the current research was conducted and implemented to evaluate the relationship between TIMI grade and STR after PCI. by reviewing the medical record of 112 patients with diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome and under coronary angiography, the primary characteristics of the patients were extracted in this research. Coronary flow was evaluated after PCI by 200 μg nitroglycerin bolus intracoronary prescribing. TIMI value was determined based on the contrast opacification dynamics of coronary microcirculation. By aggregating the total values in increase in ST in all infarction leads and reduction in reciprocal leads, SSTD value was determined. Relative SSTD value, which means percentage of reduction in SSTD (SSTD%) compared to its base value, was calculated. strong and significant correlation was found between TIMI variations after PCI and SSTD (correlation coefficient=0.340, P = 0.001). Additionally, a strong and significant correlation was found between TIMI variations after PCI and SSTD% (correlation coefficient =0.442, P = 0.001). Based on the analysis of area under the ROC curve, evaluation of SSTD (AUC = 0.699) and SSTD% (AUC = 0.621) could predict improvement in TIMI flow in patients after PCI. According to the analysis of area under ROC curve, evaluation of SSTD (AUC = 0.667) and SSTD% (AUC = 0.873) could predict the occurrence of mortality in patients after PCI. measuring STR can predict TIMI grade variations strongly after performing the PCI process. In addition, determining STR has great value in predicting the mortality after the mentioned procedure.


We present a new strategy for defining the location of point sources when
applying the equivalent sources technique (EQL) for interpolating gravity and
magnetic data. It consist in reducing the number of sources while keeping the
same accuracy when compared with similar EQL methods. It also reduces the
computation time and memory requirements, both of which have been severe
limiting factors.The equivalent layer technique (also known as equivalent source, radial basis
functions, or Green's functions interpolation) is used to predict the value of
gravity and magnetic fields (or transformations thereof) at any point based on
the data gathered on some observation points. It consists in estimating
a source distribution that produces the same field as the one measured and
using this estimate to predict new values. It generally outperforms other
general-purpose 2D interpolators, like the minimum curvature or bi-harmonic
splines, because it takes into account the height of measurements and the fact
that these fields are harmonic functions. Nevertheless, defining a layout for
the source distribution used by the EQL is not trivial and plays an important
role in the quality of the predictions.The most widely used source distributions are: (a) a regular grid of point
sources and (b) one point source beneath each observation point. We propose
a new source distribution: (c) divide the area into blocks, calculate the
average location of observation points inside each block, and place one point
source beneath each average location. This produces a smaller number of point
sources in comparison with the other source distributions, effectively reducing
the computational load. Traditionally, the source points are located: (i) all
at the same depth or (ii) each source point at a constant relative depth
beneath its corresponding observation point. Besides these two, we also
considered (iii) a variable depth for each source point proportional
to the median distance to its nearest neighbours. The combination of source
distributions and depth configurations leads to seven different source layouts
(the regular grid is only compatible with the constant depth configuration).We have scored the performance of each configuration by interpolating synthetic
ground and airborne gravity data, and comparing the interpolation against the
true values of the model. The block-averaged source layout (c) with variable
relative depth (iii) produces accurate interpolation results when compared to
the other two, but reducing the computation time and memory requirements.
These results are consistent between ground and airborne survey layouts. Our
conclusions can be extrapolated to other applications of equivalent layers,
such as upward continuation, reduction-to-the-pole, and derivative calculation.
What is more, we expect that these optimizations can benefit similar spatial
prediction problems beyond gravity and magnetic data.The source code developed for this study is based on the EQL implementation
available in Harmonica (fatiando.org/harmonica), an open-source Python library
for modelling and processing gravity and magnetic data.


The purpose of the study was to determine nurses' perception of organizational climate and their job satisfaction in Cross River State Health Institutions, in Nigeria. To direct the study three specific objectives and two hypotheses were raised: To determine Nurses' perception of their organizational climate, the extent of Nurses' job satisfaction, the influence of organizational climate on nursing care, and relationship between organizational climate and job satisfaction and also relationship between type of health institution and Nurses' perception of organizational climate. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 30 health institutions out of 89 institutions. The stratified random sampling technique was used to select 450 Nurses from private, state and federal institutions in the state. Questionnaire was use as instrument for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS 14.0 Result showed that 255 (56.7%) did not enjoy a conducive working climate, while 195(43.3%) respondents felt the organizational climate was conducive. Among the 450 Nurses, 244(54.2%) were not satisfied with their jobs, while 206(45.8%) Nurses felt satisfied with their various jobs. Among the 255 respondents that felt that organizational climate was not conducive, 57 (22.4%) had a significant impact on nursing care. Majority, 102 (40.0 %) felt like abandoning nursing profession for other professions that were more prestigious and promising, while 96 (37.6 %) felt like seeking for greener pastures in developed countries. Correlation coefficient of 0.725 was obtained showing a significant relationship between organizational climate and job satisfaction. Nurses from the federal institution had a significantly highly favorable perception of their organizational climate than nurses from state and private health institutions. To improve organizational climate and minimize migration of Nurses, Nurse leaders should be included as policy makers and be exposed to regular seminars and workshops to enlighten them on how to create conducive organizational climate.


Previous research has shown that the impact-echo emission signals contain information about the flaws of structural integrity and deterioration levels of concrete bridges. This paper presents a method of using the mobile robot equipped with an impact-echo Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) device to autonomously collect data, perform automatic classification and 3D visualization of the detected flaws. This method is based on Power Spectral Density (PSD) analysis for the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of the impact-echo signals, and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification. Therefore, health condition of concrete bridge decks can be automatically recorded, analyzed and visualized in 3D.


Abstract Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a well-known inflammatory disorder with a wide variety of phenotypes that extend beyond the joints. It has been defined as an immune-mediated disorder in which Th-1 and Th-17 cells play a key role. It has been associated with an elevated risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS), which is characterized by abdominal obesity, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia. While the exact pathophysiology of the link between PsA and MetS has yet to be precisely determined, persistence of inflammatory abnormalities, with overexpression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, might be the cause. Studies have consistently emphasized the strong association between elevated risk of developing cardiovascular disease and MetS in individuals with underlying PsA. The literature has also shown an association between the increased PsA severity and the increased frequency of MetS components. This association has important clinical consequences when treating patients with PsA. Therefore, screening programs should be implemented for PsA patients to evaluate whether they have MetS, and appropriate treatment should be given to manage cardiometabolic risk factors. Patients should also be closely monitored for potential adverse treatment effects on co-morbidities. This article summarizes the evidence of associations between several components of MetS and PsA and analyzes the impact of treatment on these factors.


The architecture using a new nonlinear optoelectronic sensor has been developed to imitate the functions of the higher level visual cortex. The optoelectronic sensor developed in this work has the properties approximated by DOG (difference of Gaussian) functions. The properties are due to the negative photoinduced current (PIC) and the negative differential (ND) characteristics according to the forward bias voltage, which have been successfully obtained for layer structures with a charge-storage layer of InAs/GaAs short period superlattice (SSL). By integrating the new sensors, an optoelectronic sensing circuit has been developed to imitate the functions of selectivity to orientation angle, motion-direction and length of slit light in visual cortex


Detecting tiny objects (e.g., less than 20 × 20 pixels) in large-scale images is an important yet open problem. Modern CNN-based detectors are challenged by the scale mismatch between the dataset for network pre-training and the target dataset for detector training. In this paper, we investigate the scale alignment between pre-training and target datasets, and propose a new refined Scale Match method (termed SM+) for tiny person detection. SM+ improves the scale match from image level to instance level, and effectively promotes the similarity between pre-training and target dataset. Moreover, considering SM+ possibly destroys the image structure, a new probabilistic structure inpainting (PSI) method is proposed for the background processing. Experiments conducted across various detectors show that SM+ noticeably improves the performance on TinyPerson, and outperforms the state-of-the-art detectors with a significant margin.


In trial 1, we evaluated the efficacy of a liquid feed (LF) containing cane molasses and corn steep liquor as carriers of suspended white grease (WG) without or with urea (U) or with soybean lipid (SL; a byproduct of soybean processing) compared with roasted soybeans plus tallow blended into respective concentrates in a 16-wk lactation study. The dry matter intake (DMI) and milk production for LF diets were either similar to or greater than respective controls, although SL decreased milk fat percentage. In trial 2, we compared LF without fat to LF plus WG or SL and also evaluated the dose response to increasing amount of LF + WG in a 16-wk lactation trial in which the LF products were added to respective total mixed rations. The DMI was increased and then decreased (quadratic response) with increasing LF + WG without a linear response. However, production of milk, protein, and fat increased linearly with corresponding quadratic responses, which we interpret to be a result of a limiting returns response from DMI and density of net energy for lactation. When LF plus SL was fed, milk fat percentage and yield decreased compared with the comparable amount of LF + WG. In a 12-wk lactation study (trial 3), we added 3.25 or 6.5% of the dry matter as LF (a different but generally similar product than the previous trials and without fat) to diets formulated to maintain comparable ruminal nonstructural carbohydrate digestibility by adding soybean hulls to decrease nonfiber carbohydrates (NFC) concentration; the 6.5% LF diet was without or with Rumensin (11.5 g/909 kg of dry matter). When 3.25% LF was added but NFC was decreased from 40 to 37%, cows increased DMI and production of milk fat. Adding Rumensin decreased DMI but maintained milk fat yield compared with its 6.25% LF control without Rumensin. In trials 1 and 3, apparent total tract nutrient digestibility was not affected by treatment. In conclusion, feeding LF at about 5% (trial 2, which contained WG, 1.6% added sugar) or 3.25% (trial 3, 1.7% added sugar) generally increased DMI and maintained or increased production of milk, protein, and fat.


This paper discusses a new work-scheduling algorithm for parallel search of single-agent state spaces, called transposition-table-driven work scheduling, that places the transposition table at the heart of the parallel work scheduling. The scheme results in less synchronization overhead, less processor idle time, and less redundant search effort. Measurements on a 128-processor parallel machine show that the scheme achieves close-to-linear speedups; for large problems the speedups are even superlinear due to better memory usage. On the same machine, the algorithm is 1.6 to 12.9 times faster than traditional work-stealing-based schemes.


We investigated the photovoltaic response of nanocomposites made of colloidal, infrared-sensitive, PbSe nanocrystals (NCs) of various sizes and conjugated polymers of either regioregular poly (3-hexylthiophene) (RR-P3HT) or poly- (2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexoxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene) (MEH-PPV). The conduction and valence energy levels of PbSe NCs were determined by cyclic voltammetry and revealed type II heterojunction alignment with respect to energy levels in RR-P3HT for smaller NC sizes. Devices composed of NCs and RR-P3HT show good diode characteristics and sizable photovoltaic response in a spectral range from the ultraviolet to the infrared. Using these materials, we have observed photovoltaic response at wavelengths as far to the infrared as 2 μm (0.6 eV), which is desirable due to potential benefits of carrier multiplication (or multi-exciton generation) from a single junction photovoltaic. Under reverse bias, the devices also exhibit good photodiode responses over the same spectral region.


The overall goal of Project 2 has been to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of distributed energy (DG) on the Australian Electricity System. The research team at the UQ Energy Economics and Management Group (EEMG) has constructed a variety of sophisticated models to analyse the various impacts of significant increases in DG. These models stress that the spatial configuration of the grid really matters - this has tended to be neglected in economic discussions of the costs of DG relative to conventional, centralized power generation. The modelling also makes it clear that efficient storage systems will often be critical in solving transient stability problems on the grid as we move to the greater provision of renewable DG. We show that DG can help to defer of transmission investments in certain conditions. The existing grid structure was constructed with different priorities in mind and we show that its replacement can come at a prohibitive cost unless the capability of the local grid to accommodate DG is assessed very carefully.


Neocallimastix sp. K7 and Orpinomyces sp. K5 were studied for their amylase production capability in starch, maltose, and glucose-containing cultures. The highest level of amylase was produced in 4 and 5 mg ml-1 starch-containing mediums of Orpinomyces sp. K5 and Neocallimastix sp. K7, respectively. Amylase production highly reduced in glucose-grown cultures of Orpinomyces sp. K5, whereas glucose stimulated the amylase production of Neocallimastix sp. K7 as effective as maltose. Both enzymes were optimally active at pH 5.5 and 45 C. The pH stability range was 5.0 to 6.5 and inactivation occurred at 55 C after 15 min for both enzymes. The highest amylase adsorption to starch was found at pH 5.5 and 6.5 in Orpinomyces sp. K5 and Neocallimastix sp. K7, respectively. The enzyme activities were inhibited in the presence of Cu2+, Zn2+ and Hg2+, while their activities were significantly stimulated by Mg2+ and Mn2+. Two amylase active bands were observed around 67 kDa. Glucose was determined as the only product of amylase action in Orpinomyces sp. K5. Glucose was the major product but maltose, maltotriose and maltotetraose were also detected in the enzymatic reaction of Neocallimastix sp. K7.


Abstract. With the increasing number of large buildings and more frequent indoor activities, indoor location-based service has expanded. Due to the complicated internal passages of large public buildings and the three-dimensional interlacing, it is difficult for users to quickly reach the destination, the demand of indoor paths visualization increases. Isikdag (2013), Zhang Shaoping (2017), Huang Kejia (2018) provided navigation services for users based on path planning algorithm. In terms of indoor path visualization, Nossum (2011) proposed a "Tubes" map design method, which superimposed the channel information of different floors on the same plane by simplifying the indoor corridor and the room. Lorenz et al (2013) focused on map perspective (2D/3D) and landmarks, developed and investigated cartographic methods for effective route guidance in indoor environments. Holscher et al (2007) emphasized using the landmark objects at the important decision points of the route in indoor map design. The existing studies mainly focused on two-dimensional plane to visualize the indoor path, lacking the analysis of three-dimensional connectivity in indoor space, which makes the intuitiveness and interactivity of path visualization greatly compromised. Therefore, it is difficult to satisfy the wayfinding requirements of the indoor multi-layer continuous space. In order to solve this problem, this paper aims to study the characteristics of the indoor environment and propose a path visualization method. The following questions are addressed in this study: 1) What are the key characteristics of the indoor environment compared to the outdoor space? 2) How to visualize the indoor paths to satisfy the users' wayfinding needs?


It is established in the in vitro experiments that the interaction of natural C27-sterols: cholesterol, 7-dehydrocholesterol, cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), calcitriol (1 alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3), ecdysterone (20-hydroxyecdysone) and 2-deoxyecdysterone modulate both lipid and protein phases of human erythrocyte membrane at the concentration range 10(-6)-10(-12) M. These effects depend on the sterols concentration and on the number and position of hydroxy groups in the sterol molecules.


In order to predict the effect of chemotherapeutic agents on the hematopoietic progenitor compartment, it is necessary to have a hypothesis concerning the dynamics of the cells within the compartment. By viewing this compartment as a continuum of cells with varying self-renewal capacity, one can assess the significance of the stem cell damage incurred following a single drug dose. Vinblastine, 5-fluorouracil, cyclophosphamide, busulfan, and 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU) were investigated. The acute toxicity of the drug-exposed marrow was studied by the colony-forming units-spleen (CFU-S) and agar diffusion chamber assay. Busulfan and BCNU were found to kill CFU-S preferentially. By following CFU-S recovery for 14 days post drug, different recovery patterns are noted. Busulfan and BCNU produce prolonged depression in CFU-S, whereas cyclophosphamide and 5-fluorouracil show relatively rapid recovery. If one determines the Rs (a measure of proliferative capacity) after drug, busulfan and, to a lesser extent, BCNU produce a prolonged depression without return to normal even 650 days post drug. No such depression is noted with the other drugs. The data from the recovery curves and Rs support the notion of stem cells being heterogeneous with regard to self-renewal capacity. The agar diffusion chamber and CFU-S acute survival curves would not have predicted which drugs cause significant proliferative damage. Only with the use of CFU-S recovery and ratio of CFU-S can prolonged marrow damage be ascertained.


The expression of apurinic/apyrimidinic exonuclease 1 (APEX1) in tumors has been linked with chemoresistance, radioresistance, and shorter patient survival times. We sought to gain insight into the role of APEX1 in human osteosarcoma by evaluation of gene copy number alterations and its protein expression in osteosarcoma patients treated at the Sarcoma Center of Tianjin Cancer Hospital (Tianjin, China). To evaluate the gene copy number alterations of APEX1, we acquired 10 fresh tissue samples from 9 patients and performed whole-genome array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH). We next acquired formalin-fixed and paraffin embedded tissues from 57 well-annotated osteosarcoma cases and performed immunohistochemical analyses for APEX1. APEX1 gene amplification was observed in 50% (5/10) of the osteosarcoma samples. The overexpression of APEX1 protein was detected in 64.9% (37/57) of the osteosarcomas ranging from negative (35.1%, 20/57), weakly positive (35.1%, 20/57), moderate (14%, 8/57) and strongly positive (15.8%, 9/57). The APEX1 expression had significant correlation with osteosarcoma local recurrence and/or metastasis. Moreover, multivariate analysis showed that APEX1 expression was an independent molecular predictor for disease-free survival of patients with osteosarcomas. Our study for the first time showed that APEX1 gene was amplified in osteosarcomas and that APEX1 expression was an independent predictor of the osteosarcoma local recurrence and/or metastasis. Thus, APEX1 may serve as a prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target for osteosarcoma.


Numerical analyses for pressure drop and heat transfer in the flow channels of a printed circuit heat exchanger have been performed numerically. Three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations have been solved in conjunction with the shear stress transport model as a turbulence closure. The numerical solutions are validated with the available experimental results of the reference shape. The effects of two design parameters, namely, the channel angle and the ellipse aspect ratio of the cold channel, on the heat transfer and the friction performance have been evaluated.© 2011 ASME


Recent theoretical studies have shown that circular patch antennas loaded by an inhomogeneous substrate partially filled with a mu-negative (MNG) metamaterial may in principle support a resonant radiating mode, even if the total size of the radiator is significantly smaller than the wavelength of operation. In those theoretical analyses, MNG metamaterials have been assumed as continuous, isotropic and readily available materials, characterized by a proper dispersion in frequency and by inherent ohmic losses. The fabrication of such compact antennas, however, would require the major effort of designing proper subwavelength inclusions that realize the MNG behavior of the substrate, and consequently a careful design of their geometry, location and orientation. The fabrication of a fully isotropic MNG sample to reside underneath the sub-wavelength patch, moreover, may be challenging with the current technological limitations. In this paper, we first show that the proposed sub-wavelength radiator may operate even when the fabricated MNG sample is not isotropic, due to the specific polarization of the magnetic field in the MNG region. Then, we propose a complete design of the magnetic inclusions, presenting full-wave numerical simulations of the structure, which effectively supports the expected resonant mode, despite the small size of the antenna. The comparisons among analytical results of the patch loaded by: (a) the ideal MNG sample applying a simple cavity model; (b) full-wave numerical simulations of the same antenna considering the presence of the feed; and (c) full-wave numerical simulations of the antenna loaded by the proposed magnetic inclusions, show how our design effectively simulate the presence of an MNG sample, allowing the realistic design of a sub-wavelength metamaterial patch antenna with satisfactory matching and radiating features. This may open up new venues in the realization of efficient metamaterial radiating components for practical purposes.


Interest in international property investment can be traced back to the early 1970s with the collapse of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system, the oil price shock of 1973 and the need to recycle petroleum wealth, all of which marked a sea-change in the global economy (Worzala, 1994: Lizieri and Finlay, 1995). Financial deregulation introduced in many countries during the 1980s subsequently resulted in the removal of many barriers to international investment. Increasing international investment has also been stimulated by the globalisation of economic activity, mainly through liberalisation and advances in information and communications technologies. The development of electronic information technologies gives support to the integration of financial centres. London, New York and Tokyo have emerged as the major world centres with a number of secondary centres acting as co-ordinating nodes in the network of capital flow (Lizieri and Plamer, 1992). Although the insurance and pension industries remain primarily domestic, as they globalise, institutions with liabilities in several countries will need assets in these countries to match them.


Drop-weight tests and static loading tests of RC frames made of polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete are conducted to observe shock resistance performance and residual ductility. Experimental variables are fiber content and mass of the drop weight. In the impact test, the maximum drifts of the specimens are proportional to the mass of the drop weight although several collisions occur due to rebounding and the maximum acceleration is not always increased as the mass increases. In a static loading test, the initial stiffness is improved and crack lengths in the hinge areas of the columns are reduced by mixing the polypropylene fibers.


BACKGROUND
Glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid. Endogenous biosynthesis may be insufficient for tissue needs in states of metabolic stress. Evidence exists that glutamine supplementation improves clinical outcomes in critically ill adults. It has been suggested that glutamine supplementation may also benefit preterm infants.

OBJECTIVES
To determine the effects of glutamine supplementation on mortality and morbidity in preterm infants.

SEARCH METHODS
We used the standard search strategy of the Cochrane Neonatal Review Group. This included searches of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library, 2011, Issue 4), MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL (to November 2011), conference proceedings and previous reviews.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials that compared glutamine supplementation versus no glutamine supplementation in preterm infants at any time from birth to discharge from hospital.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We extracted data using the standard methods of the Cochrane Neonatal Review Group, with separate evaluation of trial quality and data extraction by two review authors. We synthesised data using a fixed-effect model and reported typical relative risk, typical risk difference and weighted mean difference.

MAIN RESULTS
We identified 11 randomised controlled trials in which a total of 2771 preterm infants participated. Five trials assessed enteral glutamine supplementation and six trials assessed parenteral glutamine supplementation. The trials were generally of good methodological quality. Meta-analysis did not detect a statistically significant effect of glutamine supplementation on mortality [typical relative risk 0.98 (95% confidence interval 0.80 to 1.18); risk difference 0.00 (95% confidence interval -0.03 to 0.02)] or major neonatal morbidities including the incidence of invasive infection or necrotising enterocolitis. Two trials that assessed neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 to 24 months did not find any statistically significant differences in various assessments.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
The available trial data do not provide evidence that glutamine supplementation confers important benefits for preterm infants.


We consider the problem of multiple description (MD) coding for stationary sources with the squared error distortion measure. The MD rate region is derived for the stationary and ergodic Gaussian sources, and is shown to be achievable with a practical transform lattice quantization scheme. Moreover, the proposed scheme is asymptotically optimal at high resolution for all stationary sources with finite differential entropy rate


In June 2003 the Reserve Bank published an inflation calculator ("the Calculator") on its website. This application enables interested users to calculate the effect of inflation on a "basket" of goods and services between two dates selected by the user. The Calculator has attracted significant attention, and well over 20,000 "hits" were recorded on the Calculator's home page during 2004. Links to the Calculator were established on a number of financial, educational and government websites, including Statistics New Zealand and the official New Zealand government historical site. This article documents an extension to the Calculator, enabling it to provide estimates of purchasing power back to 1862.


The nano-scale Cu2O-TiO2 couple oxide photocatalyst was successfully synthesized by the homogeneous hydrolysation, followed by the solvothermal crystallization and ethylene glycol-thermal reduction process, respectively. The obtained photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), showing that the crystal phase composition and the crystal size of the prepared photocatalyst were affected by the ethylene glycol-thermal reduction temperature. The photocatalytic activity of Cu2O-TiO2 was also evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange (MO) as a model compound. The results showed that the prepared Cu2O-TiO2 exhibited higher photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of MO than the pure Cu2O and the commercial Degussa P25 TiO2 under visible light irradiation.


Iron oxide red is one of the important iron oxide pigments. Domestic iron oxide red will be shading and darkening when calcination temperature is above 800°C. In addition to it possess strong absorption of ultraviolet and can not be resistant to strong acids. In order to improve the above disadvantages, the α-Fe2O3/SiO2 core–shell particles were synthesized with hydrolysis of sodium silicate as silica source by the way of heterogeneous phase coring precipitation in the Fe2O3 suspending liquid. The surface structure of these composite particles was characterized by means of IR, XRD and TG-DTA. The heat resistance, acid resistance and anti-UV absorption capacity of Fe2O3 particles before and after modification were analyzed via X-rite color difference meter and Ultraviolet Spectrometer. Results showed that the heat resistance, acid resistance and anti-UV absorption capacity are improved significantly because of SiO2 coat.


The newborn screening for congenital hypothyroidism (CR) started in the West in the sixties. The guidelines for screening were introduced in the majority of western countries some 30 years ago and were adapted in 1997 by the World Health
Organization. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) started newborn screening for CH in 1998 and was considered one of the leading countries in the Middle East to apply this programme nationwide. Before newborn screening for CH in the UAE, little was known about the epidemiology of the disease in this part of the world which shares the same epidemiological pattern of the Gulf region and the Middle East This nationwide study investigated the epidemiological pattern of CH in the UAE in terms of assessment of biological and environmental components and their significance in the relatively increased incidence of the disease in this community compared to the worldwide incidence (1:30004000). This study employed radioimmunoassay technique used by the newborn screening programme to measure the capillary Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSR) for all newborns at the week of age. In addition, chemical and radiological techniques were employed to screen for positive cases.
Firstly, cases detected have been studied in terms of prevalence of the disease in the UAE in relation to other parts of the world and the definition of the epidemiological components and its association to the prevalence of the disease. The study included the investigation of the genotypic pattern of congenital hypothyroidism in the UAE among certain cases with familial dyshormonogesis phenotype. The results show high incidence of the disease compared to the worldwide incidence and also it showed a specific epidemiological pattern. Secondly, the study employed the data obtained in newborn screening for CH in a longitudinal study of TSR pattern of the population and its use to monitor the iodine uptake of this population. This part of study also studied other important implications of the TSR pattern which included the TSR surge and the prevalence of sub clinical cases in which TSH is the main monitor.Thirdly, the study evaluated the controversial issues in the newborn screening programme in the preanalytic and post-analytic phases of the programme. The role of incorporation of the pre and post analytical quality control of the programme in reduction of the morbidity of the disease. Nevertheless, this study provides an overview for the epidemiological pattern of congenital hypothyroidism in the UAE and forms a basic epidemiologic background for further detailed studies that would focus on the clinical aspect and prognostic outcome of the disease. It may be concluded that the clinical picture of congenital hypothyroidism has changed dramatically since newborn screening was instituted in the UAE. Population-based registers and linked-databases can provide very useful information for evaluating screening programmes, and extending current knowledge of the epidemiology of congenital hypothyroidism. This is the first epidemiological study of CH in the UAE in which data from population-based registries were linked, the epidemiologic patterns and associated factors are more representative. The study delineates the significantly increased incidence of congenital hypothyroidism compared to the universal incidence and the clear correlation of this incidence with certain risk
factors. Some of these are local which pertain to this area of the world and end in constituting this specific epidemiological pattern.


Breeding success in sympatric mallard Anas platyrhynchos, teal A. crecca and wigeon A. penelope in a boreal watershed in Finland was studied for 12 years. Benthic and surface-emerging prey animals were trapped to obtain annual indices of food abundance. Mallard and teal were equally abundant over the years, being roughly twice as numerous as wigeon. Pair density, brood:pair ratio and duckling:pair ratio were used to test the hypothesis that per capita breeding success decreases in a density-dependent fashion as either pair density or the number of nesting pairs per available food unit increases. In mallard we found no density-dependent patterns at all. In teal per capita brood production decreased as prey animals became relatively scarcer, but this interpretation may not be robust. In wigeon, however, there were two independent significant patterns of direct density-dependence in a temporal succession, i.e. between pair density and per capita brood production in the early part of the breeding season, and then between per capita abundance of surface-emerging insect prey and the number of ducklings per pair. Despite wide dietary overlap and frequent co-occurrence on single lakes among species in the guild, we found no evidence for interspecific density-dependent effects. We hypothesize that there is no or infrequent food limitation for breeding dabblers in this system, and that behavior may be the process behind the pattern of density-dependence in wigeon.


Analysis and assessment of the elements of certain Community policies that impact on the competitiveness of the construction sector Within the framework of the Lisbon Strategy, the Commission launched a sector-specific study in late 2005 to identify which elements of Community policies impact on the competitiveness of the construction sector.In coordination with the Commission and the construction industry, the major Community policies, measures and instruments to be included[1] were determined. Following on from this, the study team carryied out a comprehensive and structured analysis of the impact that these measures and their implementation might have on the competitiveness of the construction sector.Based on the impact analysis, the team also determined and indicated the potential for improving the relevant Community provisions while maintaining the policy goals. The final report includes suggestions for practical steps for improvement. This report should constitute a basis for further discussions within the Commission, Member States, the industry and other concerned parties on the operational steps to be taken.The contract to carry out the study was awarded to:The University of ManchesterOxford RoadManchester M13 9PL United KingdomFor this study, the University of Manchester was supported by a consortium of four institutions from other Member states (Athens University of Economics and Business, Centre Scientifique et Technique du B??timent - Paris, Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden and the ASM Market Research and Analysis Centre in Kutno, Poland). The partner organisations, drawn from Member States with a variety of institutional and structural arrangements, provided insight into the impact of policies in their respective countries and helped the study team to provide a reliable view of the overall impact of policies across the EU.An interim report was submitted to the Commission in late April 2006, explaining the strategy used and indicating a detailed implementation programme. Following the presentation of the draft Final Report at the end of September, the Commission organised a one-day evaluation and validation workshop in October 2006 to present the results of the study and ask for the views of stakeholders. The report has now been finalised:


Background While cluster A personality disorders (PDs) have been shown to be moderately heritable, we know little about the temporal stability of these genetic risk factors. Method Paranoid PD (PPD) and schizotypal PD (STPD) were assessed using the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality in 2793 young adult twins from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health Twin Panel at wave 1 and 2282 twins on average 10 years later at wave 2. Using the program Mx, we fitted a longitudinal latent factor model using the number of endorsed criteria for PPD and STPD. Results The stability over time of the criteria counts for PPD and STPD, estimated as polychoric correlations, were +0.34 and +0.40, respectively. The best-fit longitudinal model included only additive genetic and individual-specific environmental factors with parameter estimates constrained to equality across the two waves. The cross-wave genetic and individual-specific environmental correlations for a latent cluster A factor were estimated to equal +1.00 and +0.13, respectively. The cross-time correlations for genetic and environmental effects specific to the individual PDs were estimated at +1.00 and +0.16–0.20, respectively. We found that 68% and 71% of the temporal stability of PPD and STPD derived, respectively, from the effect of genetic factors. Conclusion Shared genetic risk factors for two of the cluster A PDs are highly stable in adults over a 10-year period while environmental risk factors are relatively transient. Over two-thirds of the long-term stability of the common cluster A PD liability can be attributed to genetic influences.


In a paper published in 1939, Albert Einstein argued that Black Holes (BHs) did not exist "in the real world". However, recent astronomical observations indicate otherwise. Does this mean that we should also expect White Holes (WHs) to exist in the real world? In classical General Relativity (GR), a WH refers to the time reversed version of a collapsing BH solution that allows the crossing of the BH event horizon inside out. Such solution has been disputed as not possible because escaping an event horizon violates causality. Despite such objections, the Big Bang model is often understood as a WH (the reverse of a BH collapse). Does this mean that the Big Bang breaks causality? Recent measurements of cosmic acceleration indicate that our Big Bang solution is not really a WH, but a BH. Events decelerate when the expansion accelerates and this prevents the crossing of the event horizon from inside out. We present a general explanation of why this happens; the explanation resolves the above causality puzzle and indicates that such apparent WH solutions have a regular Schwarzschild BH exterior.


ABSTRACT Stwdents have little intuitive insight into the process of thinkiny and structuring ideas. The image of metaphor for a phenomenon acts,as a kind of methodology for the study of the phenomenon by (1) defining the key issues or problems: (2) shaping the type of research questions that are asked: (3) defining the type of data that are searched out: (4) shaping the language in which the problem and results are expressed: (5) determining the procedures that are used to examine and collect data: and (6) determining what problems, questions, data, and procedures are ignored. For example, the most common metaphor for a medium is that it is a kind of "conveyor belt." The medium is seen as a passive delivery system of important messages. A very lifferent metaphor for a medium is that it is a "language, that is, a specific way of encoding a message. This leads to the analysis of production variables or a study of the expressive potential of the particular medium. In television and film such variables as shot' selection, choice of lens, camera angles, and so on can be studied to see how they affect perception and interpretation of the content. A third possible metaphor in media research is "environment. The medium is seen as a type of social context or social situation that includes and excludes participants. The use of metaphors is one way to start students thinking about thinking before they fully realize it. (HOD)


Using water jets in orthopedic surgery to drill holes in bones can be beneficial due to the absence of thermal damage and the always sharp cut. To minimize operating time and the volume of water that is used, the efficiency (volume of removed bone per added volume of water) of the water jet should be maximized. The goal was to study the effect of the open trabecular bone structure on the efficiency for different water jet diameters. 86 holes were drilled in porcine tali and femora submerged in water with nozzles of 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6mm at 70MPa during 5 s and a standoff distance of 8 mm. MicroCT scans were made to measure the removed bone volume and the bone structural properties Trabecular Spacing (Tb.Sp.), Trabecular Thickness (Tb.Sp.) and Bone Volume Fraction (BV/TV). Pearson's correlation tests (p < 0.05, 95% confidence interval) were performed for each water jet diameter using the bone structural property as an independent factor and the efficiency as a dependent factor. No significant differences were found between the nozzle diameters in the material removal rates per added volume of water. The efficiency decreased for an increase in Tb.Th. and BV/TV for nozzles of 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 mm. The 0.6mm nozzle showed less influence of the Tb.Th. and BV/TV. The Tb.Sp. has no influence on the efficiency of a water jet. The total volume of added water combined with the Tb.Th. or BV/TV is a leading measure for the volume of bone material that is removed, which provides freedom in the development of water jet instruments as the nozzle diameter, pressure and jet time can be chosen in accordance to the maximum operating time requirements or dimensional limitations of a design.


Geometrical image accuracy in radiosurgical treatment planning is of paramount importance. Several reports have suggested that magnetic susceptibility artifacts may cause spatial distortion in MR images. We have performed a systematic evaluation of the spatial accuracy of MR images relative to X-ray CT. Sections of a 5 French angiography catheter cut to a length of 5 mm and filled with a CuSO/sub 4/ solution were used in a common CT/MR phantom; additional markers were attached to the head ring of stereotactic patients. These markers, as well as anatomical structures, were identified on multiple CT and fused and non-fused axial and coronal MR slices. Two commercial radiosurgery treatment planning systems were used to perform the image fusion; one system allows manual manipulation based on visual queues. The lateral, anterior/posterior (AP), and axial (vertical) coordinates of the center-of-mass of the fiducial markers and internal anatomical landmarks were subsequently recorded. The deviation of fused and non-fused MR relative to CT was determined in each of the three principle directions. In analyzing any random or systematic displacement, both the true mean, including negative values as well as positive, and the mean of the absolute deviation were calculated. The 3D displacement, computed as [x/sup 2/+y/sup 2/+z/sup 2/]/sup 1/2/, was also recorded. While lateral or axial deviations were observed to be essentially random, results suggest a systematic shift in the AP dimension (posteriorally), corresponding to the frequency encoding direction on axial MR images. A comparison of fused and non-fused MR image sets suggests that image fusion can reduce this posterior shift.


This paper undertakes an ex ante economic analysis of research on how resistance to trypanosomosis- a dominant livestock disease in Africa- can be maintained and enhanced while retaining and reinforcing characteristics of economic importance to farmers, and on how 'trypanotolerance' can be imparted to susceptible animals while retaining their other important traits. The results indicate that potential benefits to research - historically field-based but increasingly biotechnology-driven - range from two to nine times potential costs and that the internal rate of return on investments can be six times the real interest rate. Field-based research, while exhibiting lower potential benefits on aggregate than does biotechnology research, is also less costly and, because of its more immediate payback, has higher internal rates of return. Returns to biotechnology research hinge on close links with field-based research and on strategic but relatively small incremental human and capital investments. The results also suggest that further research is needed to consistently identify and track the impacts of alternative intellectual property rights (IPRs) options on the levels and distributions of biotechnology research benefits. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


Schwarz showed that when a closed symplectic manifold (M,ω) is symplectically aspherical (i.e. the symplectic form and the first Chern class vanish on π2(M)) then the spectral invariants, which are initially defined on the universal cover of the Hamiltonian group, descend to the Hamiltonian group Ham(M,ω). In this note we describe less stringent conditions on the Chern class and quantum homology of M under which the (asymptotic) spectral invariants descend to Ham(M,ω). For example, they descend if the quantum multiplication of M is undeformed and H2(M) has rank > 1, or if the minimal Chern number is at least n+ 1 (where dimM = 2n) and the even cohomology of M is generated by divisors. The proofs are based on certain calculations of genus zero Gromov–Witten invariants. As an application, we show that the Hamiltonian group of the one point blow up of T 4 admits a Calabi quasimorphism. Moreover, whenever the (asymptotic) spectral invariants descend it is easy to see that Ham(M,ω) has infinite diameter in the Hofer norm. Hence our results establish the infinite diameter of Ham in many new cases. We also show that the area pseudonorm — a geometric version of the Hofer norm — is nontrivial on the (compactly supported) Hamiltonian group for all noncompact manifolds as well as for a large class of closed manifolds.


Spontaneously hypertensive rats and Kyoto Wistar normotensive rats were compared with respect to calcium fluxes in aortic strips, membrane phosphorylation and calcium uptake by microsomes, and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase activity in tissue extracts of aorta. The aortic strips of hypertensive rats accumulated more 45Ca than those of normotensive animals. The calcium content of the aorta increased with age of the animals from 30 days to 1 year and was consistently higher in hypertensive than in normotensive rats. Calcium uptake by the aortic microsomes was significantly decreased in hypertensive ( p < 0.05) compared with normotensive rats in the presence and absence of 1 µM cyclic AMP, as was cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation of microsomes. Cyclic AMP-dependent and -independent protein kinase activity in the 27,000 x g supernatant of the aortas of 12-16-week-old hypertensive rats was reduced by 42% and 34%, respectively, using histone as a substrate. Differences both in calcium uptake by microsomes treated with cyclic AMP and in cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase activity in the tissue extracts were evident at 30 days of age. These observations reflect the importance of impaired membrane phosphorylation in the pathogenesis of hypertension.


DNA & RNA Beginner 2 hours Course overview Genetic variation is fundamental to the evolution of all species and is what makes us individuals. Our genes have a large influence on our lives. They affect what we look like, our personalities and preferences and our susceptibility to disease. By studying genetic variation we hope to understand the molecular process that contribute to life on earth. The study of genetic variation has been used to model human migration, understand the cause of human diseases, and to predict disease outcomes. This is part II of our course on human genetic variation. We will and learn how to explore publicly available genetic variation data. Prior to part II of this course Part I of the course [9] introduces some key concepts in the field of human genetic variation including the types and possible effects of genetic variation, data formats and look common genetic variation study types. If you are new to the field we recommend that you work through part I of this course first. The courses focus on heritable (germline) variation and will give you a taste of the resources you can use to explore genetic variation data.


This study was performed on females of the Kangal Breed (Turkish Anatolian Shepherd Dog) with the aim of determining the relationship between the stages of the sexual cycle and vaginal flora. The stages of the cycle in Kangal bitches (n= 16) were determined by performing vaginoscopic, vaginal cytologic and ultrasonographic checks at regular intervals and examining vaginal swab samples bacteriologically. The swab samples were inoculated onto 7% sheep blood agar and incubated for 18-24 h at 37 oC and total counts of the resulting colonies were evaluated. In addition, inoculations were made onto 7% sheep blood agar, PPLO agar, Columbia agar and Brucella agar with serum and incubated in a 10% CO2 environment at 37 oC and onto Saboraud dextrose agar, and these were incubated at room temperature and the resulting colonies identified. In all stages of to cycle E. coli and also Streptococci, were isolated, except in the pregnancy period. It was determined that b-haemolytic streptococci grew at the estrus and early metestrus stages while a-haemolytic streptococci grew at other stages of the cycle. Staphylococci were not found at the pre-proestrus and estrus stages, whereas they were isolated in various percentages from samples taken at the other stages. At the stages following the end of estrus, Citrobacter, Flavobacter and Proteus spp. were isolated in different percentages. Enterobacter, Acinetobacter and Neisseria spp. were isolated at different stages of estrus, Pasteurella spp. at late estrus and Shigella spp. as well as yeast in the pre-proestrus periods. While the E. coli was grown at a rate of 76.9% from the samples from breeding bitches, the coincidence rates of s-haemolytic streptococci, a-haemolytic streptococci as well as S. aureus were determined to be 15.4%, 15.4% and 38.5%, respectively. Pasteurella, Neisseria and S. epidermidis levels were the same; 7.7%. It was observed that, E. coli appeared at a level of 100% in all the non-pregnant bitches, and E. coli alone was isolated at a level of 75%. Similarly E. coli appeared in six of the bitches that became pregnant (66.7%) and E. coli was isolated alone from half of these samples (50%). As a result it was observed that some of the bacterial components comprising the vaginal flora were present at every stage of the sexual cycle, while some were absent at particular stages; bacteria could grow at the estrus stage in the vagina without influencing the outcome of the pregnancy.


There is much experimental evidence to suggest that eosinophils are important in resistance to parasitic infection. We tested this hypothesis by treating guinea-pigs with rabbit anti-eosinophil serum (AES) and determining the effect of treatment on susceptibility and acquired immunity to Trichostrongylus colubriformis. The treatment markedly reduced the number of eosinophils in peripheral blood and in the small intestine. The number of T. colubriformis present after initial infection and after a second infection was determined in animals treated with AES and in control animals. Administration of AES to guinea-pigs significantly increased the susceptibility of the animals to initial infection with T. colubriformis larvae; the number of worms recovered was nearly doubled. Similarly- administration of AES resulted in a significant diminution of acquired immunity to a secondary infection. These results are consistent with the view that eoxinophils are important in susceptibility and acquired immunity to infection with T. colubriformis in the guinea-pig. Because T. colubriformis infection is confined to the intestinal tract, our results also suggest that eosinophils may be involved in resistance to parasites at the level of the intestinal mucosa.


Learning depends on many internal and external conditions and it is not only a function of memory. Learning requires, above all, motivational, in other words, success in learning depends on factors that excitability and response to stimulus (involvement), the intensity of learning, availability for learning, learning awareness.
Adults will be motivated in learning tasks when they perceive that the result will bring satisfaction to one or more of their basic human needs: security, acceptance, respect, power, health, status, training, discovery,achievement, self-esteem, etc. Some people are motivated by monetary reward, providing benefits and titles, recognition. These rewards are called extrinsic motivators; although they are important, but they do not meet all human needs. In fact, often they only lead to short-term results and behavioral changes. To ensure a long-term motivation, teachers need to create a learning climate so that all needs are met. Such a work atmosphere will lead to intrinsic motivation, so they will be motivated by their own internal mechanisms.
At the end of the paper it is presented a research on a group of 24 subjects. This is a checklist on motivational factors involved in adult learning. Why teach adults? What is their motivation to learn? There are differences in the motivation of male and female subjects? A conclusion of this study is presented here: While women are motivated more by security, house, money, comfort, balance, men are motivated primarily by career development goals, social life. To the women they come only after being satisfied necessity security.


GATT Dispute Settlement Reports compiles all dispute settlement reports issued under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1947), including its Tokyo Round plurilateral codes, from 1948 to 1995. This compilation includes both adopted and unadopted reports.The GATT documents containing the reports are reproduced in English in their original form and without any modifications. They are presented in chronological order based on the initiation date of the dispute, with each case identified by a unique GATT dispute (GD) number. A cover page for each dispute provides the report's adoption status, the date it was issued and any GATT or WTO disputes directly related to the dispute in question. At the end of each volume, there is a list of all GATT dispute settlement reports contained within the series, with references to the relevant volume and page numbers.


Introduction: Covering of skin defects in the foot region endures a significant challenge because of the anatomical characteristics of soft tissue. This research estimated the initial results of reconstruction of foot skin defects using lateral supramalleolar flap.

Methods: This is a prospective observational study conducted from Dec 2017 to Dec 2021 at the Hospital for Traumatology and Orthopaedics, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Gathered information about demography, etiology, size of skin defect, size of flap, time of surgery, and post operation data. Using Stata 16.0 to analize data.

Results: Patients in this research included 21 males and 6 females. The mean age was 42 (ranging from 15 to 68) years. The range of size of skin defects was from 9 to 80 cm2. The success rate was 89%. Twenty-three cases had covered uneventful, and partial flap necrosis occurred in 4 cases (in which three patients were treated by skin graft later and one case got minor surgery suturing).

Conclusions: Foot skin defects can be covered with good results by using the lateral supramalleolar flap nourishing by the dorsal vessels anastomosis with the peroneal artery.


Abstract. Fully convolutional neural networks (FCN) are successfully used for the automated pixel-wise classification of aerial images and possibly additional data. However, they require many labelled training samples to perform well. One approach addressing this issue is semi-supervised domain adaptation (SSDA). Here, labelled training samples from a source domain and unlabelled samples from a target domain are used jointly to obtain a target domain classifier, without requiring any labelled samples from the target domain. In this paper, a two-step approach for SSDA is proposed. The first step corresponds to a supervised training on the source domain, making use of strong data augmentation to increase the initial performance on the target domain. Secondly, the model is adapted by entropy minimization using a novel weighting strategy. The approach is evaluated on the basis of five domains, corresponding to five cities. Several training variants and adaptation scenarios are tested, indicating that proper data augmentation can already improve the initial target domain performance significantly resulting in an average overall accuracy of 77.5%. The weighted entropy minimization improves the overall accuracy on the target domains in 19 out of 20 scenarios on average by 1.8%. In all experiments a novel FCN architecture is used that yields results comparable to those of the best-performing models on the ISPRS labelling challenge while having an order of magnitude fewer parameters than commonly used FCNs.


New stands of Paramecium tredecaurelia , a rare species of the P. aurelia spp. complex, were identified in Thailand and Madagascar on the basis of mating reactions and molecular markers (rDNA and mtDNA). Analysis of DNA fragments showed that all P. tredecaurelia strains, the recently recorded ones and the ones known previously from France, Mexico, and Israel, form a monophyletic and well-defined clade in the P. aurelia species trees. All of these strains, collected from different localities around the world, represent identical or nearly identical haplotypes in terms of all the studied DNA fragments. Given the huge distances between particular collection sites, such a low level of variability of the studied sequences may result from a slow rate of evolution in P. tredecaurelia .


Two different classifiers, an artificial neural network (ANN) and a hybrid system (one step rule-based method followed by an artificial neural network) have been investigated to merge computer-extracted features in the task of differentiating between malignant and benign masses. A database consisting of 65 cases (38 malignant and 26 benign) was used in the study. A total of four computer-extracted features - spiculation, margin sharpness and two density-related measures - was used to characterize these masses. Results from our previous study showed that the hybrid system performed better than the ANN classifier. In our current study, to understand the difference between the two classifiers, we investigated their learning and decision-making processes by studying the relationships between the input features and the outputs. A correlation study showed that the outputs from the ANN-alone method correlated strongly with one of the input features (spiculation), yielding a correlation coefficient of 0.91, whereas the correlation coefficients (absolute value) for the other features ranged from 0.19 to 0.40. This strong correlation between the ANN output and spiculation measure indicates that the learning and decision-making processes of the ANN-alone method were dominated by the spiculation measure. Three-dimensional plots of the computer output as functions of the input features demonstrate that the ANN-alone method did not learn as effectively as the hybrid system in differentiating non-spiculated malignant masses from benign masses, thus resulting in an inferior performance at the high sensitivity levels. We found that with a limited database it is detrimental for an ANN to learn the significance of other features in the presence of a dominant feature. The hybrid system, which initially applied a rule concerning the value of the spiculation measure prior to employing an ANN, prevents over-learning from the dominant feature and performed better than the ANN-alone method in merging the computer-extracted features into a correct diagnosis regarding the malignancy of the masses.


The legends of the kratt or the treasure-bearer have existed in lively oral tradition in Estonian culture for a very long time. These myths and legends have traversed from the oral tradition to literary works, visual culture and music. All these texts on the kratt exist in the culture as metatexts which create the world of the kratt, where different cultural memories and interpretations are intertwined. This means that the kratt as a cultural text is also a multimedial text. Different media use different tools and this makes the interpretations more playful and interesting. Andrus Kivirahk's novel "Old Barnyor November" (2000) is the central literary work on the kratt in contemporary Estonian literature. Kivirahk combines the mythical kratt with Old Barny (Rehepapp), who is the unofficial leader of the village and a cunning manor house barn-keeper. There are several cultural texts based on Kivirahk's novel, but the most important are the opera "Old Barny" (2013) by Tauno Aints, the libretto by Urmas Lennuk, and the film "November" (2016) by Rainer Sarnet. The ballet "Kratt" (1943; 2015) by Eduard Tubin is more contemporary inits setting and represents everyday life in the modern factory. The article analyses how different multimedial texts about the kratt and Old Barny use and combine multimedia to create and convey thesocial meaning of the kratt, and how multimedia use audio-visual poetics to convey a greater number of emotions and aesthetic values in the cultural text. The film by Rainer Sarnet and the ballet by Eduard Tubin represent harmony with different poetics factors and the meanings of the cultural texts. Keywords folklore and literature, multimediality, transmediality, identity


Theoretical and practical knowledge of the important role of social influence tactics as a managerial tool used by system implementers to persuade individuals to make use of an information system (IS) is very limited. I integrate elements from the theory of interpersonal influence and leadership with the theory of attitude change and innovation implementation to investigate the role of various leadership tactics that could be used in IS implementations to persuade physicians to use EMR in large hospitals. I define three types of behavioral responses to IS implementations: compliance, commitment and resistance. I show how different leadership tactics could be used during IS implementations in order to impact behavioral change (foster compliant or committed use) and avoid resistance. I propose hypotheses to investigate direct and interaction effects of these tactics on EMR implementation effectiveness. This research contributes to the IS field by "doing IT research that matters."


Rickettsia prowazekii Madrid E established persistent infections in cultures of growing L-929 cells. Although some L-929 cells died, the cultures survived, remained infected with rickettsiae, and continued to grow. R. prowazekii Madrid E also induced interferon in L-929 cell cultures, and this interferon modulated rickettsial growth. Production of interferon (anti-viral activity) by cultures of R. prowazekii-infected L-929 cells was directly related to the initial rickettsial infection and was blocked by erythromycin. The media collected from R. prowazekii-infected L-929 cells suppressed not only the replication of vesicular stomatitis virus but also the growth of R. prowazekii in fresh L-929 cells. Both anti-viral and anti-rickettsial activities in the media were neutralized by antibodies against murine interferons-alpha and -beta, but not by antibodies against murine interferon-gamma. In addition, a commercial preparation of virus-induced interferons-alpha and -beta also suppressed rickettsial growth in L-929 cells. The combination of treating L-929 cells with this virus-induced interferon and infecting them with R. prowazekii killed some of the L-929 cells.


Prototrophic recombinants and heterocaryotic colonies developed at high frequency when protoplasts of nutritionally complementary actinomycin-producing and nonproducing strains of Streptomyces antibioticus were fused in the presence of polyethylene glycol and plated on minimal regeneration medium. Of the spores obtained from aerial hyphae of a single heterocaryotic colony, 99% carried the act+ character regardless of whether the nutritional markers of the spore were derived from the act+ or the act parent. Similarly, a high-frequency transfer (68% in S. antibioticus, 48% in Streptomyces parvulus) of act+ determinant(s) to act was achieved by protoplast fusion. Protoplasts of a doubly auxotrophic act strain of S. parvulus were efficiently transformed in the presence of polyethylene glycol with respect to the auxotrophic markers by DNA of an act+ auxotrophic strain with complementary nutritional requirements. The transformation frequency of the nutritional (chromosomal) markers was 17%. In contrast, the transformation frequency for actinomycin synthesis was less than 1%.


OBJECTIVES
Falls represent an increasingly frequent source of injury among older adults. Identification of fall risk factors in geriatric patients may permit the effective utilization of scarce preventative resources. The objective of this study was to identify independent risk factors associated with an increased 6-month fall risk in community-dwelling older adults discharged from the emergency department (ED).

METHODS
This was a prospective observational study with a convenience sampling of noninstitutionalized elders presenting to an urban teaching hospital ED who did not require hospital admission. Interviews were conducted to determine the presence of fall risk factors previously described in non-ED populations. Subjects were followed monthly for 6 months through postcard or telephone contact to identify subsequent falls. Univariate and Cox regression analysis were used to determine the association of risk factors with 6-month fall incidence.

RESULTS
A total of 263 patients completed the survey, and 161 (61%) completed the entire 6 months of follow-up. Among the 263 enrolled, 39% reported a fall in the preceding year, including 15% with more than one fall and 22% with injurious falls. Among those completing the 6 months of follow-up, 14% reported at least one fall. Cox regression analysis identified four factors associated with falls during the 6-month follow-up: nonhealing foot sores (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.73 to 7.95), a prior fall history (HR = 2.62, 95% CI = 1.32 to 5.18), inability to cut one's own toenails (HR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.04 to 4.01), and self-reported depression (HR = 1.72, 95% CI = 0.83 to 3.55).

CONCLUSIONS
Falls, recurrent falls, and injurious falls in community-dwelling elder ED patients being evaluated for non-fall-related complaints occur at least as frequently as in previously described outpatient cohorts. Nonhealing foot sores, self-reported depression, not clipping one's own toenails, and previous falls are all associated with falls after ED discharge.


Introduction: Breech presentation is commonest malpresentation with an incidence of 3-4% at term. Incidence is about 20% at 28 weeks of pregnancy and drops to 5% at 34 weeks. Common etiological factors associated with breech pregnancy are prematurity, multiple pregnancy, congenital foetal and uterine malformation, foetal growth restriction, contracted pelvis, placenta praevia etc.[2] The management of breech delivery continues to be debatable. Methodology: This prospective study was carried out in Lalla Ded Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, GMC Srinagar for a period of 8 months from 1st September 2018 to 31st April 2019. 175 Cases of Breech Pregnancy were studied. Results: In the present study incidence of breech pregnancy was 3.6%. It was observed that the highest incidence of breech pregnancy in the age group of 21 to 25 years. Maximum (60%) cases delivered after 37 weeks of gestation. In our study 60% cases were primigravida and 40% were multigravida. Majority of cases (77.14%) delivered by caesarean section. Conclusion: Authors need to study and analyse all cases of breech pregnancy individually to decide the management and mode of delivery depending on cases to case basis and expertise of the staff available. Delivery of breech foetus should be conducted by experience obstetrician after appropriate consent from pregnant women and her relatives.


Objective With an aim of extending the scope of group threat theory from within‐country tensions between racial groups to international economic competition, this study specifically examined the impacts of perceived relative economic status of an in‐group country on attitudes about contentious political issues with a rival out‐group country. Methods Two survey experiments were administered, both of which manipulated Japanese participants' perceptions of the relative economic powers of Japan and South Korea. Results When Japanese perceive that their country's economic power is declining relative to South Korea's economy, they demonstrate more hardline attitudes about territorial and historical issues between the two countries. Conclusion This study demonstrates the applicability of group threat theory to bilateral international relations. It also suggests that public opinion about international conflicts is a function of the long‐term rebalancing of economic power, which cannot be easily influenced by short‐term policies.


Objectives The aims of the study were to determine serum levels of interleukin-22 (IL-22) in patients with liver cirrhosis in Menoufia University Hospitals and to detect its relation with the degree of liver cirrhosis and determine the serum level of IL-22 in relation to morbidity of patients with advanced liver cirrhosis. Background IL-22 was recently identified as a crucial parameter of pathology in experimental liver damage. Assuming that IL-22 has hepatoprotective properties in liver diseases, IL-22 may be a relevant factor for progression of liver cirrhosis. Patients and methods The study was conducted on 40 liver cirrhotic patients and 20 age-matched and sex-matched healthy individuals. All patients were subjected to history taking, complete medical examination, and thorough laboratory and radiological investigations. Serum IL-22 levels were measured by means of the ELISA technique. Results Hepatitis C virus was the major cause of liver cirrhosis in our studied group (72.5%). The majority of patients presented with liver cirrhosis-related complications at the time of inclusion into the study. Liver cirrhotic patients had significant elevation in serum levels of IL-22 when compared with healthy people (P < 0.001). IL-22 serum levels were elevated in liver cirrhosis regardless of its etiology. IL-22 serum levels were significantly more elevated in patients with ascites, hepatorenal syndrome, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, hepatic encephalopathy, and esophageal varices as compared with patients without these complications (P = 0.05, 0.03, 0.04, 0.004, and 0.05, respectively). IL-22 serum levels showed a statistically significant positive correlation with Model for End-stage Liver Disease score (P < 0.001) and Child-Pugh score (P = 0.006). Conclusion Serum IL-22 is significantly elevated in liver cirrhotic patients and it may be relevant for the prognosis of advanced liver cirrhosis.


OBJECTIVE
Several epidemiologic studies have described protective effects of soy consumption against breast cancer. The goal of this trial among premenopausal women was to examine the effect of soy foods on menstrual cycle length and circulating sex hormone levels.

METHODS
This 2-year dietary intervention randomized 220 healthy premenopausal women. The intervention group consumed two daily servings of soy foods containing approximately 50 mg of isoflavones; the control group maintained their regular diet. Five blood samples (obtained in months 0, 3, 6, 12, and 24) were taken 5 days after ovulation as determined by an ovulation kit. The serum samples were analyzed for estrone, estradiol, sex hormone binding globulin, androstenedione, and progesterone by immunoassay.

RESULTS
At baseline, both groups had similar demographic, anthropometric, and nutritional characteristics. The dropout rates of 15.6% (17 of 109) in the intervention group and 12.6% (14 of 111) in the control group did not differ significantly. According to soy intake logs, 24-hour recalls, and urinary isoflavone excretion, the women closely adhered to the study regimen. Menstrual cycles became slightly shorter in both groups but did not differ by group. Mixed general linear models indicated no significant intervention effect on any of the serum hormones. However, androstenedione and progesterone decreased significantly over time in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study suggest that the preventive effects of soy on breast cancer risk in premenopausal women may not be mediated by circulating sex hormone levels. Different mechanisms of actions or effects of exposure earlier in life are alternate hypotheses that require further investigation.


Although numerous different clone detection approaches have been proposed to date, not a single one is both incremental and scalable to very large code bases. They thus cannot provide real-time cloning information for clone management of very large systems. We present a novel, index-based clone detection algorithm for type 1 and 2 clones that is both incremental and scalable. It enables a new generation of clone management tools that provide real-time cloning information for very large software. We report on several case studies that show both its suitability for real-time clone detection and its scalability: on 42 MLOC of Eclipse code, average time to retrieve all clones for a file was below 1 second; on 100 machines, detection of all clones in 73 MLOC was completed in 36 minutes.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to examine the results of microbiological cultures from local bone autografts used in posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) and to identify their association with postoperative spinal infection.

METHODS
The authors retrospectively evaluated cases involving 328 patients who had no previous spinal surgeries and underwent PLIF for degenerative diseases with a minimum 1-year follow-up. Local bone was obtained during laminectomy, and microbiological culture was performed immediately prior to bone grafting. The associations between culture results from local bone autografts and postoperative spinal infections were evaluated.

RESULTS
The contamination rate of local bone was 4.3% (14 of 328 cases). Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (29%) was the most common contaminant isolated, followed by Streptococcus species and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus. Of 14 patients with positive culture results, 5 (35.7%) had postoperative spinal infections and were treated with intravenous antibiotics for a minimum of 4 weeks. One of these 5 patients also underwent reoperation for debridement during this 4-week period. Regardless of the microbiological culture results, the infection rate after PLIF with local bone autograft was 2.4% (8 of 328 cases), with 5 (62.5%) of 8 patients showing positive results on autograft culture.

CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of contamination of local bone autograft during PLIF was considerable, and positive culture results were significantly associated with postoperative spinal infection. Special attention focused on the preparation of local bone for autograft and its microbiological culture will be helpful for the control of postoperative spinal infection.


The aim of this paper is to research into the interactions of factors influencing the frequency of pipeline failures and to determine their impacts. The research was carried out on a representative part of the water supply system of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, i.e. on a District Metered Area (DMA), using the log-linear analysis of frequency tables. The first influential factor that was analyzed was the condition of pressure regulation. The DMA was observed in the period when the system was not in the condition of pressure regulation (January 2005–March 2006) and in the period when the system was in the condition of pressure regulation (March 2006–September 2008). Other influential factors that were included into the analysis were the diameter, the material and the age of pipes. In addition to the main goal established in this general way, a specific goal related to the condition of regulation in interaction with remaining influential factors was also set. Using the log-linear analysis, general results about the influence of the interaction between observed factors were obtained. The specific goal was reached by conclusions made about the effect of the relation between the DMA condition of regulation and remaining influential factors, i.e. diameter, material and age of pipes on the frequency of pipeline failures.


This essay compares the genres of the dramatic monologue and detective fiction in terms of their contemporaneous development and respective reading processes. Drawing on narratological categories, it examines the emphasis in both genres on the withholding of information and the stimulation of the reader's desire to establish meaning and exert judgment. Despite these similarities in the reading process, the genres' epistemologies seem opposed: the relativist dramatic monologue clearly challenges the belief in absolute meaning, while the classic detective formula depicts the problematic process of arriving at an apparently unambiguous truth. On a subtler analysis, however, detective fiction echoes and diversifies the dramatic monologue's questioning of stable meaning. Both genres explore questions of relativism, both invite their readers to engage in modes of investigative reasoning and a problematized process of "solving," and both can be read as critiquing the literature of subjectivity and reflecting the transgression of norms in a society where key values are shifting. Considering the origins of both genres, the essay asks whether a further relationship might derive from the debt that their founding figures, Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Browning, owe to the Gothic and from their shared interest in the individual psyche.


Asserts that for many organizations the key to management survival is to maintain performance equilibrium. Notes that management systems have essentially remained unchanged for many decades. Companies organize into functional groups with a hierarchical chain of command, they set strategic direction with a planned revenue and profit margin targets, they embed the revenue and profit targets in a budget, and they measure financial and operational performance results of the organization. Notes that successful performance is often a mirage, where good results mask a myriad of problems. Posits that process management can help organizations address these challenges and a process understanding enables managers to recognize why results are as reported and, more importantly, what results are likely to be in the future. Such insight enables managers to take proactive action to improve the results. Provides some guidelines.


The viscoelastic properties of polyphenylene sulfide resin based carbon fiber-reinforced composites have been examined using torsion, centrosymmetric disk (CSD), and three-point and four-point flexure testing modes. Laminates fabricated with carbon fabric and a quasi-isotropic layup of continuous carbon fiber have been considered. Dynamic mechanical tests have shown that these materials exhibit a glass transition interval (T g ) from 50 to 150°C and a melting transition near 280°C. The storage component of the modulus or stiffness decreases from room temperature to 175°C by an amount which varies with the imposed stress or strain state. Fiber-dominated modes (three-point and four-point flexure) exhibit a smaller percentage loss in modulus or stiffness than resin-dominated modes (torsion and CSD). Arrhenius plots obtained from frequency sweep data in the glass transition region indicate the fabric-reinforced material and quasi-isotropic layup have activation energies of 130 and 105 kcal, respectively, independent of testing mode. Superposition of frequency/temperature or time/temperature data was achieved in dynamic mechanical and transient (that is, creep and relaxation) tests, respectively. Projection of the ten-year modulus, stiffness, or compliance from transient tests suggests that the response is stress-state dependent with greater change observed for resin-dominated testing modes.


The study defines the basic terminological structure associated with the concepts of prescribing and medication use in relation to polypharmacy. Correctly naming the current prescription or use of a medication by a particular patient allows for the selection of an appropriate change to minimize the medication burden. The aim remains to maintain the desired therapeutic outcomes with an improved quality of life.


Objective:To explore the effect of electroacupuncture intervention on in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer(IVF-ET) of patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome(PCOS).Methods:96 PCOS patients who accepted IVF-ET were divided into observation group(50 cases) and control group(46 cases) randomly.Two groups were given long program of gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist(GnRHa),additionally,patients in observation group were treated by electroacupuncture,then therapeutic effects of two groups were compared.Results:The fertilization rate and high-quality embryo rate in observation group(75.12%,63.53%) were significantly higher than those in control group(64.72%,50.11%),while the dosage of GnRHa in observation group((29.15±3.85) U) was lower than that in control group((36.21±5.37) U)(P0.05).The incidence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in observation group(10.00%) was lower than that in control group(18.60%),while the implantation rate and clinical pregnancy rate in observation group(18.60%,37.77%) were higher than those in control group(17.10%,31.70%),but there was no difference.There was no significant difference in duration of therapy,rate of oocytes per retrieval,cleavage rate and levels of estrogen,progestogen and luteinizing hormone on hCG day between two groups.Conclusion:Electroacupuncture is effective in IVF-ET of patients with PCOS.


The very deep knowledge acquired on the genetics and molecular biology of herpes simplex virus (HSV), has allowed the development of potential replication-competent and replication-defective vectors for several applications in human healthcare. These include delivery and expression of human genes to cells of the nervous systems, selective destruction of cancer cells, prophylaxis against infection with HSV or other infectious diseases, and targeted infection to specific tissues or organs. Replication-defective recombinant vectors are non-toxic gene transfer tools that preserve most of the neurotropic features of wild type HSV-1, particularly the ability to express genes after having established latent infections, and are thus proficient candidates for therapeutic gene transfer settings in neurons. A replication-defective HSV vector for the treatment of pain has recently entered in phase 1 clinical trial. Replication-competent (oncolytic) vectors are becoming a suitable and powerful tool to eradicate brain tumours due to their ability to replicate and spread only within the tumour mass, and have reached phase II/III clinical trials in some cases. The progress in understanding the host immune response induced by the vector is also improving the use of HSV as a vaccine vector against both HSV infection and other pathogens. This review briefly summarizes the obstacle encountered in the delivery of HSV vectors and examines the various strategies developed or proposed to overcome such challenges.


Wildfi re-produced charcoal is a common component of soils, affecting a range of important abiotic and biotic soil processes. Our ability to predict the effects of charcoal addition to soil is currently limited, however, by our understanding of how charcoal affects the soil microbial community mediating many of these processes. This study sought to improve our understanding of the relationship between charcoal addition and soil microbial biomass and activity among temperate soils. Charcoal was added to four distinct temperate soils, a Mollisol, an Alfi sol, an Entisol, and a Spodosol, at fi ve application levels ranging from 0 to 0.1 kg charcoal kg −1 soil, and incubated at 25°C with measurements at approximately 0, 1.5, and 3 mo. We hypothesized that microbial biomass and activity would increase with increasing charcoal application in all soils, but the relative magnitude of the response would depend on the texture and fertility of each soil. As hypothesized, microbial biomass and activity and Bray P increased signifi cantly with increasing charcoal application, while extractable N decreased. The coniferous forest soil provided a notable exception to the general patterns of N availability, having the highest total extractable N at the highest charcoal application level. Our results suggest that charcoal additions affected microbial biomass, microbial activity, and nutrient availability in relatively similar ways in all four soils that we studied, suggesting considerable predictability in response to charcoal application. Differences in the magnitude of the microbial response, however, appeared dependent on differences in nutrient availability among soils.


The very early stage of nano-BaTiO 3 sintering was monitored using a number of experimental methods. It was found that in situ impedance spectroscopy provides the most sensitive probe to determine the beginning of the sintering process. Dramatic changes in the impedance can be detected in situ on time scales of minutes at temperature as low as 500°C. The mechanisms behind these changes hardly influence the surface area and do not result in shrinkage. A microscopic model of the process that complies with the experimental observations is suggested and discussed. This includes oxygen vacancy formation in the very early low temperature stage, and particle rearrangement at the beginning of the shrinkage stage.


A metallo-hydrogel based on histidine and Zn2+ ions is designed using coordination driven self-assembly. The hydrogel formation is instantaneous and it exhibits stimuli-responsive behaviour with respect to pH, heat and external chemicals. The gelation ability depends on the optical purity and enantiomeric excess of the amino acids. The supramolecular chirality mediated by the Zn–histidine complex and subsequent fiber formation showed sign inversion of the CD signal with respect to that of native amino acids (L- or D-) and can be tuned by changing the ratio of the two chiral species, L-, D-amino acids. The Job's plot from the circular dichroism probing supramolecular chirality confirms the 1 : 1 complex of Zn and histidine. The viscoelastic properties and kinetics of the hydrogel can conveniently be tuned by changing its enantiomeric excess (ee%), concentration and the ratio of Zn and histidine. Moreover, the resulting metallo-hydrogel is thixotropic and exhibits instantaneous, intrinsic self-healing behaviour.


America faces a growing energy challenge. We require energy for our every activity, yet we increasingly recognize that there are no easy energy solutions. Reliance upon traditional fossil fuels - many of them imported - jeopardizes our national security and releases harmful emissions, yet renewable energy technologies require high capital investments and have environmental impacts of their own. As we address this challenge and move toward a more sustainable energy future, "bridge fuels" like domestically-produced natural gas offer a near-term compromise between renewables and traditional fossil fuels. A growing quantity of bridge fuel in the form of domestic natural gas is produced from American shales through a process called hydraulic fracturing, and this practice is booming in the Appalachian region. Some residents of this region are now asking how this type of extraction can and should occur while adequately preventing potential harm to their health and their natural resources. This Article investigates how state regulation has adapted to address this concern and argues that regulations should change in some areas; it suggests steps toward state regulatory improvement and briefly explores additional federal options. The Article concludes that improved regulations, in addition to ongoing studies of risk, are important to effectively balance the continued extraction of this essential bridge fuel and the need to address public concerns, as well as to serve as a model for future regulatory transitions in the energy area.


- A I2-year-old girl presented with a reticular skin abnormality on her abdomen, which was caused by the frequent use of hot water bottles to relieve her chronic stomachache. This skin condition is called erythema ab igne.


An experimental testbed has been created for developing and evaluating Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal authentication techniques. The testbed advances the state of the art in GNSS signal authentication by subjecting candidate techniques to the strongest publicly-acknowledged GNSS spoofing attacks. The testbed consists of a real-time phase-coherent GNSS signal simulator that acts as spoofer, a real-time softwaredefined GNSS receiver that plays the role of defender, and post-processing versions of both the spoofer and defender. Two recently-proposed authentication techniques are analytically and experimentally evaluated: (1) a defense based on anomalous received power in a GNSS band, and (2) a cryptographic defense against estimation-and-replay-type spoofing attacks. The evaluation reveals weaknesses in both techniques; nonetheless, both significantly complicate a successful GNSS spoofing attack.


Tripodal ligands with main group bridghead units are well established in coordination chemistry and single-site organometallic catalysis. Although a large number of tris(2-pyridyl) main group ligands [E(2-py)3] (E = main group element, 2-py = 2-pyridyl) spanning across the whole p-block are now synthetically acessible, only limited work has been done on the coordination chemistry on the tris(2-pyridyl) group 15 ligands for the heavier elements (As, Sb). In the current study we investigate the coordination chemistry of the ligand family E(6-Me-2-py)3 (E = As, Sb) and of the As(v) ligand O[double bond, length as m-dash]As(6-Me-2-py)3. The air- and mositure-stability of all of these main group ligands makes them especially attractive in future catalytic applications.


A total of 132 patients of both sexes who ranged from 32 to 49 years old were studied in a general hospital setting. They were diagnosed as having developed organic affection of the brain presenting with the leading psychosis-like syndrome, viz, personality and behaviour derangements--[F 07.0] according to the international classification ICD-10. All those having been examined in 1986 took part in the elimination of the effects of the Chernobyl accident. Based on the findings obtained it has been ascertained that late in the course of the organic brain affection sequelae there start prevailing first and foremost elements of affective-volitional disorders transforming the mental make-up of patients according to psychopathy-like type of mentality.


ABSTRACT Research on sexual minority men (gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men) was examined with regard to the measures of sexual orientation used, the methods of research, and the main health outcomes under study. A systematic review of English-language quantitative studies was conducted focused on the health of sexual minority men published in 2010 (n = 250). The results provide a snapshot of the literature and revealed that research on sexual minority men overwhelmingly focused on HIV, STIs, and sexual health for which sexual orientation was most commonly defined behaviorally. For topics of mental health or body/fitness outcomes, sexual orientation was most commonly defined by identity. Most study samples were venue-based, and only 8.8% of published papers drew data from population-based samples. The findings suggest that there exists a need for research on sexual minority men's health beyond STIs and HIV that will examine mental and physical health outcomes beyond sexual risk, uses probability-based samples, and addresses intersectional concerns related to race/ethnicity and age.


We address empirically the issues of the optimality of simple linear compensation contracts and the importance of asymmetries between firms and workers. For that purpose, we consider contracts between the French National Institute of Statistics and Economics (Insee) and the interviewers it hired to conduct its surveys in 2001, 2002, and 2003. To derive our results, we exploit an exogenous change in the contract structure in 2003, the piece rate increasing from 20.2 to 22.9 euros. We argue that such a change is crucial for a structural analysis. It allows us, in particular, to identify and recover nonparametrically some information on the cost function of the interviewers and on the distribution of their types. This information is used to select correctly our parametric restrictions. Our results indicate that the loss of using such simple contracts instead of the optimal ones is no more than 16%, which might explain why linear contracts are so popular. We also find moderate costs of asymmetric information in our data, the loss being around 22% of what Insee could achieve under complete information.

Incentives asymmetric information optimal contracts nonparametric identification C14 D82 D86


In this paper a method is being proposed to find the optimal dimension of Programmable Gate Macro Block (PGMB) in clock-free nanowire crossbar architecture. A PGMB is a nanowire crossbar matrix with discrete number of rows and columns on which the NCL (Null Convention Logic) gates can be programmed. This method uses inherent redundancy to route through defective crosspoints. A 6 X 10 defect-free crossbar can be used to program any of the 27 threshold gates. Due to imperfections and variations in nanoscale manufacturing process, high defect densities are anticipated. Thus, such defects should be located when tested and the logic has to be rerouted around them to maintain proper functionality. This paper discusses this problem and tried to find an optimal solution through simulations. In the final submission, more effective logic mapping techniques will be proposed and validated.


By binding to actin filaments, non-muscle myosin II (NMII) generates actomyosin networks that hold unique contractile properties. Their dynamic nature is essential for neuronal biology including the establishment of polarity, growth cone formation and motility, axon growth during development (and axon regeneration in the adult), radial and longitudinal axonal tension, and synapse formation and function. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge on the spatial distribution and function of the actomyosin cytoskeleton in different axonal compartments. We highlight some of the apparent contradictions and open questions in the field, including the role of NMII in the regulation of axon growth and regeneration, the possibility that NMII structural arrangement along the axon shaft may control both radial and longitudinal contractility, and the mechanism and functional purpose underlying NMII enrichment in the axon initial segment. With the advances in live cell imaging and super resolution microscopy, it is expected that in the near future the spatial distribution of NMII in the axon, and the mechanisms by which it participates in axonal biology will be further untangled.