Over the last few years research on esca has led to considerable progress in our understanding of the aetiology, epidemiology and physiology of the disease and revealed its complexity. On the basis of the available information, esca can be considered: 1. a disease complex, in the sense that several interacting factors and microorganisms concur to produce the overall syndrome; 2. a complex of at least two distinct diseases: 'white rot' caused by Fomitiporia punctata or other wood-rotting fungi, and brown wood-streaking and gummosis, caused by one or more species of Phaeoacremonium infecting the woody tissue; 3. a real hadromycosis induced by one or more species of Phaeoacremonium or related genera, which in mature or old grapevines is further complicated by the white rot caused by F. punctata. Research has also shown that different syndromes are produced depending on the origin of the infections, the prevalence of the associated fungi and the order in which they become active, and environmental factors. Five syndromes can be distinguished: 1. "brown wood streaking" (Petri, 1912). This affects rooted cuttings, rootstocks, and grafted or mother plants and is caused by species of Phaeoacremonium or related genera, often without external symptoms; 2. "Petri grapevine decline". This name has been proposed to designate a decline of young grapevines known under various local names ('black goo', 'slow dieback', 'Phaeoacremonium grapevine decline'), which occurs when propagation material or young grapevines are infected, again by species of Phaeoacremonium or related genera; 3. "young esca". This syndrome, which Petri thought would evolve in 'esca proper', is characterised by black or brown wood-streaking and xylem gummosis in actively growing grapevines, with or without external symptoms. It is also caused by species of Phaeoacremonium or related genera, like the brown wood-streaking of point 1 above; 4. "white rot". When infection is through wounds and solely or mainly by F. punctata or other wood-rotting basidiomycetes, it is characterised by wood rot, which may or may not be accompanied by external (leaf and fruit) symptoms; 5. "esca proper". This occurs when white rot develops in the trunks of mature or old vines together with, or after, the development of brown wood-streaking. This, the full-fledged esca syndrome, is caused by the combined or successive action of one or more species of Phaeoacremonium, occasionally accompanied by other fungi, and F. punctata.


This book explores the pastoral implications of a new scholarly understanding of the role of deacons in the Early Church. In many churches today - Catholic, Anglican, and others - deacons have come to serve largely as servants of the poor and needy. In the present study, Collins argues that this limited role for deacons was based on misinterpretations of key scriptural passages. Following the history of deacons in the Early Church to modern times, Collins offers extensive reflections on the relevant Scriptures, and suggests that we redefine the role of deacons for today. Rather than limit the role of deacons, he urges the church to adapt ancient meanings to modern pastoral situations. In the words of Ignatius of Antioch, whom he quotes in the final chapter, "Deacons are not providers of bread and drink but are agents of the congregation."

Collins paints a rich picture of deacons as agents of the church, ordained to the service of the bishop, who sends them forth as ministers of the church as a whole, rather than simply social workers. Collins provides an understanding of deacons that embraces social welfare but is not bound by it.


This study attempts to assess the air quality in the lower Tamar Valley where Bell Bay industrial area, one of the most important industrial centres in northern Tasmania, is located. The major sources of air emissions in the area include an aluminium smelter (Comalco Aluminium (Bell Bay) Ltd), a ferro alloys plant (Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Co. Pty Ltd, or Temco), and a 2 x 120 MW oil-fired thermal power station. The effects and synergistic effects of the air emissions from these sources on the physical and human environment have been of concern to the local residents, particularly the dairy farmers and orchardists, over the years, yet very few air quality measurements have been made. Thus, an air quality study was undertaken from July 1982 to July 1984, with a view to drawing attention to, and enhancing the understanding of, some of the existing or potential air pollution problems in the area.
The study, which is the most extensive and intensive one ever attempted in Tasmania, covered basically two major aspects: meteorological study and ambient air monitoring.
A total of six Lambrecht Woelfle (model 1482) continuous recording anemometers was established between Low Head (near the coast) and Dilston (27 km SE of Bell Bay) at a height of 10-m. Data from December 1982 to November 1983 show that the wind field is strongly influenced by the topography of the valley, which generally has a NW-SE orientation. NW winds occurred most frequently in the afternoons, while the SE winds occurred most frequently in the mornings particularly at locations further up the valley due to the strong influence of the chanelling effects. However, different locations are also subjected to local katabatic winds which occurred most frequently from late night to early morning during the colder months. Of these, the most notable and important ones are the NE katabatic winds originating from the saddle between Mt George and the Tippogoree Hills, and the SW katabatic winds originating from one of the larger side valleys on the western shore, which could spread out and reach the industrial area as light W TO WNW flows if the main valley is calm.
The frequency of occurrence of sea breezes was also investigated. They were found to enter the valley more frequently from the NW than N or NE directions. NW sea breezes occurred about one in every three days in summer, one in every five days in spring and autumn, and one in every seven days in winter. Sea breezes could flush and dilute the air pollutants from the Bell Bay industrial area, but could also carry them further up the valley. It is possible that some air pollutants carried off-shore in the morning could be returned to the valley a few hours later by the sea breezes.
Atmospheric stability (based on the Pasquill-Turner stability classes) is estimated. In general, the winds with unstable classes A, B, and C occurred more frequently during the late morning to early afternoon for all stations, particularly in warmer months, while those with stable classes E, F, and G occurred more frequently from late night to early morning, particularly during the colder months. The neutral class D was most frequent for all months and could occur at all times of day. The spatial and temporal variations of the atmospheric stability are quite significant, suggesting that it is very much a function of locality and time. The frequency of occurrence of extreme stability conditions (class G) was higher whenever there were more light winds and in more sheltered regions.
Limited tethered balloon soundings were performed within the planetary boundary layer from early evening to early morning in September and October 1982 so as to obtain the vertical profiles or structures of temperature and horizontal wind from which the diffusive power of the lower atmosphere may be derived. Many interesting meteorological phenomena, including surface and elevated inversions, wind shear effects, and upstream air blocking were observed in the Bell Bay industrial area. The morning surface inversion layers; sometimes associated with the occurrence of the wind speed maxima, were found to be able to develop up to a height of 200 to 300 m above the ground surface (about 40 m above sea level) of the valley. Elevated inversion at 425-530 m was also observed during a sea breeze evening. The wind field appears to be frequently influenced by the local katabatic winds and SE down-valley flows in the mornings at the lower level, and gradient winds 200 m above. NE winds channelled from the saddle between Mt George and the Tippogoree Hills could be blocked by the Asbestos/Dazzler Ranges on the western shore at an elevation of 100 m.
Other aspects of meteorological study cover the daily weather observations, in particular, fog and haze smoke occurrences; horizontal. surface temperature mappings for investigating the heat island effects caused by the industrial sources; measurements of air temperature and humidity at the lower (10 m elevation) and upper (180 m elevation) levels for estimating the frequency of occurrence of surface inversions.
The implications of air pollution in relation to all the above-mentioned meteorological factors are discussed.
The ambient, air monitoring consisted of monthly sampling of bulk (wet and dry) atmospheric deposition, sampling of wet-only deposition based on event rains, regular sampling of suspended particulates, and monitoring of ambient SO\(_4\)\(^{2-}\), 0\(_3\), CO, and NO\(_x\) (no useful data were obtained for this part of study because of frequent malfunctions of the air analysers). The chemical compositions of the bulk deposition and suspended particulates samples were analysed using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). Chemical speciation of some selected precipitation samples was performed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) on a trial basis, with some useful results obtained. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Analysis of X-Ray (EDAX) were also used to characterise the chemical elements in some selected suspended particulates samples (using membrane filters) and monthly bulk deposition samples (using cellulose acetate filters).
The mean annual fluxes of total insoluble dust ranged from 32.4 to 338.3 mg m\(^{-2}\) day\(^{-1}\). For trace elements Al (insoluble), F (soluble), Mn (total) and Fe (insoluble), the mean annual fluxes ranged from 445 to 5 638, 89 to 12 568, 38 to 3 676, and 392 to 1 534 ug m\(^{-2}\) day\(^{-1}\) respectively, with the lowest values being the intended 'background' levels. The fluxes of the elements are statistically correlated with each other, hence their sources identified (Al and F from Comalco, Mn from Temco). In general, they were much higher within 3 km of their respective sources. However, the air emissions from the industrial area could travel at least 10 km up the valley. The impact of the deposition rates of the trace elements on the local 'environment and ecosystems are difficult to assess, as no standards are available for comparison. A deposition rate of 100 ug m\(^{-2}\) day\(^{-1}\) for gaseous F (as HF for a 30 day period) is adopted by the South Carolina Pollution Control Authority, but the standard. may not be applicable to the lower Tamar Valley unless it was based on similar sampling and analytical techniques.
The acidity of the bulk deposition and event rain samples were also investigated. The major acid-producing species, SO\(_4\)\(^{2-}\), mainly came from - the thermal power station, though there were some contributions from the metal-smelting industries. About 31% of the monthly bulk deposition samples and 76% of the event rain samples were acidic (pH < 5.6). Locations near the thermal power station tended to have higher frequency of collecting acidic precipitation samples, though the air emissions from the 107 m stack could be transported by the fresh to strong westerly airstreams over the other side of the Tippogoree Hills before rainout or washout.
The concentrations of total suspended particulates (TSP) and major trace metals (Al, Mn, Fe, and Cu) are calculated. At times the 24 hour concentrations of TSP exceeded 100 ug m\(^{-3}\), a standard adopted by Japan; while those of Mn exceeded 10 ug m\(^{-3}\), an ambient air standard recommended by many European countries. Ambient air standard for Al particulates is not available. Figures are only comparable if similar instruments, preferably with the same filters, or with filters of similar collection efficiencies, are used.
With the practical and financial constraints, it was impossible to cover every aspect of air quality study in the lower Tamar Valley. Thus, recommendations for further research on meteorological study and ambient air monitoring are made. Finally, the major findings in this study are highlighted, and the major deficiencies in air pollution control in Tasmania are briefly discussed. It is suggested that public participation in the air quality management is necessary if future conflicts between government and industry on the one hand, and the general public on the other, are to be avoided.


3DTV is becoming more and more popular but the 3D sequences are still very few. In this paper, we proposed an efficient 2D to 3D video conversion method based on skeleton line tracking. In our method, for a key frame, the foreground object and the corresponding depth image can be obtained by interactive method. For a non-key frame, we first generate the skeleton lines of the object in the previous frame and predict them in the current frame, then recover the object by the Lazy Snapping method. A robust and fast optical flow method is introduced to make the prediction better. At last, the depth image is generated to composite the stereo image. Because only the skeleton lines of the object rather than the whole object are tracked, the computational complexity is much lower than other tracking methods. The experimental results show that our method is feasible.


The electrical conductivity studies of chemically crosslinked nano composite membranes consisting of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) with different blending composition and crosslinking density has been conducted over a wide frequency regime. The conductivity of the systems has been studied within the temperature range 25 oC ø T oe 100 oC for the hydrated membranes. The proton conductivity of the membranes was generally of the order of 10-3 S/cm. The conductivity of these membranes shows a temperature dependence of Arrhenius type. The activation energies for the membranes were calculated from the conductivity measurements. Both the pristine and hydrated membranes were also characterized by X-Ray diffraction studies to observe the effects of blending and hydration on the crystallinity of the composite membranes. The membranes showed comparable proton conductivity and better resistance to methanol permeability than that of Nafion 112 under the same measurement conditions. These properties make them good candidates as polymer electrolyte membranes for direct methanol fuel cell application.


The foot complications are due to a variety of causes predisposing factors such as vascular disease, neuropathy and decreased resistance to infection and precipitating factors such as physical injury. This concept of predisposing and precipitating factors is stressed, for while the vascular disease and neuropathy generally cannot be reversed (although their development may be delayed) the precipitating factors may be regarded as being preventable. This preventative approach is strongly emphasised by Mr Faris throughout the book and will be of particular interest to occupational therapists.


The adaptive reuse of cultural heritage has been recognized as a driver of the circular economy. It stimulates economic growth, boosts its inherent values, and reduces material usage and energy consumption. It can be regarded unviable due to financial constraints, limitations in regulatory frameworks and lack of engagement in decision-making. To tackle these challenges, this study aims to examine the drivers and related policy instruments that support adaptive reuse practices, and to analyze the usefulness and feasibility of a set of multi-level policy enablers at varying local contexts. In this context, we first conducted a semi-systematic review of academic and gray literature and identified 19 driving factors and associated policy documents. These instruments were concentrated on administrative, regulatory and financial tools. This analysis led to the identification of policy enablers that can be adopted at three levels: European, national and local. An online survey was then conducted to investigate how a variety of local stakeholders in the selected case cities and region evaluate the adaptability of these enablers in their individual cases. The findings show that all the assessed enablers are deemed useful and feasible to a certain extent with higher score of usefulness, confirming the adaptability of these instruments into the circular economy framework. These evidence-based results can inform future policies at multiple-levels that will accelerate and scale up circular actions through heritage adaptive reuse.


The standard germination tests have been commonly used on commercial grain crops, such as soybean, field beans, rice and maize. However, there are no standard tests for potential new crops; quinoa being one of them. This work is aimed at evaluating the effect of substrate, temperature and counting time in seed germination of quinoa. The following treatments were used in tests with seeds: on blotter paper, between blotter paper, on sand and within sand, all previously soaked with distilled water. These substrates were combined to the temperatures of 15, 20, 25, 30°C, and alternated between 20 to 30°C. The experiment was conducted on an entirely randomized factorial design 5 × 4 (temperature × substrate) with 4 repetitions. Normal seedlings, abnormal seedlings and dead seeds were counted until stabilized. The germination velocity index and mean time for germination were calculated.  From the results, it was concluded that germination test of quinoa seeds should be conducted at 20 to 30°C alternate temperatures, on or between blotter paper, with initial count at 2 days and final count at 4 days.

 Key words: Chenopodium quinoa willd., substrate temperature, counting time, seed viability.


The mitotic regime was studied in 34 spindle-cell sarcomas of soft tissues, including 11 synovial, 13 low-differentiated fibrosarcomas, 5 leiomyosarcomas and 5 rhabdomyosarcomas. The compared neoplasms were found to differ in the degree of cell proliferation disorders (the mitotic activity, a preponderance of dividing cells at the stage of metaphase, the frequency of pathological mitoses and correlation of their different forms). It is shown that bridges are one of the features of the mitotic pathology for spindle-cell sarcomas, moreover myogenic sarcomas are characterized by a higher incidence of those mitotic disorders which occurrence is conditioned due to damaging of the mitotic apparatus (three group, multiple metaphases, c-mitoses, multipolar and monocentric mitoses).


This qualitative study explores the experiences of students training in Person-Centred Counselling. The study focuses on students' perceptions of their relationships with their teachers and peers to develop a better understanding of how these might influence their development during training. Material was collected from a series of semi-structured interviews at the beginning, middle and end of the course. The intention was to develop rich descriptive accounts of individual participants' perceptions as they developed over their training. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was employed to generate themes from the interviews. To assist the reflective process, participants also completed Strathclyde Inventories.
This study illustrates how each student experienced their training as idiosyncratic and complex. Unconditional positive regard was found to be significant to personal development within this context. However, perceptions of this concept and how it was operationalised within the course varied. A lack of unconditional empathic acknowledgement of difference was found to have a potentially shaming and/or painful impact that could negatively affect a student's sense of self and their engagement with the training. A potentially problematic relationship emerged between a non-directive approach to training and students' need for direction. The influence of the course's conceptualisation of congruence on students' development emerged as a complex and potentially problematic theme. Groupwork emerged as a contentious strategy for personal development. This study highlights the value of open dialogue between teachers and students about a number of specific aspects of the training, including the students' and the course's conceptualisation of the approach. The study also raises questions about the value of focusing on a single therapeutic approach early in training. Finally, the study acknowledges that Person-Centred counselling training involves aspects of both doing and being in relationships, the dynamics of which need to be managed sensitively.


Due to its high contagiousness, and the lags in development and administration of vaccines, containment of the COVID-19 pandemic is highly dependent on public behavior and on the focus and transparency of instructions issued by governing bodies. Democratic governments can mobilize support for painful measures if their decisions inspire broad-based confidence and legitimacy. Mobilizing public support for well-focused sanitary actions can also be achieved by coercion. Although coercive measures, can be used temporarily by democratic governments authoritarian governments have a comparative advantage in enforcing them. Results from a cross section of over 150 countries show that, in the absence of controls cumulative death per million people (CD) are lower in less democratic countries. When controlling for the fraction of old population and other variables the impact of democracy on CD in the entire sample vanishes. But splitting the sample into high democracy countries and low democracy countries reveals that mobilization of collective action is more (less) effective in the first (second) group the higher the level of democracy. An overtime average of the stringency of government responses to the pandemic (S) has a highly significant positive impact on CD suggesting reverse causality from CD to stringency. The paper formulates this dual relation as a 2x2 simultaneous model with a CD schedule and an S schedule and shows theoretically that the observed intersection points (CD, S) nearly trace a relatively immobile governmental, positively sloped, stringency response schedule. An overtime -cross country estimate of the S schedule confirms this result yielding a highly significant but small coefficient. JEL Classification: D7, P16, I1, J1, C30


In this paper, we present a stereo matching algorithm using arbitrarily-shaped windows and a local optimization method called Go-light. The disparity map comes from a five-pixel arbitrarily-shaped window matching and a regular window based matching. It is then optimized by the Go-light optimization method, in which an outlier disparity value is replaced by the average of its surrounding ones when certain constraints are met. Experiments show that the accuracy of our algorithm is comparable to some of the state-of-the-art stereo correspondence algorithms on the Middlebury stereo data.


A series of laboratory experiments has been carried out in which parallel-laminated deposits were produced from an upper-regime plane bed. The laminae had thicknesses of a few mm and could be traced continuously over distances up to the length and width of the depositional area (0.3m by 1.5m). Fluctuations in bed elevation were measured both during deposition and at equilibrium; much of the bed fluctuation occurs at time scales that are too long to be due directly to turbulence, as most theories for lamina formation would require. We suggest instead that extremely low-amplitude bed forms are present even on apparently flat beds and that the migration of these bed forms produces laterally continuous lamination. All the lamination produced in the laboratory experiments was normally graded. Using high-speed photography it was observed that the normal grading results from rapid deposition of a layer of loosely packed coarse sand several grain-diameters thick followed by the slow sieving-out of a well packed surface layer of finer sand. The initial depositich is the result of small-scale turbulent fluctuations in boundary shear stress. The sieving-out that follows results in a smooth surface whose low friction coefficient temporarily inhibits further deposition; we term this process 'glazing'. The alignment of small-scale turbulent scour-and-fill structures along the paths traced by migrating bedform troughs produces laterally continuous parallel lamination.


Abstract Growing research suggests that digital flashcards may facilitate students' technical vocabulary learning efforts. The primary purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to compare the effect of digital flashcards (DFs) and wordlists on learning technical vocabulary as well as to explore students' perceptions regarding the use of DFs. Using convenience sampling method, the study was conducted with a total of 57 undergraduate pharmacy students. Data were collected using a pre-treatment survey, two technical vocabulary tests, and a post-treatment survey. The results indicated that (1) the students learned more technical vocabulary through DFs; (2) their perceptions about the use of DFs to study technical vocabulary were positive; (3) their perceptions of the usefulness of the Quizlet app was a predictor of their success in DF condition; and (4) practicing through digital apps positively predicted their intention to use the Quizlet application. Based on the findings, we concluded that teacher-prepared DFs result in better technical vocabulary learning.


Abstract. From 1994 to 2011, instruments measuring ocean currents (Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers; ADCPs) have been moored on a section crossing the Faroe–Shetland Channel. Together with CTD (Conductivity Temperature Depth) measurements from regular research vessel occupations, they describe the flow field and water mass structure in the channel. Here, we use these data to calculate the average volume transport and properties of the flow of warm water through the channel from the Atlantic towards the Arctic, termed the Atlantic inflow. We find the average volume transport of this flow to be 2.7 ± 0.5 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s–1) between the shelf edge on the Faroe side and the 150 m isobath on the Shetland side. The average heat transport (relative to 0 °C) was estimated to be 107 ± 21 TW (1 TW = 1012 W) and the average salt import to be 98 ± 20 × 106 kg s−1. Transport values for individual months, based on the ADCP data, include a large level of variability, but can be used to calibrate sea level height data from satellite altimetry. In this way, a time series of volume transport has been generated back to the beginning of satellite altimetry in December 1992. The Atlantic inflow has a seasonal variation in volume transport that peaks around the turn of the year and has an amplitude of 0.7 Sv. The Atlantic inflow has become warmer and more saline since 1994, but no equivalent trend in volume transport was observed.


We explore the petrophysical behavior of the two interbedded lithofacies (sandy silt and clayey silt) that constitute the Green Canyon Block 955 hydrate reservoir in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico by performing experiments on reconstituted samples of the reservoir material. Sandy silts reconstituted to the in situ porosity have a permeability of 11.8 md (1.18 × 10−14 m2), which is similar to the intrinsic permeabilities measured in intact cores from hydrate reservoirs of similar grain size offshore Japan (Nankai Trough) and offshore India. Reconstituted clayey silts have a much lower intrinsic permeability of 3.84 × 10−4 md (3.84 × 10−19 m2) at the in situ stress. The reconstituted sandy silt is less compressible than the clayey silt. Mercury injection capillary pressure measurements demonstrate that the largest pores with the clayey silt are still smaller than the pores remaining after 90% hydrate saturation in sandy silt. We interpret that the methane solubility in pores of clayey silt is always less than that necessary to form hydrate, which explains why no hydrate is present in the clayey silt. We upscale the reservoir properties to estimate the behavior of interbedded sandy silt and clayey silt. We find the upscaled intrinsic horizontal and vertical permeabilities for the entire reservoir interval are 8.6 md (8.6 × 10−15 m2) and 1.4 × 10−3 md (1.4 × 10−18 m2). We estimate that during reservoir production, a maximum vertical strain of approximately 12% will result. Ultimately, this study will inform reservoir simulation models with petrophysical properties at scales of both individual lithofacies and reservoir formation.


Financial subsidies allocated by the European Union (EU) throughout the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have had a positive effect on the rural development in particular in less favoured rural areas. The Farm Accountancy Data Network is an useful tool in order to estimate the impact of payments allocated by the CAP on the farm net income in a sample of European farms. Before of European Union enlargement in 2004 Slovenian farmers have benefited of specific initiatives aimed at implementing the productive agrarian fabric. Findings have pointed out as financial subsidies allocated towards stayed behind rural areas have been indirectly correlated to the dependent variable farm net income, even if the usable agricultural surface is one of the most important variable acting predominately towards the level of farmer's income and economic efficiency.


Using the flocking tendencies of homing pigeons (Columba livia) in flight, a first attempt was made to test directly the hypothesis that group movement may have a navigational function. We manipulated the potential advantage of transfer of navigational information by releasing pairs of homing pigeons in which none, one or both of the birds had previously been released at sites about 25 km from the home loft (while overall flying experience was standardized). Contrary to our prediction, locally naive birds did not follow experienced birds home, whereas experienced birds, with less navigational need to flock, were generally still paired on arrival home. Pairs in which both birds were locally naive also tended not to home together. Under the conditions of our experiment, the tendency to fly together appeared not to have a navigational function. However, and contrary to recent conclusions in the literature, our results do suggest that the initial flight behaviour of birds at novel release sites may constitute a navigational information gathering strategy that is sufficiently important to over-ride gregarious tendencies when the two conflict.


This paper presents a strategy that efficiently allocates the limited resource and still maintains the coding performance for the spatial scalability of H.264/SVC. An integrated computation-scalable algorithm is proposed based on mode decision and adaptive search range. The RD-cost of the base layer is used as the priority to decide the mode in the enhancement layer, and the motion vector difference in the base layer is employed to determine the search range as well. Through the proposed approach, computation complexity of the enhancement layer could be reduced efficiently and well allocated. Experimental results demonstrate that the saving time reaches up to 82% and the computation scalability is realized.


This licentiate thesis deals mainly with modelling ofturbocharged SIengines. A model of a 4-cylinder engine was runin both steady state and transient conditions and the resultswere compared to measured data. Large differences betweenmeasurements and simulations were detected and the reasons forthis discrepancy were investigated. The investigation showedthat it was the turbocharger turbine model that performed in anon-optimal way. To cope with this, the turbine model containedparameters, which could be adjusted so that the model resultsmatched measured data. However, it was absolutely necessary tohave measured data to match against. It was thus concluded thatthe predictivity of the software tool was too poor to try topredict the performance of various boosting systems. Thereforemeans of improving the modelling procedure were investigated.To enable such an investigation a technique was developed tomeasure the instantaneous power output from, and efficiency of,the turbine when the turbocharger was used on the engine.The project's initial aim was to predict, throughsimulations, the best way to boost a downsized SI-engine with avery high boost-pressure demand. The first simulation run on astandard turbocharged engine showed that this could not be donewith any high accuracy. However, a literature study was madethat presents various different boosting techniques that canproduce higher boost pressure in a larger flow-range than asingle turbocharger, and in addition, with smallerboost-pressure lag.Key words:boosting, turbocharging, supercharging,modelling, simulation, turbine, pulsating flow, unsteadyperformance, SI-engine, measurement accuracy


Objectives:After almost twenty years of 21st century Serbia faces a high rate of unemployment, which is influenced by many factors and one of them is the general level of education of the population. For that reason the main objective of this research paper is to determine the level of ICT literacy of the working age population in Serbia and to measure the correlation of the level of ICT literacy and employability. We consider this subject very important having in mind that the digital skills become one of the basic element for the national growth and competitiveness.
Methodology:In order to obtain comparability of results with other European countries we decided to apply methodology for calculation of Digital skills indicator created by Eurostat in cooperation with European Commission (DG CNECT) based on the Digital Competences Framework - Individuals' level of digital skills (code: isoc_sk_dskl_i). This is a composite indicator for evaluation of knowledge of individuals aged 16-74 in several areas (information, communication, problem solving, and software skills) which can be used as a proxy of their digital competences and skills. For the purpose of this pilot research we collected xxx surveys in Serbia mainly relying on the questions from Eurostat methodology, but we also include additional questions regarding to the status of employment and the employment form in order to examine correlation between the level of digital competences and employability. We used Pearson correlation coefficient for this purpose.
Results:Results presented in this research need to be considered with reserve, due to non-representational sample, but it does not deviate significantly from Eurostat indicator. According to results, in the area of Information skills 12% of sample has no skills, 7% has basic and 78% has above basic skills, in the area of Communication skills also 12% has no skills, 16% has basic while 70% has above basic skills. The situation in the area of Problem solving is a bit different – 29% has no skills, 16% has basic skills and 54% has above average skills. Finally, in the area of Software skills 34% has no skills, 24% has basic skills and 40% has above basic skills. Overall indicator of digital skills showed that 13% of sample has no skills or their skills cannot be assessed, 50% has low and basic skills, while 37% has above basic skills. Pearson test founds correlation between the level of digital skills and level of education and the type of business activity.
Implications:Results of the research presented in this paper could provide impact on national policies in Serbia. The main legal document National Strategy of Information Society Development should be supported by appropriate regulations and policies that would target identified problems in the area of digital literacy. This paper can be used in the process evidence based policy as underlying document.
Originality Value: Scientists in Serbia have begun to deal more with the phenomena of digital literacy in the last decade, but the researches are rare and non-systematic. One of the most valuable empirical study of Serbian society is Digital literacy of employers and students in Serbia provided by Lakic, et. al (2012) which covered 733 employers and 344 students. This research is step further because it is based pm Eurostat methodology and its results are comparable with other EU countries.


BACKGROUND
Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)-related perforation is an infrequent complication. It is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The present study is an evaluation of experience with management and outcomes of ERCP-related perforations and a review of relevant literature.

METHODS
Between January 2008 and January 2015, a total of 9383 ERCPs were performed in endoscopy unit. A total of 29 perforations (0.33%) were identified and retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS
Of the 29 patients, 18 were female and 11 patients were male, with mean age of 70.5 years (range 33-99 years). According to Stapfer's classification, the 29 patients with ERCP related perforations included 5 type 1 perforations, 14 type 2 perforations, 7 type 3 perforations, and 3 cases of type 4 perforation. In total, 15 of 29 patients with ERCP perforation were operated on. Nine (60%) of those who underwent surgery were discharged uneventful, but 6 (40%) patients died due to postoperative complications and/or associated comorbidities. Seven (24.1%) of 29 patients had undergone endoscopic treatment and 5 of the 7 were discharged from the hospital without any problems; however, peritonitis occurred in 2 patients whose initial endoscopic treatment failed. The first of these 2 patients underwent surgery and was discharged uneventfully, but second patient, who refused surgery, died due to sepsis. Six patients were successfully treated with conservative management. Surgery could not be performed in the remaining 2 patients, who died of sepsis following peritonitis; 1 refused surgery, the other had sudden cardiopulmonary arrest during induction of general anesthesia. Mean hospital stay was 13.2 days (range: 2-57 days). In all, 9 (31%) patients died during period of the study.

CONCLUSION
ERCP-related perforation is uncommon complication, but an extremely serious condition. Early diagnosis and prompt management are most important to reduce associated significant morbidity and mortality rates. The most appropriate treatment course should be determined on case-by-case basis.


Cell functions are regulated by signalling pathways that often cross-talk with each other. These cross-talks are usually cell-type specific and, as we showed earlier, often mediated by so called critical paralog proteins (proteins resulted due to gene duplication but then diverged both in terms of their regulation and their functions). As dysregulation of cell functions is a hallmark of chronic inflammatory diseases, including Ulcerative Colitis (UC), here we investigated the role of such critical paralog proteins in the regulation of some key functions, in UC-associated cell types.

 In this study, we compared healthy and diseased (non-inflamed UC) conditions. Using network biology approaches combined with single-cell RNAseq data, we identified critical paralog groups in myofibroblasts, regulatory T cells and goblet cells that show cell and/or condition specificity in the process of autophagy, Notch and T-cell receptor signalling.

 We focused our analysis on the Notch pathway-related processes, in particular the EGLN paralogs (EGLN1-3). The EGLN enzymes are prolyl hydroxylases and EGLN1, EGLN3 can directly inhibit the HIF1A transcription factor, while HIF1A induces the expression of all the three EGLN gene upon hypoxia. This negative feedback loop tends to control the amount of EGLNs and the activation status of the HIF1A proteins, therefore maintaining an adequate hypoxia response. In the intestine, EGLN2 and EGLN3 are described as potential regulators of inflammation, and both are downregulated in UC patients. Importantly, we found that the expression of EGLN paralogs shows cell-type and condition specificity. While goblet cells express all three paralogs in both healthy and UC conditions, myofibroblasts express EGLN3 only in the healthy condition. As EGLN3 is responsible for tight junction integrity, and it can regulate hypoxia response, the lack of EGLN3 in UC could contribute to the disrupted epithelial barrier function and dysregulation of myofibroblasts. Accordingly, in mice, depletion of Egln3 causes an increased susceptibility to colitis.

 We have developed a bioinformatic pipeline to reconstruct cell-type specific signalling networks to identify the key differences among critical regulators of the signalling flow (ie., critical paralog proteins) in UC-associated cell types and in comparison of healthy and non-inflamed UC conditions. We analysed the altered expression of paralog genes in signalling pathways in UC-associated cell-types, and demonstrated their role with the condition and cell-type specific expression of EGLN3.


This paper presents an algorithm for speckle reduction and contrast enhancement of echocardiographic images. Within a framework of multiscale wavelet analysis, the authors apply wavelet shrinkage techniques to eliminate noise while preserving the sharpness of salient features. In addition, nonlinear processing of feature energy is carried out to enhance contrast within local structures and along object boundaries. The authors show that the algorithm is capable of not only reducing speckle, but also enhancing features of diagnostic importance, such as myocardial walls in two-dimensional echocardiograms obtained from the parasternal short-axis view. Shrinkage of wavelet coefficients via soft thresholding within finer levels of scale is carried out on coefficients of logarithmically transformed echocardiograms. Enhancement of echocardiographic features is accomplished via nonlinear stretching followed by hard thresholding of wavelet coefficients within selected (midrange) spatial-frequency levels of analysis. The authors formulate the denoising and enhancement problem, introduce a class of dyadic wavelets, and describe their implementation of a dyadic wavelet transform. Their approach for speckle reduction and contrast enhancement was shown to be less affected by pseudo-Gibbs phenomena. The authors show experimentally that this technique produced superior results both qualitatively and quantitatively when compared to results obtained from existing denoising methods alone. A study using a database of clinical echocardiographic images suggests that such denoising and enhancement may improve the overall consistency of expert observers to manually defined borders.


This research aims to design a model of a sustainable procurement system in SKK Migas in supporting and strengthening the sustainable upstream oil and gas procurement sector. Oil and gas commodity is one of the natural resources that cannot be renewed in a short time and is very important in the world after water resources. However, recently, there have been many challenges faced in managing the national oil and gas industry, one of which is the condition of reserves oil and gas that continues to decline and new reserves that are more difficult to find technically and require larger costs. To survive facing the challenges and volatility in the oil and gas industry, as well as make an optimal contribution to the achievement of production and state revenue from the upstream oil and gas sector, cost control is needed for efficient operations including through the implementation of sustainable principles in the strategy of procurement management of goods and services refer to SNI ISO 20400: 2017. The result showed that the analysis of questionnaire data through SEM LISREL and design concepts using PDCA with the conclusion that the design of a sustainable procurement system model is valid.


Abstract. This study estimates the influence of anthropogenic emission reductions on the concentration of particulate matter with a diameter smaller than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) during the 2020 lockdown period in German metropolitan areas. After accounting for meteorological effects, PM2.5 concentrations during the spring 2020 lockdown period were 5 % lower compared to the same time period in 2019. However, during the 2020 pre-lockdown period (winter), meteorology accounted for PM2.5 concentrations were 19 % lower than in 2019. Meanwhile, meteorology accounted for NO2 concentrations dropped by 23 % during the 2020 lockdown period compared to an only 9 % drop for the 2020 pre-lockdown period, both compared to 2019. Meteorology accounted for SO2 and CO concentrations show no significant changes during the 2020 lockdown period compared to 2019. GEOS-Chem (GC) simulation with a COVID-19 emission reduction scenario based on the observations (23 % reduction in NOX emission with unchanged VOC and SO2) are consistent with the small reductions of PM2.5 during the lockdown and are used to identify the underlying drivers for this. Due to being in a NOX saturated ozone production regime, GC OH radical and O3 concentrations increased (15 and 9 %, respectively) during the lockdown compared to a Business As Usual (no lockdown) scenario. The increased O3 results in increased NO3 radical concentrations, primarily during the night, despite the large reductions in NO2. Thus, the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere is increased in all three important oxidants, OH, O3, and NO3. PM nitrate formation from gas-phase nitric acid (HNO3) is decreased during the lockdown as the increased OH concentration cannot compensate for the strong reductions in NO2 resulting in decreased day-time HNO3 formation from the OH + NO2 reaction. However, night-time formation of PM nitrate from N2O5 hydrolysis is relatively unchanged. This results from the fact that increased night-time O3 results in significantly increased NO3 which roughly balances the effect of the strong NO2 reductions on N2O5 formation. Ultimately, the only small observed decrease in lockdown PM2.5 concentrations can be explained by the large contribution of night-time PM nitrate formation, generally enhanced sulfate formation and slightly decreased ammonium. This study also suggests that high PM2.5 episodes in early spring are linked to high atmospheric ammonia concentrations combined with favorable meteorological conditions of low temperature and low boundary layer height. North-West Germany is a hot-spot of NH3 emissions, primarily emitted from livestock farming and intensive agricultural activities (fertilizer application), with high NH3 concentrations in the early spring and summer months. Based on our findings, we suggest that appropriate NOX and VOC emission controls are required to limit ozone, and that should also help reduce PM2.5. Regulation of NH3 emissions, primarily from agricultural sectors, could result in significant reductions in PM2.5 pollution.


Despite the significant developments in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, diabetic patients still continue to suffer from cardiac complications. The increase of cardiac adrenergic drive may ultimately contribute to the development and progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy. beta-Adrenoceptors play an important role in the regulation of heart function. However, responsiveness of diabetic heart to beta-adrenoceptor agonist stimulation is diminished. The chronotropic responses mediated by beta(1)-subtype, which is mainly responsible for cardiac effects of catecholamines are decreased in the atria of diabetic rats. The expression of cardiac beta(1)-subtype is significantly decreased in diabetic rats as well. beta(2)-Adrenoceptors also increase cardiac function. Although the expression of this subtype is slightly decreased in diabetic rat hearts, beta(2)-mediated chronotropic responses are preserved. On the other hand, functional beta(3)-adrenoceptor subtype was characterized in human heart. Interestingly, stimulation of cardiac beta(3)-adrenoceptors, on the contrary of beta(1)- and beta(2)-subtypes, mediates negative inotropic effect in human ventricular muscle. Cardiac beta(3)-adrenoceptors are upregulated in experimental diabetes as well as in human heart failure. These findings suggest that each beta-adrenoceptor subtype may play an important role in the pathophysiology of diabetes-induced heart disease. However, it is still not known whether the changes in the expression and/or responsiveness of beta-adrenoceptors are adaptive or maladaptive. Therefore, this review outlines the potential roles of these receptor subtypes in cardiac pathologies of diabetes.


Objectives: To report the incidence of patients with a third sacral segment (S3) osseous fixation pathway (OFP) that could accommodate a transiliac-transsacral screw. Design: Retrospective case series. Setting: Regional Level 1 Trauma Center. Patients/Participants: A total of 250 patients without pelvic trauma from January 2017 to February 2017 were included. Intervention: The axial and sagittal reconstruction images of each patient's computed abdomen and pelvis tomography (CT) scans were reviewed. Main Outcome Measurements: Each CT was evaluated for the presence of sacral dysmorphism and whether an S3 OFP that could accommodate an intraosseous transiliac-transsacral screw exists. Results: There were 130 of the 250 patients (52%) with sacral dysmorphism. Overall, 38 of the 250 patients (15.2%) had an S3 OFP that could accommodate a 7.0-mm transiliac-transsacral style screw. When narrowed to patients who had an S3 OFP, 38 of 153 patients (24.8%) could accommodate a 7.0-mm transiliac-transsacral screw. Specific to the 38 patients with an adequate S3 OFP, 34 of 38 patients (89.5%) were noted to have sacral dysmorphism. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that 15.2% of patients have an S3 OFP large enough to accommodate an intraosseous implant. Patients who have sacral dysmorphism are more likely to have an adequate S3 OFP. Additional studies are needed to quantify the S3 OFP, understand the bone quality of the S3 segment and accompanying biomechanical implications, and investigate the anatomical concerns associated with S3 screw placement. Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.


Key words: Physiological comfort, knitted fabrics, protective clothing Abstract. Thermal comfort of clothing is associated with the thermal balance between human body and the environment, and also a balance between the body heat production and the heat loss. During work activities performed in extreme hot conditions, the body produces substantial amount of heat energy which leads to raised body temperature. As a result the body perspires in liquid and vapour form to reduce the increased temperature. When this perspiration is transmitted to the atmosphere, the body temperature reduces. Thus the garments worn next to skin should allow the perspiration and heat to easily pass through them; otherwise the result will be a significant discomfort of the persons working in extreme hot conditions. Therefore, thermal properties and water vapour permeability of the fabrics used for the next-to-skin layer of protective clothing are very important for the maintenance of physiological comfort of workers. In the present study physical parameters, air permeability, porosity, thermal and water vapour permeability of six commercially available knitted fabrics of different fibre blends, different and knitted structures suitable for skin layer garments of protective clothing worn in extreme hot conditions were evaluated. The influences of fabric physical parameters, and optical porosity on thermal conductivity and water vapour permeability of fabrics were determined and correlation coefficients were calculated between these variables.


Forty-six hydropic infants with homozygous alpha-thalassaemia born during a period of 10 years have been reviewed. The incidence was 1:1550 total births, and accounted for 81% of all non-immune hydrops. The male to female ratio was 1:1.4. There was increased incidence of anaemia, pregnancy induced hypertension, antepartum haemorrhage, malpresentation, prematurity, fetal distress, difficult vaginal delivery, caesarean section, retained placenta, postpartum haemorrhage and congenital abnormalities. Antenatal diagnosis by DNA hybridization with subsequent abortion of the affected fetuses is the best method to decrease maternal morbidity and to reduce the incidence of hydrops fetalis in couples at risk. For those with no previous history, but with early onset hypertension and/or polyhydramnios, sonography is useful in making an earlier diagnosis, and in reducing avoidable morbidity, because DNA analysis can be done before caesarean section and aggressive neonatal management is instituted.


Study background: Management of lumbopelvic pain (LPP) during pregnancy is important and the anatomical and movement aspects may be related to LPP. This study aimed to investigate the association of LPP with pelvic alignment and gait pattern during pregnancy.Methods: Fifty-seven pregnant women were categorized into either the LPP or non-LPP (NLPP) group. Anterior pelvic tilt and bilateral difference in pelvic tilt as pelvic asymmetry were measured. An inertial measurement unit was attached at the participants' L3 spinous process to measure 3-axes acceleration during gait. The degrees of movement symmetry, gait variability, and trunk movement were expressed as the autocorrelation peak (AC), coefficient of variance, and root mean square (RMS), respectively. An independent t-test was used to investigate differences in pelvic alignment and gait parameters between the groups. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to identify parameters that affected LPP. Additionally, multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to determine the parameters affected by LPP. Each significant parameter (from the previous analysis) was included as a dependent variable. Meanwhile, the presence or absence of LPP, BMI, and pregnancy months were included as explanatory variables.Results: In the LPP group, pelvic asymmetry was significantly higher, and the AC and RMS were significantly lower than that in the NLPP group. In the multivariate analysis, pelvic asymmetry and AC significantly affected LPP, while LPP significantly affected pelvic asymmetry and RMS. Conclusion: Pelvic asymmetry and movement asymmetry during gait affect LPP, while LPP affect pelvic asymmetry and trunk movement during gait. Therefore, evaluating both of the pelvic alignment and gait pattern especially focusing on asymmetry is important for management LPP during pregnancy.


The traditional connections between wine and location reflect local climate.
Climate change threatens these connections, and vintners have a wide range of
responses to this impending problem. This article explores the source of the
associations between wines and locales, and outlines the causes for global
climate change. Three wine makers describe how they might adapt to a changed
climate. Their responses run the gamut from adaptation in the vineyard aimed at
maintaining current styles, to radical reinvention of the societal and legal
structure of the local wine industry.


One planned consequence of the national Infant Mental Health Forum held in the United States in 2000 was the funding of five research projects conducted in Early Head Start (EHS) programs. Each project strengthened existing programs by integrating infant/toddler mental health approaches and testing the outcomes on infant/toddler development, behavior, and parent-child interactions. In two of the projects, the effect of offering enrichment for EHS staff was tested. The other three projects tested the effect of services offered directly to parents and children. This article describes the five projects and the theories, methods, and outcome measures used. In order to understand more fully the elevated risk factors in these families and the consequences for mental health in their infants and toddlers, a common set of measures was developed. Data have been used to explore the common threats to mental health and the factors that moderate the impact on infants and toddlers.


It is argued that housing is a fundamental element in successful community care programmes for people who have a long-term mental illness, but that the significance of the immediate living environment on the individual's psych- social well-being has been underestimated in the formulation and implementation of policy. Using a grounded theory approach. Part One reports an exploratory study of the catchment area of one psychiatric hospital, which included parts of three health districts and three local authority areas. The study examined in detail, with a focus on housing, the operation of services for mentally disabled people , the plans for creating locally-based facilities, and the implementation of those plans in the mid-1980's, by means of a combination of documentary evidence and key informant interviews. All three parts of the study area were found to have encountered major but differing problems. Wide variations between and within local areas in policy and resources were found, but most stiking was the emergence of two distinct key informant perspectives: those of policy makers/managers, and workers in face-to-face contact with mentally disabled people, indicative of separate discourses of rights and needs. Part Two sets up a model of three functions of housing based on psychological needs, and argues for a compensatory role for housing in community care, which is contrasted with the reality of increasing difficulty in meeting even basic survival needs. It is suggested that the emphasis on negative rights of much mental health reform was inadequate to ensure that needs were met when the welfare net began to contract, and renewed emphasis on citizenship and social rights is proposed as a means to represent more adequately the housing needs of mentally disabled people at the levels of policy and service planning.


Introduction: As SARS-COV-2 and the disease COVID-19 is sweeping through countries after countries around the globe, it is critical to understand potential burden of a future outbreak in cities of Colombia. This pandemic has affected most of the countries in the world because the high global movement of individuals and excessive cost in interventions. Objective: Using demographic data from city of Cali, disease epidemiological information from affected countries and mathematical models, we estimated the rate of initial exponential growth of new cases and the basic reproductive rate for a potential outbreak in city of Cali in Colombia. Materials and methods: We used dynamical models with different modeling assumptions such as use of various types of interventions and/or epidemiological characteristics to compare and contrast the differences between Colombian cities and between Latin American countries. Results: Under the assumption of homogeneously mixing population and limited resources, we predicted expected number of infected, hospitalized, in Intensive Care Units (ICU) and deaths during this potential COVID-19 outbreak. Our results suggest that on a given day in Cali there may be up to around 73000 cases who might need hospitalization under no intervention. However, this number drastically reduces if we carry out only-isolation intervention (with 16 days of symptomatic infection; [~]13,000 cases) versus both quarantining for 6 days and isolation within 16 days ([~]3500 cases). The peak in Cali will reach in 2-3 months. Conclusions: The estimates from these studies provides different scenarios of outbreaks and can help Cali to be better prepared during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.


Understanding the genetic targets of natural selection is one of the most challenging goals of population genetics. Some of the earliest candidate genes were identified from associations between allozyme allele frequencies and environmental variation. One such example is the clinal polymorphism in the arginine kinase (Ak) gene in the marine snail Littorina fabalis. While other enzyme loci do not show differences in allozyme frequencies among populations, the Ak alleles are near differential fixation across repeated wave exposure gradients in Europe. Here, we use this case to illustrate how a new sequencing toolbox can be employed to characterize the genomic architecture associated with historical candidate genes. We found that the Ak alleles differ by nine nonsynonymous substitutions, which perfectly explain the different migration patterns of the allozymes during electrophoresis. Moreover, by exploring the genomic context of the Ak gene, we found that the three main Ak alleles are located on different arrangements of a putative chromosomal inversion that reaches near fixation at the opposing ends of two transects covering a wave exposure gradient. This shows Ak is part of a large (3/4 of the chromosome) genomic block of differentiation, in which Ak is unlikely to be the only target of divergent selection. Nevertheless, the nonsynonymous substitutions among Ak alleles and the complete association of one allele with one inversion arrangement suggest that the Ak gene is a strong candidate to contribute to the adaptive significance of the inversion.


In this study, Mediterranean mussel species, Mytilus galloprovincialis, were exposed to phenanthrene (PHE) due to its ubiquitousness and bioavailability in the aquatic environment. Kinetic parameters of the PHE bioaccumulation and depuration were calculated for an 11-day uptake and subsequent 11-day depuration periods. Those values of kinetic rate constants for uptake and depuration of PHE were calculated as varying between 93–177 and 0.18–0.25, respectively. Negative correlation was observed between the PHE concentrations and kinetic rate constants. Bioaccumulation Factors (BAFs) for the mussels exposed to different PHE concentrations were calculated from both kinetic rate constants and from the experimental data and found between 509–701 and 441–658, respectively. Experimental quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) values for PHE were found comparable to the calculated QSARs reported in literature. Two sub-lethal biomarker methods (filtration rate and lysosomal stability) were applied to observe the responses of the mussels throughout the experimental period. Results of both biomarkers show that PHE negatively affects mussels during the uptake of PHE, and mussels were able to recover physiologically at the end of depuration period according to the filtration rate results.


Robotic devices are a promising and dynamic tool in the realm of post-stroke rehabilitation. Researchers are still investigating how the use of robots affects motor learning and what design characteristics best encourage recovery. We present a parallel-actuated, end-effector robot designed to provide spatial assistance for upper-limb therapy while exhibiting low impedance and high backdrivability. A gradient based optimization was performed to find an optimal design that accounted for force isotropy, mechanical advantage, workspace size, and counter-balancing. A beta prototype has been built to these specifications (low impedance and high backdrivability) and has undergone initial controller performance as well as fit and function testing. By fitting a nonlinear model to experimental frequency response data, the apparent mass, viscous friction coefficient, and dynamic dry friction coefficient were determined to be 0.242 kg, 0.114 Ns/m, and 0.894 N respectively. The robot will serve as a testing platform to investigate motor learning and evaluate the efficacy of control schemes for post-stroke movement therapy.


ABSTRACT Despite concern over the co-occurrence of substance use and unplanned pregnancy among adolescents, little information is available about drug use before and during pregnancy in adolescence. The present study examined substance use among a sample of premaritally pregnant adolescents (n=241) who were interviewed as part of an ongoing longitudinal study of patterns of drug use among pregnant and parenting school-aged adolescents. Urine samples were obtained from a randomly selected 50% subsample and laboratory analyzed to verify self-reported substance use (2.5% had discrepant data). Respondents were on average 16 years old; 51% were white and 32% were African American. Findings indicated that, although the majority of respondents had a history of substance use, substance use declined substantially during pregnancy. Multiple regression analysis indicated that boyfriend's substance use and best friend's substance use during the previous month, the respondent's perceived harm of substance use during pregnancy, and being a school dropout were related to the respondent's substance use during the previous month, while p:egnant. The findings have implications for substance use prevention and incervention programs for pregnant and parenting adolescents. (Author)


In tests conducted with albino rats subject to investigation was the effect of sodium glutamate, or glutamine, daily introduced into the stomach in doses of 300 and 150 mg/kg, on the nucleic acids content in the splenic cell nuclei. All the animals taken in the experiment demonstrated a clearcut quantity of nucleonic RNA. By using a maximum dose of sodium glutamate and minimal one of glutamine a rise in the amount of DNA occurs in the nuclei of the splenic cells.


INTRODUCTION
Breastfeeding has unique health benefits. Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended during the first six months of life and should be maintained during complementary feeding. Alternatively, infant formulas, which are designed to mimic human breastmilk to promote similar metabolic and growth profiles, can be used. This study aimed to assess the opinion of Portuguese paediatricians with expertise in nutrition on the composition, benefits and indications of commercialised infant formulas.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A survey based on the Delphi method with application of a questionnaire developed by a scientific committee was issued to a panel of paediatricians with expertise in nutrition. An initial questionnaire that included 65 items covering 11 areas was administered in two rounds.

RESULTS
Twenty-one experts participated, and the final response rate was 87.5%. The panel was in agreement in 68.3% of the enquired items, namely that infant formulas should be used only when breastfeeding is not possible. Notwithstanding, the opinion of the panel was heterogeneous on a number of issues, particularly those related to the advantages and indications of 'special' or modified infant formulas (partially hydrolysed formulas and anti-colic, anti-constipation and anti-regurgitation formulas) and of young child formulas ('growing-up formulas').

DISCUSSION
A wide consensus was recorded on the nutritional quality, food safety and indications attributed to commercialized infant formulas.

CONCLUSION
The opinion of Portuguese experts was consensual in most of the enquired topics. The absence of consensus was mostly related to issues that remain under debate in the literature and lack robust scientific evidence.


In this paper, we propose an effective macroblock (MB) layer rate control (RC) scheme with low complexity for efficient H.264/AVC video encoder hardware implementation. Linear mean absolute difference (MAD) prediction is crucial in H.264/AVC rate control. The MAD prediction accuracy in JVT G012 is imperfect with high complexity. Therefore we propose a new MAD prediction arithmetic which computes MAD by elaborately controlling the weight of the MADs for well-selected spatiotemporally neighboring MBs. The proposed scheme not only considers the problem of data dependencies due to MB level pipeline, but also the MB scan order of zigzag MB encoding which is used to improve the data reuse in hardware encoder implementation. Extensive experiments results show that the proposed RC algorithm can further improve the rate-distortion performance, and achieves an average PSNR gain of 0.15dB. Meanwhile the computational complexity is kept low compared to the JVT-G012 RC arithmetic adopted in JM10.2 reference software.


We analyze how entrepreneurial firms match product innovation mode with optimal financing under the different states of technological ability and bootstraps by applying principal-agent theory. According to some assumptions that bank finance takes the form of debt whereas venture capital finance resembles private equity, a basic incentive model with two state and sub-state variables is established. The analysis shows that entrepreneur prefers to radical innovation on the circumstance of high technological ability while entrepreneur would prefer to carry out incremental innovation with medium technological capability. The optimal financing is up to cash flow distribution of product innovation pattern and firm's bootstraps. Venture capital finance is optimal only when cash flow distribution is highly risky and positively skewed .Or vice versa, bank finance is optimistic.


In the panorama of agricultural mulches photo-reflective films represent a valuable support for both spring and summer cultivations, both in open field and under greenhouse. In fact, thanks to the high reflectivity of these films, thermal aggressions, that cause serious problems to plants mainly in the transplant phase when traditional black mulch films are used, are avoided. Yellow or silver colored photo-reflective mulch films, thanks to their optical properties, protect plants from damages, assure the mulching effect, give a valid support to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and, according to our recent experimental trials, greatly contribute in saving water. This further advantage is determined by the high water condensation under the mulch film, which gives rise to the reduction of irrigation. Water saving means also energy saving for electric system providing water circulation. Trials performed at different environmental and geographical contexts confirm that the use of photo-reflective mulch films during the hot season helps to save water up to 30%, respect to the traditional black mulches, with very small, simple and cheap changes in the agronomical practice. In this paper, we analyze the optical properties of photo-reflective mulch films and we demonstrate their contribution for saving water in agriculture. In this context, the use of thermography allowed us to monitor the stress states of plants induced by the water scarcity, but also to study more advanced techniques, based on IR imaging, able to manage in the best way possible the use of water in agriculture.


Introduction: Incidence of supraglottic carcinoma is more common which may be related to poor nutrition with personal habit like smoking and chewing habit of betel leaves with various ingredient.
Objectives: To find out the incidence, age and sex distribution, occupation and clinical presentation of supraglottic carcinoma of larynx.
Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, 30 patients of supraglottic carcinoma are collected from department of ENT and Head-Neck surgery, Combined Military Hospital, Dhaka from July 2012 to July 2013.
Results: Patients belongs to different age groups, ranging from 40 to 80 years and maximum patients are in 50 to 60 years of age. The male to female ratio is 5:1. In this series, majority of patients are smoker (66.66%). Most of them are from low socio-economic group. The incidence of lymph node involvement is 40% (12 cases). Maximum number of patients presents with exophytic lesion (60%). Ulcerative lesions are 26.66% and infiltrative lesions are 13.33%. Maximum numbers of patients have T2 lesions (80%). T1 lesions are 20%. In this study all cases are histopathologically confirmed to be squamous cell carcinoma (100%). In this study, all cases are M0 state.
Conclusion: Supraglottic carcinoma occurs between 40-80 years of age, more common in 5th and 6th decades. Chewing betel nut and tobacco should be avoided to reduce the risk of supraglottic carcinoma and early presentation & diagnosis will improve the prognosis of patients.
JAFMC Bangladesh. Vol 15, No 2 (December) 2019: 224-226


Abstract Background The 12-lead electrocardiogram shows a broad range of abnormal patterns in trained athletes. The primary end point of this study was to investigate P wave dispersion, and P wave durations and related factors in different genders applying for registration to the School of Physical Education and Sports. Methods and Results From 2006 to 2009, a total of 2093 students – 1674 boys with a mean age of 19.8 plus or minus 1.9 years and 419 girls with a mean age of 19.1 plus or minus 1.8 years – were included in the study. All 12 leads of the resting electrocardiogram were evaluated for P wave dispersion and electrocardiogram abnormalities. Baseline parameters such as age, body weight, body height, and body mass index, as well as electrocardiogram findings such as P wave maximal duration and P wave dispersion, were significantly higher in boys than in girls. Of all the parameters tested with correlation analysis, only gender (p = 0.03) (r = 0.04), body weight (p < 0.001) (r = 0.07), body height (p = 0.004) (r = 0.06), and body mass index (p = 0.01) (p = 0.05) were correlated with P wave dispersion. Conclusion The frequencies of all electrocardiogram abnormalities, P wave dispersion, and P wave maximal duration were higher in boys as compared with girls in an unselected student population applying for registration to the School of Physical Education and Sports; in addition, P wave dispersion was correlated with gender, body weight, body height, and body mass index.


Abstract Objective: The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of thermal aging and five different discolouring solutions on the shear bond strength (SBS), discoloration, and slot surface roughness (SSR) of Flash-Free ceramic brackets. Methods: A total of 70 human premolar teeth were randomly divided into seven groups: group 1: no procedure was performed; group 2: Only thermal cycling (TC); group 3: TC + immersion in cherry juice for 72 hr; group 4: TC + immersion in coffee for 72 hr; Group 5: TC + immersion in Coke for 72 hr; group 6: TC + immersion in artificial gastric acid for 24 hr; group 7: TC + immersion in artificial saliva for 72 hr. SBS values were determined by using a universal testing machine. The discolouration was evaluated using a Vita Easy Shade spectrophotometer which is based on the International Commission on Illumination system (CIE Lab colour system). A 3D optical profilometer was used to measure the roughness of the bracket slot bases. Results: Coke, coffee, cherry juice, and gastric acid all significantly increased slot surface roughness. There was, however, no statistically significant difference in the roughness caused by these liquids. The lowest SBS value was observed in the gastric acid group. Gastric acid and Coke were observed to induce the largest colour change. Conclusions: Thermal aging and different liquids cause discolouration and increased surface roughness on APC flash-free brackets. The adhesive bond strength was clinically acceptable even after immersion in gastric acid.


Objectives: To measure the geographical variation in prevalence of cardiovascular disease, risk factors, and their control in a nationally representative sample of older British women. Methods: Baseline survey using general practitioner record review, a self completed questionnaire, research nurse interview, and physical examination in a randomly selected sample of women aged 60–79 drawn from 23 towns in England, Scotland, and Wales. Results: Of 7173 women invited and eligible to participate, information was obtained on 4286 (60%). One in five women had a doctor diagnosis of any one of myocardial infarction, angina, heart failure, stroke, or peripheral vascular disease. Fifty per cent of women were hypertensive, 12% smoked, and over one quarter were obese. Fifty per cent had a total cholesterol level greater than 6.5 mmol/l, though only 3% had low high density lipoprotein concentrations. Cardiovascular disease prevalence varied by geographical region being highest in Scotland: age adjusted prevalence (95% confidence intervals) 25.0% (21.5% to 28.8%) and lowest in South England: age adjusted prevalence (95% confidence intervals) 15.4% (13.5% to 17.6%). The geographical variations in cardiovascular disease prevalence were attenuated by adjustment for risk factors and socioeconomic position; further adjustment for health service use (as indicated by aspirin or statin use) reduced the differences further. However, variation remained even after full adjustment for these factors: odds ratio (95% confidence intervals) comparing Midlands and Wales to South England 1.15 (0.82 to 1.61) and comparing Scotland to South England 1.53 (1.08 to 2.14). Of women with cardiovascular disease, 12% were current smokers, a third had uncontrolled hypertension, a third were obese, and 90% had a blood cholesterol over 5 mmol/l. Only 41% were taking antiplatelet drugs and 22% were taking a statin. Conclusions: Older British women have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease and risk factors than previously documented. The workload consequences of attempting to control risk factors and ensure optimal secondary prevention for older British women are considerable. Geographical variations in cardiovascular disease prevalence in older women are somewhat, but not fully, explained by variations in major risk factors, socioeconomic position, and health service utilisation.


It is considered that, in the mixing process of carbon black filled rubber systems, the degree of polymer-carbon black interactions and the degree of carbon black dispersion in polymer proceed at the same time. If these structural changes are evaluated respectively, it is considered possible to quantify the kneading state of the rubber compound more precisely. Attention is paid here to the dynamic viscoelastic properties with the rubber compound.It was found that an apparent activation energy (Ea) calculated from the temperature dependence of dynamic viscosity modulus is an effective index for measuring the degree of polymer-carbon black interaction. And carbon black dispersion was quantified by dynamic elasticity modulus change ratio (Gr) at dynamic elastic modulus (19.98%) versus that (0.98%), taking notice of Payne effect. These indices can be calculated simply and easily from dynamic viscoelastic property measurements. This testing method can be applied to estimate the kneading state of the rubber compound.


Although research with digital airborne remote sensing data has been undertaken in different ecoregions to classify forested areas, the potential role of such imagery in deriving information to assist forest management has not yet been fully defined. The objective of this study was to determine the extent that the addition of texture could improve spectral classification of high spatial resolution images (pixel size 1m). These images represented pure and mixed wood forest stands from ecoregions in Alberta and New Brunswick, Canada. This study employed a judicious, selective application of texture to stands within a hierarchical classification framework. In Alberta, the addition of texture made a modest improvement in classification accuracy from 60% to 65%. In New Brunswick, the application of texture to selected land cover types resulted in an overall 12% improvement in classification accuracy. The addition of image texture increased classification accuracy for high spatial detail imagery relative to low spatial detail imagery. Incorporating texture into classification also improved classification accuracies for hardwood stands more so than for softwood stands, but greater attention to stand structure and composition will be needed in future work. Classification accuracies on the order of 60-65% were achieved with simple texture derivatives, maximum likelihood decision rules and conventional classification methods.


Level of profit sharing given by Islamic Banks which is one factor public appeal to save funds in the products of Islamic Banks but in level of profit sharing for giving of Islamic Banks still refers to the rate of Conventional Banks. Still referring to Conventional Bank interest rates make people still think that the same Islamic Banks with Conventional Banks. This research purpose to analyze the effect of financial ratios and interest rate to the level of profit sharing of mudharabah deposits Islamic Banks in Indonesia. The population used is the quarterly financial statements throughout Islamic Banks in Indonesia 2011-2013. Selection of the samples tested in this study using purposive sampling method, 6 selected Islamic Banks. Analysis tools in this study is used multiple regression analysis using SPSS 19.0 software. The variables used in this study are Return On Asset (ROA), BOPO, Interest Rate, Financing To Deposits Ratio (FDR) and Non Performing Financing (NPF) as the independent variable, and level of profit sharing mudaraba deposits as the dependent variable. Partial results show that Return On Asset (ROA) and Financing To Deposits Ratio (FDR) significant positive effect on level of profit sharing mudaraba deposits while the BOPO, Interest Rate and Non Performing Financing (NPF) have no effect. DOI: 10.15408/ess.v5i1.2333


The inspection method of intercell connections and pole terminals of lead-acid storage batteries is upgraded. The method allows reducing losses from rejects, increasing reliability of check of intercell connections and pole terminals, improving the quality of storage batteries.


I began my social work career in England in the early 1970s shortly after a major
national reorganization of social work services. Formerly separate local authority
Children's and Welfare Departments – the latter primarily dealing with adults in need of
social work and other welfare services - had been merged to form unified social work
agencies. For the last thirty years these Social Services Departments have provided the
main organizational basis for the provision of social work services for children. While
some NGOs provide social work services to children in the UK, their overall role in the
provision of social work services is considerably less than in Hong Kong. Other children's
social work services are provided by the education welfare or education social work
services of local authority education departments, although the role of education
welfare officers or education social workers is largely confined to dealing with truancy –
and often in a law enforcement capacity - and there has been little success in
developing a wider school social work role as would be recognisable in other countries .
The main reason for sketching in this background is that this system is all about to
change, so children's social work in England is currently in a state of considerable
turmoil


A pulsed wire discharge (PWD) apparatus for mass production of nanosized powders was developed. The apparatus had a wire feeder, and could prepare 1.5 g of Cu powder in 200 sec. The mean surface diameter of Cu powder was 86 nm. The particle size distribution of the powder prepared by 100 discharges was increased than that by one discharge. In addition, the median diameter of the powder after the 100 discharges was larger than that by one discharge. A part of the nanosized powders in production chamber of the apparatus would be grown by the deposition of plasma or vapor formed by the next discharge.


From 2005-2009 the author led Scrum teams in churches in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida, and Delaware. Scrum was designed to increase productivity and improve quality through teamwork. This experience report shows how Scrum was implemented in non-profit organizations to break down silos of knowledge and activity, encourage communication and collaboration, improve the working environment and personal relationships, and drive higher velocity and quality throughout the organization. Nonprofits have impediments that are difficult to overcome – part time and volunteer workers, narrow specialization, little to no experience with project teams, and political problems whose roots can go back as far as 1692. Scrum as an institutional change agent is invaluable to a church.


Microtubule targeting agents (MTAs) constitute a class of drugs for cancer treatment. Despite many MTAs have been proven to significantly improve the treatment outcomes of various malignancies, resistance has usually occurred. By selection from a two million entry chemical library based on the efficacy and safety, we identified purine-type compounds that were active against lung small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The purine compound 5a (GRC0321) was an MTA with good effects against NSCLC. Lung cancer cells H1975 treated with 5a could induce microtubule fragmentation, leading to G2/M cell cycle arrest and intrinsic apoptosis. Compound 5a directly targeted katanin and regulated the severing activity of katanin, which cut the cellular microtubules into short pieces and activated c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK). The microtubule fragmenting effect of 5a is a unique mechanism in MTAs. It might overcome the resistance problems that most of the MTAs have faced.


The Higher-Order Theory for Cylindrical Functionally Graded Materials is employed to investigate the effectiveness of thermal barrier coatings in mitigating deformation mechanisms in thrust cell liners leading to experimentally observed failure modes. The results indicate that under the employed thermo-mechanical loading histories coating thickness has a great impact on temperature and deformation fields within the cooling channel wall of a thrust cell liner, with thicker coatings producing more desirable temperature and deformation fields. Functional grading of metallic substrate and coating materials does not produce improvement in terms of overall thrust cell liner performance. Further, the application of grading is potentially detrimental due to likely roughening of the thrust cell liner wall in the combustion chamber as a result of local deformations around relatively coarse inclusions. The homogenized approach to analyzing the graded coating effectiveness is incapable of capturing these localized effects, leading to erroneous conclusions.


In order to localize the distribution of muscarinic receptors over the surface of cultured myenteric neurons, an autoradiographic procedure for detecting muscarinic receptors (using [3H]propylbenzilylcholine mustard; [3H]PrBCM) has been combined with an immunofluorescence procedure visualizing neuronal morphology (using an antibody raised against rat brain synaptosomes; anti-CTX). Using this technique, muscarinic receptors were localized over discrete areas of the neuronal cell surface. Receptors were seen to be widely distributed over the somata and neurites of 10–20% of cultured myenteric neurons. The greatest concentration of receptors occurred over the cell somata and proximal neurites. Receptors appeared evenly distributed over labeled cell somata, where their density was estimated to be between 30 and 100 receptors/micron2. Distal regions of neurites were labeled intermittently with some varicosities and intervaricosities being labeled while others were unlabeled. Growth cones and nerve endings of labeled neurites were consistently labeled. The ability to localize muscarinic receptors on a subpopulation of immunocytochemically identified neurons enhances our understanding of muscarinic neurotransmission in myenteric neurons and provides an experimental system for the investigation of regulatory influences on neuronal neurotransmitter receptor expression and distribution.


A subline of P388 leukemia resistant to adriamycin (P388/ADR) was developed by exposure to the drug in vivo. Resistance to adriamycin proved to be a stable characteristic of P388/ADR. There was no significant inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis in P388/ADR cells in vivo following a dose of 10 mg/kg of adriamycin in contrast to a prolonged and complete inhibition, particularly of DNA synthesis, observed in parental sensitive P388 leukemia cells. P388/ADR proved to be completely cross-resistant to a spectrum of anthracycline derivatives. Cross-resistance was observed to nonanthracycline DNA intercalating agents (with the exception of anthramycin), to agents which interfere with mitotic spindle function, and to antineoplastic inhibitors of protein biosynthesis (with the exception of bruceantin). P388/ADR was sensitive to antimetabolites and alkylating agents. Cross-resistance was also observed to several agents (ICRF-159, a terephthalanilide, taxol, lymphosarcin, bouvardin, and a crude extract of Ervatamia hyneana) whose mechanisms of action have not yet been clearly defined. This observation has proved useful in providing a lead for determination of mechanism of action of some of these drugs. The pattern of cross-resistance of a subline of P388 leukemia resistant to daunorubicin, though not studied extensively, appears to be similar to that of P388/ADR.


Several biscarborane-type derivatives of 8-iodo-1,2-dicarba-closo-dodecaborane (1), suitable as the precursors of linear metallacarborane-based molecular rods, were prepared. The synthesized closo-compounds contained two carborane moieties connected through a rigid linear unsaturated linker. The linkers were based on ethynylene and para-phenylene fragments and their combinations. The deboronation of all reported closo-compounds was selective and afforded nido-products with open pentagonal faces on opposite sides of the molecule, parallel to each other and perpendicular to the main molecular axis. All of the closo and nido products were characterized by a variety of physical methods (NMR, HRMS, IR). The structures of closo-carboranes 3, 6, 9, and 14 and nido-carboranes 15 and 17 were established by X-ray diffraction.


Physicians use ultrasound scans to do diagnosis by making real-time images of internal organs, because such scans are safe, inexpensive, and non-invasive. However, aging society and limited numbers of physician make it difficult for patients in remote areas to be diagnosed. Besides, physician's technical skills affect the interpretation of the scans and thus the results of the examination. Thus, development of a robotic system for remote diagnosis is required to solve the problems. For this purpose, we proposed the development of a robotic system for automatic ultrasound imaging focusing on human liver. In this paper, we present several elements developed for the robotic system. First element is an algorithm for estimating the position of liver to guide the probe to scan initial position which is the epigastric region. Second element is ultrasound probe scanning protocol design to obtain whole image of the liver. Third element is force control algorithm to maintain the contact between the probe and human body even though the patient is breathing. Fourth element is an algorithm for detecting and correcting the probe's position when improper ultrasound images occurred. These algorithms with an implementation program control the apparatus: a Mitsubishi Electric's MELFA RV-1 six axis manipulator and tested on human subjects. The results confirmed the effectiveness of the approach.


Abstract In order to illustrate the effect of damping on the response of a base-isolated building, a large investigation was undertaken. It consists of a parametric study, which takes into account the progressive variation of the damping ratio (10% to 30%) under different seismic excitations. Using a time history analysis of displacements and accelerations at various levels of the building, the results show that the efficiency of the isolator increases with the assumed damping ratio, provided that the latter is less than or equal to 20%. Beyond this value, the isolator becomes less useful.


By the anniversary of UARR, it was decided to collect the memories of the founders and active members of the association, for which the Questionnaire was developed, sending out to everyone who was somehow involved in the creation of this trade union. We have received some materials from leading religious scholars of Ukraine, whose publication we start with this issue. All respondents received the same questions, subjectively submitting their memories. Consider that more than a quarter of a century has passed since the creation of the UARR, something could be forgotten, something may be distorted, but these materials are of paramount importance as they tell the story of the first professional association of religious scholars in Ukraine, which is well known not only in Ukraine but also abroad.


Adult impala engage in a form of reciprocal allogrooming distinguished by a high degree of reciprocity and ***lack of influence of dominance or relatedness on partner preference or distribution of grooming between partners. A previous study on reciprocal allogrooming of captive newborn impala lambs in a zoological park found that the allogrooming emerged as early as the first week after birth and was identical in structure and reciprocity to allogrooming in adults. Because these findings of apparently unique allogrooming behavior of newborn impala could have been a reflection of the effects of being born and raised in a small, stable captive herd, it was necessary to investigate reciprocal allogrooming in newborn impala in the wild. The emergence, reciprocity, rate, and partner distribution of reciprocal allogrooming in wild newborn impala were observed at two study sites: a national park in Zimbabwe and a game farm in South Africa. Maternal one-way grooming between mother and newborn emerged as distinct from reciprocal allogrooming and rapidly declined after week 1 postpartum. Reciprocal allogrooming by lambs was first seen between 5 and 8 d postpartum, and as soon as the behavior occurred it was the same basic pattern as seen in adult impala. The reciprocity index for lambs was near 0.5, indicating that lambs delivered as much grooming during an encounter as the partner. Lambs were grooming frequently with non-mother adults and other lambs by week 1 or 2; by week 3 and onward the allogrooming rate of lambs was more than twice that of their mothers, as predicted by the body size principle of the programmed grooming model. The strong predisposition of neonatal impala lambs to deliver reciprocal allogrooming as early as the first or second week postpartum would appear to reflect a genetically acquired adaptation to the threat of tick infestation in their natural habitat.


Objectives
Use of cleaning and disinfecting products is associated with work-related asthma among healthcare workers, but the specific levels and factors that affect exposures remain unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the determinants of selected volatile organic compound (VOC) exposures in healthcare settings.

Methods
Personal and mobile-area air measurements (n = 143) from 100 healthcare workers at four hospitals were used to model the determinants of ethanol, acetone, 2-propanol, d-limonene, α-pinene, and chloroform exposures. Hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to partition workers into groups with similar cleaning task/product-use profiles. Linear mixed-effect regression models using log-transformed VOC measurements were applied to evaluate the association of individual VOCs with clusters of task/product use, industrial hygienists' grouping (IH) of tasks, grouping of product application, chemical ingredients of the cleaning products used, amount of product use, and ventilation.

Results
Cluster analysis identified eight task/product-use clusters that were distributed across multiple occupations and hospital units, with the exception of clusters consisting of housekeepers and floor strippers/waxers. Results of the mixed-effect models showed significant associations between selected VOC exposures and several clusters, combinations of IH-generated task groups and chemical ingredients, and product application groups. The patient/personal cleaning task using products containing chlorine was associated with elevated levels of personal chloroform and α-pinene exposures. Tasks associated with instrument sterilizing and disinfecting were significantly associated with personal d-limonene and 2-propanol exposures. Surface and floor cleaning and stripping tasks were predominated by housekeepers and floor strippers/waxers, and use of chlorine-, alcohol-, ethanolamine-, and quaternary ammonium compounds-based products was associated with exposures to chloroform, α-pinene, acetone, 2-propanol, or d-limonene.

Conclusions
Healthcare workers are exposed to a variety of chemicals that vary with tasks and ingredients of products used during cleaning and disinfecting. The combination of product ingredients with cleaning and disinfecting tasks were associated with specific VOCs. Exposure modules for questionnaires used in epidemiologic studies might benefit from seeking information on products used within a task context.


Catastrophic failure in brittle materials is often due to the rapid growth and coalescence of cracks aided by high internal stresses. Hence, accurate prediction of maximum internal stress is critical to predicting time to failure and improving the fracture resistance and reliability of materials. Existing high-fidelity methods, such as the Finite-Discrete Element Model (FDEM), are limited by their high computational cost. Therefore, to reduce computational cost while preserving accuracy, a novel deep learning model, "StressNet," is proposed to predict the entire sequence of maximum internal stress based on fracture propagation and the initial stress data. More specifically, the Temporal Independent Convolutional Neural Network (TI-CNN) is designed to capture the spatial features of fractures like fracture path and spall regions, and the Bidirectional Long Short-term Memory (Bi-LSTM) Network is adapted to capture the temporal features. By fusing these features, the evolution in time of the maximum internal stress can be accurately predicted. Moreover, an adaptive loss function is designed by dynamically integrating the Mean Squared Error (MSE) and the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), to reflect the fluctuations in maximum internal stress. After training, the proposed model is able to compute accurate multi-step predictions of maximum internal stress in approximately 20 seconds, as compared to the FDEM run time of 4 hours, with an average MAPE of 2% relative to test data.