BACKGROUND
To evaluate the role of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in identification and management of infected ascites among patients with cirrhosis.

METHODS
A total of 439 patients (mean (SD) age: 64.5 (± 12.7) years, 63.3% were males) hospitalized with cirrhotic ascites were included in this retrospective study. Data on patient demographics, etiology of cirrhosis, type of ascites (sterile ascites, infected ascites), culture findings treatment response (antibiotic resistance vs. sensitivity) and baseline (Day 0), Day 1 and Day 2 levels for serum C-reactive protein (CRP; mg/L), and NLR were recorded. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was plotted to determine performance of % change from baseline NLR on Day 1 in identifying treatment response.

RESULTS
In patients with infected ascites, antibiotic resistant patients had significantly higher Day 1 (6.9 (1.9 - 74.9) vs. 4.9 (1.1 - 51.1), p = 0.001) and Day 2 (8.0 (2.6 - 75.9) vs. 4.0 (1.1 - 40.3), p = 0.000) levels for NLR as compared with antibiotic sensitive patients, while the two groups had similar baseline (Day 0) NLR values (5.8 (1.1 - 62.3) vs. 5.7 (1.1 - 72.3), p = 0.969). ROC analysis revealed less than 0.93% decrease from baseline NLR on Day 1 (AUC (95% CI): 0.852 (0.799 - 0.895), p < 0.001) to be a potential marker of antibiotic resistance with a sensitivity of 87.72% and specificity of 88.50%.

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings indicate percent change from baseline NLR on Day 1 to be a potential early marker of antibiotic resistance in patients with infected cirrhotic ascites. Our findings emphasize the role of determining NLR levels in earlier recognition of treatment failure and thus prompt modification of antibiotic treatment in cirrhotic patients with infected ascites.


referred to as auto-calibration techniques, and have been proposed Model error sensitivity is an issue common to all high resolution direction of arrival estimators. Much attention has been directed to the design of algorithms for minimum variance estimation taking only finite sample en-ors into account. Approaches to reduce the sensitivity due to arr3y calibration errors have also appeared in the literature. Herein, 1 weighted subspace fitting method for a wide class of array perturbation models is derived. This method provides minimum variance estimates under the assumption that the prior distribution of the perturbation model is known. Interestingly enough, the method reduces to the WSF (MODE) estimator if no model errors are present. On the other hand, when model errors dominate, the proposed method turns out to be equivalent to the "model-errors-only subspace fitting method". Unlike previous techniques for model errors, the estimator can be implemented using a two-step procedure if the nominal array is uniform and linear, and it is also consistent ecen if the signals are fully correlated.


Environmental degradation in China has not only brought a wider range of diseases and other health consequences than previously understood, it has also taken a heavy toll on Chinese society, the economy, and the legitimacy of the party-state. In Toxic Politics, Yanzhong Huang presents new evidence of China's deepening health crisis and challenges the widespread view that China is winning the war on pollution. Although government leaders are learning, stricter and more centralized policy enforcement measures have not been able to substantially reduce pollution or improve public health. Huang connects this failure to pathologies inherent in the institutional structure of the Chinese party-state, which embeds conflicting incentives for officials and limits the capacity of the state to deliver public goods. Toxic Politics reveals a political system that is remarkably resilient but fundamentally flawed. Huang examines the implications for China's future, both domestically and internationally.


The physical and electrical properties of highly thermally conductive materials have long been of interest, especially to power electronics manufacturers for the improvement of device efficiencies by better substrate cooling. This thesis provides a resume of the findings on high thermal conductivity materials and reports in detail on the results of an investigation undertaken to evaluate the suitability of Anodized Aluminium as a high thermal conductivity substrate material. Special anodic film fabrication techniques were developed to produce substrates on which thick film components could be directly printed. These studies were implemented in conjunction with a selection of low temperature Thick Film (TF) conductor and resistor pastes (inks) to achieve the optimum combination of Anodized Aluminium substrate and paste system. Test circuits of these chosen pastes were then printed and fired on Anodized Aluminium, Aluminium Nitride, .. Beryllia, Porcelain on Steel and Alumina substrates. The circuits were used to investigate the physical and electrical properties of the substrates, such as thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, thermal coefficient of resistance, dielectric constant and adhesion of the pastes to the substrates. The resultant anodized aluminium substrates were shown to:- be insulating to over 500 volts, able to withstand firing temperature of 500°C, and have a thermal conductivity very close to that of aluminium (240Wm-1K"1 at room temperature). Unfortunately electrical measurements have shown the anodic films to be humidity dependent, as the resistivity of the films is greatly reduced by an increase in humidity. The substrates are compatible with Heraeus C180-5554 conductor paste and the ESL 15511 resistor paste series. A low power hybrid device with surface mounted components was employed to validate the substrate/paste combinations. To conclude, this thesis has shown that anodized aluminium is suitable as a high thermal conductivity substrate for high power hybrid microelectronics.


The yeast MCM2, MCM3, and MCM5/CDC46 genes are required for D N A replication and have been proposed to act as factors that l icense the D N A for one and only one round of replication per cell cycle. We have identified a Drosophila gene, DmMCM2, that is highly homologous to MCM2. A P-element insertion into this gene, which prevents its transcription, inhibits proliferation of cells in the imaginal discs and central nervous system (CNS) and causes an apparent prolongation of S phase in the embryonic and larval CNS. DmMCM2 is expressed in the embryo in a pattern corresponding to that of S-phase cells. These results suggest that DmMCM2 plays a role in the regulation of DNA replication analogous to that of its yeast counterpart.


The auditing of organizations' activities plays a crucial role in ensuring the direction chosen by top management and identifying early signs of upcoming changes and threats. The audit assesses the efficient use of resources and processes and promotes corporate credibility, which is essential from investors' perspectives, particularly in ecosystems of innovations. Meanwhile, little is known about lean auditing, which is crucial in achieving effective processes. This paper summarises the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the issue of auditing. The research's primary purpose is to identify types of waste in auditing and formulate the principles of lean auditing. The systematic literature review and approaches for solving the problem based on grounded theory and triangulation of methods enabled the resolving of research problems. This article analyses the internal auditing standards and guidelines and uses in-depth interviews with 19 internal auditors from different Polish public organizations from 2017 to 2020. The choice of a qualitative approach resulted from the research phenomenon's open nature, with very few studies. It created a need for a reflective approach with respondents simultaneously being key informants and experts. The results of an empirical analysis showed that internal auditors little knew about the lean concept in audit processes. However, they noticed the benefits of using the lean concept in the audit. The research enabled the development of the model of lean auditing. It could help improve the audit process, which is particularly important from the innovation ecosystem perspective. Besides, one determined the waste of auditing and formulated the principles of lean auditing. The research results develop the audit theory and are helpful for practitioners. Improved internal audit better meets stakeholders' expectations regarding the spending of funds and implementation of tasks.


To evaluate the color stability and degree of conversion of light-cured resin cement with different activator-initiator systems using LED lights with different wavelengths (polywave x monowave).

 Sixteen resin cement samples were made using a circular silicone matrix (7 mm diameter, 0.5 mm thickness) for each of the following tested materials: Variolink Esthetic LC (Ivoclar, color Light+); RelyX Veneer (3M ESPE, color A1); Filtek Z350XT flow resin (3M ESPE, color A1); Allcem Veneer APS (FGM, color A1); NX3 Light cure (Kerr, color A1). Half of the samples were photocured with a monowave LED light (Elipar Deep Cure), and the other half with a polywave LED light (Valo Grand). The initial color of each cement was measured using a high translucency ceramic sample simulating ceramic venner. Color measurements were performed with a reflectance colorimetric spectrophotometer and the data was collected according to the CIE L* a* b* system in two steps. The degree of conversion was measured using an infrared spectrometer by Fourier transform (FTIR / ATR) using the absorbance method. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA repeated measures and Tukey's post hoc tests (p <0.05).

 For the color analysis, there were no significant differences between the cement related to time versus light curing (p = 0.084) and also related to time versus cement versus light curing (p = 0.142). Among the factors, there was only a statistically significant difference for the type of cement (p <0.01). In contrast, for the photocuring device (p = 0.504) and the interaction between them (p = 0.738), there was no significant difference. For the degree of conversion analysis (DC), it showed a statistically significant difference for both factors, resin cements (p <0.01) and light curing units (p <0.01).

 The color stability of RelyX cement is low compared to other cements, while Variolink cement presented the best degree of the conversion value.


Induction, crucial ingredient in the growth of knowledge, is not completely amenable to rational scrutiny. Ever since Hume, it is clear that a full blown justification of induction that would make it the keystone of our knowledge of the external world is out of question. However, what is the relation between our inductive practises and our canons of justification? What is the relation between induction, driven by habits or causal mechanisms, and rationality? One can dismiss these questions by playing down reason and justification. The naturalists, in a long tradition that goes back to Hume himself, suggest that talk of justification or reason is out of place. Induction is a causal mechanism, driven by our cognitive instincts. Alternatively, one can find ways to conciliate cognitive mechanisms behind induction and the space of reasons so that both can be shown to be compatible. This paper intends to work out a plausible version of this compatibilism.


We designed a silicon-processing compatible, simple, and cheap device operating at a power down to sub-muW. It has a pillar-shaped structure with a nanoscopic (10-100 nm in size) conductive link (the so-called antifuse) created between two electrodes separated by a SiO 2 layer. The device exhibits a diode-like behavior due to the depletion effects in the mono-silicon pillar. The device is capable of maintaining a microscopic hot-surface area of several hundreds degrees centigrade. The size of the hot area and its temperature can be manipulated by the sign of the applied bias. Two different heat-generation mechanisms (i.e., dissipation at a resistor and a non-radiative recombination of carriers) are proposed and modelled. Such a device can be used as a heat source, as a light source, and as a sensitive detector of light and heat. In this paper, we describe thermo-electrical properties of the fabricated devices and demonstrate their feasibility to perform as gas-, adsorption-, desorption sensors, and as units for activating chemisorption/decomposition of gaseous precursors, i.e., micro-reactors


We study decentralized markets which include middlemen, producers and consumers connected via a trading network. We develop a model for trade in such settings based on non-cooperative bargaining with search frictions. Our goal is to investigate how the structure of the trading network and the role of middlemen influence the market's efficiency and fairness. To this end, we introduce the concept of limit stationary equilibrium which characterizes the trading patterns that emerge in a general trading network with a large population of agents. We use this concept to analyze how competition among middlemen is influenced by the network structure, how endogenous delay emerges in trade and how surplus is shared between producers and consumers.


The hydrodynamic forces and dynamic responses of subsea equipment, like manifolds, are significantly affected by the motions of the mothership or the unexpected incoming underwater flows like current or internal wave. In this paper, the hydrodynamic coefficients of a simplified subsea manifold, a submerged 3D prism are predicted through the constant acceleration method and forced oscillating method, which are both implemented by the CFD simulation approach. The three directional added mass coefficients of the prism in accelerating flow with different accelerations are obtained. But the value of constant acceleration is found not significantly influencing the added mass coefficient of the rectangular prism. The added mass coefficient of the rectangular prism studied in the paper is 0.233, 0.395, and 2.191 in X, Y and Z direction, respectively. In order to predict the added mass coefficient of the 3D rectangular prism in oscillating flow, the forced oscillating method is used to simulate the rectangular prism oscillating in three directions (X, Y, Z) under different oscillating amplitude and frequency.


The retrospective medical charts review of 1146 patients with type II diabetes mellitus was done in outpatients clinics. The minimal attention was observed towards main risk factors, as well of the frequency of diagnostic procedures was insufficient for adequate control of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. The prognosis of diabetes mellitus could be improved by the aggressive treatment and correction of cardiovascular risk factors implemented by doctors of different specialties.


This paper investigates the extent to which spectrum sharing in millimeter-wave (mmWave) networks with multiple cellular operators is a viable alternative to traditional dedicated spectrum allocation. Specifically, we develop a general mathematical framework to characterize the performance gain that can be obtained when spectrum sharing is used, as a function of the underlying beamforming, operator coordination, bandwidth, and infrastructure sharing scenarios. The framework is based on joint beamforming and cell association optimization, with the objective of maximizing the long-term throughput of the users. Our asymptotic and non-asymptotic performance analyses reveal five key points: 1) spectrum sharing with light on-demand intra- and inter-operator coordination is feasible, especially at higher mmWave frequencies (for example, 73 GHz); 2) directional communications at the user equipment substantially alleviate the potential disadvantages of spectrum sharing (such as higher multiuser interference); 3) large numbers of antenna elements can reduce the need for coordination and simplify the implementation of spectrum sharing; 4) while inter-operator coordination can be neglected in the large-antenna regime, intra-operator coordination can still bring gains by balancing the network load; and 5) critical control signals among base stations, operators, and user equipment should be protected from the adverse effects of spectrum sharing, for example by means of exclusive resource allocation. The results of this paper, and their extensions obtained by relaxing some ideal assumptions, can provide important insights for future standardization and spectrum policy.


The purpose of the activities of student creativity program community service is to prevent aggressive actions of students who take martial arts martial arts, especially in terms of young fighters brawl at SMA Negeri 1 Jiwan Madiun. To achieve the goal, namely to prevent fights among fighters Young SMA Negeri 1 Jiwan, the program prepared by the method of Counseling very interesting to say to students who use the model role play, ie with SILYCOUN Detachment (Silat by Counseling Simulation and Sociodramas) that combined with other activities such as guidance counseling group. Obviously this will make students become more interested and excited for the event. So expect after joining this program, young fighter SMA Negeri 1 Jiwan can have self-control and empathy to refrain from actions that are aggressive like brawling. Counseling for young fighters is very important, because the adolescent emotions are very unstable and easily influenced. The results of the implementation of the program is provided through intensive exercise, seemed enthusiastic students to accept differences in education, empathy students in performing the role sociodramas able to enter in their daily lives, as well as some students who initially resolve problems using emotions, so far already shows improvement which has begun to think about the risk or bad consequences if forward emotions, although there are still some students who need special attention in performing the role because the level of high emotion.


In spite of its ecological and commercial significance, the taxonomy of the Crangon affinis complex has been much confused and requires a thorough revision. The specimens from Japanese waters which were previously referred to C. affinis or other closely related taxa have been reexamined. The type material of C. affinis is no longer extant, and a specimen from Yokosuka, Japan, referred to C. vulgaris by Bate (1888), has been selected as a neotype of C. affinis. It has been shown that C. consobrinus De Man is a junior subjective synonym of C. affinis. As a first step for a revision of Crangon in Far Eastern seas, the neotype is described in detail with figures.


: Some methodical approaches in examination of patients for the "hormonal profile" in 50 healthy individuals and in 100 patients with hypertensive disease an attempt is made to standardize the conditions for conducting the tests and the appraisal of their results. On the grounds of the study of the prostaglandin content, activity of blood plasma renin, and excretion of kallikrein in the urine in different types of loads it is concluded that it is necessary to choose an adequate load for each humoral system; when analysing the results of the load tests one must take into account the initial condition of the humoral system under study since the reaction of the system to the load depends on it.


Enumerating simple cycles has important applications in computational biology, network science, and financial crime analysis. In this work, we focus on parallelising the state-of-the-art simple cycle enumeration algorithms by Johnson and Read-Tarjan along with their applications to temporal graphs. To our knowledge, we are the first ones to parallelise these two algorithms in a fine-grained manner. We are also the first to demonstrate experimentally a linear performance scaling. Such a scaling is made possible by our decomposition of long sequential searches into fine-grained tasks, which are then dynamically scheduled across CPU cores, enabling an optimal load balancing. Furthermore, we show that coarse-grained parallel versions of the Johnson and the Read-Tarjan algorithms that exploit edge- or vertex-level parallelism are not scalable. On a cluster of four multi-core CPUs with 256 physical cores, our fine-grained parallel algorithms are, on average, an order of magnitude faster than their coarse-grained parallel counterparts. The performance gap between the fine-grained and the coarse-grained parallel algorithms widens as we use more CPU cores. When using all 256 CPU cores, our parallel algorithms enumerate temporal cycles, on average, 260x faster than the serial algorithm of Kumar and Calders.


Precise measurements of the minimal fluorescence yield (F(o)) and maximal fluorescence yield (F(m)) of a dark-adapted sample are prerequisites for the quantification of other fluorescence parameters. The pulse amplitude-modulated chlorophyll fluorometer (PAM 101 Chlorophyll Fluorometer, Heinz Walz, Effeltrich, Germany) and saturating pulse technique have frequently been used in measuring F(o) and F(m) and in resolving the contributions of photochemical and nonphotochemical quenching to the total fluorescence yield. The extent to which instrument-dependent factors may affect the accurate measurement of F(o) and F(m) is addressed. It is shown that the increase in pulse amplitude-modulated measuring beam intensity at 1.6 and 100 kHz was nonlinear at higher light intensity settings. The implications of this for measurements of F(o) (1.6 kHz) and F(m) (100 kHz) are discussed. It is also demonstrated that underestimation of F(m) may result due to saturation of the PAM 101 photodiode by scattered infrared light associated with intense light pulses. In addition, it is shown how sample-dependent factors may affect measurements of F(o) and F(m) in samples with low chlorophyll concentrations, in particular, dilute algal suspensions of Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. A technique is presented for the accurate measurement of F(o) in algal suspensions (<8 mug chlorophyll a mL(-1)). The importance of examining the saturating pulse transient and F(m) level as a function of the damping setting, pulse width, and pulse intensity, and in the presence of 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1, 1-dimethylurea is discussed.


Keratinocyte Carcinoma, more traditionally known as Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), is the most common cancer in humans. Incidence continues to increase despite increased public awareness of the harmful effects of solar radiation. In this paper, a non-parametric technique based on image registration will be applied to the multimode hyperspectral imaging system to segment Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) and Squamous cell carcinoma lesions (SCC). The aim is to enhance Mohs surgery by determining the actual borderlines of the desired area in the patient's images, leading to increased efficiency and efficacy of the Mohs surgery. The proposed algorithm was applied to four sets of different Multimode hyperspectral Images with Non-Melanoma Skin. The experimental findings showed that the proposed algorithm is effective in Non-Melanoma skin detection. This could lead to improved image-guided excision of cancerous lesions with potential applications in robotic interventions.


This paper is concerned with the stabilization problem of a class of networked control systems, where the plant measurements and the control signals are transmitted over a network and encounter both time delays and packet losses. To deal with the nonzero disturbance rejection issue, two kinds of networked optimal state feedback integral control (SFIC) methods are proposed in this paper: One is a networked guaranteed-cost SFIC method, and the other one is an SFIC method based on estimation of a distribution algorithm. It has been shown that the proposed methods have better nonzero disturbance rejection capability and can achieve zero steady-state error. Simulation and experimental results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed approach.


The presence of neurobiology as an interdisciplinary science in the system of natural sciences has become the basis for the development of the academic discipline "Fundamentals of Modern Neurobiology" as a component of the natural science training of future psychologists in higher education institutions. The main aim of the article is to structure the above-mentioned discipline to deepen and systematize the natural science knowledge previously mastered by psychology students to modern ideas about the physiological mechanisms of mental activity and human behavior, the causes of occurrence and the neural mechanisms of the main psychopathologies. To this end, one has achieved a number of partial results: a) the analysis of modern neurobiological sources has made it possible to determine the main areas of neurobiology as an interdisciplinary science in the system of the natural disciplines; b) one has justified the expediency of using interdisciplinary links when structuring the course on fundamentals of modern neurobiology; c) one has selected the three most promising areas of neurobiological research relevant to structuring the course on fundamentals of modern neurobiology. It has allowed one to design an integrative academic discipline "Fundamentals of modern neurobiology", which, combining three interdependent and interconnected modules, namely: "Neurobiological essence of human connection with the environment", "Cognitive neurobiology and modern ideas about the higher nervous activity of a person", "neurobiological changes and mechanisms of dysfunctions of the nervous system, higher nervous activity and sensory systems ", - will contribute to the effective implementation of the transformation of the content of natural science training of future psychologists, taking into account current trends in the present and the current state of development of neurobiological sciences.


The Department of Education's Norms and standards for educators (Department of
Education 2000) require that higher education institutions design and implement
outcomes-based teacher education programmes to enable novice teachers to
demonstrate their competence across a range of teacher roles. In this article the
question of whether outcomes-based programmes can produce competent
teachers is explored. This is done firstly by taking a closer look at competence
and competence-based education, the role of standards and the four types of
competences as defined in the Norms and standards for educators. Thereafter we
discuss outcomes and outcomes-based education. The article also points out the
necessity of distinguishing between competences for beginning and pre-service
teachers on the one hand and experienced teachers on the other. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol. 19 (2) 2006: pp.229-245


Cow-calf producers in Arkansas experience annual fluctuations in their farm returns and are increasingly scrutinized for their role in climate change. Increasing farm efficiency can increase farm returns and either increase or decrease net greenhouse gas emissions, but often these practices also increase income risk. Diversifying enterprise choices, the addition of switchgrass production grown on converted pasture land, in this case, is thought to lower income risk by providing a drought hardy crop while at the same time a supply of lignocellulosic biomass for potential bio-refineries. Adopting rotational grazing, compared to a baseline of continuous grazing, frees pasture acreage to either increase beef output or to the production of a dedicated energy crop. The objectives are to determine what switchgrass price is needed to be income neutral and whether adoption of switchgrass does in fact impact income risk without affecting feed or food supply. Decision support software, the Forage and Cattle Planner (FORCAP), is used to compare financial returns, along with GHG emissions, across multiple farm management strategies. The study reveals that the addition of switchgrass production, when compared to increased beef production, offers lower income risk but the needed switchgrass price to break even is higher than the price needed to compete with the least intensive continuous grazing option and lowest stocking rate. Net GHG emissions implications of changes are quite small.


Finding information about the history of rock music in the 1960s and 1970s, and how it intersected with the society and culture of its time


By reference to period retailing narratives, this paper examines the changed significance of shop window displays for British grocers with the transition from counter-based to self-service from the late 1940s to the 1960s. The 'well-dressed' window showing a selection of goods and price offers became an early casualty of changed retail practices. Opportunities presented by self-service for comprehensive stock displays and in-store promotion proved a decisive challenge to the art of the grocer's window display. These displays had been ubiquitous; large and small shops alike tried to impress passers-by with examples of their stock range. Self-service shops had different internal space requirements and soon it was more important that potential customers could see the well-stocked aisles and activity within.


We propose a scheme for realizing negative refractive index in a four-level atomic system. It is shown that such a system can simultaneously exhibit negative permittivity and negative permeability in an optical frequency range. Furthermore, by analysing the dispersion property of the left-handed material, we find that the probe beam can be controlled from superluminal to subluminal or vice versa via choosing appropriate parameters.


Background: Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma (MFH) is one of the most common soft tissue sarcoma in adults and typically arises in the soft tissues of the extremities and retroperitoneum. The head and neck region are seldom involved accounting for 3 – 8.5% of the cases. In the superficial sites such as skin, MFH may behave in a benign fashion despite the high grade appearing and fast growing tumor cells, with a reported incidence of malignant transformation around 1%. Case Description: A 72 year old male patient reported to the Department of Oral Medicine & Radiology with a chief complaint of recurrent pain and swelling over the upper lip and nose region which was surgically drained a month back. This was the third occurrence of the swelling over the past 13 years. In the past 2 episodes, he was surgically treated for Benign Fibrous Histiocytoma (BFH). Surgical procedure and histopathological report confirmed malignant transformation into MFH in the recent episode. Conclusion and Clinical Implications: This publication aims to highlight the possibility of malignant transformation of benign fibrous histiocytoma and the importance of long term followup.


This paper is concerned with the theoretical behaviour of the boundary-layer flow over a disk rotating in otherwise still fluid. The flow is excited impulsively at a certain radius at time t = 0. This paper analyses the inviscid stability of the flow and the stability with viscous, Coriolis and streamline curvature effects included. In both cases, within a specific range of the parameter space, it is shown that the flow is absolutely unstable, i.e. disturbances grow in time at every fixed point in space. Outside this range, the flow is convectively unstable or stable. The absolute or convective nature of the instabilities is determined by examining the branch-point singularities of the dispersion relation. Absolute instability is found for Reynolds numbers above 510. Experimentally observed values for the onset of transition from laminar to turbulent flow have an average value of 513. It is suggested that absolute instability may cause the onset of transition to turbulent flow. The results from the inviscid analysis show that the absolute instability is not caused by Coriolis effects nor by streamline curvature effects. This indicates that this mechanism may be possible on swept wings, where Coriolis effects are not present but the boundary layers are otherwise similar.


Summary

1. A number of parallel initiatives in South Africa have been addressing the prioritization and management of invasive alien plant species, the prioritization of rivers for the conservation of biodiversity, and broad-scale planning for water resource management. This paper has combined aspects of these approaches to develop a composite index of prioritization of quaternary catchments for alien plant control purposes.

2. We calculated, for each quaternary catchment, a simple composite index that combined estimates of (i) the number of invasive alien plant species present; (ii) the potential number of invasive alien plant species that would be present if they occupied the full range as determined by climatic envelope models; (iii) the degree of habitat loss in rivers; and (iv) the degree of water stress. Each of the four components contributed between one and four to the combined index, which had a range of values between four and 16.

3. We used a geographic information system to map the distribution of priority catchments for invasive alien plant control. Of the 1911 quaternary catchments in South Africa and Lesotho, just over one-third (650) were in the highest priority category with an index of 13 or more. A relatively small proportion (273, or 14%) of the catchments had the maximum scores of 15 or 16.

4. The approach identified priority areas that have not currently been identified as such, and should provide decision makers with an objective and transparent method with which to prioritize areas for the control of invasive alien plants. We anticipate debate about the way in which components of the index are calculated, and the weight given to the different components, and that this will lead to the transparent evolution of the index. Improvements would also come about through the addition of a more comprehensive list of species, and through the addition of further components.


Background: Colostrum avoidance is the common nutritional malpractices in developing countries including Ethiopia. Discarding colostrum is the main causes of respiratory disease and diarrheal disease during childhood and contributes to over a million avoidable infant deaths each year and remains a public health problem in developing countries. Despite the fact that it has a negative effect on child health, little is known about the extent of the problem and its contributing factors in South Ethiopia particularly in study area. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of colostrum avoidance practices and associated factors among Mothers of children aged less than 12 months in Jinka Town, South Ethiopia. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted at Jinka Town from March 1 to 30, 2019. A total of 420 mothers having children less than 12 months of age were selected by systematic sampling technique. The data were collected by using pretested interviewer administered and semi-structured questionnaires. The data was entered using EPIDATA 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Descriptive statistics, Binary and multivariable logistic regression analysis were done. An adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI at a p-value < 0.05 was estimated to identify statistically significant variables with colostrum avoidance practices. Results: The prevalence of colostrum avoidance practice was 9.8% [95% CI: (6.9–12.5)]. Delayed initiation of breast feeding [AOR= 9.08(95% CI 4.16-19.83)], Lack of breast feeding counselling [AOR= 2.33(95% CI 1.11-4.87)], Home delivery of index child [AOR= 2.48 (95% CI 1.16-5.27)] and Poor knowledge on breast feeding [AOR=4.55(95% CI 1.95-10.63)] were factors associated with colostrum avoidance practices. Conclusions: Colostrum avoidance practice among mothers of children aged less than 12 months in Jinka town was high. Delayed initiation of Breas feeding, lack of breast feeding counselling, Home delivery and knowledge on breastfeeding feeding practice were factors associated with colostrum avoidance practice. Promoting institutional delivery services and strengthening of breast feeding counselling during antenatal and postnatal care were recommended for the promotion of the nutritional value of colostrum and its health benefits.


Group cohesion is an affect-laden construct, with a large body of research indicating its importance for success of teams. Surprisingly, it has received scant attention in collaborative learning contexts, and little is known about its development as dynamically emergent in the spontaneous, interdependent actions of actors during groupwork. This paper details an illustrative case analysis which took an embodied perspective to explore the role of interaffectivity in the emergence and maintenance of cohesion in one small group of university students who reported a highly positive and productive experience of collaborative science activities over a semester. The case analysis made visible group cohesion as unfolding and enactive in the myriad ephemeral and seemingly inconsequential microlevel behaviors that evolved into macro-temporal patterns of positive embodied interaffectivity, magnifying their visibility and collective impact. A fine-grained embodiment lens unveiled how participants cocreated collaborative affordances in actions that involved corporeal orientation as well as use of space, task, and other material artifacts. Task-related humor within routine task interaction offered the potential for establishing group cohesion in early group life, but also posed a potential threat to task-focused cohesiveness, requiring careful modulation at critical task points. Attentiveness not only to the task but importantly, to one another as interpersonal attentiveness, appeared to be a key factor in developing and maintaining group cohesion, also demonstrating collaborative learning as a process of orienting to and understanding tasks through one another. An embodiment lens highlighted mutual attentiveness in the ongoing orienter-orientee microprocesses that facilitated group orientation early in group life, and in reorienting to positive embodied interaffectivity when the group reconvened for their joint science activities in subsequent weeks.


Passive Heymann nephritis was produced in rats by injection of the multispecific anti-Fx1A antibody. At time points 1 hour, 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, and 4 days groups of rats were sacrificed and their kidneys fixed by retrograde perfusion with paraformaldehyde lysine periodate. The antibody was visualized by direct immunofluorescence and by 125I-Protein-A electron microscopic autoradiography. Localization of the antibody in the lamina rara interna, lamina densa, lamina rara externa and the glomerular epithelial cell was determined by electron microscopic autoradiography according to the method of Saltpeter, Fertuck, and Saltpeter (Saltpeter MM, Fertuck MC, Saltpeter EE: J Cell Biol 72:161, 1977). At least 100 grains/kidney were analyzed. At one hour the antibody was localized in a linear, discontinuous pattern by immunofluorescent microscopy. Ultrastructurally, the antibody was present in all regions of the capillary wall although predominantly in the lamina rara interna. At later time points the immunofluorescence staining changed to the typical granular pattern with majority of the grains localizing to the lamina rara externa and the cell body of the glomerular epithelial cell. The importance of these observations is several-fold. (a) It suggests the involvement of multiple antigens in the pathogenesis of Heymann nephritis. (b) The initial reaction to the lamina rara interna may be potentiating the eventual formation of deposits in the lamina rara externa by locally permeabilizing the capillary wall and allowing passage to other antibodies. (c) The immune complexes formed at the various sites in the capillary may be getting shed and trapped in the lamina rara externa resulting in coalescence and genesis of the nephritogenic electron-dense deposits.


This article deals with the role that churches can and should play in civil society to develop societal morally. The central-theoretical argument is that the biblical notion of the kingdom of God can, when it is systematically and theologically developed, offer an acceptable foundation for the civil action of churches. In light of this the article takes a new look at the neo-Calvinist view on church and society. The kingdom implies the life encompassing governance of God, the formation of the church and the creation of a moral sense amongst people. The church can, from the perspective of the kingdom, be seen as a community within which Christians should be equipped for social action. The church is a power station which carries forth the light of the Gospel by means of the social involvement of believers in civil society. Christians can, based on natural law, work with civil organisations to pursue the common good of the community. Such collaboration becomes possible only when civil society works purpose- and not paradigm-driven. Based on the moral sense that is founded in natural law, Christians can be socially active within civil society in search of the greatest benefit for all people within the community.


Abstract Abstract DNA sequence data became an integral part of species characterization and identification. Still, specimens associated with a particular DNA sequence must be identified by the use of traditional morphology-based analysis and correct linking of sequence and identification must be ensured. Only a small part of DNA sequences of the genus Diplostomum (Diplostomidae) is based on adult isolates which are essential for accurate identification. In this study, we provide species identification with an aid of morphological and molecular (cox1, ITS-5.8S-ITS2 and 28S) characterization of adults of Diplostomum baeri Dubois, 1937 from naturally infected Larus canus Linnaeus in Karelia, Russia. Furthermore, we reveal that the DNA sequences of our isolates of D. baeri are identical with those of the lineage Diplostomum sp. clade Q , while other sequences labelled as the 'D. baeri' complex do not represent lineages of D. baeri. Our new material of cercariae from Radix balthica (Linnaeus) in Ireland is also linked to Diplostomum sp. clade Q. We reveal that D. baeri is widely distributed in Europe; as first intermediate hosts lymnaeid snails (Radix auricularia (Linnaeus), R. balthica) are used; metacercariae occur in eye lens of cyprinid fishes. In light of the convoluted taxonomy of D. baeri and other Diplostomum spp., we extend the recommendations of Blasco-Costa et al. (2016, Systematic Parasitology 93, 295–306) for the 'best practice' in molecular approaches to trematode systematics. The current study is another step in elucidating the species spectrum of Diplostomum based on integrative taxonomy with well-described morphology of adults linked to sequences.


Abstract 1363 Introduction: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most frequent form of adult acute leukemia, is a heterogeneous disease with respect to presentation and clinical outcome. Although there has been progress made in treatment for some subgroups of AML patients, there is still a high medical need to develop new anti-leukemic therapies. CD33 is a myeloid lineage-specific antigen which is expressed on the cell surface of normal myeloid cells and AML blasts. CD33 has been investigated as a target for antibody-based therapies for over a decade, leading to transient approval of Mylotarg®, an antibody-calicheamicin drug conjugate. Mylotarg®has been shown to substantially improve outcome of patients with AML in combination with chemotherapy, however is associated with additional toxicity. Here we describe a novel, unconjugated Fc-engineered antibody to CD33, mAb 33.1, which mediates potent antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) against AML derived cell lines and malignant AML blasts. Methods: MAb 33.1 is a fully human, Fc-engineered, IgG1-type of antibody which has increased affinity to human Fc-gamma receptor IIIa and binds CD33 with low nanomolar affinity as determined by FACS scatchard analysis. ADCC of mAb 33.1 was determined on a panel of myeloid cell lines and primary AML cells. ADCC assays were performed using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from healthy donors as effector cells and cytotoxicity was determined by LDH release or FACS quantification of 7-AAD-positive cells. Internalization kinetics was assessed by FACS analysis using fluorochrome labelled antibody. Epitope mapping of mAb 33.1 was performed by direct competition experiments and hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HXMS). Results: Antibody mAb 33.1 is able to mediate potent ADCC on a panel of AML derived cell lines and primary AML blasts in vitro. Direct comparison of mAb 33.1 to the humanized CD33 mAb lintuzumab (HuM195) demonstrates superior cytolytic activity on AML cell lines and primary AML cells. ADCC activity of mAb 33.1 is also evident on AML cell lines and primary AML blasts that do not respond to lintuzumab treatment in vitro. In contrast to lintuzumab, mAb 33.1 shows significantly slower internalization kinetics on HL60 cells, leading to prolonged exposure of antigen/antibody complexes on the cell surface. In direct competition experiments mAb 33.1 is competing with lintuzumab for antigen binding. HXMS experiments revealed that mAb 33.1 recognizes a novel epitope on CD33 different to that of lintuzumab. Conclusion: MAb 33.1 represents a novel, Fc-engineered antibody specific for CD33 which shows decelerated internalization compared to lintuzumab, and which recognizes a novel epitope on CD33 different to that of lintuzumab. MAb 33.1 displays strongly enhanced ADCC against leukemia cell lines and primary AML cells, resulting in significantly higher cytolysis than lintuzumab. MAb 33.1 is considered as a promising candidate for treatment of patients with CD33-positive myeloid malignancies and phase I clinical trials are currently under preparation. Disclosures: Heider:Boehringer Ingelheim: Employment. Konopitzky:Boehringer Ingelheim: Employment. Ostermann:Boehringer Ingelheim: Employment. Lamche:Boehringer Ingelheim: Employment. Kuepcue:Boehringer Ingelheim: Employment. Koessl:Boehringer Ingelheim: Employment. Adam:Boehringer Ingelheim: Employment. Borges:Boehringer Ingelheim: Employment.


The six largest wine exporters to the US are Italy, Australia, France, Argentina, Chile, and Spain which cover 87% of all wine exports by volume and 88% by value. Each of these countries follows quite different paths in terms of export volumes vs. export values for the ten years 19992008. French exports to the US for example have hardly moved in terms of quantity (+1%) during these years but they managed a 5% growth p.a. in terms of export value. In contrast, Australian exports to the US have increased by 20% p.a. in terms of volume but only by 16% p.a. in terms of value. Italian exports to the US have increased by 6% in terms of volume and by more than 10% in terms of value. In this paper, we attempt to analyze and interpret these macro trends using micro-level price-quality relations on an exporting country by country basis. For this purpose, we estimate separate hedonic regressions to determine the impact of quality indicators on consumer willingness to pay. Our analysis suggests that relative to Italy and France, Australian wine achieves a lower quality premium and a higher discount for labels exported in large quantities. This illustrates that the tremendous growth rates in Australian exports to the US has created a generic reputation problem for the country. On the other hand, the high quality wines from Australia struggle to find their market in the U.S. because consumers are not familiar with them and thus will only pay a lower quality premium relative to their European competitors. While rapid export growth has made Australian wine a household name in the US, it also has made it more difficult for high quality producers to differentiate themselves from high volume export brands.


Long-term potentiation (LTP) is an increase in synaptic responsiveness thought to be involved in mammalian learning and memory. The localization (presynaptic and/or postsynaptic) of changes underlying LTP has been difficult to resolve with current electrophysiological techniques. Using a biochemical approach, we have addressed this issue and attempted to identify specific molecular mechanisms that may underlie LTP. We utilized a novel multiple-electrode stimulator to produce LTP in a substantial portion of the synapses in a hippocampal CA1 minislice and tested the effects of such stimulation on the presynaptic protein synapsin I. LTP-inducing stimulation produced a long-lasting 6-fold increase in the phosphorylation of synapsin I at its Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II) sites without affecting synapsin I levels. This effect was fully blocked by either the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist D(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (APV) or the CaM kinase II inhibitor KN-62. Our results indicate that LTP expression is accompanied by persistent changes in presynaptic phosphorylation, and specifically that presynaptic CaM kinase II activity and synapsin I phosphorylation may be involved in LTP expression.


Robotic grasping is a challenging area in the field of robotics. When a gripper starts interacting with an object to perform a grasp, the mechanical properties of the object (stiffness and damping) will play an important role. A gripper which is stable in isolated conditions, can become unstable when coupled to an object. This can lead to the extreme condition where the gripper becomes unstable and generates excessive or insufficient grip force resulting in the grasped object either being crushed, or falling and breaking. In addition to the stability issue, grasp maintenance is one of the most important requirements of any grasp where it guarantees a secure grasp in the presence of any unknown disturbance. The term grasp maintenance refers to the reaction of the controller in the presence of external disturbances, trying to prevent any undesired slippage. To do so, the controller continuously adjusts the grip force. This is a challenging task as it requires an accurate model of the friction and object's weight to estimate a sufficient grip force to stop the object from slipping while incurring minimum deformation. Unfortunately, in reality, there is no solution which is able to obtain the mechanical properties, frictional coefficient and weight of an object before establishing a mechanical interaction with it. External disturbance forces are also stochastic meaning they are impossible to predict. This thesis addresses both of the problems mentioned above by:
 Creating a novel variable stiffness gripper, capable of grasping unknown objects, mainly those found in agricultural or food manufacturing companies. In addition to the stabilisation effect of the introduced variable stiffness mechanism, a novel force control algorithm has been designed that passively controls the grip force in variable stiffness grippers. Due to the passive nature of the suggested controller, it completely eliminates the necessity for any force sensor. The combination of both the proposed variable stiffness gripper and the passivity based control provides a unique solution for the stable grasp and force control problem in tendon driven, angular grippers. Introducing a novel active multi input-multi output slip prevention algorithm. The algorithm developed provides a robust control solution to endow direct drive parallel jaw grippers with the capability to stop held objects from slipping while incurring minimum deformation; this can be done without any prior knowledge of the object's friction and weight. The large number of experiments provided in this thesis demonstrate the robustness of the proposed controller when controlling parallel jaw grippers in order to quickly grip, lift and place a broad range of objects firmly without dropping or crushing them. This is particularly useful for teleoperation and nuclear decommissioning tasks where there is often no accurate information available about the objects to be handled. This can mean that pre-programming of the gripper is required for each different object and for high numbers of objects this is impractical and overly time-consuming. A robust controller, which is able to compensate for any uncertainties regarding the object model and any unknown external disturbances during grasping, is implemented. This work has advanced the state of the art in the following two main areas:  Direct impedance modulation for stable grasping in tendon driven, angular grippers.  Active MIMO slip prevention grasp control for direct drive parallel jaw grippers.


Cell lines established directly from adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma patients or immortalized by human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) in vitro that do not produce complete HTLV virions were characterized both for the content of viral proteins and for the presence of trans-acting factors activating gene expression under the control of the HTLV long terminal repeat. The expression of the 42-kilodalton HTLV x-lor product correlated with trans-activation of the long terminal repeat. The implications of this study for understanding the role of the HTLV x-lor product in the initiation and maintenance of T-lymphocyte transformation are discussed.


MicroRNAs have emerged as important regulators of smooth muscle phenotype and may play important roles in pathogenesis of various smooth muscle related disease states. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of miRNAs for urinary bladder function. We used an inducible and smooth muscle specific Dicer knockout (KO) mouse which resulted in significantly reduced levels of miRNAs, including miR-145, miR-143, miR-22, miR125b-5p and miR-27a, from detrusor preparations without mucosa. Deletion of Dicer resulted in a disturbed micturition pattern in vivo and reduced depolarization-induced pressure development in the isolated detrusor. Furthermore, electrical field stimulation revealed a decreased cholinergic but maintained purinergic component of neurogenic activation in Dicer KO bladder strips. The ultrastructure of detrusor smooth muscle cells was well maintained, and the density of nerve terminals was similar. Western blotting demonstrated reduced contents of calponin and desmin. Smooth muscle α-actin, SM22α and myocardin were unchanged. Activation of strips with exogenous agonists showed that depolarization-induced contraction was preferentially reduced; ATP- and calyculin A-induced contractions were unchanged. Quantitative real time PCR and western blotting demonstrated reduced expression of Cav1.2 (Cacna1c). It is concluded that smooth muscle miRNAs play an important role for detrusor contractility and voiding pattern of unrestrained mice. This is mediated in part via effects on expression of smooth muscle differentiation markers and L-type Ca2+ channels in the detrusor.


Despite growing promotion of student-centered teaching, few studies have assessed how widely these practices have diffused throughout computer science (CS) higher education. Studies on teaching practices often treat instructor- and student-centered learning as being dichotomous. Recent research indicates that this reductionist model misinterprets what actually goes on in CS classrooms. For example, a recent study found that most CS faculty categorized their teaching practices as equally student-centered and instructor-centered. We contribute to this scholarship by reporting the results of a survey disseminated to 821 CS educators in 595 universities, colleges, and community colleges in the U.S. Participants were asked to report how frequently they employed several instructor- or student-centered teaching practices and tools during the most recent semester that they taught a specific course. Results indicate that when asked to reflect on specific behaviors within a certain timeframe, faculty reported using instructor-centered teaching practices, especially delivering content via lecture, more than student-centered practices. However, most faculty also reported using at least one student-centered technique, albeit less frequently, throughout the semester. This study found few differences across certain situational and demographic variables (e.g., institution type, tenure status, etc.). Faculty justify their teaching choices with concern for negative evaluations, desire for student learning, large enrollments, heavy teaching loads, and retaining underrepresented students.


The components of natural water can be divided into three categories: dissolved, colloidal and particulate phases. The colloids are small particles with at least one dimension between 1.0 nm and 1.0 ?m (IUPAC); they do not sediment when suspended in "solution". The small size of colloidal particles causes this fraction to have a large surface area with potential to bind significant amounts of trace metals and organic pollutants and also allows colloids to migrate over long distances potentially increasing the spread of the contaminants. To better understand the behaviour of colloidal matter in natural waters, engineered spherical silica colloids of known size were made and chemically labelled so that the colloids can be sensitively tracked through the fractionation process of analytical filtration. The labels used to date have included the toxic metalloid arsenic and the fluorescent compound Rhodamine B, which had also been used to improve sensitivity. The behaviour of engineered labelled colloidal sols has been investigated during the preliminary filtration study in the laboratory. Artificial colloidal sols of the silicas in water were investigated to see how their filtration, employing a sequential filtration of a water sample through 1.6 (or 8 ?m) and 0.1 ?m cut-off filters, influenced a measurement of arsenic. The content of the filters after filtration were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and analysed for arsenic using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Ca. 50% and 65% of the silica particles were found on the large pore filters (1.6 um and 8.0 um filter), providing evidence of the aggregation and clogging effects on the fibre filter. The analysis of the Tamar estuary water samples revealed substantial amounts of arsenic, attributed to drainage from mining activities. Colloidal arsenic was found along with dissolved and particulate arsenic in freshwater. However, the saline water samples showed the arsenic content to be distributed mainly in the particulate and dissolved fractions. A suggested explanation of this phenomenon is that aggregation of colloids took place in the presence of saline water and therefore most of the colloidal arsenic was collected with the particulate fraction. Finally, a study of Southampton Water and Dart waters was performed by adding engineered colloidal particles to explore the aggregation of colloids in water of different salinity. Unfortunately, experimental problems prevented a definite verification of the influence of salinity in this case


In this paper, a linear generator for a highly reliable wave energy conversion system is designed and tested. In order to store energy, the system is able to produce hydrogen. The wave energy conversion system consists of an electrical linear generator, a power conversion system, and a sea-water electrolyzer. A small-scale prototype of the system is designed and built. The design is oriented to the enhancement of the system robustness and reliability and a failure mode and effects and criticality analysis are used. In order to guarantee an easy extension of the power capability of the marine plant, a modular architecture of the system is adopted. The design strategy is described. The robustness and reliability of the proposed solution are discussed. Simulation and experimental results on the prototype are shown.


We introduce a new preemptive scheduling technique for next-generation optical burst switching (OBS) networks considering the impact of cascaded wavelength conversions. It has been shown that when optical bursts are transmitted all optically from source to destination, each wavelength conversion performed along the lightpath may cause certain signal-to-noise deterioration. If the distortion of the signal quality becomes significant enough, the receiver would not be able to recover the original data. Accordingly, subject to this practical impediment, we improve a recently proposed fair channel scheduling algorithm to deal with the fairness problem and aim at burst loss reduction simultaneously in OBS environments. In our scheme, the dynamic priority associated with each burst is based on a constraint threshold and the number of already conducted wavelength conversions among other factors for this burst. When contention occurs, a new arriving superior burst may preempt another scheduled one according to their priorities. Extensive simulation results have shown that the proposed scheme further improves fairness and achieves burst loss reduction as well.


ABSTRACT In the United States and elsewhere, many religious organizations have adopted structures, mechanisms, and ideologies that can be understood through the concept of corporatization. More than a process, corporatization creates a schema through which social relationships are structured and particular values and beliefs are emphasized (particularly, the valorization of the consumer). The authors of the present article draw on Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's conceptualization of 'lines of flight' to illustrate how the Emerging Church, a new religious movement, has leveraged the discontinuities within corporatization. The participants of this movement do so in order to resist institutionalizing systems that rigidify and indoctrinate participants. The authors use ethnographic field methods to demonstrate how Emerging Church participants rely on the tropes of 'messiness' and 'conversation' to embrace a radical contingency, to foster dialogue, and to avoid adopting rigid, rationalized systems of meaning.


Using the IgG fraction of an antiserum against cord red blood cell (RBC) membranes (F-IgG), antigenic properties of RBC of newborns (n = 24) and patients suffering from anemia (n = 46) [either due to beta-thalassemia intermedia (n = 37) or hemorrhage (n = 9)] as compared to those of normal adults (n = 18) were examined with fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry and radioimmunoassays (RIA). With fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry 1.01 +/- 0.31 and 0.82 +/- 0.28% (mean +/- SD), respectively, of cord RBC and 0.79 +/- 0.31 and 0.53 +/- 0.28% of RBC from anemic patients reacted with F-IgG. RBC of normal adults showed virtually no F-IgG reactivity. In anemic patients there was a good correlation between the percent of F-IgG-reactive cells and the percent of reticulocytes, although the former were only two thirds of the latter; the ratio of F-IgG-reactive cells to reticulocytes was higher in posthemorrhagic anemia than in thalassemia. Moreover, double stainings revealed that the majority of F-IgG-reactive RBC were at the reticulocyte stage (80%), and coexpressed transferrin receptor (96%). Furthermore, the F-IgG-positive RBC correlated inversely with Hb levels. When RIA was employed, F-IgG binding to RBC of anemic patients and newborns was similar and considerably and significantly higher than that to RBC from healthy adults. The results demonstrate the reappearance in certain forms of anemia of F-IgG-reactive RBC, which are likely to represent a subpopulation of reticulocytes.


The interaction of two synthetic omega-conopeptides SNX-111 (MVIIA) and SNX-230 (MVIIC) both derived from the marine snail Conus magus, with non-L-type neuronal voltage-sensitive calcium channels (VSCC) in rat brain synaptosomal preparations has been investigated with the aid of well-characterized 125I derivatives of the two peptides. To assess the effects of iodination on the binding characteristics of SNX-111 and SNX-230, the corresponding peptides containing monoiodotyrosine in place of tyrosine, namely, SNX-259 ([127I]SNX-111) and SNX-260 ([127I]SNX-230), respectively, were prepared by solid-phase synthesis. Saturation analysis showed that [125I]SNX-111 and [125I]SNX-230 bound to two distinct classes of high-affinity sites with apparent Kd's of 9 and 11 pM and Bmax's of 0.54 and 2.2 pmol/mg protein, respectively. Kinetic analysis revealed that both peptides exhibited high association rates as well as rapid dissociation rates in contrast to the 125I derivative of the synthetic omega-conopeptide from Conus geographus, GVIA (SNX-124), which binds irreversibly to N-type channels in rat brain synaptosomes. Competition binding experiments with [125I]SNX-111 and [125I]SNX-124 established that both of them bind to the same site, namely, N-type VSCC. The site detected by the binding of [125I]SNX-230 is distinct from N-type VSCC since SNX-111 has very low affinity (K(i) = 135 nM) in competition studies. Recent findings that a novel high-voltage-activated calcium channel in rat cerebellar granule neurons is resistant to blockers of L-, N-, and P-type VSCC but is highly sensitive to SNX-230 suggest that the [125I]SNX-230 binding site may represent this novel type of calcium channel or another, as yet undescribed, VSCC.


Long working hours adversely affect workers' safety and health. In 2004, Korea passed legislation limiting the working week to 40 h, to improve quality-of-life and to increase business competitiveness. In the present study, we explored the characteristics of work in Korea and compared our data of the second Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS) with those of the first KWCS. We found that the average number of hours worked weekly has been reduced but the proportions of workers who work for more than 48 h per week has increased over the 4 yr between the two Korean surveys in all categories studied (male, female, employee, self-employed, and employer). We also found that self-employed and employers work much longer hours than do employees, who are protected by the Labor Standards Act. This was particularly true in the accommodation and food service sectors. In conclusion, Korean workers work longer than do workers of EU countries. The use of average figures masks differences in the numbers of working hours among those engaged in various types of employment, or in certain work sectors. Therefore, the Korean government should not simply monitor reductions in average weekly working hours, but should identify employees working for over 60 h weekly, and reduce their working time.


While they provide a recognized technical advance for wells drilled with oil-based mud (OBM), OBM-adapted microresistivity images of the last 13 years remain far from the geologic interpretability provided by imagers that operate in a water-based mud (WBM) environment. Recently the use of a high-definition WBM imager has been demonstrated in wells drilled with OBM, but its application has been principally limited to highresistivity formations with excellent hole conditions or to cases where the drilling fluid has been engineered to favor acquisition. To fill this gap, a new wireline microelectrical imager has been introduced, engineered from the ground up to acquire high-definition, full-coverage images in any well drilled with OBM. The all-new physics architecture includes a strategy to minimize and eventually eliminate the inevitable contribution of the nonconductive fluid and to optimize the mode of operation in accordance with formation parameters. New tool-specific processing steps complement the standard borehole image processing workflow to render highly representative images of the formation. Examining the measurement response in detail, via both modeling and real-world examples, demonstrates several favorable characteristics, for example, sensitivity to vertical as well as horizontal features, reduction of shoulder-bed effects, and reduced sensitivity to desiccation cracks. The novel mechanical architecture includes a new sonde design with significant operational advantages. It conveys a sensor array composed of 192 microelectrodes providing 98% circumferential coverage in an 8-in. borehole. The individual microelectrodes are smaller than those of industrystandard imagers for WBM, each with a surface area of only 10.8 mm 2 , which provides excellent spatial resolution. From a field test comprising more than 40 operations in various OBM fluids, high-definition images were acquired in a variety of environments, from highresistivity carbonates to shales and low-resistivity clastics, demonstrating the robustness and widespread applicability of the new tool. The examples include challenging environmental conditions and they explore the limits of accurate measurement. Comparison with legacy images demonstrates that the new physics of measurement coupled with the high-resolution, highcoverage sensor array has achieved much more than a microimaging step change. The new images faithfully reproduce formation geology with photorealistic clarity and promise to revolutionize the geologic interpretation of wells drilled with OBM.


We measure and compare the out-of-plane motion in three experimental configurations for approximating two-dimensional flow with electromagnetically driven thin fluid layers. A prior study found that out-of-plane motion grows suddenly when the Reynolds number Re exceeds a critical value Rec in a two-layer miscible configuration [Kelley and Ouellette, Phys. Fluids 23, 045103 (2011)]. Here, we confirm that observation; however, we find that a similar onset does not occur in either a single-layer or two-layer immiscible configuration for the ranges Re < 520 and Re < 740, respectively. Below the critical Reynolds number, the three configurations have out-of-plane motion with similar magnitude. We confirm that two different normalized measures of out-of-plane motion show similar trends among the three configurations as Re varies. Finally, we compute the vertical velocity profiles using an analytical model of each of the three configurations and provide further evidence suggesting the transition observed in the miscible configuration is due to a shear instability. Our results lead to suggestions for future experimentalists: The single-layer and immiscible configurations most closely approximate two-dimensional flow over a wide range of Re, though the miscible configuration minimizes clumping of tracer particles.


A survey shall be given of the pharmacology of calcium antagonists or calcium entry blockers (CEB) in various types of cardiovascular disease. It emphasises their vasodilator potency, the common characteristic of all CEB and probably the property underlying most of their therapeutic effects apart from the antiarrhythmic activity of verapamil. All CEB relax vascular smooth muscle, particularly in arteriolar beds, thus reducing peripheral vascular resistance. Arteriolar relaxation appears to be associated with a specific inhibition of transmembrane calcium influx. Calmodulin is probably not generally involved, and neither are intracellular processes. Vasoconstriction induced by stimulation of vascular postsynaptic alpha2-adrenoceptors, using selective agonists, is reduced by CEB by a non-competitive mechanism. This interaction has been observed for different CEB like nifedipine and other dihydropyridines, verapamil and diltiazem. The effect on alpha2-adrenoceptor mediated vasoconstriction is directly associated with the calcium antagonistic potency of the drugs. On the other hand, vasoconstriction evoked by selective excitation of vascular alpha1-adrenoceptors remains virtually uninfluenced by CEB. The selective interference of CEB with alpha2-adrenoceptor stimulation. Furthermore this mechanism may contribute to the vasodilator effect of CEB, by inhibiting that part of vascular tone evoked by the stimulation of alpha2-adrenoceptors by endogenous catecholamines.


The low incidence of hearing loss resulting from the administration of streptomycin hydrosulfate in the treatment of pulmonary and other forms of tuberculosis has been previously reported. * These reports covered patients who were under treatment at Veterans Administration tuberculosis facilities and other institutions for the treatment of tuberculosis. The period of observation varied from 42 days 2 to 8 months.† In recent years the treatment of non-surgical pulmonary tuberculosis has been shifting from hospital and sanitarium care to home care with periodic check-ups in out-patient clinics. Because of the high incidence rate of relapse in "arrested" cases of tuberculosis of the lung prior to chemotherapy and the low incidence of relapse of those patients who continue indefinitely on chemotherapy after discharge from the hospital, Dooneief, Hite, and Bloch ‡ advocated "chemotherapy under close observation should be prolonged indefinitely except in the presence of threatening side effects or until


Introduction All aspects of medical training have experienced an exponential acceleration in the application of technology for learning needs.1 Research promotes the use of high fidelity models and ever more complex training methods with organisations keen to adopt and implement new technology. Models are utilised to minimise potential risks to patients through bedside learning and refine established technique.2 Simulation practice can also be used to develop non-technical skills pertinent to safe clinical practice.2–4 Simulation training can be employed from early stages of undergraduate education through to use in professional postgraduate exams giving a large scope of use in a multiplicity of environments.1 4 5 Methods Forty Foundation Year 1 Doctors were taught clinical skills utilising Low fidelity part task training models. Four clinical skills were selected from pre-determined postgraduate curricula. Self assessment pre and post procedure were recorded with qualitative feedback sought as a secondary measure. Results Global increases are seen across 4 sampled clinical skills. Participants self-reported increased confidence and competence. A high value was placed upon trainees perceived value in training. Conclusion Fidelity has been shown to play an integral role in simulation.4 The authors conclude that simple part task trainers, low fidelity models, still have a valuable part to play in medical education. They remain cost effective, adaptable and accessible training tools in the era of increasing complexity.1 5 Simulation provides a safe space to develop both technical and non-technical aspects.3 4 Low fidelity simulation can be used to underpin the learning objectives of trainees through effective feedback in real time, access to repetitive practice and remain a feasible training tool for trainers and trainees alike.2 4 High fidelity simulation should not be excluded completely however appears to be best suited to defined roles in more complex moulage.1 4
Take home message
 Technology has the ability to improve and evolve medical education. With the potential for increased feedback, self and peer assessment along with pragmatic assessment, simulation has firmly entrenched itself in medical education. Care should be taken however not to disregard lower fidelity models as they still provide proven effective learning, enable the teaching of non-technical skills and facilitate knowledge delivery. References Sarmah P, et al. Low vs. high fidelity: the importance of 'realism' in the simulation of a stone treatment procedure. Curr Opin Urol 2017;27(4):316–322. Naik VN, Brein SE. Review article: simulation: a means to address and improve patient safety. Can J Anaesth 2013;60(2):192–200. Aebersold M. The history of simulation and its impact on the future. AACN Adv Crit Care 2016;27(1):56–61. Lewis R, Strachan A, Smith MM. Is high fidelity simulation the most effective method for the development of non-technical skills in nursing? A review of the current evidence. Open Nurs J 2012;6:82–89. Aggarwal R, et al. Training and simulation for patient safety. Qual Saf Health Care 2010;19(Suppl 2):i34–i43.


Effect of alkanolamide (ALK) addition on cure and tensile properties of unfilled natural rubber (NR) compounds was investigated. The ALK was synthesized from Refined Bleached Deodorized Palm Stearin (RBDPS) and diethanolamine, and incorporated into the unfilled-NR compound as a new rubber additive. The ALK loadings were 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 phr. It was found that the addition of ALK exhibited shorter scorch and cure times and higher elongation at break of the unfilled NR compounds. The ALK also exhibited higher torque differences, tensile modulus and tensile strength of up to 0.6 phr of ALK loading and then decreased with further increases in the ALK loading. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) proved that 0.6 phr loading of ALK in the NR compounds exhibited the greatest matrix tearing line and surface roughness which correlated to a higher tensile strength of the NR compound.


A novel computational approach based on the coupled 3D Flame-TrackingeParticle (FTP) method is used for numerical simulation of confined explosions caused by preflame autoignition. The Flame-Tracking (FT) technique implies continuous tracing of the mean flame surface and application of the laminar/ turbulent flame velocity concepts. The Particle method is based on the joint velocityescalar probability density function approach for simulating reactive mixture autoignition in the preflame zone. The coupled algorithm is supplemented with the database of tabulated laminar flame velocities as well as with reaction rates of hydrocarbon fuel oxidation in wide ranges of initial temperature, pressure, and equivalence ratio. The main advantage of the FTP method is that it covers both possible modes of premixed combustion, namely, frontal and volumetric. As examples, combustion of premixed hydrogeneair, propaneeair, and n-heptaneeair mixtures in enclosures of different geometry is considered. At certain conditions, volumetric hot spots ahead of the propagating flame are identified. These hot spots transform to localized exothermic centers giving birth to spontaneous ignition waves traversing the preflame zone at very high apparent velocities, i.e., nearly homogeneous preflame explosion occurs. The abrupt pressure rise results in the formation of shock waves producing high overpressure peaks after reflections from enclosure walls. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the value of known prognostic factors for metastasis in breast cancer by accounting for patient-specific effect of patients who received surgical treatment followed by adjuvant treatment using the frailty model.

METHODS
One hundred seventeen women with breast cancer who underwent surgery followed by adjuvant therapy at 3 hospitals in Tehran, Iran between 1995 and 2003 were enrolled in this study. Women with defined breast cancer with no distant metastases at time of diagnosis that have undergone modified radical mastectomy or breast-conserving surgery were enrolled. Tumors were classified according to the Tumor, Node, Metastasis (TNM) system of the American Joint Committee on cancer. Grading was performed according to Scarff-Bloom-Richardson method. Estrogen receptor (ER) was measured by immunohistochemistry method. The patients have been followed regularly by routine clinical laboratory profile, serologic markers (CEA, CA15-3) and para-clinical examinations; furthermore, we have followed missing materials by other access ways such as calling.

RESULTS
Median follow up time for patients was 26 months after surgery. During the follow up time 44 (38%) patients developed metastasis and 20 (45%) of these 44 patients experienced the second metastasis. The median disease-free survival for patients in the study was 49.6 month. The median time to experience second metastasis after the first one was 22.5 months. Risk of occurrence of a metastasis in the first year after surgery was 12%. Risk of experience a metastasis up to the second year was 32% and up to fifth years was 69%. Result of fitting a frailty model to data showed that size of tumor, number of positive lymph nodes and histologic grade had a significant effect on the risk of metastasis (p<0.05). Patients with tumor size larger than 5 cm were in higher risk of metastasis compared with others. Increase in the number of positive lymph nodes to more than 10, increased risk of metastasis. Patients with moderate or undifferentiated histologic grade were in higher risk of metastasis to well differentiated patients. Age, family history, lymph node stage, and ER had no significant effect. It was found that there was heterogeneity between patients after adjusting for other covariates because variance of frailty was 0.315. It means that based on the variance of the distribution of frailty, the relative risk of high-risk patients to low-risk patients was 7.2, wherein high-risk group is defined as a cluster at the 95th percentile and low-risk to a cluster of 5th percentile of the frailty distribution.

CONCLUSION
Known risk factors describe the risk of metastasis partly and other unknown or unmeasured factors, such as genetics or environmental factors are important to describe the risk of metastasis in breast cancer.


Abstract— The dark adaptation kinetics of Phycomyces phototropism depend critically on the experimental protocol. When sporangiophores that had been light‐adapted to a fluence rate of 1 W m 2 at 447 nm were exposed to dim unilateral light, the adaptation kinetics showed exponential decay (6 min time constant). However, when light‐adapted sporangiophores were kept for variable intervals in darkness (i.e. in presence of traditional red safelight) and then exposed to dim unilateral test light, the decay kinetics of adaptation were biexponential with a rapid decay during the first minute (1 min time constant), followed by a slow recovery (11 min time constant). Thus, the dim subliminal light given after the sporangiophores had been adapted to 1 W m‐2, was actually perceived, and exerted control over the dark‐adaptation process. The observed acceleration of dark‐adaptation kinetics constitutes a novel light effect of the sporangiophore. At wavelength 383 nm this effect was not observed. Because a β‐carotene lacking mutant, L91 (genotype carB), was unmodified in dark‐adaptation kinetics measured in the presence or absence of subliminal light, it appears that β‐carotene is not involved in the photocontrol of adaptation.


In Out of Stock , Dara Orenstein delivers an ambitious and engrossing account of that most generic and underappreciated site in American commerce and industry: the warehouse. She traces the progression from the nineteenth century's bonded warehouses to today's foreign-trade zones, enclaves where goods can be simultaneously on US soil and off US customs territory. Orenstein contends that these zones—nearly 800 of which are scattered across the country—are emblematic of why warehouses have begun to supplant factories in the age of Amazon and Walmart. Circulation is so crucial to the logistics of how and where goods are made that it is increasingly inseparable from production, to the point that warehouses are now some of the most pivotal spaces of global capitalism. Drawing from cultural geography, cultural history, and political economy, Out of Stock nimbly demonstrates the centrality of warehouses for corporations, workers, cities, and empires.


Asthma is becoming more common in all parts of the world, and establishing the diagnosis is as important to clinical practitioners as it is to epidemiologists. For both the "gold standard" is still a clinical diagnosis based on a characteristic pattern of symptoms: episodes of cough, of dyspnoea, and of chest tightness or wheeze. The epidemiologist, however, wants further objective diagnostic tests to distinguish affected from unaffected people and then to compare populations and monitor trends. Most recent prevalence studies have relied on measurements of bronchial hyperresponsiveness to histamine or methacholine or to an exercise challenge as well as on tests of lung function. Toelle et al have proposed that for epidemiological purposes current asthma should be defined as appropriate symptoms in the previous 12 months together with evidence of increased airway responsiveness.1

The need for a clinician to use more specialised diagnostic testing is less clearly defined, but it may be summarised as the need to establish the diagnosis and assess the severity. International guidelines broadly agree on the management of established asthma, but they differ in their emphasis on confirmatory diagnostic testing. The British guidelines do not mention …


Objective To describe characteristics and outcomes of patients hospitalised for injuries occurring in industrial settings during a 1-year period. Methods A retrospective analysis of hospital admissions in the USA in 2006 using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample was performed. The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9 CM) code E849.3 (industrial place and premises) was used to identify work-related injury admissions. Results A total of 5826 patients were hospitalised with injuries sustained in industrial settings (weighted, 28 354 patients). The mean age was 42.9 years (82% were men). They were 48% Caucasian, 19% Hispanic and 6% African–American. The majority were admitted from the Emergency Department (72%). Further the majority of admissions were discharged home (79%; 9% with home healthcare) and 10.7% were transferred to another facility. The mean length of stay was 4.5 days (range 0–109 days). Mean total charges per admission was US$32 254 (median US$18 364, 90th percentile US$66 607). Common diagnoses included: orthopaedic injuries (including amputations) to: finger/hand (20.9%), foot/ankle (8.2%), leg (10.2%) and spine (8.4%); infection (10.8%), pulmonary diagnosis (6.6%), soft tissue injuries (3.6%) and burns to <10% of the body (3.6%). Comorbidities included hypertension (17.0%) and diabetes mellitus (6.3%). Most common procedures performed included fracture reduction (17.6%), blood transfusions (3.1%) and spinal surgery (3%). A total of 194 (0.7%) patients died in the hospital. Conclusions Injuries in industrial settings result in significant healthcare usage, morbidity and mortality on an annual basis in the USA. These admission levels facilitate development of targeted strategies to optimise the quality and economics of care for injuries in industrial settings.


On May 25, 1983, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had authority to deny tax-exempt status to Bob Jones University, Goldsboro Christian School, and other private and religious schools with racially discriminatory educational policies. The Court relied on the statute's broad purpose and placed significant weight on Congress' failure to enact legislation to overturn the IRS policy. A complete account of the legislative history, provided here, both supports and undercuts the Court's opinion. More importantly, this story provides an account of the dynamic interaction among a Supreme Court critical of racial integration, a Congress divided on this issue, and a presidency at war with itself. In the end, the story suggests that Bob Jones may have a limited role in shaping interpretive methodology, but that the case reveals how all three branches of government (as well as the public) interact to shape a statute's meaning.


Studies on the acquisition of indefinite articles by sequential bilingual (L2) children have provided mixed results regarding whether L2 children omit or substitute indefinite articles. In the present paper, we examined whether Turkish-speaking child L2 learners of English omitted or substituted indefinite articles by using a production task that comprised two different semantic contexts, the referential specific and the non-referential predicational context. We also examined the source of children's errors by using a self-paced listening task where children heard grammatical sentence where indefinite articles were present and ungrammatical sentences with omitted indefinite articles. L2 children's performance was compared with that of two monolingual (L1) groups: an age-matched L1 group and a younger L1 group. Results showed that all groups of children distinguished between the two semantic contexts in both the production and the on-line processing task. At the same time, both groups of older L1 and L2 children's errors consisted in omission of indefinite articles whereas the predominant error for the younger L1 children was substitutions. In the on-line processing task, all groups of children detected the ungrammaticality related to article omission. We interpret these results within the Feature Reassembly and the Full Transfer/Full Access Hypotheses.


PURPOSE We investigated the impact of screening rural patients on referral and management of cervical cancer in Tanzania. METHODS After reviewing more than 10,000 medical records of patients with cervical cancer who visited Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) from 2005 to 2014, 108 patients were from the rural communities of Bagamoyo and Chalinze. We abstracted demographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors and linked the data set to databases of all 1,151 patients who visited the Bagamoyo screening clinic from 2011 to 2014 and 1,273 patients who visited the Chalinze screening clinic from 2012 to 2014. RESULTS After initiation of the rural screening clinics, difference in duration from diagnosis to prescribed treatment increased from 50.5 to 88 days (P = .030), and duration from referral to treatment increased from 38.6 to 101.3 days (P = .041). Proportion of patients who received combination chemoradiotherapy increased from 34.3% to 69% (P = .001) and completion of treatment decreased from 94.4% to 72.41% (P = .002) after initiation of the ORCI screening clinic. Patients who visited Muhimbili National Hospital had significantly shorter periods between referral and prescribed treatment than patients who did not use the Muhimbili National Hospital (mean ± standard deviation, 49.4 ± 128.8 and 112.1 ± 195.31 days, respectively; P = .010). Patients who were treated at ORCI had significantly shorter periods between diagnosis and referral to treatment (mean ± standard deviation, 31.4 ± 62.35 and 36.4 ± 121.79 days, respectively; P = .005). CONCLUSION Future research should focus on investigating barriers to seeking cancer care, benefits of chemoradiotherapy in this population considering the change in prescribed treatment, and time until diagnosis and treatment. Prescription of complex treatments that require more visits to treatment centers may also contribute to decline in completion of treatment.


SUMMARY: The production of licheniformin-like antibacterial activity in culture by a single strain of Bacillus licheniformis required neutral or alkaline conditions, conveniently attained by the use of lactate rather than glucose as a source of carbon in a chemically defined medium. When the medium contained initially about 0.04-0.10% nitrogen, supplied as asparagine or as ammonium lactate, and the cultures, harvested after 4-9 days at 37°, were sterilized by bringing to pH 2.5 and autoclaving, the inhibitory dilution against a test strain of Mycobacterium phlei was 1/160 or greater. Fluid from cultures in a chemically defined medium, containing 0.06 m ammonium lactate and 0.05 m sodium lactate, inhibited the test organism at a dilution of 1/200-1200 (geometric mean, 530) in 44 consecutive batches of 100-200 1. culture fluid produced by incubation of cultures in shallow layers. The pH value of the harvested fluid was about 9 and the antibiotic material was partly bound by the cells. It was largely freed by adjustment to pH 2.5. When amino-acids were added to the medium either as a mixture of known amino-acids, or as a casein hydrolysate. the maximum titre was attained earlier, but with no significant change in its value. A similar result was obtained with yeast extract added alone or with casein hydrolysate.


Since the torque ripple reduction by adopting magnet-shaping methods is often associated with a negative impact on electromagnetic torque as well as increased cost, this paper proposes magnet poles having unequal magnet height, i.e., the Hat- and T-type magnets, together with optimized Halbach magnetization. An analytical model based on subdomain technique is employed for investigation, while its validity is examined by finite-element analysis. It shows that comparing to conventional three-segment Halbach array, Hat-type magnet pole and traditional magnet shapings, T-type magnet pole exhibits significant potential to achieve low torque ripple, high electromagnetic torque, and low magnet usage simultaneously.


Background: Proximal humerus fractures are common problems plaguing the elderly population. Purpose: The purposes of this study were to determine the outcomes of fibular strut allografts in treatment of proximal humerus fractures with open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) and to present the authors' preferred surgical technique. The hypothesis was that the use of fibular strut allografts in treating proximal humerus fractures with ORIF will provide low reoperation rates with acceptable outcomes. Study Design: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: A systematic review was registered with PROSPERO and performed with PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines using 3 publicly available free databases. Therapeutic clinical outcome investigations reporting arthroscopic elbow outcomes with levels of evidence 1 through 4 were eligible for inclusion. All study, subject, and surgical technique demographics were analyzed and compared between continents and countries. Statistics were calculated using Student t tests, 1-way analysis of variance, chi-square tests, and 2-proportion Z tests. Results: Four studies met the inclusion criteria. While there is great heterogeneity existing in the literature surrounding use of a fibular strut allograft as an adjunct to ORIF of proximal humerus fractures, current evidence shows a humeral head screw penetration rate of 3.7% with acceptable functional outcome scores, with a reoperation rate of 4.4% at a weighted mean 80.78 weeks (1.55 years) of postoperative follow-up. Conclusion: There is great heterogeneity that exists in the literature surrounding the use of a fibular strut allograft as an adjunct to ORIF of proximal humerus fractures. Current evidence shows a screw penetration rate of 3.7% with acceptable functional outcome scores, demonstrating fibular strut allograft is a viable option for treating proximal humerus fractures.


Being a successful graphic designer today requires more than knowing the essential features of industry-standard software applications. It also requires an understanding of how to integrate these programs into a seamless whole while producing work that conforms to design principles and client expectations. This fully revised edition of The Graphic Designer's Digital Toolkit, 3rd Edition provides a full-color, comprehensive overview of Macintosh OS X and Windows Vista operating systems, design fundamentals, and the "Big 3" digital design programs used in the graphics industry today: Adobe Illustrator CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3, and Adobe InDesign CS3. The book examines the essential features of each, then reveals in practical detail the skills and technology necessary for effective design for print and Web Media. This project-based book features a highly visual introduction to the essential tools and functions of each application from the perspective of the working designer. Readers are then given the opportunity to put what they learn to work by tackling design projects from concept to completion with assignments drawn from the everyday world of professional graphic designers.


The interlocking systems are typically resisting against hazardous faults. Failure effect on the system can be determined directly by monitoring the original system installation, by simulation of the system operation using its model, or by computing or theoretical reasoning. The process of system ageing can be described with the help of the random failure time. Essential majorities of computer-based interlocking system elements are electronic elements that are not exposed to mechanical wear. The failure distribution of these elements is assumed to be exponential.


Gendered Commodity Chains is the first book to consider the fundamental role of gender in global commodity chains. It challenges long-held assumptions of global economic systems by identifying the crucial role social reproduction plays in production and by declaring the household as an important site of production. In affirming the importance of women's work in global production, this cutting-edge volume fills an important gender gap in the field of global commodity and value chain analysis.With thirteen chapters by an international group of scholars from sociology, anthropology, economics, women's studies, and geography, this volume begins with an eye-opening feminist critique of existing commodity chain literature. Throughout its remaining five parts, Gendered Commodity Chains addresses ways women's work can be integrated into commodity chain research, the forms women's labor takes, threats to social reproduction, the impact of indigenous and peasant households on commodity chains, the rapidly expanding arenas of global carework and sex trafficking, and finally, opportunities for worker resistance. This broadly interdisciplinary volume provides conceptual and methodological guides for academics, graduate students, researchers, and activists interested in the gendered nature of commodity chains.


Periodontal diseases are a group of related inflammatory disorders, initiated by dental plaque and causing destruction of the supporting structures of the teeth. Although the inflammatory response is a fundamental defence mechanism against bacterial infection, its persistence over a long period of time may extensively damage the periodontal tissues: cementum, alveolar bone, periodontal ligament and dentogingival tissues. These disorders, despite recent improvements in oral health are still a major cause of tooth loss in patients over 35 years of age.