This dissertation evaluates the relative importance of craft production and ceremonial activities to the development of village communities and political hierarchy in the highland tropics of Western Panama. Previous researchers had suggested that control over the management or distribution of stone axes crucial for land clearance and woodworking activities had provided an avenue for incipient social elites to influence aspects of the broader subsistence economy. Alternatively, other researchers have stressed the importance of the role that ceremonial activities played in the development and persistence of social inequalities and political hierarchies. To evaluate these possibilities, occupational refuse was sampled from seven previously identified archaeological sites occupying different tiers of the settlement hierarchy. Artifact samples from various sites and the residential sectors within them provided the basis for an examination of approximately one millennium of social change and continuity.This work suggests that a sparsely populated region with small agricultural villages and farmsteads provided the social context in which forms of social rank and political economy initially developed and persisted, but that these differences were expressed in variable ways over time. The sponsorship of feasting activities contributed to the expression of elevated social status and the growth of the region's largest village, while a stronger association between incipient elites and lithic craft production elsewhere in the settlement system may have resulted in distinct organizational differences. Relatively isolated farmsteads, by contrast, exhibited less diversity and intensity in various activities than villages throughout the sequence. Combining perspectives from regional and village scales, this research concludes that the evidence for political hierarchy and occupational differentiation developed gradually over time and these differences remained relatively subtle through the sequence. The emergence and persistence of elevated social rank and regional political organization accompanied increasing specialization in serving activities and stone tool production between different villages, rather than being concentrated in one. The detailed sequence presented in this dissertation provides a comparative perspective to models of sociopolitical change in Southern Central America, and highlights one of the variable pathways by which small complex societies may have developed more broadly.


This paper derives useful expressions for the synthesized beam statistics using poststatistic steering (PSS), when three antennas are used in a spatial interferometer configuration for two-dimensional steering. These antennas may have arbitrary position and can have nonorthogonal baselines. The use of three (noncollinear) antennas allows altitude dependent two-dimensional steering. This technique is verified using spatial interferometer data obtained in October 1989 using the MU radar, including PSS in directions parallel and perpendicular to the wind direction, which is a very convenient advantage of the technique.


This study aims at analyzing the factors determining the tourist satisfaction towards Jammu and Kashmir tourism. The study is based on primary data which has been collected from 500 tourists respondents incorporating various tourism services and facilities provided by different stakeholders of tourism industry in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The results revealed that the 7 combined services provided to tourists in terms of Transport, Accommodation, Food, Shopping, Public behavior & Security, Public services and Other Tourism Awareness are significantly affecting the satisfaction of tourists. Further, it was found that the suitable arrangements and availability of these factors can boost the tourist flow to the state. The state need to take up with the central government for expansion of existing aviation infrastructure so that all the major state capitals of the country could be air linked with Jammu and Kashmir. Rail and road connectivity need also be speeded up.


Changes in the far north of Ontario (>50°N latitude), like climate warming and increased industrial development, will have direct effects on watershed characteristics and lakes. To better understand the nature of remote northern lakes that span the Canadian Shield and Hudson Bay Lowlands, and to address the pressing need for limnological data for this vast, little-studied area of Ontario, lake chemistry surveys were conducted during 2011-2012. Lakes at the transition between these physiographic regions displayed highly variable water chemistry, reflecting the peatland landscape with a mix of bog and fen watersheds, and variations in the extent of permafrost. In the transition area, Shield and Lowlands lakes could not be clearly differentiated based on water chemistry; peat cover decouples, to varying degrees, the lakes from the influences of bedrock and surficial deposits. Regional chemistry differences were apparent across a much broader area of northern Ontario, due to large-scale spatial changes in geology and in the extent of peatlands and permafrost.  Shield lakes in the far northwest of Ontario had Ca, Mg, and TP concentrations markedly higher than those of many Lowlands lakes and previously studied Shield lakes south of 50°N, related to an abundance of lacustrine and glacial end-moraine deposits in the north.


way one knows they should be treated. A simiilar sort of thing occurred with the publicity over social induction at Christmas. I think this sort of publicity is to be abhorred. My second protest is that newspaper journalists are allowed access to information about research on new drugs, the results of which are published in lay papers before members of the medical profession have a chance to hear and know about the actions of these drugs. The particular article to which I refer appeared in the Daily Mail of 30 January (p. 11) and was headed "How we tested the new Happiness Pill." A patient came into my gynaecological clinic shortly afterwards, flung this piece of paper on my desk, and said, "I want these drugs," which I had not even heard of. I now understand that the "happiness pill" is an oestrogen at present under clinical trial for the treatment of menopausal symptoms. I should be grateful if something could be done to prevent publicity such as we have experienced in the past few weeks.-I am, etc., MARGARET J. WITT Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, North Midtile'ex Hospital. London Nit


From the first analysis of immuneprecipitation followed by Western Blotting (WB) Corin and TLP seem to precipitate at the same height ( approximately 50KDa) and are recognized by the same antibodies. In parallel the tests of immunoprecipitation by the use of cell extracts derived from lung cancer cells A549 and NCI-H23 are improved with the aim to be able of obtaining a precipitate containing only the TLP. In fact the partial aminoacid sequence of TLP showes a high homology with the sequence of human Corin (only one aminoacid is different) and is present in lung cancer under different isoforms. It is known that human Corin is expressed mostly outside the cells and the protein extract derived from the extracellular medium and from the cells transfected with the plasmid, which overexpresses Corin, showes many more bands analyzed on SDS-PAGE that are equivalent to the bands (about 50-100 KDa) observed in the WB analyzed with anti-TLP.


GRA VELIN, CLAIRE R., May 20 1 0, Psychology THE IMP ACT OF POWER AND COMMUNAL RELATIONSHIP ORIENTATION ON THE PERCEPTION OF OUTGROUPS Thesis Advisor: Dr. Jennifer J . Ratcliff Research on prejudice and discrimination suggests that many variables can impact behavior toward minorities. One such variable is the amount of power that a perceiver holds. For example, recent research has found that relative to those without power, individuals who have power tend to individuate others less (Fiske, 1993; Goodwin et al., 2000). Nevertheless, not all individuals in a position of power react in a manner that deindividuates marginalized individuals. For instance, Chen and her colleagues (Chen, Lee-Chai, & Bargh, 2001 ) found that when primed to feel powerful, communally oriented individuals responded in socially responsible ways, whereas exchange-oriented individuals acted in terms of their self-interests. Although this research shows that relationship orientation moderates the relationship between power and behavior toward less fortunate others, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are less well understood. This research sought to extend previous findings, uncovering the role an individual's relationship orientation, in conjunction with one of three levels of power, has on the tendency to categorize or individuate a marginalized individual . Preliminary findings suggest fhat individuals primed to feel powerless have a greater tendency to align themselves with the outgroup observed through their indication of a greater l iking for African American speakers. Further, the greater an individual's communal


The article is devoted to the study of the investment capacity of Ukrainian families - potential investors - to pay for educational and related (related to living abroad) services for children who seek to study at foreign universities. An indicator of investment educational ability is offered, which allows comparing the opportunities of Ukrainian individuals to cover foreign student expenses at the expense of wages. The calculations of the proposed indicator for the leading universities of Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Germany, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic and Ukraine are carried out. The research is carried out according to the proposed by the authors indicator of the comparison of annual expenses of students during the bachelor's studies in a foreign university with the average annual salary of Ukrainian individuals. For entrants, first of all Ukrainian, this indicator will allow to orientate in the ratio of annual expenses and annual income.. For university leaders the proposed indicator can allow comparisons of the competitiveness of their higher education institutions, taking into account the solvency of Ukrainian consumers of educational services. For business and local governments in Central and Eastern Europe, this indicator can be useful in assessing the competitiveness of their territories in terms of attracting student youth. Student youth as well as local residents act as consumers of goods and services promote the development of local business and thus can be a source of filling local budgets. The article is a continuation of the publication of comparative studies on this topic.


A motion compensated lifting (MCLIFT) framework is proposed for the 3D wavelet video coder. By using bi-directional motion compensation in each lifting step of the temporal direction, the video frames are effectively de-correlated. With proper entropy coding and bitstream packaging schemes, the MCLIFT wavelet video coder can be scalable in frame rate and quality level. Experimental results show that the MCLIFT video coder outperforms the 3D wavelet video coder with the same entropy coding scheme by an average of 1.1-1.6dB, and outperforms MPEG-4 coder by an average of 0.9-1.4dB.


It is well recognised that it is difficult to make the semantic content of legal texts machine readable. We propose a systematic methodology to begin to render a sample legal text into LegalRuleML, which is a proposed markup for legal rules. We propose three levels - coarse, medium, and fine-grained analyses - each of which is compatible with LegalRuleML and which facilitate development from text to formal LegalRuleML. This paper provides guidelines for a coarse-grained analysis, highlighting some of the challenges to address even at this level.


A successful reservoir model that history matches pro-duction data in a mature field requires the integration of mul-tiple disciplines and all available data. The disciplines required are geology, geophysics, petrophysics, rock physics, and reservoir engineering. The data types include, but are certainly not limited to, seismic, well logs, core, PVT, and production data. Of all the data types available, only seismic data measure and image the reservoir over the whole field. It is obvious that seismic data should be used to constrain reservoir models. However, the amount of constraining depends on factors such as data quality, resolution relative to reservoir thickness, sufficient elastic im-pedance contrasts between lith-ologies and fluids, and good well-to-seismic ties.


: The prevalence of toxocariasis was studied among different age groups of the population in eight municipal entities of the Sverdlovsk Region. Since 1995, the number of infected patients was shown to have annually increased by 1.4-2 times and amounted to 2.9 per 100,000. The 2003 serological surveys indicated that Toxocara antibodies were found in 8.9% of the children examined in different areas of the region. The epidemic process more actively involved rural children. Numerous tests for Toxocara eggs were more positive in the cities and towns with every amenity than in rural areas. Serodiagnostic tests demonstrated that children aged 3-6 and 7-14 years were involved into the epidemic process. The similar data were obtained in different age groups of adults. Nevertheless, among the adult population, the number of adult seropositive persons was significantly 1.9 times higher than that of children, which may reflect certain regularities in the formation of an immune stratum. The titers of serum Toxocara antibodies, being 1:800 or higher, may suggest that more than 50% of the total number of the examinees might be, in terms of clinical signs, patients with toxocariasis.


This study used customers' experiences to assess the role of social media marketing (SMM) efforts in increasing online customer-based loyalty in the banking sector in Jordan, and using the two main components of the TAM model, perceived the ease of use and perceived usefulness, to understand the relationship. Data were gathered through an online survey with 329 respondents through online banking services in Jordan. A test of the structural equation model (SEM) indicated that perceived usefulness strongly affects electronic word of mouth (EWM), informativeness (INF), and social media features (SMF); and perceived ease of use is indirectly linked to these factors. Behavioral intention is strongly affected by both the perceived usefulness and the ease of use of online banking services. Based on the self-proposed model, e-marketing has impacted customers' bank loyalty regarding its online services, and the role of social media marketing has remained very important to enhancing customer-based loyalty. This study contributes to the literature by integrating SMF, EWM, and INF in a single framework. It also provides managerial implications and guides for scholars, managers, and practitioners in e-marketing to use customers' experience to increase customer loyalty. Further research and suggestions are offered.


The purpose of this study was to determine the manner of deposition of the Salina salt, including the approximate temperature of deposition and the origin of the dolomite-anhydrite laminae. Specimens were obtained from drill cores from the Michigan basin and from the Detroit mine of the International Salt Company. The bulk of the data was obtained through thin section study and this was supplemented by the examination of polished slabs, water-insoluble residues, and sections of core from which the salt had been dissolved. Pyramidal shaped hopper crystals of halite, comparable to those crystals produced in the manufacture of grainer salt and those formed in the manufacture of solar salt, were identified in the Salina salt. The pyramidal forms were outlined by liquid inclusions, and from these inclusions the temperatures of formation were determined as being between 32.0 and 48.4 degrees C. The salt was deposited in layers or bands of three distinct types: (1) cloudy layers of inclusion-rich pyramidal shaped hopper crystals of halite, (2) clear layers of inclusion-free halite, and (3) laminae of anhydrite and dolomite. These units are in part obscured in the recrystallized salt. The alternation of bands of clear and cloudy halite was the result of temperature changes probably related to the seasons. The salt crystals, initially formed on the surface, grew as pyramidal shaped hoppers. Until the brine became saturated, settling hopper crystals were dissolved. After the saturation point had been reached pyramidal shaped hopper crystals accumulated on the bottom of the basin to form a layer of cloudy salt. With subsequent cooling the brine passed into the supersaturated state and settling hopper crystals provided nuclei for clear overgrowths. These crystals which grew on the bottom of the basin are inclusion-free and form the layers of clear salt. The return of higher temperatures followed again by lower temperatures would cause a repetition of this sequence. This cycle could have been interrupted at any time by the addition of brine to the basin or by periods of unusual climatic conditions. The deposition of the anhydrite-dolomite laminae may be considered to have been the result of the influx of normal sea water. The addition of brine to the basin as a surface layer would have permitted the maintenance of life in this brine until the concentration reached the point at which mass extermination took place. Subsequent decomposition of the remains caused reducing conditions to develop in the basin and iron precipitated as pyrite. Indicative of this influx is the association with the laminae of carbonaceous material, pyrite, and a petroliferous odor and the lack of a recognizable relationship between the clear or cloudy salt and the anhydrite-dolomite laminae. Iron associated with the halite layers is in the form of hematite, indicating that oxidizing conditions were normal for the basin.


. Thesis submitted to the Department of Civil Engineering for the Degree of Master of Engineering in Highway and Traffic Engineering


Bleeding disorders constitute a large proportion of referrals to hematology departments. Worldwide, acquired causes of bleeding are commoner than inherited ones. To identify the spectrum of these disorders, we evaluated all referrals for bleeding encountered in this tertiary care centre over a one-year period. Of the total 1342 cases, 1040 (77.5%) had underlying exclusively acquired causes, whereas inherited causes constituted 302 cases (22.5%). Amongst acquired causes, disseminated intravascular coagulation was seen in 297 (28.6%), hepatic coagulopathy in 218 (20.9%), neurosurgical causes (intracranial bleeds) in 154 (14.8%), malignancy in 89 (8.6%), and miscellaneous multiple acquired causes including those due to anticoagulant drug overdose in 282 patients (27.1%). Referrals for isolated prolonged prothrombin time or thrombocytopenia were common, but were excluded from this study because not all presented with bleeding. Prompt laboratory work-up and precise identification of acquired causes of bleeding is the key to planning appropriate patient management including transfusion support.


One of the weakest links in any communications system is the power amplifier, largely due to the necessary trade-off between linearity and efficiency. The challenge of power amplifier design is therefore to provide maximum power and efficiency while maintaining highly linear operation. Gallium Nitride HFET devices are of great interest in power amplifier applications and are potentially the best device technology to provide high power amplification at high frequencies. At the outset of this work, the development of GaN HFETs was in its early stages and the primary aim of this work is to help the development of the QinetiQ GaN program and to investigate the suitability of GaN HFETs for use as power amplifiers. This was achieved through the use of novel measurements using the custom RF non linear time domain measurement systems at Cardiff University. These QinetiQ devices exhibit the common problem of DC-RF dispersion, which results in much degraded RF performance relative to that predicted from DC measurements. It has been shown that the devices exhibit a direct correlation between dispersion and channel current, and that it is possible to overcome some of the unwanted side-effects of dispersion through suitable design, so that efficiency can be improved to acceptable levels, while maintaining high power operation. It has also been shown that there is a strong correlation between RF waveform measurements and pulsed l-V measurements, and that through careful choice of bias point, pulsed l-V measurements can be used to accurately predict the RF performance of a device. Through large-signal CW and two-tone characterisation, it has been determined that these devices operate in a very similar way to that predicted by simple theory and exhibit little AM-PM behaviour. Their CW operation is also found to be less complex than that of GaAs pHEMTs, and their two-tone operation correlates well with the CW analysis. They should therefore be ideally suited to power amplifier applications in terms of linearity as well as power and frequency performance. Finally, after the development of a new two-tone time domain measurement approach, it was determined that the devices suffer from intrinsic electrical memory effects due to their transit delay but are otherwise inherently free from memory within the measurement bandwidth - the range of measurable modulation frequencies is 200KHz-25MHz. All other memory effects detected are not caused by the device but are extrinsic electrical memory effects caused by the impedance environment that is presented to the device.


Abstract The aim of this paper is to discuss the importance of different types of global services for industrial firms and clusters in terms of their economic competitiveness and innovative performance. The theoretical debates argue that globalization, deregulation and the new production organization make it necessary to use global services that are supplied easily with the help of new telecommunication technologies. The existing empirical studies provide some supporting evidence. However, they also indicate that global service firms can be attained by only smaller numbers of industrial firms and clusters. Still, in-house services besides temporal and informal mechanisms are important to meet the needs of the specialized services, even for the firms that try to become a part of the global production system. The paper focuses on three main questions: "What types of global services are becoming crucial for manufacturing firms and what type of services are still local and national? Is there a significant difference between the characteristics of firms that use the same type of services? To what extent is having access to global services important for the innovativeness of industrial firms and clusters? This paper looks for the answers to these questions based on existing case studies as well as this study of three industrial clusters in Turkey. The findings indicate that there is not a perfect match between theory and empirical evidence and there is a need for more refined theoretical discourses on industry–service relations.


Medical cards of 1,116 inpatient victims of surrogate alcohol poisoning and 242 cases of its fatal outcome associated with jaundice were available for analysis form Irkutsk Region and other regions of the Russian Federation in the second half of 2006 and early 2007. The study revealed differences in hepatic lesions depending on the chemical nature of toxicants. Mixtures containing guanidine derivatives caused highly specific irreversible disturbance of bile transport in hepatocytes and biliary capillaries in the absence of cholestasis at the level of biliary ducts. Changes in hepatocytes of different type and genesis appear to be due to other toxic components and may be of use for the establishment of causal relation between hepatic lesions and concrete toxic mixtures.


the importance of pathological diagnosis. In other words, we included only those SSPs that would be counted as CSSPs even if they were HPs. We looked at changes over time in the relative prevalence of proximal SSPs , 5mm and distal SSPs , 10mm – SSPs excluded by the alternative CSSP criteria. Finally, simple logistic regression models were used to examine trends over time. Results: Our sample included data from 69,540 exams (average age 59.3, 44.9% male). Figure 1 shows detection rates for three types of lesions from 2005-2019: CSSPs, with a 12% per year increase from 4.4% to 12.8% (OR51.12 95% CI 1.11-1.13), counterfactual CSSPs, with a 9% per year increase from 4.3% to 9.4% (OR51.09 95% CI 1.07-1.10), and SSPs excluded from the counterfactual CSSP definition, with a 28% per year increase from 0.0% to 3.7% (OR51.28 95% CI 1.25-1.31). Finally, the proportion of proximal HPs/SSPs, 5mm diagnosed as SSPs increased from 0.0% to 36.5% or by 28% per year (OR51.28 95% 1.24-1.32) (Table 1), compared to a more modest 14% increase for distal HPs/SSPs , 10mm diagnosed as SSPs from 1.3% to 6.8% (OR51.14 95% 1.10-1.18). Conclusion: There was a significant increase in the CSSP detection rate in the NHCR from 20052019, even after accounting for a sustained rise in the proportion of events with SSPs relative to those with HPs. However, the difference between the overall and counterfactual CSSP detection rate trends suggests that increased interpretation of serrated polyps as SSPs may explain a large part of the increase in CSSP detection.


This Working Paper provides a critical analysis of the EU Commission's proposals to modernise and simplify its rules on public procurement. The author of the paper, Eric Van den Abeele, looks at the political background and reasons behind the EU's revision of its public procurement directives. The reform aims at making the rules simpler and more flexible, providing better access to the public procurement market by SME's and fostering a better qualitative use of public procurement through the introduction of social and environmental criteria. On all these accounts, the Commission's proposal is mediocre and disappointing, argues the author of this working paper providing extensive arguments for his critique. His analysis shows that the proposed reforms do neither enhance the EU's competitiveness nor promote sustainable development.


Aegilops comosa (MM, 2n = 2x = 14), an important diploid species belonging to wheat tertiary gene pools, contains many excellent genes/traits, including disease resistance for wheat breeding. In this study, three sister lines, NAL-32, NAL-33, and NAL-34, were identified from a wheat - Ae. comosa distant cross using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) combined with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) microarray analysis. Genetically, NAL-32 contained neither an alien nor translocation chromosome, whereas NAL-33 and NAL-34 had disomic 7M/7A substitution chromosomes but differed in the absence (NAL-33) or presence (NAL-34) of 1BL/1RS translocation chromosomes. The substitution of 7M/7A in NAL-33 and NAL-34 was verified using wheat 55 K SNP arrays but 1BL/1RS translocation in NAL-34 was not. The two 7M/7A substitution lines, NAL-33 and NAL-34, had similar stripe rust resistance, and both showed higher stripe rust resistance than NAL-32 and their parents, suggesting that stripe rust resistance in NAL-33 and NAL-34 was derived from the 7M of Ae. comosa and that their resistance was likely irrelevant to 1BL/1RS translocation. Meanwhile, the three NAL lines also showed higher grain weights (grams per 50 grains) than one to three of their three wheat parents, and the two 7M/7A substitution lines, NAL-33 and NAL-34, had larger seed size-related traits than NAL-32, suggesting that both the 7M and 1BL/1RS chromosomes had positive effects on seed size-related traits. The results provide important bridge materials that can potentially be used for transferring stripe rust resistance, as well as seed size-related traits from Ae. comosa to wheat.


This paper presents the required improvement on the performance of canal network and method of on-farm water application systems at Tunga-Kawo irrigation scheme, Wushishi, Niger state. The problems of poor delivery of water to the farmland were identified to include erosion of canal embarkment, lack of water regulating structures along the secondary canals and some parts of the irrigable farmland are not leveled thereby making the farmland higher than the canal full supply level. The suggested solution include the alignment of the affected part of the secondary canal, the use of check gates structures for controlling the water level, modification of the longitudinal slope(s) of the main canal and that of the secondary canals to increase the canal conveyance capacity. The use of siphon tubes is also suggested for lifting water from the distributary channels to the irrigating farmland to minimize water loss to percolation. The uncontrolled flooding method of irrigation in use, leads to wastage of water. The pounding basin irrigation method is suggested for rice cultivation on the farm and the irrigation schedule was established to be six days. JARD Vol. 3 2004: pp. 7-20


Experiments were carried out to test the hypothesis that cell spreading and phagocytosis are similar cell responses to different‐sized substrata. The following morphological and biochemical studies provided evidence for this supposition. Cells phagocytosed 1.09‐μm and 5.7‐μm latex beads, but were unable to completely ingest 15.8‐μm or 25.7‐μm beads. With the larger beads, the cells spread around the bead surfaces with an appearance typical of cells spread on culture dishes. Biochemical studies with cytochalasin D, azide, and iodoacetate, as well as temperature‐dependence studies, demonstrated similar responses of cell spreading and phagocytosis to these treatments. Similar cell surface receptors were involved in cell spreading and phagocytosis based upon experiments using antibodies to baby hamster kidney (BHK) cell wheat germ agglutinin receptors. And finally, BHK cell variants with defective plasma fibronectin (pFN) receptors were unable to spread on pFN‐coated dishes or ingest pFN‐coated beads. Evidence also is presented concerning the "contact" process in cell adhesion. It was found that azide and low temperature inhibited cell attachment per se but did not block fibronectin‐receptorinter actions based upon cell binding of pFN‐coated beads. A possible explanation for the contact process is presented based upon the resistance of cells and beads to shear forces.


Fuel changing is directly linked to market movements of energy sources, consequently, large companies adapt to these changes and move towards economically worthwhile strategies. The appearance of an energy source, change or fuel production startup, is a complex investment project in the field of industrial energetics. This research paper brings a case study of transition from gas to solid fuel in the paper factory, where the factory achieved significant savings by changing the basic fuel. In this study we applied a large number of criteria and parameters of the project management concepts (such as WBS structure, Gantt chart, SWOT analysis, criteria for settlement date, etc.). The purpose of this study is to demonstrate and broaden the knowledge base of in the industrial and energy sectors and to show significant benefits and cost savings which occur as a result of changes of energy sources in the industry involving mass production processes.


Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum) are good sources of antioxidants, such as lycopene, which have been shown to be beneficial for health. Careful drying of tomatoes can concentrate antioxidants and provide a tasty food product that can help to reduce the incidence of cancers and cardiovascular diseases. Semi-drying to a final dry matter content of 20% at 40°C followed by smoking was used to produce a new tomato product. Colour, pH, titratable acidity and lycopene, vitamin C and total phenol content and antioxidant activity of two tomato cultivars (Caluna and Toronto) were determined on fresh, dried or smoked samples and on final products made from the two different cultivars. The pH of the fresh and final products were very similar (overall mean 4.43±0.02) while the titratable acidity of the final product increased to a mean of 1.24% citric acid compared to the fresh tissue mean of 0.47% citric acid. The drying process increased the extracted lycopene content from a mean of 94.4 mg/100 g DM in the fresh tomatoes to 126.4 mg/100 g DM in the semi-dried tomatoes. In contrast, the total phenols were reduced from a mean of 255 mg GAE/100 g DM in the fresh tomatoes to a mean of 214 mg GAE/100 g DM in the semi-dried tomatoes. The mean vitamin C content of the fresh tissue was 313 mg/100 g DM with 32 mg/100 g DM retained in the dried tissue. The overall mean antioxidant capacity of the dried product was increased by the drying and processing treatments to a mean of 2373 ABTS (µM Trolox/100 g DM). Measurement of the colour of the dried products showed the typical red colour of the tomatoes was retained during processing. Panellists evaluated three tomato products made from the cultivars Caluna and Toronto for appearance, colour, taste and overall acceptance. In contrast to many commercial products, the colour of the new tomato products was similar to the original fresh tomatoes. Panellists preferred the dried and smoked Toronto product sprayed with white vinegar. A new smoked tomato product containing health promoting antioxidants was produced.


Introduction: COVID-19 incidence was relatively high among dentists in Iraq, reflecting the high number of cases in the community. Therefore, possible epidemiological features of COVID-19 infection were investigated among dentists in Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Methodology: A cross-sectional study has been conducted among dentists using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic and working characteristics, self-reported COVID-19 history, and prevention practices toward SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemic. An online questionnaire was developed and spread with a snowball method among dentists. Results: We analyzed the responses of 83 participants (31 women and 52 men, mean age 33.8 ± 6.8 years). They had a mean of 10.6 ± 6.5 years of work experience and 20.2 ± 12.6 hours of weekly working time. In total, 46 (55.4%) of the participants reported COVID-19 infection. Only 29 (34.9%) participants always followed the hygiene rules. The most common personal precautions were mask-wearing (98.8%) and hand hygiene as a part of institutional protective precaution (51.8%). Of the infected dentists, 24 (52.2%) did not know the source of infection. Of the remaining 16 (34.8%) were infected from family and/or friends circle, and five (10.9%) from patients. Eleven of them (23.9%) reported transmitting the infection to at least one person. In the multivariate analyses, working in Sulaymaniyah Province ( p = 0.031) and working only in a public hospital ( p = 0.029) were significant risk factors for COVID-19 infection. Conclusions: The high risk of COVID-19 infection among dentists in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region relates to their family and friends rather than their occupation. COVID-19; dentists; prevention; risk factors; source of infection; family contact.


We analyze the problem of an integrated management of fisheries by using fish farming as a tool for restocking fish populations depleted by overfishing pressure. We first use a simple heuristic dynamic model, taken from a classical example of mathematical bioeconomics, in order to prove that fish restocking may be an efficient tool for sustainable fishery management in situations where excessive fishing effort is going to cause irreversible stock collapse. Then we propose a two-compartments bieconomic mathematical model, with age structure and age specific harvesting and restocking, to mimic integrated interactions between aquaculture and open sea fisheries, where reared fish are used as substitutes for marine catches. The model proposed in this paper tries to fill a gap between the rich mathematical bioeconomic literature, mainly devoted to the description of open sea fisheries and/or marine protected areas, and the very poor literature on mathematical bioeconomic modeling of interactions between fish farming and fisheries


Background: Ever since the inception of lidocaine into dentistry, it has been considered as a gold standard. But with the upcoming advancements, it is not the only choice these days. This study aimed to investigate and compare the efficacy of articaine (4%) buccal infiltration with lidocaine (2%) posterior superior alveolar nerve block in cases of maxillary teeth extraction. Methods: Twenty six subjects (in their middle-age) were recruited into this study and were referred for a simple dental extraction of maxillary second molar. They were divided randomly using double blind method into two groups that received standard posterior superior nerve block (2% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine) and buccal infiltration (4% articaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine) respectively followed by descriptive analysis of data using SPSS software. Results: Articaine as buccal infiltration produced faster onset and shorter duration of anaesthesia than lidocaine as PSA nerve block. Moreover, lidocaine group needed more supplemental injections. Conclusion: Buccal infiltration with 4% articane has high success rate. It avoids complications that occur due to the use of supplemental injections and therefore, can be considered as a good alternative for PSA nerve block.


Background Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) stimulates renal fibrosis in various renal diseases including IgA nephropathy. Methods We examined whether immunoglobulin A (IgA) stimulated TGF-β1 synthesis in human mesangial cells (MCs), and whether this effect was mediated through the protein kinase C (PKC) pathway. We measured the intraglomerular TGF-β1 mRNA expression by using competitive RT-PCR, and this was compared with various parameters in IgA nephropathy patients. Results The IgA aggregate increased the TGF-β1 mRNA expression in MCs, while this expression was not affected by the culture media or IgG aggregate. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and calphostin C did not influence the TGF-β1 mRNA expression that was increased by the IgA aggregate. Intraglomerular TGF-β1 mRNA expression was significantly correlated with creatinine clearance (r=-0.764, p=0.027), daily proteinuria (r=0.781, p=0.022), serum creatinine (r=0.884, p=0.004), and tubulointerstitial changes (r=0.809, p=0.015). Glomerular TGF-β1 mRNA expression was associated with an increased tendency for glomerulosclerosis (r=0.646, p=0.084). After 4 years, patients with a high expression of intraglomerular TGF-β1 mRNA showed a tendency for an decrease of their renal function. Conclusion The IgA aggregate increased TGF-β1 mRNA expression in MCs, and this was independent of the PKC pathway. The evaluation of intraglomerular TGF-β1 mRNA expression could be useful in predicting the progression of IgA nephropathy.


Negative correlation learning (NCL) is a neural network ensemble learning algorithm that introduces a correlation penalty term to the cost function of each individual network so that each neural network minimizes its mean square error (MSE) together with the correlation of the ensemble. This paper analyzes NCL and reveals that the training of NCL (when ¿ = 1) corresponds to training the entire ensemble as a single learning machine that only minimizes the MSE without regularization. This analysis explains the reason why NCL is prone to overfitting the noise in the training set. This paper also demonstrates that tuning the correlation parameter ¿ in NCL by cross validation cannot overcome the overfitting problem. The paper analyzes this problem and proposes the regularized negative correlation learning (RNCL) algorithm which incorporates an additional regularization term for the whole ensemble. RNCL decomposes the ensemble's training objectives, including MSE and regularization, into a set of sub-objectives, and each sub-objective is implemented by an individual neural network. In this paper, we also provide a Bayesian interpretation for RNCL and provide an automatic algorithm to optimize regularization parameters based on Bayesian inference. The RNCL formulation is applicable to any nonlinear estimator minimizing the MSE. The experiments on synthetic as well as real-world data sets demonstrate that RNCL achieves better performance than NCL, especially when the noise level is nontrivial in the data set.


The late Dr. Arthur Loeb, professor in the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University, developed and taught Design Science/Synergetics, an exploration of three-dimensional space, and Visual Mathematics, which explored the parameters of structure in two and three dimensions for more than two decades. The main foci of design science were geometry, mathematics, design and the beauty that resulted from this marriage. Dr. Loeb's widow, Charlotte Loeb, donated the Design Science Teaching Collection to the Edna Lawrence Nature Lab at Rhode Island School of Design in 2003. In its new environment, the Teaching Collection is inspiring both faculty and students. This paper includes examples of models made by RISD students in response to questions arising from the study of geometry and design science. I will also discuss how a heuristic approach to teaching design science meshes synergistically with an art and design curriculum.


We studied the effects of various TBT concentrations by assaying the activity of ERK 1/2 (p44/42) and phospho-ERK1/2 (phospho-p44/42), proteins with a key role in ascidian development, and tyrosine kinase-dependent pathway. The effects of this xenobiotic and the role of some signalling mechanisms on ascidian embryos were examined by using Western immunoblotting. The tyrosine phosphorylation pattern in the ascidians Ciona intestinalis and Phallusia mammillata development was examined and different levels of protein phosphorylation were found as a response to TBT at µM range. To determine whether another key signalling pathway was activated, the effects of TBT on the phosphorylation state of a component of tyrosine kinase-mediated signal transduction MAPK, ERK 1/2 (p44/42) were evaluated. Embryos of Ciona intestinalis exposed to 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 µM TBT showed a slight decrement in the level of phosphorylated ERK, while a remarkable decrement in level of phopshorylated ERK were observed at higher TBT concentrations (0.5 µM to 10 µM). These data indicated that exposures to TBT induced changes in the total pattern of phosphotyrosine and in the phosphorylation levels of ERK 1/2 but there were no changes on the overall level of total ERK in ascidian embryos.


A 40-year-old man presented with floaters and painless progressive
blurring of vision in the right eye for one month duration. Visual
acuity in the right eye was 6/24. There was mild anterior chamber
reaction and vitritis. The optic disc was swollen and elevated with
presence of granulomatous lesion in the optic disc head. Blood
investigations were unremarkable. Serum angiotensin converting enzyme
(ACE) was normal and conjunctival biopsy showed presence of
inflammatory cells. B-Scan ultrasound revealed an echo-dense lesion in
the optic nerve head. There was increased uptake of the right lacrimal
gland and presence of 'Panda sign' with Gallium scan. A diagnosis of
right ocular sarcoidosis was made base on the clinical features and
Gallium scan.


Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) has been applied to reinforce wood structure with its many advantages. But results of experimental study and engineering practice have showed that the failure is generally caused for lack of bong strength between FRP and wood, so the bond behavior between FRP and wood is very important. In this paper, based on the shear bond experiment between wood and CFRP sheet, the bond properties are researched such as failure character, characteristic of strain distribution, effective bond length and bond strength. Results showed that: at the loaded-end, the strain of the CFRP sheets is the maximum, and then strains decrease quickly with the increase in distance from the loaded-end. Strain distribution along cross direction is not uniform and the strains of the center location are bigger obviously than that of the edge location. The effective bond length between CFRP sheet and wood is more than 120mm.


GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, Washington, D.C., Federal Standard No. 209A, "Clean Room and Work Statlun Requirements, Controlled Environment". GIBBS, G. A. J. (1967), Hosp. Admin. (Sydney), 15: 19, 20 (July). GIBBS, G. A. J. (1968), "The All' Conditioning of Clean Rooms", read on August 19 at a meeting of the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, All' Cundltionlng and Heating ( Inc.) , N.S.W. Division. UNITED STATES ARMY MEDICAL CORPS (1963), "Design Features Affecting Asepsis In the Hospital", Public Health Service Publication No. 953.


Staphylococcus  aureus  was  widely  studied  because  it  is  capable  of  roducing  heat – stable  enterotoxin  in  the  prepared  food  which  is  now  popular  in  the  general public (1).  This  study  was  designed  to exprimentally  survey  the  prepared  foods  in  Khon  Kaen,  to  identify  the  toxins  therein  and  microorganisms in  the  nasal  cavities  and  hands  of  the  cooks,  and  to  find  their  correlations.  The  informations  to  obtain  would  be  beneficial  for  the  prevention  of  staphylococcal  food  poisoning  and  the  management  aspect  of  epidemiology. Our  experimental  studies  on  193  prepaed  food  samples  collected  in  Khon  Kaen  and on  KKU  campus  revealed  that  the  majority   of  samples  contained  10 6 – 10 7 bacterial  cells  per  gram  of  food.  The  staphylococci  were 10 5 – 10 6 cells / gm. ,  S.  aureus  10 3 – 10 4 cells/gm., and  staphylococcus  coagulase  positve  10 2 – 10 4 cells/gm.  of food. The  food  samples  containing  the  enterotoxinproducing  S. aureus  were  such that  the  total  bacteria,  staphylococci,  and  S.  aureus  were  quite  high  in  number  except  the  Staphylococcus  coagulase  positive  vacteria where  only  10 2 – 10 3 cells / gm.  of  food  could  be  found  the  highest  the  enterotoxin – producing  S.l  aureus. Four  food  samples  were  found  to  have  entero  toxins  and  staphylococcus  coagulase  postitive  more  than  105  cells / gm .  of  food  (11.76%  of  enterotoxin producing S. aureus  food  samples  or  2.07% of  the  total  food  samples) We  have  found  97  food  samples  containing  staphylococcus  coagulase  positive  bacteria  out  of  193   (50.26%) . The  food  samples  accommodating    enterotoxin – producing  S.  aureus  were  34  in  number (17.62%).  The  most  frequently  found  enterotoxin  ypes  were  ABCD  (25.64%)  ;  and  A (23.08%),  C(20.5%),  ABD (15.31%),  D,ACD (5.3%) ,  AD,BD(2,56%)  were  found  in  the  less  frequency  in  that  order.  The  northeast  of  Thailand  prepared  foods  (i,e.   preserved  raw  pork – nam,  papaya  salad – tom,  minced  beff  salad --  larb)  were  found  to  have  predominated the  number  of  positive  samples.  Twenty – eight  out  of  98  prepared  food  shops  (28.57%)  were  found  to  be  positive  for  the  enterotoxin – producing  S.  aureus The  swab  samples  from  182  cooks  indicated  that  the  nasal  cavity  samples  yielded  47.3%  of  the  staphylococcus  coagulate  positive  ;  and  there   were  14.48%  of  them  that  produced  the  enterotoxin .  The  most  prevalent  toxin  was  type  A (29.63%) .  The  hand  swab  samples  showed 18.7%  of  the  staphylococcus  coagulate  positive  and  4.4%  out  of  this  produced  enterotoxins.  The  enterotoxins  A  and  ABCD  were  most  frequently  identified  (25%). We  have  found  no  significant  correlation  of  enterotoxins  between  the  nasal  cavity  origin  and  the  hand  origin  of  the  same  cook.  We  can  conclude  form  our  experiment  that  the  origin  of  this  bacteria  may  be  not  from  the  cook,  but  rather  from   the  raw  material,  from  the  environment  while  waiting  for  the  buyers  especially  the  food  sample  without  the  buyers  especially  the  food  sample  without the lids,  and  while  delivering  from  the  kitchen   the  people  involved.


Using Monte Carlo methods, the properties of systemwise generalizations of the Breusch–Godfrey test for autocorrelated errors are studied when there are some kinds of GARCH effects among the errors. The analysis, regarding the size of the test, reveals that the GARCH have considerable effects of the properties of the test regarding the size, especially in large systems of equations. The corrected LR tests, however, have been shown to perform satisfactorily in small systems when the errors are white noise or they have low GARCH effects, whilst the commonly used TR2 test behaves badly even in single equations. All tests perform badly, however, when the number of equations increases and the GARCH effect is strong. As regards the power of the test, the GARCH was not found to have any significant effects on the power properties of the test.


Payments for environmental services (PES) schemes are widely promoted to secure ecosystem services through incentives to the owners of land from which they are derived. Furthermore, they are increasingly proposed to foster conservation and poverty alleviation in the global South. In this article, we analyze the social relations that have shaped the design, implementation, and outcomes of a PES scheme in Pimampiro, Ecuador. While previous studies describe this case as successful, we show that the PES scheme reinforces existing social differences, erodes community organization, undermines traditional farming practices, and perpetuates inequalities in resource access in the "working" landscape inhabited by the upstream peasant community paid for watershed management. We argue that PES schemes are thus not neutral initiatives imposed upon blank canvases, but intersect with existing development trajectories and power relations. We conclude that analyses of PES need to look beyond conservation to critically examine local resource management and distribution.


Trace metals and rare earth elements (REEs) in the soft tissue of rocky shore Rock Oyster, Saccostrea cucullata, along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia were determined. Significant inter-spatial variations ( p < 0.05) in trace metals and REEs were recorded. Significant positive correlations ( p < 0.01) were found among REEs concentrations. A few significant correlations were found for trace metals and REEs. Average distribution of metals indicated that Johor State had the highest concentrations compared with Pahang and Terengganu for all metals, except for Pb and Cu. This could most likely be attributed to the highly urbanized and industrialized activities such as sewage discharge. The metal accumulation patterns in the oyster indicated enrichment of essential metals. Sites with relatively high concentrations of the contaminant metals Hg, Cu, Pb and Zn were related to their close proximity to industrial and urban sites or to boating and aquaculture activities. Relative enrichment of Cu, Pb and Zn in oysters in the whole study even from relatively pristine areas is thought to be derived from natural sources as these metals are significantly correlated to REEs distribution. The distribution of REEs show close similarity between all sampling sites, suggesting that they are of similar origins. In all sites, typical saw-tooth chondrite-normalized patterns were observed, which strongly suggested the REEs bioaccumulated in oyster tissues is derived from geogenic sources. Typical deviations from this pattern were found for Ce and Eu and could be explained by their redox chemistry. Results of light to heavy REEs (LREE/HREE) ratios suggested REEs fractionation in coastline marine environment produced more light REEs and less heavy REEs absorbed in the soft tissue of S. cucullata. The ratio of La/Yb in the oyster of 27.3 was remarkably similar to Terengganu River basin soil of 33.0 and to Terengganu River sediment of 27.6. Comparison of metal concentration with maximum permissible limits of toxic metals in food established in different countries, as well as Malaysian Food Act 1983 and Food Regulations 1985 Fourteen Schedule, indicated values were well within safety levels, except for Cu and Zn. Along with its wide distribution on rocky shore areas along the east coast, the present results of trace metals and REEs recorded in soft tissue of S. cucullata collected from 14 sites along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia served as baseline data for future reference.


Determining sex may be more difficult in cases such as natural disasters, accidents or situations in which bodies are subjected to high temperatures, when individuals must be identified from their remains. The mandible is a very strong bone, presents high sexual dimorphism and may be useful in forensic identification. The object of the present study was to determine sex by me trical analysis of macerated mandibles of Brazilian adults. We analysed 113 fully dentate macerated mandibles of Brazilian adults, 47 belonging to women and 66 to men. We took 8 measurements using a digital calliper: bicondilar breadth (BC), bigonial breadth (BG), biment al foramina breadth (BM), distance between mental foramen and mandibular base (MF-MB), mandibular ramus height (MRH), maximum mandibular ramus breadth (MaRB), minimum mandibular ramus breadth (MiRB) and mandibular body length (MBL). The t test was used for statistical analysis of independent samples, and a ROC curve was constructed. Direct and stepwise discriminant analysi s was carried out. SPSS v.22 software was used, with a significance threshold of 5 %. We observed that all the measurements presented statistically significant differences between the sexes, with greater mean values for men than for women. BG was the measuremen t which presented the greatest area under curve (AUC), and the highest correct prediction, followed by MRH and BC. The BM distanc e presented the smallest AUC and lowest correct prediction. The mean correct prediction was 85 % for direct discriminant analysis and 83.2 % for stepwise discriminant analysis, using the BG and MRH measurements. The measurements analysed in this study can be us e to determine the sex of Brazilian individuals.


This paper presents the architecture and implementation of a 2.5 Gbps Programmable Point-to-Point-Protocol Processor (P5) on a Virtex II FPGA (field programmable gate array). A 32-bit wide pipelined processor circuit is implemented for layer 2 frame processing and a Leon processor core is embedded for higher layer PPP (point-to-point protocol) control protocol processing. An AMBA bus interface is used to interlink the Leon processor to the hardware frame processing unit and presents a standard interface allowing easy retargeting to other processor platforms. Complex memory control is implemented to enable the microprocessor to handle the extreme data rate. The high-level system breakdown is described and Virtex II synthesis results are presented.


M.C. Escher's lithograph, Planaria, embodies mathematical ideas that have inspired me to design building kits that can be used to make structures of octahedra and tetrahedra on a human-size scale. The geometric foundations are outlined and a series of designs are shown that culminate in large constructions made of laser-cut plywood.


This thesis deals with how computationally effective lattice models could be used for inference of data with a continuous spatial index. The fundamental idea is to approximate a Gaussian field with a Gaussian Markov random field (GMRF) on a lattice. Using a bilinear interpolation at non-lattice locations we get a reasonable model also at non-lattice locations. We can thus exploit the computational benefits of a lattice model even for data with continuous spatial index. In Paper A, a GMRF model is used in a Bayesian approach for prediction of a spatial random field. A hierarchical parametric model is setup, and inference is made by Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulations. In this way we obtain predictors and estimated prediction uncertainties as well as estimates of model parameters. The spatial correlation is modelled as a GMRF on a lattice which is interpolated between lattice points. The methods are tested on a data set of Calcium content in forest soils of southern Sweden. In Paper B, we develop a methodology for kriging large data sets. By approximating a full Gaussian model with an interpolated GMRF the kriging weights can be calculated with less computation. For n observations and a full model, calculation of the kriging weights requires inversion of an n x n covariance matrix. Approximating the model with a GMRF defined on an N x N lattice, the computations can be reduced to inversion of an NxN band limited matrix. For large data sets the full n x n matrix might not be possible to invert, and the GMRF approximation is then not only time saving, but is what makes it possible to perform kriging with the full data set. (Less)


Abstract– We report concentrations and isotopic compositions of He, Ne, and Ar measured with high spatial resolution along a radial traverse of a silicon carbide (SiC) quadrant of the Genesis mission concentrator target. The Ne isotopic composition maps instrumental fractionation as a function of radial position in the target: the maximum observed isotopic fractionation is approximately 33‰ per mass unit between the center and periphery. The Ne fluence is enhanced by a factor of 43 at the target center and decreases to 5.5 times at the periphery relative to the bulk solar wind fluence. Neon isotopic profiles measured along all four arms of the "gold cross" mount which held the quadrants in the concentrator target demonstrate that the concentrator target was symmetrically irradiated during operation as designed. We used implantation experiments of Ne into SiC and gold to quantify backscatter loss and isotopic fractionation and compared measurements with numerical simulations from the code "stopping and range of ions in matter." The 20Ne fluence curve as a function of radial distance on the target may be used to construct concentration factors relative to bulk solar wind for accurate corrections for solar wind fluences of other light elements to be measured in the concentrator target. The Ne isotopic composition as a function of the radial distance in the SiC quadrant provides a correction for the instrumental mass‐dependent isotopic fractionation by the concentrator and can be used to correct measured solar wind oxygen and nitrogen isotopic compositions to obtain bulk solar wind isotopic compositions.


Trichloroethylene (TCE) is one of the most pervasive environmental contaminants in the world and is associated with Parkinson disease (PD) risk. Experimental models in rodents show that TCE is selectively toxic to dopaminergic neurons at high doses of ingestion, however, TCE is a highly volatile toxicant, and the primary pathway of human exposure is inhalation. As TCE is a highly lipophilic, volatile organic contaminant (VOC), inhalation exposure results in rapid diffusion throughout the brain, avoiding first-pass hepatic metabolism that necessitated high doses to recapitulate exposure conditions observed in human populations. We hypothesized that inhalation of TCE would induce significantly more potent neurodegeneration than ingestion and better recapitulate environmental conditions of vapor intrusion or off gassing from liquid TCE. To this end, we developed a novel, whole-body passive exposure inhalation chamber in which we exposed 10-month-old male and female Lewis rats to 50 ppm TCE (time weighted average, TWA) or filtered room air (control) over 8 weeks. In addition, we exposed 12-month-old male and female C57Bl/6 mice to 100 ppm TCE (TWA) or control over 12 weeks. Both rats and mice exposed to chronic TCE inhalation showed significant degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons as well as motor and gait impairments. TCE exposure also induced accumulation of pSer129-αSyn in dopaminergic neurons as well as microglial activation within the substantia nigra of rats. Collectively, these data indicate that TCE inhalation causes highly potent dopaminergic neurodegeneration and recapitulates some of the observed neuropathology associated with PD, providing a future platform for insight into the mechanisms and environmental conditions that influence PD risk from TCE exposure.


Due to the complexity of the actual rolling process, asymmetrical conditions of deformation zone can cause front end bending or lead to poor shape, profile or quality of the product, as well as reducing productivity. Therefore it is important to study the geometric parameters of deformation zone in order to determine the work parameters accurately during rolling. Because the stock is often inclined when it enters the rolls, the deformation zone is asymmetrical. In this investigation, a model of calculating contact length between stock and roll precisely is deduced according to the theory of rolling. The results by theoretical calculation and experiment prove that the projected arc is raised while the stock enters the rolls serious asymmetrically, as well as the increase of the entrance thickness of the rolling stock and the decrease of the exit thickness of the rolled stock.


This conference will offer you uncommon prospects to arrange with Academic and Clinical oncology Specialists, Clinical oncology Researchers, Medical Research Departments, Faculty of Health Sciences, C-level authority, Faculty of Healthcare, Deans, Professors and PhD Students from Medical Universities. It is an overall stage to look at and get some answers concerning Fostering and Latest Innovations in Women Cancer Diagnosis. Biomarkers on the other hand, give a dynamic and incredible way to deal with understanding the range of ailments with evident applications in systematic the study of disease transmission, biomarkers and clinical research in sickness avoidance, conclusion and illness the executives. Biomarkers have the extra potential to recognize people powerless to specific sicknesses. In the on-going years, the data about malignancy biomarkers has expanded to a great extent giving an immense potential to enhancing the administration of disease patients by enhancing the exactness of recognition and viability of treatment.


Purpose: Drawing on concepts from strain, feminist, and life-course perspectives, we investigate the proximal effects of strain on violence and serious drug use along with the distal "carryover" effects of childhood abuse among women. Methods: Using 36 months of retrospective data collected from 778 incarcerated women, we estimate monthly within-person effects of four types of strain experienced in adulthood (i.e., negative life events and three forms of victimization) on respondent-initiated violence and serious drug use. Cross-level interactions assess the moderating "carryover" effects of childhood abuse and cumulative adversity. Results: Negative life events increased women's initiation of violence and serious drug use. Having a near violent experience was positively associated with violence, while violent conflict increased drug use. Experiencing both childhood physical and sexual abuse accentuated the effect of predatory victimization on violence, and physical victimization amplified the positive relationship between near violence and drug use. Unexpectedly, women who experienced childhood sexual abuse were less likely to use drugs after experiencing strain. The accumulation of adversity among abused women could not account for these moderating effects. Conclusion: Findings suggest women's recent life experiences can explain offending in the foreground, while childhood abuse can account for some within-sex heterogeneity in these relationships.


From philosopher Leszek Kolakowski, one of the giants of twentieth-century intellectual history, comes this highly infuential study of Marxism. Written in exile, this 'prophetic work' presents, according to the Library of Congress, 'the most lucid and comprehensive history of the origins, structure, and posthumous development of the system of thought that had the greatest impact on the twentieth century'. Kolakowski traces the intellectual foundations of Marxist thought from Plotonius through Lenin, Lukacs, Sartre and Mao. He reveals Marxism to be 'the greatest fantasy of our century ...an idea that began in Promethean humanism and culminated in the monstrous tyranny of Stalinism'. In a brilliant coda, he examines the collapse of international Communism in light of the last tumultuous decades. Main Currents of Marxism remains the indispensable book in its field.


Type II clathrate hydrates (CHs), or ice clathrates, are inclusion compounds in which a hydrogen-bonded cage-like structure of H₂O accommodates molecules of suitable size, known as "guest molecules". CHs have similar local geometrical arrangements of the hydrogen-bonded water network as ice and both are known to collapse to amorphous states on isothermal pressurization at temperatures below about 140 K. Moreover, the collapsed CH states undergo a glass, or glass-like, transition at 140 K on heating at 1 GPa, which is identical to that of collapsed ice, or high density amorphous ice. Here we use thermal conductivity and dielectric measurements to study the transition behavior of two type II CHs with tetrahydrofuran and 1,3 dioxolane, respectively, as guest molecules. After their collapsed states have been heated to well above the glass transition at 1 GPa, we find transitions corresponding to the high to low density amorphous ice transition of ice with only slightly shifted temperature–pressure (T–p) coordinates compared to those of pure water. Thus, collapsed CHs show the same transition behaviors as cold water, which provide the basis for the model that explains the unusual temperature and pressure behaviors of water's properties in terms of two distinct types of liquid water. Collapsed CHs are, however, more stable than collapsed ice and can therefore be studied in a wider T–p interval. The results suggest sluggish homogenizing and phase separation processes, which affect the transition behaviors of collapsed CHs.


A drowsiness detection system using both brain and visual activity is presented in this paper. The brain activity is monitored using a single electroencephalographic (EEG) channel. An EEG-based drowsiness detector using diagnostic techniques and fuzzy logic is proposed. Visual activity is monitored through blinking detection and characterization. Blinking features are extracted from an electrooculographic (EOG) channel. Features are merged using fuzzy logic to create an EOG-based drowsiness detector. The features used by the EOG-based detector are voluntary restricted to the features that can be automatically extracted from a video analysis of the same accuracy. Both detection systems are then merged using cascading decision rules according to a medical scale of drowsiness evaluation. Merging brain and visual information makes it possible to detect three levels of drowsiness: "awake," "drowsy," and "very drowsy." One major advantage of the system is that it does not have to be tuned for each driver. The system was tested on driving data from 20 different drivers and reached 80.6% correct classifications on three drowsiness levels. The results show that EEG and EOG detectors are redundant: EEG-based detections are used to confirm EOG-based detection and thus enable the false alarm rate to be reduced to 5% while the true positive rate is not decreased, compared with a single EOG-based detector.


Abstract. Purpose: We provide a review of the key computed tomography (CT) technologies developed since the late 1980s and offer an overview of one of the future technologies under development. The focus of this review is mainly on the hardware and system development. The topics on the historical event linked to the early days of CT development and other innovations that contributed to the CT development, such as advanced image reconstruction techniques, are covered by companion papers in this special issue. Approach: The review is divided into five major sections, each linked to a key innovation in CT: helical spiral data acquisition, multi-slice CT, wide-cone CT, dual-source CT, and spectral CT. Given the limited scope of this review, only one of the future technologies, photon-counting CT, is discussed in detail. Whenever possible, both theory of operation and clinical examples are provided. Results: Theoretical analyses, phantom results, and clinical examples clearly demonstrate the efficacy and clinical relevancy of five historical technology developments and one future technology in CT. These technologies have improved and will continue to improve CT performance in terms of isotropic volume coverage, improved temporal resolution, and material differentiation and characterization capabilities. Conclusions: Over the past 30 years, technological developments of CT have contributed to the success of CT in many clinical applications such as trauma, oncology, cardiac imaging, and stroke. Advanced clinical applications have and will continue to demand more advanced technology development.


Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone after 20 years of introduction. — S. Gashchak, S. Paskevich. — Camera traps (CT) were used in 2018 to assess the current state of the Przewalski's horse (PH) population. Przewalski's horses were introduced into the Ukrainian Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) in 1998. Up to 720 km (of the 2 600 km total CEZ area) were investigated between February and November 2018, however the assessment reported here was made between May–July when PH are more settled with regards to the territory used. Totally 137 PH were recorded in the Ukrainian part of the CEZ: 47 stallions, 66 mares (adult & fillies) and 24 foals (10 males, 4 females and 10 of unidentified gender). At least four more PH (stallion, 2 mares, 1 foal) are noted at a remote site in the Belarus CEZ (V. Dombrovsky, or. rep.). All foals were born April-July 2018. There were 13 harem herds with foals (3–16 individuals in total in each), four small non-breeding groups (2-3 individuals), ca. 6 stallion groups (2–6 individuals), and at least one solitary stallion. Harem and non-breeding herds generally kept to ca. 18 sites, stallion groups normally roamed. Two-three groups lived on territories which including both Ukrainian and Belorussian parts of the CEZ. During 2007–2010 PH crossed the river Prypiat and finally founded a local reproducing sub-population. Almost all PH are from the 2 and higher generations, only two mares had a brand mark which identified the original introduced population. One herd (Ilintsy) includes a domesticate breed mare (in autumn she moved to a neighbouring group, in Stechanka, where in 2019 gave birth to a hybrid foal sired by the Ilintsy stallion). At least, two males (solitary stallion and colt) had signs of hybridization (i.e. PH and domesticated horse). Underestimation of the total PH population in our study is likely as not all appropriate sites were investigated. The total herd, as identified here, of PH grew seven-fold between 1998 and 2018. However, the rate of population increase between 2009–2018 was in 1.5 times less than that 1998–2008 previously reported. This reduced population growth rate was likely due to the changing age structure of the herd, the initial herd contained only older (more productive) mature mares, over time numbers of younger (less productive) mares increased. The present demographic indices and reproductive potential do not indicate any negative tendencies in the population development, and evidence the further fitness to the local conditions. PH are native to open steppe landscapes and our study confirms their preference to meadows in the CEZ. However, we observed that PH do not avoid forests. Reforestation of meadows and predominance of woodlands in the CEZ are obstacles for comprehensive monitoring of PH, and may contribute to an underestimation of the population size as direct visual observations do not work well in the woodlands. CT studies offer a solution to this problem.


OBJECT
Several prophylactic surgical methods have been tried to prevent CSF leakage after translabyrinthine resection of acoustic neuroma (TLAN). The authors report an improvised technique for multilayer watertight closure using titanium mesh-hydroxyapatite cement (HAC) cranioplasty in addition to dural substitute and abdominal fat graft after TLAN.

METHODS
The study was limited to 42 patients who underwent TLAN at University Hospitals Case Medical Center using this new technique from 2006 to 2012. Systematic closure of the surgical wound in layers using temporalis fascia, dural substitute, dural sealant, adipose graft, titanium mesh, and then HAC was performed in each case. Temporalis muscle and eustachian tube obliteration were not used. The main variables studied were patient age, tumor size, tumor location, cosmetic outcome, length of hospitalization, and the incidence of CSF leak, pseudomeningocele, and infection.

RESULTS
Excellent cosmetic outcome was achieved in all patients. There were no cases of postoperative CSF rhinorrhea, incisional CSF leak, or meningitis. Cosmetic results were comparable to those achieved using HAC alone. This cost-effective technique used only a third of the HAC required for traditional closure in which the entire mastoid defect is filled with cement, predisposing to infection. Postoperative CT and MRI showed excellent bony contouring and dural reconstitution, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
The authors report on successful use of titanium mesh-HAC cranioplasty in preventing postoperative CSF leak after TLAN in all cases in their series. The titanium mesh provides a well-defined anatomical dissection plane that would make reoperation easier than working through scarred soft tissue. The mesh bolsters the fat graft and keeps HAC out of direct contact with mastoid air cells, thereby reducing the risk of infection. The cement cranioplasty does not preclude subsequent implantation of a bone-anchored hearing aid.


Abstract 3383 MicroRNAs (miRNA) are noncoding RNA molecules that regulate the synthesis of proteins and, if dysregulated, can result in development of various form of cancers. We have found that miR-130a is highly expressed in immature proliferating granulocytic precursors. In more mature granulocytes the miR-130a expression is significant lower. In acute myeloid leukemia the granulocyte precursors have lost the ability to undergo terminal maturation, leading to accumulation of non-functional, immature granulocytes (myeloblasts). We hypothesize that a sustained high expression of miR-130a during granulopoiesis may sustain continuous cell proliferation. TGF-β is a strong inhibitor of cell proliferation and lack of TGF-β expression is associated with various form of cancer. Smad4 is an essential compound in the TGF-β signaling pathway. Using microRNA target-prediction software, we identified Smad4 as a putative target for miR-130a. This was confirmed experimentally by demonstrating that transient overexpression of miR-130a results in reduction in the amount of Smad4 protein. Luciferase reporter constructs with the 3`-UTR of Smad4 also respond to miR-130a – an effect that is abolished by point mutations in the miRNA–binding site. In agreement, we observed that stable overexpression of miR-130a in a granulocytic cell line reduces the level of Smad4 protein, and render the cells less sensitive to TGF-β-induced growth inhibition. This was also confirmed with cell cycles analysis. Furthermore, the effect was diminished when transfecting the same clones with SMAD4 lacking the 3-'UTR. In line with our hypothesis, the most immature granulocyte precursors demonstrate the highest expression of miR-130a is highest, and the lowest expression of Smad4 protein. As the granulocyte precursors mature, the expression of miR-130a decreases dramatically whereas the level of Smad4 protein expression increases demonstrating inverse correlation between miR-130a and Smad4 protein. The level of Smad4 mRNA is comparable at all stages of granulopoiesis. High miR-130a levels and low or no expression of Smad4 was found in primary cells from patients with acute myeloid leukemia and in a cell line (Kasumi-1) with the t(8;21)(q22;q22) chromosomal translocation. The level of Smad4 increased in Kasumi-1 cells when the endogenous level of miR-130a was inhibited by anti-miR-130a LNA. Our data indicate that miR-130a is involved in cell cycle regulation of normal and malignant granulocytic cells through engagement of Smad4 in the TGF-β-pathway. Grant acknowledgment: Lundbeck foundation, Carlsberg foundation, Swedish Research Council. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Storytelling is a term that can cover a range from spontaneous tales that a grandparent might recount to their grandchildren, to tales from the village raconteur with a touch of the unbelievable, to stories presented by a scholar or performer based on the literary masterpieces of a particular heritage. This paper is concerned with the art of oral performance in which stories from epic and classical literature in the Indian heritage are presented before an audience in a formal setting. It is an account of the creation of two storytelling performances presented at the national Sanskrit conferences held in 2007 and in 2010 at the Australian National University, Canberra. It starts with a brief discussion of orality in the Indian tradition and recounts how two main styles of storytelling emerged: the marga (mainstream) puraṇa pravacana style with its reliance exclusively on text and the desi (vernacular) katha kalakṣepa style mainly reliant on songs from the bhakti (devotional) literature in the regional languages. This is followed by an outline of my approach in employing the best features of these two styles to create a hybrid style appealing to modern audiences by combining the structural formality derived from textual authenticity with the informal spontaneity which is the essence of the katha kalakṣepa style. The main part of the paper details the creation of the performance versions of two stories: Valmiki's writing of the Ramayaṇa, and the story of the king Mucukunda from the Bhagavata Puraṇa. I conclude with some remarks on how placing an ancient story in today's world enhances the experience for both audience and performer.


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Objective: The goal of this study was to evaluate the association of obesity indices with circulating inflammatory markers in subjects diagnosed Metabolic Syndrome (MetS). Methodology: Random selection of individuals' samples from participants of Isfahan Cohort Study (ICS) was used. Only subjects who met the National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP-III) criteria were included in the study. All participants underwent a 30-minute face to face interview to complete validated questionnaires. A trained nurse measured obesity indices such as body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist to hip ratio (WHR) and waist to height ratio (WHtR). Serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL, fasting blood glucose, interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), adiponectin, ghrelin and CRP were also measured. The Mann- Whitney U test was used to compare the inflammatory markers in subjects with and without MetS. Correlation coefficients between inflammatory biomarkers and obesity indices were evaluated in participants with MetS using Pearson Coefficient correlation test. Results: In subjects with MetS, WC and BMI were significantly higher compared to subjects without MetS (P < 0.001). We found the median Interquartile range (IQR) of CRP was significantly higher in subjects with MetS (P < 0.001). Adiponectin and ghrelin level showed no significant difference in subjects with or without MetS. Subjects with MetS had a statistically significant positive correlation between IL6 and WHtR (r =0.367, P = 0.015). No significant correlation was found between IL-10, ghrelin, adiponectin and CRP with BMI, WHtR and WC. Negative correlation was observed for adiponectin and the WC (r = -0.367, P = 0.026) as well. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that in subjects diagnosed with MetS, only IL6 had positive association with WHR and no significant correlation between all other inflammatory markers with Obesity Indices was found.


As the electrodes of secondary battery are made with sulfide composite powders, excellent electrode system of environmental non-toxicity and with high specific energy density and low material cost can be obtained. In this study, the (Fe, M)S2 composite powders was synthesized by mechanochemical processes (MCP) in order to improve of the cycle life in bettery. The formation of pyrite phase appreared at the case which adds nickel, but it was not observed in the case where the transition metal was does not add but the transition metal such as cobalt, molybdenum was added in stead. From charge-discharge test results, the initial discharge capasity of (Fe, Ni)S2 electrode was 845 mAh/g. The initial discharge capasity of (Fe, Co)S2 electrode was 500mAh/g, but it showed a better cycle perfoemance than the case where the diffrent transition metal was added.


Abstract Exposure to different nanoforms (NFs) via the dermal route is expected in occupational and consumer settings and thus it is important to assess their dermal toxicity and the contribution of dermal exposure to systemic bioavailability. We have formulated four grouping hypotheses for dermal toxicity endpoints which allow NFs to be grouped to streamline and facilitate risk assessment. The grouping hypotheses are developed based on insight into how physicochemical properties of NFs (i.e. composition, dissolution kinetics, size, and flexibility) influence their fate and hazard following dermal exposure. Each hypothesis is accompanied by a tailored Integrated Approach to Testing and Assessment (IATA) that is structured as a decision tree and tiered testing strategies (TTS) for each relevant question (at decision nodes) that indicate what information is needed to guide the user to accept or reject the grouping hypothesis. To develop these hypotheses and IATAs, we gathered and analyzed existing information on skin irritation, skin sensitization, and dermal penetration of NFs from the published literature and performed experimental work to generate data on NF dissolution in sweat simulant fluids. We investigated the dissolution of zinc oxide and silicon dioxide NFs in different artificial sweat fluids, demonstrating the importance of using physiologically relevant conditions for dermal exposure. All existing and generated data informed the formulation of the grouping hypotheses, the IATAs, and the design of the TTS. It is expected that the presented IATAs will accelerate the NF risk assessment for dermal toxicity via the application of read-across.


: The level of serum brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) was measured in 236 patients with acute coronary syndrome. Some of them presented with mitochondrial dysfunction. None showed diagnostically significant BNP levels within 12 hours after admittance, but patients with unstable angina and BNP level below 80 pg/ml had the lowest risk of serious cardiovascular diseases. Marked mitochondrial dysfunction was associated with maximum BNP levels 12 hr and 14 days after hospitalization and mild dysfunction with minimal BNP concentration.


Fiber optic links in microwave and millimeter wave region have recently been demonstrated. Integration of these links into systems require the development of fiber optic devices such as novel true time delay devices. Most of the currently available fiber optic time delay components provide for constant, fixed time delays. Many applications on the other hand, such as optically controlled phased arrays, would require variable time delays for phase shifting purposes. This paper is concerned with variable time delay devices and their systems integration.


Objective : To assess pattern and proportion of physical abuse during pregnancy in relation to socio demographic characteristics of abused women. Material & Methods : A descriptive type of cross sectional study was conducted in RADDA-MCH-FP Center, Mirpur-10, Dhaka during January to July 2011. A total of 139 pregnant women of reproductive age group (15-45) year's who visited for antenatal check up were selected purposely. Data were collected through face to face interview using pretested structured questionnaire. Results : Socio demographic characteristics of respondents revealed that mean age 22.20 ± 39 years and husbands mean age 28.57 ± 5.39 years. Highest number of respondents education upto SSC level (49.6%). 74.8% were housewife; socio economic status was lower middle class, 18.7% had history of dowry. The proportion of physical abuse during pregnancy was 31.6%. Among them 15.83% had mixed type of abuse. Highly significant association was found with dowry (p 0.00) and planed pregnancy (p 0.006). A statistically significant association was found between respondent's education level and physical abused (p<0.05) indicating respondents had low level of education increase physical abuse. A statistically significant association also found with residence (urban/slum) (p<0.05) and who had history of dowry (p<0.05). Conclusion : Physical abuse during pregnancy was mostly seen in the respondent who belongs to slum area and had low educational level. Therefore necessary step should be taken by health system as well as government to prevent physical abuse during pregnancy. Northern International Medical College Journal Vol.5(1) 2013: 313-315


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Both cultures of Escherichia coli were examined for mannose-sensitive (MS) haemagglutinin in rocked-tile tests with guinea-pig red cells at ambient temperature, and agar plate cultures were examined for mannose-resistant eluting (MRE) haemagglutinins against 14 species of red cells in tests mixed at 3--5 degrees C in the presence of .05% (w/v) D-mannose. Ox, sheep, human, pig, horse, guinea-pig, and fowl red cells were required to detect the various patterns of MRE haemagglutination with the different species of cells. Of 387 strains in 155 O serogroups, 95 formed both MS and MRE haemagglutinins (MS+/MRE+), 198 formed only MS (MS+/MRE-), 21 only MRE (MS+/MRE+), and 73 neither (MS-/MRE-). Strains of more than one of these types, and MRE+ strains with different cell specificities were found in many of the serogroups. Some strains in 144 O serogroups had MS haemagglutinin and some in 50 an MRE haemagglutinin. The presence of MS haemagglutinin in a culture was invariably associated with the presence of type-1 fimbriae on the bacteria. All MS+ strains shared a common antigen in their type-1 fimbriae and three groups of these strains possessed also a group-specific fimbrial antigen. The presence of certain kinds of MRE haemagglutinin in over half the MRE+ strains was associated with that of type-MRE fimbriae, but fimbriae were not detected in the other MRE+ strains. The antigens of the MRE haemagglutinins in different strains were heterogeneous and differed from those of the type-1 fimbriae of MS+ strains. Three series of strains from normal faeces, and from patients with infantile diarrhoea and urinary-tract infections each included a minority possessing neither type of haemagglutinin, but this observation did not preclude a role of the haemagglutinins in colonization or pathogenicity.


In emergency plan for a nuclear power plant, taking enough measures in EPZ boundary (Emergency Planning Zone) is one of priority matters, to have protection against the release of radioactive materials in accident efficiently and quickly to minimize environmental impacts. EPZ is set as the zone which emergency plans should be mainly prepared on emergency conditions. The criteria of EPZ is that dose value in the area between plant and EPZ boundary have to be less than 10mSv, even if very conservative release mechanisms and path are supposed. The released amount of radioactive material from a nuclear power plant is calculated to the accident scenario were supposed with the each phase of decommissioning. Moreover, the dose value is calculated as the evaluation of environmental impacts, using atmospheric diffusion parameters are determined by the plume concentration Gaussian type distribution model at steady state, and annual meteorological data of the reference plants. Both of 'the spent fuel storage phase' and 'the safe maintenance and dismantling phase' on each of the expected accident scenario, the dose value in EPZ boundary is much less than safety criteria (10mSv), and there is no need to plan offsite emergency plan, such as the Sheltering and Escape for a reference plant. This result is agreeing with the opinion of Waste and decommission working group 2006 of Western European Nuclear Regulator's Association (WENRA).Copyright © 2010 by ASME


A double two-switch forward type high-frequency transformer linked zero-voltage and zero-current mode soft-switching (ZVZCS) pulse width modulation (PWM) DC-DC power converter using IGBTs is presented. A new circuit configuration of the isolated type PWM softly switching converter is proposed to reduce idling and circulating currents in the main circuit without using complex additional active auxiliary resonant snubber circuits and power semiconductor devices, and to decrease the peak voltage across power devices, and their peak current stresses. This soft-switching PWM DC-DC power converter has the unique advantages of less power circuit components and power semiconductor devices, high power conversion efficiency, constant frequency duty cycle control scheme, cost-effective and stable soft-switching operating range under wide load variations for high power applications. The basic operating principle of the soft-switching power converter treated here is illustrated using periodic steady-state circuit analysis for each mode equivalent circuit. The effectiveness of the proposed soft-switching DC-DC power converter built and tested as a 500 W-100 kHz breadboard setup using IGBTs is verified and evaluated on the basis of simulation and theoretical circuit analysis.


An existing power system production process includes two operations and produces twelve different part types. The first operation fills WIP carts used by the second operation. A combined lean and discrete event simulation study supported by the analysis of order history information stored in a corporate information system is presented. The goal was to identify operations alternatives that could be used to reduce customer lead time from the current 3 to 3 days to 1 to 3 days. The application of lean methods included the examination of the order history data that showed that 80% of parts ship to a single primary customer and 20% to many secondary customers. The lean part of the study further concluded that the number of WIP carts should equal the number of different products, that each WIP cart should be associated with one and only one product and that each WIP cart should be should refilled daily after orders are processed. Using a discrete event simulation model, four order processing sequencing alternatives for improving on-time delivery were evaluated. The percent of orders delivered in 1 day was maximized, with the lowest variance, by sorting all orders for the primary customer first from smallest in size to largest. The orders for the same product from the remaining customers are processed immediately after the order for the same product from the primary customer. The value of the synergistic effect of combining lean tools with simulation supported by order data extracted from the corporate information system is demonstrated.


Overlapping octapeptides from the amino acid sequence of the adherence protein of Mycoplasma pneumoniae were synthesized and used as the antigen in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with serum samples from M. pneumoniae-infected patients. Of a sequence of 338 amino acids positioned between leucine 801 and leucine 1139, only two regions with immunodominant continuous epitopes were detected. The immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M antibodies of child and adult patients reacted especially with the NH2-(810)-W-I-G-N-G-Y-R-Y peptide but also reacted with the NH2-(1124)-F-T-D-F-V-K-P-R peptide.


a medical condition which in combination with social and educational factors leads to significant work-related disability and who are excluded from consideration for the Disability Support Pension because of the rigid definitions of the Impairment Tables. Such persons may be ineligible for Sickness Benefits and be unable to comply with the demands made on the fit unemployed to undergo a work test in order to qualify for income support. The introduction of the Impairment Tables represents an attempt to replace medical assessment and opinion about fitness to work with an unsound methodology, and will inevitably lead to social injustice. The Social Security review undertaken by Professor Bettina Cass recommended that a multidisciplinary panel was the most appropriate method of assessing a person's fitness to work. We are pleased to see that a new system of assessment of the relationship between impairment and ability to work is being developed in conjunction with the relevant medical colleges. The critical test of this activity will be whether the methods developed are valid and socially just. We trust that the assertion of Associate Professor Jones' that "Decisions will be made on the basis of such opinions expressed by knowledgeable professionals" will be correct. Hugh G Dickson, MB BS, FACRM Director, Rehabilitation and Geriatrics Liverpool Hospital Elizabeth Street, Liverpool. NSW 2170 Ian W Webster, MD, FRACP Professor of Public Health School of Community Medicine University of New South Wales


Many engineering problems exist in physical domains that can be said to be infinitely large. A common problem in the simulation of these unbounded domains is that a balance must be met between a practically sized mesh and the accuracy of the solution. In transient applications, developing an appropriate mesh size becomes increasingly difficult as time marches forward. The concept of the infinite element was introduced and implemented for elliptic and for parabolic problems using exponential decay functions. This paper presents a different methodology for modeling transient heat conduction using a simplified mesh consisting of only two‐node, one‐dimensional infinite elements for diffusion into an unbounded domain and is shown to be applicable for multi‐dimensional problems. A brief review of infinite elements applied to static and transient problems is presented. A transient infinite element is presented in which the element length is time‐dependent such that it provides the optimal solution at each time step. The element is validated against the exact solution for constant surface heat flux into an infinite half‐space and then applied to the problem of heat loss in thermal reservoirs. The methodology presented accurately models these phenomena and presents an alternative methodology for modeling heat loss in thermal reservoirs. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Background/Aims Occult HBV infection can persist following HBsAg loss and be transmitted, but the virological features are not well defined. Methods Here we investigated 25 Korean patients who lost HBsAg during follow up, either spontaneously or subsequent to therapy. Results Whereas subtype adr (genotype C) was found in 96% of HBsAg positive patients, 75 % of patients who lost HBsAg spontaneously were seemed to be infected with the ayw subtype with sequence similar to genotype D. Mutations in the major hydrophilic region (MHR) of HBsAg were found in 7 patients who lost HBsAg spontaneously. The mutations include T123S, M125I/N, C139R, D144E, V177A, L192F, and W196L, some of which have not been reported before. Functional analysis via transfection experiments indicate that the C139R and D144E mutations drastically reduced HBsAg antigenicity, while the Y225del mutation found in one interferon-treated patient impaired HBsAg secretion. Conclusions Lack of detectable HBsAg in patient serum could be explained by low level of ccc DNA in liver tissue, low antigenicity of the surface protein, or its secretion defect.


We describe a rare case of chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (CAEBV) infection, with infiltration of the skeletal muscle. A 19-year-old woman with swollen cervical lymph nodes and a fever was referred to our hospital. Swelling of the trapezium muscle and elevation of creatinine kinase level were observed. Biopsy results of the brachialis muscle revealed infiltration of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded RNA-positive CD8 T lymphocytes. The EBV virus load in the peripheral blood was high, and EBV monoclonality was determined by Southern blot analysis. Owing to the rarity of CAEBV with skeletal muscle infiltration, this case alerts physicians to the potential diagnostic pitfalls of CAEBV.


While the relationship between intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and conflict has captured the attention of international relations scholars for decades, the empirical results of this research agenda have presented contradictory conclusions regarding the pacifying effect normally attributed to IGOs. We address these contradictions by refocusing primarily on potential IGO effects on low-severity conflicts. We examine new states in the postcommunist space spanning Europe and Central Asia as a useful research site to explore these relationships in the post-Cold War era. We argue that especially in the case of newly emerging states, where there is little institutional memory and long-term experience in foreign affairs, IGOs expose differential policy preferences between members, and such information should be associated with the likelihood of increased low levels of conflict. We find a strong association between shared IGO membership and low severity conflict, a significant relationship between low and high severity conflict, and differences between IGO membership effects on low versus high severity conflict, consistent with our theoretical argument.