control and rational use of the widely available fluoroquinolones and other SLDs outside of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme, by both the public and the private health sectors in India.


In response to price dispersion across stores and price promotions over time, consumers search across both stores and time, in many retail settings. Yet there is no search model in extant research that jointly endogenizes search in both dimensions. We develop a model of search across stores and across time that nests a nite horizon model of search across stores within an in nite horizon model of inter-temporal search. The model is estimated using an iterative procedure that formulates it as a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) embedded within an E-M algorithm to allow estimation of latent class heterogeneity. The empirical analysis uses data on household store visits and purchases in the milk category. In contrast to extant research, we nd that omitting the temporal dimension underestimates price elasticity. We attribute this di?erence to the relative frequency of household stockouts and purchase frequency in the milk category. Interestingly, we nd that for a given mean and variance in price, increasing the frequency while reducing depth of price promotions across all stores can increase share of visits and pro ts for consumers' preferred store for the segment with high price sensitivity and low cross-store search cost; consumers who are most prone to search across stores and across time.


Arizona State University A widely accepted setting for type Ia supernovae (SNeIa) is a thermonuclear runaway occurring in a C/O white dwarf (WD) that gained mass from a companion. Th e peak brightness is determined by the mass of radioactive 56Ni synthesized that powers the light curve. Models that best agree with observations begin with a subsonic deflagration t hat transitions to a supersonic detonation that rapidly incinerates the star. The condition und er which the deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) occurs is largely uncertain and remains es sentially a free parameter. We parameterize the DDT in terms of the local density because the c hara teristics of the burning wave depend most sensitively on density. We present a study of the role of transition density in the DDT paradigm [1]. We apply a theoretical framework for statisti cally studying systematic effects using two-dimensional simulations that begin with a central defla gration having randomized perturbations. The DDT occurs when any rising plumes reach a specified density. We find a quadratic dependence of Fe-group yield on the log of DDT density. Assum ing the DDT density depends on metallicity, we find the56Ni yield decreases 0 . 67±0.004M⊙ for a 1Z⊙ increase in metallicity. 11th Symposium on Nuclei in the Cosmos, NIC XI July 19-23, 2010 Heidelberg, Germany


Preparation of sorbents from selected polymers In this work, the results of studies on the preparation of sorbents from selected polymers were presented. The polymers were carbonized and subsequently physically activated by steam or carbon dioxide, or alternatively, chemically activated with potassium hydroxide. For the obtained materials, a specific area was evaluated by means of low-temperature nitrogen adsorption and benzene adsorption, iodine number was also determined. The obtained results indicated a possibility to procure hydrophobic sorbents of microporous structure. Sorbents having the best properties, i.e. the specific area of above 2000 m2/g were produced from poly(ethylene terephthalate) and phenol-formaldehyde resin.


Pointing out the profound and unique nature of CP violation, I sketch its basic phenomenology, its CKM prescription and QCD technologies relevant for heavy flavour physics. After emphasizing the paradigmatic character of the establishment of direct CP violation I turn to the future, namely indirect searches for New Physics in electric dipole moments, Kμ3 decays and charm transitions on one hand and in beauty decays on the other; these are described as exciting adventures with novel challenges not encountered before.


Phytosterols draw their origin from plants (oilcrops and cereals seeds, vegetables, fruits, nuts). Their chemical structures and their biological functions are similar with those of cholesterol. Efficiency of phytosterols and their saturated homologues (phytostanols) on the reduction of high cholesterol level is proven and confers to them uses as functional ingredients. In nonfood industries, the molecular volume of the triterpenic skeleton of phytosterols, as in the case of cholesterol, is exploited for many uses particularly as a hydrophobic part in production of polydisperse "new surfactants". Due to their physicochemical behaviour to the air/water interfaces, phytosterols are good raw materials for the development of liquid crystals and original biological and pharmaceutical applications. At native state, phytosterols have however low and variable biological levels in seeds. Taking into account the possibilities of chemical modifications and industrial development prospects of phytosterols and their derivatives, selection of varieties associated with the management of crop and wild plants cultural practices represents an interesting way to improve phytosterols content and to modify their component composition to answer to a scheme of vegetable refinery guided by the added value guaranteed by the presence of these minor components.


We conduct a Systematic Mapping Study to categorize the primary research papers in architectural analysis. Systematic mapping studies can change the research perspective in an area and they can help to find the ignored researched areas. The objective of this study is to investigate the techniques used in papers on architectural analysis, identify the current trends, and provide suggestions for the future research studies. We search for papers published within the last ten years in the following databases: IEEE Explorer, ACM Digital Library, Science Direct, and Wiley. We conclude that more validation and evaluation research is needed to provide a better foundation for architectural analysis.


The aim of this thesis is to develop an efficient method for the nonlinear analysis of space structures with high degree of freedom such as cable structures. Space structures can provide large uninterrupted covered areas such as sport centres, aircraft hangars, tensile cables, etc. The proposed theory for nonlinear analysis of 3D space structure is based on the minimization of the total potential dynamic work. The minimization of the total potential dynamic work is an indirect method which is based on the principle of the convergence of energy in structures. Conventional methods such as superposition methods are direct methods.
The dynamic response analysis of a nonlinear system is based on the evaluation of response for a series of short time intervals using different types of time integration techniques. In dynamic problems, the differential equations arising from the equilibrium of the dynamic forces acting on the mass is solved by implicit or explicit methods. In order to verify the proposed theory, static and dynamic testing of the model is performed. The degree of error by elastic deformation of the frame and degree of symmetry of the model during the static test shows that the boundary condition of the frame is rigid and the frame is symmetric. The results of the dynamic test show that the theoretical and experimental values of the natural frequencies, mode shapes, and modal damping ratios are in good agreement. The dynamic responses calculated due to the exciting structure with various load intensities from different points are also in agreement with the finite element modelling. The influence of the magnitude of the damping ratios in different modes while using an orthogonal damping matrix is negligible. Finally, in comparison to conventional methods, the computational time taken by the proposed method is acceptable.In general, the reduction in time and cost as well as the highly accurate results obtained justify the use of indirect methods such as the optimization theory. The developed method is found to be a suitable technique for the minimization of the total potential energy function, especially in cases where the number of variables is large and the structure is highly nonlinear. The proposed method decreases computational time and the number of iterations required per time step.


The objective of this experiment was to study the response of rice genotypes to nitrogen under low temperature stress condition.  This experiment was done at Sesean rural area, Tana Toraja Regency, South Sulawesi, 1500 m above sea level with mean temperature 18 o C. Experiment was designed in Completely Randomized Block Design with two factors.  The first factor comprised of 3 levels of Nitrogen dosage (0, 50, and 100 kg N / ha) and the second factor was cultivar i.e. Pulu' Mandoti, Pinjan, Lambau, Fatmawati, Sintanur and Gilirang.  The results showed that at low temperature stress condition, nitrogen, cultivar and their interaction gave significant effect on percentage of pollen fertility, percentage of filled spikelet and weight of filled grain per spikelet, while interaction between nitrogen and cultivar did not significantly affect the flag leaf length and flowering date. Rice yield decreased with increasing N levels under low temperature stress condition. There were significant positive correlations between growth components (percentage of pollen fertility, flag leaf length and flowering date) and yield components (number of tiller and grain per panicle and weight of 1000 grain). Key words:  low temperature stress,  nitrogen fertilizer, rice, highland, pollen fertility


We present an implantable flight control microsystem for a cyborg beetle. The system consists of multiple inserted neural and muscular stimulators, a visual stimulator, a polyimide assembly and a microcontroller. The system is powered by two size 5 cochlear microbatteries. The insect platform is Cotinis texana, a 2 cm long, 1-2 gram Green June Beetle. We also provide data on the implantation of silicon neural probes, silicon chips, microfluidic tubes, and LED's introduced during the pupal stage of the beetle.


This work concerns controlled Markov chains models with a countable state space, under (exponential) total and discounted risk-sensitive cost criteria. A set of general conditions is presented to obtain structural properties of the optimal value function and policies. In particular, monotonicity properties of value functions and optimal policies are established. Three applications studies are used to illustrate the general results obtained in the paper: equipment replacement, optimal resource allocation, and inventory control.


A new approach is proposed for conducting structural health monitoring, based on newly developed piezoceramic sensors. They are fabricated by a sol-gel spray technique. The potential application of these sensors may be broad. These sensors have been evaluated for structural health monitoring studies. The purpose of the present study aims the detection and the localization of defects by the means of these new piezoceramic sensors. Nine sensors were integrated onto a metallic plate with moving masses. The plate was excited by an impact at a specific location and the vibratory signals from sensors were recorded simultaneously. The analysis of signals obtained from nine locations was correlated with a numerical simulation in order to identify at each time the location of the mass.


One useful but underused parameter of fluid replacement is colloid oncotic pressure. Colloid oncotic pressure (COP) is one of the Starling forces that maintain a balance between intravascular and extravascular fluid. Systemic and pulmonary circulations exhibit differences that limit the usefulness of COP manipulation in the treatment of pulmonary edema, especially that associated with hypoxic damage or pulmonary contusion. Systemic transcapillary fluid transport, however, is governed significantly by COP, and serial measurements of COP can serve as useful guides for colloid replacement. In this paper we present instances in which COP determinations were found to be clinically helpful, and discuss colloid replacement during surgery.


Deals with the design of filter kernels having specified radial and angular frequency responses based on combined optimization and frequency sampling. This is used to generate small-radius, low-pass, and edge-detection kernels for multiresolution pyramids. The performance of the new kernels in estimating orientation is shown to be significantly better than that of other commonly used pyramid kernels. >


In addition to inhibiting cholesterol biosynthesis, statins increase the conversion of linoleic acid to its derivatives, in particular to arachidonic acid, both in vivo and in vitro. Desaturases are the rate-limiting enzymes in this metabolic process and statins markedly enhance delta5 desaturase activity. To evaluate the delta5 desaturase gene expression and the transcription factors involved, THP-1 cells (a monocytic cell line) were incubated with 5 microM simvastatin for different time periods. The activity of the enzyme, evaluated as product/precursor ratio in the metabolic pathway (starting from [1-(14)C] linoleic acid), increased in treated cells with respect to controls after 24 h, whereas, mRNA levels of the delta5 desaturase increased after 12 h of incubation with simvastatin. Fatty acid desaturase genes are regulated by both sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) and peroxisome proliferators activated receptors (PPARs). Both PPARalpha (WY 14643 and fenofibrate) and PPARgamma (ciglitazone) agonists did not affect linoleic acid conversion and the delta5 desaturase activity at any time considered (8-48 h), but they increased the delta5 desaturase mRNA levels, after 48 h; only fenofibrate showed a synergistic effect with simvastatin at this time, with a concomitantly increase in PPARalpha expression and beta-oxidation. Simvastatin alone increased SREBP-1 levels with respect to controls, starting from 8 h of incubation, whereas PPARalpha and linoleic acid beta-oxidation (a PPARalpha mediated process) were not affected after 48 h of incubation. These results taken together suggest that SREBP-1 is involved in the early regulation of delta5 desaturase gene by simvastatin, in THP-1 cells.


Attendance management system it is very important and popular method to maintain the record of work hours of everyone in organization. The attendance management system is used for multiple areas such as college, university, business organizations. It is very simple method to calculate the attendance how many people are present or absent. Schools and colleges are using attendance system so that they will give marks to students based on their attendance at submission time. Multiple methods are available for calculating attendance i.e. Attendance using pen and paper, fingerprint attendance system, RFID based attendance system, wireless iris recognition attendance management system , attendance management system using SMART-FR, automated attendance management system using face recognition, real time human face detection and tracking , robust and real time face detection.


This thesis develops a conceptual framework - based on the work of Erving Goffman - to understand the practical exercise of police suspicions. In so doing, it generates provisional insights about how the police decide to stop and search members of the public, and assesses the role of broader influences on officer decision-making. The thesis draws primarily on extensive observations of police patrols, and face-to-face interviews with operational officers. These data were gathered as part of a mixed-methods study carried out for the Home Office on the reforms to stop and search introduced following the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. It is argued that police suspicions are generated through two related processes, which are also to be found in everyday social interactions. On the one hand, social information about a person's identity is 'signalled' to other people, which results in them adjusting their conduct towards that person. Understanding this communicative process in the context of policing helps to identify the physical, categorical, and behavioural signals which are ascribed meaning, and prompt suspicions. On the other hand, the police are also seen to use interpretative schema - through a tacit cognitive process of 'framing' - to locate social information and define it as suspicious. Importantly, because signals are patterned temporally and geographically, and frames are influenced by the organisational and social context, there is a need to develop a systemic understanding of police decision-making. In examining these processes, 'methodical suspicion' and 'categorical suspicion' are found to be pervasive in police work. The thesis shows that suspicions tend to fall on the socially marginal - particularly young men, those from ethnic minority backgrounds, and people who are 'known' to the police - and concludes that routine police decisions and encounters are central to the production, and reproduction, of social order.


One of the most significant processes in micro- and nanoelectronics technology is Electron Beam Lithography (EBL). This technique maintains a leading role in extremely high-resolution structures fabrication process with micro- and nanometer dimensions down to dozens of nanometers. The EBL is a highly complex process and determining fundamental technological factors that affect the final pattern shape is crucial. One of them is the used lithography system, consisting of a substrate and a polymer layer that affects the electron scattering effects. To obtain the required pattern geometry, it is also necessary to properly select the electron beam parameters for given materials. The aim of this work is to discuss the differences in the exposition process for various accelerating voltage (EHT) values. Additionally, the investigation of geometry features and the impact of the exposure dose and the structure dimensions on the final absorbed energy distribution profile in the resist layer is presented and discussed. Numerical studies, using CASINO software and Monte Carlo method, are presented to compare the energy distribution in the polymer that affects the structure formation in the resist layer.


The tax burden on wages, profits, property, and goods or services has a serious impact on cross-country competiveness, something that, in turn, impinges strongly on the actual economy of common markets such as the European Union (EU). While the mobility of productive factors is directly related with country tax-regime differences, government budget funding from tax revenues and rates are the main fiscal policy tools. This article analyzes the trends, similarities and differences between the tax regimes of European Monetary Union (EMU) for the period from 1995 to 2019. The methodologies we employ include time series analysis, regression analysis and multivariate cluster analysis. The data are mainly collected from the OECD database and tax revenue departments at country level. We argue that there are significant differences among the tax regimes of EU countries and that no policy has been implemented to ensure tax homogeneity across the EU, nor is there any likelihood of such. The anarchy in fiscal policy is an obstacle for the European Integration. Budget deficits have an impact on taxation and countries, invariably, manage the recent debt crisis by selecting different taxes as fiscal policy tools. Our article presents the differences between tax regimes of EMU countries and shows that the level of economic growth affects the structure of taxes at work and alters the performance of different types of taxes; is also wishes to explain the factors that differentiate tax regimes by using multi dimensional criteria and variance analysis. Our work contributes to the debate toward a common tax regime between EU countries and our analysis is concentrated on this.


Author(s): McDonald, Austin Ian | Advisor(s): Iruela-Arispe, Luisa | Abstract: Endothelial cells form a monolayer of cells on the luminal surface of blood vessels. Over the last several decades, investigators have reported numerous successes elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which endothelial cells can direct the sprouting formation of small capillary blood vessels (angiogenesis) with concomitant expansion of the total surface and number of cells composing the endothelial lining, with important implications for human disease. However the mechanisms which apply in the case of lining expansion in large arteries, the primary location for human atherosclerotic disease, is unknown. Knowledge of how the lining grows and regenerates damage under physiological conditions provides important insight into the failure of the lining in the diseased state. Progress in study of this process has been limited due to technical difficulties and challenges. Isolated endothelial cells grown in a dish have poor fidelity to the same cells in their native context of a pulsating artery. They lack circulating blood and the complex interactions between endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, and circulating blood cells. Meanwhile, the arteries of mammals, the gold standard for extrapolating to humans, are difficult to study due to the need for surgical access and a much more limited suite of experimental tools.This thesis addresses important unknowns in the biology of the mammalian endothelial lining of arteries using an in vivo mouse model. Specifically, it answers the following questions currently outstanding in the field of vascular biology: 1) When more endothelial cells come to exist in the endothelial lining, where do they originate? 2) Is there an endothelial stem or progenitor cell which persists past the embryonic stage to supply new endothelial cells to growing or damaged vessels? And 3) Does the expansion of the endothelial lining to cover new area within large vessels share the same molecular organization as angiogenesis?In Chapter 2, I present work which uses clonal cell tracing experiments to show that during the postnatal enlargement of the aorta, the largest vessel in the body, the division of existing endothelial cells within the arterial lining itself is sufficient to explain the entirety of the increase in length and circumference of the lining. In Chapter 4, I use a surgical method to damage the lining of the adult aorta and observe its regeneration. Through lineage tracing, parabiosis, and clonal tracing experiments I show that in fact a progenitor subpopulation exists within the adult arterial lining, and these cells supply the majority of the new endothelial lining. In Chapter 3, I report the results of molecular profiling of endothelial cells participating in the regeneration of the endothelial lining of the mouse aorta by transcriptomic sequencing, and follow up with immunocytochemistry validating the selective expression of key regulatory proteins in the regenerating lining and not in the surrounding lining or in the angiogenic neonatal mouse retina.In sum, my work shows that endothelial lining growth and regeneration are the result of highly localized endothelial cell proliferation within the lining of the aorta itself, and in the case of regeneration demonstrates the ability of cells within the lining to either acquire or intrinsically possess a transient amplifying phenotype. The results indicate that hypothesized circulating or bone-marrow derived endothelial stem or progenitor cells do not exist, at least in the postnatal and adult mouse. Finally, they show that the regenerative process is molecularly distinct from the well-studied case of angiogenic proliferation, opening a new mode of endothelial lining expansion to further investigation.


As production of plastics has increased over the past 50 years, plastic pollution in marine environments has become a growing problem. A systematic review of how plastic particles in seawater affect marine biota has therefore been suggested by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SWAM). Numerous studies report on the occurrence of plastic particles in the marine environment. A significant body of literature also reports on entanglement in plastic debris and ingestion of plastic particles by marine organisms. However, fewer studies have investigated the effects of these exposures, especially on a wider scale or at the population level. Moreover, the designs of the existing studies make it difficult to quantitatively synthesise the results using a systematic review approach. At present, a systematic review of this issue is not recommended.


In recent decades, much of the authority to regulate the workplace has shifted from national-level labor law to state-level employment law. What contributions, if any, did labor unions make to this historic shift in workplace governance? The author uses quantitative and qualitative analyses to test hypotheses and move incrementally closer toward drawing causal inferences. In the first part, he finds a strong statistical relationship between union density and state employment law enactments. Next, analyzing the cases the model identifies as "deviant" (Pennsylvania and Maine), he uses systematic process tracing to test the hypothesis that labor unions were integral players in legislative campaigns for stronger employment laws. Strong evidence supports the hypothesis that labor unions, even as they declined, contributed to the construction of this new system of subnational work regulation—arguably one of their most significant and durable legacies.


Background: Social and family factors may influence the probability of achieving asthma control in children. Parents' quality of life has been insufficiently explored as a predictive factor linked to the probability of achieving disease control in asthmatic children. Objective: Determine whether the parents' quality of life predicts medium‐term asthma control in children. Methods: Longitudinal study of children between 4 and 14 years of age, with active asthma. The parents' quality of life was evaluated using the specific IFABI‐R instrument, in which scores were higher for poorer quality of life. Its association with asthma control measures in the child 16 weeks later was analyzed using multivariate methods, adjusting the effect for disease, child and family factors. Results: The data from 452 children were analyzed (median age 9.6 years, 63.3% males). The parents' quality of life was predictive for asthma control; each point increase on the initial IFABI‐R score was associated with an adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 0.56 (0.37–0.86) for good control of asthma on the second visit, 2.58 (1.62–4.12) for asthma exacerbation, 2.12 (1.33–3.38) for an unscheduled visit to the doctor, and 2.46 (1.18–5.13) for going to the emergency room. The highest quartile for the IFABI‐R score had a sensitivity of 34.5% and a specificity of 82.2% to predict poorly controlled asthma. Conclusions: Parents' poorer quality of life is related to poor, medium‐term asthma control in children. Assessing the parents' quality of life could aid disease management decisions. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2016;51:670–677. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Aiming at the most popular Hadoop's master/slaves architecture in cloud computing, this paper presents new distributed storage architecture—MP2PDSA. Firstly, this architecture built a P2P network of SuperNodes without any master, which changed the master control of HDFS. Through the SuperNodes' collaboration, MP2PDSA enabled the storage system no longer rely on central control, which has effectively overcome Single-Point Failure, performance bottlenecks and so on. Secondly, in order to increase the availability of the whole storage system, through the coordination mechanism of P2P_SuperNodes, MP2PDSA achieved a rapid time to take over the failure subgroup without any manual intervention. Finally, MP2PDSA has a high scalability and availability compared with HDFS


Movement patterns of animals can vary dramatically as a function of their reproductive cycle or social structure; however, little is known about how changes in the social structure of dispersers affect patterns of seed dispersal. We examined the movement patterns of the forest‐dwelling and cooperatively breeding Puff‐throated Bulbul (Alophoixus pallidus) in relation to different stages of their reproductive cycle, time of day, and group size, to determine potential impacts on the shape and scale of dispersal curves generated using a combination of gut passage time and displacement distance data. There were significant differences in dispersal distances depending on group size, season (breeding, non‐breeding), incubation (vs. other times of the year), and time of the day. The estimated median seed dispersal distance was 28 m. The median dispersal distances produced by birds in larger groups were longer than those of smaller groups (29 m vs. 25 m). During the breeding season, median dispersal distances were longer than during the non‐breeding season (31 m vs. 25 m), but the median dispersal distances were significantly shorter during incubation than during outside incubation (24 m vs. 28 m). The median dispersal distance produced in the early morning (30 m) was also longer than that of other times of the day (23 m late morning, 28 m early afternoon, and 26 m late afternoon). This study suggests that various aspects of an animal's behavior are likely to have significant effects on seed shadows and that this may vary significantly even among individuals of the same species.


The paper considers the structure evolution during annealing of submicrocrystalline (SMC) titanium with a mean grain size of 0.2 µm, processed by severe plastic "abc" deformation. Electron microscopic studies have revealed that the microstructure of the SMC titanium is heterogeneous and of a mixed type. One can observe a high density of dislocations, grains, subgrains, elements of a banded structure and areas comprising coarse (up to 1-2µm) and fine (up to 0.1µm) grains. The grain boundary misorientation spectrum is presented by low angle and high angle boundaries of random and special types. Three stages of annealing of SMC titanium have been revealed. The second stage is connected with the intense SMC grain growth and the value of activation energy of grain growth at this stage is twice less than the value of activation energy of grain boundary diffusion in titanium. The latter is caused by acceleration of diffusion processes at SMC grain boundaries having an atom-disordered structure. The texture evolution with annealing temperature is characterized by weakening of predominantly basal texture in the as-received SMC state and strengthening of a prismatic component. The weakening of the basal component is connected with the growth of SMC grains first of all, as well as the increase of the volume fraction of special boundaries.


BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has severely affected the provision of health-care services in hospitals around the world, including bringing challenges to those who perform surgical procedures. Multidepartment data analysis will reflect the pandemic's impact and challenges in managing surgical cases in various surgery departments.

AIM: This study aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on surgical cases carried out in eight tertiary care center surgery departments.

METHODS: Retrospective data from all patients in the eight surgery departments of Dr. Moewardi General Hospital, Surakarta, during the lockdown period due to COVID-19 were collected and compared to the period before the lockdown. Then, the data were analyzed regarding the effects of following the standard operating procedure for surgical services in the hospital during the lockdown period.

RESULTS: All the surgery departments involved in the study showed a significant reduction in the number of patients treated during the lockdown period than before the lockdown, with a total number of cases across all departments of 2432, a decrease from 4503 before the lockdown. In surgical patient care, several special measures during the COVID-19 pandemic were carried out in outpatient, intraoperative, and inpatient services to reduce the virus spread to patients and health workers.

CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the provision of health services in hospitals with a reduction in the number and types of patients in each surgery department, and the obligation to follow hospital protocols against COVID-19 has resulted in various treatments and services being delayed in all surgery departments.