The skin is a highly accessible organ and thus provides an attractive immune environment for cost-effective, simple, and needle-free delivery of vaccines and immunomodulators. In this study, we pretreated mouse skin with an anionic surfactant, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), for a short period of time (10 min) followed by epicutaneous vaccination with hen egg lysozyme antigen. We demonstrated for the first time that pretreatment of skin with surfactant SLS significantly enhances the production of antibody to hen egg lysozyme. Short term pretreatment with SLS disorganized the stratum corneum, extracted partial lamellar lipids, induced the maturation of Langerhans cells, and did not result in epidermis thickening. To reveal the mechanism underlying these changes, particularly at the molecular level, we used a novel proteomic technique using ultrafiltration capillaries and mass spectrometry to identify in vivo proteins/peptides secreted in the SLS-pre-treated skin. Two secretory proteins, named as calcium-binding protein S100A9 and thymosin (cid:1) 4, were identified by this novel technique. These two proteins thus may provide new insight into the enhancing effect of surfactants on skin vaccination. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 5:523–532, 2006.


This paper presents the comparison of three different strategies for the control of a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) in wind energy conversion systems (WECS). Three of the most widespread and well-performing control approaches are implemented in an experimental setup based on a digital signal processor (DSP), namely, vector control, direct torque control, and direct power control. Said control methods are reviewed and their performances analyzed and compared on the basis of simulations and experimental results. The qualitative and quantitative comparison results thus obtained are likely to be of great interest to engineers and researches involved in the field of DFIG-based WECS.


In order to enhance reliability and maintainability of ship monitoring system, this paper proposed a CANopen protocol-based intelligent sensor which can simultaneously monitor rotational speed and temperature. With the presented intelligent sensor, the data collection and sensor control can be achieved easily and effectively. Experiments were conducted, which showed that the presented intelligent sensor could simplify the ship monitoring system, make the maintenance easier and improve reliability of ship monitoring greatly.


In this study, instead of gasketed or brazed plate heat exchangers, which are used in various fields of application, a direct metal sintering method is used to design a heat exchanger with its original geometry and with different geometries. Studies of heat exchangers found in published literature were reviewed, and the thermal behaviors of the proposed unique designs were examined. Usually heat exchangers using this design do not use channel spacing angles of 30–45–60–75◦ for the plate ducts. The thermal behaviors of the fluid-circulating systems were analyzed using ANSYS FLUENT software, and they used the boundary conditions found in the literature for this design. Heat transfer between the heat exchanger channels and channel walls was calculated. The analyses results show that an increase in the amount of heat transfer surface area and also an increase in surface roughness increased the amount of positive heat transfer.


The importance of datasharing is of increasing concern to funding bodies and institutions. With some prescience, the radiobiology community has established datasharing infrastructures over the last two decades, including STORE; however, the utilization of these databases is disappointing. The aim of the present study was to identify the current state of datasharing amongst researchers in radiation protection, and to identify barriers to effective sharing. An electronic survey was prepared, including questions on post-publication data provision, institutional, funding agency, and journal policies, awareness of datasharing infrastructures, attitudinal barriers and technical support. The survey was sent to the members of a mailing list maintained by the EC funded CONCERT project. Responses identified that the radiation protection community shared similar concerns to other groups canvassed in earlier studies; the perceived negative impact of datasharing on competitiveness, career development and reputation, along with concern about the costs of data management. More surprising was the lack of awareness of existing datasharing platforms. We find that there is a clear need for education and training in data management and for a significant programme of improving awareness of Open Data issues.


Abstract Dormancy is a critical factor for the survival and persistence of weedy species. Contemporary approaches can be used to identify genes that regulate dormancy directly or indirectly to elucidate key mechanisms, signals, and pathways. Several domesticated plant species have been used as model systems to mark quantitative trait loci (QTL) that affect dormancy in seeds and vegetative propagules directly. A few weedy species have also been used to mark QTL and to determine dormancy genes using microarray analysis. Given the number of serious weeds worldwide and the role that dormancy plays in their persistence, developing fundamental knowledge on dormancy is an important step toward developing new strategies for weed management. This paper describes current research and outlines some weeds that might be candidates for dormancy investigations using molecular genetic and genomics approaches. An underlying theme in the selection of weeds for dormancy investigations is their relation to crop species and the ability to adapt existing resources to investigate dormancy in weedy plants. Nomenclature: Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. CIRAR; green foxtail, Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv. SETVI; horsenettle, Solanum carolinense L. SOLCA; johnsongrass, Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers. SORHA; Jerusalem artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus L. HELTU; jointed goatgrass, Aegilops cylindrica Ces. AEGCY; leafy spurge, Euphorbia esula L. EPHES; prickly lettuce, Lactuca serriola L. LACSE; purple nutsedge, Cyperus rotundus L. CYPRO; wild mustard, Brassica kaber (DC.) L. C. Wheeler SINAR; wild oat, Avena fatua L. AVEFA; yellow nutsedge, Cyperus esculentus L. CYPES; Arabidopsis or mouse-ear cress, Arabidopsis thaliana L.; Asian wild rice, Oryza rufipogon Griff.; foxtail millet, Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.; oat, Avena sativa L.; potato, Solanum tuberosum L.; rice, Oryza sativa L.; sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench; wheat, Triticum aestivum L.


Background: The potential impact of missing data on the results of clinical trials has received heightened attention recently. A National Research Council study provides recommendations for limiting missing data in clinical trial design and conduct, and principles for analysis, including the need for sensitivity analyses to assess robustness of findings to alternative assumptions about the missing data. A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee raised missing data as a serious concern in their review of results from the ATLAS ACS 2 TIMI 51 study, a large clinical trial that assessed rivaroxaban for its ability to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction or stroke in patients with acute coronary syndrome. This case study describes a variety of measures that were taken to address concerns about the missing data. Methods: A range of analyses are described to assess the potential impact of missing data on conclusions. In particular, measures of the amount of missing data are discussed, and the fraction of missing information from multiple imputation is proposed as an alternative measure. The sensitivity analysis in the National Research Council study is modified in the context of survival analysis where some individuals are lost to follow-up. The impact of deviations from ignorable censoring is assessed by differentially increasing the hazard of the primary outcome in the treatment groups and multiply imputing events between dropout and the end of the study. Tipping-point analyses are described, where the deviation from ignorable censoring that results in a reversal of significance of the treatment effect is determined. A study to determine the vital status of participants lost to follow-up was also conducted, and the results of including this additional information are assessed. Results: Sensitivity analyses suggest that findings of the ATLAS ACS 2 TIMI 51 study are robust to missing data; this robustness is reinforced by the follow-up study, since inclusion of data from this study had little impact on the study conclusions. Conclusion: Missing data are a serious problem in clinical trials. The methods presented here, namely, the sensitivity analyses, the follow-up study to determine survival of missing cases, and the proposed measurement of missing data via the fraction of missing information, have potential application in other studies involving survival analysis where missing data are a concern.


Rapid, progressive hyperpyrexia is becoming a cause for concern. It occurred in 12 patients, ten of whom failed to survive the acute episode. Conventional anesthetic drugs, including thiopental sodium, succinylcholine chloride, nitrous oxide, and halothane, were employed in most of the patients. No specific signs or symptoms heralded the onset of the hyperthermia. Usually the first observation was that the skin of the patient felt very hot; cardiovascular collapse developed shortly thereafter. At the moment, the primary treatment is prophylactic: continual monitoring of body temperature will detect beginning increases in body heat and permit efforts to reverse the situation before it becomes irreversible. When the syndrome develops, drastic measures must be instituted at once to reduce body temperature, provide high concentrations of oxygen with hyperventilation, and combat metabolic acidosis.


This study focuses on the utilization of highly densified materials in cementitious composites with objectives of improving the mechanical performance and minimizing the number and size of defects. Due to their excellent mechanical properties, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are now viewed as potential candidate for reinforcement in cement composites. The present paper reports the use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as reinforcement to improve the mechanical properties of portland cement paste and creating multifunctional concrete. In order to increase the bonding, and strength, a material with intermediate fineness, highly densified silica fumes, was also utilized. The densified silica fumes along with CNT are added to cement mortar in various proportions. Small-scale specimens were prepared to measure the mechanical properties as a function of nanotube concentration and distribution. Furthermore, properties like shrinkage, permeability and alkalinity of the resultant composite were also investigated. The study addresses the significance of CNT as an additive to the enhancement of properties of cement composite.


Poselets have been used in a variety of computer vision tasks, such as detection, segmentation, action classification, pose estimation and action recognition, often achieving state-of-the-art performance. Poselet evaluation, however, is computationally intensive as it involves running thousands of scanning window classifiers. We present an algorithm for training a hierarchical cascade of part-based detectors and apply it to speed up poselet evaluation. Our cascade hierarchy leverages common components shared across poselets. We generate a family of cascade hierarchies, including trees that grow logarithmically on the number of poselet classifiers. Our algorithm, under some reasonable assumptions, finds the optimal tree structure that maximizes speed for a given target detection rate. We test our system on the PASCAL dataset and show an order of magnitude speedup at less than 1% loss in AP.


This research contributes to an understanding of Japanese Foreign Investment (JFDI) in Poland, by using a Variety of Capitalism approach and drawing on literature from employment relations. It examines firstly, the extent to which Japanese production and managerial institutions and practices can be transplanted to different economic and cultural environments; and secondly, the character of workers' response towards these practices, in the context of JFDI in Poland. It draws on primary data drawn from interviews conducted with the managers and workers in five firms in a Japanese electronics manufacturing cluster in Torun, Northern Poland, as well as the policy makers, researchers and journalists on a regional level. First, the transfer of Japanese management 'style' is considered in terms of recruitment, training practices, issues of monitoring and discipline and quality assurance policies. This study reveals that the transfer of Japanese typical practices is of minor importance to Japanese corporations based in Poland, and the character of these practices in the Polish workplace is peripheral. However, the subordination of labour is brought by the precarisation of employment, rather than the implementation of Japanese quality policies. Second, the focus of the research is on the response of workers and finds that they did not remain passive actors in this process and resisted the adapted form of Japanisation in Poland. Although the role of formal trade unions was limited, the data pointed to other forms of resistance, both conventional and novel, from sabotage, absenteeism, humour to insubordination and the use of blogging sites. In the context of the researched labour process, the empirical findings point to markers of collectivism in all forms of worker resistance and hence identified that the collective worker not only has not disappeared from both the labour process debate and the workplace itself, but, even if not evidently, is present through the resistance to management practices and control.


INTRODUCTIONAccording to popular Chinese legend, the discovery of the tea attributed to the Chinese emperor Shen Nung occurred by chance when the leaves of a certain plant were deposited on a glass of boiling water. Tea is a traditional infusion made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, however, black tea is obtained by the fermentation of the leaves of the same plant.As a consequence of the fermentation process, black tea presents a darker color together with a different flavor and appearance. From the nutritional point of view, black tea contains a higher content of caffeine and is richer in minerals such as zinc, calcium, chromium, magnesium, manganese, iron, potassium, phosphorus, fluoride and aluminum with respect to green tea (1 ).The presence of flavonoids and polyphenols in its composition, suggests that it may have beneficial effects on health. However, regardless of whether these beneficial effects can be demonstrated, globally, black tea is the most consumed, and this will remain as consumers drink black tea for its peculiar aroma and flavor.OBJECTIVESIdentify the main benefits associated with a consumption maintained over time of black tea and, on the other hand, check based on other research if these effects have been demonstrated in humans.MATERIAL AND METHODSA bibliographical search was carried out in Pubmed, using the keywords "black tea"RESULTSThe main effects of tea are due to its antioxidant properties. It is thought that the major polyphenols in black tea are theaflavins and catechins that are also the most active components. These compounds act by inhibiting and eliminating free radicals and acting as chelating agents for metal ions. In addition, black tea theaflavins may influence the activation of transcription factors such as NF-kB (nuclear factor enhancer of the kappa light chains of activated B cells). Finally, tea theaflavins can act as inhibitors of oxidative enzymes such as xanthine oxidase or the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (2, 3).Human studies have been conducted to evaluate the consumption of black tea on cardiovascular risk factors, although these have been limited to a few months (4).The conclusions of this study have not been positive or conclusive since no significant statistical effects were found in the evaluated biomarkers (lipids, hemoglobin, inflammatory markers and oxidability of lipoproteins).Human studies are currently underway to evaluate the properties of black tea in reducing body weight. This study has enormous potential because obesity is one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide and continues to increase over the years. The effect on obesity would be in the polyphenols of black tea, since they would inhibit the digestion and absorption of lipids and saccharides, while in green tea its anti-obesity properties would be due to an effect on the gut microbiota (5).CONCLUSIONSMost of the studies that have been carried out to date to evaluate the biological potential of the polyphenolic compounds present in black tea have been carried out in vitro or in very limited human trials. Therefore, long-term studies are required to establish a safe dose of black tea before giving a conclusive recommendation to the population.REFERENCES    Sang S, Lambert JD, Ho CT, Yang CS. The chemistry and biotransformation of tea constituents. Pharmacol Res. 2011; 64 (2): 87-99.    Łuczaj W, Skrzydlewska E. Antioxidative properties of black tea. Prev Med.2005; 40 (6): 910-8.    Frei B, Higdon JV. Antioxidant activity of tea polyphenols in vivo: evidence from animal studies. J Nutr. 2003; 133 (10): 3275S-84S.    Mukamal KJ, MacDermott K, Vinson JA, Oyama N, Manning WJ, Mittleman MA. 6-month randomized pilot study of black tea and cardiovascular risk factors. Am Heart J. 2007; 154 (4): 724.e1-6. 3.    Pan H, Gao Y, Tu Y. Mechanisms of Body Weight Reduction by Black Tea Polyphenols. Molecules. 2016; 21 (12).


This manuscript summarizes the results of the geospatial analysis undertaken by means of Generic Mapping Tools (GMT). The comparative assessment of the bathymetry of the Kuril-Kamchatka hadal trench was performed for southern and northern segments separated by the Bussol Strait. The formation of the hadal trench is affected by the impacts of local geological and geophysical settings varying along the trench. The methodological approach is as follows. The profiling was undertaken using GMT modules 'grdimage', 'grdtrack' and 'psxy'. The modelling consists of the collected data of 10706 observation samples from 52 profiles in southern part and 12726 from 62 profiles in the northern segment. The GMT modules 'psrose' and 'pshistograms' were used to plot histograms and rose diagrams visualizing bathymetric variables of depths. The geology was mapped using GMT modules 'pscoast', 'grdcut', 'grdcontour' and 'psxy' to plot lineaments and geological objects (ophiolites, faults, earthquakes, trench, magnetic anomalies, tectonic slabs, fracture zones and volcanoes). The base map is based on the ETOPO Global Relief Model. The comparison of the bathymetry shown variations in the northern and southern segments: southern part reaches -8,200 m maximal depths while northern has -7,800 m. This is influenced by the geological settings: earthquakes magnitude and seismisity are higher in the south-west. The submarine terraces and floodplains were observed at -4000 m depth forming landforms located southwards off the Bussol Strait. This geospatial analysis contributes to the development of the geological mapping with an example of the Kamchatka area, a region with high seismisity and repeated earthquakes.


BACKGROUND
Gastrointestinal hypersensitivity to cow milk (CM) may be more common among school-aged children and young adults than previously thought.

OBJECTIVE
The objective was to study various gastrointestinal complaints and the immunologic mechanisms associated with food-related, especially CM-related, gastrointestinal disorders in young adults.

DESIGN
Of 827 subjects aged 16-21 y who completed a questionnaire on food-related gastrointestinal symptoms, 49 symptomatic subjects agreed to a clinical examination, including an interview, blood tests, a lactose-maldigestion test, a blinded CM challenge and, in severely symptomatic subjects (n = 12), an endoscopic examination. Twenty-nine subjects served as controls.

RESULTS
Approximately 10% of the subjects reported having major gastrointestinal symptoms, mainly food-related (n = 70 of 86), during the preceding year. Specific organic disease was found in 2 symptomatic subjects: 1 case of celiac disease and 1 of colitis. The result of the lactose-maldigestion test was positive in 16 of the remaining 47 symptomatic subjects, but only 4 carried the C/C(-13910) genotype for adult-type hypolactasia. The symptomatic subjects had restricted their consumption of certain foods, particularly CM. However, in a blinded challenge, CM-induced symptoms were rare. The symptomatic subjects had higher plasma soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (P = 0.007) and lower granzyme A (P = 0.001) concentrations than did the control subjects. Duodenal biopsy samples tended to have higher intraepithelial CD3(+) cell counts (P = 0.065) and a higher expression of transforming growth factor beta (P = 0.073) and interleukin 12p35 messenger RNA (P = 0.075) than did the control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS
In an unselected cohort of young adults, 8% reported food-related gastrointestinal symptoms. The finding of immunologic activity implied the existence of a food-related gastrointestinal syndrome but not one induced by CM.


This paper analyzes the location choice determinants of French first-time investments in Europe, North America and North Africa. Firm locations are examined on two geographical scales, the national and regional level. The final sample comprises 307 location decisions in 27 countries and across 45 regions. Both, location- and firm-specific variables are used for analysing the investment strategy of French firms. The results show that higher market demand and cultural proximity to France increase the likelihood of a particular location to be chosen, whereas higher labour cost and a larger distance between a foreign location and the headquarters deter FDI investments. Manufacturing and older companies are more likely to establish their first subsidiary in Eastern Europe. Furthermore, this study examines the extent to which French investors choose foreign locations that already host a significant number of French firms. The results obtained from regressions with various absolute and relative agglomeration measures suggest that French investors are rather attracted by firm cluster in general, or by the unobserved factors that led to the agglomeration in the first place, than by any nation-specific firm cluster.


With the development of narrow-band high-power-microwave (HPM) technology, air breakdown has become a serious problem that concerns to the HPM applications. A new method is presented in this paper to determine the electric field of the microwave air breakdown near the atmosphere pressures. Two metal pins were used to strengthen the microwave electric field in a sealed waveguide, putting on the symmetry axis. Some parameters such as gas pressure, temperature, and humidity could be changed conveniently to achieve gas breakdown. Experiment was carried out at the S-band (2.86-GHz) microwave of 180-ns duration and 5-MW peak power, and typical phenomena of plasmas introduced by microwave are analyzed. Furthermore, a new definition of breakdown threshold has been proposed based on breakdown probability, and the electric field threshold is also analyzed.


Cellular communications have been regarded as promising approaches to deliver high-broadband communication links for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which have been widely deployed to conduct various missions, e.g., precision agriculture, forest monitoring, and border patrol. However, the unique features of aerial UAVs, including high-altitude manipulation, 3-D mobility, and rapid velocity changes, pose challenging issues to realize reliable cellular-enabled UAV communications, especially with the severe intercell interference generated by UAVs. To deal with this issue, we propose a novel position-based robust beamforming algorithm through complementarily integrating the navigation information and wireless channel information to improve the performance of cellular-enabled UAV communications. Specifically, in order to achieve the optimal beam weight vector, the navigation information of the UAV system is innovatively exploited to predict the changes of the direction-of-Arrival (DoA) angle. To fight against the high mobility of UAV operations, an optimization problem is formed by considering the tapered surface of DoA angle and solved to correct the inherent position error. Comprehensive simulation experiments are conducted and the results show that the proposed robust beamforming algorithm could achieve over 90% DoA estimation error reduction and up to 14-dB SINR gain compared with five benchmark beamforming algorithms, including linearly constrained minimum variance (LCMV), position-based beamforming, diagonal loading (DL), robust capon beamforming (RCB), and robust LCMV algorithm.


The history of laserneedles reveals the astonishing speed with which this innovative technique has spread into a vast variety of medical applications. The number of treatments, especially in acupuncture as well as in medicine in general, has grown almost exponentially since the realization of the first laserneedles in the year 2000 [1,2]. The development of these precise and easily controllable optical energy sources is closely linked with the scientific investigation of their peripheral and central effects which is performed at the Medical University of Graz. In addition to these verified, reproducible measurable effects which have been proved in numerous double-blind studies, such as the specific changes in blood flow velocity in the brain, the application of laserneedles on the patient's body guarantees the traditional doctor-patient-relationship and promises sympathy and empathy. Furthermore the needle equivalence in the area of acupuncture could be shown for several effects and parameters. The future development of laserneedles will take place mainly in the area of acupuncture applications. What will be in the front are data, numbers and facts for a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms, as well as the availability of technically even better laserneedles with accessories suitable for combined therapies in which laserneedles are only one part of the therapy concept. In any case, laserneedle medicine has to match its possibilities with the current standards of well-established or alternative biomedical practices, in order to contribute to an improvement of quality in medicine.


I. In previous notes* on this subject the examples of reciprocal innervation taken from the limb muscles have usually been from muscles acting at the knee. An advantage offered there is that the vasti and extensors of the knee, act directly on that one joint alone. A muscle acting on two joints is often an extensor of one of the joints and a flexor of -the other. When such a muscle is thrown into contraction by reflex action, there may be a dilemma as to whether it is as an extensor or as a flexor that it is acting, and the answer will depend partly on the mode of fixation of the joints at the time. A double-joint muscle of this kind is ; it extends the ankle and flexes the knee. I t is, therefore, of interest to examine how this muscle behaves when its antagonist, tibialis anticus, a flexor of the ankle, is thrown into contraction by reflex action. Stimulation of any among various points of skin, or of the proximal end of various afferent nerves of the leg, excites reflex contraction of tibialis anticus. A nerve often used for the purpose in my observations has been the cutaneous branch of the peroneal nerve about a centimetre above the ankle (cat). In the reflex which then occurs in the limb, the following points can be made out. The ankle is flexed, and with the flexion of ankle occurs also flexion at knee and hip. If the anterior crural, obturator, hamstring, and popliteal nerve trunks, the insertions of iliopsoas, and psoas parvus, and the origin of pectineus muscles be severed, active flexion of .knee and hip are excluded from the reflex. The active flexion at ankle still persists. On inspecting the tendons of the pretibial flexors of the ankle, that of tibialis anticus is seen to be drawn upward at each reflex, and with it also those of extensor longus digitorum and peroneus longus, but in my experience these latter are retracted less. If, in addition to the nerves and muscles mentioned above as severed, the peroneal nerve itself have all its muscular branches severed, but the branch from the popliteal nerve to the gastrocnemius be spared, and that muscle be exposed to inspection, usually no change in that muscle appears.


Given the increasing importance of data quality for the ex situ conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources (PGR), an indicator was created that quantifies the level of completeness of passport data. This passport data completeness index (PDCI) uses the presence or absence of data points in the documentation of a genebank accession, taking into account the presence or value of other data points. For example, a wild accession should have a well-defined collection site but no variety name. Any type of accession, wild, landrace, breeding material or modern variety, can attain a maximal score of ten for this index. The applicability of this index was tested on the complete contents of EURISCO, the European catalogue of ex situ maintained PGR containing over one million records. Analysis of the PDCI of the material in EURISCO provided valuable insight in the data quality of European collections. The PDCI can be used to identify datasets that might need additional attention and improvement or datasets that need more careful interpretation than others.


SUMMARY We studied the influence of active coronary vasomotion on transmural myocardial perfusion during tachycardia. Regional myocardial blood flow was estimated in chronically prepared awake dogs by injecting radioactive microspheres (7-10 μm in diameter) into the left atrium. Studies were performed during ventricular pacing at 100, 150, 200, and 250 beats/min under control conditions with intact coronary vasomotor tone, and during maximal coronary vasodilation induced by intravenous infusion of adenosine. During control conditions, mean myocardial blood flow was 1.27 ± 0.12 ml/min per g of myocardium at a heart rate of 100 beats/min, and increased regularly with increasing heart rates. Transmural myocardial perfusion remained essentially uniform as heart rates were increased from 100 to 250 beats/min. During administration of adenosine, mean myocardial blood flow increased to 5.49 ± 0.39 ml/min per g at a heart rate of 100 beats/min, and transmural myocardial perfusion was uniform. As heart rates were increased, flow to the sbendocardium decreased as a linear function of heart rate while sbepicardial flow was maintained so that the ratio of sbendocardial-sbepicardial flow fell from 1.00 at a heart rate of 100 beats/min to 0.40 at a heart rate of 250 beats/min. The reduction of sbendocardial perfusion with increasing heart rate was most marked in the deepest myocardial layers. This rate-dependent decrease in sbendocardial blood flow resulted in a decrease in mean myocardial blood flow with increasing heart rates (mean change at 250 beats/min = −18%; P < 0.05). These data indicate that active coronary vasomotion is necessary for maintenance of uniform transmural myocardial perfusion during tachycardia.


Sliding Mode Observer based Schemes for Tyre/Road Friction Estimation Nitinkumar H. Patel M.Sc. New system technologies are continuously improving the performance of vehicles with regard to safety, comfort, stability and the environment. The development of control systems based on anti-lock braking system, active steering control, adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance, electronic stability programme or roll-over prevention systems, facilitated these improvements. In order to maximise the benefits from such devices, information about the tyre/road friction parameter is required in real-time. As it is impractical to measure the tyre/road friction coefficient, estimation from other available parameters is essential. In this thesis, the main theoretical contribution is the development of sliding mode schemes for tyre/road friction estimation. In the first part of this thesis, a sliding mode based scheme is designed for a braking scenario. The scheme is designed to maintain the longitudinal slip value associated with the tyre road contact patch at an optimum value utilising a sliding mode controller, subject to varying road conditions. The stability of the controller is proven using a Lyapunov function and Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) method. An analysis of the designed scheme in the presence of imperfect measurement of wheel angular velocity is also presented. The sliding mode scheme is also compared with an adaptive scheme from the literature. The comparison study shows that the sliding mode based scheme appears more robust than the adaptive scheme, and the simulation results are supported by the analysis. Another key contributions in this thesis is the development of a sliding mode based scheme which is independent of the underlying friction model. This distinguishes the work proposed in this thesis from the existing literature. Finally a comparative study is presented for the observers considered in this thesis using three different friction models. The results for different road conditions show that the sliding mode based schemes out-perform the adaptive scheme for the tests undertaken.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of the planned pre-electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) family teaching on depression, anxiety and stress of caregivers of patients with mental disorders receiving ECT.

Design/methodology/approach
In this quasi-experimental study, 130 participants were randomized allocated into intervention or control groups. The planned family teaching program consisted of four 90 min sessions held during four weeks. Assessments occurred at pre-intervention (one week before the first session), and post-intervention (one months after the four session). Data were collected using demographic questionnaire and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Mean comparisons were performed using Student's t-test while effect sizes were estimated by Cohen's d coefficient. The significance level was considered less than 0.05.

Findings
The mean scores of the depression, anxiety and stress levels in the intervention group were significantly reduced compared to the control group (p=0.001).

Originality/value
The family pre-ECT teaching intervention and counseling decreased the depression, anxiety and stress level of family caregivers of patients with mental disorders receiving ECT and the maintenance of other favorable conditions at baseline. These results suggest that even a short-term educational intervention for family members of patients received ECT can improve emotional outcomes of treatment in the family.


Disaster prevention inspections, without overlooking the sources of falling rock, are essential for establishing efficient slope management and countermeasures. This study presents an automatic extraction method for rockfall sources, using remote sensing and artificial intelligence technology, to reduce overlooking during the inspection cycle and improve slope management efficiency. Current inspections have some factors that lead to object overlooking, one of them being the use of maps with low expression accuracy. Furthermore, biased criteria for the interpretation of inspection points in a desk study can play a part. Therefore, improving map accuracy and using quantified interpretation methods will improve the current inspection significantly. In such cases, the use of remote sensing technology is an effective measure. The utilization of airborne laser surveying and terrain analysis methods is effective for accurately acquiring the slope surface and topography. Airborne laser surveying is a system that takes measurements with multiple sensors mounted on an airplane, and the measurement data are represented by a collection of multiple points with three-dimensional coordinates. Furthermore, the terrain analysis method, which converts the survey data to two-dimensional raster images, extracts the necessary information, such as the ridge, valley, and elevation, of the slope. In this study, two-dimensional continuous wavelet transforms, used as a terrain analysis method suitable for rockfall extraction, are adopted to create a wavelet analysis map from survey data. Furthermore, to automatically extract the inspection points, the classification technology in artificial intelligence (AI) is applied to the terrain analysis map to extract the rockfall source in a desk study. A support vector machine (SVM) is a type of AI model that classifies based on training data and works by determining the best possible separation between the closest observations belonging to different classes. By applying this classification method, the rockfall source was extracted by performing object detection on the map. First, the entire map was divided into smaller patch images. Next, each patch image is classified as a rockfall source using the trained SVM. Finally, the area corresponding to the patch image, classified as the rockfall source, was drawn on the entire map. In this study, the performance of these integrated systems was verified in an area with a falling rock hazard. In the training process, wavelet analysis maps that reflect inventory data based on past inspection results were used. The extraction performance was evaluated by comparing the verification results with the inventory data and interpretation results based on the map features. Consequently, all learned rockfall source points were extracted, obtaining high-precision readability. Furthermore, the extraction performance of the same tendency inside the inventory range was shown in the range outside the inventory, acquiring a high versatility. Accordingly, we discuss the possibilities and issues for automatic extraction of the desk survey using the proposed method.


Abstract Nuclear power plants are complex engineering systems comprised of many interacting and interdependent mechanical components whose failure might lead to degraded plant performance or unplanned shutdown with loss of power generation and negative economic impact. As a result, continuous component surveillance and accurate prediction of their failing points is necessary for their on-time replacement. In this paper, a probabilistic kernel approach for intelligent online monitoring of mechanical components is presented. Specifically, the probabilistic kernel notion of Gaussian processes (GPs) is applied to the distribution prediction of a component's degradation trend. The proposed method exploits the learning ability of a GP and updates its prediction using a feedback mechanism. The methodology is tested on actual turbine blade degradation data for a variety of topologies (i.e., kernels). The GP estimations are compared to those obtained with a nonprobabilistic, kernel-based machine learning algorithm, the support vector regression (SVR). The comparison outcome clearly demonstrates that GP prediction accuracy outperforms SVR in the majority of the cases while providing a predictive distribution instead of point estimates as SVR does.


A nondestructive evaluation technique has been developed to measure and analyze section loss due to corrosion for anchor rods used in guying steel transmission poles. The anchor guy system tested consists of a steel plate embedded in concrete connected to a steel rod buried in earth and attached to the guy wire from the pole. The method used was ultrasonics and specifically, the cylindrically guided wave technique. Field correlation of the method was verified by digging up and inspecting several rods. This approach has optimized the ultimate replacement and maintenance expense.


This paper is a sequel to Submarine mountains in the Gulf of Alaska (Murray, 1941) and concludes presentation of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey9s sounding data across the Gulf of Alaska and the eastern half of the Aleutian Trench. The writer presents 6200 statute miles of profiles constructed from 45 sounding lines across the trench and from several lines paralleling the continental slope. The locations of all soundings used in the construction of the profiles (about 7000) are indicated. Accompanying contour maps are based on all available data. The Aleutian Trench is about 2200 statute miles long, 50 to 100 miles wide, and has a maximum depth of slightly over 25,000 feet. The north side of the trench slopes 3°–4° and the south side l°–4°. Locally, however, the slopes exceed 30°. Submarine valleys indent the north slope and extend out to depths of 9000 to 12,000 feet. The maximum difference between the floor of the trench and the adjacent land features is about 32,000 feet. The locus of maximum relief is located midway along the arc of the trench. The salient features of the submarine topography which must be considered in any investigation of the evolution of this region are:(1) The trench and the Aleutian Islands conform to the arc of a circle for 1400 miles. (2) The deeper part of the trench is in the western half. (3) In the Gulf of Alaska, numerous submarine mountains stand as high as 12,000 feet above the ocean floor. They occur singly or in groups, have truncated or rounded tops, and trend northwestward. This direction is transverse to that of the trench and suggests at least two episodes in the evolution of relief in the Gulf region alone. (4) The floors of the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea slope southwestward. (5) A curving submarine range, 12,000 feet high and 600 miles long, projects from the Aleutian arc into the Bering Sea.


OBJECTIVE
To determine which measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) predicts vertebral fractures in a cohort of postmenopausal women with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis.

METHODS
We recruited 114 subjects into the study. All had osteopenia of the lumbar spine or hip, as demonstrated by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and were receiving long-term glucocorticoids and hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Measurements of BMD by DXA of the lumbar spine, hip (and subregions), and forearm (and subregions), quantitative computed tomography (QCT) of the spine and hip (n = 59), and radiographs of the thoracolumbar spine were performed on all subjects to assess prevalent vertebral fractures. Vertebral fracture prevalence, as determined by morphometry, required a >or=20% (or >or=4-mm) loss of vertebral body height. Demographic information was obtained by questionnaire. Multiple regression and classification and regression trees (CART) analyses were used to assess predictors of vertebral fracture.

RESULTS
Twenty-six percent of the study subjects had prevalent fractures. BMD of the lumbar spine, total hip and hip subregions, as measured by QCT, but only the lumbar spine and total hip, as measured by DXA, were significantly associated with prevalent vertebral fractures. However, only lumbar spine BMD as measured by QCT was a significant predictor of vertebral fractures. CART analysis showed that a BMD value <0.065 gm/cm(3) was associated with a 7-fold higher risk of fracture than a BMD value >or=0.065 gm/cm(3).

CONCLUSION
In postmenopausal women with osteoporosis induced by long-term glucocorticoid treatment who are also receiving HRT, BMD of the lumbar spine as measured by QCT, but not DXA, is an independent predictor of vertebral fractures.


In this paper, thirty five years' (1981-2015) temperature and rainfall data have been studied to detect the recent trends in temperature and rainfall over Dhaka division of Bangladesh. Data of climatic factors such as annual average maximum temperature (MAXT), minimum temperature (MINT), mean temperature (MEANT), monsoon total rainfall (MTR) and annual total rainfall (ATR) have been analyzed. Sen's non-parametric estimator of slope has been frequently used to estimate the magnitude of trend, whose statistical significance is assessed by the Mann–Kendall test. For this purpose, data from four meteorological stations (Dhaka, Mymensingh, Tangail and Faridpur) have been used. It is observed that annual average maximum, minimum and mean temperature of the study area are increasing at the rates 0.017/year, 0.009/year and 0.013/year respectively and the upward trend is statistically stable with 10% level of significance. On the other hand, monsoon total rainfall and annual total rainfall are decreasing at the rates of 4.94/year and 16.11/year respectively where the downward trend of MTR is insignificant but the trend of ATR is significant with 10% level of significance.


It is widely recognised that the human development index (HDI) does not totally capture the rich content of the human development concept, necessitating a more adequate measure of human development. This paper introduces an ethics‐augmented human development index (E‐HDI) as a new indicator of socio‐economic change and development. The E‐HDI incorporates freedom, faith, environmental concerns and the institution of family in the HDI and ranks countries of the world accordingly. It is envisaged to be of practical use in national policy making and may also be related to agenda of the bilateral and international development agencies. Just as the HDI has managed to shift discussions beyond gross national product, the E‐HDI is expected to inject ethical concerns more explicitly into policy making in the contexts in which the human development reports are used.


. Left ventricular (LV) function is an important factor in terms of patient management, outcome, and long-term survival of patients with heart disease. The most recently published clinical guidelines for heart failure recognise that over reliance on only one measure of cardiac function (LV ejection fraction) as a diagnostic and treatment stratification biomarker is suboptimal. Recent advances in AI-based echocardiography analysis have shown excellent results on automated estimation of LV volumes and LV ejection fraction. However, from time-varying 2-D echocardiography acquisition, a richer description of cardiac function can be obtained by estimating functional biomarkers from the complete cardiac cycle. In this work we propose for the first time an AI approach for deriving advanced biomarkers of systolic and diastolic LV function from 2-D echocardiography based on segmentations of the full cardiac cycle. These biomarkers will allow clinicians to obtain a much richer picture of the heart in health and disease. The AI model is based on the 'nn-Unet' framework and was trained and tested using four different databases. Results show excellent agreement between manual and automated analysis and showcase the potential of the advanced systolic and diastolic biomarkers for patient stratification. Finally, for a subset of 50 cases, we perform a correlation analysis between clinical biomarkers derived from echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance and we show a very strong relationship between the two modalities.


: Concrete filled steel tube (CFST) columns are used increasingly in high-rise buildings in China. During the rapid construction of high-rise buildings, concrete age is an important factor which will affect the composite axial strength. In this paper, based on the theory of elasticity, a formula is proposed to predict the composite axial strength of CFST considering the concrete age. For the most common use the parameters in the formula are simplified and calibrated by existing test results. Finally the experiments of the ultimate bearing capacity of CFST columns considering concrete age changes are carried out and the FE method is also adopted to validate the formula results. The results show that the formula can be used satisfactorily in predicting the strength of CFST columns considering concrete age.


Increasing the penetration of drugs within solid tumors can be accomplished through multiple ultrasound-mediated mechanisms. The application of ultrasound can directly change the structure or physiology of tissues or can induce changes in a drug or vehicle in order to enhance delivery and efficacy. With each ultrasonic pulse, a fraction of the energy in the propagating wave is absorbed by tissue and results in local heating. When ultrasound is applied to achieve mild hyperthermia, the thermal effects are associated with an increase in perfusion or the release of a drug from a temperature-sensitive vehicle. Higher ultrasound intensities locally ablate tissue and result in increased drug accumulation surrounding the ablated region of interest. Further, the mechanical displacement induced by the ultrasound pulse can result in the nucleation, growth and collapse of gas bubbles. As a result of such cavitation, the permeability of a vessel wall or cell membrane can be increased. Finally, the radiation pressure of the propagating pulse can translate particles or tissues. In this perspective, we will review recent progress in ultrasound-mediated tumor delivery and the opportunities for clinical translation.


Bean is an annual legume, consumed by more than 500 million people worldwide. It is a base in their daily diet because of its high protein content (25-30%). In Cameroon, its culture has many problems, including the significant decline in fertility and soil acidity. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of organo-mineral fertilization on the bean production. The experimental design was a complete randomized block with two factors [varieties (NITU and DOR 701) and treatments (T0: Original Research Article Kamtchoum et al.; ARRB, 29(4): 1-11, 2018; Article no.ARRB.44607 2 control, T1: poultry manure and T2: NPK)] and three replications. The study was carried out at the second cropping season from August to November 2015 in Eloumden in the Mefou and Akono Division, Centre Region (Cameroon). The organo-mineral fertilization of two new varieties of beans was tested. The collar diameter, the number of leaves and the shoot length were evaluated weekly. At harvest, the nodulation and yield were evaluated. The results showed that treatment with poultry manure (T1) induced a very highly significant growth (P ˂ .001) of shoot length, as well as a significant increase in the number of pods (36 ± 5.91), the number of seeds (142 ± 88.07) and the biomass. The chemical fertilizer treatment (T2) induced the best nodulation (25.50 ± 0.87). The treatments did not influence the seed yield. However, the varietal effect was highly significant. DOR 701 had a higher seed yield (5.91 ± 1.03 t ha-1) than the NITU variety (4.19 ± 0.54 t ha-1). Poultry manure (T1) restores the minerals useful for the next crop. It is therefore recommended because of its best yield and its ability to protect the environment.


Texture is required on road pavements for safe vehicle braking and manoeuvres. This paper provides a unique analysis of long-term texture obtained using traffic speed condition survey (TRACS) data from 14 sites, located along a north to south transect spanning the longest highway in the UK. A total of 19 years of sensor measured texture depth (SMTD) data have been analyzed using spatial filtering techniques and compared with meteorological and traffic datasets. The results for hot rolled asphalt (HRA) surfaces reveal that changes to SMTD follow a linearly increasing trend with time. The "rate of change" is influenced by the order of magnitude of annual average daily traffic (AADT), when factored for the percentage of heavy goods vehicles. This linear trend is disrupted by environmental parameters, such as rainfall events and seasonal conditioning. In the summer, this signal is evident as a transient peak in the "rate of change" of texture greater than 0.04 mm, and in the winter as a reduction. The transient changes in texture corresponded to above average rainfall occurring in the week prior to SMTD measurement. The signal observed demonstrates an inverse pattern to the classically understood seasonal variation of skid resistance in the UK, where values are low in the summer and high in the winter. The findings demonstrate for the first time that texture measurements experience a seasonal signal, and provide compelling evidence pointing toward surface processes (such as polishing and the wetting and drying of surface contaminants) causing changes to texture that are affecting seasonal variation in skid resistance.


Deuteration of aliphatic sites in proteins has shown great potential to increase the range of molecules amenable to study by NMR spectroscopy. One problem inherent in high-level deuterium incorporation is the loss of 1H-1H distance information obtainable from NOESY spectra of the labeled proteins. In the limit of perdeuteration, the available NH-NH NOEs are insufficient in many cases to define the three-dimensional structure of a folded protein. We describe here a method of producing proteins that retains all the advantages of perdeuteration, while enabling observation of many NOEs absent from spectra of fully deuterated samples. Overexpression of proteins in bacteria grown in 2H2O medium containing protonated pyruvate as the sole carbon source results in complete deuteration at C alpha and > 80% deuteration at C beta positions of nearly all amino acids. In contrast, the methyl groups of Ala, Val, Leu and Ile (gamma 2 only) remain highly protonated. This labeling pattern can be readily understood from analysis of bacterial pathways for pyruvate utilization and amino acid biosynthesis. As Ala, Val, Leu and Ile are among the most highly represented residue types in protein hydrophobic cores and at protein-protein interfaces, selectively methyl-protonated samples will be useful in many areas of structural analysis of larger molecules and molecular complexes by NMR.


The primary objective of this thesis revolves around investigating MIMO (multipleinput multiple output) transmit antenna selection (TAS) in delay constrained networks. In this thesis, for various different scenarios of TAS arrangement, channel prediction is explored as a tool to recover some of the system gain lost due to delayed switching. In use, TAS requires at least partial channel knowledge at the transmitter in order to perform selection. In this work, performance degradation due to outdated channel knowledge is determined analytically, and related to channel characteristics. Performance gains of several different antenna placements are presented and trade-offs are analysed with respect to use of prediction. Furthermore, adaptive modulation is also explored in a TAS scenario (allied to maximal ratio combining), and again channel prediction is employed at the receiver to provide estimates of future best transmission states, which include selecting the best antenna as well as the best supported modulation scheme, optimised for the given objectives. This thesis then extends these ideas into the interesting area of cooperative relaying. The principles of selection diversity are applied as we investigate partial relay selection in amplify-and-forward relaying for a variety of system configurations, and the effects of the multiple antennas are analysed when used either at the source, relay or destination terminal. Since selection is usually delay limited, we also consider the benefit of incorporating a predictive relay selection scheme to improve performance. To validate and test advanced MIMO algorithms over real-world channels, an experimental architecture was designed for a reconfigurable multi-antenna test-bed. This 4 × 4 MIMO FPGA (field programmable gate array) base-band architecture is presented, and verified by MIMO loop-back testing. The setup is useful in validating future research work relating to MIMO and antenna selection, and also in developing efficient reconfigurable architectures that are demonstrable over physical channels. Chapter


This article aims to determine if the type of margin rules on an exchange or financial development contributed to or dampened the stock market returns or volatility of returns during the worldwide market sell-off from October 16, 2007 to October 22, 2008. The author finds that rigid margin rules significantly reduced the weekly index return volatility during the crash period and also reduced the change in weekly index return volatility compared to the past 5 years. There is no evidence that margin rules had any impact on returns during the crash period, refuting the pyramiding hypothesis. Return volatility was positively related to financial development during the crash period but negatively related to volatility before the crash period, suggesting that the cause of the crash centered in the financially developed world. Regulators from around the world would be interested in how margin rules on different exchanges can increase or dampen returns or volatility during extreme market movements and how financial development interacts with return volatility during extreme market conditions.


Regular-sampled PWM techniques have been developed to reproduce the harmonic-elimination and harmonic minimisation PWM characteristics. These new regular-sampled PWM control strategies significantly reduce the computational requirements for real-time microprocessor-based PWM implementation. This results in simplified and more efficient microprocessor software/hardware requirements, leading to real-time PWM generation with minimised harmonics, suitable for drives and uninterruptible power supplies.<<ETX>>


This PhD study makes an original contribution to to current research by examining through case study the impact of animal assisted activities for children and young people with Behaviour, Emotional and Social Difficulties (BESD). The thesis presents data, which supports that where contact with animals is offered as an alternative to traditional classroom based learning, children and young people with BESD are supported therapeutically, and enabled to build key relationship skills, thus enabling greater chance of success in learning.

The primary motivation for the research was a commitment to better understand and thereby contribute, to a body of literature which seeks to explain and develop solutions and interventions for children and young people with a special need described as BESD alongside a curiosity for the world of nature and animals.

Literature in this field includes consideration of frameworks which underpin work with BESD, such as research into trauma and its implications, leading to theories of attachment and in some cases, other psychodynamic concepts. Studies in Animal-Assisted Therapy and E.O.Wilson's (2003) Biophilia Hypothesis support the consideration of animals as facilitators for mental and emotional health.

The study employs a qualitative constellation methodology looking at three main case study contexts and utilising four additional smaller case studies to triangulate the findings. Psychosocial research tools were employed in order to understand the participants 'story', given the complexity of working with a vulnerable and challenging group.

The main findings of the study show that animals have therapeutic potential as a conduit for relationships, being both social facilitators and taking the role of 'the common third' (Cameron and Moss, 2011). In a natural environment, with positive staff facilitation and purposeful activity, interventions with animals can support the development of key relationship skills such as trust, identification, empathy, nurture, understanding and self control. Further, the study shows there maybe educational impact, emotional impact, language and communication support and even health benefits. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings and makes recommendations for further empirical long-term research in the field of BESD and animal assisted activities.


drug on respiratory function' was prominent cardiac rhythm was unaffected. Chlormethiazole toxicity is not confined to excessive oral administration but has been reported after parenteral use' and recently we have seen two patients who had cardiac arrests during chlormethiazole infusion at the recommended dose. Case 1-A 65-year-old-man with a history of alcohol abuse was drinking heavily until one day before admission following a haematemesis. There was no clinical evidence of hepatic decompensation although serum enzymes were markedly elevated. Vital signs and concentrations of serum electrolytes and haemoglobin were satisfactory. Delirium tremens developed 24 hours after admission. When treatment with parenteral diazepam and chlorpromazine proved unsuccessful, satisfactory control of symptoms was achieved by chlormethiazole 0-8 %O infusion alone. Sixteen hours after the infusion was commenced he developed ventricular tachycardia, from which he was resuscitated and made an uneventful recovery. Case 2-A 54-year-old man was admitted with severe facial bone fractures following an assault outside a bar. His clinical state was stable although biochemical studies revealed raised serum enzymes and low serum albumin. Soon after admission he became increasingly restless, parenteral diazepam and chlorpromazine again proving ineffectual. Intermittent infusions of chlormethiazole 088° controlled his symptoms but cardiac arrest followed a one-hour infusion of 100 ml, its only administration for 24 hours. Resuscitation was unsuccessful. The only other drug treatment was diazepam 10 mg in divided doses over the six hours before death. Necropsy revealed an insignificant pulmonary embolus and fatty hepatic degeneration consistent with chronic alcoholism. These cases demonstrate that potentially lethal cardiac dysrhythmias may complicate chlormethiazole infusion at the manufacturer's recommended maintenance dose (333-1333 mg/h). At the times of cardiac arrest the infusion rates were 667 mg/h and 660 mg/h respectively. There was no evidence, prior to arrest, of the respiratory depression noted by Dr Illingworth and his colleagues and by others.' The extensive hepatic biotransformation of chlormethiazole'2 should be emphasised. Although neither of our patients nor those of Dr Illingworth and his colleagues had clinically overt liver dysfunction, hepatic enzyme activity might be expected to be abnormal in chronic alcoholics, as in our patients and in the six alcoholics in their series. Presumably as a result of age-related changes in hepatic clearance,2 the terminal phase half-life of chlormethiazole is longer in the elderly' than in healthy young adults.3 Acute ingestion of alcohol, which accompanied the overdose in at least six of the subjects reported, might also be expected to inhibit the metabolism of drugs with high presystemic extraction, such as chlormethiazole, when they are taken orally.4 The likely influence of alcohol on chlormethiazole toxicity has previously been reported in animals) and in man.' The plasma half-life in the patients described by Dr Illingworth and colleagues was rather longer than in previously reported cases,2 from which it may be inferred that the above factors were indeed relevant. Chlormethiazole is a useful drug which may be employed successfully in the management of the acute symptoms of alcohol withdrawal when other drugs are less satisfactory, as in our cases. However, this report and other recent case studies' 1i emphasise that the drug should be administered with caution. Particular attention should be paid not only to the patient's respiratory function and age but also to alcohol intake and hepatic and cardiac function when chlormethiazole is prescribed for oral or intravenous use. G T MCINNES R E YOUNG B S AVERY Department of Medicine, Western Infirmary Glasgow GI1 6NT


Introduction Case series suggest pregnant women are at increased risk of contracting H1N1 and experiencing complications. Published studies to date have investigated symptomatic patients or ascertained serology cross-sectionally. Such studies do not allow accurate quantification of incidence and neglect mild disease when estimating complication rates. We investigated H1N1 incidence and rate of complications in unvaccinated women in Scotland during the winter 2009/10 pandemic. Method We recruited 417 unvaccinated pregnant women who attended hospitals in NHS Lothian in Dec 2009-April 2010. Participants completed a research nurse-administered questionnaire, had venous blood taken and clinical outcomes were extracted from hospital records. Booking blood samples (collected routinely at 10–14 weeks gestation) were retrieved for each participant to allow testing of paired blood samples using the microneutralisation assay. Evidence of infection during pregnancy was defined as a 10-fold increased in H1N1 antibody titre between booking and delivery. Results Seroconversion between booking and delivery occurred in 10.5% (95% CI 7.1% to 13.9%) with 19 of 32 unaware of acquiring infection. Self-reporting flu symptoms and asthma (but no other chronic conditions) were statistically significant predictors of infection. No significant differences were found in rates of maternal or neonatal hospital admission, critical care admission, birth weight or adverse events between those infected and uninfected. Conclusion In Scotland where estimated coverage of H1N1 vaccination in pregnancy was 47.6%, relatively few unvaccinated pregnant women experienced H1N1 infection with many infected experiencing minimal symptoms. No increased risk of adverse events was detected but we have low power for this analysis.


Background: Laboratory levels of perceived noise attenuation as heard using earplugs are always higher than the real levels that can be achieved at the workplace. The employer is bound by law to supply individual hearing protection devices (HPDs), to assess their efficiency and efficacy, and also to inform and train workers on the correct use of HPDs. Objectives: This study assessed the real "personal attenuation rating" (PAR) of HPDs  used by workers at the workplace, before (PAR A) and after (PAR B) specific and individual training. These values were also compared with the theoretical  "single number rating" (SNR) provided by the manufacturer. Methods: The study covered all the 65 male employees of an awnings factory, using the E-A-RfitTM computerized method, which can measure PARs, based on the difference between sound pressures recorded by an "outside" microphone and an "inside" microphone placed in the auditory canal, with earplugs inserted, before (PAR A) and after (PAR B), i.e., the specific and individual training described above. Results/Conclusions: PARs B were always definitely higher than PARs A, both for all tested frequencies and the corresponding average values, which were automatically detected by E-A-RfitTM. Furthermore the same PARs B were  decidedly lower than the respective SNRs supplied by the manufacturer on the basis of laboratory assessments. These data prove that specific and individual training for workers improves the performance of earplugs, contributing to a more appropriate secondary prevention of the effects of noise on hearing; they also prove that the real attenuation recorded in workers are always lower than those supplied by the manufacturer of the devices. It is recommended that the E-A-RfitTM system, which allowed these results to be achieved objectively, should be normally used to assess exposure to noise in workers, when HPDs are worn.


Monitoring of mechanical structures is a Big Data challenge and includes Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Non-destructive Testing (NDT). The sensor data produced by common measuring techniques, e.g., guided wave propagation analysis, is characterized by a high dimensionality in the temporal and spatial domain. There are off- and on-line methods applied at maintenance- or run-time, respectively. On-line methods (SHM) usually are constrained by low-resource processing platforms, sensor noise, unreliability, and real-time operation requiring advanced and efficient sensor data processing. Commonly, structural monitoring is a task that maps high-dimensional input data on low-dimensional output data (information, which is feature extraction), e.g., in the simplest case a Boolean output variable "Damaged". Machine Learning (ML), e.g., supervised learning, can be used to derive such a mapping function. But ML quality and performance depends strongly on the input data size. Therefore, adaptive and reliable input data reduction (that is feature selection) is required at the first layer of an automatic structural monitoring system. Assuming some kind of two-dimensional sensor data (or n-dimensional data in general), image segmentation can be used to identify Regions of Interest (ROI), e.g., of wave propagation fields. Wave propagation in materials underlie reflections that must be distinguished, especially in hybrid materials (e.g., combining metal and fibre-plastic composites) there are complex wave propagation fields. The image segmentation is one of the most crucial parts of image processing. Major difficulties in image segmentation are noise and the differing homogeneity (fuzziness and signal gradients) of regions, complicating the definition of suitable threshold conditions for the edge detection or region splitting/clustering. Many traditional image segmentation algorithms are constrained by this issue. Artificial Intelligence can aid to overcome this limitation by using autonomous agents as an adaptive and self-organizing software architecture, presented in this work. Using a collection of co-operating agents decomposes a large and complex problem in smaller and simpler problems with a Divide-and-Conquer approach. Related to the image segmentation scenario, agents are working mostly autonomous (de-coupled) on dynamically bounded data from different regions of a signal or an image (i.e., distributed with simulated mobility), adapted to the locality, being reliable and less sensitive to noisy sensor data. In this work, self-organizing agents perform segmentation. They are evaluated with measured high-dimensional data from piezo-electric acusto-ultrasonic sensors recording the wave propagation in plate-like structures. Commonly, SHM deploys only a small set of sensors and actuators at static positions delivering only a few temporal resolved sensor signals (1D), whereas NDT methods additionally can use spatial scanning to create images of wave signals (2D). Both one-dimensional temporal and two-dimensional spatial segmentation are considered to find characteristic ROI.


Abstract Infection with Neospora caninum parasites is a leading cause of reproduction losses in cattle worldwide. In Australia, this loss is estimated to total AU$110 million every year. However, despite this considerable economic impact, the transmission cycle and the host(s) responsible for the sylvatic transmission of the parasite remain to be defined. Dingoes (Canis familiaris) have been suggested to be a wildlife host of N. caninum in Australia, but this is yet to be proven in a nonexperimental setting. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of natural N. caninum shedding in Australian wild dogs (defined as dingoes, dingo‐domestic dog hybrids and feral dogs) by performing molecular analysis of faecal samples collected in wild dog populations in south‐east Australia. Molecular analysis allowed host species identification and dingo purity testing, while genetic analysis of Coccidia and Neospora conserved genes allowed for parasite identification. Among the 115 samples collected and determined to belong to dingoes, dingo‐domestic dog hybrids and foxes, Coccidian parasites were detected in 41 samples and N. caninum was identified in one sample of canine origin from South East Australia (Mansfield). Across all samples collected in Mansfield only 15 individuals were successfully identified by genotype. Thereby our study determined that 6.7% (1/15, 95% confidence intervals 1.2–29.9) of wild dogs were actively shedding N. caninum oocysts at this site. Further, only four individuals were identified at a second site (Swift Creek), and none were positive. This study conclusively confirms the role of wild dogs in the horizontal transmission of N. caninum parasites in Australia.


Background: Gait disturbance is an early, cardinal feature of Parkinson's disease (PD) associated with falls and reduced physical activity. Progression of gait impairment in Parkinson's disease is not well characterized and a better understanding is imperative to mitigate impairment. Subtle gait impairments progress in early disease despite optimal dopaminergic medication. Evaluating gait disturbances over longer periods, accounting for typical aging and dopaminergic medication changes, will enable a better understanding of gait changes and inform targeted therapies for early disease. This study aimed to describe gait progression over the first 6 years of PD by delineating changes associated with aging, medication, and pathology. Methods: One-hundred and nine newly diagnosed PD participants and 130 controls completed at least two gait assessments. Gait was assessed at 18-month intervals for up to 6 years using an instrumented walkway to measure sixteen spatiotemporal gait characteristics. Linear mixed-effects models assessed progression. Results: Ten gait characteristics significantly progressed in PD, with changes in four of these characteristics attributable to disease progression. Age-related changes also contributed to gait progression; changes in another two characteristics reflected both aging and disease progression. Gait impairment progressed irrespective of dopaminergic medication change for all characteristics except step width variability. Conclusions: Discrete gait impairments continue to progress in PD over 6 years, reflecting a combination of, and potential interaction between, disease-specific progression and age-related change. Gait changes were mostly unrelated to dopaminergic medication adjustments, highlighting limitations of current dopaminergic therapy and the need to improve interventions targeting gait decline.


Witness to the worship of the Alexandrian deities in Roman Britain is so slight that any addition or correction is valuable. Of the handful of objects reflecting the cult of Isis, some must be rejected as modern introductions, and doubt remains as to others. Thanks are due to Mrs. Sheila Thorneycroft, therefore, for bringing to notice a long-lost gem from Wroxeter, to which no such objection can apply. It was published (without identification) by J. C. Anderson in his Roman City of Uriconium (1867), p. 82, where there are two cuts of intaglios which, he tells us, he saw at the residence of W. H. Oatley, Esq., at Wroxeter—a detail to be borne in mind, as we shall see. Mr. Oatley lived in a house south of Wroxeter Church, now Wroxeter Country Club, and was churchwarden in . . . 1859 . . .; he amassed some interesting pieces of carved stonework from the Roman city. I must here acknowledge the helpful information supplied, at the instance of Dr. Graham Webster, by Mr. J. Pagett of Telford. The first of these two gems was found in 1840. It shows a seated Roma, a common type, 'engraved upon a black stone, having a vein of white on its face'. The second has no date of discovery. It shows Isis, or rather a priestess of Isis, holding a sistrum of unusual construction, and by her side the situla of sacred Nile-water; but she is represented without the goddess's lotus-crown. The material is described as a 'bright red stone'. Anderson was not the first to mention these gems: they had been listed, among others from Wroxeter, by Thomas Wright in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association, xix (1863), 109, with pi. 10, nos. 2 and 1 [sic], matter reprinted in his Uriconium (1872), pp. 317-18, unchanged. The curious inversion of the order is a mistake: that can be said now; and because only the materials of the gems, not their subjects or their sizes, are mentioned, an obscurity has remained until the present time. Thus the seated Roma entered the pages of the Victoria History as cut on a bright red stone, was also miscalled Mars, and the Isiac gem was said to be cut on what we should describe as a nicolo. Dr. Martin Henig, who kindly discussed the matter with me, was not able to solve the inconsistency in his Corpus; but Eve and J. R. Harris had previously suggested that the 'red stone' was more likely to have been used for the Isiac intaglio than the other. This judicious remark has now been borne out by the discovery of what must certainly be the same gem, which Wright never saw, but which Anderson had inspected at Wroxeter. The gem is of red jasper, somewhat summarily executed, about 14-5 by 10 mm., set now in a plain little pinchbeck or gilt-metal ring of some sort. It has been in Mrs. Thorneycroft's possession since 1939, when she was given it by a great-aunt who, as a child, had received it as a gift from the Vicar of Wroxeter, and understood it to have been found in the vicarage garden, that is, towards the southern limit of the city. The Vicar of Wroxeter from 1828 to 1884 was the Revd. Edward Egremont, M.A., who was a member of the excavation committee set up in 1859. He may possibly have lent the gem to Churchwarden Oatley on hearing of Anderson's intended visit; but it is unlikely that it had already been set in a ring, and it must remain uncertain as to when it was so mounted. Apart from one other stone in Henig's Corpus, which is of a different kind entirely, being overtly magical in its purpose, there is no other Isiac gem from Roman Britain on record. This very typical example, of the second or third century A.D., is shown in pi. XLViia, with a cast on the right; the uneven periphery of the photograph is caused by the slight deformation of the metal setting. It may perhaps have belonged to a member of the cult.


For many classification and regression problems, a large number of features are available for possible use — this is typical of DNA microarray data on gene expression, for example. Often, for computational or other reasons, only a small subset of these features are selected for use in a model, based on some simple measure such as correlation with the response variable. This procedure may introduce an optimistic bias, however, in which the response variable appears to be more predictable than it actually is, because the high correlation of the selected features with the response may be partly or wholly due to chance. We show how this bias can be avoided when using a Bayesian model for the joint distribution of features and response. The crucial insight is that even if we forget the exact values of the unselected features, we should retain, and condition on, the knowledge that their correlation with the response was too small for them to be selected. In this paper we describe how this idea can be implemented for "naive Bayes" models of binary data. Experiments with simulated data confirm that this method avoids bias due to feature selection. We also apply the naive Bayes model to subsets of data relating gene expression to colon cancer, and find that correcting for bias from feature selection does improve predictive performance.


A study carried out among people living in deprived parts of Glasgow has found that they may have been imprinted at a few weeks after conception with a biological change that leads to ill health in later life.

The finding has been described as "significant" by the research team, which believes that it may help to explain some of the unanswered questions about health inequalities in the city and elsewhere.

The research focused on DNA methylation, the signalling tool that cells use to control gene expression and that is a crucial part of normal development ( International Journal of Epidemiology doi:10.1093/ije/dyr215). Most DNA methylation is fixed for life from just a few weeks after conception. Lower levels of methylation have been linked to a variety of diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

The researchers analysed blood samples from 239 people from Glasgow's most deprived and …


This paper offers projections of future transmission dynamics for SARS-CoV-2 in an SEIRS model with demographics and waning immunity. In a stylized optimal control setting calibrated to the USA, we show that the disease is endemic in steady state and that its dynamics are characterized by damped oscillations. The magnitude of the oscillations depends on how fast immunity wanes. The optimal social distancing policy both curbs peak prevalence and postpones the infection waves relative to the uncontrolled dynamics. Last, we perform sensitivity analysis with respect to the duration of immunity, the infection fatality rate and the planning horizon. Abstract. This paper o⁄ers projections of future transmission dynamics for SARS-CoV-2 in an SEIRS model with demographics and waning immunity. In a stylized optimal control setting calibrated to the USA, we show that the disease is endemic in steady state and that its dynamics are characterized by damped oscillations. The magnitude of the oscillations depends on how fast immunity wanes. The optimal social distancing policy both curbs peak prevalence and postpones the infection waves relative to the uncontrolled dynamics. Last, we perform sensitivity analysis with respect to the duration of immunity, the infection fatality rate and the planning horizon.


The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis modulates individuals' physiological responses to social stress, which is an inevitable aspect of the daily lives of group‐living animals. Previous nonhuman primate studies have reported that sex, age, rank, and reproductive condition influence cortisol levels under stressful conditions. In this study we investigated cortisol responses to stress among 70 multiparous, free‐ranging female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) on the island of Cayo Santiago, PR. Plasma cortisol samples were collected in two consecutive years under similar conditions. Twenty‐two females were sampled both years, and most of those females were lactating in only one of the years. Individual differences in cortisol levels were stable across years, even though reproductive condition changed for most individuals. No relationship was found between age or social rank and cortisol levels. Of the females that changed reproductive conditions, cortisol levels were higher when they were lactating than when they were cycling, and the amount of change in cortisol from cycling to lactating was greatest for low‐ranking individuals. Heightened reactivity to stress during lactation may be the result of concerns about infant safety, and such concerns may be higher among low‐ranking mothers than among higher ranking mothers. Psychosocial stress and hyperactivation of the HPA axis during lactation can suppress immune function and increase vulnerability to infectious diseases, thus explaining why adult females in the free‐ranging rhesus macaque population on Cayo Santiago have a higher probability of mortality during the birth season than during the mating season. Am. J. Primatol. 72:559–565, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


SUMMARY: At high aeration rates in submerged culture, lard oil (mainly glycerides of oleic and stearic acids) may be utilized by Penicillium chrysogenum as a source of carbon in preference to carbohydrate. At relatively low aeration rates, carbohydrate serves as the principal carbon source. Enzymes involved in the utilization of lard oil appear to be synthesized by the growing mycelium, this synthesis being favoured by conditions of high aeration.


Abstract. A membrane potential change in cells is accompanied with mechanical deformation. This electromechanical response can play a significant role in regulating action potential in neurons and in controlling voltage-gated ion channels. However, measuring this subtle deformation in mammalian cells has been a difficult task. We show a plasmonic imaging method to image mechanical deformation in single cells upon a change in the membrane potential. Using this method, we have studied the electromechanical response in mammalian cells and have observed the local deformation within the cells that are associated with cell–substrate interactions. By analyzing frequency dependence of the response, we have further examined the electromechanical deformation in terms of mechanical properties of cytoplasm and cytoskeleton. We demonstrate a plasmonic imaging approach to quantify the electromechanical responses of single mammalian cells and determine local variability related to cell–substrate interactions.


With attention concentrated on the pole of bulge profile, tensile instability which results in the fracture of forward acting rupture discs has been studied. A formula was developed to calculate the theoretical limit pressure of rupture discs, and the theoretical predictions were compared with the measured data. It is found that the strain-hardening exponent of sheet metals has no influence on the limit pressure, whereas the limit pressure is in direct proportion to the strength coefficient of sheet metals. It is important to realize that the strength coefficient of sheet metals can be acquired easily from the limit pressure. This has potential value for the tests of mechanical properties of sheet metals.


Internationalization-at-home activities present relevant opportunities for innovation in the teaching-learning process. These activities provide a very broad set of advantages, including the development of soft skills and increased motivation of students. This article aims to contribute to the debate on internationalization of higher education institutions by exploring students' perceptions and experiences after participating in an international collaboration project involving 153 students in 5 universities in Germany, Mexico, Portugal, Scotland and the United States of America during the Fall/Winter semester 2017. The focus of this study is students' satisfaction and perceptions. Results demonstrate that although students found the idea of collaborating with peers from other universities very appealing, high levels of satisfaction depended on commitment, both their own and that of their peers. The feelings during the project were predominantly positive, although students recognized that they should have communicated more with their partners and put more effort in the collaboration. This article provides useful evidence for instructors that are considering an international collaboration activity for their students. It demonstrates the deliverables of such initiatives as well as the clear advantage gained by receiving students' feedback. Hopefully it will inspire other instructors and contribute to the diffusion of international collaboration as a teaching-learning practice.


A placebo is a treatment that is expected to have no inherent pharmacological or physical benefit — for instance, a starch capsule given for anxiety or pain, or sham surgery in which the critical surgical procedure is not performed. Placebos are often used for comparison in clinical studies, as a baseline against which to evaluate the efficacy of investigational clinical treatments. However, placebo treatments often elicit observable improvements in signs or symptoms on their own — these are placebo effects . For this reason, placebos have been used as healing agents for a variety of ailments; they have had a place in the healer ' s repertoire for thousands of years, and they are still used as a viable treatment option by physicians in industrialized countries with surprising frequency. Psychologists and neuroscientists today are most interested in the placebo response , the brain and body response to the psychosocial (and perhaps neurobiological) context surrounding treatment. The study of the placebo response reveals active processes that provide a powerful window into brain body interactions and the brain substrates of human behavior. Studies of drug treatments for various disorders have investigated the effects of exogenous regulation of neural and psychological end points, such as reported emotion, behavioral responses, and disease specific brain activity. The brain however, comprises interlocking feedback mechanisms that provide powerful endogenous control of neural and psychological processes. These endogenous processes regulate perceptual, affective, and cognitive processes based on the evaluation of situational context. Contextual information leading to placebo responses arises from either conscious expectancies about anticipated effects of treatment, or from prior learning in the form of conditioning with active treatments. In some cases, these two sources of placebo responses can be complementary, while in other cases, they may be mutually exclusive in their influence on observed placebo effects. The context surrounding placebo administration may lead individuals to expect improvement, and positive outcomes would compose the placebo effect. Alternatively, contextual information can lead individuals to expect worsening of symptoms; changes in the negative direction are observed as part of the nocebo effect . There is some evidence that the two involve separate mechanisms, although the placebo response has been much more thoroughly studied. A literature on experimental manipulations of placebo treatments has produced substantial evidence that placebo effects result, in many cases, from active brain responses to context, rather than statistical artifacts and reporting biases. Neuroimaging and related techniques have allowed us to begin to understand the brain mechanisms by which placebos exert their effects.


Exposed to the low temperatures of high latitudes Thorson's rule suggests a reduced speed of development in marine invertebrates. This raises the question how the development and succession of assemblages of respective species in the arctic is affected. The duration and chronology of succession, as well as the influence of environmental impacts on arctic benthic assemblages, is not fully understood, especially concerning long-term studies. By analysing species abundances and substrate coverage over an exposure time of one decade the following hypotheses are tested: (i) Exposition time significantly modifies the structure of arctic benthic hard-bottom assemblages, (ii) the macroscopic structure of the substrate surface has a significant influence on the structure of benthic hard-bottom assemblages, and (iii) the succession of benthic hard-bottom assemblages in the Arctic is in general slower compared to the benthic succession in all non-polar climatic zones. In 2002 forty Polyethylene growth panels were installed in about 20 m water depth on an underwater cliff in Kongsfjorden (Svalbard, Norway). Six of these were grooved to create structural diversity on the panel surface. Once a year the ripening epibenthic assemblages were photographed by scientific divers. Until 2007 about eight panels were sampled and replaced annually, thus creating starting points for succession in different years. Additionally a ground truthing was carried out for reference. The findings of this study show a resilience time exceeding a decade. Further the sampling year, age group and exposition time have a notable influence on the different successional stages. The structural diversity of the substrate in contrast showed no significant influence. Lastly the results are discussed in comparison with results of related studies from this and other regions to demonstrate the comparable slow succession.


ll models are wrong, but some are useful. Still fewer are wrong in a way that is useful. This thesis shows that effective field theories (EFTs) are not only powerful predictive tools, but also contain the ingredients necessary to estimate their own imperfection. By developing a Bayesian model of EFT discrepancy, we provide the first statistically rigorous accounting of chiral EFT uncertainties in nuclear systems. These physics-based uncertainty estimates are shown to reduce bias in the extraction of nuclear parameters known as low-energy constants, and even to predict regimes where the EFT falls apart completely: its breakdown scale.
This formalism is shown to be applicable in a wide range of circumstances; it can provide uncertainties for neutrinoless double beta decay, model the interior of neutron stars, uncover the constraints on chiral 3-body forces, extract scattering information from bound states via an improved Busch formula, and can even provide guidance on the intelligent design of experiments informed by EFTs.


AIMS
Rotigaptide is proposed to exert its anti-arrhythmic effects by improving myocardial gap-junction communication. To directly investigate the mechanisms of rotigaptide action, we treated cultured neonatal murine ventricular cardiomyocytes with clinical pharmacological doses of rotigaptide and directly determined its effects on gap-junctional currents.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Neonatal murine ventricular cardiomyocytes were enzymatically isolated and cultured for 1-4 days. Primary culture cell pairs were subjected to dual whole cell patch-clamp procedures to directly measure gap-junctional currents (I(j)) and voltage (V(j)). Rotigaptide (0-350 nM) was applied overnight or acutely perfused into 35 mm culture dishes. Rotigaptide (35-100 nM) acutely and chronically increased the resting gap-junction conductance (g(j)), and normalized steady-state minimum g(j) (G(min)) by 5-20%. Higher concentrations produced a diminishing response, which mimics the observed therapeutic efficacy of the drug. The inactivation kinetics was similarly slowed in a therapeutic concentration-dependent manner without affecting the V(j) dependence of inactivation or recovery. The effects of 0-100 nM rotigaptide on ventricular g(j) during cardiac action potential propagation were accurately modelled by computer simulations which demonstrate that clinically effective concentrations of rotigaptide can partially reverse conduction slowing due to decreases in g(j) and inactivation.

CONCLUSION
These results demonstrate that therapeutic concentrations of rotigaptide increase the resting gap-junction conductance and reduce the magnitude and kinetics of steady-state inactivation in a concentration-dependent manner. Rotigaptide may be effective in treating re-entrant forms of cardiac arrhythmias by improving conduction and preventing the formation of re-entrant circuits in partially uncoupled myocardium.


Background: Total splenectomy, exposes children to the high risk of overwhelming postsplenectomy infections (OPSI). To avoid these adverse consequences, partial splenectomy has long been practiced for thalasseemia in children. It has been reported that the partial splenectomy keeps the child immunologically competent, hematologically stable with minimum blood transfusion and makes their life more comfortable in comparison to total splenectomy. Objectives: To compare the results of partial and total splenectomy. Methodology: This prospective interventional comperative study was done in the department of Pediatric Surgery, BSMMU from 2010 to 2012. Children who underwent partial splenectomy were considered as the case and who underwent total splenectomy as the control. Number of blood (RCC) transfusions (ml/ kg/year), Peripheral blood film (Hb%, WBC count, platelet count, Howell-Jolly body, serum bilirubin), volume of liver (ml), volume of spleen (ml), number of OPSI case, were compared between the case and control groups both pre and postoperatively. Results: Postsplenectomy blood transfusion requirement is comparatively more decreased in control group than case group. The inter group difference at 6 month is significant (p= 0.004). Peripheral blood pictures are improved in both groups. Post splenectomy hemoglobin level was increased in both groups but it was maintained at a more static fashion in control group than case group (P = 0.114). Howell-jolly body in the partial splenectomy group disappeared almost completely at month 6, while the same inclusion body in the total splenectomy group appeared in all the children (p= 0.001). There was no postsplenectomy infection in case group while two found in control group. After partial splenectomy the residual volume of the spleen was gradually increasing. The increase in volume of the liver was notably greater in the total splenectomy group than that in the partial splenectomy group (p< 0.05). Conclusion: Partial splenectomy in patients with ²-thalassemia is effective in controlling hemolysis, improving peripheral blood picture while preserving the residual splenic phagocytic and immune function. J. Paediatr. Surg. Bangladesh 6 (2): 39-46, 2015 (July)


Emissions from traffic impose negative effects on human health, and recent evidence indicates that particulate matters (PM) are the detrimental air pollutant that causes most life years lost. To improve the efficiency of resource allocation, various mitigation measures have been proposed for reducing these emissions. However, whether or not the policy instruments are welfare improving, and if yes, how much more efficient they can be remain to be studied. To answer the questions, we need to both assess the economic cost of emission control and the health benefit due to the reduced PM emission by all proposed control instruments. This paper focuses on the cost efficiency for reaching pre-determined emission targets. We are concerned with reducing the concentrations of PM in Stockholm by local policy measures. Contrary to other cost-efficiency studies we have in this study included adaptations in behaviour in addition to the conventional technical measures alone. Since there are different emissions of PM, targeting PM10 may not be a good indicator of the health benefits. We therefore compare the performance of targeting PM and of targeting years of life lost (YOLL) and found interesting differences. We find that if the ultimate objective is to save lives or say life-years, it should be more appropriate to target YOLL, provided that YOLL can be properly predicted. Moreover, since the collected data on the effectiveness and cost of the policy instruments involve large uncertainty, we have employed a stochastic control model to explore the implications of the degree of uncertainty. We find that the higher fulfilment probability, the larger the marginal cost as expected. Also, for a given fulfilment probability, the more uncertain we are about the true effectiveness parameters, the larger the marginal costs.