Resection of anterior vaginal wall that occurs with some cases of anterior pelvic exenteration leaves the patient with a small and narrow vagina. This affects their sexual life leading to major psychologic problems, especially in young women. The aim of this study is to evaluate a new technique of vaginal reconstruction following anterior pelvic exenteration with clinical and cytohistologic follow-up. Between March 2002 and November 2004, ten sexually active female patients underwent vaginal reconstruction after radical cystectomy that required en bloc removal of the anterior vaginal wall, with a pedicle graft of greater omentum combined with a vicryl mesh. The mean age of the patients was 38 years. The mean operative time of the reconstructive procedure was 50 min. There were no complications regarding the reconstructive procedure. On follow-up, the neovagina accepted two fingers easily and showed a pink-colored smooth lining. Seven patients reported successful attempts of sexual intercourse. It was concluded that reconstruction of vagina after anterior pelvic exenteration in sexually active women can be done safely with the use of vicryl mesh combined with a pedicled omental graft. It is a simple, reliable, and not time-consuming technique. The long-term follow-up was very beneficial in detection of complete healing, postoperative infections, and hormonal activity of the graft and recurrence of malignancy.


The modern version of the Hippocratic Oath requires doctors to swear that they will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures that are required, avoiding the twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism. This paper explores the magnitude of the problem of overtreatment and undertreatment and the potential sources of these treatment errors.


The cavity, formed at the nose part of underwater launched vehicle due to the high launching velocity, will collapse while crossing water free surface and has a great impact on the strength of vehicle structure. In order to study the effect of the cavity collapse to vehicle structure, water exit dynamic analysis has been conducted. Before that, the computational model has been established. The external load, caused by cavity collapse, is assumed to be concentrated pulse forces applied on the vehicle at different time. And the flight vehicle structure is simplified into a free-free Timoshenko beam. The Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) effect is treated as added mass and hydrodynamic drag force varying with wet surface area, which decreases with the water exit of vehicle. The dynamic response, excited by the external load, is calculated. Result presents the necessary of taking account of FSI and the influence of time space between the two concentrated forces.


A 2 year feeding study was conducted with male and female B6C3F1 mice that consumed diets containing 0, 1, 5, or 10 ppm deoxynivalenol (DON). Survivability was good and, while the test animals gained less weight with increasing levels of DON in the diet, there were no consistent toxic manifestations associated with DON consumption. There was some evidence for an increase in serum IgA and IgG in females, and there were sporadic changes noted in the clinical chemistry and hematology parameters conducted at the terminal sacrifice. However, these changes were not considered to be biologically significant. The pathology results provided statistically significant dose-related evidence for a decrease in liver preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions as the dose level of DON increased. This negative trend probably results from the known positive correlation between body weight and the appearance of spontaneous hepatic neoplasms in this strain of mouse. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.


Purpose
The purpose of this study is to show how non-random groupings of YouTube videos can be combined with automated text analysis (ATA) of user comments to conduct quasi-experiments on consumer sentiment towards different types of brands in a naturalistic setting.

Design/methodology/approach
NCapture extracted thousands of comments on multiple videos representing different experimental treatments and Leximancer revealed differences in the lexical patterns of user comments for different types of brands.

Findings
User comments consistently revealed hypothesized relationships between brand types, based on existing theory regarding motivations for nostalgia and the relationship between consumer preferences, online product ratings and purchases. These results demonstrate the viability of conducting quasi-experimental research in naturalistic settings via non-random groupings of YT videos and ATA of user comments.

Research limitations/implications
This research adopts a single quasi-experimental design: the non-equivalent group, after-only design. However, the same basic approach can be used with other quasi-experimental designs to examine different kinds of research questions.

Originality/value
Overall, this research points to the potential for ATA of comments on different categories of YT videos as a relatively straightforward approach for conducting field experiments that establish the ecological validity of laboratory findings. The method is easy to use and does not require the participation and cooperation of private, third party social media research companies.


AMONG -t he many pocket-sized references tor the medical student and practitioner, this one deserves serious consideration from the prospective buyer. Its author is highlY qualified and has several larger works to his credit. The size Is convenient, and it has the virtue of a hard cover; the print is clear and large, and there Is an adequate Index. In the scant 200 pages, Dr. Beaumont has managed to be remarkably comprehensive, almost every con~ition likely ever to concern the medical practitioner receivmg at least a mention. There is an excellent summary of sedative drugs and a metric conversion table, and, to bring the fifth edition Into line with modern demands, all dosages are given In the metric system. The fifth edition Is f~rther distinguished by the revision of the text, the brlngmg. up to date of the anatomical nomenclature and the placing of the collagen diseases in a separate chapter.


According to recent studies, the significance of spirituality in patients coping with cancer has been evidently underestimated. Fox example, an interrelationship between spirituality and quality of life and between spirituality and mental comorbidity was observed. It is at least assumed that there is a connection to the progression of a disease. Although historical reservations make the integration of spirituality into medicine difficult, needs assessments and clinical studies provide grounds for a reorientation in modern oncology.


At 1705 on 3 April 2010, the Chinese registered bulk carrier Shen Neng 1 grounded on Douglas Shoal, about 50 miles north of the entrance to the port of Gladstone, Queensland. The ship's hull was seriously damaged by the grounding, with the engine room and six water ballast and fuel oil tanks being breached, resulting in a small amount of pollution. The ATSB investigation found that the grounding occurred because the chief mate did not alter the ship's course at the designated course alteration position. His monitoring of the ship's position was ineffective and his actions were affected by fatigue. The ATSB identified four safety issues during the investigation: there was no effective fatigue management system in place to ensure that the bridge watchkeepers were fit to stand a navigational watch after they had supervised the loading of a cargo of coal in Gladstone; there was insufficient guidance in relation to the proper use of passage plans, including electronic route plans, in the ship's safety management system; there were no visual cues to warn either the chief mate or the seaman on lookout duty, as to the underwater dangers directly ahead of the ship; and, at the time of the grounding, the protections afforded by the requirement for compulsory pilotage and active monitoring of ships by REEFVTS, were not in place in the sea area off Gladstone. The ATSB has issued two safety recommendations to Shen Neng 1's management company regarding the safety issues associated with fatigue management and passage planning and acknowledges the safety action taken by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in relation to the extension of REEFVTS coverage to include the waters off Gladstone.


Our goal in this project is to gain a better empirical understanding of the international financial implications of currency movements. To this end, we construct a database of international currency exposures for a large panel of countries over 1990-2004. We show that trade-weighted exchange rate indices are insufficient to understand the financial impact of currency movements. Further, we demonstrate that many developing countries hold short foreign-currency positions, leaving them open to negative valuation effects when the domestic currency depreciates. However, we also show that many of these countries have substantially reduced their foreign currency exposure over the last decade. Last, we show that our currency measure has high explanatory power for the valuation term in net foreign asset dynamics: exchange rate valuation shocks are sizable, not quickly reversed and may entail substantial wealth shocks.


Recent advances in tabular question answering (QA) with large language models are constrained in their coverage and only answer questions over a single table. However, real-world queries are complex in nature, often over multiple tables in a relational database or web page. Single table questions do not involve common table operations such as set operations, Cartesian products (joins), or nested queries. Furthermore, multi-table operations often result in a tabular output, which necessitates table generation capabilities of tabular QA models. To fill this gap, we propose a new task of answering questions over multiple tables. Our model, MultiTabQA, not only answers questions over multiple tables, but also generalizes to generate tabular answers. To enable effective training, we build a pre-training dataset comprising of 132,645 SQL queries and tabular answers. Further, we evaluate the generated tables by introducing table-specific metrics of varying strictness assessing various levels of granularity of the table structure. MultiTabQA outperforms state-of-the-art single table QA models adapted to a multi-table QA setting by finetuning on three datasets: Spider, Atis and GeoQuery.


Lymphocytes and macrophages act as effector immune cells in the initiation and progression of renal injury. Recent data have shown that subpopulations of these immune cells (regulatory T lymphocytes and alternately-activated or regulatory macrophages) are potent modulators of tissue injury and repair in renal disease. Recent animal studies examining the therapeutic effect of these cells raise the exciting possibility that strategies targeting these cell types may be effective at treating and preventing kidney disease in humans. This review will describe their biological role in experimental kidney disease and therapeutic potential in clinical nephrology.


Long-distance and intercity travel generally make up a small portion of the total number of trips taken by an individual, while representing a large portion of aggregate distance traveled on the transportation system. While some research exists on intercity travel behavior between large metropolitan centers, this report addresses a need for more research on travel behavior between non-metropolitan areas and large metropolitan centers. This research specifically considers travel from home locations in northern New England, going to Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. These trips are important for quality of life, multimodal planning, and rural economies. This research identifies and quantifies factors that influence people's mode choice (automobile, intercity bus, passenger rail, or commercial air travel) for these trips. The research uses survey questionnaire data, latent factor analysis, and discrete choice modeling methods. Factors include sociodemographic, built environment, latent attitudes, and trip characteristics. The survey, designed by the University of Vermont Transportation Research Center and the New England Transportation Institute, was conducted by Resource Systems Group, Inc. in 2014, with an initial sample size of 2560. Factor analysis was used to prepare 6 latent attitudinal factors, based on 70 attitudinal responses from the survey statements. The survey data were augmented with built environment variables using geographic information systems (GIS) analysis. A set of multinomial logit models, and a set of nested logit models, were estimated for business and non-business trip mode choice. Results indicate that for this type of travel, factors influencing mode choice for both business and non-business trips include trip distance; land use; personal use of technology; and latent attitudes about auto dependence, preference for automobile, and comfort with personal space and safety on public transportation. Gender is a less significant factor. Age is only significant for non-business trips. View the NCST Project Webpage


The childhood of Chrestomanci. Everything in this book happens at least twenty-five years before the story told in Charmed Life! Discovering that he has nine lives and is destined to be the next 'Chrestomanci' is not part of Christopher's plans for the future: he'd much rather play cricket and wander around his secret dream worlds. But he soon finds that destiny is difficult to avoid, and that having more than the usual number of lives is pretty inconvenient -- especially when you lose them as easily as he does! Then an evil smuggler, known only as The Wraith, threatens the ways of the worlds and forces Christopher to take action!


Background Glycaemic goals are often not achieved in patients with type 2 diabetes despite the availability of many effective treatments and the documented benefits of glycaemic control in the reduction of long-term microvascular and macrovascular complications. Purpose To evaluate, in a randomised, controlled trial, the impact of a clinical pharmacy service on clinical outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods A total of 171 patients (85 interventions vs. 86 usual care) participated in the study. Intervention patients had individualised education and treatment recommendations from a clinical pharmacist while control patients received usual care provided by the clinic. The primary outcome measure was glycaemic control manifested by HbA1c reductions. All other data collected including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), serum triglycerides, medication adherence, and necessary self-care activities formed secondary outcome measures. Between-group differences in the amounts of change from baseline to 6-month follow-up were tested and a p value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Compared with baseline values, patients in the intervention group had a mean reduction of 0.8% in HbA1c versus a mean increase of 0.1% from baseline in the usual care group (P = 0.019). The intervention group compared with the usual care group had small but statistically significant improvements in the secondary measures of fasting blood glucose, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL, serum triglycerides, self-reported medication adherence and self-care activities. Between-group differences in changes in the secondary measures of HDL and body mass index were not significant. Conclusions The enhanced patient clinical outcomes as a result of pharmacist-led pharmaceutical care in an outpatient diabetes clinic in the present study demonstrate the value of an enhanced clinical pharmacy service in improving diabetes care and achieving the desired therapeutic outcomes for patients with type 2 diabetes. No conflict of interest.


Binding of [125I]α-bungarotoxin to acetylcholine receptors of ganglionic homogenate of the marine mollusc Aplysia is blocked by the anticholinesterases eserine (I50 = 4 µM) and neostigmine (I50 = 0.2 mM). The classical acetylcholine antagonist d-tubocurarine blocks with an I50 of 2 µM. Eserine (I50 = 3.2 µM) and neostigmine (I50 > 1 mM) also block toxin binding to a solubilized receptor preparation. In contrast to their relative potency in blocking toxin binding, neostigmine is a more potent inhibitor of Aplysia acetylcholinesterase (I50 = 14 nM) than is eserine (I50 = 250 nM). α-Bungarotoxin does not affect esterase activity or interfere with the ability of eserine to block the esterase. The response to acetylcholine recorded through intracellular microelectrodes is blocked by α-bungarotoxin. Neither eserine nor neostigmine blocks the acetylcholine response; rather, they prolong and increase it, as expected from their effects on the esterase. Eserine (0.1 mM) blocks the α-bungarotoxin inhibition of the physiological acetylcholine response. These results indicate that eserine and neostigmine block the binding of α-bungarotoxin by interacting with a site which is different from both the esterase and the cholinergic sites of the acetylcholine receptor.


In this paper, we focus on the problem of how to strike a balance between the QoS provisioning and the energy consumption when a cooperative communication scheme is applied in a clustered wireless sensor network. We characterize this tradeoff by a multi-variable optimization problem, with the goals of jointly maximizing the outage performance and the network lifetime. Then, we horizontally decompose the problem into the concatenation of two subproblems: (i) the long-haul transmit power per sensor node, and (ii) the set of assisting cluster nodes (CNs). For the former one, the optimal long-haul transmit power solution is presented based on the Lambert W function, only with the knowledge of statistic channel state information. Moreover, a dynamic coalition formation game theoretical framework is modeled to solve the latter one. A corresponding algorithm is proposed by using a dynamic coalition formation process based on the best-reply process with trial opportunity. Through this algorithm, a stable coalition structure with a core allocation can be obtained, which can show the optimal set of assisting CNs. Extensive simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed scheme.


The North Middle Vietnam include from Thanh Hoa to Thua Thien - Hue province, It extends from 16 o 12' - 20 o 40'N and 104 o 25' - 108 o 10'E. An area is 51,500.7 km 2 . The results of survey have showed that 226 species of Amphibians and Reptiles belonging 26 families, 5 orders in the North Middle Vietnam. Among them, have 22 Amphibians and 15 Reptiles species is endemic of Vietnam. The Amphibians have 88 species, 27 genus, 8 families, family Ranidae is keep the upper hand with 34 species, 10 genus. Predominate genus is Rhacophorus (11 species) and Microhyla (10 species). The Reptiles have 138 species, 74 genus, 18 families, among them, family Colubridae is keep the upper hand with 53 species, 26 genus. Genus Trimeresurus is the most species (9 species). There are 46 species is complement for herpetofauna of North Middle Vietnam (13 Amphibians species, 33 Reptiles species - see table 2). There are 23 species in North Vietnam and 14 species in South Vietnam (Nguyen Van Sang, Ho Thu Cuc, Nguyen Quang Truong, 2005) have distribute to North Middle Vietnam (see section 2.2). A total of 226 species of Amphibians and Reptiles have 45 species are importance conservation: there are 27 species were listed in Vietnam Red Data Book 2007 (Critically Endangered: 3 species, Endangered: 13 species and Vulnerable: 11 species); 24 species in International Red Data Book (IUCN 2006 - Critically Endangered: 2 species, Endangered: 8 species, Vulnerable: 7 species, Near threatened: 7 species and Lower risk: 1 species); There are 15 species were listed in Decision Number 32/2006 of the Government of Vietnam, 2 species in Groups IB and 13 species in Groups IIB (see tables 3); and in CITES 2003, there are 13 species in App. II.


Standard interpretations of pumping tests in heterogeneous formations rely on effective representations of porous media, which replace spatially varying hydraulic properties with their constant counterparts averaged over the support volume of a test. Rigorous approaches for deriving representative (effective, apparent, upscaled, etc.) parameters employ either ensemble or spatial averaging. We derive a set of conditions under which these two paradigms yield identical results. We refer to them as conditions for the ergodicity of pumping tests. This allows one to use stochastic approaches to estimate the statistics of the spatial variability of hydraulic parameters on scales smaller than the support volume of a pumping test.


The narrative from a real patient encounter is used to illustrate the powerful effect that delivering bad news can have on both patient and physician. The meaning of bad news to the patient may be quite different than the medical or the personal meaning to the physician. Differences in perception must be explored and understood before the common ground necessary for joint decision making is established. Initial patient responses can be divided into three categories: (1) basic psychophysiologic (fight-flight or conservation-withdrawal), (2) cognitive, and (3) affective. Responses vary considerably depending on the meaning of the diagnosis to the patient, the degree of immediate threat, and the patient's previous experience with illness. Desired outcomes of the initial meeting include (1) minimizing aloneness and isolation for both patient and physician; (2) achieving a common perception of the problem; (3) giving information tailored to the immediate needs of the patient; (4) addressing immediate medical needs, including the risk of suicide; (5) responding to immediate discomforts; and (6) ensuring a basic plan for follow-up. Though all clinicians deliver bad news, few have had formal training or open exploration of the profound potential impact of the experience.


DNA sequence basecalling is commonly regarded as a solved problem, despite significant error rates being reflected in inaccuracies in databases and genome annotations. These errors commonly arise from an inability to sequence through peak height variations in DNA sequencing traces from the Sanger sequencing method. Recent efforts toward improving basecalling accuracy have taken the form of more sophisticated digital filters and feature detectors. We demonstrate that the variation in peak heights itself encodes novel information which can be used for basecalling. To isolate this information for a clear demonstration, we perform a peculiar blind basecalling experiment using ABI processed output. Using classifiers responding to measurements in the context of the basecalling position, we call bases without reference to the peak heights at the basecalling position itself. Tree classifiers indicate which features are pertinent, and the application of neural nets to these features results in a startlingly high initial success rate of 78%. Our analysis indicates that we can make viable basecalls using information that has never been accessed before


This paper deals with two different approaches in modelling corrosion wastage over the fuel tanks' structures on the example of ten aged bulk carriers. The first applied method might be treated as a short-term, rather random oriented one, and it is based on the Monte Carlo simulation technique. This technique has been used in creating an appropriate predictive model for the characteristic steel damages over the bulk carriers' fuel tanks caused by general corrosion in relatively short time interval of two years, within the period between the 5th and the 25th year of the bulks' operational life. The second employed method might be treated as a long-term one, and it is based on a Weibull distribution analysis. The purpose of these analyses is optimal assessing of the average corrosion losses for the bulk carriers' fuel tanks areas at different points of time during the whole exploitation cycle, within the ultimate goal of raising the structural stability and safety of bulk carriers in operation. KEY WORDS: bulk carriers, fuel tanks, corrosion wastage, Monte Carlo simulation, Weibull probability analysis


In this study we focus on the use of a mobile coordination service used to coordinate Storsjoyran a music festival held yearly in Ostersund in Sweden. A description of the mobile service is given, and an empirical study focusing on users motives for using the mobile coordination service is reported. The results point to the importance of developing mobile coordination services that are perceived as enjoyable and useful to motivate usage among festival staff.


We consider the problem of decontaminating a network infected by a mobile virus. The goal is to perform the task using as small a team of antiviral agents as possible, avoiding recontamination of disinfected areas. In all the existing literature, it is assumed that the immunity level of a decontaminated site is nil; that is, a decontaminated node, in absence of an antiviral agent on site, may be re-contaminated by any infected neighbour. The network decontamination problem is studied here under a new model of immunity to recontamination: we consider the case when a decontaminated vertex, after the cleaning agent has gone, will become recontaminated only if a majority of its neighbours are infected. We study the impact that the presence of local immunity has on the number of antiviral agents necessary to decontaminate the entire network. We establish both lower and upper bounds on the number cleaners in the case of (multidimensional) toroidal meshes, graphs of vertex degree at most three (e.g., cubic graphs, binary trees, etc.), and of tree networks. In all cases the established bounds are tight. All upper-bound proofs are constructive; i.e., we exhibit decontamination protocol achieving the claimed bound. We also analyze the total number of moves performed by the agents, and establish tight bounds in some cases.


This study aimed to investigate the cytotoxicity of cytokineinduced killer cells (CIKs) and Her2 epitope peptide-sensitized dendritic cells (DCs), when co-cultured with Her2-positive MCF-7 cells. DCs were separated from the Her epitope peptide-sensitized peripheral blood; the Her epitope combines directly with the MHC-II molecule on the DC surface. The DCs were co-cultured with autologous CIKs. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and ELISA kits were used to detect cytotoxicity of CIKs against MCF-7 breast cancer cells; IL-12 and IFN-γ levels were also analyzed in the supernatant of the culture medium. CIKs activated by DCs sensitized by anchored Her polypeptide antigen have greater cytotoxicity against MCF-7 than CIKs alone or non-anchored antigen sensitized DCs-CIKs (P < 0.01); the IL-12 and IFN-γ levels in the supernatant were higher than that of the control (P < 0.01). In conclusion, DCs anchored by polypeptide antigen alone or in combination with effector cells can be used to develop therapeutic DC vaccines against breast cancer.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this article is to compare the recently published revised Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) guidelines (version 1.1) to the original guidelines (RECIST 1.0) for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after erlotinib therapy and to evaluate the impact of the new CT tumor measurement guideline on response assessment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Forty-three chemotherapy-naive patients with advanced NSCLC treated with erlotinib in a single-arm phase 2 multicenter open-label clinical trial were retrospectively studied. CT tumor measurement records using RECIST 1.0 that were generated as part of the prospective clinical trial were reviewed. A second set of CT tumor measurements was generated from the records to meet RECIST 1.1 guidelines. The number of target lesions, best response, and time to progression were compared between RECIST 1.1 and RECIST 1.0.

RESULTS
The number of target lesions according to RECIST 1.1 decreased in 22 patients (51%) and did not change in 21 patients (49%) compared with the number according to RECIST 1.0 (p < 0.0001, paired Student's t test). Almost perfect agreement was observed between best responses using RECIST 1.1 and RECIST 1.0 (weighted kappa = 0.905). Two patients with stable disease according to RECIST 1.0 had progressive disease according to RECIST 1.1 criteria because of new lesions found on PET/CT. There was no significant difference in time to progression between RECIST 1.1 and RECIST 1.0 (p = 1.000, sign test).

CONCLUSION
RECIST 1.1 provided almost perfect agreement in response assessment after erlotinib therapy compared with RECIST 1.0. Assessment with PET/CT was a major factor that influenced the difference in best response assessment between RECIST 1.1 and RECIST 1.0.


Plantation forests now comprise around 135 million ha globally, with annual plantation afforestation and reforestation rates nearing 10% of total area. Some 90% of plantation forests have been established primarily to provide industrial wood, and their relative global importance in this role is increasing rapidly. Most of the remaining 10% of plantation forests were established primarily to supply fuel or wood for non-industrial use. About 75% of the existing plantation forest estate is established in temperate regions, but it is in the tropics that the rate of expansion is greatest. The expanding tropical plantation forest estate includes trees grown primarily as agricultural plantation crops and which now also supply wood to forest industries. Almost all existing plantation forests were established and are managed as even-aged monocultures; species and interspecific hybrids of a few genera dominate plantation forestry worldwide. Effective research and development, based on appropriate genetic resources and good silviculture, are the foundations of successful plantation forestry production. Resolving relatively fundamental issues remain the priority in many young plantation programmes; in more advanced programmes, the application of more sophisticated technologies particularly in biotechnology and processing is necessary to maintain improvements in production. Many plantation forests, particularly in the tropics, are not yet achieving their productive potential. The sustainability of plantation forestry is an issue of wide interest and concern. The evidence from industrial plantation forestry suggests that biological sustainability, in terms of wood yield, is likely to be realised provided good practice is maintained. The relative benefits and costs of plantation forestry in broader environmental terms, and in terms of its social impacts, are the subject of greater controversy, and pose the greatest challenge to plantation foresters as we approach the millennium. Our experience with plantation forestry as it has developed this century offers us an excellent platform for rising to these challenges.


Lotus croniculatus belongs to Fabaceae family and grows in the temperate regions and grasslands of the countries of Africa and America. The plant is commonly known as common bird's foot tree foil. The plant is a herb and appears to be clover plant. The lowers of the plant are used mainly to induce sleep and other effects that regard to brain and heart. The plant is used to reduce spasms in the digestive tract. The infusions that are diluted to certain extent are helpful to reduce the anxiety and insomnia and also to treat exhaustion. Inspite of the possession of lot of pharmacological activities, the plant is to be studied in a detailed manner for the toxicity also. Medicinal plants are known to cause low adverse effects and high potency. In the present investigation, the acute and chronic toxicity levels of the plant Lotus croniculatus extract of leaveswas studied in laboratory animals. It is indicated that the animals did not show any change in behavior in acute toxicity and no mortality too. The extract also showed no signs of toxicity and change of values in the blood cells, liver enzymes and also kidney function tests were also normal at the dose of 2g/kg which denotes the safety of the plant in rats.


The authors report the course of penetrating keratoplasty (PK) in a series of 3,012 grafts performed at the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris Ophthalmology Department from 1980 to 1991; 2,962 cas (98.5%) could be analysed and were divided into 17 etiologic groups. In the literature, Aphakic Bullous Keratopathy (ABK) and Pseudophakic Bullous Keratopathy (PBK) are usually considered to be the most frequent PK indication. In our series, they came in third place overall with 281 cases (9.5%). Their incidence showed a constant increase over the study period, and they became the most frequent indication in 1991 (21.4% versus 6.8% in 1980). Keratoconus was the most frequent surgical indication with 813 cases (27.6%). This high percentage has been reported by other research groups. We explain our findings by a bias in the choice of corneal recipient candidates due to a tendency of the surgical team to give available donor corneas to patients with statistically higher chances of functional success. We also notice that corneal herpes sequelae, classically the leading cause of PK in the seventies, became the second indication overall and showed a decreasing tendency between 1980 and 1991. Finally, non herpetic leucomas (8.9%), graft failures (8.6%), and Fuchs dystrophy (8.3%) showed a constant PK indication rate throughout the study period.


The UK's Private Finance Initiative market is predicted to rise to over £8 billion a year and there are indications of growing opportunities. PFI creates a long-term income stream and provides valuable opportunities for portfolio diversification. PFI has evolved at a fast pace and the momentum is set to continue. However, there are major challenges facing construction organisations. These include the lack of PFI experts, longer negotiation periods and tight time schedules to deliver large-scale schemes, high levels of investment and risks involved and limited knowledge transfer between PFI projects. Concerns over the level of knowledge sharing have prompted the development and evaluation of a Knowledge Transfer Framework that encourages construction organisations to transfer PFI knowledge between projects. It achieves this by building on a questionnaire survey of PFI clients and construction companies, case studies of companies involved in PFI, and research workshops to validate the framework developed.


Sertoli cells are immune privileged cells, important for controlling the immune response to male germ cells as well as maintaining the tolerogenic environment in the testis. Additionally, ectopic Sertoli cells have been shown to survive and protect co-grafted cells when transplanted across immunological barriers. The survival of ectopic Sertoli cells has led to the idea that they could be used in cell based gene therapy. In this review, we provide a brief overview of testis immune privilege and Sertoli cell transplantation, factors contributing to Sertoli cell immune privilege, the challenges faced by viral vector gene therapy, the use of immune privileged cells in cell based gene therapy and describe several recent studies on the use of genetically engineered Sertoli cells to provide continuous delivery of therapeutic proteins.


Introduction Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive malignancy with a poor response to chemotherapy and an extremely poor prognosis. Recent studies have revealed that phospholysine phosphohistidine inorganic pyrophosphate phosphatase (LHPP) can inhibit the growth of various cancers. Therefore, the current study was conducted to investigate the antitumor effects of LHPP in PDAC and to explore its mechanism using proteomics analysis. Methods and Results Immunohistochemical analysis of clinical samples demonstrated that LHPP expression levels were lower in tumor tissues compared to adjacent nontumor tissues. Moreover, multivariate COX regression analysis showed that LHPP expression level was an independent prognostic factor for the patients with PDAC. Patients with high LHPP expression had a better prognosis. The lentiviral vectors for normal control (NC), LHPP knockdown (KD), and LHPP overexpression (OE) were infected with BxPC-3 and PANC-1 cell lines. Cell counting kit-8 assay, Transwell assay, and flow cytometry analyses showed that LHPP overexpression significantly inhibited the cell viability, migration, and proliferation of BxPC-3 and PANC-1 cells. Moreover, xenograft tumor model demonstrated that LHPP overexpression inhibited xenograft tumor growth in vivo. Subsequently, proteins with significantly altered expression in BxPC-3 cells after lentivirus infection were detected using proteomics analyses. Interestingly, compared to the NC group, the expression of Syndecan 1 (SDC1) was significantly upregulated in the KD group, while that of S100P was significantly downregulated in the OE group. Conclusion LHPP might emerge as an important target for delaying the advancement of PDAC, thereby providing a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of PDAC.


A concept of interferometric measurements has been applied to the development of ultra-sensitive microwave noise measurement systems. These systems are capable of reaching a noise performance limited only by the thermal fluctuations in their lossy components. The noise floor of a real time microwave measurement system has been measured to be equal to -193 dBc/Hz at Fourier frequencies above 1 kHz. This performance is 40 dB better than that of conventional systems and has allowed the first experimental evidence of the intrinsic phase fluctuations in microwave isolators and circulators. Microwave frequency discriminators with interferometric signal processing have proved to be extremely effective for measuring and cancelling the phase noise in oscillators. This technique has allowed the design of X-band microwave oscillators with a phase noise spectral density of order -150 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz Fourier frequency, without the use of cryogenics. Another possible application of the interferometric noise measurements systems include "flicker noise-free" microwave amplifiers and advanced two oscillator noise measurement systems.


One of GE Healthcare's goals 2014 was to reduce the amount of rework with 10 %. When the company initiated the work towards this goal, they suspected that the registered data of the amount of rework did not comply with the actual amount of rework. They believed that in order to reduce the amount of rework, they first had to ensure that gathered data complied with the reality. That is where this thesis project enters. The purpose of this project is to define the current state of the rework process in the whole factory and to determine the definition of rework. It is also to develop and create a requirements specification and a concept for a new rework process that makes the amount of rework transparent for the organization. Interviews, observations and surveys were conducted at the company in order to map the current state of the rework process. The gathered data was analyzed and resulted in a requirement specification, which became the foundation of the following concept development. Two focus groups with employees at the site were conducted in order to intercept ideas and requests of a future rework process and registration system of rework. Three concepts were developed and then compared against each other in a selection analysis. One concept was chosen for further improvement work and validation. Finally, a recommendation was formed to the company. The mapping of the current state revealed that the current process is inconsistent and complex. The system for registration of non-conformances, called NCR, is complicated and troublesome to use. The process needs to be standardized and the NCR needs to be simplified. The developed concept contains both a standardized process and a simplified NCR. The concept also eliminates a non-value adding activity which means that the NCRs will be processed quicker. Finally does the new concept implicate that the creator of each NCR will receive feedback of the taken approach as a result of the NCR.


The European Union (EU) has undoubtedly made enormous strides in developing a progressive environmental policy, but many of its own policies actively undermine the pursuit of sustainable development. In the aftermath of the 1999 Amsterdam Treaty, the EU is finally beginning to confront the thorny problem of how to 'green' itself. The vehicle selected to reach this goal is the so-called 'Cardiff process' of review and reporting, which is currently exploring the opportunities to achieve environmental policy integration (EPI) at the European level. However, it is argued that in order to 'green' the EU, member states must also take complementary steps to green themselves by implementing EPI at national and sub-national levels. The progress hitherto made by four of the 'greenest' states of the EU, namely Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK, is examined in order to investigate the opportunities for cross-national learning in this politically and ecologically important area of contemporary European environmental policy.


1. Technological advances have greatly simplified to take and analyze digital images and videos, and ecologists increasingly use these techniques for trait, behavioral and taxonomic analyses. The development of techniques to automate biological measurements from the environment opens up new possibilities to infer species numbers, observe presence/absence patterns and recognize individuals based on audio-visual information. 2. Streams of quantitative data, such as temporal species abundances, are processed by machine learning (ML) algorithms into meaningful information. Machine learning approaches learn to distinguish classes (e.g., species) from observed quantitative features (phenotypes), and in-turn predict the distinguished classes in subsequent observations. However, in biological systems, the environment changes, often driving phenotypic changes in behaviour and morphology. 3. Here we describe a framework for classifying species under dynamic biotic and abiotic conditions using a novel sliding window approach. We train a random forest classifier on subsets of the data, covering restricted temporal, biotic and abiotic ranges (i.e. windows). We test our approach by applying the classification framework to experimental microbial communities where results were validated against manual classification. Individuals from one to six ciliate species were monitored over hundreds of generations in dozens of different species combinations and over a temperature gradient. We describe the steps of our classification pipeline and systematically explore the effects of the abiotic and biotic environments as well as temporal effects on classification success. 4. Differences in biotic and abiotic conditions caused simplistic classification approaches to be unsuccessful. In contrast, the sliding window approach allowed classification to be highly successful, because phenotypic differences driven by environmental change could be captured in the learning algorithm. Importantly, automatic classification showed comparable success compared to manual identifications. 5. Our framework allows for reliable classification even in dynamic environmental contexts, and may help to improve long-term monitoring of species from environmental samples. It therefore has application in disciplines with automatic enumeration and phenotyping of organisms such as eco-toxicology, ecology and evolutionary ecology, and broad-scale environmental monitoring.


Fuel optimization plays a vital role all over the world. So the alternative fuel needs are now a days gradually increasing. The hydrogen also a one of most common alternative fuels. The hydrogen can be generated by the HHO generation unit. HHO otherwise known as hydroxy or Browns Gas is the gas produced from splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen from electrolysis and allowing the gas to stay in a premixed state for use on-demand without the need for storage. In 1918 Charles Frazer, a North American inventor, patented the first water electrolysis machine act as a hydrogen booster for internal combustion engines. The proposed HHO generating device is compact and can be installed in the engine compartment. This auxiliary device was integrated and tested on a gasoline engine. Four stroke single cylinder engine was procured for this project. From this design the fuel utility is reduced from 15% to 30% which minimizes the carbon deposition in the cylinder thereby increasing the changing period of engine oil, it also improves the efficiency of the engine and the life span. Engine torque also increased and pollution gets reduced to maintaining the greenhouse effect. Overall the cost of the product is very low.


The use of LEDs can be promising for greenhouse horticulture, but before it can be put into practice on a large scale more knowledge must be acquired on effects of LED lighting on crops. Furthermore, the growers will have to learn to grow their crops under LEDs and the efficiency of LEDs must increase even more. In order to gain more insight into the influence of LEDs on crop growth and production, an experiment was performed in the Wageningen UR greenhouses with a small Santa type tomato ('Sunstream') from October 2009 to June 2010. Four lighting treatments were applied, with each treatment in a separate greenhouse compartment: top lighting with HPS (1) or LED (2), and hybrid lighting with HPS above the crop in combination with LED lighting above the crop (3) or in between the canopy (interlighting) (4). The light intensity from the lamps in all treatments was maintained at 170 µmol m-2 s-1. The light was 50/50 divided between HPS and LED in the hybrid treatments. The climate in each treatment was adapted to the needs of the crop in each lighting system. The various lighting systems resulted in different greenhouse climates, in which more heating was required in the LED treatment and the least heating in the hybrid with interlighting. A strong crop developed under LED alone, and to maintain a proper crop balance the fruit load was altered by maintaining an extra tomato fruit per truss and increasing the stem density relative to that under HPS. The leaves of tomato grown under HPS were thinner and aged more rapidly in the winter than in the other treatments. Leaves lower in the canopy under LED alone or hybrid treatments had a higher photosynthesis capacity in the winter than leaves developed under HPS lighting. Differences in production were small, although the production under all LEDs was lower. There were only small differences in fruit quality. The amount of energy required per kilogram tomato was highest in the LED treatment and hybrid with top LED lighting. This was primarily due to the fact that a higher air temperature was necessary and these LEDs were cooled and the cost of cooling added to the use of energy. The consequences and future perspectives of the different types of supplementary lighting for crop growth and production as well as for crop management practices will be discussed.


: In this study, 129 patients with cleft palate who had pharyngeal flaps were evaluated longitudinally. Articulation scores improved approximately 15 percent following surgery, and by age 16 the majority of subjects achieved velopharyngeal competence and 90 percent correct articulation. The findings also demonstrated that the risk of requiring secondary management increased with the severity of the cleft. In addition, a higher percentage of patients who had received a primary Von Langenbeck procedure required secondary management than did patients who had the Wardill primary palatoplasty. Age at time of the pharyngeal flap operation did not emerge as a critical factor in speech outcome.


In this thesis we study in depth the problem of verifiability in cloud storage systems. We study Proofs of Storage -a family of cryptographic protocols that enable a cloud storage provider to prove to a user that the integrity of her data has not been compromised- and we identify their limitations with respect to two key characteristics of cloud storage systems, namely, reliable data storage with automatic maintenance and data deduplication. To cope with the first characteristic, we introduce the notion of Proofs of Data Reliability, a comprehensive verification scheme that aims to resolve the conflict between reliable data storage verification and automatic maintenance. We further propose two Proofs of Data Reliability schemes, namely POROS and PORTOS, that succeed in verifying reliable data storage and, at the same time, enable the cloud storage provider to autonomously perform automatic maintenance operations. As regards to the second characteristic, we address the conflict between Proofs of Storage and deduplication. More precisely, inspired by previous attempts in solving the problem of deduplicating encrypted data, we propose message-locked PoR, a solution that combines Proofs of Storage with deduplication. In addition, we propose a novel message-locked key generation protocol which is more resilient against off-line dictionary attacks compared to existing solutions.


Background: Patient and parent satisfaction is a significant indicator for the evaluation of quality of care in healthcare systems. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sociodemographic characteristics on the satisfaction of the parents of newborns admitted in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in maternity and infant disease hospitals. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 113 mothers with infants admitted in the NICU of a state hospital in Turkey during April 1-September 30, 2013.Data were collected using sociodemographic questionnaire and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) healthcare satisfaction scale. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics (mean and percentage), T-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: In this study, mean score of maternal satisfaction with NICU services was 65.66±20.01. No statistically significant differences were observed between maternal age, PedsQL satisfaction subscales, and total score of satisfaction. Moreover, statistically significant associations were observed between the following variables: maternal training and total satisfaction, employment status and subscales of PedsQL, technical skills and general satisfaction, and social security status and emotional support. However, no statistically significant differences were observed between the sociodemographic characteristics of newborns, total score of satisfaction, and mean scores of PedsQL satisfaction subscales in mothers. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, level of maternal satisfaction with NICU services was higher than the international average. Therefore, it is recommended that NICU nurses offer sufficient emotional support for both mothers and neonates in this unit and allow mothers to stay with their infants during hospitalization. Furthermore, it is suggested that training programs be implemented on effective communication skills between nurses and patients.


Abstract The illegal trade in rhinoceros horn, driven largely by the demand from East and South-east Asia, is a major impediment to the conservation of rhinoceroses globally. We surveyed the town of Mong La, in eastern Myanmar on the border with China, for the presence of rhinoceros horn. No rhinoceros horn was observed in 2006 or 2009, and other African wildlife was rare or absent. During visits in 2014 and 2015 we observed two horns, presumed to be of the white rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum, and one horn tip, small discs from the horn core, horn powder and horn bangles. Shops selling rhinoceros horn all specialized in high-end and high-value wildlife, mostly for decorative purposes, including whole elephant tusks, carved elephant ivory, carved hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius canines, and tiger Panthera tigris skins. Organized criminal syndicates are involved in the wildlife trade between Myanmar and Africa, possibly via China. Mong La's geographical position on the border with China, limited control by the central Myanmar Government, and the presence of the Chinese entertainment industry provide ideal conditions for a global wildlife trade hub catering for the Chinese market. Solutions require more intense collaboration between the Myanmar and Chinese authorities to curb the trade in African rhinoceros horn in this part of Asia.


In order to research the effects of digital micro droplet injected by the piezoelectric ceramic inertial driver, the calculation model of micro flow field of micro injector was established based on the VOF model of multiphase flow. The calculation selected the implicit segregated solver and the standard k-e model was used in turbulence of the micro-nozzle. The governing equation was separated in first order upwind, and solved by PISO algorithm. The flow pattern of the micro channel fluid and the dynamic evolution process of the micro droplet generation in the plus wave driving were researched.


Graphene is regarded as a potential candidate to replace the transparent conductive (TC) electrodes that are currently used in various optoelectronic applications. However, there is still a lack of methods by which to achieve low sheet resistance (Rs) with stable doping and work functions with a wide range of tunability, which is significant for band alignment at the interface to enhance charge transport and thus to achieve higher device performance. We developed a novel strategy for preparing a TC electrode by doping layer-by-layer (LBL)-stacked graphene with AuCl3, by which means an excellent TC performance (an Rs of 40 ohm sq−1 at a transmittance (T) of 89.5%) and an extremely wide range of work-function tunability (∼1.5 eV) were successfully achieved. Moreover, a hybrid electrode prepared by transferring doped graphene onto a pre-patterned Cu metal mesh exhibited a low resistance of ∼4.9 ohm sq−1. In addition, we monitored the long-term stability of AuCl3-doped graphene for 6 months and also constructed a model for accelerated degradation testing. The relevant mechanism of charge transfer between the graphene and the dopants was characterized based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra to elucidate degradation observed after long-term testing. This work contributes a novel type of "active electrode"; the doped graphene film not only serves as a high-performance TC electrode but also provides a wide range of tunable work functions. The proposed active electrode is prepared using a scalable and facile doping process, which paves the way for its usage in applications such as optoelectronic devices.


There are during aging quantitative and qualitative alterations of the macromolecular components of extracellular matrix. The aim of our work was a comparative study of the biosynthesis of fibronectin, an adhesive molecule playing a role in the maintenance of tissue structure and function, with cultures of normal fibroblasts at different passages and the correlation with mRNA levels. There was an increased biosynthesis of fibronectin during fibroblast senescence as well as an increased mRNA coding for fibronectin. This suggests that fibronectin is a biomarker for replicative age.


BACKGROUND
Nanodentistry will make possible the maintenance of comprehensive oral health by involving the use of nanomaterials, biotechnology (including tissue engineering) and, ultimately, dental nanorobotics (nanomedicine).

RESULTS
When the first micrometer-sized dental nanorobots can be constructed within 10 to 20 years, these devices will allow precisely controlled oral analgesia, dentition replacement therapy using biologically autologous whole replacement teeth manufactured during a single office visit, and rapid nanometer-scale precision restorative dentistry.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
New treatment opportunities may include dentition renaturalization, permanent hypersensitivity cure, complete orthodontic realignments during a single office visit, covalently bonded diamondized enamel and continuous oral health maintenance through the use of mechanical dentifrobots.


The article traces the making of the Israeli citizenship regime, focusing on the period between 1948 and 1952. During these formative years, the 1950 Law of Return, which governs Jewish entitlement to citizenship, and the 1952 Citizenship Law, which governs the status of '48 Palestinians, were enacted. Situating the Israeli case within the broader history of citizenship-making in Anglophone settler colonial sites and drawing on analogies with Australia, the United States, and Canada, this article is interested in what this formative period, in which the constitutional cornerstones of Israel's citizenship regime came into being, can tell us about Palestinian citizenship in Israel and about the institution of citizenship in settler-colonial contexts more broadly. Drawing on original archival material, it argues that in Israel, as in other settler polities, citizenship has figured as an institution of domination, functioning as a mechanism of elimination, a site of subjectivation, and an instrument of race making. Racial subjects, space, and citizenship were constituted in relation to each other in intimate ways. Citizenship transformed space from Arab/Palestinian to Jewish, rendered settlers indigenous, and produced Palestinian natives as alien. Israel's citizenship regime was predicated on the racial demarcation between Palestinians, whose citizenship was governed by the logic of naturalization, and Jewish settlers, viewed as natural and authentic subjects of citizenship.


Background: Iraq was among the first countries invaded by the novel human coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) after China. This study aimed to assess the Iraqi people's knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 during the pandemic.
Methods: A cross-sectional study recruiting an online self-reported survey conducted from 17-31 July 2020. Data of 877 participants have undergone descriptive, univariate, and multivariable regression analyses, respectively, to assess the differences in mean scores and identify factors associated with knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19.
Results: Most of the respondents (78.8%) from the urban region, highly educated (69.7%), aged less than 45 years (61.2%), females (58.3%), married (51.9%), and 74.0% self-ranked health as good. Less than half (45.4%) were employed; however, the average monthly income was USD 400 or more in about 66.8% of them. The mean knowledge, attitude and practice score was 15.57 ± 2.46 (range: 0-20), 38.88 (SD = 3.57, (range: 11-55), and 5.13 (SD = 1.14, range: 0–6), respectively. Findings of regression analysis showed that higher educated (p< 0.001), urban residents (P <0.001), employed (P =0.040), and having an income level of USD 400 or more (P <0.001) were significantly associated with upper knowledge score. Female gender and employed respondents are significantly associated with positive attitude scores, but inversely respondents with an income of USD 400 or more are significantly associated with a negative attitude. Regarding practice score, the female gender and those living in an urban region had better practice, but the young age group (0-44 years) was significantly associated with the weak practice.
Conclusion: Although Iraq has adopted a preventive and precautionary plan to control the spread of coronavirus. However, the public's knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19, coupled with the unstable political and security situation, have greatly affected the commitment to preventive measures.


Sensitive company information can leak to unauthorized parties in case employees do not perform effective protective measures while using application systems for their day-to-day tasks. To reduce the risks for such information leakage incidents, many companies require their employees to follow information systems (IS) security policies and promote awareness programs to increase IS security awareness. The design of effective IS security awareness approaches is addressed by existing research. However, understanding how environmental and organizational factors influence organizations individuals' IS security awareness is limited. Using grounded theory as qualitative research approach we collect empirical data from 22 informants. The interview data of company outsiders and company insiders is analyzed to identify contextual factors and explain associations among them. Our stated propositions help to understand why individuals in one organization are well aware of IS security threats and policies, while another organization's individuals have a lower level of IS security awareness.


This paper documents that, at the aggregate level, (i) real wages are positively correlated with output and, on average, lag output by about one quarter in emerging markets, while there are no systematic patterns in developed economies, (ii) real wage volatility (relative to output volatility) is about twice as high in emerging markets compared with developed economies, and (iii) real wage volatility, as a ratio of output volatility, decreases with the level of financial development across countries. I then present a model of contractual arrangements between workers and employers in a small open economy that helps explain this contrast in cyclical wage movements between emerging markets and developed economies. Only employers have access to financial and capital markets in the model, but they need to borrow working capital to pay for labor costs before production is carried out. The idea is that countercyclical interest rates and less developed financial markets in emerging markets make it less optimal for employers to provide workers with relatively stable wages, leading to more volatile and procyclical wages. This is further demonstrated by calibrating the model using data from Mexico and the U.S. to represent emerging and developed economies respectively.


To find out affecting elements of short cut notification and denitrification, the fast startup and the stable operation of shortcut nitrification-denitrification has been investigated. It was found that the fast startup of shortcut nitrification-denitrification can be realized through the control of DO and pH as well as temperature. For the sludge in the primary shortcut nitrification, excess aeration has side effect on nitrite nitrogen accumulation. Therefore the suitable controlling method not only can realize the shortcut nitrification denitrification, but also can maintain stable operation.


The main basic effect of hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO2) on the human body, in our study, was an increased partial pressure of oxygen resulting from an increased amount of oxygen dissolved in plasma. Thus the plasma can become capable of carrying enough oxygen to meet the needs of the body's tissues. From 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2007, a total of 61 patients (62 ears) received medical treatment at the ENT clinic of the 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, and at the Central Military Hospital in Prague. Treatment consisted of a combination of vasodilatation infusion treatment and HBO2 therapy. The results were evaluated in a retrospective study. The overall percentage of patients showing improvement was 59.7%. However, for those patients who started HBO2 treatment within 10 days of onset, complete recovery, or significant improvement was noted in 65.9%. In contrast, patients who started treatment after 10 days of onset, improvement was noted in only 38.9%. NMR examination revealed that two patients had vestibular schwannoma (also known as acoustic neuroma).


This study identified and explored the dilemmas experienced by three first-grade teachers in teaching elementary school science. The impact of coaching and teachers' career stages on how teachers reconciled their dilemmas was examined. Results of this comparative case study indicate that, when it came to teaching science, teachers perceived tensions between focusing instructional practice on science versus the other school subjects, tensions between their responsibility to teach science and their lack of a science background, and tensions between using their curriculum as a script, supplement, starting point, or not all. Participants reconciled their common dilemmas in different ways.  Extent of teaching experience; comfort level with teaching reading, writing, and mathematics; and the sense of accountability teachers felt to teach science were related to how effectively dilemmas were addressed. The amount of time spent with the science coach-researchers was tied to the amount of time science was taught and the extent to which teachers addressed dilemmas in reform-oriented ways.


This paper serves to refine a framework for prioritizing policy related to sustainable development that combines elements of A.H. Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory with M.E. Porter's value chain theory. The research community has provided a variety of methodologies related to the determination of measurement indicators associated with sustainable development. The use of aggregate indices as indicators of sustainable development has been supported by researchers in the latest literature on sustainable development. Indices-based research however appears to have had little influence on policy development because sustainability indicators in themselves provide no direction for how the information can be used to become more sustainable. Using recent index measures, an appropriate balance of social, economic and environmental sustainability is examined so that policy makers may be provided some direction in regards to appropriate and socially-just resource priorities. The model that forms the basis for this framework is tested through hierarchal regression analysis using data from 45 developing countries and compared to previous testing using earlier data. These latest results confirm the values chain framework whereby the satisfaction of society's physiological needs through the prioritization of policies related to social and environmental sustainability is the principle motivator for moving on to the attainment of higher order needs such as increased levels of sustainable development.


Abstract. The International Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater – 2010 has defined the thermodynamic properties of seawater in terms of a new salinity variable, Absolute Salinity, which takes into account the spatial variation of the composition of seawater. Absolute Salinity more accurately reflects the effects of the dissolved material in seawater on the thermodynamic properties (particularly density) than does Practical Salinity. When a seawater sample has standard composition (i.e. the ratios of the constituents of sea salt are the same as those of surface water of the North Atlantic), Practical Salinity can be used to accurately evaluate the thermodynamic properties of seawater. When seawater is not of standard composition, Practical Salinity alone is not sufficient and the Absolute Salinity Anomaly needs to be estimated; this anomaly is as large as 0.025 g kg−1 in the northernmost North Pacific. Here we provide an algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity Anomaly for any location (x, y, p) in the world ocean. To develop this algorithm, we used the Absolute Salinity Anomaly that is found by comparing the density calculated from Practical Salinity to the density measured in the laboratory. These estimates of Absolute Salinity Anomaly however are limited to the number of available observations (namely 811). In order to provide a practical method that can be used at any location in the world ocean, we take advantage of approximate relationships between Absolute Salinity Anomaly and silicate concentrations (which are available globally).


Background: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is a visceral fat depot with unique anatomic, biomolecular and genetic features. Due to its proximity to the coronary arteries and myocardium, dysfunctional EAT may contribute to the development and progression of cardiovascular and metabolic-related adiposity-based chronic diseases. The aim of this work was to describe, by morphological techniques, the early origin of EAT. Methods: EAT adipogenesis was studied in 41 embryos from 32 gestational days (GD) to 8 gestational weeks (GW) and in 23 fetuses until full term (from 9 to 36 GW). Results: This process comprises five stages. Stage 1 appears as mesenchyme at 33–35 GD. Stage 2 is characterized by angiogenesis at 42–45 GD. Stage 3 covers up to 34 GW with the appearance of small fibers in the extracellular matrix. Stage 4 is visible around the coronary arteries, as multilocular adipocytes in primitive fat lobules, and Stage 5 is present with unilocular adipocytes in the definitive fat lobules. EAT precursor tissue appears as early as the end of the first gestational month in the atrioventricular grooves. Unilocular adipocytes appear at the eighth gestational month. Conclusions: Due to its early origin, plasticity and clinical implications, factors such as maternal health and nutrition might influence EAT early development in consequence.


Talking about space in speculative fiction (i.e. fantasy, science fiction or supernatural fiction) touches upon several key aspects of the genre such as worldbuilding, perception of reality and the human condition: what kind of space do we create for ourselves, how do we attribute meaning to it, in which ways are we limited or isolated by its boundaries? Especially in cyberpunk, with its focus on near-future societies and the technologies of the information age, the space we live in and the space we send our minds to do not have to be the same, so the answers are manifold.The following paper will discuss some basic configurations of world and otherworld in speculative fiction, give a short introduction to cyberpunk literature and William Gibson's dual world of cyberspace and meatspace, briefly present Jean Baudrillard's concept of hyperreality, examine the question to which extent the world of Neuromancer might be understood in terms of such a hyperreality, and offer some ideas about alternate realities we might already live in.


Over the past three decades, Ahmadiyah has been at the center of one of the most significant controversies within the Indonesian Muslim community, particularly after the issuance of MUI's (Majelis Ulama Indonesia/The Council of Indonesian Ulama) Fatwas in 1980 and 2005 respectively. This paper undertakes a discussion of Ahmadiyah, reviewing its initial contacts with several Muslim organizations such as Muhammadiyah and Syarikat Islam, its roles in disseminating the idea of progressive and modern Islam among Muslim scholars in 1940s to 1960s. The second part will review internal and external factors contributing to the issuance of MUI Fatwa 1980 in the light of preserving orthodoxy within the Indonesian Muslim community. It will also highlight in brief the government response toward the Ahmadiyah's case. The last part focuses mainly on the Fatwa 2005 and its impact on the more strained relationships within the Muslim community in Indonesia. It will examine socio-political conditions before and after the Fatwa 2005 in light of the steady rise of a new model of Islamism in Indonesia and the conservative shift within the MUI itself, particularly after the downfall of the New Order's regime in 1998. The arguments 'pro and contra' Fatwa 2005, as well as the 'awkward position' of the new government on this issue, will be analysed in detail.


The information environment of a good school library has been undergoing a transformation, powered by technology and trans-media influences in our classrooms. The role of the teacher librarian is to promote books, reading and research, in old ways and new ways, so as to promote conversation and learning. School libraries that adapt to the digital needs of their students and school community not only continue to build a reading culture in the school, but provide the divergence and convergence in media needed to provide the materials for motivation, differentiation, collaboration and connections ne cessary for 21st century learning. Asking questions about the nature of the current knowledge and skills requirements of a teacher librarian in digital environments, and the ongoing professional development needs is related to digital aspects of the profession is an ongoing iterative process which provides valuable insights into the priorities and points related teacher librarianship and innovation in digital environments.


Purpose To determine whether the Medical Student Well-Being Index (MSWBI) can serve as a brief assessment tool to identify medical students in severe psychological distress. Method The authors used data from 2,248 medical students at seven U.S. medical schools who responded to a 2007 survey to explore the accuracy of the MSWBI in identifying medical students with three outcomes: low mental quality of life (QOL; defined by having a Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form Health Survey mental component summary score ≥1/2 standard deviation below that of the age- and gender-matched population norm), suicidal ideation, or serious thoughts of dropping out. The authors confirmed their analyses using data from a separate sample of 2,682 students evaluated in 2009. Results Students with low mental QOL, suicidal ideation, or serious thoughts of dropping out were more likely to endorse each individual MSWBI item and a greater number of total items than were students without such distress (all P < .001). The likelihood ratio for low mental QOL among students with MSWBI scores <4 was 0.47 as compared with 4.79 for those with scores ≥4. At an MSWBI threshold score of ≥4, the MSWBI's sensitivity and specificity for identifying students with low mental QOL or recent suicidal ideation/serious thoughts of dropping out were both ≥90%. On multivariable logistic regression, all MSWBI items were independently associated with at least one outcome. Conclusions The MSWBI is a useful brief screening tool to help identify students with severe distress.


This study set out to determine whether the fastest online hand movement corrections are only responses to changing judgments of the targets' position or whether they are also influenced by the apparent target motion. Introducing a gap between when a target disappears and when it reappears at a new position in a double-step paradigm disrupts the apparent motion, so we examined the influence of such a gap on the intensity of the response. We found that responses to target perturbations with disrupted apparent motion were less vigorous. The response latency was 10 ms shorter when there was a gap, which might be related to the gap effect that has previously been described for initiating eye and hand movements.


This research is motivated by the limited access of women in supporting the family economy. Therefore the issues raised in this research is how to empower women through Life Skills Education (PKH) Culinary program in PKBM Jayagiri West Bandung Regency.The purpose of this study is to describe the initial condition of the learning community (women) before joining PKH Tata Boga programs, planning, implementation and results of the activities achieved, as well as supporting factors and inhibiting the implementation of activities. The theory that supports this research is about the concept of women empowerment, PKH, and family economy. While the research method used is qualitative descriptive approach. Research data obtained by observation, interview,and documentation.The results of the research are as follows: (1) The initial condition of the students to learn before joining the women's empowerment program through the PKH Tata Boga program is generally low family life with the limited entrepreneurship skill, (2) The planning of women empowerment through PKH Tata Boga program through the process of identification, mapping of potentials and resources as well as with the involvement of the learning community, (3) The process of implementing women's empowerment through the PKH Tata Boga program is carried out by various approaches and empowerment techniques with 80 percent proportion of practice and 20 percent theory, (4) women through the PKH program of culinary learners who are attained by citizens learn to have a change of attitude in utilizing the potential and leisure time to improve the family economy through the effort in the field of Culinary, (5) Supporting factors of activities such as studying citizens are not charged for learning, learning motivation,family, and society. While the inhibiting factors include limitations in marketing products, capital and partnerships. Keywords: Empowerment of women, Life Skills education (PKH), improvement of family economy


ABSTRACT Retroviruses are highly susceptible to transcriptional silencing and position effects imparted by chromosomal sequences at their integration site. These phenomena hamper the use of recombinant retroviruses as stable gene delivery vectors. As insulators are able to block promoter-enhancer interactions and reduce position effects in some transgenic animals, we examined the effect of an insulator on the expression and structure of randomly integrated recombinant retroviruses. We used the cHS4 element, an insulator from the chicken β-like globin gene cluster, which has been shown to reduce position effects in transgenic Drosophila. A large panel of mouse erythroleukemia cells that bear a single copy of integrated recombinant retroviruses was generated without using drug selection. We show that the cHS4 increases the probability that integrated proviruses will express and dramatically decreases the level of de novo methylation of the 5′ long terminal repeat. These findings support a primary role of methylation in the silencing of retroviruses and suggest that cHS4 could be useful in gene therapy applications to overcome silencing of retroviral vectors.


Recent research efforts on spoken document retrieval have tried to overcome the low quality of 1-best automatic speech recognition transcripts, especially in the case of conversational speech, by using statistics derived from speech lattices containing multiple transcription hypotheses as output by a speech recognizer. We present a method for lattice-based spoken document retrieval based on a statistical n-gram modeling approach to information retrieval. In this statistical lattice-based retrieval (SLBR) method, a smoothed statistical model is estimated for each document from the expected counts of words given the information in a lattice, and the relevance of each document to a query is measured as a probability under such a model. We investigate the efficacy of our method under various parameter settings of the speech recognition and lattice processing engines, using the Fisher English Corpus of conversational telephone speech. Experimental results show that our method consistently achieves better retrieval performance than using only the 1-best transcripts in statistical retrieval, outperforms a recently proposed lattice-based vector space retrieval method, and also compares favorably with a lattice-based retrieval method based on the Okapi BM25 model.


To determine the relative in vivo importance of IL-1 release after allergen challenge to the subsequent endothelial adhesion and recruitment of eosinophils, the authors used ovalbumin sensitization and inhalation challenge to induce airway eosinophilia in IL-1 receptor type 1-deficient and control wild-type mice. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) eosinophil recruitment in IL-1 receptor type 1-deficient mice challenged with ovalbumin (24.3% +/- 6.3% BAL eosinophils) was significantly reduced compared with wild-type mice (63.7% +/- 2.5% BAL eosinophils). To determine whether the inhibition of eosinophil adhesion to vascular endothelium contributed to the inhibition of eosinophil recruitment in IL-1 receptor type 1-deficient mice, the authors used intravital microscopy to visualize the rolling and firm adhesion of fluorescence-labeled mouse eosinophils in the microvasculature of the allergen-challenged mouse mesentery. Eosinophil rolling, eosinophil firm adhesion to endothelium, and transmigration across endothelium (peritoneal eosinophils) were significantly inhibited in allergen-challenged IL-1 receptor type 1-deficient mice compared with wild-type mice. Overall, these studies demonstrate that cytokines such as IL-1, released after allergen challenge, are important in the induction of endothelial cell adhesiveness, a prerequisite for the recruitment of circulating eosinophils. (Blood. 2000;95:263-269)


Cavinichthys pachylepis gen. and sp. nov., a fossil pachyrhizodontid fish from the marine Albian deposits (Lower Cretaceous) of Pietraroja (Campania, southern Italy), is described in details. The new genus differs from the other members of the family by the minute teeth ranged in wide patches on its jaws. The pterotic is devoid of posterior pointed process. The premaxilla is short and triangular in shape. The unique supramaxilla is narrow and extremely elongate. The first two infraorbitals are fused together, while the three large posterior infraorbitals are separated. The anterior extremity of the large supraorbital reaches the first infraorbital. There is no antorbital. The ventral branch of the preopercle is strongly reduced. The opercle is large and the subopercle small. The first preural centrum and the two ural centra are autogenous but reduced in size. The two ventral hypurals are fused together but not to the first ural centrum. The first uroneural has a broadened anterior extremity but is not forked. Cavinichthys pachylepis occupies a basal position in the phylogenetic tree of the Pachyrhizodontidae.


For combat personnel in urban operations, situational awareness is critical and of major importance for a safe and efficient performance. One way to train situational awareness is to adopt video games. Twenty military and 20 civilian subjects played the game "Close Combat: First to Fight" on two different platforms, Xbox and PC, wearing an eye tracker. The purpose was to investigate if the visual search strategies used in a game correspond to live training, and how military-trained personnel search for visual information in a game environment. A total of 27,081 fixations were generated through a centroid mode algorithm and analyzed frame-by-frame, 48% of them from military personnel. Military personnel's visual search strategies were different from those of civilians. Fixation durations were, however, equally short, that is, about 170 ms, for both groups. Surprisingly, the military-trained personnel's fixation patterns were less orientated towards tactical objects and areas of interest than the civilians'; the underlying mechanisms remaining unclear. Military training was apparently not advantageous with respect to playing "Close Combat: First to Fight". Further research within the area of gaming, military training and visual search strategies is warranted.


Abstract. The present paper was undertaken to analyse and identify urinary proteins that were significantly altered in urine of calves in response to short-term administration of milk replacer with lactose addition. We used 2-D electrophoresis combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation and time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Of all spots analysed, four showed significantly decreased abundance: alpha-1-antiproteinase (A1AT), serotransferrin (TF), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1). One displayed an increased abundance: adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-citrate synthase. The changes in abundance of SHBG and CYP2E1 proteins were caused by the direct effect of an oversupply of sugar, while A1AT, TF and ATP-citrate synthase showed altered abundance probably due to indirect effects. The results of this study confirmed that calves' urine is a very precious biological material to evaluate the renal function, and it may be valuable in veterinary and zootechnical diagnostics.


Author(s): Lemieux, Jessy Mario | Advisor(s): Zhang, Jingsong | Abstract: Flash pyrolysis coupled with vacuum-ultraviolet photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used to study the thermal decomposition mechanisms of molecules relevant to fuel combustion and the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of SiGe, SiC, and GeC. For combustion research, the thermal decomposition of benzyl radical, n-alkanes CnH2n+2 (n = 5-8 and 10), 1-butyl radical, and 1-pentyl radical was performed. Benzyl was confirmed to decompose primarily by ejection of H atom after significant isomerization with loss of methyl observed as a minor decomposition pathway. Thermal decomposition of n-alkanes by C-C bond homolysis was directly observed with preferential fission of central C-C bonds. Methyl radical formation by homolysis of the α C-C bond was observed to be the least significant C-C bond homolysis pathway. Decomposition of 1-butyl by β-scission to form ethene and ethyl radical was directly observed. Significant isomerization of 1-pentyl radicals by 1,4-H migration followed by β-scission was observed at temperatures below 900 K with direct β-scission of 1-pentyl becoming increasingly prevalent at higher temperatures. Gas phase CVD research included pyrolysis of SiH4/GeH4 mixture, tetramethylsilane, tetramethylgermane, and several methylchlorosilanes. Formation of highly unsaturated SiGeHz, Si2GeHz, Si3GeHz, SiGe2Hz, SiGe3Hz and SiGe5Hz clusters in the pyrolysis of a 1 to 1 SiH4/GeH4 mixture by a silylene/germylene insertion mechanism was observed. The decomposition of tetramethylsilane and tetramethylgermane by Si-C bond homolysis was confirmed and newly observed secondary decomposition mechanisms were demonstrated. The decomposition of methyltrichlorosilane (MTS), an established SiC CVD precursor, was studied. Decomposition occurred primarily via Si-C bond homolysis at temperatures below 1350 K with elimination of CH3Cl to form SiCl2 becoming increasingly important as the pyrolysis temperature was increased. The mechanism of MTS decomposition was also compared to two other potential precursors, dimethyldichlorsilane and methyldichlorosilane.


By using a novel interface between the modem smoothed particle hydrodynamics code GASOLINE2 and the chemistry package KROME, we follow the hydrodynamical and chemical evolution of an isolated galaxy. In order to assess the relevance of different physical parameters and prescriptions, we constructed a suite of 10 simulations, in which we vary the chemical network (primordial and metal species), how metal cooling is modelled (non-equilibrium versus equilibrium;optically thin versus thick approximation), the initial gas metallicity (from 10 to 100 per cent solar), and how molecular hydrogen forms on dust. This is the first work in which metal injection from supernovae, turbulent metal diffusion, and a metal network with non-equilibrium metal cooling are self-consistently included in a galaxy simulation. We find that properly modelling the chemical evolution of several metal species and the corresponding non-equilibrium metal cooling has important effects on the thermodynamics of the gas, the chemical abundances, and the appearance of the galaxy: the gas is typically warmer, has a larger molecular-gas mass fraction, and has a smoother disc. We also conclude that, at relatively high metallicity, the choice of molecular-hydrogen formation rates on dust is not crucial. Moreover, we confirm that a higher initial metallicity produces a colder gas and a larger fraction of molecular gas, with the low-metallicity simulation best matching the observed molecular Kennicutt-Schmidt relation. Finally, our simulations agree quite well with observations that link star formation rate to metal emission lines.


Dumping syndrome commonly occurs after gastrectomy. The late dumping, which is one of the dumping syndromes, is due to postprandial hypoglycaemia caused by an excessive insulin secretion after a sharp rise in plasma glucose. Several treatments, including operation, dietary fibre and somatostatin, have been attempted to relieve dumping symptoms. These treatments take effect through modulation of plasma insulin and glucose levels, but their efficacy is still under consideration. α‐Glucosidase inhibitor attenuates the postprandial increase of plasma glucose levels and is widely used for treatment of non‐insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). The acute effect of α‐glucosidase inhibitor on late dumping syndrome has been reported by some studies with test meals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a long‐term effect of α‐glucosidase inhibitor treatment with ordinary meals in late dumping patients with NIDDM because administration of α‐glucosidase inhibitor is only ethically allowed for diabetic patients in Japan. Six late dumping patients with NIDDM were orally administered α‐glucosidase inhibitor, acarbose (50 or 100 mg), three times a day before each meal for 1 month. Diurnal changes of plasma glucose, insulin and pancreatic glucagon levels were compared before and after the α‐glucosidase inhibitor treatment. All patients had late dumping‐related symptoms, such as weakness, palpitation and dizziness before the induction of α‐glucosidase inhibitor treatment. Patients suffered from a rapid fall in plasma glucose levels from hyperglycaemia at the same time as dumping symptoms. These late dumping‐related symptoms disappeared and a rapid change of plasma glucose and insulin levels were attenuated after the α‐glucosidase inhibitor treatment. These data suggest a long‐term therapeutic efficacy of α‐glucosidase inhibitor for late dumping patients.


The Sry (sex determining region, Y chromosome) open reading frame from mice representing four species of the genus Mus was sequenced in an effort to understand the conditional dysfunction of some M. domesticus Sry alleles when present on the C57BL/6J inbred strain genetic background and to delimit the functionally important protein regions. Twenty-two Sry alleles were sequenced, most from wild-derived Y chromosomes, including 11 M. domesticus alleles, seven M. musculus alleles and two alleles each from the related species M. spicilegus and M. spretus. We found that the HMG domain (high mobility group DNA binding domain) and the unique regions are well conserved, while the glutamine repeat cluster (GRC) region is quite variable. No correlation was found between the predicted protein isoforms and the ability of a Sry allele to allow differentiation of ovarian tissue when on the C57BL/6J genetic background, strongly suggesting that the cause of this sex reversal is not the Sry protein itself, but rather the regulation of SRY expression. Furthermore, our interspecies sequence analysis provides compelling evidence that the M. musculus and M. domesticus SRY functional domain is contained in the first 143 amino acids, which includes the HMG domain and adjacent unique region (UR-2).


Illegitimate recombination between a prophage and adjacent bacterial DNA is the first step in the formation of specialized transducing phage. Such recombination is rare, but it is greatly enhanced by UV irradiation. We studied the mechanism of UV-induced illegitimate recombination by examining the effect of rec mutations on the frequency of lambda bio transducing phage and found that an Escherichia coli recJ mutation reduces it by 3- to 10-fold. In addition, the recombination hotspot, which accounts for approximately 60% of lambda bio transducing phages in wild-type bacteria, was not detected in the recJ mutant. Introduction of a RecJ overexpression plasmid into the recJ mutant recovered the recombination at the hotspot. These results indicate that the RecJ protein preferentially stimulates illegitimate recombination at the hotspot. Both the hotspot and the non- hotspot sites have short regions of homology, but only the hotspot sites contain common direct-repeat sequences. We propose a model based on the 5'-3' exonuclease activity of RecJ to explain the involvement of this protein in illegitimate recombination at the hotspot.


The dynamic optimal interpolation (DOI) method merges altimetric sea surface height (SSH) data into maps that are continuous in time and space. Unlike the traditional linear optimal interpolation (LOI) method, DOI has the advantage of considering a nonlinear temporal propagation of the SSH field. DOI has been successfully applied to along-track pseudo-observations in observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs), demonstrating a reduction in interpolation error in highly turbulent regions compared to LOI mapping. In the present study, we further extend the validation of the DOI method by an observing system experiment (OSE). We applied and validated the DOI approach with real nadir-altimetric observations in four regional configurations. Overall, the qualitative and quantitative assessments of these realistic SSH maps confirm the higher level of performance of the DOI approach in turbulent regions. It is more of a challenge to outperform the conventional LOI mapping in coastal and low-energy regions. Validations against LOI maps distributed by the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service indicate a 10%–15% increase in average performance and an improved resolution limit toward shorter wavelengths. The DOI method also shows improved mesoscale mapping of intense jets and fronts and reveals new eddies with smoother trajectories.


Public diplomacy is increasingly facilitated through social media. Government leaders and diplomats are using social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to communicate with foreign publics, changing the dynamics of interaction between broadcaster and audience. The key to understanding the power of social media in public diplomacy is the role of emotion in digital diplomacy strategies: social media statements relating to state identity can incite strong emotions that have the potential to undermine heretofore positive diplomatic relations, or provide communicative openings that move towards ameliorating crises. Examining the interaction of social media, emotion and identity provides insight into the increasing importance of digital diplomacy and the future challenges relating to digital disinformation that lie ahead.


Unpleasant odor of noni juice caused by organic acids has been a long standing problem. Adsorption using ion exchange resin has been found to be effective for the removal of organic acids. The ability of Amberlite IRA 67 resin to act as ion exchanger with the best adsorption efficiency were investigated by undergo characterization using FTIR and surface morphology using SEM. Results indicate that Amberlite IRA 67 resin treated using hydrochloric acid (HCl) has potential to be used in removing organic acids.


Haemophilus ducreyi causes chancroid, which facilitates transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1. To better understand the biology of H. ducreyi, we developed a human inoculation model. In the present article, we describe clinical outcomes for 267 volunteers who were infected with H. ducreyi. There was a relationship between papule formation and estimated delivered dose. The outcome (either pustule formation or resolution) of infected sites for a given subject was not independent; the most important determinants of pustule formation were sex and host effects. When 41 subjects were infected a second time, their outcomes segregated toward their initial outcome, confirming the host effect. Subjects with pustules developed local symptoms that required withdrawal from the study after a mean of 8.6 days. There were 191 volunteers who had tissue biopsy performed, 173 of whom were available for follow-up analysis; 28 (16.2%) of these developed hypertrophic scars, but the model was otherwise safe. Mutant-parent trials confirmed key features in H. ducreyi pathogenesis, and the model has provided an opportunity to study differential human susceptibility to a bacterial infection.


This paper presents a nonlinear tracking control method for a hard disk drive (HDD) dual-stage actuator (DSA) system that consists of a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator and a piezoelectric (PZT) microactuator. Conventional track seeking controllers for DSA systems were generally designed to enable the VCM actuator to approach the target track without overshoot. However, we observe that this strategy is unable to achieve the minimal settling time when the target tracks are beyond the PZT actuator stroke limit. To further reduce the settling time, we design the VCM actuator controller to yield a closed-loop system with a small damping ratio for a fast rise time and certain allowable overshoot. Then, a composite nonlinear control law is designed for the PZT actuator to reduce the overshoot caused by the VCM actuator as the system output approaches the target track. Experimental results show that the proposed dual-stage servo outperforms the conventional dual-stage servo in short-span seeking and additionally achieves better track following accuracy than the VCM only single-stage servo.


According to results of recent prospective studies depression is an independent risk factor of ischemic heart disease and should be considered together with such acknowledged risk factors as dyslipidemia, hypertension and smoking. Possible pathophysiological mechanisms of relationship between depression and ischemic heart disease are lowered heart rate variability and defects of physiological characteristics of platelets, depression also influences compliance to treatment and physicians recommendations. Depression negatively affects prognosis: mortality after myocardial infarction of patients with depression is 3-6 time higher than of those without depression. Incidence of depression is rather high and special investigation reveals its clinically significant symptoms in every fifth patient. Depression worsens clinical course of ischemic heart disease. Timely detection of depression is very important.


The asymptotic performance of transient detection based on higher order moments is theoretically derived, invoking the asymptotic normality of the decision statistics, and a detector based on the third-order absolute moment is proposed. The analysis shows that for a transient duration of less than half the observation window, the proposed detector outperforms the detectors based on the second- and fourth-order moments for a wide range of SNR values. Computer simulations assess the applicability of the theoretical analysis.