The aim of this study was to investigate how perceived stress may affect electroencephalographical (EEG) activity in a stress paradigm in a sample of 76 healthy participants. EEG activity was analyzed using multilevel modeling, allowing estimation of nested effects (EEG time segments within subjects). The stress paradigm consisted of a 3-minute pre-stimulus stress period and a 2-minute post-stimulus phase. At t=3 minutes, a single electrical stimulus was delivered. Participants were unaware of the precise moment of stimulus delivery and its intensity level. In the EEG time course of alpha activity, a stronger increase was observed during the post-stimulus period as compared to the pre-stimulus period. An opposite time course effect was apparent for gamma activity. Both effects were in line with a priori expectations and support the validity of this experimental EEG-stress paradigm. Secondly, we investigated whether interaction effects of stress and coping, as measured with the Perceived Stress Scale-10 questionnaire (PSS-10), could be demonstrated. A higher perceived stress score was accompanied by a greater increase in delta- and theta-activity during the post-stimulus phase, compared to low scores. In contrast, low coping capacity was associated with a stronger decrease in slow beta, fast beta and gamma activity during the post-stimulus phase. The results of the present article may be interpreted as proof-of-principle that EEG stress-related activity depends on the level of subjectively reported perceived stress. The inclusion of psychosocial variables measuring coping styles as well as stress-related personality aspects permits further examination of the interconnection between mind and body and may inform on the process of transformation from acute to chronic stress.


Options for using trawl mensuration data to improve survey abundance estimates are discussed, with examples from Scotian Shelf groundfish surveys. Once the survey performance parameters of individual trawls are known, the next step should be to control the variability of parameters which can be controlled. rather than to standardize the catch using catch/parameter relationships which are themselves highly variable or subject to dubious assumptions. It is possible to interactively change warp length usinq spread sensor information to achieve constant door spread, just as distance travelled during a tow is now controlled by interactively monitoring ship speed with Doppler logs. Abundance indices from Scotian Shelf surveys are subject to significant bias from systematic variations in gear spread, confirming the importance of routine trawl mensuration during standard survey sets, and the need for corrective action.


Six sulphated octapeptide amide analogues, representing the C-terminal sequence of pancreozymin have been prepared in addition to the natural sequence. The tryptophyl residue which is essential for biological activity was replaced in this series by structurally, closely related analogues each of which resemble the properties of the original moiety to varying extents. The syntheses were so conducted that the C-terminal tetrapeptide amides (modified tetragastrins) could be secured. The results of the measurement of one of the biological parameters are indicated. The activity was determined to elucidate which of the physicochemical properties of the tryptophyl residue is most essential for exertion of biological activity in the described test.


This paper describes how knowledge mobilization evolved during a study that assessed a proposed increase in industrial water withdrawals from the Athabasca River in northern Alberta, Canada, and potential impacts on a suite of freshwater semi-aquatic mammals in the broader ecosystem. The oil sands region in northeastern Alberta faces various pressures that require rapid knowledge mobilization and decision making, while still acknowledging ecological sensitivities immediately downstream in the Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD) in the Wood Buffalo National Park. Data were acquired using a multi-faceted approach, including literature reviews, acquisition and synthesis of raw data, and interviews with local knowledge holders. The final outcome of the study was then contextualized relative to elements of knowledge mobilization: (1) research, (2) dissemination, (3) uptake, (4) implementation, and (5) impact. Knowledge mobilization was easiest to quantify for the first two elements, yet was still present in varying forms in the latter stages. The cultural importance of beavers, muskrats, river otters, and mink for communities associated with the Athabasca River and the PAD allowed for increased engagement during all stages of the research process, which then facilitated the co-production of potential solutions among different organization and perspectives.


IntroductionWildfires are increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in wildfire smoke is an important indicator of health effects of most combustion sources. The evidence based on adverse health impacts of PM2.5 from wildfire smoke are increasingly being studied but some gaps still remain.
Objectives and ApproachWe examined the association of PM2.5 from Pacific Northwest wildfires with multiple respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity events related physician and emergency department visits, hospital admissions, health-link calls and medications dispensed among Calgary city population from August 1 – September 30, 2015. Physician billing claims, discharge abstract, Pharmaceutical Information Network, Health-link calls databases were linked with the air quality monitoring information database. Quasi-Poisson regression model for time lags of zero to five days and a three-day moving average, and conditional logistic regression model was used with adjustment for air pollutants and meteorological variables. Age and disease-specific stratified analyses were performed.
ResultsCompared to the pre-wildfire period (Aug 1 – Aug 23), a 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 increased the risk for respiratory physician visits by 54.8% (95% CI: 41.6% - 69.3%) and 32.6% (95% CI: 10.4% - 58.9%) in the respective post (Sep 1- Sep 30) and during (Aug 24 – Aug 31) wildfire periods. The strongest association of PM2.5 with respiratory physician visits was observed for children aged 0-9 years in the post-wildfire period (Relative Risk [RR] = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.86 - 2.39) compared to during wildfire period (RR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.21 - 2.02) and was consistent for asthma, acute bronchitis and acute respiratory infection. Statistically significant effects of PM2.5 on cardiovascular hospitalizations, ED and physician visits were not observed during the wildfire period.
Conclusion/ImplicationsWildfire-related PM2.5 led to increased physician visits due to respiratory morbidity during and after the wildfires, particularly for asthma, acute bronchitis and acute respiratory infections in children. The absence of cardiovascular health impact in general population during wildfires provides useful information for targeted public health messaging during adverse air quality events.


Objectives Study of the trends in morbidity and mortality in ovarian cancer in the Republic of Uzbekistan from 2013 to 2017. Methods The materials and methods of this study were the main statistical indicators for the Republic for the period 2013–2017 according to the cancer register. Results In 2013, in the structure of the incidence rate by Uzbekistan regions the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places were taken by Bukhara region, Tashkent city and Ferghana regions with incidence rates of 2.6, 2.2 and 2.1 per 100 000 populations respectively. At the same time, in 2017, leading positions were taken by Bukhara, Tashkent and Jizakh regions with incidence rates of 3.9, 3.3 and 3.1 per 100 000 population accordingly. In 2013, there were 573 newly diagnosed cases of ovarian cancer in the Republic of Uzbekistan with incidence rate of 1.9, and 268 women died from ovarian cancer at the same year, with mortality rate of 0.9. To compare the same indicators in 2017, it can be concluded that the rate of morbidity and mortality over the past five years had increased by 0.5 and 0.4 respectively. The percentage of patients with stages III–IV in 2013 was 67.9%, and in 2017 this percentage decreased to 53.2%. Conclusions As can be seen from the study, over the past 5 years there have been recorded trends in the growth of morbidity and mortality in Uzbekistan. Based on this study, ovarian cancer requires more attention of oncologists in terms of timely diagnosis at the early stages of malignant growth.


The general theoretical consideration for evaluating the statistics of the image illuminance of the uniform diffuse object under any illumination mode is described. The basis is the diffraction theory of an optical image given by Hopkins and the mathematical model of Enloe. With the help of the concept of the effective source, the frequency distribution of the spatial power spectral density of the speckle noise can be evaluated for any stage of partial coherence. In this paper, four cases are examined in which the effective source consists of (i) a single point source (coherent), (ii) multiple point sources, (iii) an extended plane source, and (iv) two small separate plane sources. One of the conclusions is that a ring source having the same extension as the aperture of an optical system serves to reduce the noise power to one-half of that, produced by a coherent (point) source. According to the general formula derived, the statistics of the coherent image-forming system can be described as a special case of the general treatment. This formula is useful in the evaluation of optical noise in various problems of optical image formation.


Theories, experiments and numerical simulations on the interaction of electromagnetic waves with rapidly created unmagnetized plasmas are presented. In the case that plasma is created uniformly, the frequency of a propagating electromagnetic wave is upshifted. An opposite propagation wave of the same frequency is also generated. In addition, a static current supporting a wiggler magnetic field is also produced in the plasma. When a spatially periodic structure is introduced to the rapidly created plasma, the theory and numerical simulation results show that both frequency-upshifted and downshifted waves are generated. If the plasma has a large but finite dimension in the incident wave propagation direction and is created rapidly rather than instantaneously, the frequency downshifted waves are found to be trapped by the plasma when the plasma frequency is larger than the wave frequency. The wave trapping results in accumulating the frequency-downshifted waves during the finite transient period of plasma creation. Indeed, in the experimental observations the frequency downshifted signals were detected repetitively with considerably enhanced spectral intensities, confirming the results of the numerical simulations. The missing of frequency upshifted signals in the experimental observations is explained by the modal field distributions in the periodic structure, indicating that the frequency upshifted modes experience heavier collisional damping of the plasma than the frequency downshifted modes.


The study compares the biochemical behavior of two epsilon class Glutathione S- Transferase (GSTs) genes from Drosophila melanogaster, namely gste6 and gste7. Both GSTs were cloned, expressed and homogenously purified using a combination of anionic exchange chromatography and GSH-affinity matrix. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that both shared 83% and 69% amino acid sequence similarity and identity respectively. Each GSTE6 shared 79% and 77% similarity and GSTE7 has 77% similarity towards GST6A and GST6B of Musca domestica, respectively which are known to participate in resistance towards insecticides. The expressed recombinant proteins were tested for their activity towards 12 model substrates. Based on the pattern of activity toward these substrates, these GST isozymes exhibited overlapping but similar substrate specificities. The isozymes were only active towards 1-chloro-2, 4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB), 1, 2-dichloro-4-nitrobenzene (DCNB) and p-nitrobenzyl chloride (p-NBC). GSTE6 possesses greater catalytic efficiency (Kcat/Km) towards substrate CDNB but GSTE7 possesses greater catalytic efficiency (Kcat/Km) towards substrate DCNB and p-NBC. Thin layer chromatography analysis showed the isozymes were not able to conjugate 13 tested insecticides. The inhibition kinetics of natural products and dyes towards both GSTs in- vitro revealed that phenol red dye possessed inhibition effects only on GSTE6 while rose bengal and cardiogreen dye inhibit excellently both GSTE6 and GSTE7. Interestingly, methylene blue dye and trans-chalcone have been showed to stimulate GSTE7 activity towards CDNB.


Context Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer amongst women but it has the highest survival rates amongst all cancer. Rehabilitation therapy of post-treatment effects from cancer and its treatment is needed to improve functioning and quality of life. This review investigated the range of methods for improving physical, psychosocial, occupational, and social wellbeing in women with breast cancer after receiving breast cancer surgery. Method A search for articles published in English between the years 2009 and 2014 was carried out using The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, PubMed, and ScienceDirect. Search terms included: 'breast cancer', 'breast carcinoma', 'surgery', 'mastectomy', 'lumpectomy', 'breast conservation', 'axillary lymph node dissection', 'rehabilitation', 'therapy', 'physiotherapy', 'occupational therapy', 'psychological', 'psychosocial', 'psychotherapy', 'exercise', 'physical activity', 'cognitive', 'occupational', 'alternative', 'complementary', and 'systematic review'. Study selection Systematic reviews on the effectiveness of rehabilitation methods in improving post-operative physical, and psychological outcomes for breast cancer were selected. Sixteen articles met all the eligibility criteria and were included in the review. Data extraction Included review year, study aim, total number of participants included, and results. Data synthesis Evidence for exercise rehabilitation is predominantly in the improvement of shoulder mobility and limb strength. Inconclusive results exist for a range of rehabilitation methods (physical, psycho-education, nutritional, alternative-complementary methods) for addressing the domains of psychosocial, cognitive, and occupational outcomes. Conclusion There is good evidence for narrowly-focused exercise rehabilitation in improving physical outcome particularly for shoulder mobility and lymphedema. There were inconclusive results for methods to improve psychosocial, cognitive, and occupational outcomes. There were no reviews on broader performance areas and lifestyle factors to enable effective living after treatment. The review suggests that comprehensiveness and effectiveness of post-operative breast cancer rehabilitation should consider patients' self-management approaches towards lifestyle redesign, and incorporate health promotion aspects, in light of the fact that breast cancer is now taking the form of a chronic illness with longer survivorship years.


Tissue engineering results from the use of cells and scaffolds to reproduce structural and spatial organization or function of a tissue. The Production of an ideal engineered tissue depends on its designed purpose. For clinical applications, the main concerns are biocompatibility and the generation of a tissue able to mimic most of its original biological functions. Moreover, the viability of an implanted tissue is associated with its stability to support vascular networks. This chapter summarizes the theory of the self-assembly approach for tissue engineering. Adjustments and modifications in stromal thickness and extracellular matrix composition for various self-assembled tissues are discussed. Methods developed to generate tissue closely mimicking the native morphology and structure, to incorporate capillary-like networks, and to reduce production time and costs are also reviewed. The self-assembly technique leads to the production of a stroma free of exogenous material and can be adapted to generate fastest, inexpensive, and near-tonative tissue bioengineering for medical and fundamental research applications.


Wireless communication and networking often proves to be a quite challenging subject to teach in a meaningful way, because many students appear to find the subject rather dry and technical, and thus quite boring. The authors have prepared some interesting projects to provide the students of wireless communication and networking with a hands-on learning experience. These projects are designed around low-cost Wi-Fi modules and PC cards that are available from local electronics shops. The projects are suitable for classroom use in introductory-level courses about wireless networking. The effectiveness of these projects has been evaluated by both students and teaching team. The feedback from students indicates that both the development and implementation of the projects were successful. This paper describes these projects, their overall effectiveness, and plans for further projects. The impact of Wi-Fi projects on student learning and comprehension is also discussed.


We investigate the relationship between the mass of the central supermassive black hole, MBH, and the host galaxy luminosity, Lgal, in a sample of quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. We use composite quasar spectra binned by black hole mass and redshift to assess galaxy features that would otherwise be overwhelmed by noise in individual spectra. The black hole mass is calculated using the photoionization method, and the host galaxy luminosity is inferred from the depth of the Ca ii H+K features in the composite spectra. We evaluate the evolution in the MBH–Lgal relationship by examining the redshift dependence of Δ log MBH, the offset in MBH from the local MBH–Lgal relationship. There is little systematic trend in Δ log MBH out to z = 0.8. Using the width of the [O iii] emission line as a proxy for the stellar velocity dispersion, σ*, we find agreement of our derived host luminosities with the locally observed Faber–Jackson relation. This supports the utility of the width of the [O iii] line as a proxy for σ* in statistical studies.


Abstract The earthquake ground-motion prediction equations developed for the Next Generation Attenuation of Ground Motions (NGA–West) project in 2008 have established a new baseline for the estimation of ground-motion parameters, such as peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, and spectral acceleration, for shallow crustal earthquakes in active tectonic regions. We perform statistical goodness-of-fit analyses to quantitatively compare the predictive capabilities of the NGA models and their predecessors, using several testing subsets of the master database used in model development. In addition, we perform a blind comparison test using 1060 ground-motion records from seven recent earthquakes recorded in California: the 2003 M  6.5 San Simeon event, 2004 M  6.0 Parkfield event, 2005 M  5.2 Anza event, 2007 M  5.4 Alum Rock event, 2008 M  5.4 Chino Hills event, 2010 M  7.2 Baja event, and 2010 M  5.7 Ocotillo event. We assess how modeling decisions regarding the regression dataset, functional forms, input parameters, and model complexity influence the models' predictive capabilities. By comparing the performance of each model, we discuss various ground-motion modeling strategies and offer recommendations for model development. We find that increased model complexity does not necessarily lead to increased prediction accuracy, that the inclusion of aftershocks in regression datasets may result in decreased predictive capabilities for mainshocks, and that the use of measured site characteristics leads to greatly improved ground-motion predictions. A model validation framework is introduced to assess the prediction accuracy of ground-motion prediction equations and to aid in their future development.


Development of squamous cell carcinoma (Marjolin's ulcer), a well-known and rare complication of chronic ulcers, sinuses, chronic osteomyelitis and burn scars, may complicate chronic pressure ulcers. For several years, reports have suggested these cancers (pressure sore carcinoma, PSC) are highly fatal and aggressive, unlike other Marjolin's ulcers. A 39-year-old male, paraparetic from spina bifida, with history of chronic pressure sores and osteomyelitis of the pelvic bones underwent multiple resections. A descending colostomy was performed to avoid soiling of the perineum and decubitus ulcers. He developed squamous cell carcinoma in multiple pelvic areas. He was dependent on two daily visits by home care nurses for wound care. After negative workup for metastasis, as his only chance for cure he was offered hemicorporectomy, which was performed at the L4-L5 disc level. A prosthesis was applied 1 month after the surgery. As of November 2003, he remains disease-free after 7 years (90 months) from initial surgery. He is employed as a computer programmer, is self-dependent, and also drives. Aggressive treatment in select patients with PSC is essential and can lead to long-term disease control and increase in overall quality of life.


This study investigated bioaerosol emission rates and plume characteristics of bioaerosols generated during land application of liquid Class B biosolids. In addition, it compared the rate of aerosolization of coliphages and total coliform bacteria during land application of liquid Class B biosolids to the rate of aerosolization during land application of groundwater inoculated with similar concentrations of Escherichia coli and coliphage MS2. Air samples were taken immediately downwind of a spray applicator as it applied liquid (approximately 8% solids) biosolids to farmland near Tucson, Arizona. Air samples were also collected immediately downwind of groundwater seeded with MS2 and E. coli applied to land in an identical manner. Air samples, collected with liquid impingers, were taken in horizontal and vertical alignment with respect to the passing spray applicator. Vertical and horizontal sample arrays made it possible to calculate the flux of microorganisms through a virtual plane of air samplers, located 2 m downwind of the passing spray applicator. Neither coliphages nor coliform bacteria were detected in air downwind of spray application of liquid Class B biosolids. Based on limits of detection for the methodology, the rate of aerosolization during land application of liquid biosolids was calculated to be less than 33 plaque forming units (PFU) of coliphage and 10 colony forming units (CFU) of coliform bacteria per meter traveled by the spray applicator. The rate of aerosolization during land application of seeded groundwater was found to be, on average, 2.02 x 10(3) CFU E. coli and 3.86 x 10(3) PFU MS2 aerosolized per meter traveled by the spray applicator. This is greater aerosolization than was observed during land application of biosolids. Because concentrations of coliphages and coliforms were similar in the liquid biosolids and the seeded water, itwas concluded that some property of biosolids reduces aerosolization of microorganisms relative to groundwater. Additional experiments utilizing a novel air sampling protocol showed that the duration of bioaerosol exposure immediately (2 m) downwind of biosolids spray application is brief and the plume of bioaerosols generated is discrete. Additional air samples showed that aerosolization of coliphages and coliform bacteria after liquid biosolids have been applied to land does not occur at detectable levels.


Plant Transcription Factors: Evolutionary, Structural and Functional Aspects is the only publication that provides a comprehensive compilation of plant transcription factor families and their complex roles in plant biology. While the majority of information about transcription factors is based on mammalian systems, this publication discusses plant transcription factors, including the important aspects and unifying themes to understanding transcription factors and the important roles of particular families in specific processes. * Provides an entry point for transcription factor literature* Offers compilation of information into one single resource for rapid consultation on different plant transcription factor features* Integrates the knowledge about different transcription factors, along with cross-referencing * Provides information on the unique aspects surrounding plant transcription factors


From the Publisher:
This book covers topics ranging from the general principles of .NET through the C# language and how its used in ASP.NET and Windows Forms. Written by programmers for programmers, the content of the book is intended to get readers over the hump of the .NET learning curve and provide solid practical knowledge that will make developers productive from day one.


The Dutch Offshore Wind Atlas (DOWA) is validated against wind speed and direction measurements from the Cabauw meteorological mast for a 10-year period and at heights between 10 m and 200 m. The validation results are compared to the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) North Sea Wind (KNW) atlas. It is found that the average difference (bias) between DOWA wind speeds and those measured at Cabauw varies for the different heights between −0.1 m/s to 0.3 m/s. Significant differences between DOWA and KNW are only found at altitudes of 10 m and 20 m, where KNW performs better. For heights above 20 m, there is no significant difference between DOWA and KNW with respect to the 10-year averaged wind speed bias. The diurnal cycle is better captured by DOWA compared to KNW, and the hourly correlation is slightly improved. In addition, a comparison with the global European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-Interim and ERA5 reanalyses (used for KNW and DOWA, respectively) is made, highlighting the added skill provided by downscaling those global datasets with the weather model HARMONIE.


This is the first documented congenital retroperitoneal hemangioendothelioma. The patient presented at birth with a retroperitoneal mass and thrombocytopenia. Postmortem examination revealed the tumor to be a hemangioendothelioma, arising from the posterior abdominal wall. The association of an angiomatous tumor will thrombocytopenia represents the Kasabach-Merritt syndrome.


Borneo has experienced a rapid decline in the extent of forest cover, which has reduced the amount of habitat available for many plant and animal species. The precise impact of habitat loss on the conservation status of dipterocarp trees is uncertain. We use three contrasting techniques, the extent of occurrence, area of occupancy and ecological niche models derived using maxent, in conjunction with a current land‐use map of Sabah, to derive estimates of habitat loss and infer a regional IUCN Red List conservation status for 33 Sabah dipterocarp species. Estimates of habitat loss differed significantly according to the methods employed and between species on different habitat types. Proportion of habitat loss determined from the ecological niche models varied from 21 percent for Shorea micans to 99.5 percent for Dipterocarpus lamellatus. Thirty‐two of the 33 dipterocarp species analyzed in this study would have their Sabah populations classified as Threatened (equal to a habitat loss of > 30%) under the A2 IUCN Red List criterion. Dipterocarps that occur in lowland forests have experienced greater habitat loss than upland/lower montane or ultramafic species. In addition, species with the lowest predicted area within their historic distributions had the highest proportion of habitat lost, which provides a rationale for targeting conservation effort on the species with narrow distributions. We recommend the ecological niche modeling approach as a rapid assessment tool for reconstructing species' historic distributions during conservation assessments of tropical trees.


Grasslands contribute greatly to biodiversity and human livelihoods; they support 70% of the world's agricultural area, but are heavily degraded by human land use. Grassland restoration research and management receives less attention than forests or freshwater habitats, although grasslands are critical for sustaining ecosystems multifunctionality and capacity to support biodiversity. In this article, we introduce a Special Issue which considers major trends and prospects in grassland restoration. We identified three key topics: First, restoration must confront widespread seed and site limitations, and new monitoring methods, including remote sensing techniques, are critical for restoration projects. Second, we highlight that restored grasslands typically require ongoing disturbance management and that research is required to determine optimal approaches for implementing this management during restoration. Third, global and regional restoration agendas should be harmonized with site‐level goals, and syntheses of current knowledge and research needs must guide grassland restoration across scales. We also identify research gaps to be filled, and challenges which grasslands face in the future: (1) a need for careful target vegetation selection and climate‐adaptive restoration; (2) lack of knowledge in dynamics and restoration of several regions and grassland types, including drylands and (sub)tropical regions; (3) increased importance of species arrival sequence, and high stochasticity of species establishment; and finally (4) issues of post‐restoration management to guarantee long‐term sustainability of restored sites. A new generation of research and restoration projects to bridge these gaps is necessary to mitigate environmental challenges spanning localities to the globe as we commence the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.


Biogenic selenium (Se) emissions play a major role in the biogeochemical cycle of this essential micronutrient. Microalgae may be responsible for a large portion of these emissions via production of methylated Se compounds that volatilize into the atmosphere. However, the biochemical mechanisms underlying Se methylation in microalgae are poorly understood. Here, we study Se methylation by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a model freshwater alga, as a function of uptake and intracellular Se concentrations and present a biochemical model that quantitatively describes Se uptake and methylation. Both selenite and selenate, two major inorganic forms of Se, are readily internalized by C. reinhardtii, but selenite is accumulated around ten times more efficiently than selenate due to different membrane transporters. With either selenite or selenate as substrates, Se methylation was highly efficient (up to 89% of intracellular Se) and directly coupled to intracellular Se levels (R(2) > 0.92) over an intracellular concentration range exceeding an order of magnitude. At intracellular concentrations exceeding 10 mM, intracellular zerovalent Se was formed. The relationship between uptake, intracellular accumulation, and methylation was used by the biochemical model to successfully predict measured concentrations of methylated Se in natural waters. Therefore, biological Se methylation by microalgae could significantly contribute to environmental Se cycling.


A near-field phasor beam measurement system is developed for the characterization of heterodyne receiver optics at submillimeter-wave frequencies. The system synthesizes a pair of submillimeter-wave signals as the RF and local oscillator (LO) sources from common reference sources. The synthesized harmonic numbers of the RF and LO sources are arranged with difference by one, which makes this a new configuration with a unitary harmonic difference. The coherent RF and LO signal are down-converted by the receiver under test, then mixed with the microwave-frequency common reference signal to generate the second-order IF signal around 100 MHz for amplitude and phase comparison. The amplitude and phase fluctuation of the measurement system at 683 GHz is within plusmn0.2 dB and plusmn4deg in a 1-h period, respectively. The system dynamic range at 683 and 250 GHz can be as high as 43 and 47 dB, respectively. The system is then used to measure the receiver beam patterns at 683 and 250 GHz with different RF transmitting probe antennas.


Utilizing a heterogeneous multiprocessor system has become a popular design paradigm to build an embedded system at a cheap cost within short development time. A reliability issue for embedded systems, which is vulnerability to single event upsets (SEUs), has become a matter of concern as technology proceeds. This paper discusses reliability inherent in heterogeneous multiprocessors and proposes task scheduling for minimizing SEU vulnerability of them. This paper experimentally shows that increasing performance of a CPU core deteriorates its reliability. Based on the experimental observation, we propose task scheduling for reducing SEU vulnerability of a heterogeneous multiprocessor system. The experimental results demonstrate that our task scheduling technique can reduce much of SEU vulnerability under real-time constraints.


This study aimed to assess the natural availability of sulfur and SO2 in coal typical of the Jurassic, Permo-Carboniferous, and Cambrian strata in Shaanxi, China, and their emission rates. A total of 93 samples (39 Binxian Jurassic, 37 Permo-Carboniferous, and 17 Langao Cambrian) were collected and analyzed via the Eschka method (GB/T 214-1996). The results show that the average sulfur content was 2.40%, 2.85%, and 0.92% in the Binxian coal gangue, raw coal, and coal slime, respectively; 1.48%, 2.41%, and 1.5% in the Hancheng Permo-Carboniferous coal gangue, raw coal, and coal slime, respectively; and 0.84% and 2.44% in the Langao Cambrian stone-like coal and black shale rock, respectively. The annual sulfur emissions from the Binxian urban and rural areas totaled 1.5 kt and 9.3 kt (Kilotons), respectively, which contributed 1.4% of the overall SO2 emitted into the atmosphere. The sulfur emissions from Hancheng urban and rural areas totaled 1.8 kt and 11.9 kt, respectively, which contributed 1.8% of the overall SO2. The sulfur emissions from Langao urban and rural areas was 0.4 kt and 2.8 kt, respectively, which contributed 0.43% of the overall SO2. Coal-waste consumption from 1991 to 2015 increased by 23% and 10% in urban and rural areas, respectively, in China, ultimately reducing the debris from coal waste. Raw-coal consumption from 1991 to 2015 decreased from 96% to 73% and from 97% to 87% in urban and rural areas, respectively. SO2 emissions since 2006 have decreased due to effective desulfurizing technology. According to the results of this study, China has been continuously reducing the emission of SO2 by adopting a green economy. The study recommends installing desulfurizing equipment in power plants to further reduce the SO2 emissions.


WiiArts is an experimental video, audio and image processing art project that makes use of pre-existing sensing technologies provided by Nintendo WiiRemotes and a Sensor Bar. Currently, most WiiRemote-based physical interactions have been designed to mimic the gesture of body movement in sports and other action-based games. These Wii games are generally competitive in nature, and players interact by responding to predefined interaction rules in either a single-user or multi-user mode. Making use of the WiiRemote as a pre-existing tangible and embedded interface, we explore applications that can engage participants in active and expressive art creation in a collaborative manner. In this paper, we describe several prototype applications based on this concept: Illumination (draWiing), Beneath (Waldo), WiiBand, Time Ripples. In these applications, three interactors can work together to compose both images and sounds.


Several new methods are proposed to reconfigure smart structures with embedded computing, sensors and actuators. These methods are based on heteroclinic connections between equal-energy unstable equilibria in an idealised spring-mass smart structure model. Transitions between equal-energy unstable (but actively controlled) equilibria are considered since in an ideal model zero net energy input is required, compared to transitions between stable equilibria across a potential barrier. Dynamical system theory is used firstly to identify sets of equal-energy unstable configurations in the model, and then to connect them through heteroclinic connection in the phase space numerically. However, it is difficult to obtain such heteroclinic connections numerically in complex dynamical systems, so an optimal control method is investigated to seek transitions between unstable equilibria, which approximate the ideal heteroclinic connection. The optimal control method is verified to be effective through comparison with the results of the exact heteroclinic connection. In addition, we explore the use of polynomials of varying order to approximate the heteroclinic connection, and then develop an inverse method to control the dynamics of the system to track the polynomial reference trajectory. It is found that high order polynomials can provide a good approximation to true heteroclinic connections and provide an efficient means of generating such trajectories. The polynomial method is envisaged as being computationally efficient to form the basis for real-time reconfiguration of real, complex smart structures with embedded computing, sensors and actuators.


Hybrid organosilica membranes were successfully prepared using bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTESE) and applied to reverse osmosis (RO) desalination. The organosilica membrane calcined at 300°C almost completely rejected salts and neutral solutes with low-molecular-weight. Increasing the operating pressure led to an increase in water flux and salt rejection, while the flux and rejection decreased as salt concentration increased. The water permeation mechanism differed from the viscous flow mechanism. Observed activation energies for permeation were larger for membranes with a smaller pore size, and were considerably larger than the activation energy for water viscosity. The organosilica membranes exhibited exceptional hydrothermal stability in temperature cycles up to 90°C. The applicability of the generalized solution-diffusion (SD) model to RO and pervaporation (PV) desalination processes were examined, and the quantitative differences in water permeance were accurately predicted by the application of generalized transport equations. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 1298–1307, 2013


This paper provides a simple autonomy-based model of human motivation in which a decision maker with divided selves must perform some task. The key presumption of the model is that the brain is not a unitary system which is equipped to achieve a single goal in a systematic manner; rather, it is more like an organization which is hampered by several constraints such as preference incongruence and incomplete exchange (or imperfect recall) of information. Due to these constraints, the model yields behavioral patterns that are consistent with various stylized facts of human motivation, mostly found in social psychology. The main findings of the paper are: (i) more autonomy induces more motivation; (ii) complex tasks are susceptible to motivation crowding out; (iii) small rewards are detrimental to motivation; (iv) intrinsically interesting tasks are susceptible to motivation crowding out. JEL Classification Codes: D03, D99.


Two-point observations made by the Interball spacecraft pair unveiled a presence of a large vortex-like structure filled by slow and heated plasma in the outer cusp during periods of the positive BZ interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) component. We have observed the rotation of the magnetic field and the decrease of its magnitude con- nected with the presence of a hot plasma population inside the vortex. The structure starts with a clear reversal of the plasma flow caused by reconnection tailward of the cusp that turns a part of the magnetosheath plasma into the cusp. We compare the observations of two spacecraft in detail, discuss the differences between them and suggest the way of a for- mation such structure. Moreover, the statistical results have confirmed that this phenomenon is probably a regular fea- ture of the high-altitude cusp, however, this relatively small structure cannot be observed too often. The alternative ex- planation of presented observations as a flapping of the mag- netopause is taken into account and discussed.


An efficient numerical approach for the design of optimal aerodynamic shapes is presented in this paper. The objective of any optimization problem is to find the optimum of a cost function subject to a certain state equation (governing equation of the flow field) and certain side constraints. As in classical optimal control methods, the present approach introduces a costate variable (Lagrange multiplier) to evaluate the gradient of the cost function. High efficiency in reaching the optimum solution is achieved by using a multigrid techniique and updating the shape in a hierarchical manner such that smooth (low frequency) changes are done separately from high-frequency changes. Thus, the design variables are changed on a grid where their changes produce nonsmooth (high frequency) perturbations that can be damped efficiently by the multigrid. The cost of solving the optimization problem is approximately two to three times the cost of the equivalent analysis problem.


Volume rendering has been widely used in different fields where several rendering algorithms have been developed, such as shear-warp, ray casting or splatting. But independently of the rendering method, transfer functions are usually used for mapping values and other properties of the volume into colors. As an improvement of transfer functions, style transfer functions are being used, where sphere maps extracted from artwork are used instead of plain colors. In this paper, we propose an interactive designer that would allow the user to create styles in an easy way, and shade them with just a color or a texture. In addition, it guarantees a coherent illumination, making it possible to easily use style transfer functions to achieve realistic rendering.


In the first week of March, 2016, at a round table in the location Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, Romania, there was a conference of specialists involved in the project Insertion Employment of Persons with Mental Disorders (SPSM - Employabilite).Under this innovative research project, to improve the employability of people with mental disabilities, came together: researchers, professors, doctors, psychologists,  responsible for public health and social workers from the five participating countries: Romania, Luxembourg, Switzerland, France and Belgium.During the three days of work, the next program was done: - The debriefing of the previous transnational meetings and the deepening of the competence referential, producted after previous meetings; - Work of the Steering Committee and focus group with professionals and guests (collective and transversal needs).We have analyzed and have concluded the steps of the training program for employment specialists as they were set by the project team meeting in Arad. The training of specialists in employment of people with mental disorders will be run in the next stage of the project.


his expert in the field of solar photovoltaics and developed undergraduate and graduate-level courses in solar power and advanced photovoltaics at Kennesaw State University. His current research interests include third generation solar cells for building-integrated photovoltaics, semiconductor thin-films and nanocrystals for optoelectronic devices, mixed-signal electronics for instrumentation and development of technology enhanced teaching tools and pedagogical framework for improved engineering education. He has published more than 20 technical research articles in interna-tional journals and conferences. His innovative teaching and research programs have been supported by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at Kennesaw State University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Abstract: The solar photovoltaics (PV) industry has created the fastest growing job market in the US demanding highly skilled engineers. Modeling and simulation of solar cells and design of solar photovoltaic systems are highly marketable skills desired by the industry. Simulation tools provide a robust platform to build models and help students to analyze the behavior and performance of the devices and systems. This paper discusses on the MATLAB-Simulink based simulation exercises integrated within a renewable energy course in undergraduate Electrical Engineering curriculum. The simulation exercises include building single diode equivalent circuit model of a solar cell and analysis of the simulated current-voltage (I-V) and power-voltage (P-V) curves using MATLAB scripts and Simulink graphical simulation environment. Students then study the effect of solar irradiance, temperature, series and shunt resistances on the resulting photovoltaic parameters, such as open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, fill factor, and efficiency of the cell. By interconnecting multiple cells in series, students designed PV modules. Finally, students studied the effect of partial shading in series connected modules and learned the utility of bypass diodes. Successful integration of the simulation exercises could substantially help to optimize the student learning outcome. The impact of the simulation exercises and learning outcome were measured by pre- and post-exercise tests and student perceptions via student feedback.


The present study is undertaken to assess the ability of insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) and soluble dietary fiber (SDF) extracted from soy hulls to relieve colitis in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) induced inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in a BALB/C mouse model. We characterized dietary fiber (DF) structures by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Water retention capacity (WRC), water swelling capacity (WSC), oil adsorption capacity (OAC), glucose adsorption capacity (GAC), and the bile acid retardation index (BRI) were measured. The unique surface and chemical structural characteristics endowed DF with good absorption capacity and hydration ability, along with delayed glucose diffusion and absorption of bile acids. IBD was induced with a solution containing 5% DSS in male mice, which were administered a total oral dose of IDF (300 mg kg-1) and SDF (300 mg kg-1) three times per day after successful model establishment. All the mice were assessed weekly for weight change, diarrhea index, and fecal bleeding index. Levels of TLR-4 and NF-κB proteins were measured with western blotting analysis. Cytokine TNF-α in the serum was detected with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Histological methods (H&E) were used to observe part of the mouse colon. The gut microbiota in the colonic contents was analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. DF decreased weight loss, diarrhea, and fecal bleeding, and also slowed serum TNF-α release. Increases in the levels of NF-κB proteins in inflamed colon tissue were also significantly suppressed by DF treatment. DF ameliorates the colitis induced decrease in gut microbiota species richness. The effect of SDF seemed clearer: the relative abundance of Barnesiella, Lactobacillus, Ruminococcus and Flavonifractor at the genus level was greater than that in the normal control group.


OBJECTIVE
To explore construct(s) (ability, capability, actual performance, and/or perceived difficulty) of activities of daily living measures that have been used in randomized controlled trials.

METHODS
Three databases (Medline, CINAHL, and OTSeeker) were searched. A questionnaire was sent to the author of each eligible study requesting information about the activities of daily living construct(s) that were adopted in his/her study.

RESULTS
A total of 106 studies, which altogether used 17 different activities of daily living measures, were found. Among these, only 12 studies specified in the paper the activities of daily living construct assessed; 7 studies assessed "ability" and 5 assessed "actual performance". Only 20% of the randomized controlled trials authors reported the mode of administration in the paper. Authors of 34 studies replied to our questionnaire. The most commonly used activities of daily living measures (i.e. the Barthel Index (either the 0-20 or 0-100 scoring version) and the Functional Independence Measure) were employed for assessing various constructs of activities of daily living, with inconsistency between the studies.

CONCLUSION
In stroke randomized controlled trials that measured activities of daily living as an outcome, the measures were used for assessing various construct(s) of activities of daily living (including ability, capability, actual performance, and/or perceived difficulty). This could hamper data interpretation, meta-analysis, and the translation of evidence into clinical practice.


Background: The low incidence and heterogeneity of histiotypes of primary parotid carcinomas makes these tumors histologically and epidemiologically difficult to evaluate. The present study reviews a single institution's experience in the treatment of primary parotid carcinomas during the last 10 years. Methods: The charts of 98 consecutive patients who had a primary parotid carcinoma and who received primary curative treatment were analyzed retrospectively. The tumors were grouped into high-grade and low-grade malignancies. The effect of treatment modalities on locoregional control, the incidence of locoregional recurrences and distant metastases, and survival rates are evaluated and compared between high- and low-grade malignancies. Results: High- and low-grade malignant tumors were observed in 50 and 48 cases, respectively. Lymph node metastases were detected in 25 of 98 (25%) patients, of whom 8 of 22 (22%) clinically NO staged patients underwent elective neck dissection. In 24 of 26 resected facial nerves, a histologic tumor infiltration was confirmed, in 14 high-grade and 10 low-grade tumors. Local recurrence developed in 13 patients and was associated in 7 with high-grade and in 6 with low-grade tumors. All but 1 of the low-grade malignancies with local recurrence did not receive postoperative irradiation. Regional recurrence developed in 11 patients and distant metastases developed in 10, 3 in combination with a neck recurrence and 1 with a local recurrence. The survival rate at 5 years for low- and high-grade carcinomas was 87% and 56% and the disease-free survival rate 72% and 48%, respectively. Conclusions: The incidence of occult metastases in clinically N0-elective neck dissection was 22%. A routine elective neck dissection in all N0 parotid carcinomas is suggested. There is no statistically significant difference between low- and high-grade tumors as for the rate of local recurrence and, as all except one of the low-grade malignancies with local recurrence did not receive postoperative irradiation, postoperative irradiation is not only suggested for high-grade carcinomas but also for T2 to T4 low-grade carcinomas. © 2003 Excerpta Medica, Inc. All rights reserved.


How sailors perceive communication with family when at sea.Time spent at sea has always meant the sailor could not have the same contact and presence with his or her family as people who work with a land-based profession. Communication within the family and its perception of how the communication should be handled internally isvery important for socializing as it helps to create togetherness. What are the sailors' opinionsabout the existing communication they have with the land-based family? Using semi- structured interviews 8 sailors were interviewed about how they perceive communication when they are onboard ship working. The results showed the sailors have great use of phone, email and Facebook when it comes to having contact with the people on land. One conclusion from the interviews is that every sailor has his or her routines for communicate with thefamily as to whether the communication should be done by phone or social media and at what intervals.


Rapid photocatalytic performance was targeted through modifying the graphite-like carbon nitride (g-C3N4) bulk materials to nanosheet structure via thermal oxidation etching process. Simple thermal oxidation etching treatment was used in order to reduce multilayer g-C3N4 structure to nanosheet material. The differences in the obtained sample of g-C3N4 nanosheets and pristine g-C3N4 were characterised via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Photoluminescence (PL), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis and particle size analysis. The photocatalytic efficiency was tested for the degradation of acetaminophen and levofloxacin under direct solar irradiation. The results showed some variation in XRD, particle size and BET results indicating that etching process was evolved in reducing the particles size and lowering the layers number in g-C3N4 bulk sample. The optical and band gap properties results noticed some variation where the XPS and FTIR spectra showed some modification on g-C3N4 nanosheet motif such as the C–H, CO and N pyridinic structure. Accordingly, the photocatalytic degradation of acetaminophen by the g-C3N4 nanosheets under solar irradiation was much faster and reached 99% in one hour where in the case of g-C3N4 bulk sample the degradation reached only 38% in 4 h. Similarly, levofloxacin degradation with nanosheet sample reached 99% in one hour compare to 16% in presence of the bulk sample. This enhancement can be attributed to multiple factors such as smaller particle size, rich carbon surface and lower band gap exhibited by the g-C3N4 nanosheets. This further indicates that the performance of g-C3N4 can be further enhanced via this method and can used to treat wastewater contaminated by pharmaceuticals under solar irradiation.


Tetralogy of fallot (TOF) is one of the most prevalent types of congenital heart diseases. As a category of bioactive molecules, peptides have been proved to participate in various biological processes. However, the role of endogenous peptides in the pathogenesis of TOF has not been studied. In this study, we performed a comparative peptidomic profile in the fetal heart of TOF and the control group for the first time by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Our data demonstrated that a total of 201 peptides derived from 176 precursor proteins were differentially expressed in the heart tissues of TOF fetuses compared with normal controls, including 41 upregulated peptides and 160 downregulated peptides. After analyzing the characteristics of these differentially expressed peptides and their precursor proteins, we found that these peptides were potentially involved in different biological processes, especially cardiogenesis and congenital anomaly of the cardiovascular system. Interestingly, we detected several extracellular matrix-derived peptides involved in our differentially expressed peptidomic profile. In summary, our study constructed a comparative peptidomic profile from the heart tissues of TOF fetuses and normal controls, and it identified a series of peptides that could potentially participate in heart development and TOF formation. The emergence of our peptidomics study indicated a new perspective to explore the pathogenesis of abnormal heart morphology, especially TOF.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to verify the accuracy of 3D-printed hollow models of visceral aneurysms created from CT angiography (CTA) data, by evaluating the sizes and shapes of aneurysms and related arteries.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
From March 2006 to August 2015, 19 true visceral aneurysms were embolized via interventional radiologic treatment provided by the radiology department at our institution; aneurysms with bleeding (n = 3) or without thin-slice (< 1 mm) preembolization CT data (n = 1) were excluded. A total of 15 consecutive true visceral aneurysms from 11 patients (eight women and three men; mean age, 61 years; range, 53-72 years) whose aneurysms were embolized via endovascular procedures were included in this study. Three-dimensional-printed hollow models of aneurysms and related arteries were fabricated from CTA data. The accuracies of the sizes and shapes of the 3D-printed hollow models were evaluated using the nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test and the Dice coefficient index.

RESULTS
Aneurysm sizes ranged from 138 to 18,691 mm3 (diameter, 6.1-35.7 mm), and no statistically significant difference was noted between patient data and 3D-printed models (p = 0.56). Shape analysis of whole aneurysms and related arteries indicated a high level of accuracy (Dice coefficient index value, 84.2-95.8%; mean [± SD], 91.1 ± 4.1%).

CONCLUSION
The sizes and shapes of 3D-printed hollow visceral aneurysm models created from CTA data were accurate. These models can be used for simulations of endovascular treatment and precise anatomic information.


Adhesive joints consist of adherends and an adhesive layer having different thermal and mechanical properties. When they are exposed to uniform thermal loads the mechanical-thermal mismatches of the adherends and adhesive layer result in uniform but different thermal strain distributions in the adhesive and adherends. The thermal stresses arise near and along the adherend-adhesive interfaces. The present thermal stress analyses of adhesively bonded joints assume a uniform temperature distribution or a constant temperature imposed along the outer boundaries of adhesive lap joints. This paper outlines the thermal analysis and geometrically non-linear stress analysis of adhesive joints subjected to different plate edge conditions and varying thermal boundary conditions causing large displacements and rotations. In addition, the geometrically non-linear thermal stress analysis of an adhesively bonded T-joint with single support plus angled reinforcement was carried out using the incremental finite element method, which was subjected to variable thermal boundary conditions, i.e. air streams with different temperatures and velocities parallel and perpendicular to its outer surfaces. The steady state heat transfer analysis showed that the temperature distribution through the joint members was non-uniform and high heat fluxes occurred inside the adhesive fillets at the adhesive free ends. Based on the geometrically non-linear stress analysis of the T-joint bonded to both rigid and flexible bases for different plate edge conditions, stress concentrations were observed at the free ends of adhesive-adherend interfaces and inside the adhesive fillets around the adhesive free ends, and the horizontal and vertical plates also experienced considerable stress distributions along outer surfaces. In addition, the effect of support length on the peak thermal adhesive stresses was found to be dependent on the plate edge conditions, when a support length allowing moderate adhesive stresses was present.


AIM: Investigation of efficacy of endovascular interventions in native vascular bed and grafts, elucidation of factors, affecting immediate and remote prognosis after endovascular treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS Coronary stenting was carried out in 212 patients who had previously undergone coronary bypass surgery. Stents were implanted into native vessels and grafts in 116 (native vessels group) and 96 (grafts group) patients, respectively. Frequency of angina recurrence and development of complications were assessed during hospitalization and after 1 year. Coronary angiography was repeated after 1 year in 47 and 36 patients in native vessels and grafts groups, respectively. Multifactorial analysis of predictors of complications and angina recurrence was performed with the use of logistic regression. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In grafts group signs of distal embolism were observed in 9 patients (9.4%), shunt thrombosis occurred in 2 of these patients. Risk factors of embolism in grafts group were complicated lesions (type C) and length of stenosis >20 mm. There was 1 non-Q wave myocardial infarction after stenting of native vascular bed (0.8%). Angina recurrence was observed after 1 year in 9 (7.8%) and 26 (27.1%), myocardial infarction developed during 1 year in 2 (1.7%) and 3 (3.1%) patients of native vessels and grafts groups, respectively. Risk factors of recurrence of clinic of ischemic heart disease (IHD) after stenting of grafts were time interval between stenting and bypass surgery >5 years and the use of stents without drug coating. More frequent recurrence of clinic of IHD in patients of grafts group was a consequence of higher level of restenosis in stented segments and more frequent progression of atherosclerosis in previously unaffected segments.


Background and Objective: Finding an effective way to improve body composition and muscular strength with resistance training, has engaged researchers. Previous studies have shown that proper nutrition is one of these ways. The purpose of this study is to review the effect of resistance training accompanied by nutritional education on the body composition and muscular strength in non-athlete male students. Materials and Methods: This study was a clinical trial, which was done on a population of 32 non-athletes college students which randomly divided into four groups, Education - Resistance training (RT), Resistance training, Education and control. The instruments for data collection were a nutritional questionnaire, record of all the foods for three days and measurement of some of the anthropometric indices. This study lasted for 6- weeks with educational intervention and the resulting data analyzed by paired t-test, one-way analysis of variance and TUKEY multiple comparisons test. Results: The results showed that subjects' weight in Education- RT and resistance training groups has significant increase. Fat changes in three groups of Education- RT, Resistance training and Education showed a important decrease and BMI, maximum muscular strength and muscular hypertrophy in Education- RT and Resistance training groups showed a consequential increase (p less-than 0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that doing resistance training along with nutritional education brings about greater improvement in body composition and muscular strength. Key words: Resistance training, Nutrition education, Body composition, Muscular strength Funding: This study did not have any funds. Conflict of Interest: None declared. Ethical approval: The Ethics Committee of Guilan University approved the study How to cite this article: Pashazadeh F, Rahmaninia F, Mohebbi H. Effects of Resistance Training and Nutritional- Education on Body Composition and Muscular Strength in Non-athlete Male Students at Guilan University in Spring 2013. J RafsanjanUniv Med Sci 2014 13(4): 309-22. [Farsi]


Approximately 54% of the world population of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) breeds at South Georgia. A partial survey in 1951 and a complete survey in 1985, together with counts at specific sites between these times, suggested that the population (around 100 000 breeding females) had not changed significantly in 34 years. This was in contrast to marked declines in most other populations. To examine this further, we conducted a third survey in 1995. This produced an estimate of 113 444 (se = 4902) breeding females. Taking into account improved information about the behaviour of female elephant seals since the survey in 1985, there was no significant change in the number of breeding female elephant seals between 1985 and 1995. When combined with information from the 1951 survey, this supports the view that the total population size has not changed significantly during the past 45 years. Evidence for regulation of the population by environmental factors is equivocal. We hypothesize that the lack of any net change in population size may be linked to a limited availability of high quality breeding habitat.


Given the importance of educational leadership Bush (2008) argues that preparation of aspiring school leaders should not be left to chance. This exploratory case study is a critique of the Mexican system for appointing school leaders. The study is a qualitative research which used semi-structured interviews to collect data pertaining the strengths, shortcomings, and possible improvements of the system. The study revealed that there are some positive aspects in the system that could enable its consolidation. The study found a need to upgrade the current system since school leaders in Mexico are appointed by a system in which its regulations were promulgated 40 years ago. The current system does not enable the appointment of prepared leaders, since preparation for the post is not mandatory. The findings revealed a need for leadership preparation as a prerequisite for participants in competitions for leadership posts and, also for those who are already holding a leadership position. The approach adopted to appoint leaders without previous preparation seems to be problematic as time is wasted in enabling their readiness to effectively enact headship. The study also explored other topics such as talent identification, preparation, and leadership learning in which it was evident that Mexico still needs to do more when compared to what is currently done at international level.


1. In a group of nine middle-aged patients undergoing varicose vein surgery, cardiac output, right atrial, pulmonary arterial and capillary pressures, and leg blood flow were measured after induction of general anaesthesia but before operation, and also during operation before and after blood substitution. 2. Under anaesthesia, the mean pre-operative blood flows in the superficial and common femoral arteries were 160 ml/min and 280 ml/min respectively. These flows are comparable with those obtained in other studies under similar conditions but lower than values obtained in conscious subjects. During the operation the leg blood flow decreased by 24%. As cardiac output remained unchanged, the fractional leg blood flow fell. After transfusion of 900 ml of blood the leg blood flow doubled. 3. It is concluded that anaesthesia, surgical trauma and variations in blood volume greatly influence the leg blood flow and that an adequate substitution of operative blood loss is of utmost importance to achieve an optimum peripheral circulation.


The anti-inflammatory effect of the Pet ether and aqueous leaf extract of Parkinsonia acculeata was evaluated using the carrageenan and formalin induced rat paw edema. The extract administered orally at 500 mg/kg b. w produced a significant inhibition. The results obtained suggest that the Pet ether and aqueous leaf extract of Parkinsonia acculeata is endowed with effective anti-inflammatory activity mediated via either inhibition of cyclo-oxygenase pathways, inhibiting the synthesis of inflammatory mediators and scavenging free oxygen radicals. These findings seem to justify that the plant can be used as an anti-inflammatory agent.


We describe our 2018 Alexa prize system (called 'Alana') which consists of an ensemble of bots, combining rule-based and machine learning systems. This paper reports on the version of the system developed and evaluated in the semifinals of the 2018 competition (i.e. up to 15 August 2018), but not on subsequent enhancements. The main advances over our 2017 Alana system are: (1) a deeper Natural Language Understanding (NLU) pipeline; (2) the use of topic ontologies and Named Entity Linking to enable the user to navigate and search through a web of related information; rendering Alana in part an interactive NL interface to linked information on the web; (3) system generated clarification questions to interactively disambiguate between Named Entities as part of NLU; (4) a new profanity & abuse detection model with rule-based mitigation strategies; and (5) response retrieval from Reddit. We also present several ablation studies that measure the performance contributions of specific features (e.g. use of Ontology-bot, Reddit-bot, rule-based systems, etc). We find that these features increase overall system performance. Our final score, namely averaged user ratings over the whole semi-finals period, was 3.4. We were also able to achieve long dialogues (average around 11 turns and 2.20 minutes) during the semi-finals period.


In this study, we investigate misinformation and disinformation (M&D) about vaccines using a case study approach to understand how M&D about vaccines circulate on YouTube in Portuguese, and who are the channels creating and disseminating this kind of content. The World Health Organization considered vaccine hesitation as one of the greatest threats to global health in 2019. Researchers associated this hesitation to a strengthening of the anti-vaccination movements, suggesting that social media is currently the main spreader of this position. YouTube increasingly becomes a matter of concern, since its recommendation system is identified as a promoter of misinformation and extreme content. Despite YouTube's statements, M&D about vaccines continue to be disseminated in videos in Portuguese, reaching a large audience. We found 52 videos containing M&D about vaccines. The main M&D were the claim of dangerous ingredients in vaccines, the defense of self-direction—freedom of choice, independent research—, the promotion of alternative health services, the myth that vaccines cause diseases, conspiracy theories, and the allegation of vaccine's severe collateral effects. We identified 39 brands advertising on 13 videos of our M&D sample. Although the YouTube Partner Program is an important source of income, the channels use different economic strategies, such as the selling of courses, and therapies and the use of fundraising platforms. We also found that alternative health channels spread distrust about traditional institutions to promote themselves as trusted sources for the audience and thereby profit with alternative health services.


Abstract. This paper describes experience gained in the application of terrestrial digital photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning for the characterization of the structure of high mountain rock slopes and large landslides. A methodology allowing the creation and registration of 3-D models with limited access to high mountain rock slopes is developed and its accuracy verified. The importance of occlusion, ground resolution, scale and reflectivity are discussed. Special emphasis is given to the concept of observation scale and resulting scale bias and its influence on discontinuity characterization. The step-path geometry of persistent composite surfaces and its role in remote sensing measurements are described. An example of combined terrestrial digital photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning applied in the generation of a 3-D model of the South Peak of Turtle Mountain, the location of the Frank Slide, is presented. The advantages gained from the combined use of these techniques and the potential offered through long-range terrestrial digital photogrammetry, using high focal length lenses up to 400 mm is illustrated. Special emphasis is given to the potential of this specific technique, which has to the authors knowledge rarely been documented in the geotechnical literature.


This study proposes a monitoring method for corrosion on reinforced concrete structure using inverse analysis approach. At first, we define an inverse problem to identify the real and imaginary parts of the concrete conductivity and the impedance between concrete and steel. The observation of the inverse problem is the electric potential on the concrete structure surface when the AC impedance measurement is performed. The observation condition, such as layout of observation point and type of observation, of the inverse is optimized. The optimization is achieved by minimizing the average of eigen values of a posteriori estimate error covariance matrix based on the Kalman Filter estimation algorithm. We show a numerical simulation to solve the inverse problem on the optimized observation condition to evaluate the effectiveness of the condition. The simulation shows the real parts of the concrete conductivity and the impedance are well identified but imaginary parts of them are not. To overcome this difficulty, we evaluate the sensitivity of the imaginary part of the impedance to the real part and the imaginary part of the electric potential. We find the possibility that the observation of the imaginary part of the electric potential improves the estimation. Finally, a numerical simulation is performed under the optimized observation condition considering the above discussion. In the numerical simulation shows that considering the sensitivity of the parameters to the potential improves the solution on the inverse problem.


In Chile there are six established medical schools at public (Chile. Valparaiso and Temuco) or private (Catholic. Concepción and Austral) universities created between 1833 and 1971. Since 1990, three new medical schools (two private) were created and a fourth is projected, concerning the chilean medical corps. We present three position articles on the subject written by Dean Pedro Rosso, from the Catholic University, Dr Pedro Castillo, Chief of Human Resources of the Ministry of Health and Dean Alejandro Goic from the University of Chile. Dean Rosso emphasizes the need to have assessment procedures that guarantee quality standards in the new medical schools. Dr Castillo attracts attention on preserving the compromise with the society, inherent to chilean medicine. Dean Goic analyzes systematically the reasons to prevent the proliferation of medical schools in the country, maintaining an equilibrium between freedom of teaching and public faith protection.


The oxidation behavior of tantalum diboride (TaB2) powder at high temperature was investigated in order to determine the possibility of the use of advanced high temperature structural materials. Unfortunately, monolithic TaB2 were known to be chemical stability up to high temperatures. To date, there have been few reports regarding the properties of TaB2 ceramics. The samples were oxidized at room temperature to 1273 K for 5 minutes to 25 hours in air. The weight changes were measured to estimate the oxidation resistance. The oxidation of samples oxidized for short oxidation time of 5 minutes started at 873 K, and the weight gain increased with increasing oxidation temperature. On the other hand, at the oxidation time of above 1 hour, a maximum weight gain value at 973 to 1073 K was observed. However, even if the oxidation temperature was increased an additional weight change slightly occurred. The weight gain of the sample oxidized at 1273 K for 5 minutes to 25 hours was about 40 to 20 % of the theoretical oxidation mass change. According to the powder X-ray diffraction date, the oxidized TaB2 sample was changed to Ta2O5 at 873 K. Finally, the TaB2 showed a good oxidation resistance at high temperature, because the surface film of tantalum oxide (Ta2O5) formed by oxidation acted as an oxidation resistant layer.


In this paper, we address a challenging image segmentation problem called multiple foreground cosegmentation (MFC), which concerns a realistic scenario in general Webuser photo sets where a finite number of K foregrounds of interest repeatedly occur cross the entire photo set, but only an unknown subset of them is presented in each image. This contrasts the classical cosegmentation problem dealt with by most existing algorithms, which assume a much simpler but less realistic setting where the same set of foregrounds recurs in every image. We propose a novel optimization method for MFC, which makes no assumption on foreground configurations and does not suffer from the aforementioned limitation, while still leverages all the benefits of having co-occurring or (partially) recurring contents across images. Our method builds on an iterative scheme that alternates between a foreground modeling module and a region assignment module, both highly efficient and scalable. In particular, our approach is flexible enough to integrate any advanced region classifiers for foreground modeling, and our region assignment employs a combinatorial auction framework that enjoys several intuitively good properties such as optimality guarantee and linear complexity. We show the superior performance of our method in both segmentation quality and scalability in comparison with other state-of-the-art techniques on a newly introduced FlickrMFC dataset and the standard ImageNet dataset.


An increasing number of systems are being designed by first gathering significant amounts of data, and then optimizing the system parameters directly using the obtained data. Often this is done without analyzing the dataset structure. As task complexity, data size, and parameters all increase to millions or even billions, data summarization is becoming a major challenge. In this work, we investigate data summarization via dictionary learning, leveraging the properties of recently introduced non-negative kernel regression (NNK) graphs. Our proposed NNK-Means, unlike competing techniques, such as kSVD, learns geometric dictionaries with atoms that lie in the input data space. Experiments show that summaries using NNK-Means can provide better discrimination compared to linear and kernel versions of kMeans and kSVD. Moreover, NNK-Means has a scalable implementation, with runtime complexity similar to that of kMeans.


This paper presents Nyquist's compact, rugged NYCe4000 high-end industrial motion control system with flexible and universal integrated drive technology that is suitable for servo and stepper motors up to 500 W. Thanks to the use of the "clean PC" concept, there is no need for extra network cards for real-time kernel extensions. The system's architecture is dominated by the high-performance machine requirements of semiconductor machines. Features are available for debugging and monitoring synchronized, multitasking machine control applications. The NYCe4000 provides high-end motion control performance with complete tooling support.


Oestrogen induction of cell proliferation is critical in carcinogenesis of gynaecologic tissues. The effects of oestrogens are mediated by Oestrogen receptor (ER) ERα and ERβ, which are members of the nuclear steroid receptor superfamily. The balance between the ERα/ERβ levels seems critical during carcinogenesis due to their different role in proliferation and apoptosis. SERMs are a class of drugs targeting ERs used especially in the treatment of breast cancer, that despite their usefulness, cause side effects. Therefore, it's important to develop new active molecules without side effects.
In a previous work Andreani et al.(2007) investigated the antitumor activity of a new class of indole-derivatives in 60 different human cancer cell lines. In particular they noted that compound named 3L was able to induce a strong antiproliferative effect in cell lines derived from breast, cervix, ovary ,CNS and colon.
The aim of this thesis is to characterize the biological effect in ovarian carcinoma cells (IGROV-1), colon adenocarcinoma cells (HT29), cervix adenocarcinoma cells (HelaS3) and breast cancer cells (MCF7).
Among the effect exerted on the other cell lines, the most interesting is the cytostatic effect on IGROV-1.
In order to identify the 3L molecular target we monitored the 3L concentration in the IGROV-1 nuclear fractions. The analysis revealed that the drug localizes in the nucleus starting from 6 hrs after treatment, suggesting a nuclear target. The stimulation with oestrogen did not increase the proliferation rate in 3L treated cells, suggesting a possible involvement with oestrogen receptors.
Due to the 3L fluorescent properties, we demonstrated a colocalization between the ER and the 3L compound. In particular, a chromatin binding assay revealed the presence of a 3L-ERβ complex bound to DNA, interaction that may be the cause of the observed antiproliferative effect.


This work foregrounds how technologies create and emerge from sociocultural, economic and political discourses. My use of transcode, a term introduced by the semiotician A.J. Greimas and carried into the digital realm by Lev Manovich, refers to how cultural elements such as assumptions, biases, priorities emerge within programming code and software. It demonstrates how cultural norms persist across different mediums and posits that, in many ways, the capacity to be flexible defines cultural ideologies. At the software level, programming languages work like performative speech: grammar which produces effects. When cast as speech, coming from abody (or bodies) instead of hardware, information structures can be perceived as acting within regimes of corporeality; when cast as software, information structures demonstrate and advertise the capabilities of hardware.Although often aligned with veracity and stability in its proximity to (computer) science,software is not culturally neutral. Building on this this foundation, my dissertation challenges the notion of democratic virtual space by showing how normative—limiting and limited—categories of identity continue to emerge in media despite methodologies like keyword tagging and crowd-sourcing and customizable avatars in videogames. Foregrounding lived identity is necessary to analyze media architectures and representations, such as videogames, software structures, and online forums. As one example, avatar customization sequences in videogames (and some social media sites), conflate identity with visuality and notions of a stable self. This flattens the lived experience of racialization, for example, and the nuances associated with affiliation andidentification to mere taxonomies of color.A wide range of critical theories such as performativity and transnationalism, globalization, digital theory and construction, sexuality and erotics, cultural difference, gender codes/coding, and intellectual property persist across this work. I bring together work by Ian Bogost and Diana Taylor, which respectively introduce concepts of procedural rhetoric and vulnerable archiving processes subject to external influence. In so doing, I show that social identifications are inextricable from sites investigated here, including interactive media, site specific installations, and live performance.


—In this paper a robust, spatial domain watermarking scheme using simple error control coding technique is proposed. The idea of this scheme is to embed an encoded watermark using (5,1) repetition code inside the cover image pixels by LSB (Least Significant Bit) embedding technique. The proposed algorithm is simple, more robust against Salt and Pepper Noise than LSB only watermarking techniques. In this paper comparison is made between embedding different watermark encoding schemes such as (7, 4) Hamming code, (3, 1) repetition code, (5,1) repetition code and without encoding for different noise density of salt and pepper noise. Result shows watermark encoding scheme using (5,1) repetition code provides better robustness towards random error compared to other said scheme, without much degradation in cover image.


The physiology of the ovarian/menstrual cycle is dependent on signaling whereby the "ovarian clock" modulates hypothalamic-pituitary function as well as endometrial proliferation and secretion and menses. Diagnosis and treatment of infertility are based on these physiologic processes, as is contraceptive intervention. Feedback stimulation and inhibition orchestrate fertility.


This thesis explores the automatic extraction of information from biomedical publications. Such techniques are urgently needed because the biosciences are publishing continually increasing numbers of texts. The focus of this work is on events. Information about events is currently manually curated from the literature by biocurators. Biocuration, however, is time-consuming and costly so automatic methods are needed for information extraction from the literature. This thesis is dedicated to modeling, implementing and evaluating an advanced event extraction approach based on the analysis of syntactic dependency graphs. This work presents the event extraction approach proposed and its implementation, the JReX (Jena Relation eXtraction) system. This system was used by the University of Jena (JULIE Lab) team in the "BioNLP 2009 Shared Task on Event Extraction" competition and was ranked second among 24 competing teams. Thereafter JReX was the highest scorer on the worldwide shared U-Compare event extraction server, outperforming the competing systems from the challenge. This success was made possible, among other things, by extensive research on event extraction solutions carried out during this thesis, e.g., exploring the effects of syntactic and semantic processing procedures on solving the event extraction task. The evaluations executed on standard and community-wide accepted competition data were complemented by real-life evaluation of large-scale biomedical database reconstruction. This work showed that considerable parts of manually curated databases can be automatically re-created with the help of the event extraction approach developed. Successful re-creation was possible for parts of RegulonDB, the world's largest database for E. coli. In summary, the event extraction approach justified, developed and implemented in this thesis meets the needs of a large community of human curators and thus helps in the acquisition of new knowledge in the biosciences.


PURPOSE
Placement of extracellular matrix components has been used as a mean to enhance axonal growth across nerve long gaps repaired by tubulization. However, such matrices may impede axonal regeneration depending on its density and microgeometry.

METHODS
Silicone tubes were prefilled with collagen or laminin-containing gels and implanted into a 6 mm gap, a length considered limiting for regeneration, in the mouse sciatic nerve. Gels were polymerized prior to implantation either in horizontal position or subjected to gravitational (in vertical position) or to magnetic forces to induce longitudinal alignment of the fibrils. Recovery of motor, sensory and sudomotor functions in the hindpaw was evaluated during 4 months postoperation.

RESULTS
Reinnervation started earlier and achieved slightly higher levels with aligned collagen gels than with the horizontal gel. For the three groups repaired with tubes with Matrigel, there was a gradation of the functional results, reinnervation started earlier and reached higher values in matrix with magnetically-induced, longitudinal orientation than with the horizontal gel, whereas gravitational alignment followed an intermediate evolution. Final morphological evaluation showed more dense residual mass of collagen than of Matrigel at the center of the regenerate nerves. The number of myelinated fibers was increased in tubes with alignment compared to horizontal gels.

CONCLUSIONS
Alignment of collagen and laminin gels within a silicone tube increases the success and the quality of regeneration in long nerve gaps. The laminin gel performed better than the collagen gel under each condition tested. The combination of an aligned matrix with embedded Schwann cells should be considered in further steps for the development of an artificial nerve graft for clinical application.


Pakistan is the 11th largest producer and 4th largest exporter of rice. Rice accounts for 3.2% of the value added in agriculture sector and 0.7% of GDP in Pakistan. During the fiscal year 2015-16, rice export earned foreign exchange of US$ 1.86 billion. During the same period, rice was planted on an area of 2.8 million hectares. Production of rice during 2015-16 was estimated at 6.9 million tons. As rice is the second staple food and contributes about 2.8 million tons to Pakistan's domestic consumption, each household in Pakistan spends on an average about 3.8 percent of its total food expenditure on rice and rice flour. Pakistan exports both high-quality Basmati rice which sells at a substantial premium in high-income markets as well as intermediate and low quality non-aromatic long grain milled rice to developing countries, mostly in East Africa where it competes with China and Vietnam, and in South Asia. Pakistan's Basmati rice typically sells at a lower price than India's Basmati. For all rice, Sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Middle East and the EU are leading export markets for Pakistan.


Extant research shows that female managers face significant hurdles in the attainment of top level positions in IT organizations. Recently there have been some examples to women breaking through the glass ceiling to reach to higher positions. However, there is only a limited knowledge of the obstacles women may face after they break through the glass ceiling to ascend to leadership positions. New studies suggest that women may be more likely to be assigned to riskier, more precarious leadership positions compared to men-a form of bias called the glass cliff. Drawing from role congruity theory, the present study examines whether men and women are differentially selected to leadership positions. Employing a 2 (organization performance: increasing or declining) x 2 (candidate gender: male or female) between subjects design with a sample of 281 Business Administration students did not find support for the glass cliff hypothesis that female leaders are more likely to be assigned to top positions when organizational performance is declining rather than increasing. Hence, this study did not replicate the glass cliff. More research is needed to investigate under what conditions this bias may occur.


The disproportionate emphasis in politics, the media and academia for 'populism' conceals the big changes taking place in Europe. Populism is a reaction to these changes. By merely discussing the form, the populist expression, a debate is avoided on the economic and democratic crises in Europe, the cultural shifts taking place, and the causes of the security threats we are facing. It is more important to establish that European economic and political institutions are no longer designed to the global problems of today. And this vacuum is filled by rightwing nationalist actors. Crumbling centrist parties are trying to hold on to the neoliberal status quo by adopting similar identity politics. Lack of systemic vision and leadership on the left strengthens the resulting nationalist turn. However, leftwing populist experiences might provide some clues for another way out. Recent political developments in two quite different European countries, the Netherlands and Spain, will illustrate this point.


Giant cell tumor is an uncommon but most aggressive benign tumour of the spine with unpredictable outcome and challenging treatment. Spinal giant cell tumors located above the sacrum are rare and treatment recommendations are still unclear. We report a rare case of this lesion in an adult and discuss the management and outcome of such uncommon tumors. A 31-year-old woman presented with progressive motor weakness of both lower limbs with back pain during the past month, associated with sphincter disturbances for the past two days. She was diagnosed with a lytic heterogeneously enhancing mass depending mainly on the T6 posterior arch with small vertebral body involvement. The tumor extent reached surrounding soft tissue and the spinal canal with marked spinal cord compression. A posterior approach was realized as an emergency. Histological examination showed evidence of a giant cell tumor and a complementary irradiation was used. The patient improved well post operatively. There was no recurrence or metastasis over 5 years of follow-up.


Energy developments a ff ect communities in a range of ways. Impacts on communities can be caused by changes to landscape amenity and access, disruptions to community cohesion, increased or decreased income streams, e ff ects on property values, and population changes. These changes are ideally captured in the social impact assessment (SIA) process, where proponents outline in a formal statement the balance of bene fi ts and burdens on local communities, and measures that will be taken to minimise negative outcomes for the community. In SIA practice there is a tendency toward quantitative socio-economic impacts, such as changes to demographics, income, and land values, with some qualitative assessment of amenity impacts. While the academic literature promotes inclusion of changes to the community itself, such as impacts on community cohesion and social capital, these qualitative changes are not consistently evident in SIA practice. Additionally, SIA practice assesses the impacts of the project, i.e. how the development of wind turbines or other energy infrastructure will a ff ect the community. Because the consultation process around a proposed project typically commences prior to the characterisation and assessment of any associated social impacts and the fi nalisation of the SIA process, the potential impacts of this consultation are rarely, if ever, evaluated. Here, we examine a case study of an Australian wind energy project that did not proceed to implementation. Through this case study we are able to analyse the anticipatory impacts of the proposal; those stemming from the consultative process rather than the development of the project itself. We present these qualitative social changes, and outline the pathways through which the social changes manifest in two overarching social impacts: a divided community and future development capacity. We discuss the implications of this analysis in the context of good engagement practice and energy governance.


In the Netherlands, the number of realized high-rise projects is limited. Research on investment costs of high-rise buildings is project based. The presented research is the integration and evaluation of known (European) researches into a cost model. The objective is to get a detailed estimation of building costs of high-rise office buildings in the initiative and early design phase, while limiting the number of required design parameters to those known at the initiative phase. The research started with a state-of-the-art literature review, and by interviewing experts working on high-rise projects and cost modelling. This resulted in an integrated model, which is now being evaluated in practice. The outcome will be a model that can be used for future design and construction initiatives. However, building costs are only part of the steering attributes for the developer. Their importance is relative to other conditions. The earning capacity of high rise office buildings is, compared to low-rise, bound to efficiency of floor plans: the ratio of gross floor area versus lettable floor area. At the same time costs of land are also very important. As is the case for rent levels the land costs are most of all depending on the location. These influences lead to designs in which high quality is needed in order to meet the high costs. Due to national legislation and other local influences the outcome is bound to the Dutch context. Extension to a European level can make local influences explicit and adaptable to other countries.


A new surgical technique for the correction of longitudinal median and paramedian incisional hernia uses the hernial sac itself, a tissue of good resistance and healing properties, to cover raw areas, remake the abdominal wall anatomy, propitiate tensionless sutures and render unnecessary the use of prosthetic material, even in the largest hernia.


Solder paste printing and reflow can provide low cost techniques for producing the solder bumps on flip chips. Solder paste consists of a dense suspension of solder particles in a fluid medium (vehicle) that acts as an oxide reducing agent (flux) during reflow, cleaning the metal surfaces of oxides. This paper reports on optical observations of paste behaviour at the small length scales associated with flip chip solder joints, and attempts to model the process using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Comparison of optical observations and CFD modelling show that the behaviour of the solder cannot be described simply by surface tension and viscous flow effects and it is deduced that oxides are still present on the solder surfaces during the early stages of reflow. The implications for the paste heating method and solder volume are discussed, and a preliminary CFD model (based on FIDAP) incorporating the effect of the oxide layers is presented.


Prior theories of individual behavior in recognizing public problems have centered on the role of policy entrepreneurs; institutional effects; information; and cultural, political, and social pressures. Our extension of these theories suggests that policy problem recognition is an attitudinal evaluation process. If the information is considered valid and the new attitude is negative in valence, then a policy problem is recognized. To test this theory, we use an embedded experiment in a national survey to measure the effect of persuasive messages on the concern for global warming. We find that the negativity of the message and the credibility of the source of the message both affect the level of increase in concern for global warming. Further, the impact of the message from the source is conditional based upon the recipient's ideology. This suggests that policy problem recognition is attitudinal and thus incorporates both analytical and affective components.


VERY often a patient with thyroid cancer goes first to an orthopedic unit with a fracture or a bony and soft tissue swelling. In some of these cases, the primary cancer in the thyroid is small and unassuming. Even when a palpable mass is present in the thyroid, it is difficult to establish the connection between the primary site and metastasis in the bone. In such cases no other investigation except a biopsy from the metastasis is helpful in suggesting the thyroid as a primary site of carcinoma. We are presenting a case of metastasis from the thyroid cancer which presented several unusual features. In this patient the bony metastasis from thyroid cancer concentrated radioactive iodine avidly in spite of the fact that the thyroid gland was intact. The case history also illustrates the usefulness of radioactive iodine in diagnosis and treatment of metastasis from thyroid carcinoma. Report of a