Sera of rabbits immunized with slime antigen of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 14.207 were tested for the presence of the correspondent, circulating antibodies by the most common serological tests used in the medical laboratory: double immunodifusion in agar, indirect hemagglutination, complement fixation and indirect immunofluorescence tests. The slime antigen obtained from stationary culture of the bacteria, in trypticase-soy broth grown at 36 degrees C by 72 hours, was extracted from the supernatant of the culture and also from the cell mass through cold ethanol precipitation after buffering of the medium. All the sera had significant antibody titers, with the values changing according to the technique employed. The best results were obtained by hemagglutination and by immunofluorescence tests, there were no cross reactions of antibodies with other bacteria, shown by immunofluorescence tests made using as antigen other microorganisms.


INTRODUCTION
Mucinous cystadenoma is the most common of benign neoplasms of the appendix and carcinoid is the most common type of primary malignant lesions of the appendix.We report a rare case of a 57-year-old female with combined mucinous cystadenoma and carcinoid tumor of the appendix.Dual carcinoid and epithelial neoplasia is a rare occurrence in the appendix.

CASE REPORT
A 57-year-old Caucasian woman presented after incidentally palpating a mass on her right iliac fossa. Imaging modalities revealed a cystic tumor in the right iliac fossa with a diameter of about 8 cm, originating either from the right ovary or the appendix. She underwent laparoscopic surgical exploration, which revealed appendiceal mucocele and appendicectomy was finally performed as well as excision of a right ovarian cyst. Pathological examination showed acollision tumor consisting of mucinous cystadenoma and carcinoid tumor of the appendix. Because of the size and extension of the carcinoid tumor, which the pathology report revealed, she underwent re-exploration and laparoscopic right colectomy.

DISCUSSION
Mucinous cystadenoma is rare, but it is the commonest of benign appendiceal tumours accounting for 0.6% of appendectomy specimens. It can present as appendicitis,mucocele or if the tumour ruptures, as pseudomyxomaperitonei. On the other hand, carcinoid is the most common type of primary malignant lesion of the appendix and 0.3-0.9%of appendectomy specimens, with small predominance in female patients. Rare cases of mucinous cystadenomas of the appendix coexisting with carcinoid tumors were reported before, but in our case it was a collision tumor with no transitional zone between them. Also, the clinical presentation of our patient and the differential diagnosis of ovarian lesions from appendiceal tumors is worth being mentioned.


Gymnema sylvestre , locally called Gurmar (meaning sugar destroyer), is well known in Indian medicine for treatment of diabetes which is attributed to its triterpenoid saponin content gymnemic acid. Quantity of the gymnemic acid in is influenced by geographical and seasonal variations. Use of precursors enhances production of gymnemic acid in vitro . Here, we explored three different precursors, namely isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP), squalene, and 2,3-oxidosqualene for their effect on gymnemic acid production in in vitro cultures of Gymnema sylvestre . Gymnemic acid production in shoot cultures treated with 2,3-oxidosqualene (23.31 mg g -1 DW) was highest among all three precursors studied, followed by squalene (18.12 mg g -1 DW) and IPP (15.94 mg g -1 DW). Addition of these precursors might enhance the activity of respective enzymes, such as IPP isomerase, squalene synthase (SS), squalene epoxidase (SE), and β-amyrin synthase (β-AS) which are the key enzymes in terpenoid production. Higher concentration and higher harvest duration of all three precursors reduced the production of gymnemic acid. Results have shown that addition of these precursors is effective in enhancement of gymnemic acid production and can be successfully utilized for commercial application.


Solid state sintered silicon carbide (S-SiC) ceramic is one of the top optical materials for high space reliability and other excellent properties. Two microstructures were produced by sintering under different conditions. The effects of microstructure on removal rates of SiC ceramics during polishing processes were studied. The material removal mechanisms during polishing were analysed and modeled. With the increase of the aspect ratio and grain diameter size during polishing, grain pull-out is more difficult in elongated grains than in exquiaxed grains. The SiC ceramic with high hardness has high removal resistance leading to get bad surface quality under the same mechanical procedure. The samples with elongated microstructure have low hardness and surface toughness.


The closure of psychiatric asylums across the western world has brought significant amounts of 'brown field' land onto the market over the past few decades. Situated on the edge (or former edge) of many cities, these sites have proven attractive for residential redevelopment. Drawing on two case studies from the UK and New Zealand, we consider the implications of such recycling in the built environment for the memory of the former use, asking how redevelopment addresses the stigmatised past of the asylum. We discuss issues associated with the 're-imagining' of heritage buildings and landscapes and examine the extent to which the past is strategically forgotten or selectively remembered in the repackaging of the asylum as housing. We conclude that while stigma continues to cast a shadow over reuse of former asylum spaces, in both case studies impacts seem to dissipate over time. In the UK, this dissipation appears to be enhanced by the presence of policies that cast redevelopment for housing as a source of funding for heritage conservation.


Serum and growth factors can increase the proportion of Ras in the active guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound form. Growth factors might stimulate guanine nucleotide exchange or decrease the activity of the guanosine triphosphatase-activating proteins GAP and neurofibromin (NF1). In NIH 3T3 cells that overexpress the mutant Ras protein His116, which releases bound guanine nucleotide at a constitutively high rate and retains sensitivity to GAP and NF1, the proportion of GTP bound to the His116 protein was not altered by serum or platelet-derived growth factor. However, these mitogens increased the proportion of Ras in the GTP-bound form in cells that overexpressed control Ras proteins with a normal intrinsic rate of guanine nucleotide release. The amount of GTP-bound His116 or control Ras proteins was higher in cells at low density than in cells at high density, which have more GAP-like activity. The lower proportion of GTP-bound Ras in NIH 3T3 cells at high density may result from increased GAP-like activity. By contrast, serum and platelet-derived growth factors appear to stimulate guanine nucleotide exchange.


Stroke is the third highest cause of death and the leading cause of chronic disability in adults in Australia. Studies show clear advantages of treatment of patients in the acute phase of stroke in a dedicated stroke unit. Rehabilitation after stroke is a continuum, starting within days of stroke onset and ending only when it no longer produces any positive effect. More than half the 75% of patients who survive the first month after a stroke will require specialised rehabilitation. Effective rehabilitation relies on a coordinated, multidisciplinary team approach. Regular team meetings, as well as meetings with the patient, his or her family and carers, are essential. Improvements in function after stroke are the result of recovery within the ischaemic penumbra, resolution of cerebral oedema, neuroplasticity, and compensatory strategies learnt by the patient. Evidence supporting rehabilitation programs is based on evaluation of the multidisciplinary approach, or on the effect of a particular discipline (eg, speech therapy), rather than on individual components of treatment. When the patient is discharged from a formal rehabilitation program, the general practitioner's role becomes paramount. GPs can help patients deal with the consequences of stroke, such as depression, and any comorbidities. GPs may also provide counselling on issues ranging from interpersonal and sexual relationships, through ability to drive again, and vocational and recreational activities.


: The arterial tortuosity syndrome is a rare congenital disorder characterized by elongation and generalized tortuosity of the major arteries including the aorta. Associated clinical features consist of excessively stretchable skin and joint laxity which is indicative of a connective tissue disorder such as Ehlers-Danlos or Cutis laxa syndrome. The gene locus of the arterial tortuosity syndrome has recently been localised on chromosome 20q13; inheritance ist autosomal recessive. - We report on a newborn with arterial tortuosity syndrome and hiatal hernia, bilateral hip dislocation, inguinal hernias and diffuse tortuosity of the great arteries including the aorta. Known gene loci involved in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, cutis laxa syndrome and other connective tissue disorders were excluded by specific DNA markers. By homozygosity mapping with polymorphic microsatellite markers it was possible to confirm the gene locus for the ATS on chromosome 20q13. In addition to the presentation of this patient, a review of the literature is presented.


The use of satellites for mobile communication applications has become a global issue. The use of handheld, vehicle mounted and transportable terminals is a key feature of Satellite Personal Communication Networks (S-PCNs). Due to the higher eirp requirements on the Earths surface and also because of their inherent delay, geostationary (GEO) satellites are not considered suitable for such applications. Instead, constellations of satellites at lower altitudes have been proposed for use in what are termed 2nd generation mobile satellite communication systems. Low intensity regions in the Earths surrounding trapped radiation bands, have resulted in two altitude bands of specific interest, resulting in two constellation types - LEO (Low Earth Orbit) constellations at around 1,000 km and MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) constellations at around 10,000 km. A satellite constellation consists of a number of satellites orbiting at the same altitude and inclination and phased in a specific way. The work reported in this thesis proposes a network control architecture for LEO or MEO based S-PCN systems. Air-interface signalling aspects are then considered for mobility management and call setup signalling. LEO and MEO constellation design aspects and properties are initially considered. Important implications on the control network are drawn based on constellation coverage and connectivity properties. Other system constraints such as terrestrial network interworking considerations as well as user, network operator and regulator requirements are also considered. Finally network and more specifically satellite control signalling is examined before a S-PCN architecture is proposed. The reference architecture results in constellation control being distributed globally with individual satellite control, at any one time, being located at a specific earth station. The use of two earth station types allows network administration to be separated from traffic channel carrying aspects. In order to reduce system setup cost and delay, the reuse of network related standards from the GSM terrestrial mobile communication system is envisaged. An equivalence is made between the S-PCN architecture and the GSMs terrestrial architecture. Network implementation aspects are considered for a 14 satellite MEO constellation. Network implications resulting from the use of LEO and MEO constellations are considered. After an examination of S-PCN traffic demand on a MEO constellation, mobility management signalling is considered. A new approach is proposed based on the use of a positioning system. The performance of this approach is examined from a system signalling viewpoint for both LEO and MEO constellations and a method to minimise the required amount of signalling is described. The air interface signalling procedure for location update, based on a modified GSM network layer protocol, is simulated from a delay point of view for both LEO and MEO constellations. User-originated, user-terminated and user-to-user call setup signalling were also simulated and their delay performance examined. The importance of random access channel delay and of user cooperation with the link were highlighted as aspects which have a significant influence on the average signalling delay. Finally, the effect of common and dedicated control channel system signalling on satellite power consumption, based on busy hour call setup and mobility management signalling estimates, was examined for a MEO constellation. From this, conclusions can be made on the signalling power efficiency of S-PCN systems.


Robinson (1970) developed the SQ3R study strategy to improve learning by incorporating higher-level study skills. SQ3R entails five steps: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review. The first step involves surveying chapter headings and subheadings to identify chapter content. This step helps students to achieve a sense of the organization of the chapter and to activate prior knowledge to facilitate comprehension. The second step involves asking questions based on headings and subheadings. The reader transforms headings into questions to stimulate curiosity and to guide reading. The third step involves reading the text to answer the questions. The fourth step involves answering each question by looking away from the text and attempting to recall the answer. If the reader cannot answer the question, he or she reviews the text before answering the question. In the fifth step, the reader inspects headings and then attempts to recall the questions and answers. Reviewers of empirical research on SQ3R's effectiveness reported conclusions that would raise doubt about SQ3R's viability as a learning strategy. Anderson and Armbruster (1982) argued that use of SQ3R is based on the following assumptions: (a) "authors choose headings that capture important information or main ideas of the content" (p. 238) (b) "criterion test questions will test information cued by the author's headings" (p. 238) (c) "students are able to transform headings into questions that capture main ideas" (p. 238). Cook and Mayer (1983) argued that SQ3R limits encoding to searching for and memorizing relevant information. In order to achieve thorough, meaningful learning from text, others recommend that students connect ideas within the text and connect textual ideas with personal knowledge (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001; Cook & Mayer; Mayer, 1987). Recent reviewers of study-strategy research concluded that SQ3R is not appropriate for all students and that the amount of instruction should vary inversely with reading ability (Caverly & Orlando, 1991; Caverly, Orlando, & Mullen, 2000). Use of SQ3R assumes that students have requisite skills (Huber, 2004), which include selecting main ideas, identifying the structure of text, asking questions, etc. Knowledge of text structure may guide generation of appropriate questions to improve comprehension of science texts (Feldt, Feldt, & Kilburg, 2002). In addition, knowledge of key elements of empirical research articles may guide question generation (Feldt & Moore, 1999). Given the concerns about SQ3R, one major strength of any question-generation strategy may depend on the extent to which instruction for asking questions is explicit (Wong, 1985). Several introductory psychology textbooks feature SQ3R as a text-learning strategy. We examined these textbooks to determine whether authors provide descriptions of SQ3R application that are consistent with those found in the SQ3R literature. These included modeling of question generation by providing good examples of questions; acknowledging the importance of background information for adequate use of SQ3R; and recognizing that effective use of SQ3R may depend on additional training and practice, especially for students with limited comprehension skills. We emphasized the extent to which descriptions provided examples of questions that are likely to improve learning. Method Textbooks and Procedure We examined a convenient sample of 12 introductory psychology textbooks that included description on use of SQ3R and its variants (e.g., SQ4R, SQ3R Plus, PQ4R). The order with which textbooks were examined was randomized, and we were blind to the identity of the author(s). An analysis (Weber, 1980) was conducted in which themes were identified. Two independent evaluators reviewed the materials, and reliability was determined by calculating percentage of agreement (e. …


Introduction A great proportion of haemophiliacs are considered at risk of being co-infected with hepatitis C (HCV) and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). 1 Chronic hepatitis C leads to liver cirrhosis, which in turn causes portal hypertension and varices. 2 Alternative endoscopic modalities have been developed for the investigation of the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract, such as oesophageal capsule endoscopy (OCE). However, OCE is widely accepted and its indications are still under evaluation. 3 Our aim was to evaluate the use of OCE in a tertiary referral centre for GI problems in Lothian, Southeast Scotland, giving a special focus on OCE in haemophiliacs. Methods A retrospective review of the OCE database from May 2005 to March 2012. Electronic case notes and OCE reports were reviewed. Demographics and clinical background, in particular haemophilia, hepatitis C, HIV and cirrhosis, reason for referral and OCE findings were abstracted. Results A total of 65 OCEs (50 patients; 27 M/23 F; mean age: 52.7 ± 13.7 years) were carried out in the aforementioned period. 32% pts had haemophilia (16/50 patients/all male; mean age: 51.6 ± 9.8 years; range 31–78 years; 28 OCEs); 5 pts had repeat OCEs (1 pt: 1 repeat, 2 pts: 2 repeat, 1 pt: 3 repeat & 1 patient: 4 repeat OCEs). All haemophiliacs were infected with HCV; 2 pts were co-infected with HIV. 3/16 (18.75%) of haemophiliacs had established cirrhosis, 5/16 (31.25%) probable cirrhosis. In haemophiliacs, indications for OCE were: variceal surveillance (OCEs group A: 17/28; 60.7%) and/or other upper GI symptoms (OCEs group B: 11/28; 39.3%). PillCam®ESO1 was used in 15/28 (53.6%) occasions and PillCam®ESO2 for the rest (13/28; 46.4%). The overall diagnostic yield (DY) of OCE in haemophiliacs was 78% (21/28). The DY was similar in OCEs group A: 64.7% (findings in 11/17) and OCEs group B: 54.5% (findings in 6/11 ), P = 1.0. Oesophageal transit times were mean: 166s; range: 3–1171s. All capsules reached the stomach, but only 8/28 (28.5%) capsules entered the duodenum. Conclusion OCE is a useful and acceptable alternative to conventional endoscopy in selected groups of patients. In particular, OCE in haemophiliacs has a high DY and should be considered a first line investigation to guide further endoscopic intervention. Disclosure of Interest None Declared. References Meijer K, et al. HCV-related liver cancer in people with haemophilia. Haemophilia 2012; 18:17–24 de Franchis R. Non-invasive (and minimally invasive) diagnosis of oesophageal varices. J Hepatol 2008; 49:520–7 Guturu P, et al. Capsule endoscopy with PILLCAM ESO for detecting esophageal varices: a meta-analysis. Minerva Gastroenterol Dietol 2011; 57:1–11


We are interested in the belief change that occurs due to a sequence of ontic actions and epistemic actions. In order to represent such problems, we extend an existing epistemic action language to allow erroneous initial beliefs. We define a non-Markovian semantics for our action language that explicitly respects the interaction between ontic actions and epistemic actions. Further, we illustrate how to solve epistemic projection problems in our new language by translating action descriptions into extended logic programs. We conclude with some remarks about a prototype implementation of our work.


Hydroxycarbamide (HC, hydroxyurea) is a cytoreductive drug inducing cell cycle blockade. However, emerging evidence suggests that HC plays a role in the modulation of transcription through the activity of transcription factors and DNA methylation. Examining the global mechanism of action of HC in the context of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), for which HC is the first-line treatment, will provide a better understanding of its molecular effects. To explore the effects of HC genome-wide, transcriptomic analyses were performed on two clinically relevant cell types at different stages of differentiation treated with HC in a murine MPN model. This study was replicated in MPN patients by profiling genome-wide gene expression and DNA methylation using patient blood samples collected longitudinally, before and following HC exposure. The effects of HC on the transcriptome were not only associated with cell cycle interruption but also with hematopoietic functions. Moreover, a group of genes were restored to normal expression levels in murine hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) following drug treatment, including the master regulator of hematopoiesis, RUNX1. In humans, HC significantly modifies DNA methylation levels in HSCs at several distal regulatory regions, which we show to be associated with SPI1 binding sites and at the SPI1 locus itself. We have identified novel targets of HC that include pivotal transcription factors involved in hematopoiesis, and for the first time we report abnormal methylation patterns in MPN patients at the master regulator gene SPI1 and its distal binding sites, which HC is able to restore to normal levels.


1 2 Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have tremendous impact and potential in the 3 development of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and mobility services, expected to 4 deliver significant benefits including increasing capacity, improving safety and decreasing 5 pollution. There are, however, situations where there might not be direct location information 6 about the vehicles, such as in tunnels, but also in indoor facilities, such as parking garages and 7 commercial vehicle depots. Various technologies can be used for vehicle localization in these 8 cases, while other sensors, which are currently available in most modern smartphones, such as 9 accelerometers and gyroscopes, can be used to directly obtain information about the driving 10 patterns of the individual drivers. The use of multiple, diverse technologies for localization in 11 the context of indoor and harsh environments has seen a lot of interest in the literature 12 recently. 13 The objective of this research is to present a framework for the vehicle localization 14 and monitoring and modeling of driving behavior in indoor facilities, or –more generally– 15 facilities where GNSS information is not available. A survey of localization technologies and 16 needs is presented, leading to the description of the adopted methodology. The case studies, 17 using data from multiple types of sensors (including accelerometers and gyroscopes from two 18 smartphone platforms, as well as two reference platforms), provide evidence that the 19 opportunistic smartphone sensors can be useful in identifying events (i.e. speed-humps) and 20 maneuvers (i.e. u-turns and sharp-turns), which can be useful in positioning the vehicles in 21 indoor environments, when cross-referenced with a digital map of the facility. At a more 22 macroscopic level, a methodology is presented and applied to determine the optimal number 23 of clusters for the drivers' behavior, using a mix of suitable indices. 24 25 26


In this study the geochemical composition of the fluids belonging to the geothermic reservoir of Casaglia is presented. The site is located few kilometers northward of Ferrara, probably the only city in Italy whose heating system is fed by the geothermal heat near the top of the Dorsale Ferrarese, a structural anticline raising the Mesozoic limestones up to few hundred meters below the surface. Measurements of the chemical and isotopic composition of the gas phase (e.g., CO2 and noble gas) were carried out, together with a full characterization of the physico-chemical parameters and the chemistry of the water phase.

Fluids derive from a well at a depth of about 322+15meters and the temperature of the emerging water is of 78,6 °C, pH of 6.29 and Eh of -470 mV. Salinity is up to 115.6 mS/cm with a TDS varying between 71024 mg/L and 73718 mg/L. The hydrochemical facies is identified as clorurato-alkaline and the Cl/Br ratio suggest mixing with fossil brines. dD and d18O vary from 4.70 to 5.02 and from -12.0 to -12.2 respectively. The volatile phase is mainly composed of N2 (24.9-40.5 %),CH4 (21.1-29.5 %) and CO2 (37.1-18.6 %), with d13C(CO2), d13C(CH4) and dD(CH4) varying from -4.4 to -3.7 ‰, from -41.7 to 41.2 ‰ and from -152 to -171 ‰, respectively.  The He amounts are extraordinary high (up to 3956 ppm)  with a 3He/4He of 0.02Ra unequivocally pointing to a crustal origin (e.g., Caracausi & Sulli, 2019). The 40Ar/36Ar ratios span the range 300-374, being very close to the same ratio in atmosphere.

Such high He concentration cannot be explained by a simple steady-state crustal degassing, taking into account the Th and U contents of the sedimentary cover and the metamorphic basement (Coltorti et al. 2011) which lead also to consider that the thermal state of the Casaglia reservoir involve the entire crustal thickness and not only the Mesozoic carbonate succession that hosts the reservoir itself.

It is inferred that under an active tectonic regime, as it is that where Casaglia is located, the formation of micro-fracturation, due to the field of stress generated by the local seismicity, increases the He release from the rocks and can contribute to the observed He excess in the geothermal reservoirs (e.g., Buttitta et al., 2020). In this respect, the fault system of Dorsale Ferrarese contributes to generate a preferential pathway for rising fluids with consequent mixing phenomena and provides a reasonable explanation about the presence of this high He content in the reservoir.

References:

Buttitta D. et al. (2020). Continental degassing of helium in an active tectonic setting (northern Italy): the role of seismicity. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 1–13.

Caracausi A. & Sulli A. (2019). Outgassing of Mantle Volatiles in Compressional Tectonic Regime Away From Volcanism: The Role of Continental Delamination. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 20(4), 2007–2020.

Coltorti M. et al. 2011. U and Th content in the Central Apennines continental crust: a contribution to the determination of the geo-neutrinos flux at LNGS. Geoch. Cosmoch. Acta 75, 2271-2294.


Leptospirosis is a reemerging infectious disease and the most disseminated zoonosis worldwide. A leptospiral surface protein, LipL32, only occurs in pathogenic Leptospira, and is the most abundant protein on the bacterial surface, being described as an important factor in host immunogenic response and also in bacterial infection. We describe here an alternative and simple purification protocol for non-tagged recombinant LipL32. The recombinant LipL3221-272 was expressed in Escherichia coli without His-tag or any other tag used to facilitate recombinant protein purification. The recombinant protein was expressed in the soluble form, and the purification was based on ion exchange (anionic and cationic) and hydrophobic interactions. The final purification yielded 3 mg soluble LipL3221-272 per liter of the induced culture. Antiserum produced against the recombinant protein was effective to detect native LipL32 from cell extracts of several Leptospira serovars. The purified recombinant LipL3221-272 produced by this protocol can be used for structural, biochemical and functional studies and avoids the risk of possible interactions and interferences of the tags commonly used as well as the time consuming and almost always inefficient methods to cleave these tags when a tag-free LipL32 is needed. Non-tagged LipL32 may represent an alternative antigen for biochemical studies, for serodiagnosis and for the development of a vaccine against leptospirosis.


Christian theological anthropology has been critiqued for its habit of sharply distinguishing the human from the nonhuman and for thereby depreciating human animality in one form or another. Within the context of modern theological anthropology, the result of this habit has often been a vision of the human according to which the less animal we are, the more self-transcendent and God-open we are. In light of recent theological and interdisciplinary interest in the Umwelt-theory of Jakob von Uexküll (1864–1944), I indicate how Uexküll's influential account of animal Umwelten can be a resource for theologians seeking to articulate human self-transcendence and God-openness in a manner that avoids the depreciation—whether explicit or implicit—of our animality.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Fetal erythroblasts in maternal circulation represent a valuable source of fetal cell material which can be obtained with non-invasive procedures that do not endanger the fetus. Physical separation techniques have been invaluable in the isolation and characterization of different cells. There are basically two principles that have been used most successfully: separation according to density and separation according to size. In order to determine whether physical separation procedures are capable of purifying human erythroblasts, the biophysical characteristics of these cells were determined.

METHODS
Bone marrow particles were obtained from formal adults and peripheral blood buffy coats from blood banks. A single cell suspension was initially fractionated by buoyant density gradient centrifugation. Fractions enriched in erythroblasts were pooled and further processed by velocity sedimentation in order to take advantage of the differences in size of erythroblasts and other cells.

RESULTS
Density distribution curves were drawn after density gradient centrifugation for the different cell types present in the starting cell samples. Separation of the erythroblast-enriched density fractions by velocity sedimentation was successful and a highly purified population of erythroblasts was obtained. Cell size distribution of the different cell types was determined.

INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
This initial study defines the biophysical properties (size and density) of human erythroblasts in bone marrow and peripheral blood and is a necessary preliminary step in setting up the optimal procedure for the isolation of fetal erythroblasts from maternal peripheral blood in sufficient amounts and purity for prenatal non-invasive genetic investigation.


An introduction to acoustic-emission (AE)-based tests applied to quality control in the electronics industry is given. Bond integrity tests for tape automated bonding (TAB) devices using AE monitoring are described. These include a pull tester and a microfatigue tester for off-line evaluation of bond quality and metallurgical system reliability as well as a prototype of an automatic on-line production bond quality tester. The microfatigue tester for TAB leads can apply a small oscillatory (up to 80 Hz) force on top of a constant force bias of a few grams. A major result was that the most common metallurgical system (tin-plated copper leads bonded to gold bumps) results in the formation of brittle intermetailic compounds which crack relatively easily. The cracks propagate under cyclic stress and result in a very low fatigue life, compared to another TAB metallurgical system. The inner lead bond integrity tester and lead-forming system is designed to be used on-line. Precision tools apply a predetermined force to the leads, which nondestructively tests the bonds and forms the leads. The AE monitor can indicate any failures and the device can be rejected.


Most of the methods proposed for segmenting image objects are supervised methods which are costly due to their need for large amounts of labeled data. However, in this article, we have presented a method for segmenting objects based on a meta-heuristic optimization which does not need any training data. This procedure consists of two main stages of edge detection and texture analysis. In the edge detection stage, we have utilized invasive weed optimization (IWO) and local thresholding. Edge detection methods that are based on local histograms are efficient methods, but it is very difficult to determine the desired parameters manually. In addition, these parameters must be selected specifically for each image. In this paper, a method is presented for automatic determination of these parameters using an evolutionary algorithm. Evaluation of this method demonstrates its high performance on natural images.


Experiments on anesthetized non-inbred 8-17 kg b.w.dogs have demonstrated that cerebral ischemia consequent to 4-hour hypovolemic shock activates Ca(2+)-, Mg(2+)-dependent endonucleases in cell nuclei of the hypothalamus. Intravenous injection of calcium channels blocker verapamil (Orion) in a dose 0.1 mg/kg 30 min before blood loss prevents activation of the above endonucleases and makes it possible to avoid internucleosome fragmentation of genome DNA.


This article argues that the global, regional, and local realities can complement rather than contradict each other in the process of strategic planning for universities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using the case of the University of Buea in Cameroon, it attempts to use the global trends of polarisation in knowledge production capacity as an input or tool for identifying strategic choice in the process of strategic planning in institutions. The national policy background is used to highlight the context and inherent role of the central government in the process of institutional strategic planning.


Introduction: Dental caries and malnutrition is a public health problem, concentrated more among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between malnutrition and dental caries among 6, 10 and 12 years children in Mangalore. Materials and Methods : Data about oral health status and body mass index of children of age groups 6, 10 and 12 were collected using a cross-sectional design. Anthropometric measurements and oral examinations were carried out. Statistical test was performed to look for categorical associations between BMI categories and dental caries prevalence and to see if any correlation exists between BMI Score and dental caries severity. Results: The Pearson correlation test result suggested children with less BMI score tend to have more caries affected teeth than children with normal BMI. Conclusions: Physicians and dentists treating young children should consider malnutrition as a risk marker for childhood caries. Inclusion of BMI calculation in the standard dental evaluation of any pediatric patient can provide a screen for prevention, timely diagnosis, and treatment of the children suffering from dental caries and malnutrition. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jnps.v33i2.8171 J Nepal Paediatr Soc. 2013; 33(2):99-102


Abstract. We present a climatology of trade cumulus cold pools and their associated meteorological perturbations based on more than ten years of in-situ and remote sensing data from the Barbados Cloud Observatory. Cold pools are identified by abrupt drops in surface temperature, and the mesoscale organization pattern is classified by a neural network algorithm based on GOES-16 ABI infrared images. We find cold pools to be ubiquitous in the winter trades – they are present about 7.8 % of the time and occur on 73 % of days. Cold pools with stronger temperature drops (∆T) are associated with deeper clouds, stronger precipitation, downdrafts and humidity drops, stronger wind gusts and updrafts at the onset of the front, and larger cloud cover compared to weaker cold pools. The downdraft strength together with the cold-pool front duration explains 50 % of the variability in ∆T. The mesoscale organization pattern has a strong influence on the occurrence frequency of cold pools. Fish has the largest cold-pool fraction (12.8 % of time), followed by Flowers and Gravel (9.9 % and 7.2 %), and lastly Sugar (1.6 %). Fish cold pools are also significantly stronger and longer-lasting compared to the other patterns, while Gravel cold pools are associated with significantly stronger updrafts and deeper cloud-top height maxima. The daily cycle of the occurrence frequency of Gravel, Flowers, and Fish can explain a large fraction of the daily cycle in the cold-pool occurrence, as well as the pronounced extension of the daily cycle of shallow convection into the early afternoon by cold pools. Overall, we find cold-pool periods to be ~90 % cloudier relative to the average winter trades. Also the wake of cold pools is characterized by above-average cloudiness, suggesting that mesoscale arcs enclosing broad clear-sky areas are an exception. A better understanding of how cold pools interact with and shape their environment could therefore be valuable to understand cloud cover variability in the trades.


The rat TRH gene encodes a 255-amino-acid precursor polypeptide, preproTRH, containing five copies of TRH and seven non-TRH peptides. Expression of this gene is well documented in the central nervous system, particularly in the hypothalamus. Thyroids also contain TRH immunoreactivity, but it is unknown whether this immunoreactivity results from expression of the TRH gene or from other genes encoding TRH-like products. Since the CA77 neoplastic parafollicular cell line expresses the TRH gene, we investigated whether TRH gene expression also occurs in normal thyroid parafollicular cells. Northern analysis of total thyroid RNA with a preproTRH-specific RNA probe identified a single hybridizing band the same size as authentic TRH mRNA found in hypothalamus and CA77 cells. Gel filtration analysis of thyroid extracts identified the same 7-kilodalton and 3-kilodalton species of immunoreactive preproTRH53-74 previously identified in hypothalamus and CA77 cells. Immunoreactive preproTRH115-151, not previously identified, was found in all three tissues. Part of this immunoreactivity comigrated with the synthetic preproTRH115-151 standard on gel filtration and reversed-phase HPLC. PreproTRH53-74 was localized to thyroid parafollicular cells by immunostaining. These findings demonstrate authentic TRH gene expression by normal rat thyroid parafollicular cells and establish the CA77 cell line as the only model system of a normal TRH-producing tissue. In addition to expanding the range of neuroendocrine peptides known to be produced by parafollicular cells, these results also suggest a potential paracrine regulatory role for TRH gene products within the thyroid.


The effects of replacing rolling element bearings with journal bearings on the noise and vibration of a simple gearbox are computationally and experimentally evaluated. A modified component mode synthesis (CMS) approach is used, where the component modes of the shafting and gearbox housing are modeled using finite element analysis (FEA). Instead of using component modes with free boundary conditions, which is typical of CMS, the shafting and gearbox are coupled using nominal impedances computed for the different bearing types, improving convergence of the solution. Methods for computing the actual bearing impedances, including the high damping coefficients in journal bearings, are summarized. The sound radiated by the gearbox is computed using a boundary element (BE) model. The modeling results are validated against measurements made at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Both simulations and measurements reveal that the journal bearings, although highly damped, do not necessarily lead to strong reductions in gearbox vibration and noise.


The use of bioactive compounds as anti-infective coating on biomaterial surfaces has been studied as a tool against microbial adhesion and the establishment of biofilms. The objective of this work was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of eugenol, specifically the ability to interact with cotton suture threads for preventing adhesion and biofilm formation of Streptococcus mutans (ATCC 25175). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of eugenol were determined according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), which showed respective concentration values of 250 and 1000 μg/ml. In addition, eugenol displayed marked activity against to biofilm formation in 96-well polystyrene plates against several strains from the Streptococcus genus, even at lower than bacteriostatic concentrations between 15 to 250 μg/ml. Moreover, eugenol formed an effective covering on cotton-suture surfaces that inhibited cell adhesion, which decreased the S. mutans (ATCC 25175) biofilm development, according to biomass and metabolic rate, quantified by crystal violet staining and XTT reduction, respectively. This research may help to explore the eugenol molecule as an antifouling coating on surfaces, bringing a new perspective to the prevention of infections associated with biomaterials.

 Key words: Eugenol, biofilm formation, Streptococcus mutans, anti-infective surfaces.


A new method of correcting chromaticities of circular accelerators is introduced. Instead of using two families of sextupoles, as the standard way to correct chromaticities, two pairs of TM210 mode RF cavities are used. The betatron phase advances (both horizontal and vertical) between the two cavities are set to be a multiple of n, and a proper momentum compaction is required. With this method, sextupole nonlinear terms are eliminated. There are octupole terms left by this method. However, they are explicit and should be easy to compensate. An example lattice demonstrates the method. The power required for the RF cavities is estimated.


The radial drift and diffusion of dust particles in protoplanetary disks affect both the opacity and temperature of such disks, as well as the location and timing of planetesimal formation. In this paper, we present results of numerical simulations of particle-gas dynamics in protoplanetary disks that include dust grains with various size distributions. We have considered three scenarios in terms of particle size ranges, one where the Stokes number τs = 10−1−100, one where τs = 10−4−10−1, and finally one where τs = 10−3−100. Moreover, we considered both discrete and continuous distributions in particle size. In accordance with previous works we find in our multispecies simulations that different particle sizes interact via the gas and as a result their dynamics changes compared to the single-species case. The larger species trigger the streaming instability and create turbulence that drives the diffusion of the solid materials. We measured the radial equilibrium velocity of the system and find that the radial drift velocity of the large particles is reduced in the multispecies simulations and that the small particle species move on average outwards. We also varied the steepness of the size distribution, such that the exponent of the solid number density distribution, dN∕da ∝ a−q, is either q = 3 or q = 4. Overall, we find that the steepness of the size distribution and the discrete versus continuous approach have little impact on the results. The level of diffusion and drift rates are mainly dictated by the range of particle sizes. We measured the scale height of the particles and observe that small grains are stirred up well above the sedimented midplane layer where the large particles reside. Our measured diffusion and drift parameters can be used in coagulation models for planet formation as well as to understand relative mixing of the components of primitive meteorites (matrix, chondrules and CAIs) prior to inclusion in their parent bodies.


Over the last decades, Bayesian Networks (BNs) have become an increasingly popular technique to model data under presence of uncertainty. BNs are probabilistic models that represent relationships between variables by means of a node structure and a set of parameters. Learning efficiently the structure that models a particular dataset is a NP-hard task that requires substantial computational efforts to be successful. Although there exist many families of techniques for this purpose, this thesis focuses on the study and improvement of search and score methods such as Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs). In the domain of BN structure learning, previous work has investigated the use of permutations to represent variable orderings within EAs. In this thesis, the characteristic properties of permutation representations are analysed and used in order to enhance BN structure learning. The thesis assesses well-established algorithms to provide a detailed analysis of the difficulty of learning BN structures using permutation representations. Using selected benchmarks, rugged and plateaued fitness landscapes are identified that result in a loss of population diversity throughout the search. The thesis proposes two approaches to handle the loss of diversity. First, the benefits of introducing the Island Model (IM) paradigm are studied, showing that diversity loss can be significantly reduced. Second, a novel agent-based metaheuristic is presented in which evolution is based on the use of several mutation operators and the definition of a distance metric in permutation spaces. The latter approach shows that diversity can be maintained throughout the search while exploring efficiently the solution space. In addition, the use of IM is investigated in the context of distributed data, a common property of real-world problems. Experiments prove that privacy can be preserved while learning BNs of high quality. Finally, using UK-wide data related to prostate cancer patients, the thesis assesses the general suitability of BNs alongside the proposed learning approaches for medical data modeling. Following comparisons with tools currently used in clinical settings and with alternative classifiers, it is shown that BNs can improve the predictive power of prostate cancer staging tools, a major concern in the field of urology.


In today's competitive global market place, agility has become a survival factor for many manufacturers. A key measurement of manufacturing agility is the time it takes an organization to respond to market changes. The production management system used by most manufacturers today has disconnected planning and execution processes. This situation often hinders the manufacturer to fully explore market opportunities because production plans and executions cannot be adjusted to changes in each other quickly. The Consortium for Integrated Intelligent Manufacturing Planning-Execution (CIIMPLEX) is formed to address this problem by developing an open architecture for manufacturing software applications and deliver integrated planning-execution solutions. With integrated planning-execution, a manufacturing plan can reflect real-time factory capacity. This enables a manufacturer to predict product delivery dates accurately. It also enables a manufacturer to change plans quickly (e.g., on a daily basis) to explore emerging market opportunities.


Our understanding of mammalian olfactory coding has been impeded by the paucity of information about the odorant receptors (ORs) that respond to a given odorant ligand in awake, freely behaving animals. Identifying the ORs that respond in vivo to a given odorant ligand from among the ∼1100 ORs in mice is intrinsically challenging but critical for our understanding of olfactory coding at the periphery. Here, we report an in vivo assay that is based on a novel gene-targeted mouse strain, S100a5–tauGFP, in which a fluorescent reporter selectively marks olfactory sensory neurons that have been activated recently in vivo. Because each olfactory sensory neuron expresses a single OR gene, multiple ORs responding to a given odorant ligand can be identified simultaneously by capturing the population of activated olfactory sensory neurons and using expression profiling methods to screen the repertoire of mouse OR genes. We used this in vivo assay to re-identify known eugenol- and muscone-responsive mouse ORs. We identified additional ORs responsive to eugenol or muscone. Heterologous expression assays confirmed nine eugenol-responsive ORs (Olfr73, Olfr178, Olfr432, Olfr610, Olfr958, Olfr960, Olfr961, Olfr913, and Olfr1234) and four muscone-responsive ORs (Olfr74, Olfr235, Olfr816, and Olfr1440). We found that the human ortholog of Olfr235 and Olfr1440 responds to macrocyclic ketone and lactone musk odorants but not to polycyclic musk odorants or a macrocyclic diester musk odorant. This novel assay, called the Kentucky in vivo odorant ligand–receptor assay, should facilitate the in vivo identification of mouse ORs for a given odorant ligand of interest.


This paper presents implementation of 2D Gaussian filter for image processing. The Gaussian filter is a 2D convolution operator which is used to smooth images and remove noise. The software results are carried out on MATLAB R 2013b while hardware implementation has been written in Verilog HDL. The significance of this filter is realized when it was implemented on FPGA kit. The unit is area and delay optimized on hardware kit.


As part of the Medical Research Council Leukaemia Trial UKALL VIII, 738 unselected children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) had the morphology of their marrow blast cells reviewed by a panel of three haematologists. Ninety four (13%) showed appearances classifiable as type L2 by the French American and British (FAB) cooperative group's criteria, five (0.7%) were typed L3, and the remaining 639 (86%) as L1. Disregarding the patients classified as L3, those with the L2 variant showed an inferior disease free survival to that of the remainder (p less than 0.01), and more of them failed to remit after receiving "standard" remission induction treatment (p less than 0.01). They included an excess of older children (p less than 0.01) with less profound marrow failure at diagnosis, and fewer of them expressed the common ALL antigen (p = 0.05). There was no association between L2 morphology and the diagnostic white cell count, sex, or the presence of a mediastinal mass. These findings confirm earlier reports that FAB L2 ALL is associated with a poor prognosis and that it occurs more commonly in older children. The high remission failure rate is a recent observation and indicates that alternative early treatment may be appropriate for such patients.


Glass curtain wall; Concrete wall; Light pollution; Mixed exterior wall Abstract This research focuses on the exterior wall of architecture design of Hong Kong and Penang, it also analyzes how light pollution affects human life. As we know, Hong Kong prefers to use steel to build skyscrapers and middle or high rise buildings. However, Penang prefers to use concrete to do the construction. So, there are some advantages and disadvantages between the glass curtain wall and concrete wall in Hong Kong and Penang. The researcher used 400 samples to determine effect of the glass curtain wall and concrete wall on human life in Hong Kong and Penang separately. The result is light pollution created by glass curtain wall in Hong Kong is a serious problem to residents' life. The glass curtain wall seriously glaze people's eyes who drive or walk on the street. Thus, many car accidents were caused by this problem. The concrete wall is more often contaminated by fungus and difficult to clean. But, concrete wall is more natural and green for humans. Therefore, from the sustainable aspect that concrete is more healthy for humans, the previous researchers suggest that if the exterior wall is a mixture of both glass curtain and concrete it will not cause light pollution and will be easily involved in the natural environment. a 2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Housing and Building National Research Center.


The fluctuation of the height of the water column inside tensiometers constitutes a source of systematic error in the measurement of soil water potential. The influence of the fluctuating water column can be strongly reduced by measuring pressure in a confined air space close to the tensiometer tip. A simple technique of inserting a lower air space connected to the pressure sensor is presented. Successful laboratory tests were performed on a tensiometer of 1-m length with an applied pressure range from 0 to -80 kPa.


As a result of the very difficult weather in Saudi Arabia during the summer, there is too high power peak demand in the grid and this is expected to increase in the next decade. To fix this problem, power consumers should participate in the power production. Vehicle-to-grid (V2G), one of the efficient sustainable technologies, can offer this opportunity. It is defined as a concept where electric vehicle (EV) provides electric to the grid when parked. This investigation looks at the feasibility of using V2G to mitigate the problem of highest electricity peak demand in the summer period in one of the warmest countries of the world (Saudi Arabia). We conduct a survey in order to serve this issue and we use information from Saudi Arabia electricity authority. We found that, V2G is a promising solution to the peak demand challenge in the summer in Saudi Arabia since there is about 80% of the sample interested in using V2G technology. Moreover, 90% of the participants used their vehicles less than 4 hours daily. Furthermore, in the summer period, most of the participants park their vehicles for the longest time between 13:00 to 18:00, which is the peak demand period.


According to the statistics of the Russian Federation, the number of patients with male infertility increased by 60.3% over the past 12 years. Objective - to evaluate the activity of peripheral blood leukocytes, the rate of their production of reactive oxygen species, and the DNA fragmentation index in men with non-obstructive azoospermia. To solve this problem, we examined 65 men with non-obstructive idiopathic azoospermia. A control group consisted of 20 healthy fertile men. All patients underwent examination of ejaculate with measurement of levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA fragmentation. To identify additional links in the pathogenesis of infertility, we determined the functional activity of peripheral blood leukocytes by registering luminol-dependent chemiluminescence (LCH) of leukocytes. The functional activity of leukocytes in men with azoospermia was found to be 4.5 times higher than in healthy men (p<0.01). We found that with such leukocyte activity the level of ROS and DNA fragmentation was 6 times higher in patients with infertility compared to the control group.


Working with the collections of the Carlos Museum, we will examine how ancient Greek artists depicted myths and legends, and how they portrayed the gods, heroes, and monsters, as a means of exploring relationships to one another, to others, to the past, t


Background:  Binge drinking in young adults at university is a growing problem within Britain (Drink Aware 2009). Students drinking above the recommended safe levels of alcohol are at risk of many associated health problems (RCP 2008). This study used the Office for National Statistics definition of binge drinking: males consuming eight or more units and women consuming six or more units in one session, at least once a week (ONS 2007). The research aimed to explore prevalence of, and reasons and attitudes towards binge drinking within Coventry University under-graduate students, aged 18–24 years.

Methods:  A validated tool could not be found for this topic; therefore a confidential questionnaire was developed based on an existing questionnaire (Webb et al.1996). Following a pilot study, a sample of 40 students (20 male and female) was chosen as a practical size to recruit. Students were recruited using purposive – criterion sampling; approached in campus cafes, study areas and computer rooms. Inclusion criteria were under-graduate students, aged 18–24 years. Ethical approval was given by Coventry University Ethics Committee, and participants provided informed consent. Descriptive statistics were collected, calculated manually, analysed and displayed as graphs and tables.

Results:  Most (92.5%) students were classed as binge drinkers; most exceeded the weekly guidelines for sensible drinking. Ninety per cent of students were not aware of sensible drinking guidelines and drank larger measures at home in outside venues. The main reasons identified for alcohol intake were to socialise, pleasure, to feel intoxicated, enjoyment of taste, cheap cost of alcohol and student alcohol promotions. Sixty-seven per cent of students felt that the university culture had made binge drinking more acceptable.

Discussion:  These results confirmed findings from previous studies; a significant proportion of under-graduates binge drink (Gill 2002). This increases risk of short and long-term health problems, including heart and liver disease, some cancers, pancreatitis and diabetes. The nutritional adequacy of student diets may be impaired by binge drinking. Alcohol in excess has no nutritional benefits; providing 'empty' calories that can cause weight gain. The low awareness of government recommendations for alcohol intake indicates that increased awareness is needed i.e. campaigns throughout university campuses. Ceasing alcohol offers targeting students, and events promoting binge drinking behaviour, might prove successful in reducing binge drinking levels.

Conclusions:  Increased alcohol awareness is needed within university students. Student attitudes towards alcohol, university culture's influence and alcohol promotions targeting students, are key factors requiring action. The high prevalence of binge drinking provides evidence that these students are at risk of short and long term alcohol related health problems, and nutritional deficiencies.

References:  Drink Aware (2009) Students [online] available from [Accessed on 15 January 2010].

Gill, J. (2002) Reported levels of alcohol consumption and binge drinking within the UK undergraduate student population over the last 25 years. Alcohol & Alcoholism3, 109–120.

Office for National Statistics (2007) Health Related Behaviour [online] available from [Accessed on 10 January 2010].

Royal College of Physicians (2008) Alcohol [online] available from [Accessed on 12 January 2010].

Webb, E., Ashton, C.H., Kelly, P. & Kamali, F. (1996) Alcohol and drug use in UK university students. Lancet 348, 922–925.


In this study, we report a new strategy for preparing magnetically anisotropic SmCo5 single crystal particles by reductive annealing of precursors with specially designed nanostructures. The precursors containing urchin-shaped Co clusters and Sm(OH)3 nanorods were synthesized by a hydrothermal process. Then we coated these precursors of Co/Sm(OH)3 nanocomposites with Ca(OH)2, and the following thermal reduction generated SmCo5 particles, where the original size and morphology of the precursor were basically preserved after undergoing high temperature annealing. The single crystalline SmCo5 particles exhibit strong magnetic anisotropy and excellent room temperature magnetic properties: remanence of 8.1 kG, coercivity of 25.7 kOe, and a maximum energy product of 15.8 MGOe, which is one of the highest maximum energy products for chemically synthesized nanostructured SmCo5 particles presently reported.


This analysis sheds light on the private equity industry in an emerging market, Mexico during its initial years. The article also focuses on the different strategies followed by private equity fund managers investing in Mexico, as a preliminary explanation of performance of the industry. Empirical evidence from 96 private equity funds and 326 transactions is used as supporting evidence. The lack of leverage for private equity investments in Mexico seems to be one of the industry's leading inhibitors.


Early and late results of coronary angioplasty are influenced by the morphology of the coronary artery stenosis. Primary implantation of a balloon-expandable Palmaz-Schatz stent was indicated in 37 patients (31 men and 6 women; mean age 57 +/- 2 years) with symptomatic coronary heart disease and complex morphology of the stenosis. Intracoronary stents were successfully placed in 30 of 37 patients, without complications in all but one. This patient developed a thrombotic occlusion of the vessel 3 days after the procedure which, despite high-dosage thrombolysis treatment, resulted in an anterior wall myocardial infarction. A repeat angiography has since been performed (3-7 months after the procedure) in 25 of the 29 patients with a complication-free course. In 19 of the 25 patients the site of implantation was smooth, while a silent re-occlusion had occurred in one after successful recanalization of a chronic occlusion. Two patients had a subtotal restenosis (12% angiographic restenosis rate). These data indicate that intracoronary stent implantation improves the morphological results after balloon dilatation and reduces the restenosis rate.


A four-node hybrid stress element for analysing orthotropic folded plate structures is presented. The formulation is based on Hellinger-Reissner variational principle. The element is developed by combining a hybrid plane stress element and a hybrid plate element. The proposed element has six degree of freedom per node and permits an easy connection to other type of elements. An equilibrated stress field in each element and inter element compatible boundary displacement field are assumed independently. Static and free vibration analyses of folded plates are carried out on numerical examples to show that the validity and efficiency of the present element.


The purpose of the study is to assess the extent to which counselling services in universities in Kenya influences students' retention rate. The study was carried out in 2018 where one hundred and one medical students in first year second semester from two public universities were studied to determine the effectiveness of counselling services on retention rate of undergraduate students. Quantitative data were collected using questionnaires while qualitative data were collected using focus group discussions. The student participants were divided into two groups: experimental group and control group. The experimental group underwent 12 sessions of psycho-education counselling. At the end of the psycho-education programme, it was found that there were statistically significant differences between group means as determined by two-way ANOVA (F(1,99) = 4.470, p = 0.037), thereby revealing that counselling services significantly influence the retention rate of students. Students in the experiment group had a higher retention rate and were therefore more likely to graduate ahead of those in the control group. From the results, counselling equipped students with knowledge and skills that helped them deal with developmental issues that often interfere with their studies hence higher retention rate. Recommendations and implications of the study are discussed.

 Key words: Retention, retention rate, psycho-education, counselling services, selected universities.


Many articles discuss the design of fine- or coarse-grained IT services without defining what granularity exactly means. However, this is important to know since the granularity influence e.g. the reusability or the composition effort of services and thus the development, maintenance and composition costs of a service realization. Therefore, we present different metrics to evaluate and compare the granularity of various service realizations of a process where each metric represents a different perspective on service granularity. In addition, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these metrics and argue that a reasonable measurement of service granularity can usually be ob-tained by the combination of the metrics. Furthermore, we illustrate that the proposed metrics may constitute a first step towards the evaluation of the total costs of various service realizations. The application of the metrics as well as the discussion of the practical benefits is illustrated by a real world case.


We report on the first femtosecond vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) exceeding 1 W of average output power. The VECSEL is optically pumped, based on self-assembled InAs quantum dot (QD) gain layers, cooled efficiently using a thin disk geometry and passively modelocked with a fast quantum dot semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). We developed a novel gain structure with a flat group delay dispersion (GDD) of ± 10 fs2 over a range of 30 nm around the designed operation wavelength of 960 nm. This amount of GDD is several orders of magnitude lower compared to standard designs. Furthermore, we used an optimized positioning scheme of 63 QD gain layers to broaden and flatten the spectral gain. For stable and self-starting pulse formation, we have employed a QD-SESAM with a fast absorption recovery time of around 500 fs. We have achieved 1 W of average output power with 784-fs pulse duration at a repetition rate of 5.4 GHz. The QD-SESAM and the QD-VECSEL are operated with similar cavity mode areas, which is beneficial for higher repetition rates and the integration of both elements into a modelocked integrated external-cavity surface emitting laser (MIXSEL).


This review focuses on modeling of cancer tumors using tissue engineering technology. Tumor tissue engineering (TTE) is a new method of three-dimensional (3D) simulation of malignant neoplasms. Design and development of complex tissue engineering constructs (TECs) that include cancer cells, cell-bearing scaffolds acting as the extracellular matrix, and other components of the tumor microenvironment is at the core of this approach. Although TECs can be transplanted into laboratory animals, the specific aim of TTE is the most realistic reproduction and long-term maintenance of the simulated tumor properties in vitro for cancer biology research and for the development of new methods of diagnosis and treatment of malignant neoplasms. Successful implementation of this challenging idea depends on bioreactor technology, which will enable optimization of culture conditions and control of tumor TECs development. In this review, we analyze the most popular bioreactor types in TTE and the emerging applications.


This study was conducted to determine the levels of application software competence of the faculty members of Baliuag University (BU) and, in turn, used the results to identify the ICT trainings needed to further improve the teachers' competence in using application software. The study used a descriptive method of research. A ready-made questionnaire was used in gathering the data. The study was conducted at BU involving 97 full-time teachers (23 males and 74 females) from the different departments/colleges in the University using purposive sampling. The results of the study show that generally, the application software competence of the faculty members of BU is average in the following MS Office Applications: MS Word, MS Windows, Network Navigation, and MS PowerPoint. The faculty members perceive that they still need further trainings in complex computer programs/applications and they need to undertake additional trainings in some features of computer applications.


Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen and the causative agent of Q fever. Chronic Q fever can produce debilitating fatigue and C. burnetii is considered a significant bioterror threat. C. burnetii occupies the monocyte phagolysosome and although prior work has explained features of the host-pathogen interaction, many aspects are still poorly understood. We have conducted a proteomic investigation of human Monomac I cells infected with the Nine Mile Phase II strain of C. burnetii and used the results as a framework for a systems biology model of the host response. Our principal methodology was multiplex differential 2D gel electrophoresis using ZDyes, a new generation of covalently linked fluorescent protein detection dyes under development at Montana State University. The 2D gel analysis facilitated the detection of changes in posttranslational modifications on intact proteins in response to infection. The systems model created from our data a framework for the design of experiments to seek a deeper understanding of the host-pathogen interactions.


Purpose: To investigate lesion tumor segmentation methods for both digitized screen‐film mammograms (DSF) and full‐field digital mammography (FFDM). Method and Materials: Breast lesion segmentation methods are important in the overall image analysis for computer‐aided diagnosis. Our initial development was performed on DSF, and we are currently evaluating our methods for use with FFDM. Three of our lesion segmentation methods were investigated using a database of 84 DFM and 287 FFDM cases including malignant and benign lesions. A region growing method utilizes the size and shape of the evolving lesion contour to determine the lesion margin. A radial gradient index (RGI) segmentation method uses a Gaussian constraint function to suppress the influence of distant pixels. Then for a series of contours returned by grey level thresholding, the contour with maximum RGI is chosen as the one that best delineates the lesion. A two‐stage, region‐based active contour method minimizes an energy function based on the homogeneities inside and outside of the evolving contour. The minimization algorithm solves the Euler‐Lagrange equation describing the contour evolution. Prior to the application of the active contour model, RGI segmentation is applied to delineate an initial contour closer to the lesion margin and estimate the effective background. The methods were compared to radiologist‐delineated margins on both DSF and FFDM images using an area similarity metric. Results: At an overlap threshold of 0.3, the region growing, RGI, and two‐stage methods correctly segmented 84%, 86% and 94% of the digitized screen‐film lesions, and 81%, 83% and 88% of lesions on FFDM, respectively. Conclusion: Our results indicate that the two‐stage method yields improved segmentation for both DSF and FFDM, and also that methods developed with DSF can be efficiently converted for use with FFDM. Conflict of Interest: MLG is a shareholder in R2 Technology, Inc.


The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) is in the third year of the Alaska SAR Demonstration (AKDEMO), an applications project using RADARSAT-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and derived products. The success of this demonstration in providing near real-time SAR data, derived products, and other ancillary data to federal and state agencies, has motivated the development of a similar experimental multi-sensor data fusion system for the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean region called GoMEx. Unlike the AKDEMO system which focused on near-real time data, this project will begin by using archived data from diverse remote sensing sensors such as RADARSAT-1 SAR, GOES imagers, SeaWiFS, MODIS, AVHRR, scatterometers, as well as data from moored buoy measurements and numerical weather models to study issues and phenomena unique to the region. Other agencies that will contribute and use this system include the National Ocean Service (NOS), Louisiana State University, National Marine Fisheries Service and the University of Maryland. Sample applications of this system are presented including detection of algal blooms, coral reefs off of Belize, oil slicks and rigs off of Louisiana, and fishery applications.


Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is a wireless communications protocol used in Critical Infrastructure (CI) applications. Based on recent research trends, it is likely that the next generation of wireless sensor networks, a CI application that the Department of Defense (DoD) regularly employs in surveillance and reconnaissance missions, will include BLE as an inter-sensor communications protocol. Thus, future U.S. military missions may be directly impacted by the security of BLE. One natural way to help protect BLE sensors is to use BLE traffic sniffers to detect attacks. The primary limitation with current sniffers is that they can only capture one connection at a time, making them impractical for applications employing multiple BLE devices. This work aims to overcome that limitation to help secure the types of BLE sensor networks employed by the DoD. First, this work identifies vulnerabilities and enumerates attack vectors against a BLE wireless industrial sensor, presenting a list of security "best practices" that vendors and end-users can follow and demonstrating how users can employ BLE sniffers to detect attacks. The work then introduces BLE-Multi, an enhancement to an open-source BLE sniffer that can simultaneously and reliably capture multiple connections. Finally, the work presents and executes a methodology to evaluate BLE sniffers. Under the evaluation conditions applied, BLE-Multi achieves simultaneous capture of multiple active connections, paving the way for automated defensive tools that can be used by the DoD and security community. The contributions within are published in one journal article and one conference paper and were presented at three conferences focused on wireless security and CI protection.


This paper presents a water quality study performed on five small domestic ponds and one bayou of the Ganga river in the State of West Bengal, India. The concept of eutrophication is used to describe water quality by using chlorophyll as an indicator for the presence of algae in the water.
During a field campaign in May 2003, reflectance spectra were measured 1m above the water surface using a handheld spectroradiometer. Concentration of Total Chlorophyll Content (TCHL) and other limnological standard parameters such as Secchi Disk Depth (SDD), nutrient content, Total Organic Content (TOC) and Dissolved Organic Content (DOC) were determined using laboratory analysis and a colorimetric testkit. A comparison of several existing semi-empirical algorithms to determine chlorophyll content was made by applying them to the spectra and chlorophyll measurements collected in-situ. Simple Reflectance Band Ratio and Continuum Interpolated Band Ratio (CIBR) were tested at several wavelengths. Another three tested algorithms rely on the reflectance peak at 700 nm whose shape and position depend strongly upon chlorophyll concentration: The Area and Magnitude of the Peak above a Baseline as well as the Position of the Peak show a linear relationship to CHL-a concentration from laboratory spectrophotometric measurements. All algorithms proved to be of value. Best results were obtained by using the algorithms Peak Magnitude above a Baseline and CIBR, which yielded R² around 0.97 and mean deviations around 20 μg/l.
The algorithms were further applied to spectra convolved to the bands of the hyperspectral sensors APEX, HyMap and Hyperion. A comparison of the spectral characteristics of the chosen sensors was made in regard of their suitability for water quality determination. The differences on the outcome of the sensors were small, but the results indicate that an intermediate band width of around 10 nm seems appropriate. All sensors showed an adequate band positioning for the algorithms based on the peak near 700 nm. Using Simple Band Ratios and CIBR, APEX and Hyperion perform slightly better than HyMap.


PURPOSE
The purpose of this research was to examine associations among 2 separate Minimum Data Set-Home Care (MDS-HC) depression measures (the Depression Rating Scale [DRS] and medical diagnosis of depression) with billed antidepressant medications in Medicaid paid claim files.

DESIGN AND METHODS
The sample for this cross-sectional research included 3,041 Medicaid-eligible older adult participants in a Home and Community Based Waiver Program and used data from the MDS-HC, Version 1 and Medicaid Paid Claim Files. Sensitivity and specificity analyses, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and t tests were utilized.

RESULTS
DRS scoring indicated that 15.4% of participants had behaviors indicative of depression, whereas 42% had a medical diagnosis of depression noted in the MDS-HC. Of those with a medical diagnosis of depression, 51% had a prescribed antidepressant medication. ROC analysis suggested that the DRS was a poor distinguisher of participants with and without a medical diagnosis of depression or prescribed antidepressant medications.

IMPLICATIONS
Approximately half of Medicaid-eligible older adults medically diagnosed with depression were treated pharmacologically. Longitudinal research is recommended to assess responsiveness of the DRS over time to pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions for depression.


Introduction Child pedestrian fatalities associated with motor vehicles reversing or moving at low speed are difficult to identify in surveillance data. This study aims to determine the incidence of fatalities associated with what is thought to be an under-reported and preventable fatal injury mechanism. Methods The term low speed vehicle run-over (LSVRO) incidents encompasses pedestrian fatalities where vehicles run-over a child at low speed. Data were obtained for children aged 0–15 years in the Australian state of Queensland (January 2004–December 2008). Results There were 15 deaths (12 boys and 3 girls) during 2004–2008 (rate:1.67/100 000). Over half were aged 0 and 1 years of age (n=8; 53.3%, rate: 14.67/100 000), and one quarter were 2 and 3 years of age (n=4, 27%, rate 7.46/100 000). There were no LSVRO deaths recorded among 10–15 year olds. Most (13/15) of the incidents occurred on private property, and only two occurred on a street/road. Almost half of the fatalities were caused by a four wheel drive (4WD) vehicle; large family sedans were involved in four fatalities, and heavy vehicles were involved in three deaths. In 11 of the fatalities, parents were the drivers of the vehicle involved (mothers 5; fathers 6). In nine, the vehicle involved was reversing before it came in contact with the child. Fatalities occurred in each of the Socio-Economic Indexes For Areas (SEIFA) levels. Conclusion The unique data provided by the child death review team has signalled that LSVRO fatalities are a significant problem in Queensland. The Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian (CCYPCG) continue to collect data, which, when combined, will provide outcomes that will act as an impetus for promoting intervention and child advocacy.


The stake net fishery of Panambukad in the main channel area of Vemband Lake, Kerala was studied during the first fortnight of August 2014. The observations indicated that the average catch including the marine debris ranged from 1.04 to 2.04 kg net-1 day-1 with an average of 1.34 kg net-1 day-1. The percentage of marine debris in the stake nets ranged from 42.68 to 73.4%. Plastic items formed 97% by weight and 99% by number of the total marine litter. The observed litter stuff was categorized as per UNEP system of classification of marine litter where, they are first identified based on their material composition (litter codeeg. PL) and then by their form (RL classes). Items found in the collection included plastic covers (PL07, RL15), metal cap (ME02, RL01), plastic bottle (PL02, RL02), fishing net (PL20, RL05), plastic cup and food containers (PL06, RL09), thermocol (FP 04, RL13), rubber sheet (RB05, RL28), plastic sacks (PL24, RL23), diaper (OT02, RL18) etc. Among them, plastic covers were most dominant and their average number and weight net-1 day-1 was 28 nos and 985 g respectively. The study also showed positive signs of decline in plastic bottles as a major litter item due to its targeted collection by recycling industry within a span of three years. In a survey conducted among the stake net fishers, there was consensus on the view that plastic litter in Vembanad Lake has increased during the last 10 years and this has affected the resources and the fishery. The stakeholders also expressed their willingness to pay for restoration of the fishery resources of the lake. The study recommends the need to establish proper solid waste management systems in coastal villages, to reduce the use of plastics, and provide facilities for disposal of litter which gets collected in stake nets and to increase the awareness among the public about the impacts of marine debris on ecosystem and resources.


This study was carried out to investigate the effects of three therapeutic interventions on the mental health of women who are experiencing domestic violence. The therapeutic interventions investigated in this study are Cognitive-behaviour therapy, Feminist therapy, and Combination of therapies (CBT & FEM). The research design was experimental using both descriptive and inferential statistics to address the research objectives and hypotheses, respectively. Sixty women from a
counselling center in Tehran, who are experiencing domestic violence, were randomly assigned into treatment groups based on systematic random sampling. Potential respondents were initially screened by using the Domestic Violence Questionnaire (Ghahari, 2004). Later on respondents were selected based on the following criteria: age, marital status, duration of marriage and number of marriage. An interpersonal interview was carried out and the SCL-90-R was administered as pre-test. The subjects were then placed in the following groups: a) Cognitive-behaviour Therapy, b) Feminist Therapy, c)Combination of Therapies (Cognitive-behaviour therapy and Feminist therapy), and d)
Control Group. The SCL-90-R was administered at the last session as post-test. All the respondents participated in eleven individual therapy sessions, whereby every session
lasted for 50 minutes. In the process of the study, seven respondents dropped out. A paired sample t-test was employed to compare the differences in pre-test and post-test scores of each treatment group. The analysis of variance, One-Way ANOVA was also used to determine the differences between groups. The study indicated that the Combination of Therapies (Cognitive-behaviour therapy and Feminist therapy) is the most effective approach in treating the mental health of women. The results showed that all treatments were effective in the following order:Combination of Therapies (Cognitive-behaviour therapy and Feminist therapy), Feminist Therapy, and Cognitive-behaviour Therapy. The implications of the study include: 1) the combination of therapies enabled the counsellors to open up the women's awareness regarding their social rights and equal opportunities through cognitive restructuring, 2) CBT and Feminist therapy are two approaches which can be integrated by counsellors in Iran who are working with victimized women, 3) counsellor educators can consider the inclusion of feminist theory in the curriculum of guidance and counselling at universities, 4) counsellors should
recognize the need to explore gender equality issues in the treatment of women's mental health problems, 5) policy makers can encourage mental health care centres to use this
knowledge in treating victimized women. This research provides a foundation for family researchers to undertake further studies on the dynamism and factors that enable families to cope with and survive the challenges of domestic violence, to employ Feminist therapy in combination with CBT in other cultures, and to identify the factors that characterized functional and successful
families.


The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of leaf surface character on the ability of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms.) to transpire water. This experiment was performed using a healthy and acclimatized water hyacinth collected from Sawangan, Depok area. Five individual plants with the same size (6 leaves per plant), leaf length (10.4 ± 0.8 cm), leaf width (7.8 ± 0.7 cm) and root length (24.8 ± 7.4 cm) were put in each 20 L plastic tank containing tap water and allowed to grow in a greenhouse for six days. The transpiration rate of each plant was measured using a weighing method every day. The number of stomata, stomatal density and stomatal index were measured; amount of water loss from the individual plant through transpiration was analyzed. Based on the results of the study, it was found that the lowest leaf surface area is correlated with the number of stomatal and transpiration rates in the individual measured plants.


SUMMARY Many fish species with economic importance have been heavily exploited, causing the collapse of their fisheries. For this reason, there have been attempts to cultivate fish species for commercial purposes, resulting in varying success. It has been observed that when some species are kept in captivity or under intensive exploitation in its natural environment, they present reproductive dysfunctions that leads to the appearance of follicular atresia. This process is scarcely studied in fish and the characterization by several authors shows differences in nomenclature and criteria that make even more difficult its understanding. The objective of this work is to present a literature review of follicular atresia in fish that will contribute to its understanding and study. The follicular atresia is a degenerative process observed in some oocytes that can occur at any time of its development. The presence of follicular atresia has been associated with normal degenerative conditions due to seasonal changes in the gonadal activity, health disorders or inadequate management conditions in fish culture. It has been suggested that this process is a mechanism that allows the recycling of components and energy. However, in certain species such as puye (Galaxias maculatus ) and cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki), among others, it has been noted the presence of follicular atresia with pathological characteristics, in which the yolk reabsorption does not occur causing the hardening of the more developed follicles that leads finally to the female death.


Results of Couette flow investigation are given for the free-molecule flow regime as well as or the transitional one. The numerical solution of Boltzmann equation by the direct Monte Carlo simulation method is used in our paper for investigating the Couette flow in a wide range of values of plate temperatures ratio, Knudsen number and the upper plate velocity. The dependences of the energy flux transferred towards the lower plate, of the shear stress, and of the flux of normal momentum on the Knudsen number are considered. It is found that for any Mach number there exists the interval of plate temperatures ratios such that the energy flux towards the plate changes the sign if the Knudsen number increases, previously reaching a local extremum. It is demonstrated as well that the effect of nonmonotonicity at high Mach number is observed not only for the shear stress and the energy flux but for the normal momentum flux as well. We also found the cases where the energy flux varies monotonically or even has a deep negative minimum, but the shear stress has a maximum.


High temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (HTPEMFCs) are energy efficient systems with the potential to address all energy issues of present and future generations. Polybenzimidazole (PBI) based high temperature fuel cells are subject of high importance because PBI membranes are proved to be one of the best candidates for high temperature fuel cell applications. The stability of PBI membranes has been identified as crucial issue for the long-term durability under oxidative conditions of fuel cells. The present investigation highlights the photo-oxidative degradation studies accomplished on polybenzimidazole based poly(2,2'-butylene-5,5'-bibenzimidazole) (PBIB) membranes. The PBIB polymer membranes are found suitable for both in high temperature fuel cells as well as other high temperature applications. In this research article, PBIB membranes were photoirradiated under polychromatic UV rays (λ > 290 nm). The photo-oxidative degradation of membranes was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FT-IR results showed significant amount of photo-oxidation and chemical degradation in fuel cell membranes which is proposed to be initiated by free radical mechanism. SEM images revealed development of nano-dimensional cracks and holes on surface of membranes which indicate structural and morphological degradation. The present study showed better results of accelerated photo-degradation as compared to the oxidative degradation results already reported in literature obtained chemically and thermally. Hence, the proposed photo-oxidative degradation method may be useful in determining stability, life time expectancy and degradation mechanism of fuel cell and other high performance membranes. Copyright©2013 VBRI press.


Kochia (Kochia scoparia L. Schard) is an annual, halophyte and drought resistant plant that can be irrigated with saline water and a valuable source for forage under drought and saline ecosystem. In order to evaluate the germination characteristic of kochia under different temperatures and salinity stress levels, an experiment was conducted at Physiology Lab of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran during year of 2009. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replications. Treatments included nine levels of salinity (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 dS.m-1) using NaCl and eight temperature levels (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 400C). Analysis of variance showed that the different levels of temperature and salinity stress had significant effects (p≤0.05) on percentage of germination, mean germination time, germination index, dry weight and length of seedling and interaction between temperature and salinity stress had the same effect. The highest percentage of germination was in 250C and in control levels that didn't show any significant effect with 5 and 10 dS.m-1. The shortest mean germination time observed at 250C (20.1, 21.1 and 11.1 days in three primary treatments) and the highest one observed in 35 dS.m-1 at 100C. The highest germination index (20.37) occurred at 250C and in control level. Also, by increasing in salinity level, dry weight and length of seedling decreased. Anyway, based on the results of the present study, kochia is able to germinate in different salinity levels and has a high ability to recover itself.


In this paper, we describe the stochastic semi-supervised learning approach that we used in our submission to all six tasks in 2009-2010 Active Learning Challenge. The method is designed to tackle the binary classification problem under the condition that the number of labeled data points is extremely small and the two classes are highly imbalanced. It starts with only one positive seed given by the contest organizer. We randomly pick additional unlabeled data points and treat them as "negative" seeds based on the fact that the positive label is rare across all datasets. A classifier is trained using the "labeled" data points and then is used to predict the unlabeled dataset. We take the final result to be the average of n stochastic iterations. Supervised learning was used as a large number of labels were purchased. Our approach is shown to work well in 5 out of 6 datasets. The overall results ranked 3rd in the contest.


A theoretical method for studying the inter-relation between electronic and molecular structure has been proposed by diagonalizing the complete energy matrices for a d(5) configuration ion in a trigonal ligand field and considering the second-order and fourth-order EPR parameters D and (a - F) simultaneously. As for ZnSiF(6).6H(2)O:Mn(2+) and ZnSiF(6).6D(2)O:Mn(2+) complex molecules, the local lattice distortion and local thermal expansion coefficient for the octahedral Mn(2+) centers in zinc fluosilicate have been investigated, respectively. The calculations indicate that the local lattice structure around an octahedral Mn(2+) center has an expansion distortion, whether the Mn(2+) ion is doped in ZnSiF(6).6H(2)O or ZnSiF(6).6D(2)O. Moreover, the total tendency of the local lattice expansion distortion will be more and more obvious with the temperature rising, apart from some slight variations at T = 60 K for the ZnSiF(6).6H(2)O. By simulating the two low-symmetry EPR parameters D and (a - F) simultaneously, the local lattice structure parameters R and theta have been determined to vary from 2.204 Angstroms to 2.256 Angstroms and from 53.417 degrees to 52.710 degrees, respectively, in the temperature range 19-297 K for ZnSiF(6).6H(2)O:Mn(2+) and to vary from 2.215 Angstroms to 2.255 Angstroms and from 53.346 degrees to 52.714 degrees, respectively, in the temperature range 50-300 K for ZnSiF(6).6D(2)O:Mn(2+). Subsequently the dependence of local thermal expansion coefficients on the temperature is studied and the corresponding theoretical values of the local thermal expansion coefficients are reported firstly. Some characteristics of local thermal expansion coefficients of Mn(2+) in ZnSiF(6).6H(2)O:Mn(2+) and ZnSiF(6).6D(2)O:Mn(2+) systems are also analyzed.


Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a metabolic disorder of connective tissue; it is typically characterized by blue sclera, bone fragility and deformity secondary to repetitive fractures. The severity of the disease in the infant cannot be predicted by the phenotypic presentation of the mother. We present a case report and review literature and discuss the prenatal diagnosis, evaluation criteria and guidelines for delivery.


Using a new database of all patents issues in Mexico between 1870 and 1911, this paper explores the impact of the vast wave of technology imports into Mexico during the nineteenth century period of globalization. Historians have established that massive technology imports made possible sustained economic growth and early industrialization during this period, but have not systematically explored the degree to which the skills and know-how embodied in new imported technologies stimulated adaptive and inventive activity in Mexico. Did imported technologies stimulate local technological creativity, or were Mexican technicians largely isolated from the adoption and use of imported techniques? The evidence shows that imports did stimulate patenting activity by Mexicans, although this response was modest in relation to increased patenting by inventors from North Atlantic countries. In general, Mexican inventors focused on activities outside the core technical advances on the global frontier, and often on activities that were more entrepreneurial than technical, although we can observe several important exceptions. These findings support the argument that technological capabilities were scarce in Mexico and local technicians had few opportunities to engage with and learn from imported know-how.


This paper investigates the control of a multi-level cascaded H-bridge STATCOM when used as a simultaneous active filter and VAR compensator. The control algorithms developed borrow heavily from control strategies used in variable speed drives, and use predictive current control and symmetrical PWM. A novel phase locked loop approach for the extraction of the harmonics and generation of the forward prediction of the harmonic reference currents is developed. Simulation results in this abstract are presented. The final paper will present experimental results as well.


World health organization reports, annually more than 15 million people worldwide suffer a stroke and cardiovascular disease, among which 85% of stroke patients incur acute arm impairment, and 40% of victims are chronically impaired or permanently disabled. This results a burden on the families, communities and to the country as well. Rehabilitation programs are the main way to promote functional recovery in these individuals. Since the number of such cases is constantly growing and that the duration of treatment is long, an intelligent robot could significantly contribute to the success of these programs. We therefore developed a new 5DoFs robotic exoskeleton named MARSE-5 motion assistive robotic-exoskeleton for superior extremity that supposed to be worn on the lateral side of upper arm to rehabilitate and ease the shoulder, elbow and forearm movements. This paper focused on the design, modeling, development and control of the proposed MARSE-5. To control the exoskeleton, a nonlinear sliding mode control SMC technique was employed. In experiments, trajectory tracking that corresponds to typical passive rehabilitation exercises was carried out. Experimental results reveal that the controller is able to maneuver the MARSE-5 efficiently to track the desired trajectories.


Abstract The aim of the present study is to explore the form and function of clarification request sequences in interaction involving children with cochlear implants. Clarification request sequences are investigated in everyday interaction, and it is demonstrated that children with CI use both general/open and specific requests for clarification. It is also shown that there is relatively lower frequency of requests for clarification in interactions involving children with CI with high intelligibility scores. The results may be useful in clinical assessment and intervention demonstrating the importance of assessing interactional ability in everyday interaction.