In this research, the pathogenesis and presence of transplacental pestivirus infection were investigated in different flocks. For this purpose, a total of 661 pregnant ewes and 29 rams were used. 174 of 661 pregnant ewes were sampled twice in the second or the third month of gestation and as well as on the day of gestation, whereas 487 of them were sampled only on the day of delivery. In addition, precolostral blood samples of 770 lambs born from those pregnants ewes, 109 of which delivered twins, were also withdrawn. Pestivirus was not detected in the blood samples tested. However, in some precolostral blood samples from lambs, pestivirus specific antibodies were detected indicating transplacental transmission of the virus during late pregnancy.


CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Breast cancer accounts for approximately one quarter of all cancers in females. Estrogen and progesterone receptor testing has become an essential part of the clinical evaluation of breast carcinoma patients, and accurate results are critical in identifying patients who may benefit from hormone therapy. The present study had the aim of investigating the concordance of the results from hormone receptor tests between a reference laboratory and local (or community) laboratories in Brazil. DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective study at a reference pathology laboratory. METHODS: The concordance in the results from hormone receptor tests between a reference laboratory and 146 local laboratories in Brazil was compared in relation to 500 invasive breast carcinoma cases, using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: There was concordance in 89.4% (447/500 cases) and 85.0% (425/500 cases) of the results from estrogen (k = 0.744, P < 0.001) and progesterone (k = 0.688, P < 0.001) receptor tests, respectively, between local and reference laboratories. This was similar to findings in other countries. The false negative rates from estrogen and progesterone receptor tests in local laboratories were 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively. The false positive rates from estrogen and progesterone receptor tests in local laboratories were 15.5% and 16.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Technical and result interpretation issues may explain most of the discordances in hormone receptor testing in local laboratories. Validation of estrogen and progesterone receptor tests at local laboratories, with rigorous quality control measures, is strongly recommended in order to avoid erroneous treatment of breast cancer patients.


Under laminar, microscale flow conditions, rapid mixing can be difficult to achieve. In these low Reynolds number flows, mixing rates are governed by molecular diffusion, and in the absence of enhanced mixing techniques, mixing lengths and residence times can be much longer than most applications will allow. A number of active mixing techniques have been developed to improve mixing; however, they can be complex to implement and expensive to fabricate. In this paper, we describe a passive mixing method that utilizes a series of ultrahydrophobic surfaces. Our previous experiments have demonstrated that a shear-free air-water interface supported between hydrophobic microridges results in large slip velocities along these ultrahydrophobic surfaces, and significant drag reduction. By aligning the microridges and therefore the air-water interface at an oblique angle to the flow direction, a secondary flow is generated, which is shown to efficiently stretch and fold the fluid elements and reduce the mixing length by more than an order of magnitude compared to that of a smooth microchannel. The designs of the ultrahydrophobic surfaces were optimized through experiments and numerical simulations. A Y-shaped channel was used to bring two streams of water together, one tagged with a fluorescent dye. A confocal microscope was used to measure fluorescence intensity and dye concentration. Quantitative agreement between the experiments and the numerical simulations was achieved for both the flow patterns and degree of mixing. Increasing the angle of the microridges was found to reduce the mixing length up to a critical angle of about 60°, beyond which the mixing length was found to increase with further increases to the angle of the microridge. The mixing enhancement was found to be much less sensitive to changes in microridge width or separation.


The Power quality fluctuations of the distributed power system show a serious impact on the robust and sustainable operation of the distributed power system. These power quality fluctuations may be caused due to several reasons like leakage, faults and ageing of the lines. This project proposes a new algorithm to generate reference voltage for a controlled mode distribution static compensator (DSTATCOM) operating in voltage-control mode. The proposed scheme exhibits several advantages compared to traditional voltage-controlled DSTATCOM where the reference voltage is arbitrarily taken as 1.0 p.u. The proposed scheme ensures that unity power factor (UPF) is achieved, while regulating the voltage at the load terminal, during load change, which is not possible in the traditional method. Also, the compensator injects lower currents and, therefore, reduces losses in the feeder and voltage-source inverter. This scheme allows DSTATCOM to tackle power-quality issues by providing power factor correction, harmonic elimination, load balancing, and voltage regulation based on the load requirement.  Simulation and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.


This study intends to analyze how the adoption of Green Innovation (GI) practices by companies of the industrial sector promotes the development of Green Technologies (GT) and Green Growth (GG) in Developed Countries (DC) and Emerging Countries (EC). The survey sample consisted of 8659 observations from DC industrial companies and 1958 observations from EC companies, from data collected from Thomson Reuters and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Structural Equation Modeling was used for variable relationship analysis. The results pointed out that, in DC, GI practices impacts positively the GT of the countries, but this does not occur with the GG, which are negatively affected by the adoption of GI practices by the companies. On the other hand, in EC, only environmental investments positively affected the development of GT in these countries. And in relation to the GG, the GI practices of Environmental Management and Environmental Policies positively influenced this growth. The survey results contribute to discussions on regional differences in the benefits of green innovation by companies in promoting sustainable development. In addition, it can contribute with possible paths for companies and governments in setting goals to achieve SDG-8, SDG-9 and SDG-10.
Keywords: green innovation; green technology; green growth; SDG.


This paper presents a concurrent multiscale method for the stress analysis of solids using a coupled meshless and molecular dynamic analysis. A new transition algorithm using transition particles was employed to ensure the compatibility of both displacements and their gradients. The equivalent continuum strain energy density was obtained locally based on the atomic potential and Cauchy-Born rule, and hence plasticity can be easily handled in not only the atomic domain but also the continuum domain. Numerical examples demonstrated that the present multiscale technique has a promising potential of application to multiscale systems subjected to deformation.


The space requirements of atoms are empirically known to play key roles in determining structure and reactivity across compounds ranging from simple molecules to extended solid state phases. Despite the importance of this concept, the effects of atomic size on stability remain difficult to extract from quantum mechanical calculations. Recently, we outlined a quantitative yet visual and intuitive approach to the theoretical analysis of atomic size in periodic structures: the DFT-Chemical Pressure (DFT-CP) analysis. In this Article, we describe the methodological details of this DFT-CP procedure, with a particular emphasis on refinements of the method to make it useful for a wider variety of systems. A central improvement is a new integration scheme with broader applicability than our earlier Voronoi cell method: contact volume space-partitioning. In this approach, we make explicit our assumption that the pressure at each voxel is most strongly influenced by its two closest atoms. The unit cell is divided into regions corresponding to individual interatomic contacts, with each region containing all points that share the same two closest atoms. The voxel pressures within each contact region are then averaged, resulting in effective interatomic pressures. The method is illustrated through the verification of the role of Ca-Ca repulsion (deduced earlier from empirical considerations by Corbett and co-workers) in the long-period superstructure of the W5Si3 type exhibited by Ca36Sn23.


Recently, Bauke and Mertens conjectured that the local statistics of energies in random spin systems with discrete spin space should, in most circumstances, be the same as in the random energy model. We show that this conjecture holds true as well for directed polymers in random environment. We also show that, under certain conditions, this conjecture holds for directed polymers even if energy levels that grow moderately with the volume of the system are considered.


We investigate the robustness of reactive control protocols synthesized to guarantee system's correctness with respect to given temporal logic specifications. We consider uncertainties in open finite transition systems due to unmodeled transitions. The resulting robust synthesis problem is formulated as a temporal logic game. In particular, if the specification is in the so-called generalized reactivity [1] fragment of linear temporal logic, so is the augmented specification in the resulting robust synthesis problem. Hence, the robust synthesis problem belongs to the same complexity class with the nominal synthesis problem, and is amenable to polynomial time solvers. Additionally, we discuss reasoning about the effects of different levels of uncertainties on robust synthesizability and demonstrate the results on a simple robot motion planning scenario.


The years since 2000 have seen a surprising new wave of democratic breakthroughs in the postcommunist countries of Serbia, Georgia, and Ukraine. This article compares and contrasts these three cases, naming seven common factors which made the breakthroughs in these countries possible: 1) a semi-autocratic rather than fully autocratic regime; 2) an unpopular incumbent; 3) a united and organized opposition; 4) an ability quickly to drive home the point that voting results were falsified, 5) enough independent media to inform citizens about the falsified vote, 6) a political opposition capable of mobilizing tens of thousands or more demonstrators to protest electoral fraud, and 7) divisions among the regime's coercive forces.


Abstract This paper concerns the interplay between the physical geometry of a wave energy converter (WEC) and the control strategy adopted for the converter, with the ultimate aim of optimising the energy output of the device. An energy-based performance function is employed and we attempt to perform numerical optimisation of a heaving buoy employing a latching control strategy. We allow both draught and radius of the axisymmetric buoy to be adjusted using a numerical optimisation. A linear time-domain hydrodynamic program is used in order to simulate the device motion, while the optimization problem is solved by means of a simplex method. Results show the difference in the frequency response of an optimal buoy for a particular sea-state designed with and without knowledge of the control system.


Background Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders and may be influenced by antidepressant use. This study investigated the association of oxidative stress, measured by plasma levels of F2-isoprostanes and 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) reflecting oxidative lipid and DNA damage respectively, with MDD, anxiety disorders and antidepressant use in a large cohort. Method Data was derived from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety including patients with current (N = 1619) or remitted (N = 610) MDD and/or anxiety disorder(s) (of which N = 704 antidepressant users) and 612 controls. Diagnoses were established with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Plasma 8-OHdG and F2-isoprostanes were measured using LC-MS/MS. ANCOVA was performed adjusted for sampling, sociodemographic, health and lifestyle variables. Results F2-isoprostanes did not differ between controls and patients, or by antidepressant use. Patients with current disorders had lower 8-OHdG (mean 42.1 pmol/l, 95% CI 40.4–43.8) compared to controls (45.0 pmol/l, 95% CI 42.9–47.2; p < 0.001) after adjustment for sampling, sociodemographics and lifestyle, but these differences disappeared after further adjustment for antidepressant use (p = 0.562). Antidepressant users had lower 8-OHdG levels (38.2 pmol/l, 95% CI 36.5–39.9) compared to controls (44.9 pmol/l, 95% CI 43.2–46.6; Cohen's d = 0.21, p < 0.001). Results for 8-OHdG were comparable across disorders (MDD and/or anxiety disorders), and all antidepressant types (SSRIs, TCAs, other antidepressants). Conclusion Contrary to previous findings this large-scale study found no increased oxidative stress in MDD and anxiety disorders. Antidepressant use was associated with lower oxidative DNA damage, suggesting antidepressants may have antioxidant effects.


In an investigation into the cause of symptoms in gold-miners who have no radiological silicosis, the relationship of dyspnoea and physiological disturbances to dust exposure was examined. Forty-five subjects, aged 41 to 45 years, with normal chest radiographs and long service underground were chosen for study from the population of miners past and present. Thirty-four men only were tested, but the validity of the sample was checked by comparison with a similar group of miners reported previously. Each individual's dust exposure was estimated in "particle-hours". A detailed history, including smoking habits, was followed by a clinical examination and a battery of lung function tests in each case. No significant relationship was found between dyspnoea and dust exposure or smoking. However, a negative correlation was observed between dust exposure and effort tests, implying that exercise capacity appeared best in those men whose dust exposure was greatest. Possible reasons for this finding are discussed. On the other hand, dyspnoea did correlate with airway obstruction and hyperventilation on effort, indicating a physiological rather than a psychological basis for the symptoms. Further, the higher incidence of cough, sputum, and rhonchi in the more disabled subjects suggested that chronic bronchitis might be the basis of their symptoms, but the cause of the bronchitis remains to be identified. It seems that dust exposure alone was not the cause, but the findings do not exclude the possibility of its being related to the occupation of mining with stresses such as inhalation of fumes and rapid changes in temperature, humidity, and altitude.


The recent growth of ""assisted living"" facilities and programs has shaken the foundations of the system of long-term care for the elderly in the United States. Fueled by consumer frustrations with the available options, notably nursing homes, the assisted living model emerged during the 1990s to promise shelter, health care, control of one's own life, less government involvement, and a ""real home."" But how well have the advocates and developers of assisted living delivered on such promises? And what are the model's implications for public policy and the future of caregiving? In Reinventing Care, David Barton Smith offers brilliant insights into those questions by examining the realities of assisted living in New York City. Encompassing the largest, most concentrated population of elderly in the United States, New York spends more per person caring for its seniors than any other urban center. Yet, while the size of the city's care system boggles the mind, it nevertheless contains the same elements that exist in other metropolitan areas and thus provides valuable lessons for the nation as a whole. Smith's study draws on twenty-five years of research, including hundreds of interviews and visits to representative facilities. He provides a succinct overview of how care is presently organized for New York's aging population and traces the history of the system up to the present. Among the key issues he addresses are the role of market forces and government regulation, the impact of class differences on access to quality care, and the ways in which perceptions of community affect the creation and management of assisted living programs. At the heart of the book are ten fascinating case studies, half of them focused on private-pay facilities and the other half on public-pay institutions. While finding that the actualities of assisted living rarely match the rhetoric of its proponents, Smith sees much to admire in its goals. He suggests tactics and strategies - such as promoting family- and community-based models of assisted living and adopting a standard of licensure for certain facilities - that could point the way to a better future.


Some learning takes place from the things that learners hear; more learning takes place from the things that learners see; and, still more learning transpires from what learners do. Hence, the importance of providing adequate, appropriate and varied instructional materials to concretize and substantiate learning. This study is a descriptive research that ascertained the extent of usage of instructional materials of teacher education faculty members of the Nueva Vizcaya State University, School Year 2011-2012. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from randomly selected teacher education students and teachers. Frequency counts, means, percentages and correlation procedures were employed to treat the collected data. The students thought that teachers use all kinds of instructional materials from time to time while the teachers perceived themselves to habitually use all kinds of instructional materials. Both teachers and students viewed that teachers remarkably consider the characteristics of the different instructional materials when utilizing them in the teaching-learning process. The teachers consider the age and year level of their students as well as their attendance to relevant seminars when using different kinds of instructional materials in facilitating learning. Additionally, the students' age and gender contribute to the teachers' effective use of instructional materials with consideration to their characteristics. Keywords: Education, learning aids, instructional materials, teaching-learning process,facilitating learning, student learning, quality instruction, Philippines


455 Dear editor, we read a very interesting article entitled "a personalized nomogram for predicting 3-year overall survival of patients with uterine carcinosarcoma in a tertiary care hospital in Southern Thailand" by Nanthamongkolkul et al. [1]. The authors presented their retrospective study analyzing a cohort of patients with uterine carcinosarcoma and how body mass index (BMI), International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, and adjuvant chemotherapy can affect the 3-year overall survival. The authors combined three parameters to form their nomogram; one presenting the individual's performance status (BMI), one presenting the tumor's aggressiveness (FIGO stage), and one presenting the medical approach (adjuvant chemotherapy). They aimed to form a nomogram in which these parameters could predict the 3-year overall survival of patients with uterine carcinosarcoma. Recently, Chen et al. [2] in their multivariate analysis showed that age, race, year of diagnosis, FIGO stage, and treatment type can also be associated with survival and formed a similar nomogram with a good predictive capacity. Another study formed a nomogram predicting the overall survival of patients with ovarian carcinosarcoma including the following parameters: age, grade, tumor site, surgery, and chemotherapy [3]. We would like to ask the authors whether the addition of patients' age and surgery might improve the prognostic performance of their nomogram. Moreover, Gao et al. [4] revealed in their study that log odds of metastatic lymph nodes (LODDS) has a better predicting accuracy compared to the number of positive lymph nodes and lymph node ratio. They suggest that a nomogram based on LODDS can offer an accurate predictive model of the overall survival of patients with uterine carcinosarcoma [4]. A possible modification of the nomogram by the team from Thailand might include such parameters (age, surgery, and LODDS). Would such additions improve their predictive model? Once again, we would like to thank the authors for their study.


Abstract New Zealand, an archipelago of more than 2000 islands, has a terrestrial fauna especially depauperate in native land mammals. Kiore (Rattus exulans) was the first of four rodent species introduced by people. A project to eradicate invasive rats from Kapiti Island in 1996, represented a turning point in the technology, complexity and scale at which managers of natural heritage on New Zealand islands could operate. This paper includes case studies of some significant projects targeting rodents, sometimes with other introduced mammals, undertaken in the 12 years following Kapiti. Details of the methods, costs, results and outcomes are provided for Kapiti, Whenua Hou, Tuhua, Campbell, Raoul, Hauturu, Taukihepa, and Pomona islands, collectively representing a total of over 23,000 ha of habitat cleared of introduced mammals. Research and trials undertaken in the Kapiti project provided the basis for future environmental risk assessments, allowing other projects to focus on knowledge gaps. New trends in invasive species eradication in New Zealand include more challenging multi-species eradication projects, some of which are undertaken by self- funded community groups. To summarise the lessons of the New Zealand experience: a programmatic approach is recommended which will fit each eradication within a context or framework of goals for those islands; address biosecurity issues at the outset; build capability to attempt the most challenging and rewarding projects; facilitate investment in monitoring and manage expectations of stakeholders to ensure their ongoing support. Success breeds success but is never guaranteed.


Convective instabilities of an autocatalytic propagating chemical front in a porous medium are studied. The front creates temperature and concentration gradients which then generate a density gradient. If the front propagates in the direction of the gravity field, adverse density stratification can lead to Rayleigh–Taylor or Rayleigh–Bénard instabilities. Differential diffusivity of mass and heat can also destabilize the front because of the double-diffusive phenomena. We compare the stability boundaries for the classical hydrodynamic case of a bounded layer without reaction and for the chemical front in the parameter space spanned by the thermal and solutal Rayleigh numbers. We show that chemical reactions profoundly affect the stability boundaries compared to the non-reactive situation because of a delicate coupling between the double-diffusive and Rayleigh–Taylor mechanisms with localized density perturbations driven by the reaction. In the reactive case, a linear stability analysis identifies three distinct stationary branches of the instability. They bound a region of stability that shrinks with increasing Lewis number, in marked contrast to the classical double-diffusive layer. In particular a region of global and local stable stratification is susceptible to a counter-intuitive mechanism of convective instability driven by chemistry and double-diffusion. The other two regions display an additional contribution of localized Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities. Displaced-particle arguments are employed in support of and to elucidate the entire stability boundary.


OLDS by DIAN YU (Under the Direction of Hui-Chin Hsu) ABSTRACT This study aims to explore the association between the pragmatic function of maternal verbal communication (i.e., message) and their 4-year-olds' self-regulation and the moderation effect of child sex on this association. Eighty-three children (45 boys) and their mothers participated in this study. Mother-child verbal communication was observed during a game. Maternal verbal communication was transcribed and classified as collaborative (e.g., support) and non-collaborative (e.g., control) acts. In a series of laboratory procedures, children's emotion regulation (affective expression and behavioral regulatory strategies) and inhibitory control (IC) were assessed to index self-regulation. Overall, results showed that maternal collaborative acts were unexpectedly associated with more negative and less neutral affective expressions (i.e., poorer emotion regulation skills). As expected, more maternal noncollaborative acts were related to poorer IC. Additionally, the association between maternal noncollaborative acts and IC were stronger for girls than boys. Limitations of this study and suggestions for future studies were discussed.


The content of starch and total SU/lars in bananas, papayas and oranges at different ages and stages
of maturity have been determined. In all the fruits studied, the starch content was found to be high in
y·ounger fr~its and then began to decrease as the fruits matured and ripened. Comparing all the three types
of fruits studied, bananas seemed to have the highest starch content followed by papayas and oranges.
The levels of sugars, on the other hand, were initially low, then continue to increase until the ripening stage.
Papayas (particularly the yellow flesh) appeared to have the highest concentration of sugars, followed
by Pisang Berangan, oranges and Pisang Nangka. The rates of starch and sugar changes varied with fruit
types and varieties


Boundary lubrication is known to be significantly important in the design of machine parts. The decrease in the efficiency of the system as well as its durability when operating in boundary lubrication conditions highlights the importance of this regime. Boundary lubrication involves many different physical, chemical and mechanical phenomena which make it difficult to understand the real mechanisms of friction, wear and lubrication. Tribochemistry is undoubtedly one of the most important processes occurring in boundary lubrication. Modelling such a complicated process needs a robust physical and chemical modelling framework that is capable of capturing different phenomena.
The majority of the modelling attempts in boundary lubrication covers the contact mechanics of rough surfaces with different numerical approaches. Despite the importance of the tribochemistry and its effect in reducing friction and wear of boundary lubricated contacts, there is no comprehensive modelling framework that considers tribochemistry into the boundary lubrication models.
In this work, tribochemistry was implemented into the deterministic contact mechanics simulation for elastic-perfectly plastic contact of rough surfaces. A tribochemical model for the growth of the ZDDP antiwear additive was developed based on the thermodynamics of interfaces that combines formation and removal of the tribofilm. The tribochemical model was then coupled with the contact mechanics model which was developed based on potential energy principles. A modification to Archard's wear equation was proposed which accounts for the role of ZDDP tribofilm in reducing the wear. This model was proposed based on the experimental observations of ZDDP in reducing wear.
The numerical framework was then validated against experiments. The wear prediction capability of the model was validated against experiments from Mini-Traction Machine in a rolling/sliding contact. The model is able to predict changes in the topography of the surfaces and this was validated with experiments on a Micro Pitting Rig (MPR).
The model shows a good potential in capturing the behaviours in boundary lubrication and opens new ways for further developments and testing the effect of different parameters in tribochemistry and wear. It can give insights in better understanding the real mechanisms of tribochemistry and also help in optimizing boundary lubricated contacts.


Advanced safety-critical control applications such as fly-by- wire and steer-by-wire are being realized as distributed systems comprising many embedded processors, sensors, and actuators interconnected via a communication medium. They have severe cost constraints but demand a high level of safety and performance. Recently, the authors in paper (Kandasamy et al., 2005) have developed a diagnosis approach for single rate steer-by-wire system. Motivated by the need for timely diagnosis of faulty actuators and processors in multi-rate fly-by-wire systems, we present a general method to implement failure diagnosis under deadline and resource constraints. The proposed method has been compared with the approach given in (Kandasamy et al., 2005). The diagnostic tasks are executed concurrently with control tasks so that actuators and system processors are diagnosed in a distributed fashion to reach an agreement over fault-free units thereby isolating the faulty units. The simulation results are presented evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed method under various design constraints.


Long-term effectiveness of rock wettability alteration for water removal during gas production from tight reservoir depends on the surfactant adsorption on the pore surface of a reservoir. This paper selected typical cationic fluorosurfactant FW-134 as an example and took advantage of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscope (AFM) to investigate its adsorption stability on the rock mineral surface under the oscillation condition at high temperature for a long time. The experimental results indicate that the F element content on the sample surface increases obviously, the surface structure of fluorine-carbonization also undergoes a significant change, and the fluorine surfactant exhibits a good interfacial modification and wettability alteration ability due to its adsorption on the pore surface transforming the chemical structure of the original surface. The adsorption increases indistinctly with the concentration of over 0.05% due to a single layer adsorption structure and is mainly electrostatic adsorption because the chemical bonding between the fluorosurfactant and the rock mineral surface, the hydrogen bonding, is weak and inconspicuous.


The World Health Organisation defines the Stroke as "rapidly
developing clinical signs of focal disturbance of cerebral function, with
symptoms lasting for 24 hours or longer or leading to death, with no
apparent cause other than of vascular origin".
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
(NINDS) applies the term " Stroke " to any one or all of a group of
disorders including cerebral infarction, intracerebral hemorrhage or
subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Age is the most powerful predictor of the stroke .The incidence of
the stroke increases exponentially with the age.
It is now well known that stroke in young adults is not a rare
event. Although the frequency of stroke is lower than in general
population, stroke is particularly dramatic in younger patients because it
involves a previously healthy adult and the burden is extremely heavy
on the spouse and the family.
Stroke in young patients constitutes a challenge because of its social impact and also because of the large variety of associated
diagnostic and therapeutic problems.
The causes of stroke are more heterogenous than in older population. Cardiac disease, hematological disease, nonatherosclerotic arteriopathies, migraine and drug abuse are more important causes for
stroke in young adults than in adults. The differential diagnosis includes many genetic, congenital, metabolic and systemic disorders that are
rarely encountered in mature adult populations.
Brain and vascular location of lesions are somewhat different in the young .Cerebral infarcts tend to be more often limited to deep regions of cerebral hemispheres , especially striatocapsular region. Vascular occlusive lesions are more often intracranial, affecting especially supraclinoid internal carotid artery , proximal middle cerebral artery and basilar artery. Extracranial occlusive disease is much less common.
The ischemic strokes among young patients were caused by a broad spectrum of diseases.
All young patients with stroke deserve detailed evaluation to determine the etiology.
Aggressive evaluation leads to etiological diagnosis and so proper acute management as well as long term care.
When the cause of ischemic stroke in a young adult is unclear after a thorough initial diagnostic evaluation, it is
worthwhile to take a second look at the heart.
Investigations should be tailored to suit the need of the particular case rather than a complete list of tests for all patients.


This article describes the processes of transforming an in-person group-based intervention to promote uptake of PrEP among young woman in South Africa to an online interactive "workshop" during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning in person and continuing virtually, we used a step-by-step participatory approach with multiple stakeholder groups to develop nine activities to increase knowledge about, as well as motivation and intention to take PrEP, and to address gender-based barriers to PrEP. Activities were informed by our theoretical framework and formative work with young women ages 18-25. We demonstrate how we developed a gender-enhanced online PrEP workshop that was interactive, group-based, and in accordance with elements of established successful intervention design; why WhatsApp emerged as the most accessible application for the young women in our workshop; and how an intervention with a hybrid approach-alternating between chat box and live sessions-combined with verbal, written, and emoji-based communication enabled interaction among participants.


Action Learning (AL) for Continuous Improvement and Enhanced Innovation in Construction is a research programme of Academic Enterprise, University of Salford. The aim of the project was to find out how effective action learning might be in developing more innovative working methods in small and medium-sized building businesses in the construction industry. Four construction based AL SETs have been set up in different parts of the UK; a SET is a group of people, normally between 6-8 people with complementary problems, who band together as "partners in adversity" to discuss how they might learn from their own actions as they attempt to resolve key and complex issues. Each of our Construction AL SETs is in a different phase of its development, but the progress made by them all is exciting. Members of such SETs first seem to gain a systemic confidence of the new construction tasks in front of them and then become more innovative and creative in their resulting every day actions. They begin to explore new possibilities for change and seem to be able drive improvement from the "ashes" of their own site problems, issues, and failures. The innovations they come up with are typically fairly small scale to begin with, but soon grow, and often combine with others to have a fairly large impact on the productivity of their organisation. Our evidence suggests AL does seem to be able to create the sort of deep-seated cultural change needed by the construction. The AL process is initially heavily dependent upon the support of skilled SET Advisors who facilitate necessary changes in attitude and behaviour. This early facilitation is essential if it is to work successfully, however, SETs soon learn to look after themselves, growing from strength to strength in confidence and then develop creative responses to their own real site problems and issues. The AL process is initially extremely intensive in facilitator support costs, however, video conferencing has been shown to help make this form of construction.


OBJECTIVE
Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disorder of childhood characterized by attacks of fever and serositis. Renal amyloidosis is the most important complication of the disease that determines the prognosis.

METHODS
Forty-eight Turkish FMF patients with amyloidosis who have been followed at the two hospitals in Ankara were included in this study.

RESULTS
All patients with amyloidosis had been symptomatic for FMF at the time of the diagnosis (Phenotype I), none had received regular colchicine therapy and all presented with proteinuria. Ten of them had asymptomatic proteinuria; 38 had nephrotic syndrome and 8 of them had renal insufficiency (CRI) as well, at the time of the diagnosis. Regular colchicine therapy was commenced to all of the patients. At the end of observation period of 4.5 +/- 2.23 years (range 2-12 yrs) on treatment, nephrotic syndrome resolved in 13 patients and proteinuria was lost in 5 of them. None but 2 of the patients who were diagnosed at proteinuric stage progressed to end stage renal failure (ESRF). Seven MEFV mutations (M694V, M680I, V726A, M694I, K695R, R761H, E148Q) were systematically investigated in 32 patients. Six of the seven studied mutations were found in these patients and clinical diagnosis was confirmed by mutation analysis in 24 patients. Eight patients were found to have mutations on one of the alleles.

CONCLUSION
Amyloidosis is the most serious complication of FMF. Colchicine treatment ameliorates the progression of renal disease in the patients who presented with proteinuria and even with nephrotic syndrome. No correlation between the outcome of the patients with nephrotic syndrome and the degree of proteinuria and/or serum albumin levels at the initiation of treatment were noted. Progression to ESRF seems inevitable despite colchicine therapy after the development of CRI in patients with FMF associated amyloidosis.


The application of technology in both its "hard" (for example through computing technology) and "soft" (for example through instructional design ) forms has enhanced the range of training methods available to practitioners. Much rhetoric has surrounded the use of techniques such as distance learning and computer‐based learning methods. The study aimed to explore the attitudes of managers to these "modern" approaches and other more "traditional" methods. A questionnaire survey of over 200 managers in organisations of all sizes and from a range of sectors was conducted. The data suggest that distance learning is not widely used as it is perceived as less effective, whereas at‐job learning, as well as being widely used is also perceived as being the most effective method. An analysis in terms of firm size revealed more similarities than differences between larger and smaller firms. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.


Life history theory argues that exposure to early-life adversity (ELA) accelerates development, although existing evidence for this varies. We present a meta-analysis and systematic review testing the hypothesis that ELA involving threat (e.g., violence exposure) will be associated with accelerated biological aging across multiple metrics, whereas exposure to deprivation (e.g., neglect, institutional rearing) and low-socioeconomic status (SES) will not. We meta-analyze 46 studies (n=64,925) examining associations of ELA with pubertal timing and cellular aging (telomere length and DNA methylation age), systematically review 19 studies (n=2276) examining ELA and neural markers of accelerated development (cortical thickness and amygdala-prefrontal cortex functional connectivity) and evaluate whether associations of ELA with biological aging vary according to the nature of adversity experienced. ELA overall was associated with accelerated pubertal timing (d=-0.12) and cellular aging (d=-0.32). Moderator analysis revealed that ELA characterized by threat (d=-0.26), but not deprivation or SES, was associated with accelerated pubertal development. Similarly, exposure to threat-related ELA was associated with accelerated cellular aging (d=-0.43), but not deprivation or SES. Systematic review revealed associations between ELA and accelerated cortical thinning, with threat-related ELA consistently associated with thinning in ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and deprivation and SES associated with thinning in frontoparietal, default, and visual networks. There was no consistent association of ELA with amygdala-PFC connectivity. These findings suggest specificity in the types of early environmental experiences associated with accelerated biological aging and highlight the importance of evaluating how accelerated aging contributes to health disparities and whether this process can be mitigated through early intervention.


Edible parts of some wild and traditional vegetables used by the Gumuz community, namely, Portulaca quadrifida, Dioscorea abyssinica, Abelmoschus esculentus, and Oxytenanthera abyssinica, were evaluated for their minerals composition and bioavailability. Mineral elements, namely, Ca, Fe, Zn, and Cu, were analyzed using Shimadzu atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Effects of household processing practices on the levels of mineral elements were evaluated and the bioavailability was predicted using antinutrient-mineral molar ratios. Fe, Zn, Ca, Cu, P, Na, and K level in raw edible portions ranged in (0.64 ± 0.02–27.0 ± 6.24), (0.46 ± 0.02–0.85 ± 0.02), (24.49 ± 1.2–131.7 ± 8.3), (0.11 ± 0.01–0.46 ± 0.04), (39.13 ± 0.34–57.27 ± 0.94), (7.34 ± 0.42–20.42 ± 1.31), and (184.4 ± 1.31–816.3 ± 11.731) mg/100 g FW, respectively. Although statistically significant losses in minerals as a result of household preparation practices were observed, the amount of nutrients retained could be valuable especially in communities that have limited alternative sources of these micronutrients. The predicted minerals' bioavailability shows adequacy in terms of calcium and zinc but not iron.


The business of philosophy is "to think things together," so far as the reality of things and the capacity of thought allow. That reality presents many contrasts, physical, ethical, metaphysical, light and darkness, life and death, good and evil, right and wrong, the One and the many, the Infinite and the finite, the Eternal and the temporal, and what we mention as last, but not least, for our immediate purpose, Being and Becoming, the Constant and the Contingent. The contrasts need not be regarded as contradictions, negations one of another, as thought the Eleatics with their emphasis on Being, or the Heraclitics with their preference for Becoming. To our immediate scrutiny all stands and all flows may be irreconcilable oppositions; but Einstein is teaching us that there is relativity in all our interpretations of reality. We need not with Indian thought declare Brahma alone real, and all else Maya, illusion.


In this paper, the electrochemical alkaline methanol oxidation process, which is relevant for the design of efficient fuel cells, is considered. An algorithm for reconstructing the reaction constants for this process from the experimentally measured polarization curve is presented. The approach combines statistical and principal component analysis and determination of the trust region for a linearized model. It is shown that this experiment does not allow one to determine accurately the reaction constants, but only some of their linear combinations. The possibilities of extending the method to additional experiments, including dynamic cyclic voltammetry and variations in the concentration of the main reagents, are discussed.


To what extent does the Constitution "follow the flag" to territories under United States sovereignty?1 Though this question has twice occupied the center stage of American law and politics,2 federal courts have yet to settle upon a single test for determining which constitutional provisions apply to United States-flag territories. Federal circuit courts currently divide between two competing approaches for making this determination.3 Employing these rival standards, they have reached inconsistent results concerning the territorial force of certain constitutional rights, such as the right to trial by jury. This Comment undertakes to explain the doctrinal disagreement between the two federal circuits whose discord runs the deepest: the D.C. Circuit, which has jurisdiction over American Samoa, and the Ninth Circuit, which hears appeals from the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. One way to analyze their dispute is to focus on the disorder within the Supreme Court's own territorial jurisprudence. Each of the two approaches employed by the lower courts traces its origin to different Supreme Court opinions.


The present study has been supported by a grant from the National Research Laboratory Program of
the Ministry of Science and Technology, Korea. The authors gratefully acknowledge this support.


Background— Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) induces disabling chronic orthostatic intolerance with an excessive increase in heart rate on standing. β-Blockade is an appealing treatment approach, but conflicting preliminary reports are conflicting. We tested the hypothesis that propranolol will attenuate the tachycardia and improve symptom burden in patients with POTS. In protocol 1, a low dose (20 mg) was compared with placebo, and the dose response was assessed in protocol 2. Methods and Results— In protocol 1, patients with POTS (n=54) underwent acute drug trials of propranolol 20 mg orally and placebo, on separate mornings, in a randomized crossover design. Blood pressure, heart rate, and symptoms were assessed while the patients were seated and after standing for up to 10 minutes before and hourly after the study drug. Supine (P<0.001) and standing (P<0.001) heart rates were significantly lower after propranolol compared with placebo. The symptom burden improvement from baseline to 2 hours was greater with propranolol than placebo (median, −4.5 versus 0 arbitrary units; P=0.044). In protocol 2, 18 patients with POTS underwent similar trials of high-dose (80 mg) versus low-dose (20 mg) propranolol. Although the high dose elicited a greater decrease than the low dose in standing heart rate (P<0.001) and orthostatic tachycardia (P<0.001), the improvement in symptoms at 2 hours was greater with low-dose propranolol (−6 versus −2 arbitrary units; P=0.041). Conclusions— Low-dose oral propranolol significantly attenuated tachycardia and improved symptoms in POTS. Higher-dose propranolol did not further improve, and may worsen, symptoms.


This paper analyzes the secondary user throughput of a sensing-based cognitive radio system with Markovian traffic. Under the Markovian traffic assumption, imperfect packet capture, which occurs upon the random arrival of primary user packets, considerably affects the secondary user throughput. Considering both the primary user packet capture and energy detection of the captured packet, we derive the secondary user throughput. Additionally, using the tradeoff between the sensing accuracy and the secondary user throughput, we solve a joint optimization dealing with both the sensing duration and the sensing period to maximize the secondary user throughput with an interference constraint for the primary user.


A thermal-mechanical fatigue (TMF) testing system has been developed which is capable of studying the fatigue behaviors of gas turbine materials under simultaneous changes of temperatures and strains (or stresses). Furthermore, an advanced alternating current potential difference (ACPD) measurement technique has been developed successfully to perform on-line monitoring of fatigue crack initiation and growth in specimens tested under isothermal and TMF conditions. In this paper, the basic principles of the ACPD technique as well as all the relevant experimental procedures for performing ACPD measurements, including probe setup, choice of alternating currents (AC) and frequencies, noise rejection, data acquisition, and signal processing, are described. The linear relationship between ACPD signals and crack lengths, as well as the effects of thermal cycling on the ACPD signal, are presented and discussed. The capabilities of the TMF and ACPD systems are well illustrated by fatigue crack initiation and growth test results under isothermal and TMF conditions. These tests were performed on two titanium forgings, Ti-6Al-4V (Ti64) and Ti-6Al-2Sn-6Mo (Ti6246), respectively. Alloy Ti64 was TMF cycled between 150 and 400`C, while Ti6246 was cycled between 200 and 482 C. The resolution for detecting crack initiation at the root of notches was found to be 50more » {mu}m with 95% confidence while the resolution for crack growth was 2 {mu}m per mV change of ACPD. An environmental assisted cracking model applied to TMF crack growth is proposed for rationalizing the data.« less


Prevention of infectious diseases in hospital, for example applied correct hand hygiene technique has been required applied its in the community. Due to a rise incidence of infectious diseases in the community, the capacity to perform hand hygiene technique has become important. Elementary student and their teacher are an effective agent of change in the community can help to socialize this important matter according to WHO (2009) hand hygiene technique. Community Devotion and Empowerment Team, Faculty of Medicine Mataram University had been undergone Hand hygiene technique to 110 students and 6 teachers of SDIT Anak Soleh Mataram. Learning strategies to elementary school age takes interesting technique using videos and demonstration using Lumigerm® lotion, a washable germ mimic that invisible under daylight and can only be seen under UV light. The results showed an increase in understanding technique from 34.5 to 82.6 (pretest and post test, respectively) and 88% participants were able to diminish lumigerm lotion properly after hand hygiene demonstration under UV light checked.


We determined the quantitative and topographic distribution of gamma/delta lymphocytes in normal human lymphoid tissue and peripheral blood using a monoclonal antibody that detects a framework determinant on delta molecules and delineated the immunophenotypic characteristics of the gamma/delta lymphocyte population by one- and/or two-color immunohistochemical and two- and/or three-color flow cytometric analysis. Variable, but generally small, numbers of gamma/delta lymphocytes are present in peripheral blood and in all lymphoid tissues. The vast majority, greater than or equal to 90%, of lymphoid tissue delta lymphocytes reside in interfollicular (T-cell) zones. Approximately 90% of delta thymocytes are present in the thymic medulla. The percentage of CD3-positive T cells that express delta are: spleen 12.5 +/- 8.1%, peripheral blood 4.0 +/- 3.1%, appendix 2.9 +/- 1%, lymph node 2.2 +/- 1%, thymus 1.4 +/- 0.5%, and tonsil 0.7 +/- 0.5%. We further demonstrated that 1) gamma/delta-thymocytes and gamma/delta peripheral lymphocytes express T-cell lineage restricted antigens CD3 and CD2 but only a variable subset, 30% to 90%, express T-cell lineage associated antigens CD5 and/or CD8; (2) approximately 60% of gamma/delta thymocytes express low-density CD4 while all gamma/delta peripheral lymphocytes lack detectable CD4; 3) gamma/delta lymphocytes lack natural killer (NK), macrophage, and B-cell associated antigens CD16, CD14, and CD20, respectively, but greater than or equal to 70% of gamma/delta T lymphocytes express CD11b, Leu7, and NKH-1, antigens, which are also expressed by suppressor/cytotoxic and NK cells; and 4) a large subpopulation, approximately 25%, of gamma/delta thymocytes are in S1-G2 phase, while greater than or equal to 98% of gamma/delta peripheral lymphocytes are small lymphocytes in G0-G1 phase and lack activation/proliferation markers. Together these results indicate that gamma/delta lymphocytes are resting, mature T cells that probably play a primary role in suppressor/cytotoxic phenomena. They also indicate that gamma/delta lymphocytes variably express multiple-cell surface antigens associated with various cell lineages, suggesting that gamma/delta lymphocytes represent a considerably more heterogeneous cell population than previously appreciated and that they may actually subserve multiple functions.


Introduction: Multislice CT coronary angiography (MSCTA) accurately detects stenosis in patients undergoing coronary arteriography, but its accuracy in clinical outpatients is less certain. This study retrospectively analyzed MSCTA performance in a large outpatient cohort and examined 6-month clinical follow-up in those without invasive CA. Methods: Patients underwent MSCTA for clinical indications including symptoms or noninvasive results being either equivocal or suspected as incorrect by referring clinicians. Standard 16-slice CT scanner techniques were used, and results were analyzed on the basis of both patient and vessel. Patients were treated medically or sent to invasive angiography on the basis of MSCTA results and judgment of referring clinicians. All invasive angiograms were analyzed using quantitative coronary angiography. Six-month clinical follow-up was determined in patients without CA. Results: One thousand fifty-three consecutive patients were referred for MSCTA, resulting in 994 interpretable scans. Mean age was 58 6 13 years, 55% were male, 50% had prior noninvasive testing, and 90% had symptoms. Invasive angiography was performed in 160 patients, with significant stenoses present in 69%. MSCTA demonstrated 87% and 89% accuracy by patientand vessel-based analysis, respectively, and was most accurate in the left main and right coronary arteries. Only two patients not referred for angiography had signficant stenosis in those undergoing 6-month follow-up. Conclusions: MSCTA accurately detects obstructive coronary stenosis in clinical patients with possible cardiac symptoms, and effectively triages them for invasive angiography. Negative results are highly accurate in ruling out obstructive disease. Six-month prognosis is excellent in patients without significant disease determined by MSCT. ' 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.


Transglutaminases catalyse the formation of isopeptide bonds which covalently link proteins together and these enzymes have been previously implicated in cardiovascular repair processes. This thesis explores the transglutaminases, Factor (F)XIII-A and Transglutaminase (TG)2, and their roles within the vasculature. To do this, we bred and characterised single and double knockout mice deficient for FXIII A and/or TG2.
Previously, a protective role has been postulated for FXIII-A, as humans and mice lacking FXIII-A fail to maintain pregnancy potentially due to a failure of remodelling within the placental artery. This finding was also repeated in this study and further to this a significant decrease in the number of FXIII-A-/- pups born to FXIII-A+/- mothers was seen. FXIII-A-/- mice develop cardiac fibrosis and suffer significant mortality following injury and this phenotype is exacerbated with additional loss of TG2, highlighting the importance of FXIII A and TG2 as protective enzymes.
Interestingly, despite being present in the blood at μg/mL concentrations, the cellular source that maintains the plasma pool of FXIII-A has not been identified. FXIII-A is known to be produced by megakaryocytes, chondrocytes, osteoclasts, monocytes and macrophages and the prevailing view is that platelets are the most likely cellular source.
To delineate the cellular source of plasma FXIII-A, we commissioned a de novo FXIII A floxed mouse which was bred with tissue specific cre recombinase mice. These novel models were used to determine plasma and platelet FXIII-A activity, together with FXIII-A gene expression in the aorta and heart. The results presented here discount the platelet as the cellular source of plasma FXIII A. Mouse bone marrow transplants and gene expression in whole and fractionated organs instead implicate a resident tissue cell, possibly a macrophage, in the wall of the aorta (and perhaps the heart) as the cellular source of FXIII A.
Beyond its repair role, TG2 has been suggested to potentiate apoptosis in response to stress signalling. However, previous studies have utilised monodansylcadaverine and hence have not inhibited TG2 directly. Here, transglutaminase activity assays and characterisation of MAPK signalling in wildtype and TG2 /- derived vascular smooth muscle cells are used to demonstrate that TG2 is the main transglutaminase involved in calphostin C-induced apoptosis.
The findings shown here explore the common and distinct functions of these enzymes and details potential avenues for translation into therapy.


Introduction Preliminary research based on everyday observations suggests that there are people, who experience severe fear when addressing others with their personal names. The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which this hitherto little-known psychological phenomenon really exists and to investigate its characteristic features, considering the everyday experience of not being able to use names and its impact on affected individuals and their social interactions and relationships. Methods In this mixed-methods study based on semi-structured interviews and psychometric testing, 13 affected female participants were interviewed and evaluated using self-report measures of social anxiety, attachment-related vulnerability, and general personality traits. An inductive content analysis and inferential statistical methods were used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data, respectively. Results Our findings show that affected individuals experience psychological distress and a variety of negative emotions in situations in which addressing others with their name is intended, resulting in avoidance behavior, impaired social interactions, and a reduced quality of affected relationships. Discussion The behavior can affect all relationships and all forms of communication and is strongly linked to social anxiety and insecure attachment. We propose calling this phenomenon Alexinomia, meaning "no words for names".


Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) use a simplified abstraction of biological evolution to interact with a fitness landscape over multiple generations. The traditional approach to exploring evolutionary motivated search relies on performance comparisons of competing designs for a common problem domain. This approach has been useful in developing an intuition of when one mechanism is superior to another. However, this intuition has developed in the absence of a clear understanding of how fitness landscape topology impacts the search process in high-dimensional space, due to the lack of high-dimensional visualization tools. Proposed is a behavior measure derived from a known set of all problem domain optima, which is used as system of landmarks. Using these landmarks, evolutionary system progress can be tracked in the problem domain and characterized with an information theoretic metric. Thus, this technique provides an intuition that takes into account the problem domain topology, allowing the behavior of different algorithm configurations to be compared as they interact with a given topology.


Microcystins (MC) are widespread cyanotoxins released by cyanobacteria in freshwaters. MC can cause severe health problems in exposed humans and animals. After ingestion, toxins can penetrate into the hepatocytes where they irreversibly inhibit the protein phosphatases type 2A (PP2A) and 1 (PP1) inducing external signs of poisoning such as vomiting and diarrhea. MCs are potent tumor promoters, causing disruption of liver structure and function, hemorrhaging into the liver and death by respiratory arrest. The toxicity and ubiquity of MC make necessary the development of fast and reliable methods to detect it. Although several analytical techniques such as bioassay, ELISA test high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to mass spectrometry have been widely used, electrochemical biosensors are good candidates for the water monitoring. This review gives an overview of recent advances and new trends in electrochemical biosensors for the detection of MC. Biosensors have been classified according to the immobilized biorecognition element: enzymes, antibodies/antigen or DNA. The use of tailor-designed biomolecules such as aptamers is also reviewed. Recent advances in the field of nanomaterials merit special mention. The incorporation of nanomaterials provides highly sensitive sensing devices allowing the efficient detection of microcystins.


Alopecurus pratensis L. is one the most valuable fodder plants , with a high adaptability , high digestibility expendability and also called for a proper green mass production . In caeasta work were analyzed populations from different geomorphological areas of Banat. Input characters were taken into account : production capacity , plant height , dry matter content and the crude protein . Average production Alopecurus pratensis L populations Varied between 21t and 24 t of biomass. Plant height is Another decisive in terms of the amount of biomass Produced. It ranges in height from 67 cm to populations Torontalului Plain up to the height of 105 cm common in populations Caransebesului Depression . The dry matter content is Another character Taken into Account When discussing about the value of forage plants . It has the Largest value in populations Originating from Torontalului Plain . Crude protein content is Directly proportional to the solids being the Maare Torontalului Plain populations of the Smallest populations and the content of the hill.


The Toulmin diagram layout is very familiar and widely used, particularly in the teaching of critical thinking skills. The conventional box-and-arrow diagram is equally familiar and widespread. Translation between the two throws up a number of interesting challenges. Some of these challenges (such as the relationship between Toulmin warrants and their counterparts in traditional diagrams) represent slightly different ways of looking at old and deep theoretical questions. Others (such as how to allow Toulmin diagrams to be recursive) are diagrammatic versions of questions that have already been addressed in artificial intelligence models of argument. But there are further questions (such as the relationships between refutations, rebuttals and undercutters, and the roles of multiple warrants) that are posed as a specific result of examining the diagram inter-translation problem. These three classes of problems are discussed. To the first class are addressed solutions based on engineering pragmatism; to the second class, are addressed solutions drawn from the appropriate literature; and to the third class, fuller exploration is offered justifying the approaches taken in developing solutions that offer both pragmatic utility and theoretical interest. Finally, these solutions are explored briefly in the context of the Araucaria system, showing the ways in which analysts can tackle arguments either using one diagrammatic style or another, or even a combination of the two.


The Arabian Gulf is exposed to intensive dust storms during summer until early winter. We investigated the nutritive effect of the dust on microbial biodiversity of the water column and the productivity of the Gulf. We collected samples from three sites in a transect perpendicular to the shore in March (before the strong dust storms) and in October (after the dust season) in 2013. At the three sites, we sampled the water column at three depths, and see-floor sediments using a HAPS corer. We also sampled the sand dunes that are the source of the dust. We analyzed the samples for pigments, microbial community composition using a 16S rRNA analysis, and nutrients. Our results showed that species richness and biodiversity were higher in October than in March. The relative abundances of key-player microorganisms were strongly pronounced in October. We assume that the dust rapidly sinks to the seafloor where the nutrients Fe and P are liberated through iron reduction. Assuming that all phosphate diffusing from the seafloor originates from the dust particles after deposition, we estimated a contribution of minimum 30,000 tons of fish produced every year in the Gulf. We found no close temporal coupling between dust storms and productivity. This is because nutrient liberation from the seafloor is slow and its transport from the seafloor to the photic zone by circulation processes is irregular. This study highlights the importance of dust as a source of nutrients in the Gulf ecosystem.


In chemosensitive tumors, cancer chemotherapy is active as drug combinations. During the development of new anticancer drugs, preclinical experimental models may help to design drug combinations. Indeed, in vitro models are able to define drug interactions in terms of synergism, additivity or antagonism, while in vivo models can evaluate therapeutic synergism along with toxicity in a clinical setting. The methodology for in vitro and in vivo evaluation of anticancer drug combinations is described. The limits are discussed. In conclusion, preclinical models contribute to the clinical development of drug combinations which are nevertheless designed on the basis of clinical therapeutic principles.


This
 paper seeks to contribute to our understanding of audience effects and
 another effect called social risk aversion. I conduct dictator games in a
 panel design to collect between- subject and within-subject comparisons. My
 experiment modifies Christina Fong and Felix Oberholzer-Gee's prior
 experimental design in order to better identify how the two separate
 phenomena of social risk aversion and audience effects work to alter donors'
 decisions, especially when they are given the option to purchase information
 about the welfare recipient. Results show that giving decreases when donors
 decide not to buy information about recipients in the first period, but
 bounces back up if they make this decision in later periods. Social risk
 aversion is unable to explain this observation; however, a plausible
 explanation is that the audience effect is weakened during the first period
 but remains strong during later periods. Understanding these motivations
 behind people's decision to donate is important because this information
 allows governments and non-governmental organizations to better structure
 transfer programs.


This finding is part of a papers series of papers considering the most appropriate methodological aspects for the development of the educational programs. We have developed a methodology for the design of quality didactic programs has been developed and in this paper the evaluation process for the development of a program is presented. This is not a simple task, since -as is usual with technology and technological applicationsit takes into account regional or local aspects that should be keep in mind when developing the proposal. Here we basically present the process we used to carry out the evaluations of the prototypes, both external and internal, leaving the evaluation in the context for later publications.


When the user interface (UI) has to be specified, a picture is worth a thousand words and the worst thing a human-computer interaction (HCI) expert can do is attempt to write a natural language specification for it. Nevertheless, this practice is still common and it is therefore a difficult task to move from text-based requirements and problemspace concepts to a final UI design, and then back again. Especially for the specification of interactive UIs, however, HCI experts must frequently switch between high-level descriptions and detailed screens. In our research we found that advanced UI specifications therefore have to be made up of interconnected artefacts that have distinct levels of abstraction. With regards to the transparency and traceability of the rationale of the UI specification, transitions and dependencies must be visual and traversable. We introduce a UI specification method that interactively integrates interdisciplinary and informal modelling languages with different fidelities of UI prototyping. With an innovative experimental tool, we finally assemble models and design to a visual UI specification that will quickly take the place of text-based artefacts.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic literature review of empirical studies into online platforms for political participation. The objective was to diagnose the relationship between different types of digital participatory platforms, the real possibilities of participation generated by those initiatives and the impact of such participation on the decision-making process of governmental representatives.

Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was conducted using pre-defined terms, expressions and criteria. A total of 434 articles from 1995 to 2015 were gathered from the Web of Science database. And, 32 studies were selected from those articles for meta-synthesis, and the cases investigated were evaluated according to the e-participation ladder model (Smyth, 2001).

Findings
The results indicated that online political participation worldwide remains timid both in quantity and quality. We have witnessed the growth of a kind of "rhetorical participation" promoted by policy-makers and the rise of a "participatory despotism", in which only the privileged partake, while the majority remains silent.

Practical implications
The solutions found to promote increased participation and ensure its effectiveness ranged from shaping the platform design in accordance with citizens' capacities and interests to a need for profound political–administrative change, which includes the world's public agencies adopting a more transparent, inclusive and collaborative approach to decision-making.

Originality/value
This paper proposes a systematic review, mapping the studies on online platforms for political participation, analysing the questions, methods and conclusions found by the authors and evaluating each case study with a participation ladder.


Assuming that capital productivity is higher in areas at risk from natural hazards (such as coastal zones or flood plains), this paper shows that rapid development in these areas -- and the resulting increase in disaster losses -- may be the consequence of a rational and well-informed trade-off between lower disaster losses and higher productivity. With disasters possibly becoming less frequent but increasingly destructive in the future, average disaster losses may grow faster than wealth. Myopic expectations, lack of information, moral hazard, and externalities reinforce the likelihood of this scenario. These results have consequences on how to design risk management and climate change policies.


The online banking was recognized in Malaysia in 2001 toward development of technology and allows people to manage their account and transactions using internet. However, this system not fully utilize regarding to the number of people visit the physical bank is still high. This also proved by the statistic of online banking subscribers using the online banking in Malaysia is not drastically increase as the statistic of internet user since 2006-2009. Theoretically, the increment for both statistics should be equal. Moreover, the criminal cases happen all over the world includes Malaysia and create the negative perception among people towards online banking. The others internal factors that could be considered is the motivation, understanding and awareness among the people to
the online banking. All these reasons encourage the researcher to investigate what exactly the main factor attracts people to use online banking. However, the researcher is limiting the study by focus on the internal factors affect the number of people using the online banking, Malaysia. The study focused on intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation represented by the perceived usefulness (PE), perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived enjoyment (PE) as the independent variables in this research. Whilst, the dependent variables signified by the people's acceptance to the online banking. The objectives of this study are examine the factors that influence people using the online banking based on demography, investigate the main factor that motivates people deal with online banking particularly in banking environment, examine the other factors which influence people choosing online
banking and lastly to investigate the relationship between PU, PEOU and PE towards online banking. A survey was conducted by distributing questionnaires to a randomly selected sample of 150 people located within the Klang Valley, in Malaysia. However, only 120 questionnaires were returned and available to analyze. The location of the survey was selected in view of its advancement, development and implementation of IT applications as compared to other
locations in Malaysia. By connecting to the internet only the user can apply the online banking. To achieve the research objectives, researcher used SPSS Version 16.0 to analyze the data from questionnaires. The value of Cronbach's alpha is 0.852 explained the reliability of the study. This study found that, the main factor attract people to use online banking is because of PU, where the analysis proved that PU is significant to the usage and PEOU. Logically, the people use the service because it very useful and they will patronize with it if it is ease to use.
The results also revealed that most of working people patronize and familiar with online banking since most of them familiar with internet and have problem to visit the bank. Finally, the researcher hope that this study are valuable for future research, people and bank management in providing new insights about the online banking.


Dogs (Canis familiaris) are strongly responsive to human influence in general, and they also readily form preferences for specific humans, yet these lines of inquiry have not often been combined. The goal of this dissertation was to advance a more specific theory regarding the nature of the dog-human bond - that it is one characterized by dependency - and to investigate whether such bonds would influence dogs to use social strategies to solve non-social problems.In Chapter 1, I describe the features of the relationship between the dog as a species and humans, and how this inter-species relationship is reflected in the dog's attentiveness to humans and tendency to solve problems by attending to human behavior. After describing the dog's abilities in this domain, I go on to explore the phenomenon from the perspective of two of Tinbergen's four levels of analysis: phylogeny and ontogeny. To do this, I compare the dog's reading of human social cues with that of related canid species, and I then explore within-species differences among canines. Finally, I advance a new theory that dogs can be described as uniquely dependent on humans, and I explore various specific situations in which this dependency can explain the dog's problem solving strategy choices.In Chapter 2, I explore experimentally whether the presence of social information provided by familiar versus unfamiliar humans would influence the dog's performance when choosing between two potential food sources. This study included a number of conditions; in some conditions, a familiar person indicated a container that gave food and a stranger indicated a container that did not; in other conditions this was reversed. Results show that dogs consistently chose the container indicated by or nearest to their owner, even when this container never yielded a food reward. In contrast, in two other conditions, dogs chose at chance: a control condition in which both humans were strangers, and a condition in which the owner and stranger sat reading books and provided no social signal to the dog. These results support the dependency hypothesis in showing that the dog's performance is either facilitated or hindered, depending on whether a familiar human provides accurate or inaccurate signals.In Chapter 3, I explore the boundary conditions of the effect of familiarity on dogs' performance when choosing between potential food sources, by examining whether a brief period of familiarization with a new person would be enough for a dog to establish a preference for that person's social signal over that of a stranger. Results were not significant; some individual dogs showed a preference for a food container indicated by the familiar person, whereas others did not, but this effect was not significant at the group level. Future studies should incrementally increase the period of time used to familiarize the dog and the new person, to establish how long it takes for such a preference to form in the dog. Such findings would establish whether dogs can quickly become influenced by the information of a familiar person, without that particular dog needing to be in a state of actual dependency on that particular person, or whether dogs need a longer time period, and an actual level of dependence on a person, for this effect to occur. If actual dependency is not required, this would indicate that dependent-like responses in dogs are an automatic part of their responsiveness to familiar people, owing to such a strategy having resulted in fitness benefits over the history of the species, regardless of whether those familiar people actually materially provision the dog.Finally, in Chapter 4, I explore the influence of variations in the relationship between specific dogs and owners on the dog's food-choice strategies by examining whether closeness to owner could predict the strength of the dog's preference for a food container indicated by the owner, among dogs tested in Chapters 2 and 3. I measured closeness by creating an owner-report survey which owners completed online. Factor analysis of a large community sample of owners revealed that this set of questions yielded two discrete scales: Owner-Initiated Closeness and Dog-Initiated Closeness. I examined correlations between these two scales and the performance of dogs tested in the previous chapters. Results were generally not significant; closeness scores did not explain variation in the strength of the dog's preference for their owner's signal. Future studies should explore more detailed ways of measuring closeness (e.g., by observing dogs and owners in their homes), and should examine whether dependence specifically, rather than closeness, might better explain differences in performance between dogs.


Patient adherence to his/her medication is a major challenge in the successful management of any chronic disease and it is a major challenge in Ulcerative Colitis (UC). Patient adherence is thought to be closely related to patient preference of medication and formulation used.
 We wanted to investigate the patient preference between tablets and granules of mesalazine and compare it to the physician perception.

 We conducted an online survey between November and December 2020 in 4 EU countries (France, Germany, Spain, and the UK). In addition to patients and physicians from these 4 countries, the questionnaire was also addressed to IBD nurses from the UK. Patients were included if they had mild or moderate UC.

 400 patients, 160 physicians, 20 nurses participated in this survey. 68% patients were taking tablets and 32% granules. 62% of the patients who answered the survey admitted their preference for tablet while only 38% for granules (figure 1). 63.9% of the physician would prefer to prescribe tablets for their patients.

 Physicians stated that patients tend to be more adherent to tablets than granules (69% vs. 31%) and patients tend to find this the most convenient formulation.
 When patients were asked about some positive attributes of tablets, the highest agreement was with "good size, easy to see and handle" (7.6/10) while for granules "no problem to take granules in public" (8.4/10).
 When asked about some negative attributes of tablets, the highest agreement was with "I would like to take fewer each day" (6.1/10) and "I wish I could take fewer at a time" (5.4/10) while for granules "you have to drink a lot of liquid for them to go down" (6.6/10) and "I wish I could take fewer" (5.1/10).
 50 patients were switched to tablets after trying granules first and 45 to granules after trying tablets. Treatment changes were initiated mainly by the physician (57% of the time). Patients switching to granules almost all agreed that they wanted to take fewer tablets each day (8.1/10). Patients switching to tablets complained about the need to drink a lot of water with granules (6.5/10) or to mix them with food (6.3/10).
 This is also reflected in the way patients take tablets (figure 2) or granules (figure 3). While 71% of the patients swallow the tablets whole only 35% of the patients swallow all the granules at once. 37% mix the granules with food or liquid, 20% divide the portions to be able to swallow them and 8% chew the granules.

 Asked about adherence, only 21% (85 patients) admitted taking less than 80% of prescribed medication.

 The majority of the patients prefer the tablet formulation. A high strength tablet overcoming the pill burden could be a good solution to address patient expectations.


Paclobutrazol drench treatments were evaluated for efficacy on Caladium xhortulanum (Birdsey) cultivars Aaron, White Christmas, and Carolyn Wharton. Drenches at 2.0 mg/pot did not reduce height of 'Aaron' and 'White Christmas' plants when applied 1 week after planting, but 2.0 mg applied at 3 weeks after planting did result in shorter plants. The difference for time of application may be due to the amount of roots present to take up paclobutrazol when applied. In two factorial experiments, there were no interactions between cultivar and time of application or amount of chemical. Paclobutrazol at 0.5 mg/pot resulted in plants that were shorter than the controls. Higher amounts of paclobutrazol provided additional reductions in height, but there was variation between the experiments for degree of effect with amounts >1 mg. Generally, commercially acceptable height control was provided by paclobutrazol drench treatments at 0.5 and 1.0 mg/pot applied 3 weeks after planting. Chemical names used : (2RS,3RS)-1-(4-ehlorophenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-2- 1,2,4-triazol-1-yl-pentan-3-ol (paclobutrazol).


Food deserts are associated with lower quality diets and higher obesity rates. Vegetable consumption is key to a healthy diet, reduced obesity and improved health outcomes. Existing research provides little guidance for improving such food environments due to lack of adequate consumption data. This paper addresses this by estimating vegetable demand elasticities for a food-desert community in Detroit, relying on data from a natural experiment. Expenditure played a greater role in determining purchasing behavior than prices. Both elasticities were larger than the national average. Consequently, any policy that increases income or reduces prices could have a significant impact.


As Malaysian economies grow, Malaysian per capita income is likely to increase. From economics point of view, it is expected that better-off consumers will move to better quality of food attributes such as freshness, food safety, quality and healthfulness in their food intake. This study aimed to investigate the demand for eggs attributes by Malaysian consumers. The study considers the conjoint analysis technique as a method for acquiring insights into preferences for eggs product. The technique was applied to establish the trade-offs that Malaysian consumers make between size, colour, size of packaging, functional attribute and price in the purchasing of eggs for 202 respondents. Least squares regression was utilized to estimate the relative importance of attributes for eggs. The results revealed that the ideal characteristic of egg was one with large size (grade A), omega eggs, brown, and ten per packs. We also found that consumers were also willing to pay more for their preferred attributes. The results found in the study provide valuable inputs to producers or marketers to improve their marketing efforts as well as market positioning, in line with the demanded eggs attributes.


School-aged children who stutter often present concomitant impairments in articulation and language that can complicate treatment. In this article, a framework is offered for designing intervention programs for such children. It is stressed that clinicians must first identify clinical priorities by determining the severity of the impairments, their impact on daily activities, others' reactions to the impairments, and the likelihood of unassisted recovery. Several potential treatment models are presented, as are general treatment principles and specific treatment strategies for three profiles of children who stutter. Suggestions are also provided for including parents and teachers in the intervention plan.


Hemorrhagic cardiac tamponade in the setting of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) is rare but life-threatening. Presentation in subacute cases can also be nonspecific, which can potentially delay diagnosis. A 60-year-old female with a history of heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease presented with shortness of breath, chest pain, and cough while on treatment with apixaban after a recent hospitalization for pulmonary embolism. Clinical presentation was consistent with multiple diagnoses, including pneumonia and heart failure exacerbation. However, there were several risk factors for hemopericardium with DOACs such as elevated creatinine, hypertension, elevated international normalized ratio (INR), and concomitant use of medications with similar metabolic pathways as apixaban. In addition, subtle findings on examination such as oximetry paradoxus and electrical alternans were crucial for an early diagnosis and management. In this case, we discuss key characteristics of hemopericardium with DOACs, as well as considerations on its management.


MEDICINE and public health in the United States are drawing together to work for the good of health and health care through a new movement: the Medicine/Public Health Initiative. The irony of the split and the importance of the bonding come home in the comment a longtime member of the American Medical Association (AMA) made in a conversation with me on informing the general public about the Initiative: "You know," he said, "what will surprise the public is not the news that we are coming together, but the fact that for so long we have been working apart." This separation was not the way of practice envisioned by the founders of Western medicine—Hippocrates and his disciples. "Airs, Waters, Places," one of the most important treatises in the Hippocratic corpus, begins: Whoever wishes to pursue properly the science of medicine must proceed thus: First he ought to consider what effects each


Threadfin Bream (Nemipterus sp.) became the main commodity because has high economic value in Bangka. The purpose of the study are to analyze Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), to determine fishing season and to Maximum Economic Yield (MEY). This research was done from January to April 2015, in Pelabuhan Perikanan Nusantara Sungailiat. Data collected include fishing activity (questionnaire), income, catch and effort from 2005 to 2013. The results showed that slope (b) is still positive, it means the resources are still abundant and overfishing has not happened yet. Fishing season occurred in February (102.972%), March (126.315%), April (134.570%), Mei (119.313%), June (109.783%), July (107.789%), and October (100.518% ). Maximum Economic Yield (MEY) Estimation is 4.837.513 kg / year and Effort of Maximum Economic Yield (FMEY) is 183.038 trips / year.


Facet design is enjoying a revival, in particular because of the interest of British environmental researchers (e.g. Canter et al.). However, if we examine the actual methodology that lies behind it, we find disappointingly little that can be useful for any researcher who is at the beginning of his research project. Admittedly, once the 'mapping sentence' is generated and put into practice in the construction of a measuring instrument, there is an abundance of (statistical) techniques that can be used. But it is that very first step of generating the mapping sentence which is in need of clarification and elaboration. Various approaches to generation will be discussed, each with its own prescriptions and hints for users. The scarce literature on how to design facets will be reviewed and augmented by insights and suggestions from such diverse sources as philosophical concept analysis, logic, taxonomy and commonsense. A case-study of development of one particular mapping sentence will be presented to serve as a running illustration of the pitfalls and possibilities likely to be met in designing facet designs.


Traditionally, Americans have sought to realise the American dream of success, fame and wealth through thrift and hard work. However, the industrialisation of the 19th and 20th centuries began to erode the dream, replacing it with a philosophy of "get rich quick". A variety of seductive but elusive strategies have evolved, and today the three leading ways to instant wealth are large-prize television game shows, big-jackpot state lotteries and compensation lawsuits. In this article, Matthew Warshauer, Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University, examines why so many Americans are persuaded to seek these easy ways to their dream.


Recent studies show that sentence-level extractive QA, i.e., based on Answer Sentence Selection (AS2), is outperformed by Generation-based QA (GenQA) models, which generate answers using the top-k answer sentences ranked by AS2 models (a la retrieval-augmented generation style). In this paper, we propose a novel training paradigm for GenQA using supervision from automatic QA evaluation models (GAVA). Specifically, we propose three strategies to transfer knowledge from these QA evaluation models to a GenQA model: (i) augmenting training data with answers generated by the GenQA model and labelled by GAVA (either statically, before training, or (ii) dynamically, at every training epoch); and (iii) using the GAVA score for weighting the generator loss during the learning of the GenQA model. We evaluate our proposed methods on two academic and one industrial dataset, obtaining a significant improvement in answering accuracy over the previous state of the art.


During treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) 2 men with ulcerative colitis, aged 52 and 38 years, and a 37-year-old man with Crohn's disease developed Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-related non-Hodgkin's B-cell lymphoma. The first 2 patients underwent proctocolectomy and the use of immunosuppressive agents was discontinued, after which the lymphoma disappeared. The third patient had icterus, hepatosplenomegaly and pancytopenia; he died from multiple organ failure. Azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine are first choice therapy in the treatment of steroid-refractory IBD. These immunomodulating agents are associated with the development of EBV-positive lymphomas in the setting of solid organ transplantation. This type of lymphoma is a rare complication in IBD, although the incidence in referral centres appears to be increasing. Since azathioprine is an important drug in IBD, there is a need for identification of IBD patients at risk of developing a lymphoma. EBV-DNA in plasma or in faeces may be a candidate tumour marker.


The stellate neurons of the cerebellar molecular layer have been mostly studied by light and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). However, the freeze-fracture scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and glycosaminoglycan histochemistry of these inhibitory microneurons have not been explored thus far. The freeze-etching technique, the freeze-fracture method for SEM and the conventional techniques for TEM were applied to cerebellar samples of Swiss albino mice and Arius spixii teleost fishes. In addition, Alcian Blue (AB) staining was applied to mouse cerebellar tissue in order to study glycosaminoglycan histochemistry. At the SEM level, the stellate neurons showed a short axonal plexus extending to the nearby secondary and tertiary Purkinje dendritic branches, and 2 to 4 conical dendrites receiving typical axo-dendritic synapses on their shafts. The fractured stellate neurons showed compact nuclear heterochromatin masses and the three dimensional interrelationship of ER and Golgi complex (Novikoff's GERL complex). The surface of the scarce endoplasmic reticulum was observed as strands extending from the nuclear envelope to the inner surface of the plasma membrane. At the TEM level, axosomatic endings of parallel and climbing fibers were distinguished. The cytochemical study revealed a homogeneous alcianophylic cytoplasmic substance, sensitive to hyaluronidase. This was particularly evident around and within the nucleus. The AB results indicated the presence of hyaluronic acid. A complex neuropil formed by Purkinje cell spiny branches, bundles of parallel fibers, spine synapses and Bergmann astrocytic cytoplasm was seen adjacent to the stellate neurons.


Four prepubertal Holstein heifers, average age 146.0 +/- 3.6 d and 152.8 +/- 8.6 kg of body weight (BW), fitted with rumen cannulae were used to evaluate increasing levels of dietary protein with a constant metabolizable energy intake on rumen ammonia N concentrations, N balance, total tract apparent digestibility, and urinary excretion of purine derivatives in a 4 x 4 Latin square design with 20 d periods. Heifers were fed dietary crude protein levels (CP) of 11.9, 16.7, 18.1, and 20.1% CP with similar amounts of metabolizable energy (ME) (2.6 Mcal per kg of dry matter) at 2.0% BW as dry matter intake. Resulting protein to ME ratios (CP:ME) were 45.0, 63.3, 69.4, and 77.3 g of dietary CP per Mcal of ME. Rumen ammonia N and plasma urea nitrogen increased as CP level increased. Rumen pH, volatile fatty acids, and the acetate-to-propionate ratio were not affected with increasing CP levels. Greater urinary N excretion resulted in an increase in total N excretion with increasing CP levels. Apparent dry matter digestibility was similar for all diets, while apparent total tract N digestibility was lowest for the 11.9% CP level. Microbial N calculated from urinary excretion of purine derivatives increased with increasing CP levels. Holstein heifers between 153 and 196 kg consuming a diet at 2.0% BW as dry matter intake containing a CP level of 16.7% achieved a better synergistic relationship of dietary protein to energy (CP:ME of 63.3 g of CP per Mcal of ME) than the diets lower or higher in CP that were studied.


Although techniques of man-machine interaction are becoming more and more sophisticated and resemble natural communication in an increasing way, there is one interaction modality that is nearly entirely neglected in recent developments-hardly any system exploits the user's eye movements for man-machine interaction. This is due to the fact that, in order to use eye movements in man-machine interaction, people have to learn artificial eye movements or use extra input devices to specify the intent of the accompanying eye movement, In the research group M4I of the 'Virtual Knowledge Plant', the authors try to avoid this problem by analysing and integrating the information of all communication channels used in natural communication, i.e. hand and arm gestures, natural language and head and eye movements.


Consolidation of cementitious and geopolymeric materials involves silicate-based gel formation. This in situ mechanism is difficult to identify because it occurs in a complex and developing system representing only a minority phase. A study based on the behaviour of acidified sodium silicate solutions in alkaline medium, was therefore initiated in order to define the conditions of irreversible setting. A concentrated sodium silicate solution ([Si]=7 mol/l, pH=11.56, Si/Na=1.71) was used as starting solution. 29Si NMR spectroscopy, SAXS and elementary chemical analyses (ICP-AES) were used to characterize the various solutions. Acidification of initial solution, leads in a range of relatively low pH and silicon concentration to various gels formation: (i) reversible transparent gels made up of aggregates of particles (Si7O18H4Na4) and which do not change over time, (ii) soluble white gels that lead to gradual formation of a soluble solid consisting of colloid composition of NaSi1.87O4.24, (iii) "irreversible" gels which provide a syneresis phenomenon leading to formation of a strongly consolidated solid made up of soluble phase rich in sodium similar to white gels (NaSi1.87O4.24) and an insoluble phase type silica of composition NaSi12.66O25.82.


Introduction: This study was carried out to investigate the effect of 808nm diode laser irradiation on dentinal tubules of root canal wall. Materials and Methods: Twelve single-rooted teeth were used. After cleaning and shaping with rotary instruments by the crown down technique, the smear layer was removed by alternating irrigation with EDTA and sodium hypochlorite. The teeth were then randomly divided into experimental and control groups of six teeth each. In experimental group, laser irradiation was activated inside the canal and the teeth of the other group served as controls. Kruskal-Wallis and Friedman tests were used for comparing occluded dentinal tubules in different part of the roots. Results: Scanning electron microscopy showed that occluded dentinal tubules could be observed in all laser irradiated teeth; however, none of the control teeth showed occluded dentinal tubules. The Friedman test showed that in the laser irradiated group the best result was achieved in the apical third of the root canals compared with the middle (p<0.005) and cervical third (p<0.002). Dentinal tubules of the middle third were also significantly different from the cervical third as well (p<0.005). Conclusion: Laser radiation after removing smear layer could successfully occlude dentinal tubules and the best results was achieved at the apical part of the canal.