Background: The effects of physical illness and psychiatric disorders have been extensively investigated in fatal and non-fatal suicidal behaviour.
Although different study designs have focused on the independent roles of physical and mental illness in suicidality, few studies have examined the relationship between co-occurring physical and mental health conditions (multimorbidity) and suicide risk. Considering the paucity of research, the present doctoral programme of research aimed to investigate if populations with physical/mental multimorbidity have an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours, compared to those with neither physical nor mental health conditions, and further investigate if this effect is stronger than either of the health conditions alone.
Methods: Based on the well-established terms of comorbidity and multimorbidity, the effect of co-occurring health conditions in the risk of suicidality was investigated by undertaking an overview of reviews and a systematic review. Four empirical studies of existing datasets were conducted in order to explore if suicidality (suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts) varies as a function of physical/mental multimorbidity. Two national mental health surveys from the United Kingdom (National Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2000, n = 8575; Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007, n = 7389) and one cohort study carried out in Scotland (West of Scotland Twenty-07 study, n = 4510) were used and both cross-sectional and prospective study designs were employed.
Results: Findings indicated that those with physical/mental multimorbidity are more likely to have suicidal thoughts and attempt suicide, compared to those with neither physical nor mental health conditions. The results were consistent: having both physical and mental health conditions did not increase risk of suicidal thoughts or attempts, beyond the risk conferred by mental illness alone. Having only physical health conditions was not associated with either suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts.
Conclusions: Overall, the findings suggest a potential risk of suicidality for populations with physical/mental multimorbidity. Although multimorbidity was a predictor of suicidality, it did not increase the risk of any suicide-related outcome more than mental health conditions alone. The current findings highlight that health care professionals should focus on populations who have reached services for non-mental health issues, but subsequently develop mental illness, as this pattern of multimorbidity could potentially be a risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviours. Further research is needed to better understand the risk of suicide in individuals with physical/mental multimorbidity.


During the last decade, numerous studies of the internet's civic dimensions have taught us a considerable amount about the form of new technologies. They have, for instance, analysed how the internet's interactive character, its multimodality and its open character create civic opportunities, not least for young people. The field has, however, rather neglected a number of important issues. For instance, the category of 'producers' of civic content has received little attention. Hence, research has neglected questions such as the following. What interests inspire producers of civic websites? How is the production being carried through? What views of the internet inspire their work? This article begins to redress this neglect by analysing the producers of three different websites. The three websites are brought from different spheres of civil society – party politics, commercial media and activism – and they are analysed through producer interviews. The article reveals and critically discusses differences and similarities between different modes of producing civic web resources.


This paper reviews the basis for and the literature pertaining to the ethical issues surrounding the use of the vulnerable population of prisoners as subjects for research protocols. The foundation for the development of ethical guidelines to protect this population comes from the exploitation of vulnerable populations including prisoners in the Holocaust, totalitarian regimes, and even in countries with long histories of democracy. The main ethical issues relevant to research with prisoners are respect for persons, justice, and the theory of Utilitarianism. Within the ethical guidelines there is a conflict between protecting prisoners from exploitation in research and prisoners right to participate in research. Therefore, many ethical codes attempt to safeguard this especially vulnerable group without completely restricting them from the benefits of research.


Some infections deplete serum retinol, low retinol reduces immunity, and reduced immunity establishes susceptibility to further infection in a cyclical relationship that is poorly understood. We showed that when retinol was low, there was excessive Th1 cell IFN-gamma synthesis and inadequate Th2 cell IL-4 and IL-5 synthesis. The retinol metabolite retinoic acid inhibited the IFN-gamma stimulatory activity of APCs, enhanced Th2 cell differentiation, and inhibited Th1 cell IFN-gamma synthesis. Here we focus on the mechanism for retinoic acid inhibition of IFN-gamma synthesis in myelin basic protein-specific MM4 Th1 cells. Physiologic amounts of all-trans-retinoic acid directly and specifically down-regulated the MM4 Th1 cell IFN-gamma secretion rate in vitro without affecting cell growth, viability, or overall protein synthesis. All-trans-, 9-cis-, and 13-cis-retinoic acid, and the synthetic retinoid Ch55, inhibited IFN-gamma synthesis effectively, whereas retinaldehyde, retinol, and retinyl acetate did not. This pattern suggests retinoic acid receptor involvement in the inhibition mechanism. Retinoic acid did not inhibit when Th1 cells were activated only through the TCR/CD3 complex, with or without IL-2 costimulation. Retinoic acid inhibited IFN-gamma synthesis when the CD28 costimulatory pathway was activated in addition to the TCR/CD3 pathway, suggesting it blocks some step in the CD28 pathway. Retinoid probably acted to decrease IFN-gamma transcript accumulation by decreasing transcription because it did not decrease transcript stability. We suggest that unrestrained IFN-gamma synthesis is one key immunobiologic mechanism that accounts for poor antibody-mediated immunity in hypovitaminosis A, since IFN-gamma in relatively small amounts can limit Th2 cell growth and interfere with the B cell stimulatory functions of Th2 cell cytokines.


Bacillus cereus is a well-known cause of food poisoning. It also causes rare systemic infections, usually in immunocompromised patients. Dissemination of this species in hospitals had been reported. Most of these episodes were pseudo-outbreaks and were usually secondary to equipment or environmental contamination. We report here on the use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to analyze a pseudo-outbreak of B. cereus in a pediatric unit. Different restriction endonucleases had been tested, and SmaI was found to give the best result for PFGE. Among the 26 clinical isolates of B. cereus and the type strain of the species, 15 distinct PFGE patterns were distinguished. PFGE after DNA macrorestriction with SmaI could clearly differentiate between the epidemiologically related isolates and the unrelated isolates. Because the same epidemic strain of B. cereus was isolated from the settle plates which were exposed near the outlet of the ventilation system, the source of this pseudo-outbreak was suspected to be the unit's air filtration system. This is one of the first reports of the application of PFGE to the study of B. cereus, and this method is useful for epidemiological investigation.


Purpose of the review Noninvasive respiratory support for neonates is growing in popularity as clinicians increasingly recognize the dangers of prolonged invasive ventilation. The purpose of this review is to critically evaluate the existing evidence for safety and efficacy of these modes of respiratory support in neonates. Recent findings In recent years, multiple randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have evaluated several modes of noninvasive support, most importantly nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation and high flow nasal cannulae, in comparison to the standard therapy of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). The three largest RCTs were recently published in 2013. One demonstrated no difference in death or survival with bronchopulmonary dysplasia between nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation and CPAP, both when used as primary support and as postextubation support. Two others demonstrated that high flow nasal cannulae are noninferior to or no better than CPAP when used to support preterm infants after extubation. These trials showed no serious safety concerns with current modalities. Summary The optimal forms of noninvasive respiratory support for neonates remain to be determined. Continued evaluation of these technologies with large, well-designed RCTs is warranted.


Feedstock cost and cost variability is expected to increase with the number of biorefineries. To quantify this effect, this spatial‐economic analysis simulates feedstock cost and cost variability of an industry based on corn stover as a function of the number of biorefineries. Results are reported for nine scenarios (a base case and sensitivity analysis of four variables – harvest efficiency, sustainability constraints, opportunity cost, and corn grain yield) under deterministic and stochastic simulations, assuming biorefineries using 658 000 Mg (725 000 tons) year−1 of corn stover in 2019. The resulting supply curves are highly elastic (i.e. little change in cost) for the first 50 of the 121 biorefineries, with price increases in subsequent biorefineries depending on scenario. In the base‐case deterministic scenario, weighted‐average stover costs are $66 Mg−1 ($60 ton−1), $69 Mg−1 ($62 ton−1), and $156 Mg−1 ($142 ton−1), at the first, 60th, and 121st biorefineries, respectively. The stochastic simulations, subject to observed 30‐year corn yield variability, follow a similar pattern, with price distributions that vary by scenario. The base‐case stochastic simulations illustrate minimal cost variability for the first 60 biorefineries, but rapid increases in cost variability in the second half of potential biorefineries, with similar patterns observed in the other scenarios. Of the four variables explored, price was most sensitive to harvest efficiency, followed by sustainability constraints, corn yield, and opportunity cost. Results suggest that, under conventional logistics, about half of the US corn stover resource is reliably available with minimum cost increase and variability. Interactive visualization is available at https://doi.org/10.11578/1828779. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd


What is the relation, in Plato, between the account of knowledge and the account of inquiry? Is the account of knowledge independent of the account of inquiry? These strike me as important, even pressing, questions. While so much work has been done on Plato's account of knowledge, and quite a lot is being done on his account of inquiry, I know of only the odd critic who has considered the two together. It is remarkable that critics have generally treated of the two topics—Plato's account of knowledge and his account of inquiry—as if they were separate. This suggests critics have been tacitly supposing that, for Plato, the account of knowledge is independent of the account of inquiry. In this paper, I pose these questions, and take them up for investigation. I argue that Plato's account of knowledge is not independent of his account of inquiry; on the contrary, Plato's account of knowledge cannot be understood if separated from his account of inquiry. I do so, in this paper, with reference to the Phaedo exclusively.


Smallanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the Asteraceae family, which has about 24 species, ranging mostly from southern Mexico and Central America to the Andes in South America. The aim of the present study was to identify the chemical composition of leaf essential oil of S. quichensis, growing wild in Costa Rica. The extraction of the oils was carried out by the hydrodistillation method, using a modified Clevenger type apparatus. The chemical composition of the oils was analyzed by capillary GC-FID and GC-MS using the retention indices on DB-5 type capillary column. A total of 100 compounds were identified, accounting for about 90% of the total amount of the oils. Smallanthus quichensis leaf produced a monoterpenoid-rich oil, whose composition was dominated by α-pinene (64.5%) and 1,8-cineole (9.7%) or, in a different sample, by α-pinene (35.5%) with moderate amounts of p-cymene (11.5%), β-phellandrene (9.2%), α-phellandrene (9.0%) and limonene (5.8%). This is the first report of the chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from this plant species.


Netadhict [1], an effective tool for network traffic analysis, can classify current traffic into hierarchical clusters of a semantic kind using a revolutionary technique based on the similarity of their contents — (p, n)-grams with respect to n-bytes substrings at a p byte offset. The underlying algorithm, ADHICT, continues to refine its classified sets as long as certain sets keep receiving more than their "right share" of packets. Consequently, ADHICT has enormous potential to help us establish a best-effort bandwidth allocation basis and control congestion effectively. As a result, based on ADHICT, we propose to use merge and freeze operations in order to separate traffic into "equivalence classes" and balance them dynamically. To deal with congestion situations, we set up a maximum threshold: when packets dropped exceed the threshold, the same class set is limited by a firewall. We then allocate shares of bandwidth to each of these sets through an adaptive traffic shaping technique. Finally, to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism, we perform two types of simulations, then classify each with our algorithm. The first simulation is conducted for normal traffic in a local network connected to the Internet, while the second simulation is done for abnormal traffic in which a large quantity of self-propagated worm packets cause congestion.


Intelligent `services' are increasingly used on e-commerce platforms to provide assistance to customers. In this context, preferences have gained rapid interest for their utility in solving problems related with decision making. Research on preferences in artificial intelligence (AI) has shed light on various ways of tackling this problem, ranging from the acquisition of preferences to their formal representation and eventually their proper manipulation. Following a recent trend of stepping back and looking at decision-support systems from the user's point of view, i.e. designing them on the basis of psychological, linguistic and personal considerations, we take up the task of developing an``intelligent" tool which uses comparative preference statements for personalised decision support.
We tackle and contribute to different branches of research on preferences in AI: (1) their acquisition (2) their formal representation and (3) their implementation. We first address a bottleneck in preference acquisition by proposing a method of acquiring user preferences, expressed in natural language (NL), which favours their formal representation and further manipulation. We then focus on the theoretical aspects of handling comparative preference statements for decision support. We finally describe our tool for product recommendation that uses: (1) a review-based analysis to generate a product database, (2) an interactive preference elicitation unit to guide users to express their preferences, and (3) a reasoning engine that manipulates comparative preference statements to generate a preference-based ordering on outcomes as recommendations.


The General Medical Council is to set up a working party, which will be chaired by one of the lay members, Mrs Rani Atma, to examine how it should respond to suggestions that discrimination, particularly racial discrimination, might occur in the way that complaints are dealt with. The problem has arisen because of the disproportionate number of doctors from ethnic minorities who are reported to the council, but as the president pointed out last week the council has no control over how a complaint is made. Sir Robert Kilpatrick was convinced, however, that once a complaint was received the actions taken by the screeners and the council's committees were free from discrimination on racial grounds. The ethnic background of doctors or patients, their religion, and the countries in which the doctors qualified were irrelevant to the consideration of any allegations. The council also had to be able to defend itself against any contrary accusation that it was discriminating on racial or other grounds against aggrieved patients rather than against doctors.

Several speakers endorsed the president's view but they welcomed the proposal to set up a working party. Dr Sriramashetty Venugopal hoped that the working party would be given wide terms of reference and would continue to consult with organisations such as the Commission for Racial Equality and the Patients Association. Professor Neil Kessel said that the working party must consider the problems faced by non-white doctors who qualify in Britain as well as overseas qualified doctors.

The president will chair another working party to examine how the council communicates with the …


Additive Manufacture (AM) is a technique capable of economically producing low volumes of complex components. Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), a form of AM, successively deposits layers of extruded filament; the inter-layer bonds are typically the weakest regions the structure, with the strength determined by the deposition temperature and cooling rate. This thesis investigates its application to production of aerospace sandwich cores, through improved thermal control of the extruded temperature, the use of an industrial robotic arm for manipulation, and the mechanical properties of thin-walled components. An investigation into the high speed thermal dynamics of the FFF process monitored the filament temperature, identifying a relationship with the recent time history of the feed rate, and a thermistor embedded in the nozzle better reflected the extruded temperature than a conventional, block-mounted thermistor. The application of a feed-forward controller greatly reduced fluctuations in the nozzle and filament temperature. To overcome the "stacked" planes of inter-layer bonds produced by typical 3 axis FFF machines, the process was implemented on an 8 axis industrial robotic cell. This allowed for deposition of non-planar layers onto a cylinder and hemisphere, and the production of complex aerofoil cores. This system was then used to evaluate the inter-layer bond strength of components produced with different bed orientations, relative to the gravity vector, and nozzle orientations, relative to the print bed. Results showed there was little effect of bed orientation on bond strength, but a significant effect of the nozzle orientation. Additional testing identified the wall thickness affected the ductility of the failure under tension, with specimens of increasing wall thickness behaving closer to that expected of the bulk material. Similar results were observed for compressive testing of FFF cores, finding a similar specific compressive strength to the industrial-standard Nomex material, but a significantly higher compressive force.


The main objective of this study was to evaluate the biological activity of an ASA (Amino-Steroid-Anthracenone derivative) against heart failure caused by the ischemia- reperfusion injury (translated as infarct area).

 Biological activity exerted by ASA (0.001-100 nM) on infarct area was determined using an ischemia-reperfusion injury model. In addition, to characterize the molecular mechanism involved in the effect exerted by ASA on left ventricular pressure, some drugs such as estrone (0.001-100 nM), tamoxifen (1 nM), butoxamine (1 nM) and ZM-241385 (1 nM) were used.

 The experimental data showed that ASA decreased the infarction area significantly (p = 0.05) compared to estrone. Other results indicated that ASA decreased left ventricular pressure and this effect was inhibited by ZM-241385. In addition, ASA increased cAMP levels in a time-dependent manner compared to control conditions.

 The results showed that ASA decreases ischemia-reperfusion injury (translated as infarct area) via A2 adenosine receptor activation and these phenomena involve changes in cAMP levels.


—Speech is the most efficient and convenient way of communication. The learning capabilities of the deep learning architecture can be used to develop the sound classification system to overcome the efficiency issues of the traditional systems. We propose to develop a model that classifies the audio of the speaker.


ABSTRACT In the political arena, natural resources activities – including mining – are generally viewed as low-tech and are not associated with the technological innovations that serve as the precursors of competition. In old industrialized nations, mining is limited to a few countries and mining-related activities are typically considered low-tech endeavours that rely on old and outdated technologies. In addition, mining districts are seen as lacking the prerequisites of economic development, such as an entrepreneurial spirit, knowledge formation mechanisms and diverse human capital formation. This paper discusses mining in the old industrialized nation of Sweden where mining is an important contributor to national competitiveness. Through a case study of two mines and the mining district, we argue that in order to understand the processes underlying the competitiveness of the natural resource-based sector, that is, mining sector in the context of a high-income nation, Sweden, it is important to dig deeper as regards mechanisms such as overall economic and institutional conditions as well as industrial adoptions of generic technologies, learning and upstream collaborations. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research and provides policy implications in the context of competence development.


This article discusses the regional expansion problem of square check fabric. And an evaluating indicator is established for evaluating the regional expansion in fabric. All the square check fabrics tested in this paper consist of two different tightness weaves: one is loose weave and the other is tight weave. Firstly, prepare samples. The samples are weaved by using different kinds of ratio of loose weave to tight weave -i, weft density- Pw and grid width-b. Secondly, test the samples' degree of expansion-X, and then calculate the expansion coefficient. Lastly, establish i-Y, Pw-Y and b-Y curve. The results show that, the expansion coefficient of the square fabric is increased with the increase of i; and increased firstly and then decreased with the increase of Pw ; but the change of the expansion coefficient of the square fabric is not obvious with the increase of b.


The purpose of this study was to extend the work of Jones and Hanton (2001) by examining differences in affective states of performers who reported facilitating or debilitating interpretations of symptoms associated with precompetitive anxiety. Competitive athletes (N = 229) completed state and trait versions of the CSAI-2 (Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump, & Smith, 1990), including intensity and direction subscales (Jones & Swain, 1992) and an exploratory measure of precompetitive affective responses in preparation and competition. "Facilitators" reported significantly greater positive labeling of affective experiences than "debilitators," while cognitive interpretations of symptoms were reported to change with regard to preparation for and actual performance. The findings further support the need to examine the labeling and measurement of precompetitive affective states.


Human calf muscle injuries are relatively common among individuals from various backgrounds. Miniscule tears in the muscles of the calf such as the medial gastrocnemius, lateral gastrocnemius, and soleus, may be difficult to identify using traditional imaging modalities. Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), is one type of diffusion imaging that has presented with some strengths over diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). Though DTI studies in the human calf have been published, no DKI studies in the human calf exist to our knowledge. The objective of this study is to determine whether or not DKI is applicable in identifying quantitative changes between states of dorsiflexion and relaxation in the human calf. One female participant underwent DKI. Data from the scanning was quantitatively analyzed via the use of FSLView and the NODDI MATLAB toolbox. A change in mean voxel intensity in the calf and mean orientation dispersion index was identified in each of the five slices analyzed, in each muscle group (medial gastrocnemius, lateral gastrocnemius, and soleus). Most of the changes, whether an increase or decrease in mean value—between the states of dorsiflexion and relaxation—were statistically significant. We conclude that DKI may have a future in identifying physical/quantitative changes in calf muscles between the tense/relaxed states. Further studies using DKI on the human calf should be conducted in the future and address the limitations of the current study. Further investigation could possibly benefit individuals with miniscule calf muscle injuries.


During the design of microwave circuits there is a significant need for efficient and accurate analysis of components with respect to environmental effects, thermal effects, manufacturing variations and fluctuations in the critical dimensions of transmission lines. However, increased integration levels and higher signal speeds in microwave devices and modules have produced the need to include transmission line effects previously neglected during circuit simulation. Accurate prediction of these effects involve solution of large systems of equations, the direct simulation of which is prohibitively CPU expensive. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to form closed-form expressions for the response of microwave circuits as a function of any design parameter in the network. This is achieved by the use of parameterized model reduction techniques in conjunction with a popular rational approximation algorithm vector-fit. The proposed algorithm was applied to transmission line networks and a significant speed-up was achieved.


Measurement of five DOF motion errors in a ultra precision feed table was attempted in this study. Yaw and pitch error were measured by using a laser interferometer and roll error was measured by using the reversal method. Linear motion errors in the vertical and horizontal directions were measured by using the sequential two point method. In this case, influence of angular motion errors was compensated by using the previously measured ones by the laser interferometer and the reversal method. The capacitive type sensors and an optical straight edge were used in the reversal method and the sequential two point method. Influence of thermal deformation on sensor jig was investgated and minimized by the periodic measurement according to the variation of room temperature. Deviation of gain between sensors was also compensated using the step response data. 5 DOF motion errors of a hydrostatic table driven by the linear motor werer tested using the measurement method. In the horizontal direction, measuring accuracies for the linear and angular motion were within ±0.02㎛ and ±0.04 arcsec, respectively. In the vertical direction, they were within ±0.02㎛ and ±0.05 arcsec. From these results, it was found that the introduced measurement method was very effective to measure 5 DOF motion errors of the ultra precision feed tables.


This paper proposes a new combinatorial auction protocol called Average-Max-Minimal-Bundle (AM-MB) protocol. The characteristics of the AM-MB protocol are as follows: (i) it is strategyproof, i.e., truth-telling is a dominant strategy, (ii) the computational overhead is very low, since it allocates bundles greedily thereby avoiding an explicit combinatorial optimization problem, and (iii) it can obtain higher social surplus and revenue than can the Max-Minimal-Bundle (M-MB) protocol, which also satisfies (i) and (ii). Furthermore, this paper extends the AM-MB protocol to an open ascending-price protocol in which straightforward bidding is an ex-post Nash equilibrium.


PURPOSE
Previous studies observed significant rebound of tumor proliferation and vascularization following cessation of anti-angiogenic therapy. In this study we characterize this phenomenon in a novel anti-angiogenic agent, using both [18-F]FLT PET/CT and circulating VEGF.

METHODS
Seventeen patients with solid tumors of various histologies were treated for two weeks with Axitinib, a molecularly targeted anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic agent, 5mg twice daily, followed by a one-week treatment break. Dynamic FLT PET scans were acquired at peak drug concentration (day 12-14), and washout (day 20-21). Vasculature status was quantified using a two-compartment kinetic model (blood volume, Vb ; blood-to-tissue transfer constant, K1 ). Proliferation was quantified using both kinetic analysis (net uptake rate, Ki ) and SUV-based metrics (SUVmean , SUVmax , SUVpeak , SUVtotal ). Relative change in each of these metrics during washout was assessed. Blood samples obtained pre-treatment and at each imaging time point were analyzed for the pro-angiogenic factor VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor). The change in VEGF during therapy was also assessed.

RESULTS
Seven of seventeen patients showed unambiguous proliferative flare, with all four SUV metrics increasing >20% during washout. Median increases of 30% SUVmean , 50% SUVmax , 60% SUVpeak , 70% SUVtotal , and 75% Ki were observed in these patients. Increase in vascular parameters were also observed in these patients (medians 30% Vb , 80% K1 ). Vascular and proliferative flare were correlated across all seventeen patients (ΔSUVpeak vs. ΔK1 , R = 0.59). A highly significant increase in circulating VEGF (p<0.001) occurs during the treatment period, followed by a highly significant drop (p<0.001) during the withdrawal period, to a level indistinguishable from baseline (p=0.9).

CONCLUSION
Substantial proliferative and vascular flare were observed in many patients during Axitinib withdrawal. These phenomena were correlated, suggesting Axitinib withdrawal may open a window for effective combination therapy. Axitinib treatment strongly impacts VEGF expression levels, suggesting it successfully targets the VEGF receptor. Research funded in part by the U.W. Radiological Sciences Training Grant: 5T32CA009206-34. Research funded in part by Pfizer.


Objectives Research assessment is a scientific task that entails relevant social aspects, as it aims at evaluating the scientific activity of each researcher, involves the academic Departments activity and the cultural policies of the academic authorities. The new bibliometric indicator for research evaluation in SSH, Library Catalog Analysis , is a matter of importance in the KO field, as it involves library acquisition procedures and the realization of OPAC. The evaluation of research in SSH is founded on the analysis of books as product of research and the expert peer review is the strategy currently adopted. Henk Moed (2005) reported the problems that arise using in SSH fields bibliometric counts based on citations. Daniel Torres-Salinas and Henk F. Moed (2009), Adrianus J. M. Linmans (2010), and Howard D. White (et al., 2009) autonomously proposed the Library Catalog Analysis [1] . It consists in using the number of copies of books in libraries as a new bibliometric approach in SSH, with the aim to evaluate the authors' productivity and their scientific level. However, the literature has not offered a wide empirical analysis over a range of disciplines of the potential and limitations of that strategy. Therefore, a deeper examination of scientific fields different from those tested by the mentioned authors is required. This paper presents the concise results of an Italian survey on the diffusion in Italian and foreign library holdings of books published by Italian scholars in two scientific fields: History of books , Bibliography, Library Science and History of political institutions . The survey, sponsored by the Italian Agency for the evaluation of the University and the research (ANVUR), was carried out in 2015 and 2016 with the purpose to verify the possibility of using the results of the analysis as an indicator in SSH research assessment. Methods Instead of using unit catalogues (Torres-Salinas and Moed used WorldCat), we preferred to verify the presence of books in a set of OPAC we chose as representative of different environments: 9 foreign libraries and 13 Italian, including national libraries and libraries of prestigious European and US universities. Therefore, our work was not restricted to offering only quantitative results, but rather acquired a qualitative dimension. We set up a database of monographs published between 2000 and 2014 selecting them from the Italian SBN [2] collective catalogue. 563 units: 279 in History of books, Bibliography and Library Science , and 284 in History of political institutions . Main results First, we underlined that key factors conditioning the inclusion of monographs in library holdings are numerous, varying according to the type of library and being often influenced by contingencies. Second, in evaluating the inclusion of books, we considered the incidence of gifts. None of the authors here mentioned (Torres-Salinas and Moed, Linmans, White), who proposed library holdings as a reliable indicator of the scientific level of monographs, considered the incidence of gifts in library holdings. Third, the analysis of the holdings of Italian and foreign libraries allowed us to have a wide view and to compare different realities and make an articulate analysis. Our examination revealed a very mixed picture and a substantial difference in the presence of the monographs in the libraries in which the surveys were completed. This paper offers Tables of distribution of presence of monographs in the Italian and foreign libraries. In our survey we found that the occurrences are not always the result of conscious choices, but are influenced by several factors, such as cooperative acquisition policies of publications, purchasing plans, approval plans and patron driven acquisition or particular forms of giving. Moreover, the survey highlighted the inaccurate present management of identifiers of the entities registered in the bibliographic records. This paper underlines that the application of RDA and Linked Open Data technologies will enable linking to external repositories to identify the data and "qualify" the relationships between them, using specific domain ontologies (e.g., FRBR, RDA etc.).  Authority control is a crucial point for purposes of scientific evaluation. It enables to precisely identify each entity of interest (the author and the publication) ensuring the correct attribution of the works to the respective authors. The collaborative nature of the Semantic Web introduces a new distributed vision of authority control, which no longer depends on the national agencies, but involves subjects of different nature. The new perspectives of LOD are oriented in two main directions: the use of unique and persistent identifiers in authority data and the reconciliation of different identifiers. The research also examined the nature and operation of discovery tools in order to understand if these research tools can affect the qualitative and quantitative outcomes of research into monographs. A sample of monographs of the database used for our survey was selected for testing discovery. The results showed that searches through the online catalogue are to be preferred for quantitative and qualitative assessments, in particular for the comprehensibility of the document retrieval techniques, entirely managed in the field of Library and Information Science. Conclusions In short, our survey found that: 1. The criterion of the presence of monographs in libraries cannot be adopted to establish the scientific value of monographs and, therefore, of their authors. 2. However, it may be claimed with reason that verifying the diffusion of monographs in prestigious libraries, selected on the basis of well-balanced criteria, can constitute a reinforcing element of a positive or negative judgement that has already been formulated, after a well-managed peer review. 3. We analysed the presence of monographs in a range of unit catalogues and OPAC belonging to national and university libraries, Italian and foreign. Thanks to a deeper analysis on different library types, it has been possible to offer a broader picture and to better verify the possibility of using that indicator. 4. We demonstrated the effect of gifts of monographs in library holdings. References Beyond Bibliometrics: harnessing multidimensional indicators of scholarly impact , edited by Blaise Cronin and Cassidy R. Sugimoto, Cambridge (Mass.) - London, The MIT Press, 2014. Marshall Breeding, The future of library resource discovery , Baltimore, NISO, 2015. Myung-Ja Han, New Discovery Services and Library Bibliographic Control , "Library trends", 61 (2012), 1, p. 162–172. Adrianus J. M. Linmans, Why with bibliometrics the Humanities does not need to be the weakest link. Indicators for research evaluation based on citations, library holdings, and productivity measures , «Scientometrics», 83 (2010), 2, p. 337-354. Henk F. Moed, Citation analysis in research evaluation , Dordrecht, Springer, 2005. Francis Narin, Evaluative Bibliometrics: the use of publication and citation analysis in the evaluation of scientific activity , Computer Horizons Inc., 1976. Daniel Torres-Salinas, Henk F. Moed, Library Catalog Analysis as a tool in studies of social sciences and humanities: an exploratory study of published book titles in Economics , «Journal of Informetrics», 3 (2009), p. 9-26. Daniel Torres-Salinas [et alii], Coverage, field specialization and the impact of scientific publishers indexed in the Book Citation Index , "Online Information Review", 38 (2014), 1, p. 24-42. Yongming Wanga, Jia Mi, Searchability and discoverability of library resources: federated search and beyond , "College & Undergraduate Libraries", 19 (2012), 2-4, p. 229-245. Howard D. White [et al.], Libcitations: a Measure for Comparative Assessment of Book Publications in the Humanities and Social Sciences , "Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology", 60 (2009), 6, p. 1083-1096. Alesia Zuccala, Raf Guns, Comparing book citations in humanities journals to library holdings: scholarly use versus "perceived cultural benefit ", in Proceedings of ISSI 2013 Vienna: 14th International Society of Scientometrics and Informetrics Conference, Vienna, Austria, 15th to 20th July 2013, editors Juan Gorraiz [et al.]. Vienna, Austrian Institute of Technology, 2013, vol. I, p. 353-360. Alesia Zuccala, Howard D. White, Correlating Libcitations and Citations in the Humanities with WorldCat and Scopus Data , in Proceedings of ISSI 2015 Istanbul: 15th International Society of Scientometrics and Informetrics Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, 29th June to 4th July 2015, editors Albert Ali Salah [et al.]. Istanbul, Bogazici University Printhouse, 2015, p. 305-316. [1] According to Linmans, Library Holdings Analysis. Recently, Alesia Zuccala and Raf Guns (2013) adopted a similar bibliometric approach, the Libcitation count. [2] http://opac.sbn.it/opacsbn/opac/iccu/free.jsp


Adiponectin (Ad) is an abundant protein hormone regulatory of numerous metabolic processes. The 30 kDa protein originates from adipose tissue, with full-length and globular domain circulatory forms. A collagenous domain within Ad leads to spontaneous self-assemblage into various oligomeric isoforms, including trimers, hexamers, and high-molecular-weight multimers. Two membrane-spanning receptors for Ad have been identified, with differing concentration distribution in various body tissues. The major intracellular pathway activated by Ad includes phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase, which is responsible for many of Ad's metabolic regulatory, anti-inflammatory, vascular protective, and anti-ischemic properties. Additionally, several AMP-activated protein kinase-independent mechanisms responsible for Ad's anti-inflammatory and anti-ischemic (resulting in cardioprotective) effects have also been discovered. Since its 1995 discovery, Ad has garnered considerable attention for its role in diabetic and cardiovascular pathology. Clinical observations have demonstrated the association of hypoadiponectinemia in patients with obesity, cardiovascular disease, and insulin resistance. In this review, we elaborate currently known information about Ad malfunction and deficiency pertaining to cardiovascular disease risk (including atherosclerosis, endothelial dysfunction, and cardiac injury), as well as review evidence supporting Ad resistance as a novel risk factor for cardiovascular injury, providing insight about the future of Ad research and the protein's potential therapeutic benefits.


Antibiotics release impregnated in HA granules, which were used in IBBC to prevent infection after total joint arthroplasty, was measured. For antibiotics, Flumarin, Vancomycin, Pansporin and Firstcin were used. Two models of antibiotics release were assumed; Model [I]: antibiotics release from surroundings of HA granules immediately after surgery and Model [II]: antibiotics release loaded on HA after antibiotics release from surroundings of HA granules as follows; (1) loading in normal pressure and (2) loading in reduced pressure. The amount of antibiotics loaded on HA is higher when loading is conducted under reduced pressure than that under normal pressure. Firstcin showed the highest loaded amount and the most desirable sustained release pattern. The antibiotics release from HA are varid depending on the antibiotics used.


This paper investigates the impact on free abrasive machining (FAM) process using a vibrating wire with an oscillating boundary condition. The experimental results show that the vibration of wire in slurry with abrasive grits can result in material removal due to FAM on brittle material. We present a theoretical model of a wire moving axially at a constant speed, subject to an oscillating boundary condition with damping, and derive an analytical solution of the partial differential equation of motion. Based on the modeling and analysis, the frequency of vibration of wire corresponds to the frequency at the oscillating boundary at steady state. The damping factor suppresses the lateral movement of wire from the fixed boundary to moving boundary when it is increased. The change of axial wire speed or the oscillating frequency at boundary can counteract the suppression on the vibration response induced by increased damping factor. This study also presents an experimental study using an experimental setup of a slurry-fed wire with a periodic excitation to study the FAM process on silicon. The results of experiments show that vibration of wire can impart the silicon carbide abrasive grits in slurry to generate observable grooves and fractures on the surface of silicon in just a few minutes. The grooves and fractures are generated by the indentation of abrasive grits via loading and unloading on the silicon surface. When the vibrating wire is only fed with water without abrasives or under a dry condition, compressive deformation with shallow grooves on silicon is observed; however, the surface is found to be free of surface features of indentation and scratching. Furthermore, evidence of both wire compression and abrasive machining is more pronounced at the edges of silicon specimen, especially at the edge close to the periodic excitation, which is consistent to our modeling.


The effect of microstructural features of A356 alloys on plastic deformation behavior was studied in the present study. To authors' knowledge, the microstructural effect on mechanical properties of A356 alloy has not been well understood even though this alloy system is one of the most widely used alloys for the industrial purpose. Specially, quantitative relationship between properties like ductility and fracture toughness with microstructural features is lacking. In the present study, four different processing methods were used to investigate how the size and distribution of primary alpha and eutectic phases influence the plastic deformation characteristics. The prcessing routes for A356 control arm include low pressure casting, squeeze casting, rheo-casting and cast-forging processes. Special focus was given to understand which microstructural features do the beneficial or detrimental effect and how they work.


Endogenous eczema represents a considerable risk for perforating keratoplasty because of the associated chronic surface disorders and complex immunological disturbances. Between December 1986 through October 1991 we performed 24 perforating keratoplasties in 20 eyes of 18 patients with endogenous eczema suffering from keratokonus, atopic keratokonjunctivitis and bullous keratopathy after intracapsular cataract extraction. During the follow-up period of 16 (3-48) months 6 transplants failed mostly due to surface problems as well as immune reactions and bacterial transplant infections. Systemically administered ciclosporin A was found to eliminate many of the previously unsolved problems. In summary, 18 out of 20 eyes achieved an improved visual acuity with clear transplants.


A Definition and Demonstration of Developable Mechanisms Trent Karl Zimmerman Department of Mechanical Engineering, BYU Master of Science There is an increasing need for compact mechanical systems that can accomplish sophisticated tasks. Technologies like ortho-planar and lamina emergent mechanisms (LEMs) have been developed to satisfy needs like these by stowing in planar sheets from which they emerge to perform their function. They can be compact, lightweight, monolithic, scalable, and can withstand harsh environments. They are limited, however, by their base element—planar surfaces. Applications requiring these advantages often include curved surfaces, like aircraft wings, needles, and automotive bodies. In this research, developable mechanisms are presented as a solution to satisfy the need for mechanisms that can conform to or emerge from curved surfaces. Foundational principles which enable designers to leverage the advantages of developable mechanisms are described herein. Developable mechanisms result from the union of mechanisms and developable surfaces. Developable (flattenable) surfaces act as a fitting medium because of their particular advantages in manufacturability and how well they accompany four-link, revolute joint (4R) mechanisms. The definition, including specific qualifying criteria, for developable mechanisms is given. Certain types of mechanisms and classes of developable surfaces can be combined to satisy that criteria. Developable mechanism sub-classes are defined as planar, cylindrical, conical and tangent developable mechanisms. It is shown that planar and spherical mechanisms can be used to create cylindrical and conical developable mechanisms, respectively. The Bennett and other 7R mechanisms can be used for tangent developable mechanisms. Steps for developable mechanism creation are presented, and several physical prototypes are provided to demonstrate feasibility. The cylindrically curved Lamina Emergent Torsional (LET) joint is offered as an enabling technology for producing compliant developable mechanisms. A mathematical model predicting force-deflection and stress behavior is provided and verified. The relationship between stiffness and strain energy storage for curved sheet materials with incorporated LET joints is explored. Material shape factors are used to derive an effective modulus of elasticity and an effective modulus of resilience, which are compared with original values on an Ashby plot. While there is a decrease in the modulus of resilience, there is a much more significant decrease in the modulus of elasticity. A material performance index is provided as an example for determining suitable materials for a given stiffness-reduction application. It is shown that the cylindrically curved LET joint makes it possible to create highly flexible joints that maintain much of their energy storage capability in curved sheet materials.


Although manganese (Mn) is an essential trace element, overexposure is associated with Mn-induced toxicity and neurological dysfunction. Even though Mn-induced oxidative stress is discussed extensively, neither the underlying mechanisms of the potential consequences of Mn-induced oxidative stress on DNA damage and DNA repair, nor the possibly resulting toxicity are characterized yet. In this study, we use the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate the mode of action of Mn toxicity, focusing on genomic integrity by means of DNA damage and DNA damage response. Experiments were conducted to analyze Mn bioavailability, lethality, and induction of DNA damage. Different deletion mutant strains were then used to investigate the role of base excision repair (BER) and dePARylation (DNA damage response) proteins in Mn-induced toxicity. The results indicate a dose- and time-dependent uptake of Mn, resulting in increased lethality. Excessive exposure to Mn decreases genomic integrity and activates BER. Altogether, this study characterizes the consequences of Mn exposure on genomic integrity and therefore broadens the molecular understanding of pathways underlying Mn-induced toxicity. Additionally, studying the basal poly(ADP-ribosylation) (PARylation) of worms lacking poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG) parg-1 or parg-2 (two orthologue of PARG), indicates that parg-1 accounts for most of the glycohydrolase activity in worms.


Summary Background The left ventricular filling pattern may show changes during respiration, which are generally used in the diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction. The clinical importance of the respiratory E/A wave pattern change has been investigated in a limited number of studies. The aim of the present study was to assess the diastolic function of hypertensive patients with respiratory changes in mitral flow over a long-term follow-up period. Material/Methods Our study included 107 newly diagnosed and untreated hypertensive patients (49 males; mean age, 46±10 years) with respiratory changes during transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). In addition, the patient group was classified into 2 groups according to the change in E/A pattern by the Valsalva maneuver. After a mean follow-up period of 44±7 month, 90% of the hypertensive patients and the entire control group were re-examined. Results Relaxation abnormalities developed in 84% of the patients (58/80) in the Valsalva-positive group after the follow-up period. The frequency of relaxation abnormalities was 60% in the Valsalva-negative group and 3.1% in the control group (p<0.001). Based on multivariate regression analysis, the echocardiographic predictors of the development of relaxation impairment were mitral E velocity, A velocity, deceleration time, isovolumetric contraction time, E/E′ ratio, and the presence of respiratory change. The most important parameter for the development of an abnormal relaxation pattern was the presence of respiratory change after adjustment according to the changes with the Valsalva maneuver. Conclusions Respiratory change in mitral flow can be evaluated as an early sign of diastolic dysfunction in patients with hypertension.


In recent times, innovative materials has played a central role in the development of new technologies, in many areas of application. In a rapidly changing world, the development of new materials is needed to meet today and tomorrow's technological challenges. There are many examples, like electronic components, photovoltaic cells, fuel cells, storage systems just to name a few, for which the engineering of new materials opens the doors to the creation of new devices, or allows existing ones to improve their performance or efficiency. The development of new materials takes time and has a cost due to the effort on the research and the numerous tests that are necessary. The possibility of predicting the thermo-physical properties of a material with some precision, even if it is not yet commercially available, can be a very interesting prerogative. The aim of this work is to develop protocols for the estimation of thermo-physical properties starting from the chemical composition alone, by means of simulations of molecular dynamics (MD). The framework is the SMARTFAN European Project framework which involves several partners, companies and universities, including Politecnico di Torino, who is the leader of work package 5 (WP5), namely "Modeling-Enhanced continuum mechanics approaches (from atoms to continuum mechanics)". This work consists in the mesoscale part of a nano- to-continuum multiscale study of an epoxy-based thermosetting polymer, which is of interest for one of the project's partner company, specialized in motorsport applications. In particular, the goal is to define some procedures useful to characterize mechanical and thermal behaviour of this compound, by computing several thermo-physical property. Nanoscale atomistic simulations results are the input, from which a mesoscale coarse-grained model is carried out. Conversely, the outputs are computed thermo-physical properties, including stiffness matrix and thermal conductivity, suitable to characterize the material in future continuum simulations. In the first part, two literature reviews are presented . The first review is on the mesoscale MD models, including mapping, parametrization and simulation details for different methods focused on mechanical properties computation. The second review is on continuum models The second part is focused on coarse-graining (CG) procedures, starting from theoretical aspects then showing some CG models available in literature, all involving thermosetting epoxy resins. The third part deals with general information and theoretical aspects of the epoxy resin of interest for the project (DGEBA/DICY/DETA), including details on chemical structures, crosslinking process and general properties, in order to get an overview of the material subject of the simulation part. In the fourth part all the simulations activities are explained and results are shown and commented. Appendix A contains all the simulation details, including all the implemented scripts in human readable form, while Appendix B contains all the potential curves of the CG force field adopted.


Introduction: Ultrasound is commonly used in determining the gestational age due to its non-invasive nature and availability. On the other hand, limited health literacy is a common problem in pregnant women visiting healthcare facilities. Considering the importance of maternal and fetal health during pregnancy, the aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of pregnant women about ultrasound examination and its risks.

Material and Methods: This research was a descriptive-analytic study in which 231 pregnant women referred to health centers in 2017 were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria were the willingness to participate in the research, having literacy, the age of 15 years to 49 years, and exclusion criteria were having severe emergency conditions, pain, and discomfort when completing the questionnaire, and reluctance to participate in the study.

Results: In this research, the age of pregnant mothers ranged from 15 years to 49 years with the mean of 28.31 years ± 5.55 years. The results of the study showed that 35.10% of women experienced their first pregnancy, and for 0.4%, it was their seventh. The results demonstrated that the mean score of knowledge was significant in terms of education (p=0.00), husband's education (p=0.01), and age (p=0.01), but there was no significant relationship with attitude. Also, the mean attitude score in terms of the number of deceased children was significant (p=0.02). Findings indicated that there is no significant relationship between the month of pregnancy, the number of pregnancies, occupation, and number of children with knowledge and attitude (p>0.05).

Conclusion: In this study, most women had a negative attitude towards ultrasound, which may be due to the lack of awareness about this subject. This may reflect the inadequacy of the training required by health authorities. Because low health literacy can prevent the proper understanding of health messages and recommendations, it is essential that health workers use effective methods of transferring information to these individuals.


The C-terminal domain (CTD) is an essential domain of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, Rpb1p, and is composed of 26 tandem repeats of a seven-amino acid sequence, YSPTSPS. Despite being an essential domain within an essential gene, we have previously demonstrated that the CTD coding region is genetically unstable. Furthermore, yeast with a truncated or mutated CTD sequence are capable of promoting spontaneous genetic expansion or contraction of this coding region to improve fitness. We investigated the mechanism by which the CTD contracts using a tet-off reporter system for RPB1 to monitor genetic instability within the CTD coding region. We report that contractions require the post-replication repair factor Rad5p but, unlike expansions, not the homologous recombination factors Rad51p and Rad52p. Sequence analysis of contraction events reveals that deleted regions are flanked by microhomologies. We also find that G-quadruplex forming sequences predicted by the QGRS Mapper are enriched on the noncoding strand of the CTD compared to the body of RPB1. Formation of G-quadruplexes in the CTD coding region could block the replication fork, necessitating post-replication repair. We propose that contractions of the CTD result when microhomologies misalign during Rad5p-dependent template switching via fork reversal.


Digestive stenosis is the most common complication of Crohn's disease. It can be either inflammatory or fibrous. The clinical, biological and especially morphological characteristics of the stenosis can help differentiate inflammatory stenosis from fibrous stenosis. The aim of our study was to evaluate the performance of fecal calprotectin (FC), a marker of intestinal inflammation, in identifying the type of stenosis.

 A prospective study including all patients followed for Crohn's disease in the Gastroenterology Department of Habib Thameur Hospital over a 6-month period from July 2020 to December 2020 was performed. Clinical, biological, endoscopic and radiological data were collected. The inflammatory nature of the stenosis was mainly retained according to radiological activity signs objectified by cross-sectional imaging. All patients were given a FC assay at the time of inclusion. FC was dosed by using the Bulhmann® FCAL ELISA technique. The statistical study was carried out using the SPSS software version 22.0 (p value significant if lower than 0.05).

 Fifty patients were included in our study (mean age 40.54 years [18–67] and sex ratio (M/F) = 1.77). The average evolution time of the disease was 8 years [6 months- 27 years]. The disease was ileal in 16 patients, colic in 4 patients and ileocolic in 30. Twenty patients (40%) had an intestinal stenosis whose location was: ileocaecal anastomosis (n=9), ileal (n=8) and colic (n=3). Multiple stenoses (colic and ileal) were noted in 3 patients. Fifteen patients were on medical treatment at the time of inclusion: 7 patients were on Infliximab, 5 were on azathioprine and 3 were on 5ASA. Digestive symptoms such as diarrhoea or subocclusive syndromes were noted in 7 patients. A biological inflammatory syndrome (CRP >10mg/L) was noted in 8 patients. Of the 20 stenoses included, 8 were of the inflammatory type (40%). In the presence of stenosis, the mean level of FC was 224.9 μg/g. A high level of FC was associated with the inflammatory type of stenosis (p<0.001). A cut-off of 135 µg/g had a sensitivity 100% and a specificity of 90%. CRP did not differentiate between inflammatory stenosis and fibrous stenosis (p=0.4).

 According to our study, FC is a good marker of intestinal inflammation allowing to differentiate an inflammatory from a fibrous stenosis during Crohn's disease better than the usual biological markers. These results should be confirmed by larger studies.


A 2 year old male child presented with mass on right side of abdomen. The clinical diagnosis of renal lump was made and rest of the examination did not reveal any abnormality. His intravenous pyelography showed non-functioning left kidney. Cystoscopy and ascending pyelography on left side showed normal ureteric orifices and crossing of the left ureter to opposite side. Ectopic kidney was removed without any damage to the lower pole of the right kidney.


The interaction between the carotid baroreflex and Bezold-Jarisch (BJ) reflex (intravenously administered veratridine) was studied in anesthetized rabbits after aortic nerve section. The carotid sinuses were vascularly isolated to regulate the intrasinus pressure (ISP). The extent of BJ reflex bradycardia and hypotension was progressively diminished as the ISP was elevated stepwise. When the carotid baroreflex was not operative by holding the ISP constant at control, the BJ reflex changes in heart rate (HR) and systemic arterial pressure (SAP) were not significantly different from those induced at the normal condition. Thus the calculated baroreflex static loop gain was greatly decreased during the BJ reflex. However, sinus denervation, analogous to keeping ISP below 50 mmHg, significantly enhanced the BJ reflex effects. A steady-state infusion of veratridine remarkably reduced the slope of the baroreflex function ISP-SAP and ISP-HR curves. The results indicate that the BJ reflex effects are affected by the prevailing arterial baroreceptor input, varying inversely with the ISP level. An attenuation in the baroreflex sinsitivity, in terms of the loop gain or slope of the transfer function curve, was observed during the BJ reflex. The presence of tonic cardiovascular inhibitions exerted by the arterial baroreceptors tends to reduce the BJ reflex bradycardia and hypotension, but the baroreceptors do not function adequately in buffering the cardiovascular inhibition produced by the cardiogenic reflex.


Nowadays with the rapid development of modern communication networks, information has been transmitted with speeds never seen before. At the same period, illegally manipulated copies of digital media can be easily transmitted and distributed. As a result copyright protection has become an abundant issue in the world wide. Digital watermarking is a promising technique to solve this problem. While digital watermarking can be implement to audio, image and video. This paper focus on reversible image watermarking. The filtering used here is the Gaussian filtering, after Gaussian filtering it uses the low pass Gaussian filtering component to construct histogram using a key and select pixel group. Then the watermark is embedded and high frequency component is combined to obtain the watermarked image. In the compression time the host image is need to compressed using wavelet compression method called SPIHT. The data is encoded by using the RSencoder followed by arithmetic encoding. And different transmissions are occur. Then in receiver side it obtain a filtered low frequency component image and the histogram is reconstructed using the key. Watermarked message is extracted from the image. In the decompression, the received image is decompressed as followed by arithmetic decoding, RS decoding, and wavelet decompression. Hence we obtain the host image.


Aim: In order to facilitate planning for dental health services and to progress strategies to continue the reduction in tooth loss, it is important to identify the factors that result in such loss. therefore the aim of the study is to investigate the major cause for tooth extraction. Objective: to examine whether the major reason for tooth extraction is dental caries or periodontal disease. Materials and Methods: The study is carried out among the dental practitioners in our district. A questionnaire containing 10 items was distributed to the dental practitioners, which included age, gender, no of teeth indicated for extraction, the reason for extraction, and the periodontal parameters that are involved with the extracted tooth and were requested to complete the form on every extraction they were to undertake. the study form was collected at the end of the study period and data was subjected to statistical analysis. Results: A total of 502 patients were enrolled during the study period, and a total of 1055 teeth were extracted for several reasons. we found that 51.14%extractions are due to dental caries in case of 20-30years age groups, which is more when compared to tooth loss due to periodontal diseases in this age group. whereas in case of >40years of age group periodontal diseases account for 54.11%, and dental caries accounts for only 29.11%. Showing more teeth were lost due to periodontal disease. Conclusion: therefore we concluded that, caries is the dominant reason for extraction in patients with 20–30 years of age while periodontal disease accounts for the majority of tooth extraction in patients older than 40 years.


The lamella structural systems consists of a number of interconnecting units forming a lozenge-shaped grid pattern. Each unit which is twice the length of the side of a diamond is called a "lamella". Theoretically lamella construction may have any geometric surface. The lamella roofs have been used frequently for structures where a wide clear span, freedom of movement, and attractive ceiling are required. Lamella roofs are ideal for prefabricated construction, as all the units are of standard size. Lamella structures can be constructed in steel, timber, aluminium, and reinforced concrete. The stress distribution in a lamella system is remarkably consistent, since the numerous lamella units mutually brace each other at the joints. In the theoretical analysis six degrees of freedom are assumed for each joint. The method which was selected for the theoretical analysis was the "Stiffness Method"; employing the "F.T. Compiler Technique" for the solution of a large number of simultaneous equations. Computer programs were written for the most general case of a space structure (pin or rigidly connected) in ALGOL 60. The lamella barrel vault, Fig.(1), is considered as a rigidly connected structure, and theoretical analysis of its stress distribution was carried out to investigate: 1. The influence of longitudinal supports: for this purpose two cases of longitudinal support were taken into accounts a) Boundary joints fixed in position, b) Boundary joints fixed in position and direction and for both cases (a & b) two systems of symmetrical and anti-symmetrical loading were considered; 2. The influence of gable-stiffening: for this investigation six types of gable-stiffening, which represent the different kinds of gable-boundaries were studied; 3. A short-cut solution. For a long barrel vault two approaches were considered, which gave similar results: (i) - Analysis of central arch along the lamellas? (ii) - Analysis of half diamonds between two transverse sections over the entire span. Finally, an approximate method was used. The results for each of the above cases are discussed individually. Experimental investigations were carried out on the lamella barrel vault model, Fig (1), employing the "direct method of testing". The theoretical and experimental results were compared and certain conclusions drawn. Finally, general conclusions and the possibilities for future research were expounded.


Objective Executive agencies of the federal government frequently engage in explicit political advocacy, exhorting the public to adopt policy positions and engage in political actions. This advocacy conflicts with legal restrictions on unelected bureaucrats. It is unclear what the public thinks of this kind of advocacy. We assess whether Americans judge this advocacy based on principles about acceptable political processes or based on policy goals. Methods We use observational and experimental data from two national surveys of American adults to assess the role of policy preferences in acceptance of political advocacy by executive agencies. Findings We find that Americans approve a broad range of public communications from executive agencies, but approval of political appeals is highly sensitive to whether an individual shares the policy goal of the agency. Conclusions Policy agreement, rather than preferences about process, drives Americans' attitudes toward this kind of advocacy. Americans support political advocacy by executive agencies when it dovetails with their own policy preferences or partisanship and oppose it when these agencies advocate for policies that contradict their own preferences or partisanship. Indeed, they do not draw any distinction between unelected bureaucrats and elected politicians when it comes to evaluating these forms of advocacy.


A series of quaternaries prepared from hexamethylenetetramine and halohydrocarbons are shown to possess antimicrobial activity which depends upon the slow release of formaldehyde over a wide pH range. The rate of release appears to depend upon the halohydrocarbon moiety to a large extent. Toxicological studies show that these products can be used safely as industrial preservatives for aqueous emulsions such as soluble oils and latex systems.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Physiotherapists must take responsibility for all aspects of patient care. Information from medical imaging studies can influence clinical decisions. The purpose of the present study was to gather information about physiotherapists' perceptions and use of medical imaging information in clinical practice.

METHOD
A survey questionnaire was developed, validated and pilot tested. Subjects were randomly selected from a pool of licensed physiotherapists practising in four California Physical Therapy Association Districts. The survey was sent to 500 physiotherapists. Data gathered from the survey were transcribed to spreadsheets for analysis.

RESULTS
One hundred and twenty participants completed and returned the survey. Information from radiographs was most frequently available, followed by MRI and CT scan information, respectively. Respondents reported more use of information from reports than from images. Respondents also indicated that it was important to be able to review medical imaging information (70%), that they use medical imaging information in their practice when it is available (83.4%), that physiotherapists have the necessary knowledge and skills to use this type of information (77.3%), and that medical imaging should be covered in entry-level educational programmes (84.2%). Respondents additionally indicated that medical imaging information could be used to understand a patient's disease process (85%), improve communication about patient care (90%), improve diagnosis, prognosis and interventions for patients (81.6%), and identify contraindications to examination and interventions (87.5%).

CONCLUSIONS
Physiotherapists have access to some medical imaging information and perceive that this information could be valuable in patient care; however, not all therapists are confident in their ability to interpret this information. Curricula in entry-level physiotherapist educational programmes should include information about medical imaging.


The current work on mosquito larvae was performed to evaluate the resistance status of larvae to deltamethrin (DM) and to detect if the larvicidal activity (LA) of this chemical could be synergized after exposing the larvae to cinnamaldehyde (CD). Here, 200 Aedes albopictus larvae were employed for the experiment and were divided randomly into 2 groups (100/each group and placed in petri-dishes (PD), 10 larvae/PD), and they are the DM group (1ml of 0.04 mg/l in 99ml of distilled water (DW) was placed to each PD) and the DM+CD group (1ml of 0.04 mg/l and 1ml of 0.9mg/l respectively were placed with 98ml DW in each PD). The experiment was lasted for 24hrs. Larvae were detected to have resistance against DM as 45% to 60% of the larvae were killed by the DM, 40% to 55% resistance rate. However, when evaluating DM activity with the use of CD, the LA was synergized showing mortality in 87% to 92% of the larvae in which a significant increase in the mortality in DM+CD group was noticed more than that in the DM group. Furthermore, RT-qPCR was run to identify the expression status of the P540 monooxygenase gene, Cyp6p15, and found that the gene expression was significantly inhibited in the DM+CD group when comparing that in the DM group that showed overexpression of this gene. This work results provide viable information about the potential activity of the cinnamaldehyde in synergizing the larvicidal activity of deltamethrin.


A comprehensive understanding of the antecedent factors, and the impact of servant leadership and also about the education theories used as a perspective are so essential for leaders and researchers. However, there is not enough information about it. This paper was made to fill this gap by using the literature review approach. It was done to 71 Scopus indexed articles, which were published in the 2015 – 2020. There are several results of the review, those are: (1) servant leadership is influenced by the emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, motivation to serve, non-calculative as one dimension of motivation-to-lead, and mindfulness; (2) servant leadership have an impact on 38 dependent variables in individual level and 16 dependent variables in the organizational level both directly and indirectly; (3) there are 31 theories, which are used as a researcher's perspective, and two between them, which are mostly used are the social exchange theory and social learning theory. The result of this research gives contribution, which enriches the theoretical scope of servant leadership. This academic contribution is for sure will be so beneficial for leaders who commit to developing the best potential owned by their staff for a better organization. The result of this research will also be essential for future researchers because it shows a state of the art and research gap about servant leadership.


This guideline is used to make coverage determinations as well as to inform discussions about evidence-based practices and discharge planning for behavioral health benefit plans managed by Optum. When deciding coverage, the member's specific benefits must be referenced. All reviewers must first identify member eligibility, the member-specific benefit plan coverage, and any federal or state regulatory requirements that supersede the member's benefits prior to using this guideline. In the event that the requested service or procedure is limited or excluded from the benefit, is defined differently or there is otherwise a conflict between this guideline and the member's specific benefit, the member's specific benefit supersedes this guideline. Other clinical criteria may apply. Optum reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify its clinical criteria as necessary using the process described in Clinical Criteria. This guideline is provided for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical advice. Optum may also use tools developed by third parties that are intended to be used in connection with the independent professional medical judgment of a qualified health care provider and do not constitute the practice of medicine or medical advice. Optum may develop clinical criteria or adopt externally-developed clinical criteria that supersede this guideline when required to do so by contract or regulation.


This collection of reflections and case studies focuses on the challenges that can confront Muslims in American health care settings. Each fictional case study was developed based on personal interviews with doctors, nurses, social workers and chaplains and includes a commentary so that users can learn new skills and strategies to increase cultural competence. Each case study stresses the ways in which the provision of health care in these relatively typical U.S. clinical settings is, or is not, adequately culturally competent. The commentaries highlight what might have been done differently in each case to improve the quality of patient care. The final commentary for each case responds to the others from a non-Muslim and more explicitly Western bioethical perspective.


The acceptance and usability of personal protection against solar UV radiation was evaluated in a field study with a group of tinsmiths in Austria. The personal protective measures (PPM) tested involved four categories: shirts, headwear, sunglasses and topically applied sunscreens; at least six different products per category were tested. Recommendations for the "ideal" shirt, headwear, pair of sunglasses and topical sunscreen are given based on data from questionnaires, i.e., from the point of view of the workers, independently from the actual physical level of protection (such as low transmittance or area of coverage) provided. It is argued that in practice it is important to consider the acceptance and usability of protective measures as well as the level of physical protection when providing PPM.


In this paper, we present a novel unsupervised representation learning approach for 3D shapes, which is an important research challenge as it avoids the manual effort required for collecting supervised data. Our method trains an RNNbased neural network architecture to solve multiple view inter-prediction tasks for each shape. Given several nearby views of a shape, we define view inter-prediction as the task of predicting the center view between the input views, and reconstructing the input views in a low-level feature space. The key idea of our approach is to implement the shape representation as a shape-specific global memory that is shared between all local view inter-predictions for each shape. Intuitively, this memory enables the system to aggregate information that is useful to better solve the view inter-prediction tasks for each shape, and to leverage the memory as a viewindependent shape representation. Our approach obtains the best results using a combination of L2 and adversarial losses for the view inter-prediction task. We show that VIP-GAN outperforms state-of-the-art methods in unsupervised 3D feature learning on three large-scale 3D shape benchmarks.


This article examines the question of why interest rates are so high in Brazil as compared to the international average. It looks at theoretical arguments based on excessive government deficits, structural lack of private savings, inflation bias, excessive investment demand and fear of floating. An informal look at the evidence does not strongly corroborate any of these arguments. Hence a wise central bank should consider "testing" the market to make sure it is not dealing with an extreme equilibrium configuration or a long standing disequilibrium.


As an enhanced oil recovery method (EOR), chemical flooding has been implemented intensively for some years. Low Salinity WaterFlooding (LSWF) is a method that has become increasingly attractive. The prediction of reservoir behaviour can be made through numerical simulations and greatly helps with field management decisions. Simulations can be costly to run however and also incur numerical errors. Historically, analytical solutions were developed for the flow equations for waterflooding conditions, particularly for non-communicating strata. These have not yet been extended to chemical flooding which we do here, particularly for LSWF. Dispersion effects within layers also affect these solutions and we include these in this work.
 Using fractional flow theory, we derive a mathematical solution to the flow equations for a set of layers to predict fluid flow and solute transport. Analytical solutions tell us the location of the lead (formation) waterfront in each layer. Previously, we developed a correction to this to include the effects of numerical and physical dispersion, based on one dimensional models. We used a similar correction to predict the location of the second waterfront in each layer which is induced by the chemical's effect on mobility. In this work we show that in multiple non-communicating layers, material balance can be used to deduce the inter-layer relationships of the various fronts that form. This is based on similar analysis developed for waterflooding although the calculations are more complex because of the development of multiple fronts.
 The result is a predictive tool that we compare to numerical simulations and the precision is very good. Layers with contrasting petrophysical properties and wettability are considered. We also investigate the relationship between the fractional flow, effective salinity range, salinity dispersion and salinity retardation.
 This work allows us to predict fluids and solute behaviour in reservoirs with non-communicating strata without running a simulator. The recovery factor and vertical sweeping efficiency are also very predictable. This helps us to upscale LSWF by deriving pseudo relative permeability based on our extension of fractional flow and solute transport into such 2D systems.


In this study, the change in the chemical properties of the thermally modified eucalyptus (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) wood boards were examined by wet chemical analysis and FTIR spectroscopy. The eucalyptus wood boards were modified with a laboratory type hot-press for four different groups at press pressures of 2 or 4 MPa and temperatures of 150°C or 180°C and compared to untreated control. After this, hot water, 1% NaOH, ethanol-cyclohexane, ethanol, and methanol-water solubility values were determined for the treated samples. In addition, the content of klason lignin, acid soluble lignin, holocellulose, and α-cellulose were investigated. The solubility values (except for the ethanol solubility) increased in the modified wood when compared to the untreated control. A decrease in the content of acid soluble lignin, holocellulose and α-cellulose was observed while the content of klason lignin in the modified wood was increased. According to the FTIR analysis results, significant changes were observed in the spectra of the modified samples. These findings were in agreement with the results of wet chemical analysis.


To the Editor.— The recentArchivesreport by Clark and Rietschel (1982;118:163-165) indicated that prior application of 0.1% triamcinolone acetonide ointment did not notably suppress subsequent patch test reactions to contact allergens. The authors concluded that previously applied, intermediate-strength topical steroids were unlikely to prevent the detection of contact allergy by patch testing. Materials and Methods.— Several years ago, we addressed this same question in a slightly different way and came to similar conclusions. Four patients with known allergies applied 2 g of 0.1% betamethasone valerate cream to one side of the back three times each day for three days prior to testing. Duplicate sets of closed patch tests were applied to the left and right sides of the back, using Altest and Dermacel tape. Serial fivefold concentrations of each relevant allergen were applied. Patch test reagents in respective patients were as follows: (1) p-chloro-m-xylenol, 1%, 0.2%, 0.04%, and 0.008%


Background: Low Birth Weight (LBW) is associated with neonatal mortality and morbidity, impaired growth and cognitive development, and chronic diseases later in life. LBW can also seriously affect the quality of future generations because it can slow the growth and development of children, and therefore contributes to a decrease of intelligence. Methods: This study is a secondary data analysis, the data source is the result of National Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) in 2013 with coverage of all provinces in Indonesia. The unit of analysis is the baby. The data were processed using descriptive analysis and logistic regression. Results: The percentage of low birth weight is 6.37% nationwide. Conclusion: Incidence of low birth weight is influenced by many factors the number of children, the occurrence of complications during pregnancy, low economic status and the baby girl. The most impact variable is the risk of complication during pregnancy reaches 2.74 times. Recommendation: It is needed improved efforts in handling Infants with low birth weight so that it will not result in death or impaired physical and mental growth and development of infants that affect on the quality of state human resources and increase the state burden.


This paper discusses a vehicle routing problem for a permutation circulation-type vehicle routing system. In the system, several stages are located along by a single loop, and a fleet of vehicles travel on the loop unidirectionally and repeatedly. Traveling on the loop, each vehicle receives an object from the loading stage and then carries it to a certain processing stage, or receives an object from a certain processing stage and then carries it to the unloading stage per a turnaround. No passing is allowed for the vehicles on the loop. This paper proposes a heuristic algorithm for operating the system, which intends to reduce interferences between the vehicles. This paper also gives the numerical results with respect to the performance measures of the system such as the mean travel time of vehicles and the throughput of the system.


This chapter is presented to depict the chance of marine polysaccharides satisfying the properties of good pharmaceutical excipients and the potential of that could be utilized as multifunctional pharmaceutical excipients in the pharmaceutical solid dosage form manufacturing as fillers, diluents/vehicles, binders, glidants, binders and disintegrants, and so on. In addition, this chapter discusses the use of marine polysaccharide holding a specific pharmacological activity in the formulation/dosage form, which is used for the same aliment/disease.


Aims. Hard X-ray (HXR) emission in the footpoints of flaring loops often indicates an asymmetry, where brighter X-ray flux usually appears in the footpoint with a weaker magnetic field. This is explained by the fact that more electrons can reach the chromosphere in the weaker magnetic field. However, there are numerous exceptions to above rule, where the stronger HXR source is located in the loop's foot that is rooted in the stronger magnetic field. In our paper we analyse three such exceptional events from the paper by Goff et al. (2004, A&A, 423, 363). For all three events, we found evidence of the magnetic loops interactions near a brighter footpoint. Such loop interactions suggest that for these flares the energy release is located closer to one end of the loop. Methods. We analysed the process of electron transport in detail in the dense flaring loop as a possible cause of the observed asymmetry. Using the flare parameters derived from observations, we calculated how the collisional energy losses in the loop reduce the number of electrons impacting the chromosphere at the other footpoint. Results. We show that these calculations reproduce the observed flux ratios within the error limits in both footpoints for each of the analysed events. Thus we conclude that the injection of electrons near one of the footpoints, together with enhanced density in the flaring loop, can explain observed HXR footpoints asymmetry.


E.histolytica/dispar (2.70%). All patients with positive tests, excluding B.hominis, had at least one of the following risk factors: smoking, immunosuppressant use, prior parasitic disease, HIV+ status, travel to endemic area and institutionalization (Table 1). Smoking and immunosuppressant use were associated with a positive test in multivariate analyses (Table 2). Conclusion: Our study affi rms the low yield of O&P stool testing in adult hospitalized patients. IDSA guidelines recommend testing patients with diarrhea for > 7 days, especially if immunocompromised. Our fi ndings highlight the need to redefi ne these guidelines and apply selective testing practices that restrict O&P exams to patients with risk factors such as smoking, immunosuppressant use, prior parasitic disease, HIV+ status, travel to endemic areas and institutionalization.


: The work analyses the experience in the treatment of 46 patients with fractures of long tubular bones and extensive wounds with avulsion of the skin at the department of emergency traumatology from 1983 to 1988. The method of choice in the treatment of fractures of the long tubular bones in this category of patients is functionally-stable osteosynthesis mainly with external fixation apparatuses on a nail or rod basis. A rational succession of the manipulations for surgical debridement of the extensive wound was determined, which made the surgeon's work much easier and reduced the time needed for the operation. The skin defects in extensive wounds were repaired by Krasovitov's method in 16 patients, in 30 patients reimplantation of the skin was carried out by means of a split avulsed graft measuring 0.3-0.5 mm in thickness. A complex approach to the treatment of patients of bot groups was applied in the postoperative period, which improved the outcome of the treatment considerably. From comparative analysis of the immediate and late-term results of healing of the reimplanted grafts the authors conclude that dermatomic (0.4-0.5 mm) plastics with a split avulsed graft is preferable.


Yunnan Baiyao (YNBY) has been refined for hundreds of years and has become a treasure of proprietary Chinese medicine that has significant curative effects in the field of hemostasis, blood circulation, and callus. In past years, YNBY has been demonstrated to play an anti-inflammatory role in bone-related diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis. However, the osteoclasts are multinucleated giant cells that resorb bone and participate in the occurrence, development, and progression of these bone-related diseases. Previous studies have reported that the inflammatory function is closely associated with arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism, as well as some inflammatory-related pathways, including the nuclear factor кB (NF-кB), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and Wnt5a pathways. Therefore, we speculated that the anti-inflammatory effect of YNBY might be associated with the NF-кB, MAPK, and Wnt5a pathways. In order to further excavate the anti-inflammatory roles of YNBY, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with an optimal concentration of 1,000 pg/ml was used to induce inflammation in osteoclasts. Our results showed that YNBY with a time- and dose-dependent method decreased the concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the expression levels of cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), COX-2, 5-lipoxygenase, and prostaglandin E2. Moreover, it was found that COX-2 was the target gene regulated by YNBY. Finally, using NF-кB and MAPK pathway inhibitors or miRNA101b (involved in the Wnt5a pathway) in tandem with YNBY and the results exhibited that these groups caused a reduction in COX-1 and COX-2 expression, indicating that the anti-inflammatory function of YNBY might directly affect the NF-кB, MAPK, and Wnt5a pathways. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Yunnan Baiyao (YNBY) is mainly extracted from precious Chinese medicines such as Panax notoginseng, borneol, musk, and yam and has a wide range of clinical applications. It is not only used to treat various types of traumatic injuries, but also used for upper gastrointestinal bleeding and wound ulcers, neonatal umbilitis, recurrent oral ulcers, esophagitis, bacterial dysentery, and so on. Although the detailed mechanism of action is not clear at present, it is believed that this is related to its anti-inflammatory, hemostatic, and immune-enhancing effects. Many bone-related diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis, are regarded to be intimately related to the inflammatory reaction. Thus, this study aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms of YNBY at anti-inflammatory roles. And our results suggested that YNBY directly affected the inflammatory cytokines and AA metabolic products which referred to the NF-кB, MAPK, and Wnt5a pathways, as well as AA metabolism, respectively. Hence, the practical applications of YNBY are the anti-inflammatory effects used to treat for bone-related diseases.


Gadamer (1989: xxxiii) describes hermeneutics as 'a theory of the real experience that thinking is'. In this chapter, we explore two main aspects of this experience of thinking interpretation and understanding. We draw on the work of Schleiermacher (1768-1834) to review the origins of modern hermeneutics as an activity of interpretation, and on Heidegger (1889-1976) and Gadamer (1900-2002) for hermeneutics as a philosophy of understanding. We consider the ways in which Ricoeur (1913-2005) and Habermas (1929-) move hermeneutics towards critical theory, challenging the trustworthiness of text and the possibility of understanding, and urging reflection on their ideological construction and motivation. We use the most famous idea in the hermeneutic canon, the hermeneutic circle, as a leit-motif for the chapter. This illuminates a range of mutually constitutive relationships between context and text, whole and parts, general and particular, anticipation and encounter, familiarity and strangeness, presence and absence, and sense and non-sense. We discuss how hermeneutics has influenced contemporary organization and management research, inspiring an array of interpretive methods and inviting critical reflection on personal and organizational sense-making.


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The ability to characterize tactile perception will be crucial to the effective use of tactile information in the next generation of information communication technology. Tactile perception depends on multiple properties of the surface being touched, including surface texture, stiffness, and temperature. To quantitatively evaluate the contribution of each individual property to tactile perception, our research group has used microfabricated tactile samples that have identical properties except for the one property under study. Until now, a separate sample has been needed for each level of each property of interest since the samples have lacked the capacity to vary property levels. In this research, we propose tactile samples that can change surface texture simply by being stretched. The proposed samples are made of PDMS and have grooves perpendicular to their length. In the initial state, the grooves are barely perceptible; however, when the sample is stretched lengthwise, the grooves open and surface texture appears. We first examined changes in the surface texture of the samples, together with Young's modulus, the friction coefficient, and the mean deviation of the friction coefficient (MMD), under controlled conditions. We then conducted sensory experiments involving friction, moisture, roughness, stiffness, and warmness. Experimental results showed that the surface texture could be well perceived with grooves greater than 30 μm in width. Contrary to our intuition, the friction feeling did not increase with the friction coefficient but rather with the MMD of the coefficient. The perception of moisture was enhanced with the friction coefficient. The proposed tactile samples, with their ability to change their surface texture, will be of great help in future quantitative investigations of tactile perception.


We consider the problem of classification in a comparison-based setting: given a set of objects, we only have access to triplet comparisons of the form ``object A is closer to object B than to object C.'' In this paper we introduce TripletBoost, a new method that can learn a classifier just from such triplet comparisons. The main idea is to aggregate the triplets information into weak classifiers, which can subsequently be boosted to a strong classifier. Our method has two main advantages: (i) it is applicable to data from any metric space, and (ii) it can deal with large scale problems using only passively obtained and noisy triplets. We derive theoretical generalization guarantees and a lower bound on the number of necessary triplets, and we empirically show that our method is both competitive with state of the art approaches and resistant to noise.


Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) has been well noted as a causative agent of many diseases in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract notably, gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric adenocarcinoma. Determining the burden and the risk factors for acquiring this infection may be crucial to containing it and its sequelae in Kano, Nigeria. Methodology: The study was cross-sectional in design. Questionnaires were administered in dyspeptic patients to obtain the relevant clinical, and sociodemographic data. Upper GI endoscopy was performed in the patients, and gastric biopsy specimens were taken and sent to the histopathology laboratory for assessment and H. pylori identification. Results: Of the 306 participants, 136 (44.4%) were males, while 170 (55.6%) were females, with male: female ratio of 1:1.3. The ages of the participants ranged from 18 to 84 years with a mean of 41.2 ± 15.3 years. Of the 306 samples, 250 (81.7%) were positive for H. pylori. This gives H. pylori prevalence of 81.7%. Only 4 (1.3%) of the participants belonged to the higher social class, out of which 25% had positive H. pylori, while 230 (75.2%) participants belonged to the lower socioeconomic class with 87.8% H. pylori prevalence. The lower social class had a significant association (P < 0.0001) with increased H. pylori infection. A total of 290 subjects (94.8%) shared a room with three or more other siblings in childhood, out of which 233 (80.3%) had H. pylori. Only 80 subjects (26.1%) used pipe-borne water in childhood, while 226 (73.9%) sourced their water from either well, pond or stream during childhood. Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of H. pylori in Kano, and low socioeconomic status, unclean water source, overcrowding, and cigarette smoking were significant risk factors for H. pylori infection.