Background: Positive neuroplastic changes involving cortical reorganization after stroke are experience dependent and are facilitated more effectively when rehabilitation occurs with high volume. Structured experiences to promote adaptive changes can be implemented during scheduled therapies in any rehabilitation setting. However, time spent in supervised restorative therapy is limited regardless of setting. Time spent in therapeutic activity can be extended by a variety of options that patients can engage in independently, that are low-cost, and that have evidence to support their use as a supplement to physical and occupational therapy. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present four such options for supplemental therapeutic activities to support restorative rehabilitation, including mental practice, mirror therapy, low cost virtual reality, and community group exercise classes. A sample of the evidence supporting their feasibility and effectiveness is presented. Practical guidelines for implementation are provided based on the evidence. Recommendations: Evidence based interventions can be used to extend total restorative rehabilitation time as an extension of therapy activities performed in the clinic. They are feasible and effective and can support positive neuroplastic changes in individuals with hemiplegia. These strategies can and should be implemented across practice settings by physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech language pathologists.


Mandatory Access Control is really poorly supported by Cloud environments. Our paper proposes extensions of the OpenNebula Cloud software in order to provide an advanced MAC protection of the virtual machines hosted by the different nodes of the Cloud. Thus, unique SELinx security labels are associated with the virtual machines and their resources. The instantiations and migrations of the virtual machines maintain those unique security labels. Moreover, PIGA-Virt provides an unified way to control the information flows within a virtual machine but also between multiple virtual machines. SELinux controls the direct flows. PIGA-Virt adds advanced controls. Thus, a PIGA protection rule can control several direct and indirect flows and allows the administrator to express high level security properties. The benchmarks of PIGA-Virt show that our Trusted OpenNebula Cloud is efficient regarding the quality of the protection.


—Perhaps the most important application of accurate personal identification is securing limited access systems from malicious attacks. Among all the presently employed biometric techniques, fingerprint identification systems have received the most attention due to the long history of fingerprints and their extensive use in forensics. This paper deals with the issue of selection of an optimal algorithm for fingerprint matching in order to design a system that matches required specifications in performance and accuracy. Two competing algorithms were compared against a common database using MATLAB simulations.


Objective: To describe a successful, resident-led quality improvement (QI) project that improved the efficiency of the Department of Transportation (DOT) medical examination process. Methods: After learning QI principles through didactics, workshops, and online modules, residents led a QI project to streamline the process of the DOT examination. An interdisciplinary group of key stakeholders collaborated to analyze the process and to design and implement interventions. Results: Following the Model for Improvement and Lean concepts, residents ran seven Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles over a 4-month period with multiple iteration and testing changes. Compared with the baseline, the team successfully reduced the total visit time (from check-in to check-out) by 28 minutes (102 minutes vs. 130 minutes; P < 0.001). The accuracy of certificate issuance, as proxy for quality of the examinations, improved after the interventions. Conclusions: Residents successfully improved the efficiency of the DOT examination process.


Background: The clinical role of blood cultures (BC) in the management of hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is controversial. Aim: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of blood cultures in CAP. Material and methods: We prospectively studied 244 immunocompetent adults with two or more BC obtained at admission. The diagnostic yield of BC and its impact on antibiotic therapy were assessed. Results: Mean age (x±sd) of patients was 67±20 years, 80% had underlying diseases and 29% received antibiotics prior to admission. Hospital length of stay was 10.4±10 days and global mortality was 7%. The diagnostic yield of BC was only 8.2% (20 patients). Mortality was significantly higher in patients with positive BC (20%) than in those with negative BC (5.8%). In only one of the 20 patients with positive BC (0.4% of total study population), attending physicians changed empiric antimicrobial therapy based on these results. Conclusions: This study confirms that the diagnostic yield of BC in CAP hospitalized patients is low, that mortality in bacteremic patients is high and suggests that clinical usefulness of BC to guide changes on empiric antimicrobial therapy is limited, in part because attending physicians seldom use such information (Rev Med Chile 2002; 130: 993-1000).


Dyspnea is a leading symptom in COPD. Bronchodilators (long acting anticholinergics and long acting beta agonists) are the mainstay of medical treatment. Non pharmacological therapies like pulmonary rehabilitation, long-term oxygen therapy or lung volume reduction can help to further improve dyspnea. Nevertheless, patients with advanced disease may develop refractory dyspnea. Randomized controlled trials demonstrated that the palliative treatment with low-dose systemic opioids is an effective treatment option in these patients. A low starting dose (e. g. 1.0 mg morphine, immediate release) is recommended. Subsequent doses are titrated to achieve the lowest effective dose based on whether dyspnea relief has been achieved and whether any side effects have developed. This low-dose opioid treatment has been demonstrated to be safe for symptom reduction in severe COPD and is not associated with increased hospital admissions or deaths. Physicians should offer a trial of low-dose oral opioids to patients with refractory dyspnea that affects their daily activities and quality of life.


Objectives Endothelin-1 is a strong constrictor of blood vessels that is secreted by endothelial cells and identified as the strongest vascular constrictor. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of eight week aerobic exercise on the endothelin-1 concentration of plasma and its relationship with blood pressure in elderly postmenopausal women. Methods & Materials A total of 20 menopausal women (with the average age of 67.85±5.67 years , height 153.50±7.7 cm, weight 66.16±11.96 kg, BMI of 28.15±4.98, fat percentage of 18.41±3.65, and WHR of 0.92±0.04) were selected and randomly assigned into two groups of ten each. The experimental group underwent eight weeks of aerobic training spanning across three sessions in a week with the intensity of 60 to 70% of maximum heart rate. The resting level of endothelin-1 concentration along with the systolic and diastolic blood pressure for each participant were measured and recorded before and after eight weeks of exercise .Paired t-test was used for investigating the changes within the group while the independent t-test was used for investigating the differences between the groups. Pearson correlation coefficient was used for investigating the relationship between endothelin-1 and blood pressure. A significance level less than 0.05 were considered to be significant. Results The result of this study showed that one duration of aerobic exercise had a significant effect on endothelin-1 plasma density (P<0.01) and decreasing systolic (P<0.01) as well as diastolic(P=0.002) blood pressure in older women. A direct correlation was established between endothelin-1 and systolic blood pressure (P=0.59). Nevertheless, no correlation was noted between endothelin-1 and diastolic blood pressure (r=0.39). Conclusion It was concluded that single duration of aerobic exercise with the agreed intensity and volume could decrease the systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the endothelin-1 concentration of plasma. A B S T R A C T


In this study, we investigated the life history of Ephemera orientalis, a common lowland burrowing mayfly which resides in temperate East Asia and often causes a serious nuisance to people due to mass emergence from the Han River in Seoul, Korea. Larvae were sampled monthly (every two weeks during the emergence period) from April 2006 to June 2007 using a Surber sampler (50 × 50 cm, mesh 0.25 mm, two replicates). The mean density of E. orientalis was found to be 105.88±42.14 indiv/m2 during the study period. On the basis of the larval body size distribution and emergence time, we concluded that E. orientalis has a univoltine life cycle with two distinct cohort groups, S1-group emerging in May–June and S2-group in August–September. The estimated annual production of the larvae was 1350.84 mg DW/m2; the mean biomass was 325.17 mg DW/m2; the annual production to mean biomass ratio (P/B) was 4.15. Mean water temperature during the study period was 15.02±6.84°C. The accumulated degree days for the S1- and S2-groups were 2565.07 and 2,621.69 degree days, respectively. This study shows that the Han River population of E. orientalis lacks the fast growing cohort (F-group) in May–August, and demonstrates a relatively higher secondary production than that of other stream mayflies (e.g. Gapyeong stream population of E. orientalis).


Background and Objectives
Falls are a major source of morbidity and mortality among older adults; however, little is known regarding fall occurrence during a nursing home (NH) to community transition. This study sought to examine whether the presence of supports and services impacts the relationship between fall-related risk factors and fall occurrence post NH discharge.

Research Design and Methods
Participants in the Minnesota Return to Community Initiative who were assisted in achieving a community discharge (N = 1459) comprised the study sample. The main outcome was fall occurrence within 30 days of discharge. Factor analyses were used to estimate latent models from variables of interest. A structural equation model (SEM) was estimated to determine the relationship between the emerging latent variables and falls.

Results
Fifteen percent of participants fell within 30 days of NH discharge. Factor analysis of fall-related risk factors produced three latent variables: fall concerns/history; activities of daily living impairments; and use of high-risk medications. A supports/services latent variable also emerged that included caregiver support frequency, medication management assistance, durable medical equipment use, discharge location, and receipt of home health or skilled nursing services. In the SEM model, high-risk medications use and fall concerns/history had direct positive effects on falling. Receiving supports/services did not affect falling directly; however, it reduced the effect of high-risk medication use on falling (p < .05).

Discussion and Implications
Within the context of a state-implemented transition program, findings highlight the importance of supports/services in mitigating against medication-related risk of falling post NH discharge.


Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to probe the site-specific information of a K0.84Fe1.99Se2 superconductor. A spin excitation gap, ΔE ≈ 5.5 meV, is observed by analyzing the temperature dependence of the hyperfine magnetic field (HMF) at the iron site within the spin wave theory. Using the simple model suggested in the literature, the temperature dependence of the HMF is well reproduced, suggesting that, below room temperature, the alkali metal intercalated iron—selenide superconductors can be regarded as ferromagnetically coupled spin blocks that interact with each other antiferromagnetically to form the observed checkerboard-like magnetic structure.


Plant pathogens, such as bacteria, fungi, oomycetes and nematodes, rely on wide range of virulent effectors delivered into host cells to suppress plant immunity. Although phytobacterial effectors have been intensively investigated, little is known about the function of effectors of plant-parasitic nematodes, such as Globodera pallida, a cyst nematode responsible for vast losses in the potato and tomato industries. Here, we demonstrate using in vivo and in vitro ubiquitination assays the potato cyst nematode (Globodera pallida) effector RHA1B is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that employs multiple host plant E2 ubiquitin conjugation enzymes to catalyze ubiquitination. RHA1B was able to suppress effector-triggered immunity (ETI), as manifested by suppression of hypersensitive response (HR) mediated by a broad range of nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) immune receptors, presumably via E3-dependent degradation of the NB-LRR receptors. RHA1B also blocked the flg22-triggered expression of Acre31 and WRKY22, marker genes of pathogen‐associated molecular pattern (PAMP)‐triggered immunity (PTI), but this did not require the E3 activity of RHA1B. Moreover, transgenic potato overexpressing the RHA1B transgene exhibited enhanced susceptibility to G. pallida. Thus, our data suggest RHA1B facilitates nematode parasitism not only by triggering degradation of NB-LRR immune receptors to block ETI signaling but also by suppressing PTI signaling via an as yet unknown E3-independent mechanism.


Background: The COVID 19 pandemic has disrupted all aspects of healthcare, including the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer In March 2020, the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American College of Surgeons, and the American Society of Breast Surgeons issued guidelines regarding the timing of surgery for cancer patients to preserve hospital resources and minimize exposure of patients and staff to COVID 19 Recommendations included delaying breast cancer surgery if possible, and using neoadjuvant chemotherapy or neoadjuvant endocrine therapy to treat selected patients while waiting for definitive surgery In California, the ?shelter in place? (SiP) order began March 17, 2020, and both screening mammography and elective surgeries were stopped in a large, integrated health care system We evaluated the impact of these operational changes on the presentation and treatment of breast cancer patients in our system Methods:We performed a retrospective review of patients newly diagnosed between 3/17/20, the starting date of SiP, and 5/18/20, when elective operations resumed in our system We compared this cohort to patients who were diagnosed between 3/17/19 and 5/18/19 Age, histology, anatomic staging features, grade, receptor status, and initial treatment were compared between the cohorts For the patients who underwent surgery, we compared the time from biopsy to time to surgery (TTS) and the type of operation Comparisons involving categorical variables were performed using the chi-square test Normally-distributed continuous variables were compared using two sample-t-tests P-values of <0 05 were considered statistically significant Results:There were 790 patients in the 2019 cohort and 279 in the 2020 cohort There were no significant differences in age at presentation, histologic subtypes, nodal status, or operation type between the two groups The T-stages at presentation of the 2020 group were higher than those of the 2019 group;29% presented with T1c tumors in 2020 vs 26% in 2019, and 37% with T2 tumors in 2020 vs 30% in 2019 (p=0 03) A higher percentage of patients presented with distant metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis in 2020 (7% in 2020 vs 2% in 2019, p<0 001), although the absolute numbers of patients were similar (19 patients in 2020 vs 17 patients in 2019) Of patients with invasive breast cancer, a higher percentage of patients presented with grade 3 tumors in 2020 (35% in 2020 vs 24% in 2019, p=0 002), and triple negative tumors (15% vs 10%, p=0 02) Fewer patients underwent surgery first in 2020 (73% in 2020 vs 85% in 2019, p<0 001) and more underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (13% in 2020 vs 9% in 2019, p=0 03) Only 4% of the 2020 surgery group had been placed on neoadjuvant endocrine therapy while awaiting definitive surgery The TTS for patients with surgery as the initial treatment was significantly shorter for the 2020 group (mean 22 days in 2020 vs 31 days in 2019, p<0 001) Conclusions: Without screening mammography, newly-diagnosed patients in a large, integrated health care system during the COVID 19 pandemic presented with more advanced and aggressive breast cancers as compared to the equivalent time period in 2019 Fewer patients underwent surgery first, and more underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy The TTS for breast cancer patients in 2020 was significantly shorter than in 2019, which we hypothesize was due to the availability of operating rooms since elective operations had been stopped This study demonstrates the ability of a large, integrated health care system to deliver timely breast cancer care to patients presenting with symptomatic disease during the constraints of the COVID 19 pandemic, and highlights the importance of screening in the early detection of breast cancer


In the vehicle industry it is of great interest to reduce the emissions and lower the fuel consumption.Up to now a lot of effort has been put into increasing the efficiency of the engine,but it starts to get expensive to keep improving the engine. In this master thesis the transmissionand especially the oil supply to the transmission is investigated.An example of how the requirements of an oil pump can be decided is described. Knowingthe requirements different pumps may be adapted to meet the demands. The gear pumpused today is compared with a variable displacement pump and an electric pump. The gearpump is not possible to control, but the other two are. A few simple control strategies areintroduced. The strategies are implemented and the three pumps are used in the same drivecycle. It is shown that it is possible to reduce the energy that the pump requires if it isreplaced by a variable vane pump or an electric pump.


This commentary reviews the theory and practice of international environmental negotiations among states for management of shared environmental resources to overcome the free-riding problem. Despite a lack of formal enforcement mechanisms, states generally comply with their environmental obligations once established. The negotiation process is thus seen as the most significant factor in enacting environmental policies. To work towards the success of multilateral environmental policies, the paper recommends states to make use of a combination of approaches (structural, behavioural, strategic, integrative) and strategies (driving, braking, trade-offs) to frame negotiations that would 'fall forward' to its own improvement in their later stages. At the same time, it is important to create positive-sum outcomes for parties involved to increase the likelihood of states fulfilling their o ligations in the long run Trade enefits and restrictions may be used as a tool in negotiations but their impacts remain largely controversial and debatable among many scholars.


Abstract Natural and synthetic scheelite are investigated by time-resolved laser-induced luminescence to detect and ascribe various luminescence lines to a variety of REE. The selectivity of detection is possible by using different time delays after excitation, different gate widths and different excitation wavenumbers and allowed to detect REE in samples where they are hidden by intrinsic luminescence and not visible in the steady-state spectra as well as by cathodoluminescence. Luminescence of Pr3+, Er3+ and Tm3+ are detected even with low concentrations and in the presence of Tb3+, Dy3+ and Sm3+. Luminescence of Ho3+ and Yb3+ is firstly detected in natural scheelites and luminescence of Eu2+ and Ce3+ is preliminary suggested.


This study done in rural and semi-urban clinics examined the ability of primary health care nurses in providing rehabilitation of psychiatric patients in the Primary Health Care service. The objectives of the study were to train and evaluate registered nurses' ability to implement rehabilitation to psychiatric patients in the community. Registered nurses were trained over a period of 10 days. Each client who visited the clinic had a rehabilitation plan drawn with the client and family. Families participated in the training of clients while nurses were trained to identify target symptoms, draw a plan to be followed by the client and his family, set rehabilitation goals and the steps to achieve the goals. The project was implemented over a period of 12 months. Records were then reviewed 1 year after implementation and at 18 months to determine the performance of nurses. Evaluation was done per clinic. Each clinic was evaluated and differences were found and where performance was poor, re-education was done. Each clinic was seen as a case. A record review was done to determine the level of rehabilitation based on the following: identification of target symptoms plan for the patient plan for the family setting of rehabilitation goals steps to achieve goals level of vocational rehabilitation.


In the first part of this thesis we developed a novel prediction score for predicting upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding in both NSAID and low-dose aspirin users. Both for NSAIDs and low-dose aspirin use risk scores were developed by identifying the five most dominant predictors. The risk of upper GI bleeding increased with a higher risk score in both groups. The predictive power of the scores was only moderate, but sensitivity and specificity were higher compared to scores recommended by international guidelines. It is now recommended to add gastroprotection to NSAID/ low-dose aspirin users at increased risk. To assess the cost-effectiveness of this recommendation we performed two cost-utility analyses. NSAID+PPI co-therapy was found to be the most cost-effective strategy in all chronic arthritis patients irrespective of their risk for GI complications. For patients with increased GI risk, the NSAID/PPI single tablet formulation was also a cost-effective option. In the low-dose aspirin model we found that PPI co-therapy was cost-effective in all patients taking low dose aspirin for primary and secondary prevention of acute coronary syndrome. In secondary prevention, a single tablet formulation of low-dose aspirin and PPI was another cost-effective option in patients with increased risk for upper GI bleeding or in those with moderate PPI compliance. In the second part of this thesis we identified all published prediction scores for the outcome of upper GI bleeding. Substantial heterogeneity in endpoints and results was seen in the 16 identified scores. Moreover, the methodological quality was suboptimal in most studies. We suggested that clinicians should use the "best available" scores identified. The recommendation to use these scores was further underlined in the study in which we assessed how the clinical intuition (or gut feeling) of experienced gastroenterologists performs in predicting the prognosis of patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. We found that the recommended prediction scores had a higher predictive power than the gut feeling. As the various prediction scores were mostly limited to inclusion of clinical or patient-related factors to predict the outcome of upper GI bleeding, we hypothesized that hospital- or procedure-related factors may also play an important role in the outcomes after a bleeding. In a large multicenter cohort study we found that patients admitted to the Emergency Unit during the weekend were at increased risk of mortality compared to those admitted during the week. Time of admission was not associated with an adverse outcome. An often used predictor for the outcome after upper GI bleeding due to peptic ulcers is the Forrest classification, in which ulcers are categorized based on the presence of endoscopically visible bleeding stigmata. However, this classification was only designed to classify ulcers. We found that the Forrest classification was still a good univariate predictor for rebleeding. Additionally, we concluded that the Forrest classification could be simplified. In the last chapter we combined all knowledge that is currently available so far and developed a novel prediction score, the RASTA score, to predict the need for a clinical intervention. We also included the gut feeling of experienced gastroenterologists.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To identify the experiences and needs of lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) survivors of colorectal cancer (CRC) and to expand the current understanding of LGB survivorship by obtaining in-depth knowledge of survivorship among individuals with a cancer other than breast or prostate.
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RESEARCH APPROACH
Qualitative, semistructured individual interviews via telephone.
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SETTING
Participants were recruited using social media, flyers, word of mouth, and contact with LGB and cancer organizations during a four-month period.
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PARTICIPANTS
Eight LGB individuals with a diagnosis of stage III CRC from 2009-2014.
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METHODOLOGIC APPROACH
All interviews were audio recorded and then transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis performed by more than one analyst was used for the interview transcripts.
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FINDINGS
Participants described experiences with social support and isolation, cancer care from an LGB perspective, and substantial economic impacts of their cancer diagnosis. In addition, they reported struggles with health insurance coverage, employment, and housing during and after their treatment for CRC.
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CONCLUSIONS
In addition to issues regarding sexual identity disclosure and social support, economic impacts of CRC exist; these are likely critical to healthy survivorship in LGB men and women.
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INTERPRETATION
Attention should be paid to the economic impact of CRC on LGB individuals, along with issues of social support and sexual identity disclosure. Oncology nurses could play an important role in determining the economic and social needs of patients with CRC, accepting the often nontraditional support networks of LGB individuals, and facilitating disclosure of an LGB identity.


In this paper we report on the possibility of Li substitution by M2+ to various high degrees in LiMPO4 olivine-type compounds (M = Ni, Co, Fe, Mn), depending on the kind of transition metal M. The experimental studies were carried through by reacting stoichiometric amounts of LiMIIPO4 and MII1.5PO4 (= MII3(PO4)2) to form compounds of composition LixMII1.5–x/2PO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1). A complete solid solution over the whole range of x was found for M = Ni (together with a second order structural transition from orthorhombic to monoclinic for decreasing x), whereas far smaller degrees of dopability of the Li site were found for LiCoPO4 and LiFePO4 (up to compositions of approx. (Li0.8Co0.1)CoPO4 and approx. (Li0.9Fe0.05)FeO4. In addition, the nearly stoichiometric monoclinically distorted olivine-type compounds with compositions (Li0.42–0.47Co0.29–0.265)CoPO4 and (Li0.14–0.16Fe0.43–0.42)FePO4 could be identified and are described in this article.


This concluding chapter draws upon the discussions presented in the preceding chapters on different aspects of nanotechnology applications for food. It looks at the various issues emanating from technology derived materials, products, and applications and analyses objectively the current knowledge gaps and potential benefits, risks, and regulation. It concludes that the application of nanotechnologies could bring a number of subtle, but far-reaching, new developments to the whole food sector and benefits to the consumer in the form of innovative, healthy, and tasteful food products. It also stresses that a distinction needs to be made between 'soft' (soluble, degradable) and 'hard' (insoluble, persistent) nanomaterials. It argues that although applications using hard nanomaterials need detailed case by case safety evaluations, the use of soft food nanostructures does not require extensive safety testing. The chapter also wraps up the discussion on consumer attitudes towards new technologies in food and discusses how some of the nanotechnology applications are likely to be viewed by consumers. Drawing on the assessment of regulatory frameworks, the chapter presents suggestions for a way forward. It emphasizes that many of the new developments may be regulated through the food industry's own best practices and self-regulation and that there is a need for public engagement to build confidence, trust, and acceptance of the new technological developments.


Transmitted drug resistance (TDR) is an ongoing public health problem in HIV disease treatment and increases the risk of virologic failure following combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART) initiation. Current HIV treatment guidelines recommend resistance testing at entry into HIV care and at cART initiation. In this study, we longitudinally observed 10 acute/recently infected patients for 24-51 months. In addition to calculating the replacement rate of TDR measured by bulk population sequencing, High-throughput sequencing (HTS) was used to detect the minority mutations and quantify the variation of each TDR mutations during the follow-up. We compared the predictions of virus sensitivity to each drug by bulk population sequencing alone or by the combined sequencing with bulk population sequencing and HTS, which was analyzed with their virologic response after 6 months antiretroviral therapy. Our observations provided insights into the significance of low-frequency HIV-1 drug resistance mutations in acute/recently infected patients, and whether or not TDR are likely to revert, or persist as minority species or be stable. This study not only provides valuable data on TDR prevalence but also has important implications for the clinical management of these patients.


: A timely and adequate application of complex of conservative and surgical measures determines at large the result of treatment of a newbor babies, suffering perinatal intracranial hematoma. The treatment includes, besides neurosurgical manipulations and operations, providing of evacuation of the blood extrused, the intracranial pressure normalization, liquorocirculation restoration, correction of hemodynamical and metabolic disorders, antiedematous, membrane-stabilizing and anticonvulsant therapy. A control of metabolic disorders, as well as especially hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, hypomagnesemia, hypopyridoxinemia constitutes a leading moment of the treatment


BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic raises greater knowledge about the disease.  OBJECTIVE:  to elucidate this new disease that affects all continents of the planet. DESIGN AND SETTING: A narrative review of clinical aspects of COVID-19. METHODS: A review was carried out with the studies with the greatest clinical evidence from the Pubmed database by researching the descriptors "COVID-19", "coronavirus" OR "SARS-CoV-2" AND "[topic]". RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Epidemiology: The infection reached the mark of 11,000,000 patients, 530,000 deaths and raised the presence of comorbidities and advanced age as risk factors.  Transmissibility: The calculated transmissibility is similar to the H1N1 epidemic, however with a lower mortality rate. Physiopathology: The SARS-CoV-2 virus, a beta-coronavirus, is capable of cell invasion through the fusion of glycoprotein S with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 present in the lower respiratory epithelium and cells of the lower respiratory epithelium mucosa of the digestive tract. Clinical Manifestations: the presentation can be divided into mild (fever, fatigue, cough, myalgia and sputum) and severe (cyanosis, dyspnoea, tachypnea, chest pain, hypoxemia, respiratory failure) and has an estimated mortality of just over 4%. It can generate thrombotic events and neurological and autoimmune syndromes.  Diagnosis: It occurs through the detection of viral load in th e r everse transcription polymerase chain reaction (CRP-TR). Treatment: Based on supportive and infection control measures. In severe cases, the use of medications such as remdesevir 200 mg intravenously in a single dose on day 1, followed by 100 mg in single daily doses from D2 to D5 and dexamethasone 6 mg orally in every 24 hours can be promising. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic is a potentially serious disease and still has no specific treatment.


IMPORTANCE
Spasmodic dysphonia (SD) can be difficult to diagnose, and patients often see multiple physicians for many years before diagnosis. Improving the speed of diagnosis for individuals with SD may decrease the time to treatment and improve patient quality of life more quickly.

OBJECTIVE
To assess whether the diagnosis of SD can be accurately predicted through auditory cues alone without the assistance of visual cues offered by laryngoscopic examination.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Single-masked, case-control study at a specialized referral center that included patients who underwent laryngoscopic examination as part of a multidisciplinary workup for dysphonia. Twenty-two patients were selected in total: 10 with SD, 5 with vocal tremor, and 7 controls without SD or vocal tremor.

INTERVENTIONS
The laryngoscopic examination was recorded, deidentified, and edited to make 3 media clips for each patient: video alone, audio alone, and combined video and audio. These clips were randomized and presented to 3 fellowship-trained laryngologist raters (A.D.R., A.T.H., and A.M.K.), who established the most probable diagnosis for each clip. Intrarater and interrater reliability were evaluated using repeat clips incorporated in the presentations.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
We measured diagnostic accuracy for video-only, audio-only, and combined multimedia clips. These measures were established before data collection. Data analysis was accomplished with analysis of variance and Tukey honestly significant differences.

RESULTS
Of patients with SD, diagnostic accuracy was 10%, 73%, and 73% for video-only, audio-only, and combined, respectively (P < .001, df = 2). Of patients with vocal tremor, diagnostic accuracy was 93%, 73%, and 100% for video-only, audio-only, and combined, respectively (P = .05, df = 2). Of the controls, diagnostic accuracy was 81%, 19%, and 62% for video-only, audio-only, and combined, respectively (P < .001, df = 2).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
The diagnosis of SD during examination is based primarily on auditory cues. Viewing combined audio and video clips afforded no change in diagnostic accuracy compared with audio alone. Laryngoscopy serves an important role in the diagnosis of SD by excluding other pathologic causes and identifying vocal tremor.


Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder in which the substantia nigra has suffered a severe amount of cell loss, resulting in basal ganglia dysfunction. The defining motor symptoms of PD are tremor, rigidity (stiffness of the limbs and trunk), bradykinesia (slow movements), and postural instability (impaired balance). Persons with PD also have a number of non-motor symptoms such as anxiety, depression, autonomic dysfunction, cognitive impairment, and deficits in sensory processing. Currently, there is a gap in our knowledge about how stress affects persons with PD. Anecdotally, many people with PD report that their symptoms get worse when they are stressed. However, there is only indirect and anecdotal evidence for persons with PD. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine how stress affects motor and non-motor symptoms in persons with PD. Fifteen persons with PD and fifteen healthy older adults were recruited for the study. We measured how an acute stressor (socially evaluated cold pressor) affected working memory (digit span tasks), sensory processing (inhibitory gating), and PD motor symptoms (UPDRS motor tests). Results showed that stress appears to have differential effects in persons with PD. In persons with PD, stress negatively impacted inhibitory gating and PD motor symptoms. However, stress had positive effects on working memory. The results also suggest that inhibitory gating is associated with PD motor symptom severity, and, thus, inhibitory gating may be a potential therapeutic target. This research provides a first step in understanding how stress impacts persons with PD. Overall, the work of this dissertation suggests that acute stress is a useful tool in understanding PD, and that stress management may be an effective therapy for managing PD motor symptoms.


Because multiple risk factors can influence child development, methods designed to screen young children for developmental problems should incorporate information from various sources in order to cover all potential areas of delay effectively. In this study we combined results from a standardized parent questionnaire with those of an individually administered developmental screening instrument (the Early Screening Inventory) in order to predict more accurately which children will be at risk for school failure. Our results show a decrease in misclassifications after combining the parent measure with the screening instrument, thus increasing the predictive accuracy of the developmental screening process. Implications of our findings are discussed within the context of screening from a perspective of multiple risks and multiple sources of input.


One odd feature of Beowulf, which has attracted some notice but as yet no detailed explanation, is the poet's delay in naming his main character. (1) He identifies him first, at home among the Geats hearing of Grendel's ravages, only as Hygelac's thane (194), and then waits nearly one hundred and fifty lines before Beowulf names himself in response to the challenge by Wulfgar, Hrothgar's officer, outside of Heorot (343). Having delayed so long, he may even seem to overlook a better possibility since it might be more dramatic to have Beowulf reveal his name directly to the Danish king he has come to help. (2) Yet the poet, I will argue, has constructed these events to place greater weight on Hrothgar's, rather than Beowulf's, explanation of his journey, which depends on an account of a feud involving Beowulf's father, Ecgtheow. In doing so, he provides an opportunity for the audience to reassess its perception of the relative strengths of the two groups and to consider the possibility that, behind the fights with monsters, the Danes and Geats confront similar problems, related, I will propose, to succession. If so, his use of Ecgtheow's feud reveals a sophisticated understanding of narrative in which the past and its disclosure can affect a contemporary world. Even before the exchange with Hrothgar, stories play a role in establishing the contrast between the Danes, who have been made powerless through Grendel's attacks, and the Geats, who under Beowulf can and do act. The triumphal rush of Danish history, begun by Scyld Scefing's arrival and continued through the building of Heorot, comes to a halt once it becomes clear that Grendel's first assault, itself introduced around the scop's story of creation (86-110), (3) is not an isolated event, but the beginning of a prolonged campaign. Their empty hall (138-47a) and futile heathen sacrifices (175-88) show that the Danes cannot respond. More significant, however, for the present argument are the songs or tales through which news of the disaster then spreads: Waes seo hwil micel; twelf wintra tid torn gepolode wine Scyldinga, weana gehwelcne, sidra sorga; fordam [secgum] weard ylda bearnum undyrne cud gyddum geomore, paette Grendel wan hwile wid Hropgar ... (146b-52a) (The time was long; for twelve years the lord of the Scyldings suffered trouble, each of miseries, of great sorrows; therefore, it became openly known to people, to the sons of men, sadly through songs that Grendel fought for a time against Hrothgar ... (4)) The reference to these songs ("gyddum") conveys how information travelled in the early Germanic world and shows that Hrothgar has even lost control of the poems that are being recited about him. (5) The third fitt, (6) in which Beowulf appears, begins with a brief description of the Danish king without hope of improvement confronting, as he does, a "nydwracu nipgrim / nihtbealwa maest" (193; "a cruel violent persecution, the greatest of night-evils"). Beowulf, although not named, enters the poem at the opposite end of the Danish problem, learning of Hrothgar's trouble, one may assume, (7) through the same songs: paet fram ham gefraegn Higelaces pegn god mid Geatum, Grendles daeda, se waes moncynnes maegnes strengest on paem daege pysses lifes aepele ond eacen. (194-98a) (Hygelac's brave thane at home among the Geats learned of that, of Grendel's actions; he was the strongest of men in those days, noble and mighty.) He, like the problem Grendel presents Hrothgar, is a superlative, and the poet calls attention to his ability to act by describing him ordering a ship even before having him explain why he does so: Het him ydlidan godne gegyrwan; cwaed, he gudcyning ofer swanrade secean wolde, maerne peoden, pa him waes manna pearf. (198b-201) (He commanded a good ship prepared for him; he said that he wished to seek the war-king, the famous leader over the sea since he was in need of men. …


Twenty-four ewes were divided into two age groups (one-year-old and nine-year-old) and used to determine the influence of cholecalciferol (CC) and 25-OH-CC on serum concentrations of Ca, P, and Mg with time post-injection. The ewes were maintained in slatted-floor pens and fed 800 g per head daily of a diet which analyzed 0.38% calcium, 0.31% phosphorus, and 0.14% magnesium. This diet was fed throughout the 21-day trial. The ewes were injected on days 0 and 7 as follows: (control) 5 ml ethanol; (CC) 50 mg CC in 5 ml ethanol; and (25-OH-CC) 25 mg 25-OH-CC in ethanol. Blood samples were pre-injection (day 0) and on days 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 17 and 21 of the trial. Serum Ca averaged 10.81, 11.06 and 11.25 mg/100 ml for the one-year-old ewes and 10.51, 11.06 and 11.54 mg/100 ml for the nine-year-olds across sampling times in groups A to C, respectively. Serum P across sampling times averaged 6.58, 7.80 and 9.51 mg/100 ml in one-year-old ewes and were different (P less than .05) from each other. Serum P averaged 7.06, 8.56 and 8.59 mg/100 ml for the nine-year-old ewes. Serum Mg values were 2.51, 2.32 and 2.19 mg/100 ml for the one-year-old and 2.38, 2.14 and 2.00 mg/100 ml for the nine-year-old ewes across all sampling times for control, CC and 25-OH-CC groups, respectively. Serum Mg in one-year-old ewes was lower (P less than .05) in both CC and 25-OH-CC injected ewes than controls, and was lowest (P less than .05) for 25-OH-CC when compared with the control in nine-year-old ewes. External symptoms of hypervitaminosis (reduced feed intake and leg abnormalities) were apparent after the second injection with 25-OH-CC, and were most pronounced in the aged ewes.


This paper is one of the first to examine how the use of fixed-term employment contracts (FTCs) affects firm competitiveness (i.e. productivity, wages and profits) while controlling for key econometric issues such as time-invariant unobserved workplace characteristics, endogeneity and state dependence. We apply dynamic panel data estimation techniques to detailed Belgian linked employer-employee data covering all years from 1999 to 2010. Results show that the effects of FTCs on firm competitiveness vary across sectors: while temporary employment is found to enhance productivity and profits in (labour-intensive) services, this is not the case in manufacturing and construction.


Abstract:According to our team experimental study on the joints for the Multibarrel tube-confined concrete column and the reinforced concrete ring beam, The software ANSYS of finite element is used to simulate the behavior of connections in this paper. The simulated hysteretic curves and skeleton curves are compared with the experimental data and good agreement can be observed. Moreover, parametric studied have been carried out to investigate the influences of anchorage length of vertical steel bars for the nodes area, the strength of the concrete for the nodes area, the concrete strength of the frame beam, and the longitudinal reinforcement ratio of the frame beam on the skeleton curves.


The use of autograft for posterolateral spinal fusion, continue being considered the gold standard for the treatment of spine pathologies. However, due to complications such as donor site morbidity, increased operating time, and limited supply, the use of allograft has become an acceptable practice especially in multisegment arthrodesis or in patients with previous graft harvests. Since their use involves the risk of immune response or disease transmission and fusion rates are not as good as with autogenous bone, a variety of bone graft substitutes are being studied to obtain a better alternative. Osteoinductive growth factors, which initiate the molecular cascade of bone formation and play a key role in the development and regeneration of the skeletal system, have been shown to be effective in numerous animal studies. These molecules must be used in combination with a biomaterial to avoid their dispersion from the application site. On the other hand, it is well known that cultured bone marrow cells, harvested from adult bone marrow, may contribute to the regeneration of bone. Thus, hybrid constructs can be used as alternatives to autologous and allogenic grafts. In this study, we have evaluated different combination of cultured bone marrow cells with recombinant human osteoinductive growth factors, all of them in combination with a natural polimeric carrier, for the promotion of posterolateral spinal fusion in rats.


Article history: Received October 25, 2015 Received in revised format: December 12, 2015 Accepted January 2, 2016 Available online January 4 2016 This study develops an effective method to measure value chain performance and rank them based on qualitative criteria and to determine the ranking order of the various forms of performance under study. This approach integrates the advantage of grey systems theory and TOPSIS to evaluate and rank value chain performance. Grey-TOPSIS approach has been applied to measure and rank the value chain performance of various firms. The results indicate that the proposed model is useful to facilitate multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem under the environment of uncertainty and vagueness. The model also provides an appropriate ranking order based on the available alternatives. The Grey-TOPSIS approach that will be useful to the managers to use for solving the similar type of decision-making problems in their firms in the future has been discussed. Even though, the problem of choosing a suitable performance option is often addressed in practice and research, very few studies are available in the literature of Grey-TOPSIS decision models. Also, Grey-TOPSIS model application in the tea processing firms is non-existence hence this study is the very first to apply this model in evaluating value chain performance in the tea processing firms. Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 6 © 201


Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical value of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) in the treatment of early esophageal cancer and precancerous lesions. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 58 patients who suffered from early esophageal and precancerous lesions and received ESD in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from February 2012 to January 2016. The clinical efficacy and safety of ESD in treating the early esophageal cancer and precancerous lesions was evaluated by analyzing the operation successful rate, postoperative pathology, complications, and follow-up data of patients who received ESD. Results: For the 58 patients, ESD was successfully completed in 56 cases with a success rate of 96.6%, whereas ESD was unsuccessful in 2 cases. Invasive lesions were observed in the esophageal muscular layer of 1 patient. Consequently, surgery was terminated and this patient was transferred to thoracotomy surgical intervention involving radical resection of esophageal cancer. Esophageal perforation was observed during the annular incision of the esophageal mucosa in another patient with early-stage cancer. This perforation was occluded with an endoscopic titanium clip and surgery was terminated. Intraoperative blood loss in 56 patients was ranged from 10 to 90 mL with an average of 28.3 ± 17.2 mL. The diameter of ESD resection lesion was varied from 2 to 6.0 cm with an average of 3.4 ± 1.1 cm. For the 56 patients, enbloc resection was performed in 50 patients, with an enbloc resection rate of 89.3%. Complete lesion resection was performed in 49 patients, with a complete resection rate of 87.5%. For all patients, 36 manifested with severe atypical hyperplasia confirmed by postoperative pathology, 11 showed moderate atypical hyperplasia, 2 showed carcinoma insitu, and 7 presented with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. In these 7 patients, 6 patients whose lesions limited to their mucosa were in the early stage of cancer while 1 patient with esophageal cancer involving the incisal edge, and the submucosal layer was subjected to additional surgical treatment. In addition, 1 patient experienced postoperative delayed hemorrhage (1.79%), 6 patients suffered from fever (10.71%), 33 patients reported substernal burning pain (58.93%) that mostly lasted 1–2 days before spontaneous remission, 1 patient was observed intraoperative perforation (1.79%), and 3 patients showed postoperative esophageal stenosis (5.36%), received multiple balloon dilatations, and consumed fluids afterward. Follow-up visits were facilitated for 49 patients for more than 1 year, and their median follow-up time was 36 months. Of these patients, recurrence was observed in 3 patients, with a recurrence rate of 6.1% (3/49). Of these 3 patients, 2 received surgical treatment and 1 underwent another endoscopic lesion resection. No patient died of esophageal cancer during follow-up. Conclusion: ESD was safe and reliable for the treatment of early esophageal cancer and precancerous lesions, and its recurrence and complication rates were low. Complete pathological information could be obtained after operation, which could be applied to assess patients' condition accurately.


With the increase in demand for quality steel having very stringent compositional control, the secondary steelmaking has become one of the significant developments in the steel making technology during the past few decades. Injection of powder with inert carrier gas is commonly practiced in industry to decrease the impurity contents of steel in a more economical way. Such high temperature metallurgical operations are mass transfer controlled and accordingly the design and operating parameters have significant roles to play. However, powder particles can only penetrate partially to the liquid melt while most of the particles ascend through the melt as "particles inside the bubble" in the semi-solid state without contributing much to mass transfer. In this regard submerged liquid slag injection may be considered as a potential area of investigation. In the present study, simulation of the submerged liquid slag injection in steel melt has been carried out using a cold model in the laboratory. Relative contributions of the transitory to permanent contact reactions have been estimated from several experimental data in conjunction with the mathematical model proposed by Ohguchi and Robertson. The present results show that mass transfer rate increases with increase in gas flow rate, liquid injection rate and lance depth. An empirical correlation for overall mass transfer rate constant as a function of gas flow rate, oil injection rate and lance depth has been developed. The present result also indicates that transitory contribution increases significantly with increase in gas flow rate.


Osteoporosis is a bone disease of low bone mass and bone tissue deterioration resulting in an increased risk of fracture. The objective of this study was to analyse biochemical and bone density measurements on the dual energy X-Ray absorptiometry (DEXA) instrument among postmenopausal women in comparison to premenopausal women. A cross-sectional prospective study was carried including 20 premenopausal women of 25-40 years age and 20 postmenopausal women of 40-70 years age. Biochemical markers and bone density measures at the regions of lumbar spine (L1-L4), neck of the femur and forearm were assessed among all subjects. An unpaired student t-test was used to test differences between groups. The significance level was set at a statistical value, p<0.05. Serum phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase levels were low in l postmenopausal women in comparison to premenopausal group. There were significant differences between groups in bone mineral content, bone mineral density, T-score and Z-score measures. Among all the three regions studied for bone density, lumbar spine was found to be at increased risk. The present study results suggest that postmenopausal women are at increased risk for osteoporosis. We recommend that postmenopausal women should be screened for osteoporotic fracture risk which might be an important strategy in the management of postmenopausal osteoporotic risk.


The present paper aims at monitoring the meanings of the "human values" and the "ethical behavior" in the European Union (EU) official documentation. In a time of complex researches in the field of participatory governance, the EU legal database of EUR-Lex provides various conceptions, meanings and uses of both terms. A reviewing of this documentation was completed framing the EU stated criteria of: (i) the domain of the document (EU Law and related documents, Official Journal, the national law, the legislative procedures); (ii) the subdomain of the act (all documents, all EU law, preparatory acts, legislation, consolidated acts, parliamentary questions, international agreements, treaties) ; (iii) the year of the document (from 2009 to 2017) and (iv) the institution (European Commission, Council of the European Union, European Parliament). The study scrutinizes both the social and legal arguments using the content analysis of the EU official resources published from 2009 to 2017 and identified via the EU official electronic database of EUR-Lex. The research also leads to exploring the post-modern trends of the European Union by defining and framing the target concepts and attributes of the "social values" and "ethical behavior" in the EU law and related documents such as: (a) "human dignity"; (b) "human rights"; (c) "freedom"; (d) "democracy"; (e) "equality"; (f) "rule of law"; (g) "security"; (h) "privacy"; (i) "ethical behavior" ("ethics"); (j) "social values".


Heteroatom-doped carbon nitride (CN) materials have shown much potential as metal-free photocatalysts for water splitting. Graphitic phosphorus-linked triazine network (g-PCN) materials are a unique class within this family of materials, but remain difficult to access due to long reaction times annealing at temperatures above 500 °C and often afford ill-understood structures. Here, we reveal a milder, lower temperature approach for the synthesis of catalytically active g-PCN materials through combining a room-temperature mechanochemical reaction of sodium phosphide and cyanuric chloride with brief (1 hour) annealing of the milled material at 300 °C. This rapid, low temperature procedure yields ordered g-PCN catalysts whose layered structure was determined through a combination of magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). An excellent level of accuracy to simulated 31 P MAS NMR signals and PXRD patterns were obtained for the structure of the synthesized layered phosphorus-linked triazine networks following dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT). The mechanochemically-generated g-PCN is a highly effective photocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction, producing 122 µmol H 2 h -1 g -1 under broad spectrum irradiation.


Fifty ASA Class III patients were divided randomly into two equal groups for induction of anaesthesia with diazepam 0.25 mg/kg, or midazolam 0.15 mg/kg. All subjects were premedicated with a narcotic and monitored by ECG, radial arterial catheter and a spirometer for measurement of minute ventilation. The QF interval (time period from the Q wave of the ECG to the foot of the radial artery pulse), mean arterial pressure, heart rate and minute ventilation were recorded before, during and immediately after the induction of anaesthesia. Although mean arterial pressure fell slightly (6%) following midazolam, all other cardiovascular variables were stable in both groups. Minute ventilation was depressed to 70% of control by both drugs and nearly one-half the diazepam patients complained of pain on injection compared with only one midazolam patient. These data suggest that midazolam is a reasonable alternative to diazepam for induction of anaesthesia in the high-risk patient.


1. The central ganglia of a number of gastropod molluscs (including the marine snail Aplysia californica and the terrestrial snail Helix pomatia) contain neurones which exhibit endogenous patterns of oscillatory activity. 2. This oscillatory activity can be modulated for long periods of time by synaptic and hormonal stimulation. 3. Stimulation of appropriate pre-synaptic nerves causes long-lasting hyperpolarization in these neurones, with complete abolition of oscillatory activity. This synaptic response is mediated by an increase in K+ conductance, together with a decrease in inward (Na+/Ca2+) conductance. The ionic conductances affected by synaptic stimulation are those responsible for producing the rhythmic oscillations. 4. The oscillatory activity can also be modulated by the vertebrate neurohyophyseal peptides, vasopressin and oxytocin, and by an endogenous peptide-containing extract of molluscan ganglia. In contrast to synaptic stimulation, these agents cause an increase in oscillatory activity. 5. The endogenous molluscan factor which produces an increase in oscillatory activity can be purified by affinity chromatography on bovine neurophysin linked to Sepharose. This indicates that the molluscan nervous system may contain a neurohypophyseal-like peptide. 6. Oscillatory activity can be modulated by manipulation of cyclic nucleotide metabolism in these neurones. Increases in cAMP alone are associated with abolition of oscillatory activity; this mimics long-lasting synaptic hyperpolarization. Increases in cAMP and cGMP together are associated with an increase in oscillatory activity and mimic the effects of the vertebrate and molluscan peptides. Thus, it is possible that cyclic nucleotides play a role in these physiological responses.


On page 420 of the 2d volume of » The Birds of Celebes" Meyer and Wiglesworth say: » The southern Bird is the typical Edoliisoma morio, S. Muller having visited Macasser and Bonthain in 1828, but not N. Celebes." As to the visit, that S. Muller paid to Celebes, it is right that he only visited the southern part, but he did .not collect there any Edoliisoma. The specimens, he described in the » Verhaudelingen etc." are collected by Dr. E. A. Forsteu, who was collecting in the years 1840 and '41 on Celebes. Five specimens of this species are collected by this traveller in the northern part, at Tondano and Gorontalo, and these were labelled by Temminck » Ceblepyris morio nov. spec." These are the birds, which S. Muller described on the known place. The typical E. morio is therefore the northern bird; and as, according to Meyer and Wiglesworth, the bird of southern Celebes is different from that of northern Celebes, the latter having been bestowed by them with the subspecific name of septentrionalis, the southern bird must receive a new name, while the subspecific name of the northern bird ought to be suppressed. For the bird of the southern part of Celebes I here propose the name of Edoliisoma morio wiglesworthi in honour of the too early died ornithologist.


Cosmic radiation is composed of a relatively large number of light particles such as protons and electrons, and small numbers of heavy particles which are the stripped nuclei of elements as heavy as iron. The biological effects of the light particles are reasonably well known, but since the heavy particles penetrate only a short distance into the upper atmosphere and are too energetic to be reproduced in any accelerators now in existence, there has been almost no opportunity to study their biological effects. It can be shown theoretically that each individual heavy particle would create in tissue a tract having a densely ionizing core a few microns in diameter in which radiation doses may be as high as 10,000 rad.* The dose falls off rapidly at greater distances from the axis of the track, but it is still appreciable at a radius of 0.012 mm. This has been verified experimentally


Systemic administration of kainate, a glutamate receptor agonist, caused neuronal death in the CA1 and CA3 fields of the rat hippocampus. In the areas of cell loss, reactive astrocytes increased their expression of an astrocyte-specific protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). AP-1 DNA binding activity and the expression of a 35 kDa fos-related antigen (fra) remained elevated in the rat hippocampus for at least 2 weeks after a single systemic injection of kainate, which correlated with changes in gene expression during reactive gliosis. Immunoreactivity for fras was detected in the nuclei of neurons in the dentate gyrus, but relatively few cells in CA1 and CA3 were immunoreactive 1 week after kainate treatment. However, elevated AP-1 DNA binding activity was observed in the CA1 and CA3 regions as well as in the dentate gyrus, suggesting that proteins other than the fras were involved in the astrocytic AP-1 complex. The AP-1 DNA binding activity in hippocampus recognized an AP-1 sequence from the promoter region of the GFAP gene, suggesting that GFAP is a potential target gene. Thus, a single systemic injection of kainate causes long-term activation of AP-1 DNA binding activity in the rat hippocampus and may be important for long-term changes in gene expression in hippocampal cells.


In this paper, we demonstrate the dynamics of bidispersed oil droplets in an evaporating water sessile drop. This phenomenon is therefore equivalent to a unique liquid droplet based "coffee stain" effect, with the depositing colloidal particles (of a classical "coffee stain" problem) being replaced by the oil droplets partially wetting the substrate. The important difference with respect to the classical "coffee stain" problem, as revealed by our experiments, is that the oil droplets, unlike the colloidal particles, cannot reach the contact line; rather the aversion of the oil droplets to the air ensures that the oil droplets always remain at a finite distance from the contact line. We call this effect an "enclosure" effect, characterized by this distance. We provide a theoretical model to explain this phenomenon, and our theoretical results match well with the experimental observations. The "enclosure" effect depends on the droplet size, thereby allowing an automatic size-based separation of the oil droplets. Additionally, this effect depends on the wettability of the oil droplets and the sessile drop, as well as the relative velocity of the oil droplets with respect to the rate of decrease of the sessile drop contact angle. Our identification of this new phenomenon in a liquid-droplet based "coffee stain" problem will have a huge impact on microscale control and manipulation of liquid droplets in a two phase system.


In this study acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) terpolymer was reinforced with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APS)-treated short glass fibers (SGFs). The effects of SGF concentration and extrusion process conditions, such as the screw speed and barrel temperature profile, on the mechanical properties of the composites were examined. Increasing the SGF concentration in the ABS matrix from 10 wt% to 30 wt% resulted in improved tensile strength, tensile modulus and flexural modulus, but drastically lowered the strain-at-break and the impact strength. The average fiber length decreased when the concentration of glass fibers increased. The increase in screw speed decreased the average fiber length, and therefore the tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural modulus, and impact strength were affected negatively and the strain-at-break was affected positively. The increase in extrusion temperature decreased the fiber length degradation, and therefore the tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural modulus, and impact strength increased. At higher temperatures the ABS matrix degraded and the mechanical strength of the composites decreased. To obtain a strong interaction at the interface, polyamide-6 (PA6) at varying concentrations was introduced into the ABS/30 wt% SGF composite. The incorporation and increasing amount of PA6 in the composites broadened the fiber length distribution (FLD) owing to the low melt viscosity of PA6. Tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural modulus, and impact strength values increased with an increase in the PA6 content of the ABS/PA6/SGF systems due to the improved adhesion at the interface, which was confirmed by the ratio of tensile strength to flexural strength as an adhesion parameter. These results were also supported by scanning electron micrographs of the ABS/PA6/SGF composites, which exhibited an improved adhesion between the SGFs and the ABS/PA6 matrix. POLYM. COMPOS. 26:745–755, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers


The sources from which organizations decide to select personnel from are central to its ability to survive, adapt, and grow (Noe et al, 2004:171). The paper examines a case study of recruitment and selection of quality academic staff into Covenant University. The paper addresses the factors that could affect recruitment sources and the advantages of identification of such sources. The study used the primary data by means of discussion with the human resource department (Registry) of Covenant University and secondary data by means of information from relevant journals, covenant university records and textbooks. The paper suggested ways of proper identification of quality academic staff recruitment sources and recommended that organizations such as universities should be proactive in the area of sourcing for competent academic staff to achieve the goals of the university. This it could do by identifying labour sources like unemployed graduates, the industries, and institutions of higher learning, retired senior academics and the provision of resources in terms of finance to hire them. IFE PsychologIA Vol. 14(2) 2006: 117-141


Abstract:This article shows that the incorporation of right-wing libertarians into the Alt Right coalition was the end result of a schism in the neoliberal intellectual movement in response to the egalitarian challenge of the 1960s. In a symmetry with developments on the post-Marxist Left, one group of Austrian School economists associated with F. A. Hayek took a cultural turn. Performing their own critique of "economism," they perceived human nature as rooted primarily in culture, adaptable over time through social learning and selective evolution. The other group of Austrian economists, linked to Murray Rothbard and culminating in the racist-libertarian alliance of the Alt Right, saw difference as rooted in biology and race as an immutable hierarchy of group traits and abilities. While many observers have described the Alt Right as a backlash against the excesses of neoliberalism, this shows that an important current of the Alt Right was born within and not against the neoliberal movement.


Malingering is not a diagnosis. It is a behavior for which there are no established diagnostic criteria. Guidelines have been published according to which malingering might be suspected, but those guidelines do not discriminate between patients who are malingering and ones with genuine sources of chronic pain. In such patients, malingering cannot be proven, but it can be refuted if a genuine source of pain can be established. In patients with no apparent cause of pain, the source of that pain can be established using controlled diagnostic blocks. A positive response to diagnostic blocks demonstrates that the complaint of pain is genuine and, by implication, refutes any contention that the patient is malingering. When positive, diagnostic blocks provide objective data by which disputes based on opinion can be resolved, as to whether a patient is malingering or not. Negative responses do not exclude a genuine complaint of pain, for patients may have a source of pain that is not amenable to testing with diagnostic blocks. Diagnostic blocks have proved particularly useful in the investigation of spinal pain for which the cause is not evident on conventional medical imaging. They can also confirm or refute purported mechanisms of certain clinical features in complex regional pain syn-


Virtual reality training applications are becoming more widespread as hardware costs for head-mounted displays (HMDs) and tracking technology decrease, enabling a wide variety of interaction techniques beyond the mouse and keyboard. Advancements in VR hardware yield higher levels of interaction fidelity or the objective degree of exactness with which real-world interactions can be reproduced in an interactive system. Despite the growing use of virtual reality simulations for training, few prior investigations have examined the constituent components of fidelity and how they affect performance and learning in the context of a real-world skills training applications. With tracking and HMD technology reaching a wider audience, it is important to empirically evaluate the benefits and downsides associated with utilizing such technology. Using our scaffolded virtual metrology training simulation as a testbed for exploring issues related to interaction fidelity, we have created a bimanual interaction metaphor that allows users to select and manipulate objects with 6 degrees-of-freedom using both hands simultaneously. The simulation guides the user step-by-step on the process of taking precise measurements using calipers and micrometers. Our initial work examined the effects of simplifying interaction by constraining the number of degrees-of-freedom on measures including user performance, cognitive and psychomotor learning outcomes, presence, and perceived workload. Results indicate that the training application was beneficial in teaching basic metrology concepts and simplifying the interaction metaphor resulted in similar user performance in most metrics. Our following experiment examined the effects of presentation method including a HMD with co-located end-effectors compared to a large-screen, immersive display with dislocated endeffectors on user performance and learning outcomes. In addition, physics fidelity was examined by either enabling or disabling gravity to determine usability improvements. Results indicate that the HMD condition was preferable to the immersive display in nearly all metrics while the no-gravity


Neurodegenerative diseases are one of the leading public health challenges of the next 50 years. Pharmaceutical therapies have traditionally targeted the later stages of neurodegenerative diseases; however, this strategy - as the recent failures of clinical trials for Alzheimer's drugs have highlighted - has been unsuccessful. Venture capital has underperformed as well during this time, as many new companies have been unable to maintain growth once they reach the public market and have produced less than desirable returns. As a result, venture capitalists have opted for later-stage financing. Nevertheless, new technologies are being developed to answer the question of how to best address neurodegeneration. New tools of detection will allow for much earlier diagnosis and a much greater chance of discovering and applying effective treatments. Realizing that genetic knowledge is insufficient to produce innovative treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, scientists have begun to apply the genetic knowledge attained towards a future of individualized treatments. As these new tools of detection converge with an increased ability to create very precise individual solutions, the risk of successful future investments should come down and provide the potential for outsized returns that have traditionally governed the venture capital financial model.


Web services are gaining momentum as a major vehicle to deliver business functionalities on the Web. More and more business organizations have begun to use Web services to facilitate user interactions and the collaboration among themselves. This essentially forms a large service space, which still keeps growing. Meanwhile, there may be functionality overlaps among different service providers. The concept ofQuality of Web Serivce (QoWS) is emerging as a key feature in distinguishing between competing service providers. We present in this paper a systematic approach for efficient service selection by using QoWS as the major criterion. In particular, we adopt a relational approach that enables to store QoWS information in a relational DBMS and leverage standard relational operators for efficient service selection. We perform a preliminary set of experiments to evaluate the proposed service selection algorithms.


This dissertation reports on the influence of bilingualism on infants' sound and word acquisition in the first two years of life. It targets the question of whether mono- and bilingual infants follow the same developmental trajectory of language acquisition, it displays similarities and differences between mono- and bilingual infants, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages that are the consequence of receiving bilingual language input. Previous debate has focused on whether bilingual infants are delayed in their sound and word learning. Some studies present a (temporary) lag in bilingual sound (i.e., Bosch & Sebastian-Galles, 2003a) and word (i.e., Volterra & Taeschner, 1978) acquisition. However, other studies report no evident delay in bilingual sound (i.e., Sundara & Scutellaro, 2011) and vocabulary (Pearson et al., 1993) development. In the current dissertation, mono- and bilingual infants from 5 to 18 months were tested on their perception of consonants, vowels and tone contrasts, and their associative word learning ability. Parents filled in a questionnaire on the vocabulary of their children, and another questionnaire on the degree of exposure to each language if their children were exposed to more than one language. In the sound perception experiments, no evident/clear delay was observed between mono- and bilingual infants. For consonants, an early unstable perception pattern was observed in bilingual infants in the first year of life, leaving space for future research. Moreover, bilingual infants displayed more sensitivity than monolinguals in their perception of native vowels and non-native tones. In word acquisition, bilingual infants kept the same pace as monolinguals in their associative word learning performance, as well as total conceptual receptive and expressive vocabulary size. In the study of parental report of their bilingual infants, it was found that parents' intuition of their infants' degree of exposure of each language counts in not only the languages directly spoken to them, but also the linguistic input from the ambient environment. Two hypotheses were formed based on the current findings as well as on those in the previous literature. The first hypothesis, heightened acoustic sensitivity hypothesis, states that bilingual infants are more sensitive to the acoustic details in the input than are monolinguals. Heightened acoustic sensitivity brings bilingual infants advantages and disadvantages along the language developmental trajectory. On the one hand, heightened acoustic sensitivity may facilitate contrast detection. On the other hand, it may lead to a prolonged category formation process. The second hypothesis, the minimum threshold hypothesis, assumes a minimum input requirement (either absolute or relative based on frequency) for infants to acquire native sounds and words. Future research on infant bilingualism should study the relationship between language exposure and acquisition patterns.


The effect of a modified live Infectious bursal disease (IBO) vaccine containing an intermediate strain of IBO virus on the antibody response of broiler chicks to live Newcastle disease (ND) vaccine was evaluated. Seventy chicks from the same breeder flock were randomly divided into four groups. Group A was simultaneously vaccinated against IBO and ND at day-old . Group B was given IBO and ND vaccines at one and seven days old, respectively. Group C was immunized against ND and IBO at seven and ten days of age, respectively. Group D received only the ND vaccine at seven days old, and served as control. All birds were revaccinated for ND at 21 days of age. The bursa of Fabricius was collected from three chicks in groups A, Band C, five days post-IBO vaccination and from 3, 7, 14 and 21 days old chicks in group 0 and examined for gross and histologic changes. Microscopically, lymphocyte degeneration and depletion, cyst formation, interfollicular edema and hemorrhages were found to be more extensive in the bursa of birds vaccinated against IBO at day-old than in those vaccinated at ten days of age. In contrast, bursa of Fabricius taken from day-old chicks prior to IBO vaccination and those from non-IBO vaccinated chicks showed dense bursal follicles populated with normal lymphocytes. Low to moderate levels of maternal antibodies to ND and IBO viruses were detected in sera collected prior to ND and IBO vaccination by HI and ELISA test, respectively. Primary and secondary antibody responses to ND vaccine were consistently and significantly lower in IBO-vaccinated birds than in the control group. Suppression of humoral immunity was more dramatic in birds given the IBO vaccine at day-old than in birds vaccinated at 10 days of age. Results of the study showed the potential of a modified live intermediate IBO vaccine to cause serious damage to the bursa of Fabricius with consequent depression of antibody response to live ND vaccine when given particularly to day-old broiler chicks with low to moderate levels of maternal antibody to IBO virus.


We present a new estimate of foreground emission in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data, using a Markov chain Monte Carlo method. The new technique delivers maps of each foreground component for a variety of foreground models with estimates of the uncertainty of each foreground component, and it provides an overall goodness-of-fit estimate. The resulting foreground maps are in broad agreement with those from previous techniques used both within the collaboration and by other authors. We find that for WMAP data, a simple model with power-law synchrotron, free–free, and thermal dust components fits 90% of the sky with a reduced χ2ν of 1.14. However, the model does not work well inside the Galactic plane. The addition of either synchrotron steepening or a modified spinning dust model improves the fit. This component may account for up to 14% of the total flux at the Ka band (33 GHz). We find no evidence for foreground contamination of the cosmic microwave background temperature map in the 85% of the sky used for cosmological analysis.


DNA is susceptible to both exogenous and endogenous damaging agents. Damage is constantly reversed by a wide range of DNA repair pathways. Lesions which escape such repair may cause nucleotide mispairing and stalled replication, resulting in mutagenesis and cell death, respectively if left unresolved. Stalled replication is particularly dangerous because replication fork collapse can lead to double-strand breaks (DSBs) and chromosome rearrangement, a hallmark of cancer. DNA damage tolerance (DDT) is defined as a mechanism that allows DNA synthesis to occur in the presence of replication-blocking lesions. DDT, also known as post-replication repair (PRR) in yeast, has been well characterized in the lower eukaryotic model Saccharomyces cerevisiae to consist of error-free and error-prone (mutagenic) pathways. Mono-ubiquitination of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) by the Rad6-Rad18 complex promotes mutagenesis by recruiting low fidelity translesion synthesis (TLS) polymerases, while continual Lys63-linked poly-ubiquitination of PCNA by the Mms2-Ubc13-Rad5 complex promotes error-free lesion bypass. Since most of the genes involved in DNA metabolism are conserved within eukaryotes, from yeast to human, I tested the hypothesis that mammalian cells also possess two-pathway DDT in response to DNA damage. Namely, the error-free pathway is dependent on the Ubc13-Mms2 complex, while the error-prone pathway utilizes the TLS polymerases, such as Rev3. By utilizing cultured mammalian cells and producing antibodies against human Ubc13, Mms2 and Rev3, I was able to show that all three proteins associate with PCNA in S-phase cells, and that this association is enhanced following DNA damage. Ubc13-Mms2 association with PCNA was enhanced in response to DSBs. Furthermore, suppression of Ubc13 or Mms2 using interfering RNA technology resulted in increased spontaneous DSBs. In response to UV exposure, Rev3 co-localized with PCNA and two other TLS polymerases, Rev1 and Pol-η, at the damage site. UVinduced Rev3 nuclear focus formation was dependent on Rev1 but independent of Pol-η. Surprisingly, over-expression of Pol-η was sufficient to induce spontaneous Rev3 nuclear foci. It was further demonstrated that Rev1 and Pol-η were independently recruited to the damage site and did not require Rev3. These observations support and extend the polymerase switch model which regulates the activity of the replicative and TLS polymerases. Finally, simultaneous suppression of Rev3 along with Ubc13 or Mms2 resulted in a synergistic sensitivity to UV, whereas simultaneous suppression of Ubc13 and Pol-η resulted in an additive effect. These results are consistent with those in yeast cells, implying a comparable mammalian two-pathway DDT model. Additional interesting observations were made. Firstly, Ubc13 interacts with Uev1A, a close homolog of Mms2, which is involved in the NF-κB signaling pathway independent of DNA damage. Secondly, Rev3 appears to be excluded from the nucleus in a fraction of low passage normal non-S-phase cells, whereas in tumor derived cell lines, Rev3 is consistently enriched in the nucleus independent of cell cycle stage. Finally, Rev3 is elevated during mitosis and associates with condensed chromosomes, suggesting a possible novel role in mitosis. Consistent with this notion, chronic ablation of Rev3 resulted in cell death with inappropriate chromosome segregations. The above preliminary observations require further investigation.


The Psychology of Visualization This document is a review of the literature of three related areas: psychophysical vision research, automatic display generation, and multi-dimensional data visualization. Common threads are explored, and a model of the visualization process is proposed which integrates aspects of these three areas. In the review of psychophysics, attempts to find a set of primitive perceptual channels are explored. In the literature on automatic generation and visualization, attempts to employ these psychophysical findings are investigated. Finally, the proposed model is a framework which might facilitate this kind of cooperation.


Sucrose (Suc) transporters belong to a large gene family. The physiological role of SUT1 proteins has been intensively investigated in higher plants, whereas that of SUT4 proteins is so far unknown. All three known Suc transporters from potato (Solanum tuberosum), SUT1, SUT2, and SUT4, are colocalized and their RNA levels not only follow a diurnal rhythm, but also oscillate in constant light. Here, we examined the physiological effects of transgenic potato plants on RNA interference (RNAi)-inactivated StSUT4 expression. The phenotype of StSUT4-RNAi plants includes early flowering, higher tuber production, and reduced sensitivity toward light enriched in far-red wavelength (i.e. in canopy shade). Inhibition of StSUT4 led to tuber production of the strict photoperiodic potato subsp. andigena even under noninductive long-day conditions. Accumulation of soluble sugars and Suc efflux from leaves of transgenic plants are modified in StSUT4-RNAi plants, leading to modified Suc levels in sink organs. StSUT4 expression of wild-type plants is induced by gibberellins and ethephon, and external supply of gibberellic acid leads to even more pronounced differences between wild-type and StSUT4-RNAi plants regarding tuber yield and internode elongation, indicating a reciprocal regulation of StSUT4 and gibberellins.


Background: Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a vascular neoplasm associated with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8). Skin and mucous membranes are the most common sites, but other organs may be involved. Skeletal KS is rare and occurs either by direct spread of mucocutaneous lesions or through dissemination. Patients present with bone pain and lytic lesions for which they may undergo fine-needle aspiration (FNA). While there are about 70 published case reports of skeletal KS, there is limited literature specifically describing its cytomorphology. Our literature search yielded only a single prior reported case of FNA biopsy of skeletal KS in a Nigerian AIDS patient. Case: We present a case of disseminated KS of the axial skeleton in a 45-year-old African-American man with AIDS which was diagnosed on FNA cytologic examination. The patient presented with multiple lytic lesions in the axial skeleton. The aspirate, core-needle biopsy and touch imprint cytology of a bone lesion demonstrated clusters of spindle and epithelioid cells in radial and streaming arrangement with indistinct intercytoplasmic borders, elongated nuclei, fine chromatin and inconspicuous nucleoli. Immunohistochemical studies revealed positivity for HHV-8 and vascular markers. The cytomorphologic and ancillary features of the case are presented and discussed.


Roads, railroads and streets are one of the most important infrastructure, so it is very important rightly construct and to make control geodesic pictures of them. In order to qualitatively and effectively carry out the following operations, it is necessary to assess the methods (advantages and disadvantages) used for these works. The work describes the usage of the measureaments devices, their specifications, data analysis and comparision with the most eficient device. Railway tracks require more thorough maintenance and analysis than regular roads for cars. Defects are here noticed and recorded by using special equipment. Construction of railway roads and their exploitation requires optimal accuracy and monitoring of surveying. It is related to maximum allowed speed of trains, the environment, transport and human safety. Their monitoring needs to be improved by applying geodetic devices for surveying. Comparing analogous surveying conducted using EM140 machine with that of geodetic equipment, one can see the advantage of geodetic surveying. Technical gaps in the surveying process, data storage and procession were evaluated as well. It was discovered that maintenance and monitoring works should be pursued more frequently using high accuracy geodetic equipment. The main aim of this article is to evaluate differences of the technological process and control technology by conducting geodetic investigation in railway objects. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.23.2.21134


We study the determinants for the choice of capital budgeting methods and the setting of hurdle rates (WACCs) in five Nordic countries. Combining survey data with a rich set of determinants, including ownership data, CFO characteristics, and financial data, we find that the use of the Net Present Value method and the sophistication of the capital budgeting are related to firm characteristics, variables proxying for real option features in investments and CFO characteristics (age and education). We also find support for significantly higher hurdle rates than motivated by economic theory. The premium is weakly positively related to managerial short-term pressure and strongly negatively related to the sophistication level of the firm's capital budgeting.


The objective of this work is to synthesize a templated supramolecular dendrimer that is stable in aqueous solution and hence can be investigated regarding its ability to be used as nano transporters in biomedical applications. Classical dendrimers already proved to be a promising class of polymers for applications such as nano-carriers among many others. A supramolecular dendrimer however can be specifically tailored to react on certain external stimuli to obtain a controlled release, whereas the stability in water is challenging using the supramolecular approach. In the course of this thesis it was possible to develop a pH switchable templated dendrimer which proved to solubilize reasonable amounts of two different poorly water-soluble test molecules. More importantly it was also possible to release the guest molecules quantitatively upon an external stimulus, in this case a change of the pH toward acidic values. This proof of principle demonstrates the potential of a supramolecular templated dendrimer, based on the guanidiniocarbonylpyrrole carboxylate zwitterion as the binding motif, for encapsulation and potentially even the transport of poorly water-soluble drugs.


The nucleoprotein (NP) and matrix protein (M1) are the most abundant structural proteins of influenza A virus. M1 forms a protein layer beneath the viral envelope and NP constitutes the protein backbone of the ribonucleoproteins (RNPs). In order to elucidate the functions of these proteins in virus assembly we have expressed NP and M1 in BHK-21 cells using Semliki Forest virus replicons and analysed their molecular interactions. We found that both M1 and NP engaged in extensive homooligomerization reactions soon after synthesis. However, there was no detectable heterooligomerization taking place between the two viral proteins, nor between these and host proteins. One interpretation of these results is that homooligomers, and not monomers, of NP and M1 are used as building blocks during RNP assembly and formation of the submembranous M1 layer, respectively. The complete absence of M1-NP heterooligomers suggests, on the other hand, that these two major viral proteins do not interact directly with each other during virus assembly. We also found that a fraction of M1 associated with cellular membranes. This did not, however, result in membrane budding or vesicularization as was the case with the matrix protein of vesicular stomatitis virus when expressed separately (P. A. Justice and others, Journal of Virology 69, 3156-3160, 1995).


A concept of integer fast Fourier transform (IntFFT) for approximating the discrete Fourier transform is introduced. Unlike the fixed-point fast Fourier transform (FxpFFT), the new transform has the properties that it is an integer-to-integer mapping, is power adaptable and is reversible. The lifting scheme is used to approximate complex multiplications appearing in the FFT lattice structures where the dynamic range of the lifting coefficients can be controlled by proper choices of lifting factorizations. Split-radix FFT is used to illustrate the approach for the case of 2/sup N/-point FFT, in which case, an upper bound of the minimal dynamic range of the internal nodes, which is required by the reversibility of the transform, is presented and confirmed by a simulation. The transform can be implemented by using only bit shifts and additions but no multiplication. A method for minimizing the number of additions required is presented. While preserving the reversibility, the IntFFT is shown experimentally to yield the same accuracy as the FxpFFT when their coefficients are quantized to a certain number of bits. Complexity of the IntFFT is shown to be much lower than that of the FxpFFT in terms of the numbers of additions and shifts. Finally, they are applied to noise reduction applications, where the IntFFT provides significantly improvement over the FxpFFT at low power and maintains similar results at high power.


In creating a new nation, the United States also had to create a financial system from scratch. During the period from the Revolution to the Civil War, the country experimented with numerous options. Although the Constitution deliberately banned the issuance of paper money by either Congress or the states, states indirectly reclaimed this power by incorporating state-chartered banks with the ability to print banknotes. These provided Americans with a medium of exchange to facilitate trade and an expansionary money supply to meet the economic needs of a growing nation. The federal government likewise entered into the world of money and finance with the incorporation of the First and Second Banks of the United States. Not only did critics challenge the constitutionality of these banks, but contemporaries likewise debated whether any banking institutions promoted the economic welfare of the nation or if they instead introduced unnecessary instability into the economy. These debates became particularly heated during moments of crisis. Periods of war, including the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War, highlighted the necessity of a robust financial system to support the military effort, while periods of economic panic such as the Panic of 1819, the Panics of 1837 and 1839, and the Panic of 1857 drew attention to the weaknesses inherent in this decentralized, largely unregulated system. Whereas Andrew Jackson succeeded in destroying the Second Bank of the United States during the Bank War, state-chartered commercial banks, savings banks, and investment banks still multiplied rapidly throughout the period. Numerous states introduced regulations intended to control the worst excesses of these banks, but the most comprehensive legislation occurred with the federal government's Civil War-era Banking Acts, which created the first uniform currency for the nation.


Abstract
Introduction: Pulmonary embolism is still a challenge in diagnosis due to its variable and nonspecific symptoms. Computed tomography and ventilation/perfusion scanning are the modalities most commonly used in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism, and both modalities have their advantages and disadvantages. One of the most important factors in the assessment and localization of pulmonary embolism is the diagnostic accuracy of these modalities, which serves to model different diagnostic strategies in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.
Material and methods: The research was conducted as a review of professional literature available in scientific research databases. A selection of 20 professional papers was made, based on which an analysis was conducted and a database was formed. Criteria for inclusion in the research were scientific research papers that report on the sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic modalities of CT and V/P scanning as well as the results of diagnostic tests based on which the comparison of data from two modalities determined a diagnostically more accurate modality.
Results: Sensitivity of 91.89% and specificity of 98.86% and diagnostic accuracy of 94.83% were determined in the case of computed tomography. Sensitivity of 90.58% and specificity of 98.33% and diagnostic accuracy of 96.43% were determined for the ventilation perfusion scanning method. We can conclude that the application of ventilation/perfusion scanning in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism is a little more accurate compared to computed tomography.
Conclusion: Ventilation/perfusion lung scanning will more accurately identify healthy individuals while on the other hand we can conclude that computed tomography is more accurate in diagnosing embolism in sick individuals. . Given that this difference between the two modalities is very small, the question is whether it is statistically significant at all. We can conclude that both diagnostic procedures have a high level of accuracy.


A brain-computer interface (BCI) gives those suffering from neuromuscular
impairments a means to interact and communicate with their surrounding
environment. A BCI translates physiological signals, typically electrical,
detected from the brain to control an output device. A significant problem with
current BCIs is the lengthy training periods involved for proficient usage, which
can often lead to frustration and anxiety on the part of the user and may even lead
to abandonment of the device. A more suitable and usable interface is needed to
measure cognitive function more directly. In order to do this, new measurement
modalities, signal acquisition and processing, and translation algorithms need to
be addressed. This work implements a novel approach to BCI design, using noninvasive
near-infrared spectroscopic (NIRS) techniques to develop a userfriendly
optical BCI. NIRS is a practical non-invasive optical technique that can
detect characteristic haemodynamic responses relating to neural activity. This
thesis describes the use of NIRS to develop an accessible BCI system requiring
very little user training. In harnessing the optical signal for BCI control an
assessment of NIRS signal characteristics is carried out and detectable
physiological effects are identified for BCI development. The investigations into
various mental tasks for controlling the BCI show that motor imagery functions
can be detected using NIRS. The optical BCI (OBCI) system operates in realtime
characterising the occurrence of motor imagery functions, allowing users to
control a switch - a "Mindswitch". This work demonstrates the great potential of
optical imaging methods for BCI development and brings to light an innovative
approach to this field of research.