The rationalisation of single molecule magnets' (SMMs) magnetic properties by quantum mechanical approaches represents a major task in the field of the Molecular Magnetism. The fundamental interpretative key of molecular magnetism is the phenomenological Spin Hamiltonian and the understanding of the role of its different terms by electronic structure calculations is expected to steer the rational design of new and more performing SMMs. This paper deals with the ab initio calculation of isotropic and anisotropic exchange contributions in the Fe(III) dimer [Fe2(OCH3)2(dbm)4]. This system represents the building block of one of the most studied Single Molecule Magnets ([Fe4RC(CH2O)3)2(dpm)6] where R can be an aliphatic chain or a phenyl group just to name the most common functionalization groups) and its relatively reduced size allows the use of a high computational level of theory. Calculations were performed using CASSCF and NEVPT2 approaches on the X-ray geometry as assessment of the computational protocol, which has then be used to evinced the importance of the outer coordination shell nature through organic ligand modelization. Magneto-structural correlations as function of internal degrees of freedom for isotropic and anisotropic exchange contributions are also presented, outlining, for the first time, the extremely rapidly changing nature of the anisotropic exchange coupling.


The significant growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) takes a key and active role in healthcare, smart homes, smart manufacturing, and wearable gadgets. Due to complexness and difficulty in processing multimedia data, the IoT based scheme, namely Internet of Multimedia Things (IoMT) exists that is specialized for services and applications based on multimedia data. However, IoMT generated data are facing major processing and privacy issues. Therefore, tensor-based deep computation models proved a better platform to process IoMT generated data. A differentially private deep computation method working in the tensor space can attest to its efficacy for IoMT. Nevertheless, the deep computation model comprises a multitude of parameters; thus, it requires large units of memory and expensive computing units with higher performance levels, which hinders its performance for IoMT. Motivated by this, therefore, the paper proposes a deep private tensor train autoencoder (dPTTAE) technique to deal with IoMT generated data. Notably, the compression of weight tensors to manageable tensor train format is achieved through Tensor Train (TT) network. Moreover, TT format parameters are trained through higher-order back-propagation and gradient descent. We applied dPTTAE on three representative datasets. Comprehensive experimental evaluations and theoretical analysis show that dPTTAE enhances training time efficiency, and greatly improve memory utilization efficiency, attesting its potential for IoMT.


OBJECTIVE
To review the quantitative instruments available to health service researchers who want to measure culture and cultural change.

DATA SOURCES
A literature search was conducted using Medline, Cinahl, Helmis, Psychlit, Dhdata, and the database of the King's Fund in London for articles published up to June 2001, using the phrase "organizational culture." In addition, all citations and the gray literature were reviewed and advice was sought from experts in the field to identify instruments not found on the electronic databases. The search focused on instruments used to quantify culture with a track record, or potential for use, in health care settings.

DATA EXTRACTION
For each instrument we examined the cultural dimensions addressed, the number of items for each questionnaire, the measurement scale adopted, examples of studies that had used the tool, the scientific properties of the instrument, and its strengths and limitations.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
Thirteen instruments were found that satisfied our inclusion criteria, of which nine have a track record in studies involving health care organizations. The instruments varied considerably in terms of their grounding in theory, format, length, scope, and scientific properties.

CONCLUSIONS
A range of instruments with differing characteristics are available to researchers interested in organizational culture, all of which have limitations in terms of their scope, ease of use, or scientific properties. The choice of instrument should be determined by how organizational culture is conceptualized by the research team, the purpose of the investigation, intended use of the results, and availability of resources.


A movable quartz micropipette, whose tip is sealed with a polymer plug, is used as a liquid-vacuum interface to a mass spectrometer. A light microscope allows observation of, and positioning of, the micropipette tip on the surface of a sample mounted in a perfusion chamber. This forms the basis of an instrument which enables one to study, in vitro, the localization of transepithelial transport of water and other molecules. Some preliminary results from the use of this instrument are presented.


PurposeThe purpose of this study is to critically examine the financial health and performance of the English and Australian cricket networks. This includes the county cricket clubs (CCC) and state and territory cricket associations (STCA) affiliated to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) respectively, as well as the ECB and CA themselves. The authors apply resource dependency theory to understand if there are any financial dependencies within the networks of cricket in England and Australia.Design/methodology/approachThe data for this research was obtained from the financial statements of the ECB, the 18 affiliated CCCs, CA and the six affiliated STCAs. This sample covers the last 5 years of financial information (2014–2019) for all the organisations at the time of writing. Ratio analysis was conducted on all organisations within the sample to assess financial health and performance.FindingsBoth CCCs and STCAs show signs of poor financial health. There is a clear dependence on the financial support they receive from the ECB and CA respectively and this dependence appears more prominent in Australia. The ECB and CA have better financial health which ultimately allows them to financially support the CCCs and STCAs.Originality/valueThe ECB and CA are facing difficult financial decisions to remain financially secure themselves due to the impact of COVID-19 but also to support their affiliated clubs. The affiliated clubs do not generate sufficient revenues and must diversity their revenue streams if they are to become financially self-sustaining. This financial structure and distribution mechanism will be vital in safeguarding the future of some of England's and Australia's most important cricket organisations.


A series of coordination compounds of Cu(II), Cd(II) , Hg(II)  and Ag(I) ions with 5,5 , -(ethane-1,2-diyl)bis(4-(4-bromobenzylideneamino)-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thio), as a ligand has been successfully prepared in alcoholic medium. The synthesized complexes were characterized quantitatively and qualitatively by using: elemental analysis CHNS, FT-IR spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, 1 H and 13 CNMR, atomic absorption measurements, magnetic susceptibility, thermal analysis) TG and DTG) and conductivity measurements. This ligand coordinates as a bidentate that to the metal ions through sulphur and nitrogen of (azomethine group) atoms. According to the spectral data, Cu(II)- complex has coordination of 6 with octahedral geometry while the Cd(II)-complex and Hg(II) have coordination of 4 with exhibited tetrahedral ,and the Ag(I)-complex has coordination of 3 with exhibited trigonal planer ,  The Schiff base and its metal complexes have been screened for antimicrobial activity against four  bacteria, namely :(Staphylococcus aureus , , Streptococcus sp. , Klebsilla Pneumonia  Escherichia coli )and the  fungi, namely ( Aspergillus flavus ) . Keywords : Triazole complexes; Schiff base-triazole; Biological activity .


In this brief, a compact lowpass filter (LPF) with wide stopband, very sharp roll-off response and wide tuning range is presented for microwave diode detector applications. It employs two hexagonal-shaped resonators and multiple open-end stubs as suppression cells. The results of the proposed hexagonal-shaped resonator and LC circuits are in good agreement. The 3 dB cut-off frequency for the proposed LPF is 2.2 GHz and the roll-off-rate (ROR) parameter for the proposed LPF is very sharp and equal to 308.6 dB/GHz. Furthermore, insertion loss (IL) and return loss (RL) in the passband region are better than 0.3 dB and 18 dB, respectively. Moreover, the stopband is wide, ranging from 2.34 to 18 GHz, with a 22 dB rejection level. The tuning range of 3 dB cut-off frequency is also wide, equal 0.48 to 1.7 GHz (71%). As an application demonstrator, an envelope detector was designed and fabricated. The proposed detector (with LPF) highly suppresses any harmonics of the fundamental frequency. The proposed LPF and microwave detector is designed, simulated, fabricated and measured. The results of simulation and measurement are in good agreement.


Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive literature review that seeks to address modern factors worldwide that are associated with the selection of current procurement methods. The aim is to develop an up-to-date multi-attribute procurement decision-making chart for selecting the appropriate method for the project.

Design/methodology/approach

– Stage 1 (literature review). The search engines, Emerald; Business Source Premier; Science Direct and Sage were selected to identify journals that have published the most procurement methods-related articles. The search covered the period 1980-2015. Stage 2 (Survey) – after analyzing and appraising the literature, an up-to-date utility decision-making chart for selecting the appropriate procurement method for the project was developed. The chart was based on findings from a survey that included 57 construction professionals and who have demonstrated sound experience about the various procurement options.

Findings

– There is no one best procurement method for all projects. The selection depends on the nature of the issues or problem at hand. Decision making is not a punctual act. It is often a complex process. Effective decision making also demands quality and timely information, and a careful consideration of alternatives. The multi-attribute decision-making chart presented in this paper has included modern criteria and the client would have end up with different recommendations and consequences should these criteria were not included in priority weightings.

Practical implications

– The literature review provides states-of-the art research in the field of procurement methods in construction and the multi-attribute chart is intended to offer decision makers an opportunity to broaden their horizon on the different alternatives procurement routs that could lead to different consequences.

Originality/value

– To the best of the authors' knowledge, very few publications have discussed modern selection criteria for procurement methods in construction under one study. Therefore, this paper has established a platform for scholars and researchers to obtain more useful insights into procurement methods concerns. It has identified research trends in procurement methods which may allow industrial practitioners to appreciate the key concerns in their development of modern concepts and principles such as supply chain, lean construction, sustainability, innovation, value engineering, e-procurement and Building information modeling. The inclusion of these modern criteria will present and add value to procurement decision makers within the construction industry.


Hypothyroid rats fed an atherogenic diet (A) for 3 weeks developed a marked hyperlipidemia characterized by elevated very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Cholesterol concentrations of adipose tissue, liver, carcass and soleus muscle were significantly increased in rats fed the A diet versus rats fed a control diet (C). After 5 months on the A diet, cholesterol concentrations of adipose tissue, carcass and soleus muscle were not different from those measured in rats fed the A diet for 3 weeks; however, liver cholesterol concentration was 20-fold higher. To study the mechanisms by which the A diet increased adipocyte cholesterol content, in vitro binding studies were conducted with normal (N) and cholesterol enriched (CH) 125I-labeled VLDL. The inability of unlabeled N and CH VLDL to displace 125I-labeled VLDL supports the concept that VLDL was not specifically bound by rat adipocytes. The observation that adipocyte and other tissue cholesterol levels were similar at 3 weeks and 5 months suggests regulation of tissue cholesterol concentrations. The mechanism of regulation of adipocyte cholesterol was not related to VLDL binding or differential binding rates between N and CH VLDL.


Facial emotion recognition has an important position in the computer vision and artificial intelligence field. In addition, real-time face recognition applications have to be able to be performed at high speed and accuracy rate in order to make human-computer interaction successful in increasing artificial intelligence and humanoid robot applications. In this study, we detected the faces on real-time video data to recognize the anger, fear, happy, surprise, sad and neutral emotions upon these detected faces using deep learning methods. We created our own dataset to use in this study for six different facial emotions. At first stage, we created a convolutional neural network and trained it over our dataset by scratching method and we achieved 50% accuracy rate. Then, we increased the number of images in our database by 3 times, and get better accuracy which is 62%. Thanks to transfer training method and AlexNet's pre-trained networks, we reached 74% accuracy rate after increasing the number of images 80% in the dataset. In addition, we achieved 72% accuracy rate when we test our network which is trained with our own dataset with the Compound Emotion dataset. The basic reason of this decrease can be angry emotion because there are differences poses between our dataset and Compound Emotion dataset for angry emotion images. However, we obtained 100% accuracy rate for happy emotion and 89% for sad emotion. It has been seen that the work we are doing gives successful results when tested with different people in different ambient and light conditions.


Volcanic earthquake catalogs are an essential data product used to interpret subsurface volcanic activity and forecast eruptions. Advances in detection techniques (e.g., matched-filtering, machine learning) and relative relocation tools have improved catalog completeness and refined event locations. However, most volcano observatories have yet to incorporate these techniques into their catalog-building workflows. This is due in part to complexities in operationalizing, automating, and calibrating these techniques in a satisfactory way for disparate volcano networks and their varied seismicity. In an effort to streamline the integration of catalog-enhancing tools at the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), we have integrated four popular open-source tools: REDPy, EQcorrscan, HypoDD, and GrowClust. The combination of these tools offers the capability of adding seismic event detections and relocating events in a single workflow. The workflow relies on a combination of standard triggering and cross-correlation clustering (REDPy) to consolidate representative templates used in matched-filtering (EQcorrscan). The templates and their detections are then relocated using the differential time methods provided by HypoDD and/or GrowClust. Our workflow also provides codes to incorporate campaign data at appropriate junctures, and calculate magnitude and frequency index for valid events. We apply this workflow to three datasets: the 2012–2013 seismic swarm sequence at Mammoth Mountain (California), the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano (Alaska), and the 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano (Alaska); and compare our results with previous studies at each volcano. In general, our workflow provides a significant increase in the number of events and improved locations, and we relate the event clusters and temporal progressions to relevant volcanic activity. We also discuss workflow implementation best practices, particularly in applying these tools to sparse volcano seismic networks. We envision that our workflow and the datasets presented here will be useful for detailed volcano analyses in monitoring and research efforts.


Detecting all kinds of intrusions efficiently requires a global view of the monitored network. This can only be achieved with an architecture which is able to gather data from all sources. We have developed a security operation center called SOCBox which is able to detect coordinated attacks that are not detected by traditional IDS. In this article, we present the global architecture of the SOCBox as well as several methods used to test its accuracy and performance. A real ISP network have been used as well as experiments in our lab.


How protein translation evolved from a simple beginning to its complex and accurate contemporary state is unknown. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AARSs) define the genetic code by activating amino acids and loading them onto cognate tRNAs. As such, their evolutionary history can shed light on early translation. Using structure-based alignments of the conserved core of Class I AARSs, we reconstructed their phylogenetic tree and ancestral states. Unexpectedly, AARSs charging amino acids that are assumed to have emerged later – such as TrpRS and TyrRS or LysRS and CysRS – appear as the earliest splits in the tree; conversely, those AARSs charging abiotic, early-emerging amino acids, e.g. ValRS, seem to have diverged most recently. Furthermore, the inferred Class I ancestor (excluding TrpRS and TyrRS) lacks the residues that mediate selectivity in contemporary AARSs, and appears to be a generalist that could charge a wide range of amino acids. This ancestor subsequently diverged to two clades: "charged" (which gave rise to ArgRS, GluRS, and GlnRS) and "hydrophobics", which includes CysRS and LysRS as its outgroups. The ancestors of both clades maintain a wide-accepting pocket that could readily diverge to the contemporary, specialized families. Overall, our findings suggest a "generalist-maintaining" model of class I AARS evolution, in which early statistical translation was kept active by a generalist AARS while the evolution of a specialized, accurate translation system took place. Significance Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AARS) define the genetic code by linking amino acids with their cognate tRNAs. While contemporary AARSs leverage exquisite molecular recognition and proofreading to ensure translational fidelity, early translation was likely less stringent and operated on a different pool of amino acids. The co-emergence of translational fidelity and the amino acid alphabet, however, is poorly understood. By inferring the evolutionary history of Class I AARSs we found seemingly conflicting signals: Namely, the oldest AARSs apparently operate on the youngest amino acids. We also observed that the early ancestors had broad amino acid specificities, consistent with a model of statistical translation. Our data suggests that a generalist AARS was actively maintained until complete specialization, thereby resolving the age paradox.


Expertise, skills, experiences, understandings and capabilities (knowledge) aid development, not just by informing decision-making, but also by providing ideas for actions and activities that can be taken. Due to their size, and economic and environmental vulnerabilities, Caribbean Small Island developing States (SIDS) faces special challenges when working towards their economic, social and environmental development goals. These challenges have contributed to the creation of knowledge gaps, and that which is already available is located in isolated pockets, throughout the Caribbean. Migration of skilled persons compounds the issue, thereby removing much needed knowledge to beyond the traditional borders of the Caribbean. It is necessary to find ways to connect these dispersed knowledge resources. Knowledge networks are tools that can connect the existing skills, expertise, experiences and understandings accessible and create new ones to move towards greater development in the Caribbean. The purpose of this paper is to explore and highlight the role that knowledge networks can play as an aid in the development of Caribbean SIDS. It offers, with Caribbean examples, definitions and discussions of the components, types, and the advantages and disadvantages they hold for the subregion. The paper goes further to provide some ideas on assembling and analysing the different types of knowledge networks. It concludes with a few recommendations geared toward improving the availability of knowledge in the Caribbean.


: Circadian rhythms of hemocoagulations and platelet aggregation were determined in chronics with pyelonephritis suffering from or free of renal dysfunction. Chronostructure of relevant circadian rhythms was recorded before and after 3-week combined chronotherapy with heparin and curantil. The readings were taken 6 times a day. The results obtained at group-mean and individual cosinor analysis showed disorganization of circadian rhythms of hemostasis in the above patients. Combined heparin and curantil chronotherapy corrected the above defects. Normalization occurred on the treatment day 26.


ABSTRACT Although the 1988 Education Reform Act legislated for a National Curriculum for England and Wales defined in subject terms, the National Curriculum Council suggested that schools should also concern themselves with five cross‐curricular themes related to the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. This paper reports on a study of the implementation of these cross‐curricular themes in secondary schools. It draws upon a postal survey of 1 in 4 of these schools and intensive fieldwork in a subsample of eight schools. Using concepts drawn from the sociology of Basil Bernstein, the paper explores some of the tensions between the cross‐curricular themes and the subject‐based culture of English secondary education. It points to particular difficulties in developing an empowering form of social education through a permeation approach to the teaching of the themes, but also explores the alternative disadvantages associated with provision via a separate programme of personal and soci...


Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis is a rare disease characterized by infiltration of the gastrointestinal tract by an increased number of eosinophils as compared to the normal. The anatomic location and intensity of the infiltrate decides the varied clinical symptomatology with which these patients present. The present report deals with four cases, all presenting with clinical signs of intestinal obstruction A laparotomy performed revealed a stricture in the first case, superficial ulcers and adhesions in the second case, an ileocaecal mass in the third case and volvulus formation in the fourth case. Eosinophilic gastroenteritis was confirmed on histopathology in all the four cases. All the four patients experienced relief of symptoms after resection. It is essential to diagnose the disease to differentiate it from other conditions presenting as intestinal obstruction. The cases are presented because of the rarity of occurrence and presentation. Relevant literature has been reviewed.


Biodiesel is a mono-alkyl ester derived from fatty acids that produced from vegetable oil or animal fat. It is known to be environmentally friendly, does not pollute the air, easily biodegradable, and can be renewed. Therefore, biodiesel has great prospects to be developed in overcoming the limited oil production. Esterification of fatty acids contained in vegetable oil is one way to produce biodiesel. Then, transesterification process separates glycerin from vegetable oil. Based on SNI 7182: 2015, the minimum yield standard for biodiesel is 96.5%. That high yield standard is a challenge in designing the biodiesel production process. In addition, the yield optimization process generally inflicts higher costs and energy. Therefore we need a biodiesel production process design for optimization. Optimization process must consider the composition of the material, the type of reaction, the type of reactor, and the material stream in order to produce the higher yield of biodiesel. This paper aims to optimize biodiesel production through process simulation. The expected biodiesel product is methyl oleate (C19H36O2) with triolein (C57H104O6) as feed. Simulations were carried out using the HYSYS software for three different scenarios. The simulation results are expected to provide an overview of the design of the biodiesel production process that can meet the yield standard and energy efficiency. Based on the three simulated scenarios, the 3rd scenario was chosen as the best biodiesel production process with a yield of 96.5%. In addition, the heat exchanger is used to help reduce the energy requirement from outside the system.
[Keywords: biodiesel, production optimization, vegetable oil, hysys


Background: Although soft tissue sarcoma is a rare tumour, it accounts for a significant proportion of malignancies seen in many orthopaedic practices. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the pattern of presentation of extremity soft tissue sarcoma and the treatment outcome in our patients.

Method: This is a 3 year prospective study in patients presenting with extremity soft tissue sarcoma at the oncology unit of the National Orthopedic Hospital Lagos. Data, such as age, sex, presenting complaints, anatomic location of lesions, histologic type of tumour, and treatment outcome were retrieved from prepared proforma. The average follow up period was 22.8 months.

Results: Nineteen patients were studied. The age range of the patients was 3 to 69 years, male to female ratio of 1.7: 1. Most tumours were located in the thigh and the leg, and malignant fibrous histiocytoma was the most common histologic diagnosis. Whilst all the patients presented with stages II and III diseases, limb salvage was only possible in 52.6% of these patients. Surgery was always combined with adjuvant radiotherapy. A survival rate of 69% and a recurrence rate of 16% were recorded over the period of the study.

Conclusion: Delayed presentation limited the scope of limb salvage surgery in centers such as ours, but appropriate tumour excision and adjuvant radiotherapy remains the mainstay of the management.
 Nigerian Journal of Orthopaedics and Trauma Vol. 6 (2) 2007: pp. 77-79


While many species were confined to southern latitudes during the last glaciations, there has lately been mounting evidence that some of the most cold‐tolerant species were actually able to survive close to the ice sheets. The contribution of these higher latitude outposts to the main recolonization thrust remains, however, untested. In the present study, we use the first range‐wide survey of genetic diversity at cytoplasmic markers in Siberian larch (Larix sibirica; four mitochondrial (mt) DNA loci and five chloroplast (cp) DNA SSR loci) to (i) assess the relative contributions of southern and central areas to the current L. sibirica distribution range; and (ii) date the last major population expansion in both L. sibirica and adjacent Larix species. The geographic distribution of cpDNA variation was uninformative, but that of mitotypes clearly indicates that the southernmost populations, located in Mongolia and the Tien‐Shan and Sayan Mountain ranges, had a very limited contribution to the current populations of the central and northern parts of the range. It also suggests that the contribution of the high latitude cryptic refugia was geographically limited and that most of the current West Siberian Plain larch populations likely originated in the foothills of the Sayan Mountains. Interestingly, the main population expansion detected through Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) in all four larch species investigated here pre‐dates the LGM, with a mode in a range of 220 000–1 340 000 years BP. Hence, L. sibirica, like other major conifer species of the boreal forest, was strongly affected by climatic events pre‐dating the Last Glacial Maximum.


We test a self-signaling theory using two large-scale, randomized controlled field experiments. Smartphone users are randomly sampled to receive promotional offers for movie tickets via SMS technology. Subjects are exposed to different pre-determined levels of price discounts and charitable donations tied to the ticket purchase. The main effects of price discounts and charitable donations increase ticket demand. However, the combination of both discounts and donations can decrease ticket demand. In a post-purchase survey, the same subjects self-report lower ratings of "feeling good about themselves" as the motivation for buying a ticket when discounts and donations are both large. These findings are consistent with a self-signaling theory, whereby the discount crowds out the consumer's "warm-glow" feeling from the charitable donation. Alternative behavioral explanations are ruled out. A structural model of demand with self-signaling is fit to the data using a constrained optimization algorithm to handle the potential multiplicity of equilibria. The estimated preferences reveal that consumers do not derive consumption utility from donations bundled with the ticket. However, they derive significant diagnostic utility: the warm-glow feeling of the self-perception of valuing charitable donations.


Market prices and trading are important information constructs that reveal information to market participants. I study how the observability of market prices and trading (hereafter, "market transparency") affects firms' disclosure incentives. I exploit the staggered introduction of TRACE, which made bond prices and transactions publicly observable. I find that firms provide more guidance when their bonds' prices/trading become observable, suggesting that investors' access to market information limits managers' incentives to withhold information. This effect is stronger for firms whose revealed prices contain more new information, and it is more pronounced for the disclosure of bad news. I corroborate my results using (i) a controlled experiment, in which prices/trading were revealed for randomly selected bonds, and also (ii) relevant threshold rules. Together, my results suggest that increased market transparency improves investors' access to information not only directly, by revealing the information contained in returns/trading, but also indirectly, by increasing corporate disclosure.


Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use, statistical validity, and sensitivity, of the two minute step test as predictor of aerobic capacity in institutionalized elderly for neurological rehabilitation.
Method: An observational type study of 60 subjects between the age group of 60- 94 was carried out, the data analysis was done on the basis of normative values calculated for each age group and we compared heart rate, oxygen saturation and perceived exertion obtained during performance of 2 MST with those obtained during the 6 MWT.
Results: According to the age group, normal values of steps were correlated with the two- minutes step test. The more number of steps performed during the twominute step test was associated with higher values of peak oxygen consumption. Comparing 2 MST and 6 MWT in 60 subjects for validity, r=0.935 (P<0.0001). They were statistically equivalent in heart rate (97 ± 4 and 95 ± 4 bpm), oxygen saturation (97 ± 0.5 and 96 ± 0.6%), rating of perceived exertion (13.6 ± 0.4 and 12.4 ± 0.4), and blood pressure (130 ± 4/62 ± 3 and 128 ± 3/62 ± 2 mmHg), (mean ± SE, 2 MST and 6 MWT, respectively). Sensitivity of the 2 MST was high, based both on the number of steps achieved by inpatients (37 ± 13 steps, mean ± SD), and healthy subjects (54 ± 18 steps) (P<0.001), Results suggest that two minute step test has potential as one of the vital tool for aerobic and physical capacity in elderly population which in turn could be a major indicator for the neurological rehabilitation protocols.
Conclusion: Although the benefits of two-minutes step test as indicator for aerobic and physical capacity in elderly looks promising, general guidelines for the clinical use of two-minutes step test and its normative values is difficult to make. Future research should explore the normative values for different populations, factors affecting the use of two-minute step test, effects of two-minute step test alone on various systems without in combination with other tests.


The energy sector has an effective role in Arab countries; thus it is important in reaching economical and social development through, the energy needs related to different economical sectors, The Arab countries steered great efforts to improve sustainability of this sector to it .these efforts examined the most important matters related to energy, there is an achieved improvement, although the Arab energy sector is still facing a number of characteristics non – sustainable. concluded in the following: - This sector is still suffering from exercising some kinds non – sustainable in producing and consuming, especially that which related to the final use.- The energy services with all their kinds don't reach most of the population, especially that the most number of population, from the citizens. The territory is still suffering from the non - arrival of energy services; added to that a similar electric. Number is suffering from weakness non- regularity of these provisions.- The sector has harmful environmental effects on air, soil and water resources.These defiance require drafting urgent procedures to adopt policies of the energy, to sustainable develop. And to take measures which can support in contributing to the sector to achieve a sustainable economical and social develop; this develop can be determined through the following procedures:- Upgrading the technology and the energy systems for the sustainable Development, and encouraging the private and comprehensive sectors to participate to improve this technology in producing their equipments.* Execution of program of sustainable energy confirmed by united nations, which emphasis in refuting and reinforcing the cooperate and the corporation between the different parts about energy for the sake of the sustainable Development.* The benefit from the technology of the energy side for the sustainable development in Arab countries to comply with the chances and competes imposed by the international system.* Facilitating the transit of energy techniques in the energy fields for the sake of sustainable development as well as the proper energy, and establishing programs of building national potencies to push and encourage the application of these technoes.* Exchanging info and experiences in the energy fields for the favor of the sustainable development, among the Arab countries; at the level of the duplicity or through the national organizations. * Emphasis on the participation of the Arab countries to the conferences and international impacts related to the sustainable development, matters and environmental energy to take part in discussing recommendations of them, to conform the economical benefits and abilities; and also the improving and the social demands of the Arab countries.


Abstract Drawing on resource-based view and signalling theory, this paper presents a comparative case of four (young vs. old; small vs. medium-sized) business-to-business firms to examine how (i.e. through which sources), why (i.e. for which managerial purposes) and for whom (i.e. for which audiences) do technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises build their reputation along the process of rapid growth? The results indicate that in the pre-growth stage product awards as well as technological and financial partners are important sources of reputation for demonstrating technological capabilities and firm sustainability to potential customers especially for young firms. Older firms, in turn, rely on technology partners and acquisitions in the rapid growth stage to convince existing customers that the firms' can keep up with their customer's changing needs. Moreover, the reputation gained from the first well-known customer and a focused clientele appear to be two critical antecedents of rapid growth whereas patents do not seem to have a significant reputational role in rapid growth. Our study informs the theory of reputation development of growing technology-based firms by abstracting a more nuanced understanding of stakeholder- and stage-contingent reputation that fosters rapid growth, and provides new insight into the literature on small firm growth.


The large Drosophila species of Hawaii display sexual dimorphism and elaborate species-specific courtship patterns. Male characters related to courtship attract particular attention since they frequently constitute the most conspicuous taxonomic differences be- tween Hawaiian species. The present study concerns intraspecific genetic variation in a courtship-related male character. D. silvestris, endemic to the geologically new volcanoes of Hawaii island, displays a brush of large dorsal cilia on the tibia of the foreleg of the male fly. This is used to stimulate the female during courtship. Genetic variation between local populations has previously been shown to exist for both sexual behavior and cilia number. The present paper reports the results of a study of cilia number variation in males collected at a single site over the period 1976-1980. Male progeny of females captured in nature were also studied. The mean number of cilia in the natural population was stable except for 1979 when it rose significantly, falling back again in 1980. The data indicate the existence of ample genetic variance for this character, existing as a balanced polymorphism in the natural population. The character appears to be under stabilizing selection. It is hypothesized that sexual selection is a contributing factor.


New composite binder systems have been developed to improve strength of shell mold and to decrease processing time, as functions of dipping time and binder composition, which is compared with the conventional binder system. The new binder systems were prepared by mixing tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) as precursor of SiO2 and sodium methoxide (NaOMe) as precursor of NaO2. The samples of shell mold were dipped into the prepared binder systems, and then heat-treated at 1000°C for 1 hr. The fracture strength is sharply enhanced in the new binder system owing to the increase of penetration depth with the dipping time, whereas the conventional binder system is modestly increased even in the dipping time of 2 hr. The new binder system with 7.6 wt% PDMS shows the highest nominal strength, showing a nominal value of 16 GPa. When only PDMS as precursor of SiO2 was used in the new binder system, the increase of viscosity by PDMS causes a larger scattering in the strength value. The strength could be controlled with the dipping time and molecular weight, showing the lower nominal strength values at the dipping time of 0.5 hr and in the low molecular weight of TEOS/NaOMe. The relationship between strength and binder composition is discussed, based on the microstructures before and after heat-treatment.


This article demonstrates in vitro a synergistic effect on 9L gliosarcoma cells when exposed to bromodeoxyuridine (BrUdR) and a low concentration (100 times lower than the IC50) of 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), in combination with x-ray irradiation. The synergy is brought about by several important factors including the x-ray beam energy, atomic number of the BrUdR (Z = 35), effectiveness of 5-FU in reducing the available repair processes and distribution of the BrUdR in and around the 9L cells (32% of the total substitution of BrUdR for thymidine into nucleus DNA). Our results show that the synergistic effect, evident in an optimised 125 kVp x-ray field, leads to a radiosensitisation enhancement ratio at the 10% survival level (SER10%) of 2.11. We highlight the importance of the aforementioned factors by similarly performed experiments for higher Z (Z = 73) tantalum pentoxide nano-structured particles (Ta2O5 NSPs) that are substituted for the BrUdR in larger concentration (∼10 times). In the Ta2O5 NSPs experiments, no synergistic effect is observed in the kVp irradiation with optimal energy spectrum even though the effective Z and NSP concentration is much higher than for BrUdR. All experiments were repeated using a MV x-ray irradiation field and no synergistic effect is observed for either the BrUdR or Ta2O5 case. We therefore hypothesise that the synergistic outcome is due to more drastic and complex damages induced by BrUdR under the exposure of kVp radiation. Such damages are achieved by the localisation of the BrUdR in the DNA and the high LET (very short range) secondary electrons in combination with the 5-FU. In order to achieve similar synergistic effects in the more clinically relevant x-ray energy field the concentration of the high Z material needs to be greater in order to create a higher LET electron environment.


Multiple health care stakeholders are increasingly scrutinizing musculoskeletal care to optimize quality and cost efficiency. This has led to greater emphasis on quality and process improvement. There is a robust set of business strategies that are increasingly being applied to health care delivery. These quality and process improvement tools (QPITs) have specific applications to segments of, or the entire episode of, patient care. In the rapidly changing health care world, it will behoove all orthopedic surgeons to have an understanding of the manner in which care delivery processes can be evaluated and improved. Many of the commonly used QPITs, including checklist initiatives, standardized clinical care pathways, lean methodology, six sigma strategies, and total quality management, embrace basic principles of quality improvement. These principles include focusing on outcomes, optimizing communication among health care team members, increasing process standardization, and decreasing process variation. This review summarizes the common QPITs, including how and when they might be employed to improve care delivery.


X chromosome inactivation studies indicate that smooth muscle cells in human atherosclerosis are monoclonal. Monoclonality could arise either by 1) proliferation of a single cell in the adult intima, eg, by selection or mutation, or 2) proliferation of many cells within a large, pre-existing clonal patch that formed during development. To determine whether clonal expansion occurs concomitantly with plaque growth or as part of normal development, X chromosome inactivation patterns were mapped in microdissected samples of aortic smooth muscle, using the human androgen receptor locus as a marker. As expected, 43% of plaque samples were skewed toward one X chromosome, indicating a monoclonal population. Surprisingly, 25% of normal medial samples and 31% of diffuse intimal thickening samples also were skewed toward one X chromosome, indicating a relatively large patch size. Furthermore, 30% of diffuse intimal thickening and 22% of medial samples showed contiguous regions of 4 mm skewed to the same allele, showing that patch length often exceeded 4 mm. Intima and overlying media typically were skewed to the same allele (73% concordance), suggesting common cells of origin. Because patch size is large in normal arteries, X-inactivation analysis cannot discriminate between a monoclonal and a polyclonal origin of plaque smooth muscle cells. We propose that human arteries grow by expanding coherent smooth muscle clones, with little mixing of adjacent clones. Determining whether plaques arise by clonal expansion will require other approaches, such as analysis of somatic mutations; the finding of large X-inactivation patches raises the possibility that plaques arise from a pre-existing (developmental) clone.


Aeronautical communication system provides various services to ground networks such as public safety, military services, etc. Major aspect in communication system is to provide a low delay, cost effective, and high speed data connectivity. Due to the high velocity of the aircraft Aeronautical communication is highly affected by Doppler shifts. The aeronautical en-route scenario is modeled as a two ray channel with a Line of Sight (LOS) component and a reflected signal. The DOAs of the LOS and reflected signal can be estimated by a hybrid method of eigen values and autocorrelation using the properties of the received signal covariance matrix. Based on the DOA, the signals are separated by singular value decomposition method; Doppler shifts are corrected individually and combined using diversity combining techniques at the receiver section. Simulation results show an increase in Bit Error Rate performance after diversity combining.


ABSTRACT Deletion mutants of the pathogenic clone of simian immunodeficiency virus isolate 239 (SIVmac239) were derived that are missingnef, vpr, and upstream sequences (US) in the U3 region of the LTR (SIVmac239Δ3), nef, vpx, and US (SIVmac239Δ3x), and nef, vpr,vpx, and US (SIVmac239Δ4). These multiply deleted derivatives replicated well in the continuously growing CEMx174 cell line and were infectious for rhesus monkeys. However, on the basis of virus load measurements, strength of antibody responses, and lack of disease progression, these mutants were highly attenuated. Measurements of cell-associated viral load agreed well with assays of plasma viral RNA load and with the strengths of the antibody responses; thus, these measurements likely reflected the extent of viral replication in vivo. A derivative of SIVmac239 lacking vif sequences (SIVmac239Δvif) could be consistently grown only in avif-complementing cell line. This Δvif virus appeared to be very weakly infectious for rhesus monkeys on the basis of sensitive antibody tests only. The weak antibody responses elicited by SIVmac239Δvif were apparently in response to low levels of replicating virus since they were not elicited by heat-inactivated virus and the anti-SIV antibody responses persisted for greater than 1 year. These results, and the results of previous studies, allow a rank ordering of the relative virulence of nine mutant strains of SIVmac according to the following order: Δvpr > Δvpx > ΔvprΔvpx ≅ Δnef > Δ3 > Δ3x ≥ Δ4 > Δvif > Δ5. The results also demonstrate that almost any desired level of attenuation can be achieved, ranging from still pathogenic in a significant proportion of animals (Δvpr and Δvpx) to not detectably infectious (Δ5), simply by varying the number and location of deletions in these five loci.


Abstract. The Early Pennsylvanian Nagaiwa Formation contains fossils such as corals, fusulinids, and ostracodes, and its age and depositional environments have been determined by fusulinids and sedimentology. In this study, I describe the ostracode assemblages from the Nagaiwa Formation. Moreover, I provide a reconstruction of the paleogeography of northeastern Japan during the Early Pennsylvanian by comparing this ostracode assemblage with assemblages from other regions during the same period. Thirty ostracode species, including 12 genera, have been identified, most of which are endemic species and 10 of which are new: Jordanites michinokuensis n. sp., Thuringobolbina ikeyai n. sp., Aechmina iwatensis n. sp., Pseudobythocypris asiatica n. sp., P. zipangu n. sp., P. siveteri n. sp., Platyrhomboides tohokuensis n. sp., P. japonica n. sp., Healdia ofunatensis n. sp., and H. rikutyuensis n. sp. Two of these species are also found in central Japan. The ostracodes from the Nagaiwa Formation are unique when compared with any other similarly aged assemblages.


Out of several location sensing systems developed over the past few years, Radio Frequency Identification is one of the efficient techniques that uses radio waves for wireless communication. In this paper Radio Frequency Identification is used as a Colony based localized technique for accurate tracking of objects in Smart Homes. In order to accurately determine the position of an object, a backtracking algorithm is used. This algorithm identifies those reference tags which are identified by the LANDMARC system. Colonies based upon the spatial co-relation between the reference tags are used to get the original neighboring tags to compute the location of an object situated near an obstacle.


Yield of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) depends on numerous process parameters such as temperature of synthesis, type of catalyst, type of precursor, time of precursor flow and partial pressure of precursor gas as well as carrier gas, etc. Experiments were performed in order to find the optimum temperature of synthesis for varying time of precursor flow. The yield was evaluated in terms of mass of crystalline CNTs per gram of substrate and/or catalyst. The CNTs were grown on a calcium carbonate (CaCO3) substrate, with iron-cobalt (Fe-Co) as a catalyst, using acetylene (C2H2) as a precursor gas and argon (Ar) as a carrier gas. A three-stage purification process, incorporating two acid treatment steps and one annealing step, was used for purification which ensures high grade purity of CNTs. The highest yield of 21.4 g of CNTs per g of catalyst was achieved at 700oC for 60 min of synthesis. The CNTs were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman, Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), and Gas chromatography (GC).


Title: The Swedish Armed Forces: a study on the changing communication of a public authority.

Problem: In recent decades the public sector has been faced with an increasing market orientation and a rapidly changing society. These changes can be assumed to create new demands as well as major changes to the work of strategic communications. Thus, it is interesting to study how an authority, as The Swedish Armed Forces, carries out the communication work in an increasingly market-oriented world.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to study and analyse how the Swedish Armed Forces' communication has been affected as the agency is faced with new realities and what the key motives are for a change in communication.

Method: Document analysis, in the form of qualitative targeted content analysis, and interviews. The documents consist of communications documents and interviews have been conducted with employees of the Swedish Armed Forces' communications headquarter.

Conclusions: We have identified changes in the communication of the Swedish Armed Forces. The organisation faces a new assignment and thus a new purpose that needs to be communicated. At the same time, the development of new technologies has resulted in new channels that create new ways of communicating. We argue that public authorities in general must identify a purpose with their communication as they are faced with changes affecting the communication, this in order to avoid filling their channels with empty content. Public authorities in large must work with their existing conditions – if changes in the work with communication are taken too lightly, we will face government authorities with communications without strategic anchorage.


SIR,-Electronic "multimedia" simulation could partially fill the gap in surgical training described by Messrs I M C Maclntyre and A Munro because its use would not encroach on the operating theatre time allocated to fulfil service needs.' Multimedia simulation is a way of presenting information in a non-linear fashion using text, still pictures, video film sequences, and sound. Computerised simulations cannot mimic the feel of surgical instruments or the texture of human tissue but can teach decision making, present surgical anatomy, and display the sequence of work in operations. I recently evaluated a program dealing with the surgery of aortic aneurysm (The Surgeon. Version 1.5. ISM Inc, October 1985). This program allows the trainee to make decisions about a patient who has been admitted to a surgical ward. The trainee must evaluate the case history, decide what tests and procedures to carry out and in what order and priority, and decide when to operate. The operation is simulated by requiring the trainee to select the necessary surgical instruments and use them with the aid of a "mouse." The surgical approach is shown and the layers of tissue are dissected. Simulated monitors show the patient's heart rate and blood pressure. The trainee is expected to draw conclusions from what is displayed on these monitors and choose drugs to correct any problems shown. This simulation, although extremely simple, is an example of the potential which computer systems could offer the surgical trainee in acquiring knowledge about many aspects of surgical practice. This technology, combined with the expert knowledge and skill of the senior surgeons, provides an alternative training approach for the aspiring surgeon.


Despite recommendations for routine vaccination, HPV vaccination rates among adolescent females have remained low. The objective of this prospective cohort study was to determine whether clinician intention to recommend HPV vaccines predicts HPV vaccine series initiation among previously unvaccinated 11 to 18 year-old girls (N = 18,083) who were seen by a pediatric clinician (N = 105) from a large primary care network within 3 years of vaccine introduction. We used multivariable logistic regression with generalized estimating equations, Cox Regression and standardized survival curves to measure the association between clinician intention and time to and rate of first HPV vaccine receipt among eligible females. All models adjusted for patient age, race / ethnicity, payor category, visit type, and practice location. Eighty-5 percent of eligible 11 to 12 year-old and 95% of 13 to 18 year-old girls were seen by a provider reporting high intention to recommend HPV vaccines. However, only 30% of the cohort initiated the HPV vaccine series and the mean number of days from first eligible visit to series initiation was 190 (95% C.I. 184.2, 195.4). After adjusting for covariates, high clinician intention was modestly associated with girls' likelihood of HPV vaccine series initiation (OR 1.36; 95 % C.I. 1.07, 1.71) and time to first HPV vaccination (HR 1.22; 95% 1.06, 1.40). Despite high intention to vaccinate among this cohort of pediatric clinicians, overall vaccination rates for adolescent girls remained low. These findings support ongoing efforts to develop effective strategies to translate clinician intention into timely HPV vaccine receipt.


This article provides information about the importance of stable thermal operating modes of refrigeration machines in the condition of changes in the thermal load on the compressor. We also consider the problem of the minimum energy consumption of refrigeration machines. These two parameters characterize the storage quality of agricultural products in refrigeration machines. It is shown that the temperature stability of the cooling chambers and the minimum energy consumption of the cooling process determine the refrigerator efficiency and, ultimately, the production cost. The article proposes continuous monitoring of the heat and energy indicators of refrigerators. These indicators are recorded and after the set period of operation, control and verification measurements of the control refrigeration machine's heat and energy indicators are performed. The convergence or divergence of these indicators is used to evaluate the stability of the cooling chambers' temperature regimes and the specific energy consumption. We also consider the influence of time on the performance of the compression refrigeration machine changes and methods of current technical condition diagnostics. If the deviations are insignificant, the program goes through the cycle to the beginning of monitoring and after a set period of time again automatically performs control measurements and evaluation of deviations. In the case of significant deviations, the decision-making subroutine is activated: either to operate the refrigerator further; perform its maintenance; suspend its operation; or replace it.


Cadmium selenide (CdSe) of hollow sphere with 30-50nm in diameter have been prepared form the mixed solution of cadmium chloride (CdCl2), sodium selenosulfate(Na2SeSO3) and ethylenediamine (H2NCH2CH2NH2) at room temperature. The hollow sphere of CdSe was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The molar ratio of EDA to Cd2+ ions in this system was important factor on controlled synthesis in the self-encapsulated morphology. Based on the observation on morphological difference with molar ratio of EDA to Cd2+ ion, the possible mechanism for the formation of CdSe hollow sphere was discussed.


This article focuses on marketing research of the environment of catering enterprises based on the example of the Wiener Wald cafe / confectionery in the city of Kemerovo. The study was conducted by in-depth interviews. Following the results of the study, management decisions were taken concerning changes in the parameters of the format. Thus, this study was a pilot one and more are to follow. The findings have been used in the activity of the company aimed at development of administrative decisions (such as offers of new services, new interior solutions).


This paper describes a new type of 3‐D space plasma composition analyzer. The design combines high sensitivity, high mass resolution measurements with somewhat lower mass resolution but even higher sensitivity measurements in a single compact and robust design. While the lower resolution plasma measurements are achieved using conventional straight‐through time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry, the high mass resolution measurements are made by timing ions reflected in a linear electric field (LEF), where the restoring force that an ion experiences is proportional to the depth it travels into the LEF region. Consequently, the ion's equation of motion in that dimension is that of a simple harmonic oscillator and its travel time is simply proportional to the square root of the ion's mass/charge (m/q). While in an ideal LEF, the m/q resolution can be arbitrarily high, in a real device the resolution is limited by the field linearity which can be achieved. In this paper we describe how a nearly linear field can be p...


The formation of capillary bridge formed by a liquid adsorbate is one of the main reasons for agglomeration in multiphase flows. Agglomeration takes place when the relative momentum of two colliding particles is fully consumed by the bridge. This article presents a theoretical study of the collisions of particles with adsorbed liquid taking into account the influence of capillary and viscous dissipative forces. The article proposes an approximate analytical solution for the dynamics of the bridge formed during the collision, together with a more complete numerical model, which is validated with experimental data. The restitution of the relative momentum of the colliding particles, depending on a series of dimensionless parameters characterizing the bridge, is investigated. A criterion for prediction of agglomeration, or "collision efficiency," in a flow involving cohesive particles is given. An expression is proposed for the coefficient of restitution for the case of collision via a liquid bridge. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 4045–4057, 2013


The paper investigates how modal hedges (Coates 1983) understood as expressions of procedural meaning , i.e. expressions which instruct the addressee/reader how to process the propositional content of an utterance/statement (Watts 2004) are used in product descriptions, advertisements and consumer instructions leaflets for a number of products belonging to the Consumer Health Care category for the purposes of complying with consumer protection laws on the one hand and serving as an implicit disclaimer of manufacturer's responsibility on the other. The analysis is carried out contrastively for two languages, English and Serbian. The results obtained are discussed and viewed as a matter of cultural variety and difference, especially taking into consideration the fact that consumer protection laws seem to be equally strict in US, UK and Commonwealth, Europe and Serbia.


Post-Enlightenment philosophy, which is largely creative of and dominates the modern consciousness, has defined humanism in terms of rationality and its control over the irrational. This has led to our technological age but has also spawned counter philosophies critiquing the limits of reason and the epistemic possibilities of experience and intuition. Sri Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950) was an Indian thinker who was schooled in England and arrived at a cosmopolitan grasp of modernity, including the ideals of the Enlightenment and its limitations. Looking to the discursive and experiential traditions of India, particularly those of the Upanishads (Vedanta) he sought for hermeneutic keys to address the human possibilities of knowledge. In his reading of the Upanishads, he saw a fundamental division between Knowledge (Vidya) and Ignorance (Avidya) and a practical tradition (yoga) which negotiated this division by rejecting worldly or relative knowledge (Avidya) for a Knowledge-by-identity (Vidya). Whereas such a transcendentalism had been idealized even within the counter-movements of the Enlightenment as "the Eastern Enlightenment," Sri Aurobindo sought traces of an intuitive mediating consciousness which would enable a new kind of worldly knowledge based in Truth-Seeing (darshan) and Hearing (sruti). He has referred to this knowledge project as "building an intuitive mentality," a transformative process based on Vedantic knowledge and leading more to an integral consciousness than what we would call a mentality. Looking for the operations of absolute Knowledge in the Vidya that translate to operations of relative knowledge in the Avidya, he located four forms of intuition that could be cultivated and normalized towards the end of preparing such an intuitive consciousness and leading ultimately to an integral consciousness foundational to a divine collective life on earth. In this paper, I will outline these operations of knowledge and discuss the processes by which Sri Aurobindo sought to bridge our human "rational ignorance" (Avidya) to the integral knowledge (Vidya) spoken of in the Upanishads.


Thickness and refractive index of waveguide layer determine the electro-optic characteristics in semiconductor lasers. In this research the stepped refractive index profile was replaced by suitable broadened graded refractive index in waveguide layer. The results show such design can significantly improve the vertical divergence and threshold current for laser operating in constant efficiency. In order to preventing of slop efficiency decreasing in broadened waveguide, we proposed the optimum dopant in n-section of waveguide without extra effective free carrier loss.


This paper presents a Power Management Unit (PMU) powered by a 1 mm solar cell on the same substrate to rise up the harvested voltage above 1.1 V. The on-chip solar cell and the PMU are fabricated in standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology achieving a form factor of 1.575 mm. The PMU is able to start up from a harvested power of 2.38 nW without any external kick off or control signal. The PMU features a continuous and two-dimensional Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) working in open-loop mode to handle a harvested power range from nW to μW, by modifying both the charge pump topology and the switching frequency. The MPPT is based on four voltage level detectors that define five working regions depending on the illumination and on a self-tuning reference current for a fine adjustment of the switching frequency. The chip also includes an auxiliary charge pump to generate the voltage level necessary for the control circuit, implemented as a Pelliconi charge pump of 8 stages with NMOS transistors in Pwell as diodes. A Dickson charge pump with transmission gates as switches and with variable gain and capacitance per stage is also designed as the main charge pump. Finally, two relaxation oscillators are implemented to drive both charge pumps. This paper is accompanied by a video file demonstrating the PMU operation by powering an off-chip NAND gate.


Antibody-induced degradation and chemical cross-linking experiments have been carried out to assess the nature of the interaction between the two asialoglycoprotein-receptor polypeptides, H1 and H2, synthesized in HepG2 cells. Incubation of HepG2 cell monolayers with anti-H1 antibody caused a specific and equal loss of both H1 and H2 polypeptides. The same result was obtained with anti-H2 antibody. Control serum did not affect the level of H1 or H2 not did anti-H1 or anti-H2 antibodies affect the level of the transferrin receptor. The chemical cross-linking reagent, difluorodinitrobenzene, has been used to demonstrate that H1 can be cross-linked to H2 in HepG2 cell microsomal membranes. Dimer and trimer species with apparent molecular masses of 93 and 148 kD, respectively, were readily observed upon chemical cross-linking and some dimers and trimers were immunoreactive with both anti-H1 and anti-H2 antibodies. The putative trimer, possibly two H1 and one H2 molecules, is a minimum estimate of the true size of the asialoglycoprotein receptor in intact HepG2 cell, and it is possible that larger hetero-oligomeric forms of the receptor exist. The results of both types of experiments indicate that H1 and H2 form an oligomeric complex in HepG2 cells and thus, both polypeptides constitute the human asialoglycoprotein receptor.


The H2020 project Integrated Arctic Observation System (INTAROS) aspires to increase the temporal and geographic coverage of in situ observations and add new key geophysical and biogeochemical variables in selected regions of the Arctic. By using a combination of mature and new instruments and sensors in integration with existing observatories, INTAROS aims to fill selected gaps in the present-day system and build additional capacity of the Arctic monitoring networks for ocean and sea ice.
Three reference sites have been selected as key locations for monitoring ongoing Arctic changes: Costal Greenland, paramount for freshwater output from the Greenland ice sheet; North of Svalbard (covering the region from shelf to deep basin) - the hot-spot for ocean-air-sea ice interactions, and heat and biological energy input to the European Arctic; and Fram Strait - the critical gateway for exchanges between the Arctic and the World oceans. The existing observatories in the reference sites have been extended with new moorings and novel autonomous instrumentation, in particular for biogeochemical measurements and sea ice observations. Bottom-mounted instruments have been also implemented for seismic observations. A distributed observatory for ocean and sea ice in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas includes non-stationary components such as ice-tethered observing platforms, float, gliders, and ships of opportunities, collecting multidisciplinary observations, still missing from the Arctic regions. New sensors, integrated platforms and experimental set-ups are currently under implementation during a two-year long deployment phase (2018-2020) with an aim to evaluate their sustained use in a future iAOS. New observations will be used for integration of new data products, demonstration studies and stakeholder consultations, contributing also to ongoing and future long-term initiatives (e.g. SAON).


Two primers, designed according to the Arabidoposis thaliana Toc33 sequence, were used to amplify the full coding region of the Toc33 cDNAs in leaves of a chlorophyll-reduced (Cr) mutant Cr3529 and its wild type 3529, Brassica napus,by RT-PCR technique. The RT-PCR results showed that the fragment homologous to Toc33 was expressed in Cr3529 as well as 3529 seedlings. PCR fragments were inserted into the pMD18-T vector and transferred into E. coli, then two cDNA clones, BnToc33-c and BnToc33, were obtained. Sequence analysis showed that the two sequences were 894 bp and the nucleotide and the deduced amino acid sequences were highly homologous to those of A. thaliana. There were three diverged nucleotides between the Cr3529 and the 3529 Toc33 cDNAs, i.e., GGT/AGT, TTG/TTT, AGG/AGT, all of which belonged to missense mutation. The amino acid replacement ((Leu/Phe) caused by TTG/TTT mutation located in the membrane anchor domain may result in chlorophyll-reduced character in Cr3529.


Functional diversity is increasingly pointed as a useful approach to reach Biological Conservation goals. Here, we provide an overview of the functional diversity approach status in the Biological Conservation field. We sought for peer-reviewed papers published over a period of twenty years (from 1994 to 2014). First we used the general topic "functional diversity" and then refined our search using the key-word "conservation". We have identified the conservation strategies addressed, the organism studied, and the continent of study site in each paper. Thirteen classes of conservation strategies were identified. Plants were the most commonly studied organism group and most study-sites were located in Europe. The functional diversity approach was introduced in the Biological Conservation field in the early 2000's and its inclusion in conservation strategies is broadly advised. However, the number of papers that operationalise such inclusion by developing models and systems is still low. Functional diversity responds differently and eventually better than other measures to changes in land use and management, which suggests that this approach can potentially better predict the impacts. More studies are needed to corroborate this hypothesis. We pointed out knowledge gaps regarding identification of the responses for functional diversity about urban impacts and in research on the level of management intensity of land needed to maintain functional diversity. We recommend the use of functional diversity measures to find ecological indicators. Future studies should focus on the development of functional diversity measures of other taxa beyond plants as well as test hypothesis in tropical ecosystems.


Four studies examined the construct validity of two global self-esteem measures. In Studies 1 through 3, the Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale (SISE) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) showed strong convergent validity for men and women, for different ethnic groups, and for both college students and community members. The SISE and the RSE had nearly identical correlations with a wide range of criterion measures, including domain-specific self-evaluations, self-evaluative biases, social desirability, personality, psychological and physical health, peer ratings of group behavior, academic outcomes, and demographic variables. Study 4 showed that the SISE had only moderate convergent validity in a sample of children. Overall, the findings support the reliability and validity of the SISE and suggest it can provide a practical alternative to the RSE in adult samples. More generally, the findings contribute to the research literature by further elaborating the nomological network of global self-esteem.


Science, technology and innovation policies are experiencing numerous developments and changes in their orientation and design, which demand corresponding adaptation of policy evaluation methods and practices. Innovation systems are evolving towards more complex socially distributed structures of knowledge production activities, involving an increasing intertwining between science and technology, greater multidisciplinarity and specialisation in technological knowledge bases and a diversity of knowledge generating organisations. These changes require new forms of intervention, based on adaptability, policy learning and evolution, systemic coordination and the enhancement of firms & innovative capabilities. Moreover, there is a regained interest in sub-national (regional and local) levels of accumulation of innovative capabilities. Indeed, regional innovation policies are becoming more and more important, which in turn represents an important opportunity to be seized specially by less developed regions in narrowing the technology gap with more advanced ones. In addition, new and more sophisticated tools of policy intelligence and planning such as technology foresight are being employed. These new tendencies in innovation policies pose new challenges for the assessment and evaluation of these activities. Along with the actual intents to build new and effective capacities, the institutionalisation of evaluation systems is now a precondition for the implementation of organisational learning within the policy and decision making frameworks. Evaluation is definitely one of the most adequate instruments to foster processes of reflexivity and continuous learning within organisations. Even so, evaluation has to be implemented and executed during the entire process of policy design, implementation and analysis to be useful, which requires the development of new capacities and strengthening the existing ones, in order to institutionalise the evaluation practices and build up a comprehensive `evaluation system. Within this context, the demand for evaluation activities and its stimulation is as important as the promotion of the evaluation supply capacities, i.e. the existence of training and qualification facilities for evaluators, the communication between professionals by means of journals, networks, professional organizations, etc. The new regional innovation policies and the need for new evaluation practices suppose now a great opportunity for, on the one hand, the institutionalisation of evaluation within this new policy field and, on the other, the development of new evaluation methods and techniques, adapted to the particularities of regional innovation policy practices and knowledge based activities. The aim of this paper is to inquire into the adequacy of current evaluation systems and methods to the changes in the objectives and practices for regional innovation policies, supported by EU Structural Funds. The paper begins with a brief account of changes in the objectives and guidelines of European regional innovative actions. This discussion is followed by an assessment of the relevance of traditional evaluation practices for the monitoring of the effectiveness of these policies. This analysis will evidence a series of shortcomings and challenges in policy evaluation and will underline the importance of the institutionalisation of evaluation. This framework will be illustrated using evidence of innovative actions in Spanish regions. Practical policy recommendations will be advanced in the final section.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this article is to summarize our experience of patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure in patients above the age of 55 years.

BACKGROUND
PFO is associated with cryptogenic thromboembolic events (TEs) in patients younger than 55 years. Little is known about the recurrence rate of TE in patients above the age of 55 years undergoing PFO closure for presumed paradoxical embolism.

METHODS
PFO closure was performed in 1,055 patients, 423 of whom were above 55 years of age. Implantation of the device was guided by fluoroscopy and transesophageal or intracardiac echocardiography.

RESULTS
A PFO occluding device was implanted successfully in all patients. Residual shunt was documented in 10% of patients above 55 years of age and in 8.4% of patients aged 55 years or younger (P = 0.325). During a median follow-up period of 18 months (range, 0-162 months) the annual incidence of recurrent TE in patients above 55 years was 1.8% while patients aged 55 or below had an annual incidence of recurrent TE of 1.3%. TE-free survival was similar in patients above 55 years of age compared with those aged 55 years and below.

CONCLUSIONS
PFO closure in older patients is as efficient and seems comparable to those under the age of 55. Although traditional cardiovascular risk factors may be more frequent in the older age group compared with those younger than 55 years, PFO closure should not be withheld as a possible therapeutic option in this age group.


Hierarchical porous ZnMn2O4 microspheres assembled by nanosheets with an average thickness of several nanometers are successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method and subsequent calcination at 500 °C in air. When used as an anode electrode of lithium ion batteries (LIBs), the ZnMn2O4 microspheres exhibit a high discharge capacity of 1132 mA h g−1 after 500 cycles at a current density of 500 mA g−1 and excellent rate capability. It is believed that the outstanding electrochemical performance benefits from the hierarchical porous structure that can not only increase the contact area between the electrode and the electrolyte to facilitate the transfer of Li+ ions, but also provide sufficient space for volume expansion of the electrode during the cycling process.


The denim, having a large customer base irrelevant of age, gender and social status limitation, has been one of the most
important products for thegarment sector. Denim fabric demand has diversified with the changing consumer's sense of
life day by day. The denim manufacturers develop alternative production techniques and materials by turning towards
new researches in order to adapt to consumer demands. One of the alternative materials, which are used in denim fabric
structure, is the dual-core yarns. The dual-core yarn is manufactured through the modified ring-spinning machine in
order to benefit at the same time from the properties of two core components. In this study the influence of some
production parameters such as twist level, wool draft and elastane draft on the properties of dual-core yarns containing
wool/elastane is investigated.The results indicated that the twist level is significantly effective parameter for the
unevenness, hairiness, tenacity and elongation values of dual-core yarns. In addition, wool draft is significantly effective
parameter for hairiness and breaking elongation values. It was also observed that variation of elastane draft level affects
tenacity and elongation values of dual-core yarns.


We approach the emerging area of energy efficient, secure real-time embedded systems design. Many modern embedded systems have to fulfill strict security constraints and are often required to meet stringent deadlines in different operation modes, where the number and nature of active tasks vary (dynamic task sets). In this context, the use of dynamic voltage/frequency scaling (DVFS) techniques and onboard field-programmable gate array (FPGA) co-processors offer new dimensions for energy savings and performance enhancement. We propose a novel design framework that provides the best security protection consuming the minimal energy for all operation modes of a system. Extensive experiments demonstrate the efficiency of our techniques.


We present Loopix, a low-latency anonymous communication system that provides bi-directional 'third-party' sender and receiver anonymity and unobservability. Loopix leverages cover traffic and Poisson mixing--brief independent message delays--to provide anonymity and to achieve traffic analysis resistance against, including but not limited to, a global network adversary. Mixes and clients self-monitor and protect against active attacks via self-injected loops of traffic. The traffic loops also serve as cover traffic to provide stronger anonymity and a measure of sender and receiver unobservability. Loopix is instantiated as a network of Poisson mix nodes in a stratified topology with a low number of links, which serve to further concentrate cover traffic. Service providers mediate access in and out of the network to facilitate accounting and off-line message reception.

We provide a theoretical analysis of the Poisson mixing strategy as well as an empirical evaluation of the anonymity provided by the protocol and a functional implementation that we analyze in terms of scalability by running it on AWS EC2. We show that mix nodes in Loopix can handle upwards of 300 messages per second, at a small delay overhead of less than 1.5ms on top of the delays introduced into messages to provide security. Overall message latency is on the order of seconds - which is relatively low for a mix-system. Furthermore, many mix nodes can be securely added to the stratified topology to scale throughput without sacrificing anonymity.


The fractal dimensions and the percolation exponents of geometrical spin clusters of like sign at criticality are obtained numerically for an Ising model with temperature dependent annealed bond dilution, also known as the thermalized bond Ising model (TBIM), in two dimensions. For this purpose, a modified Wolff single-cluster Monte Carlo simulation is used to generate equilibrium spin configurations on square lattices in the critical region. A tie-breaking rule is employed to identify nonintersecting spin cluster boundaries along the edges of the dual lattice. The values obtained for the fractal dimensions of the spanning geometrical clusters Dc, and their interfaces DI, are in perfect agreement with those reported for the standard two-dimensional ferromagnetic Ising model. Furthermore, the variance of the winding angles results in a diffusivity κ = 3 for the two-dimensional thermalized bond Ising model, thus placing it in the universality class of the regular Ising model. A finite-size scaling analysis of the largest geometrical clusters results in a reliable estimation of the critical percolation exponents for the geometrical clusters in the limit of an infinite lattice size. The percolation exponents thus obtained are also found to be consistent with those reported for the regular Ising model. These consistencies are explained in terms of the Fisher renormalization relations, which express the thermodynamic critical exponents of systems with annealed bond dilution in terms of those of the regular model system.


Abstract A chitin synthesis inhibitor, novaluron, was evaluated under laboratory conditions for its larvicidal activity against a field population of the housefly, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), by feeding and dipping methods. The concentrations used were 1, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20 mg a.i./kg in both methods. The product caused >80% larval mortality at 10 and 20 mg a.i./kg. Of the two methods, feeding was more effective for larvicidal activity at doses above 2.5 mg a.i./kg. After 72 hours, the LC50 and LC90 values were 1.66 and 8.25 mg a.i./kg, respectively, with the feeding method; and 2.72 and 17.88 mg a.i./kg, respectively, using the dipping method. The results showed that the product provided good control of housefly larvae and would greatly reduce adult emergence.


INTRODUCTION
Women with early stage cervical and endometrial cancer may experience complex posttreatment changes to their sexual function, but clinical practice and past research have focused more on the quantity than the perceived quality of sexual life.

AIM
The aims of this prospective study were to explore the following: (i) the relative importance of quantity vs. quality of sexual life over the first year posttreatment; (ii) the psychological and sexual predictors of overall sexual function; and (iii) the relationship between sexual function and quality of life (QoL).

METHODS
Fifty-three cancer patients completed standardized measures at baseline, with follow-up at 6 and 12 months posttreatment. Analyses were based on prespecified linear mixed models with overall sexual function and QoL as outcomes, and quality and quantity of sexual life, anxiety, and depression as the main predictors of interest. Radiotherapy, age, and relationship satisfaction were controlled for as potential confounders.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory subscales to assess quantity (Drive) and quality (Satisfaction) of sexual life, and overall sexual function (Global Sexual Satisfaction Index); Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy--General to assess QoL; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale to assess psychological distress; and Relationship Satisfaction Interaction Scale to assess relationship satisfaction.

RESULTS
The models demonstrated that: (i) overall sexual function was predicted more strongly by the perceived quality than the quantity of sexual interactions, (ii) a small change in perceived quality had a large impact on overall sexual function, and (iii) overall sexual function was a predictor of QoL.

CONCLUSION
This study found that quality rather than quantity of sexual life is the best predictor of overall sexual function among women treated for early stage cervical and endometrial cancer, indicating the importance of including quality indices in posttreatment sexual assessment in clinical practice and research studies.


Abstract Among the chemotypes studied for selective inhibition of tumour-associated carbonic anhydrases (CAs), SLC-0111, a ureido-bearing benzenesulfonamide CA IX inhibitor, displayed promising antiproliferative effects in cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, being in Phase Ib/II clinical development. To explore the structural characteristics required for better discrimination of less conserved regions of the enzyme, we investigate the incorporation of the urea linker into an imidazolidin-2-one cycle, a modification already explored previously for obtaining CA inhibitors. This new library of compounds inhibited potently four different hCAs in the nanomolar range with a different isoform selectivity profile compared to the lead SLC-0111. Several representative CA IX inhibitors were tested for their efficacy to inhibit the proliferation of glioblastoma, pancreatic, and breast cancer cells expressing CA IX, in hypoxic conditions. Unlike previous literature data on SLC-149, a structurally related sulphonamide to compounds investigated here, our data reveal that these derivatives possess promising anti-proliferative effects, comparable to those of SLC-0111. Graphical Abstract


This title provides a thorough review of general mathematics and its applications in radiography as well as a handy reference for basic formulas and calculations used by radiographers. This book starts with basic mathematic principles and moves on to present the reader withcalculations required to produce high quality radiographic images and practice problems which aid in the understanding of these calculations. Areas discussed include mAs conversions, inverse square law, radiographic density and contrast, screens and gridratios, grid conversians, geometric and magnification unsharpness, and graphs and conversions between conventional and systems international (SI) units of radiation dosimetry. No other book provides such clear instruction for radiographic calculations. A handy Instructor's Manual is also available.


The performance of a position sensitive gamma-ray scintillator detector (PSD) is described. This PSD is based on a lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) crystal read out by a crossed-wire anode position sensitive photomultiplier tube (PSPMT). The main difference with respect to similar existing devices is the individual multi-anode readout (IMAR) approach that is followed here. This method allows to exploit better the intrinsic characteristics of the PSPMT, thus yielding better linearity, improved spatial resolution, and a larger field of view. The new detector is intended for the characterization of 3-D position sensitive germanium detectors.


Based mainly on sensors, flow optimization and algorithms, the smart city model has revealed its limits. The city's smart citizens are scarcely included in the planning process, even though they occupy a key position to produce and share valuable knowledge on how they live and use the city. Technology has the potential to generate tools that improve interaction and information exchange between urban planners and city dwellers, which is a key aspect for more sustainable and responsive planning. This lunchtalk will explore how digital tools can be harnessed to create new means of involving citizens in the urban planning process, and how they integrate a non-expert but practiced layer of knowledge. By looking at numerous existing tools, it will examine the opportunities and limitations of these digital technologies as a way to create novel planning practices


ABSTRACT This paper presents findings from a three-year longitudinal qualitative case-study exploring the experiences of Asian women returning home after completing higher education. Drawing on the literature on empowerment, education and identity, analyses point to the empowering and displacing aspects of education: While education enhances choice, awareness, self-confidence, and status in the family, it also produces differences which are utilized to delegitimize and destabilise the empowerment process, through frames of culture, class and gender. The paper addresses how these women negotiate these conflicting experiences, mitigate the alienation that empowerment and education processes can trigger, and maintain their new identities and aspirations. This contributes to understanding the complexity and multidimensional nature of empowerment dynamics for women in cross-cultural higher education processes in the Global South.


Background: Self-concept is vital for the nurses to understand about themselves and their patient in the health care setting. In order to meet the patient needs, it is important that the nurses should possess healthy self-concept that makes them more responsible and be more confident to handle the situations skillfully. Every nurse is an important member of the health care organization to provide quality patient care, their work environment and other related factors are essential to satisfy their job. Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the association of self-concept and job satisfaction of registered nurses working at cross-cultural setting. Study Design and Settings: A descriptive correlational study was conducted with 1061 registered nurses working in selected government hospitals using convenience-sampling method. The registered nurses self-concept and job satisfaction were surveyed using the standardized tool Nurses Self-Concept Questionnaire (NSCQ) and Mccloskey/Muller job satisfaction scale (MMSS). SPSS software version 20 was used to analyze the collected data to report descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The current study identified that there is a relationship between registered nurses self-concept and job satisfaction and the correlation coefficients were statistically very highly significant (P < 0.001). The association of job satisfaction with sub component of self-concept reveals that Nurses General Self-Concept r = 0.273, P < 0.001, Care r = 0.141, P < 0.001, Staff relation r = 0.320, P < 0.001, Communication r = 0.174, P < 0.001, Knowledge r = 0.218, P < 0.001, and lower association with 'Leadership' (r = 0.063, P < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of this research demonstrated the importance of registered nurses self-concept and its effect on job satisfaction that is essential for nurses to provide effective care to the patients.


BACKGROUND
Cardiac dysfunction in the form of reduced systolic and/or diastolic left ventricular function after adjuvant cancer therapy has recently attracted increasing attention. The best-known cardiotoxic agents are anthracyclines and the recombinant antibody trastuzumab. Patients treated with radiotherapy to the thorax are liable to develop coronary artery disease. There are no official guidelines for the preventive treatment of cardiac dysfunction induced by chemotherapy, antibody therapy or radiotherapy. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of cardiac dysfunction caused by adjuvant cancer therapies and to review possible preventive therapeutic principles.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
This article is based on a review of the literature derived from a search in PubMed.

RESULTS
27% of those treated with anthracyclines and trastuzumab may develop some degree of cardiac dysfunction. The figure for patients receiving radiotherapy to the thorax is more uncertain. Small-scale studies suggest that anthracycline-induced cardiac dysfunction can be prevented wholly or partially by blocking the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and by beta-adrenergic blockade. As yet, there are no results of prospective studies on cardiopreventive treatment during trastuzumab therapy or thoracic radiotherapy.

INTERPRETATION
There is a need for randomised, placebo-controlled studies of homogeneous groups of patients in order to determine whether treatment with cardioprotective medication in parallel with chemotherapy, antibody therapy or radiotherapy can prevent or reduce cardiac dysfunction.


The title above contains a melodic fragment from the closing bars of Billy Strayhorn's "Take the A Train". It is often called the "Ellington ending" after the composer and musician for whom the piece became a signature tune. Despite its close motivic relationship to the rest of the piece, it long ago began circulating on its own as a musical tag, and musicians still employ it in a range of contexts to signal musical closure. There are many such concluding patterns, and in the account that follows I will examine how one group of young instrumentalists mobilizes some of them (including the Ellington ending) while collectively arranging a tune. In part, then, this article explores an instance of musical bricolage, as musicians experiment with an array of formulas and come to an agreement regarding how they will establish musical closure with them.


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a syndrome with progressive and irreversible airflow limitation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Atorvastatins on blood parameters including blood gasses in patients with COPD. This randomized double-blind, controlled clinical trial study was conducted on the case and control groups of patients with COPD in Vali-e-asr hospital in Birjand in 2015. In the laboratory, 15 cc of venous blood was taken from each subject. Initial tests included white blood count (WBCs), hemoglobin(Hb), PH, and Pco . O2 saturation was observed at rest by means of Pulse Oximeter for the duration of one minute and the highest value was recorded. Out of the 34 patients, 18 cases (52.9%) were treated by atorvastatin and 16(47.1%). . received conventional treatment Mean age of the atorvastatin and control group was 65.8 ± 11.5 and 63.7 ± 7/6 years, respectivly. The case group showed a significant decrease in mean count of WBC and hemoglobin, but increase in O2 saturation after intervention. In conclusion, it can be concluded that taking atorvastatin has a significant impact on the reduction of hemoglobin and increase of oxygen saturation in COPD patients, which requires further studies.


With the advent of high strength geogrids, the interest of civil engineers in using geosynthetics as reinforcement material in pavement construction has increased. An experimental study is carried out at IIT Delhi to understand the effect of geogrid in unpaved roads. Behavior of composite material, which comprises of Yamuna sand as subgrade and Water Bound Macadam (WBM) as base course is studied with and without geogrid reinforcement under drained conditions. A geogrid is used as reinforcing material. Drained triaxial tests were performed at three different confining pressures of 50, 100 and 200 kPa on both unreinforced composite and reinforced composite materials of specimen size 100mm diameter and 200mm height. Hierarchical single surface (HISS) model developed by Desai and co-workers is used to model the unreinforced and reinforced composite material. A computer program PARA6 is used to calculate the various parameters and to back predict the stress-strain-volume change behavior of unreinforced and reinforced composite materials. The predicted results match closely with the observed results.


Objectives Adolescents with heart disease have complex health needs and require lifelong cardiology follow-up. Interventions to facilitate paediatric to adult healthcare transition are recommended, although outcomes are unknown. We sought to determine the impact of a transition intervention on improving knowledge and self-management skills among this population. Methods We conducted a clinical trial of 15–17 year olds with moderate or complex congenital heart disease (CHD) or cardiomyopathy. Participants were systematically allocated to either usual care (controls) or a 1 h nurse-led one-on-one teaching session about their heart. Allocation was determined by week of attendance in the cardiology clinic. The primary outcome was change in Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire (TRAQ) score at 6 months, possible scores ranging from 1 (low) to 5 (optimal). Cardiac knowledge (MyHeart score, range 0–100) was a secondary outcome. Analysis was intention to treat. Results Of 58 participants (48% female), 52 had CHD and 6 had cardiomyopathy. 27 were allocated to the intervention group; 3 declined the intervention and received usual care. When comparing the intervention group with the usual care group at 6 months postintervention, the mean self-management TRAQ score was 3.59 (±0.83) vs 3.16 (±1.05), respectively (p=0.048, adjusted for baseline score); the mean self-advocacy TRAQ score was 4.38 (±0.56) vs 4.01 (±0.95) (p=0.18) and the mean MyHeart score was 75% (±15) vs 61% (±25) (p=0.019). Conclusions A 1 h nurse-led transition intervention resulted in a significant improvement in self-management and cardiac knowledge scores. An educational intervention should be routine for youth with congenital or acquired heart disease. Trial registration number NCT01286480