Understanding the grain size effect on diffusion in nanocrystals has been hampered by the difficulty of measuring diffusion directly in experiments. Here large-scale atomistic modeling is applied to understand the diffusion kinetics in nanocrystals. Enhanced short-circuit diffusivity is revealed to be controlled by the rule of mixtures for grain-boundary diffusion and lattice diffusion, which can be accurately described by the Maxwell-Garnett equation instead of the commonly thought Hart equation, and the thermodynamics of pure grain-boundary self-diffusion is not remarkably affected by varying grain size. Experimentally comparable Arrhenius parameters with atomic detail validate our results. We also propose a free-volume diffusion mechanism considering negative activation entropy and small activation volume. These help provide a fundamental understanding of how the activation parameters depend on size and the structure-property relationship of nanostructured materials from a physical viewpoint.


Technology is Poetry.
(T-Shirt Issue Collective, Shapeshifters, 2010

This paper explores pattern design through a practice based approach through integrating and experimenting with 3D digital design & production technologies. The research has evolved through several months of collaboration and has transcended disciplinary boundaries. The research has attempted to expand thinking around pattern cutting practice into new areas by incorporating 3D digital drawing, sculpture and 3D pattern generation and cutting methods. The outcomes are presented as a work in progress collection of digital creative pattern cutting experiments and practitioner experiences. Academics and postgraduate students from the School of Art, Design & Architecture's 3D digital research group have worked closely with industrial research partners Assyst Bullmer and Optitex to explore and document new ways of drawing, sculpting, cutting and constructing 3D clothing in three dimensions (3D) on virtual bodies using 3D Technologies.

Keywords: Digital Sculpture; pattern cutting; transdisciplinary, fashion design, costume design


Pure Peer to Peer (P2P) network requires enhancing transportation of chunk video objects to the proxy server in the mesh network. The rapid growth of video on demand user brings congestion at the proxy server and on the overall network. The situation needs efficient content delivery procedure, to the video on demand viewer from the distributed storage. In general scenario, if the proxy server does not possess the required video stream or the chunk of that said video, then the same can be smoothly and rapidly streamed to the viewer. This paper has shown that multitier mesh shaped hybrid architecture composed of P2P and mesh architecture increase the number of requests served by the dynamic environment in comparison with the static environment. Optimized storage finding path search reduces the unnecessary query forward and hence increases the size of content delivery to the desired location.


Stock price prediction is one of the crucial concepts in finance area. Machine learning can provide the opportunity for traders and investors to predict stock prices more accurately. In this paper, Closing Price is dependent variable and First Price, Last Price, Opening Price, Today's High, Today's Low, Volume, Total Index of Tehran Stock Exchange, Brent Index, WTI Index and Exchange Rate are independent variables. Seven different machine learning algorithms are implemented to predict stock prices. Those include Bayesian Linear, Boosted Tree, Decision Forest, Neural Network, Support Vector, and Ensemble Regression. The sample of the study is fifteen oil and gas companies active in the Tehran Stock Exchange. For each stock the data from the September 23, 2017 to September 23, 2019 gathered. Each algorithm provided two metrics for performance: Root Mean Square Error and Mean Absolute Error. By comparing the aforementioned metrics, the Bayesian Linear Regression had the best performance to predict stock price in the oil and gas industry in the Tehran Stock Exchange.


As a typical protein nanostructure, virus-based nanoparticle (VNP) of simian virus 40 (SV40), which is composed of pentamers of the major capsid protein of SV40 (VP1), has been successfully employed in guiding the assembly of different nanoparticles (NPs) into predesigned nanostructures with considerable stability. However, the stabilization mechanism of SV40 VNP remains unclear. Here, the importance of inter-pentamer disulfide bonds between cysteines in the stabilization of quantum dot (QD)-containing VNPs (VNP-QDs) is comprehensively investigated by constructing a series of VP1 mutants of cysteine to serine. Although the presence of a QD core can greatly enhance the assembly and stability of SV40 VNPs, disulfide bonds are vital to stability of VNP-QDs. Cysteine at position 9 (C9) and C104 contribute most of the disulfide bonds and play essential roles in determining the stability of SV40 VNPs as templates to guide assembly of complex nanoarchitectures. These results provide insightful clues to understanding the robustness of SV40 VNPs in organizing suprastructures of inorganic NPs. It is expected that these findings will help guide the future design and construction of protein-based functional nanostructures.


Salinity and temperature are two of the major factors controlling the growth rate of microalgae. In this study, the effect of salinity and temperature on the growth of marine microalgae; Chlorella capsulata and Skeletonema costatum were investigated to optimize the microalgal biomass production. These species were cultured at different salinities (20, 25 and 30 ‰) and temperatures (20, 25 and 30°C). Skeletonema costatum and Chlorella capsulata had significantly higher (p<0.05) growth rate when cultured at salinities of 30 and 25 ‰, respectively. In terms of temperature, the highest (p<0.05) growth rate was observed in Skeletonema costatum and Chlorella capsulata cultivated at temperatures of 30 and 25°C, respectively. This study indicated that Skeletonema costatum was suitable to marine condition, whereas Chlorella capsulata showed optimum growth at lower salinity and temperature. In addition, can be concluded, Chlorella capsulata and Skeletonema costatum can be considered as suitable species for large outdoor micro algal cultivation. International Journal of Life Sciences 10 (1) : 2016; 40-44


Aims Withdrawal of invasive organ support, if aggressive treatment is no longer in a child's best interests, traditionally occurs within intensive care units (ICU). Sporadic reports of transfer outside ICU for withdrawal exist with evidence suggesting many families would prefer their dying child to go home, and in this context choice in place of care, and subsequently of death, should be offered. Our hospital is a tertiary paediatric hospital with children from throughout the UK, meaning such discharges present specific challenges with practical, logistical and legal considerations that must be addressed. Methods Retrospective eight-years (2003-2011) case-note (ICU and palliative care notes) review of transferring children out of ICU for withdrawal of ventilatory support. Common themes and specific incidents were identified in order to develop local guidelines for transfer and subsequent management. Results 13 children were considered, but 3 died prior to transfer organisation. Of those transferred 4 went home, 4 to hospices, 1 to another hospital ward and 1 to a residential school. Ages ranged from 1-month to 16 years. There were a variety of primary pathologies (malignant, neurological, renal and respiratory diseases). Formal multidisciplinary team meetings prior to discharge were recorded in only 5 cases prior to transfer, and community team involvement was not documented at this stage in any case. 6 children had Symptom Management Plans and 1 an emergency care plan in event of longer than anticipated survival. No documented fluid management plan for longer-term survival was found in any case, though these existed, and 1 transfer occurred without discharge medications. Concerns raised included: transfer timings, health professionals availability to manage transfer and withdrawal, access to properties, availability of support in the community, symptom management post ventilation withdrawal and drug administration. Legal concerns included death certification, cremation form completion and the transfer of coronial jurisdiction and National legal administration. Conclusion Although National guidance has recently been published, we have developed local guidelines based on our own experience as specific considerations occur dealing with teams from different regions. This is especially challenging when transfer must be arranged rapidly. Specific documentation is now mandatory.


Background Early mobilization (EM) is one of few potential protective factors associated with reduced physical disability post–intensive care (PD PIC). However, only 45% of intensive care units (ICUs) in the United States routinely practice EM despite its recognized benefits. Objectives To analyze the evidence on the relationship between critical care EM, PD PIC, and environmental factors, using the theoretical lens of the World Health Organization's (WHO's) International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF). Method The Whittemore and Knafl methodology for integrative reviews and PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) reporting guidelines were followed. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies (n = 38) that evaluated EM and 1 or more domains of the WHO ICF were included. Quality was appraised using the Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tool. Study characteristics were evaluated for common themes and relationships. The ICF domains and subdomains pertaining to each study were synthesized. Results Early mobilization was related to improved functioning on the disability continuum of the WHO ICF. Early mobilization was influenced by several WHO ICF environmental factors. Dedicated physical and occupational therapy teams in the ICU, interdisciplinary rounds, and positive family and staff perception of EM facilitated intervention delivery. However, poor staffing levels, negative unit culture, perceived workload burden, and lack of equipment, education, and financial support impeded delivery of EM. Discussion Early mobilization is a promising intervention that may reduce PD PIC. However, environmental factors negatively influence delivery of EM in the ICU. Several gaps in EM research limit its acceptability in ICU practice. Existing EM research is challenged by poor methodological quality. Further study is necessary to better understand the role of EM on PD PIC and improve patient outcomes following critical illness.


"Strangeness and Spin in Fundamental Physics" is dedicated to the discussion of the role played by two subtle and somehow puzzling quantum numbers, the strangeness and the spin, in fundamental physics. They both relate to basic properties of the fundamental quantum field theories describing strong and electro-weak interactions and to their phenomenological applications. In some instances, like the partonic spin structure of the proton, they are deeply correlated.The many puzzling results recently obtained by measuring several spin asymmetries have stimulated gigantic progresses in the study of the spin structure of protons and neutrons. Intense theoretical activity has discovered new features of non-perturbative QCD, like strong correlations between the spin and the intrinsic motions of quarks inside the nucleons. The purpose of this publication is that of providing a complete, updated and critical account of the most recent and relevant discoveries in the above fields, both from the experimental and theoretical sides.


Aim: Melatonin-selenium nanoparticle (MT-Se), a novel complex, was synthesized by preparing selenium nanoparticles in a melatonin medium. The present investigation was designed to determine the protective effects of MT-Se against immunological liver injury in mice induced by bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)/lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Methods: The model of immunological liver injury in mice was prepared. The levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, nitric oxide (NO) in serum, malondialdehyde content, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) activities in a liver homogenate were assayed by spectrophotometry. The content of tumor necrosis fac-tor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) were determined by ELISA. The splenocyte proliferation was assayed by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetra-zolium bromide (MTT) dye reduction. Meanwhile, a hepatic pathological examination was observed. Results: In the BCG/LPS-induced hepatic injury model, MT-Se administered at doses of 5, 10, or 20 mg/kg to the BCG/LPS-treated mice for 10 d significantly reduced the increase in serum aminotransferase, reduced the severe extent of hepatic cell damage and the immigration of inflammatory cells. It also attenuated the increase in the content of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and enhanced the decrease in activities of SOD and GSH-px. In contrast, the treatment with MT-Se suppressed the increase in NO level in both the serum and liver tissue. Furthermore, MT-Se significantly lowered an increase in TNF-α andIL-1β levels in the liver and inhibited the production of TNF-α and IL-1β by peritoneal macrophages. A downregulation effect of MT-Se on splenocyte proliferation was also observed. Conclusion: MT-Se showed a hepatic protective action on immunological liver injury in mice.


: Gas liquid chromatography and chromato-mass-spectrometry were used to study Queen bee jelly fatty acid composition. Trans-10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid was determined as the mane component of Queen bee jelly fatty acid fraction. Mass-fragmentography GC-MS method was developed for determination of the trace trans-10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid to authenticate Queen bee jelly in products and BAS.


BACKGROUND
There is significant heterogeneity in survival of patients with metastatic breast cancer who have bone-only metastasis. We studied the correlation of serum N-telopeptide (NTx), a marker of bone resorption, and its correlation with clinical outcomes in patients with metastatic breast cancer with bone-only or bone plus soft tissue metastasis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Serum was taken from 250 metastatic breast cancer patients with bone-only or bone plus soft tissue metastasis who participated in two similar randomized studies of second-line hormone therapy. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay specific for NTx of type I bone collagen was used to detect serum levels.

RESULTS
Sixty patients (24%) had elevated serum NTx levels, using the mean + 2 standard deviations (26 nanomoles Bone Collagen Equivalents per liter) of healthy women as a cut-off. The median duration of clinical benefit was significantly shorter in the group with elevated serum NTx levels compared with the group that had normal serum NTx levels (P=0.0004). Time to progression (TTP) was also significantly shorter in the patients with elevated serum NTx at 139 days compared with 220 days (P=0.0006). Median survival was also significantly shorter in patients with elevated baseline serum NTx levels at 663 days compared with 941 days (P<0.0001).

CONCLUSION
In this study, breast cancer patients with bone-only or bone plus soft tissue metastasis and elevated serum NTx levels have a shorter duration of clinical benefit, TTP and overall survival.


In many parliaments, MPs have a weekly opportunity to ask government ministers questions, however, most of these parliamentary questions (PQs) are ignored in the media, while only some receive coverage. This chapter examines when journalists pay attention to the issues brought up in PQs and when they do not, and hypothesizes the presence of a structural bias and of a partisan bias in the coverage of questions. A structural bias results from the norm of watchdog journalism, which makes journalists focus on questions that put pressure on the government, that is, questions of challenger parties. A partisan bias results from the partisan ties that newspapers and parties have, which make journalist only pay attention to the questions of linked parties, but not the rest. The hypotheses are tested with pooled time series analyses on PQs on the issue of immigration and of European integration in the Netherlands from 1995 to 2010 and the coverage of these two issues in two daily newspapers, De Telegraaf and the Volkskrant. Political agenda Media agenda Political parallelism Framing proximity Issue ownership Political conflict Challenger status


For the search of the optimal path and the establishment of the multicast tree which meets QoS constraints in multicast routing, an improved ant colony Algorithm is proposed in the project. In the searching process, two group ants carry out searching separately and alternate information after one search. After a period of time, the rotary table is adapted to choosing a path and avoids stagnation, and the optimal one is selected from the two paths by combining with multi-constrained QoS. At the same time, in the choice of the next node, the probability of previous search on the path is introduced to speed up the search. Experiments show that the algorithm has a better performance than the other routing algorithm and establish the multicast tree quickly.


ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to report the characteristics of dysphagia in children with cerebral palsy (CP), related to gross motor function. DesignVideofluoroscopic swallow study was performed in 29 children with CP, according to the manual of Logemann. Five questions about oromotor dysfunction were answered. Gross motor function level was classified by the Gross Motor Function Classification System Expanded and Revised. ResultsThe results of the videofluoroscopic swallowing studies showed that reduced lip closure, inadequate bolus formation, residue in the oral cavity, delayed triggering of pharyngeal swallow, reduced larynx elevation, coating on the pharyngeal wall, delayed pharyngeal transit time, multiple swallow, and aspiration were significantly more common in the severe group (Gross Motor Function Classification System Expanded and Revised IV or V). As for aspiration, 50% of the children with severe CP had problems, but only 14.3% of them with moderate (Gross Motor Function Classification System Expanded and Revised III) CP and none of them with mild CP had abnormalities. In addition, five of the seven aspiration cases occurred silently. ConclusionsThis study shows that dysphagia is closely related to gross motor function in children with CP. Silent aspiration was observed in the moderate to severe CP groups. Aspiration is an important cause of medical problems such as acute and chronic lung disease, and associated respiratory complications contribute significantly in increasing morbidity and mortality in these patient groups. Therefore, the authors suggest that early dysphagia evaluation including videofluoroscopic swallow study is necessary in managing feeding problems and may prevent chronic aspiration, malnutrition, and infections.


Comparison of the initial (3)H/(14)C ratios in specifically labelled d-glucose 6-phosphates with the final ratios in myo-inositol produced by glucose 6-phosphate-d-myo-inositol 1-phosphate cyclase from rat testis showed that, during the conversion, the hydrogen atoms at C-1 and C-3 were fully retained, one hydrogen atom was lost from C-6, and that at C-5 was apparently retained to the extent of 80-90%. The loss of (3)H could not be stimulated by addition of unlabelled NADH, and when unlabelled substrate was used (3)H from [(3)H]NADH and [(3)H]water was not incorporated. Treatment of the enzyme with charcoal abolished the activity, and this was restored to 25-50% of the original activity by NAD(+). The charcoal-treated enzyme again apparently gave 85% retention of hydrogen with [5-(3)H]glucose 6-phosphate as substrate in the presence of NAD(+) alone, but the retention was decreased to 65% with excess of NADH. The results are interpreted as indicating that the cyclization proceeds by an aldol condensation in which C-5 is oxidized by NAD(+) in a tightly-bound ternary complex, and that the apparent loss of (3)H when untreated enzyme is used is due to an isotope effect. It is suggested that after treatment with charcoal some exchange of NADH with an external pool may take place.


The objective of this piece is to propose reasons that change the way air traffic controllers and others learn and work in air navigation, but also how they can improve workloads, due to the implementation of holographic radar. This research also aims to describe how this could reduce the cognitive load of an operator, thanks to the improvement of visual perspective and capacity of analysis, in order to more easily control an aircraft. Seeing that the visual facilitation is well known, radar is able to represent in three dimensions and in detail that which could not previously be perceived. This makes a substantial difference in the comfort and ease of training new controllers. In conjunction with operators, the objective of this technology is to save both hours and cost of training. This is of tremendous benefit, as some countries spend millions of dollars trying to educate the personnel in charge of air traffic control. In addition, a goal of this technology is the further improvement in air safety in a sector that demands more jobs and more availability to people in the industry, with an increasing number of aircraft in the world. This makes air traffic control one of the more demanding careers in the global arena.


Introduction: In the region there are several academic environment centers that perform rhinoplasty, and the experience of the otorhinolaryngologist is increasingly enough in terms of nasal aesthetics. Due to the high prevalence of associated aesthetic and functional disorders, it is necessary that the professional is trained to solve both problems, even in the same surgical procedure. Objectives: To describe the approaches and techniques used in rhinoplasty surgery in our service. Materials and methods: Observational, descriptive study with analytical components, transversal, retrospective, non-probability sampling of consecutive cases, of patients with altered aesthetics and nasal functionality who attended the Otorhinolaryngology department of the Hospital de Clínicas, San Lorenzo since January 2016 to June 2019. Results: 76 rhinoplasties were performed in the service, 76.3% of them also required septoplasty and 61.8% required turbinectomy. 68% were female. The mean age was 25.21 ± 8.79 years. 47.36% of the reasons for consultation were due to nasal obstruction, followed by both obstructive and aesthetic symptoms in 42.1%; and 10.52% purely aesthetic. 40.78% of the patients in the study reported a history of nasal trauma. Surgery was performed by open approach in 71.05% of cases and in 28.95% by closed approach. The most frequent procedures were the placement of Strut Columellar (89.47%), Back Resection (78.94%) and Osteotomy (72.36%). The most frequent complication was epistaxis in 5.26%, all of them with a history of osteotomy. 100% of the patients with obstruction reported improvement, and in 3 there was persistence of slight laterorrinia. Conclusion: 76 Rhinoplasties were performed from January 2016 to June 2019, most also required septoplasty and turbinectomy. The average age was 25.21 years, and most of the female sex. Cosmetic surgery in the male population was more frequent in patients with a traumatic history (p <0.05 in the xi-square test). Most of the patients had as their main drawback functionality rather than aesthetics. The most frequent approach was by open approach, and the procedures most frequently were the Columellar Strut, the Resection of the Dorsum and the Osteotomy. The most frequent complication was epistaxis, which in most cases was resolved with topical methods. All patients with obstructive symptoms reported functional improvement, laterorrinia was the most difficult alteration to correct.


AIMS
Liver stiffness (LS) is associated with central venous pressure and pericardial effusion (PE) may be associated with these increased pressures. The aim of this study was to investigate the change in LS obtained by liver elastography (LE) in patients with severe PE and its usefulness for the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Forty-patients with severe-PE were included in this study. All patients underwent LE examination in addition to echocardiography. Patients were divided into 2 groups: with and without cardiac tamponade.

RESULTS
In patients with cardiac tamponade, LS values, inspiratory-expiratory vena cava inferior (VCI) diameters and presence of <50% inspiratory-VCI collapse was significantly higher. LS value and inspiratory-VCI diameter before pericardiocentesis independently determined the risk of cardiac tamponade. Each 1kPa increase in LS value and 1mm increase in inspiratory-VCI diameter increased the risk of cardiac tamponade by 4.9-times and 40.8%, respectively. When the cut-off value of 10kPa for LS was analyzed, it determined the presence of cardiac tamponade with ≥90% sensitivity and specificity. The higher LS before pericardiocentesis and the decrease in LS after pericardiocentesis (Δ-Liver stiffness of 5.91±1.79 kPa in first group and 2.31±1.25 kPa in the second group) was interpreted to be directly related to the pathophysiology of systemic congestion due to PE.

CONCLUSION
In all patients with severe PE, and especially in patients with cardiac tamponade, the LS is significantly increased and this modification can be explained by the systemic congestion. However, this being the first study to evaluate LS in patients with severe PE and cardiac tamponade, the data should be confirmed by multicenter prospective studies.


In this study, the gap is compared from one generation to the next. The changes in the wage gap are linked to changes in labor supply and to "statistical discrimination"—when women pay a price because many other women are less attached to the workforce than men are.


Graduates of traditional engineering programs are called on to fill a myriad of interdisciplinary design careers that are increasingly different than historical engineering jobs. These careers focus on complex problems and the importance of solving them quickly in order to be successful corporately and nationally, and demand the use of teams of interdisciplinary, people-and-process-intuitive professionals with special technical skills in engineering systems and engineering design. The students who will be needed to fill these jobs are different as well. They have grown up with computers, have seen that emerging technologies occur at the interface or outside the boundaries of traditional disciplines and are diverse in many ways beyond gender and ethnicity. National trends show smaller percentages of high school graduates are now choosing careers in engineering. In this paper we report on a fresh and innovative type of engineering department that will offer programs carefully designed to augment traditional departments and programs while providing the underpinning engineering design and systems skills to attract and create the engineers needed today. This new engineering department, called Interdisciplinary Design Engineering , will produce graduates who are experts in the process of designing engineering systems.Copyright © 2005 by ASME


Abstract Title: Have you Ever Seen a Pink Batman? Negotiating Boyishness and Normality at a Preschool. Language: Swedish with a summary in English Keywords: Performativity, gender, masculinity, normality, pre- school, children, negotiation ISBN: 978-91-7346-689-9 Gender research has long argued that gender is constructed through social processes. This study explores how this is done among children at pre-school. To achieve this objective the study focuses how norms related to boyishness was negotiated among children in their everyday activities. The theoretical framework rests on concepts from post structural feminist theory, queer theory and critical masculinity research. The material is produced through ethnographic method and two years of field work. At preschool girls and boys acted in a wide variety of different ways not distinctly connected to their gendered identities. One main finding in the study is that out of this maze of practices certain acts are made visible and categorized as typical boyish or girlish. Included in these processes of categorization are assumptions about certain behavior as more correct and natural for different sexes, resulting in discursive positions such as "typical" boys, for example. However, this position is ascribed low status both among teachers and other children. The most attractive position is described as the "competent child". When norms about gender differences are made relevant these are foremost manifested in negotiations about specific markers and signifiers, such as voices, movements, specific haircuts, colors and toys. The negotiations did usually not concern if a boy or girl could be part of a play but if the appropriate signifiers were used. The issue was not if a girl could take the position of Batman but whether he could wear pink or not. In that way one can say that construing gender preceded actual experiences of sexually defined bodies. In the study it is concluded that the importance of belonging to a specific gender or sex is accentuated in specific spaces, but less relevant in other. The difference between the spaces lies in how they are opened or closed to a normative gaze. This gendered gaze is manifested not only by actually being seen by teachers and children but also in architecture. To evade this normative gaze children created "secret" spaces either by building small shelters or negotiating specific rooms of friendship. A further conclusion is that when age is emphasized norms about gender are equally stressed. The notion of "being a baby" consisted a very strong marker to police the border between being a sexual subject or not. The study brings out the crucial importance age have also for small children in processes of negotiating and naturalizing two different sexes and the importance of being gendered to be understood and normal.


BACKGROUND: Superficial changes of the epithelium of the tongue are diagnosed by biopsy. The aim of this in-vivo study was to show the normal epithelium, the subepithelial structures and the subepithelial vessels of the tongue using confocal microscopy. METHODS: A digital confocal Laser-Scanning Microscope (LSM), a combination of the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph HRT II and the Rostock Cornea Module (Heidelberg Engineering GmbH) was used. This digital microscope makes computer-based external hydraulic z-scan possible and the automatic collection of patient-based video sequences and the 3D reconstruction of the structures of the fungiform papilla. 800-fold magnifications are possible using a water immersion lens (Zeiss, 63-fold). A parabolic plexiglass disc with holes and a video camera were used to stabilize the tongue and to control the contact between the tongue surface and the contact element of the lens. PATIENTS: Confocal microscopy was performed on 17 healthy test volunteers aged 21 to 56. RESULTS: First findings with confocal LSM as a contact procedure show that a precise identification of the fungiform and filiform papillae and 3D reconstruction of the pores is possible. Furthermore, different cell layers of the tongue epithelium, subcellular structures of the epithelium and the subepithelial vessels to depth of 50 microm can be visualized by the erythrocytic flow and a max. 800-fold magnification. CONCLUSIONS: The confocal LSM is a nondestructive contact procedure and allows the in-vivo analysis of the tongue epithelium.


Background: Sharing medication data between different health systems is essential for continuity of care. To provide common and consistent representation of medication data across disparate health systems, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) developed RxNORM; a normalized naming system for generic and branded drugs that facilitates semantic interoperation between different drug terminologies. RxNORM has become the standard vocabulary for representing medicines in the United States. Objective: To assess the extent to which RxNORM concepts can be used to accurately represent essential medicine from a setting outside the United States. Methods: To assess the coverage of RxNORM for medicine outside the United States, we used the 2015 Malawi Essential Medicines (MEML-2015) list as a test case. Terms from the list were transcribed electronically for easy processing and matched to RxNORM concepts using exact and partial matching algorithms. Results from the electronic matching were manually verified for correctness. All terms that could not be matched using the algorithms were manually searched for in RxNORM to ensure accurate classification as a term without a corresponding RxNORM concept. Results: Of the 603 unique MEML-2015 medicines, 63% could be accurately represented by active RxNORM concepts. Anti-infectives were the class of medicines with the most unmatched medicines. Four other classes of medicine had complete coverage by RxNORM concepts. Conclusion: A significant number of essential medicines could not be accurately represented using RxNORM concepts. A framework for adding such medicine as RxNORM concepts while maintaining continuous integration with periodical RxNORM updates is needed.


Summary Probably because CI. tetani is a well-defined species whose recognition is rarely difficult, no recent attempts have been made to clarify the present uncertainties about its gelatinolytic and proteolytic activity. In the present study of 71 strains of the organism, all of them were shown to produce gelatinase, and none was proteolytic. A proportion of the strains (49 of 71) produced a fibrinolytic enzyme, which behaved like a kinase. A proportion of the strains (40 of 71) produced a deoxyribonuclease. None of the strains produced phosphatase. All 71 strains produced an intense diffuse opacity on milk agar, and complete precipitation of casein in milk broth due to the production of a rennin-like enzyme. This enzyme was present in culture-supernatants, was active under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, and was specifically inhibited by tetanus antitoxic sera. With the exception of CI. oedematiens types A and B, the reactions of all other clostridia tested on milk agar and in milk broth were dissimilar to those of CI. tetani. Commercial horse tetanus antitoxic serum inhibits the swarming growth of CI. tetani in plate cultures. Advantage may be taken of this in the separation of other anaerobic organisms from mixtures with CI. tetani.


Sensitivity to lysozyme of the representatives of various species of gramnegative microflora (476 strains) was studied with a new modified procedure, which is more exact and economic as compared to the method of serial dilutions in agar. High resistance of Eltor vibrio cholerae and Pseudomonas to lysozyme was found. Cultures of various sensitivity levels to lysozyme were detected among Aeromonas, enteropathogenic E. coli and NAG-vibrios.


The genome sequence of the woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.) is an important resource providing a reference for comparative genomics studies and future sequenced rosaceous species and has great utility as a model for the development of markers for mapping in the cultivated strawberry Fragaria ×ananassa Duchesne ex Rozier. A set of 152 microsatellite simple sequence repeat (SSR) primer pairs was developed and mapped, along with 42 previously published but unmapped SSRs, permitting the precise assignment of 28.2 Mbp of previously unanchored genome sequence scaffolds (13% of the F. vesca genome sequence). The original ordering of F. vesca sequence scaffolds was performed without a physical map, using predominantly SSR markers to order scaffolds via anchoring to a comprehensive linkage map. This report complements and expands resolution of the Fragaria spp. reference map and refines the scaffold ordering of the F. vesca genome sequence using newly devised tools. The results of this study provide two significant resources: (i) the concurrent validation of a substantial set of SSRs associated with these previously unmapped regions of the Fragaria spp. genome and (ii) the precise placement of previously orphaned genomic sequence. Together, these resources improve the resolution and completeness of the strawberry genome sequence, making it a better resource for downstream studies in Fragaria spp. and the family Rosaceae.


This paper explores the feasibility for an undergraduate leadership studies pro-gram to be established at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Insight was obtained through focus groups and phone interviews to help explore the level of interest there is for a leadership studies program at FAU, along with helping gauge what worked best at other institutions that have established leadership studies programs on their campuses. We gained information by asking students what they believe are three skills and attributes of an effective leader and were able to discover that communication, motivation and hon-esty were the most prevalent. When we asked students what had benefitted them the most in the Introduction to Leadership course (LDR 2010) and what benefits could come from a leadership studies program, they stated that the top benefits were real world appli-cation and career goals. Finally, when asking about the level of interest in having a pro-gram on campus, we found there was an overall interest from the students. We also spoke with individuals who serve as coordinators for leadership programs at four institu-tions similar to FAU's structure in the sense that it is a public, state funded university. By speaking to these individuals, we were able to gauge what is working for their leader-ship programs and how they structured the programs in terms of credits and where the program is housed. With the data we collected, we saw there is in fact a desire for estab-lishing a leadership studies program at FAU, with an emphasis on making it interdiscipli-nary.


In this wide ranging interview, Professor Richard A. Shweder from the Department of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago, discusses whether it is or is not possible to be a robust cultural pluralist and a dedicated political liberal at the same time. In this discussion, Professor Shweder offers his insights - based on over 40 years of research - on issues related to the history and re-emergence of cultural psychology; moral anthropology and psychology; the experimental method in psychological investigation and its philosophical basis; contemporary and historical cultural collisions – most notably conflicting representations of female genital surgeries; cultural diversity and inequality; and the dissemination of ideas through open access publishing and Twitter. Professor Shweder ends by offering valuable advice to young researchers in the field of cultural psychology as well as a glimpse into the larger themes of his forthcoming book, which seeks to provide answers to the question of what forms of political liberalism are most compatible with robust cultural pluralism and which are not.


This study examines the relationship between social support and youth's high-risk behaviors. The data were obtained from the Midwest Homeless and Runaway Adolescent Project (MHRAP) in 1996. In the Midwestern United States, this study examines the hypothesis that youth with high social support will have low sexual risk behaviors. The study found that youths who had someone to turn to, a greater number of close friends, and someone they could count on were less likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors. The implications of the findings are discussed.


This study aimed to analyze employees of Directorate General of Treasury
perception towards e-government that measure the effect of system quality,
information quality, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use towards egovernment
user acceptance.
There were five variables in this research that consist of four independent
variables namely system quality, information quality, perceived usefulness and
perceived ease of use and one dependent variable namely e-government acceptance.
Statistical method used in this research is multiple regression
The results of this study showed that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of
use significantly affect user acceptance of Directorate General of Treasury egovernment


Five experts gathered recently to discuss the future of enterprise risk management: Kaplan, the Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School, who with his colleague David Norton developed the balanced scorecard; Mikes, an assistant professor at HBS who studies the evolution of risk management and the role of the chief risk officer; Simons, the Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration at HBS; Tufano, the Sylvan C. Coleman Professor of Financial Management at HBS; and Hofmann, the chief risk officer at Koch Industries. The panel was moderated by HBR senior editor David Champion. Among the questions they addressed were: How predictable was the financial meltdown of 2008-2009? Did new tools for assessing risk give a false sense of security? How do the challenges facing industrial companies differ from those facing the financial sector? Is outsourcing an effective risk-management tool? Have capital structures become a bit too efficient in many companies? What makes a good chief risk officer?


Permanent magnet linear motors (PMLM) are widely used in the design of pulse tube cryocoolers. In this paper, we discuss the design and analysis of a power controller used to drive the dual opposing piston type motors used in the pulse tube cryocoolers. The microcontroller dsPIC30F6010A drives two single phase H bridge inverters which are used to drive both the motors. Pulse width modulated (PWM) technique is implemented to drive the inverter circuit. By varying the duty cycle of the PWM wave the voltage amplitude can be varied and the output frequency of the inverter can be varied by varying the carrier frequency of the PWM modulator. The phase difference between the two inverters can also be varied. This is used to synchronize the twin motors and overcome any existing phase difference due to the mechanical systems. Variation in performance of the PMLM caused by the variation in the applied voltage and frequency is illustrated. Simple square PWM modulation, trapezoidal PWM modulation and sine PWM modulation techniques are implemented by controller programming. Motor performances for these modulation techniques are discussed. It is also shown that the current wave form contains less harmonic content in the case of sine modulation.


This study investigated the differences in required push, pull and rotating forces for moving fully loaded, floor-based and overhead-mounted full body patient lifting devices with simulated patients of varying weight on a floor of optimal design (i.e. level vinyl tile over concrete). A single person operated the lifting devices for all of the tests. Eighteen male and female volunteer participants, ranging in weight from 51 to 146 kg, acted as patients during the lifting tests. For each test, the simulated patients were pushed and pulled for 3.7 linear metres and were rotated while sitting in the lift slings. Force measurements were acquired using two single axis dynamometers affixed to the lifting devices. Results revealed that, in general, operator input force and torque increased with patient weight category and floor-based lifts required greater force and torque compared to the overhead-mounted lift. Comparison of the required forces with published force limits reveals that the required push and pull force from the various patient lift systems, across all weight categories, were generally acceptable to 90% of the female population. The required forces for these patient transfer tasks, however, could exceed maximum acceptable force limits if the floor surfaces were less than ideal, such as floors composed of carpet, wood, or inclined surfaces. Additional research is needed to assess these conditions.


Underwater gamma and neutron spent fuel measurement techniques are being researched to meet thecombined needs of the international safeguards community and the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and WasteManagement Company (SKB), which is responsible for fuel encapsulation and repository operation inSweden. Both SKB and the involved regulators anticipate measuring each spent fuel assemblyindividually before encapsulation; such a measurement plan presents a real challenge for the performanceand long-term behavior of detectors and electronics hardware. The reliability and radiation hardness of theelectronics and detectors are a big challenge for users of this technology. For instance, the gammadetectors and electronics may have to operate at count rates up to few million counts per second whilemaintaining good spectral resolution to detect lines from 137Cs, 134Cs, and 152Eu. If the 10B proportionalcounters are to replace the difficult-to-transport 235U fission chambers, they must tolerate a gamma doserate of many thousand R/h (many tens of Sv/h) without gain changes due to space charge effects or long-term degradation of the gas mixture. To address these challenges, a special underwater enclosure wasdeveloped for testing these detectors and electronics in parallel with the design and deployment ofnondestructive assay options for characterization of the spent fuel. In this paper we describe the hardwareand modeling components of the testing setup.


For patients with severe intestinal failure caused by short-bowel syndrome, pharmacological treatment options are available that can reduce the period in which parenteral nutrition is required. Appropriate agents include acid inhibitors, bile-salt binders, inhibitors of motility and secretion, antibiotics and pre- and probiotics. A number of intestinotrophic factors have also been identified that are reported to enhance the functional adaptation of the intestine following surgery or illness. These include glutamine, growth hormone, and glucagon-like peptide 2 and its analogues. Absorption of certain agents is reduced when specific portions of the intestine are lacking. For example, fat-soluble cyclosporine is poorly resorbed in patients without an ileum.


The mechanical behavior of the vertebrate skull is often modeled using free-body analysis of simple geometric structures and, more recently, finite-element (FE) analysis. In this study, we compare experimentally collected in vivo bone strain orientations and magnitudes from the cranium of the American alligator with those extrapolated from a beam model and extracted from an FE model. The strain magnitudes predicted from beam and FE skull models bear little similarity to relative and absolute strain magnitudes recorded during in vivo biting experiments. However, quantitative differences between principal strain orientations extracted from the FE skull model and recorded during the in vivo experiments were smaller, and both generally matched expectations from the beam model. The differences in strain magnitude between the data sets may be attributable to the level of resolution of the models, the material properties used in the FE model, and the loading conditions (i.e., external forces and constraints). This study indicates that FE models and modeling of skulls as simple engineering structures may give a preliminary idea of how these structures are loaded, but whenever possible, modeling results should be verified with either in vitro or preferably in vivo testing, especially if precise knowledge of strain magnitudes is desired.


A poorly understood association between Hodgkin's disease and noncaseating granulomas has been well documented in all stages of the lymphoma. Characteristically, the granulomas are found within liver, spleen, lymph nodes, and bone marrow. The following case report describes a 21-year-old woman with Stage 1-A nodular sclerosis Hodgkin's disease who had both multiple noncaseating granulomas in her spleen and an abdominal lymph node, as well as bilateral granulomatous uveitis.


The purpose of this paper is to analyze possible correspondences between new technologies and inclusive practices for students with difficulties. This perspective allows authors to describe the use of Technology as a possible component of plurals educative settings, able to draw every actor involved on a variety of resources. The targeted use of technologies, intended as a potential, can allow the development and the improvement of inclusive dynamics within the educative field. Specifically this paper presents the technological resources which have enabled the inclusion of students with learning disorders, dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, in the Brazilian scenario.


We investigated whether cold acclimation leads to increased activity of the antioxidant defense enzymes and muscle injury. Comparisons were between short track skaters (n=6) and inline skaters (n=6) during rest and at submaximal cycling (65% VO2max) in cold (ambient temperature: 5+/-1 degrees C, relative humidity: 41+/-8%) and warm conditions (ambient temperature: 21+/-1 degrees C, relative humidity: 35+/-5%), during 60 min, respectively, and during the recovery phase. Erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSHpx), reduced glutathione (GSH), thiobarbituric substance acid (TBARS), serum creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), plasma myoglobin (Mb) and cortisol were determined. Activities of CAT and GSHpx and the level of GSH and TBARS in erythrocyte and the level of LDH in serum were elevated in cold acclimated subjects. We suggested that the compensatory increase in antioxidative defense enzymes resulting from long-term cold exposure may reflect the elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and muscle injury at this environment acclimation.


This paper gives an overview of the interpreting arrangements at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal (1946–1948), focusing on some sociopolitical aspects of the interpreting phenomena, and discusses the behavior of the interpreters and monitors during the testimony of Hideki Tojo, Japan's wartime Prime Minister. It provides a contextualized examination of court interpreting rather than a microlinguistic analysis of interpreted texts. The study demonstrates how political and social aspects of the trial and wartime world affairs affected the interpreting arrangements, especially the hierarchical set-up in which three ethnically and socially different groups of "linguists" (language specialists) performed three different functions in the interpreting process. An examination of the linguists' behavior during Tojo's testimony points to a link between their relative positions in the power constellation of the trial and their choices, strategies and behavior in interpreting and monitoring. These findings reinforce the view that interpreting is a social practice conditioned by the social, political and cultural contexts of the setting in which interpreters operate.


ABSTRACT Objective: This pilot open study evaluates the safety and efficacy of naltrexone in the management of patients with childhood onset trichotillomania (TTM). Methods: A total of 14 patients with childhood-onset TTM were treated with naltrexone (25–100 mg/day) and were assessed at each visit for frequency of hair pulling, urge to pull hair, and symptom severity. Liver function was monitored during the treatment. The duration of the study was 10 months. Results: A mean dose of 66.07 ± 22.23 mg/day naltrexone was well tolerated and 11 out of 14 subjects showed a positive response. The mean age of the children was 9 ± 1.88 years. The mean age of onset of symptoms in the group was 7.07 ± 0.91 years. No abnormality in liver function was noted in the study. No adverse effects were reported by the children. Conclusions: This encouraging pilot open study has promising findings suggesting the use of naltrexone in childhood-onset TTM. However, results are needed from larger and more definitive trials before a...


As nations expand the telecommunications interception and access powers of their law enforcement agencies to address heightened threats to national security and accelerating technological convergence, the proper application of the proportionality principle is becoming an increasingly contentious issue. The 'proportionality principle' in telecommunications law mandates the weighing of a likely threat to public security against the potential violation of individual rights so as to ensure that the intrusive impact of a particular interception and access activity is reasonable proportionate to the potential outcome sought. The reform discourse of recent years has largely focused on expanding investigative powers, to the possible detriment of the protection of individual rights. Whilst the present environment makes such a focus wholly understandable, the present paper considers potential legislative and policy measures that could strengthen the proportionality principle in the telecommunications regulatory framework to support a more precise calibration of the relevant competing public and private interests. As Australia has recently undertaken a comprehensive review of its telecommunications access and interception laws, commencing with a 2013 referral to its Senate Committee and culminating in a 2015 law reform report, the article focuses on that nation's experience. The analysis is, however, placed within an overarching public policy framework to ensure that the discussion is of relevance to nations around the world who are similarly engaged in telecommunications law reform.


The hydroxyl radical (OH) controls the lifetimes and therefore the concentrations of many important chemical species in Earth's lower atmosphere including several greenhouse and ozone-depleting species. Two completely different measurement techniques were used in an informal intercomparison to determine tropospheric OH concentrations at Fritz Peak concentrations by chemical analysis; the other used spectroscopic absorption on a long path. The intercomparison showed that ambient OH concentrations can now be measured with sufficient sensitivity to provide a test for photochemical models, with the derived OH concentrations agreeing well under both polluted and clean atmospheric conditions. Concentrations of OH on all days were significantly lower than model predictions, perhaps indicating the presence of an unknown scavenger. The change in OH concentration from early morning to noon on a clear day was found to be only a factor of 2.


Ab stract . The advent and wide usage of computer networks as well as an increasing number of various network services have resulted in the fact that the network traffic has become more complex and unpredictable. These properties have become especially apparent with the appearance of highspeed data transmission technology. It is connected with the fact that one of the main quality indeces (QoS) of operation of packet transmission networks is the number of lost packets. The loss of packets results to additional network traffic and, finally, "congestions". At high speeds of data transmission packet losses, expressed in portions of a per-cent, lead to considerable information losses. It has been shown in numerous papers devoted to the research of network traffic that the abovementioned phenomena are related to the properties of the traffic self–similarity which is mainly caused by the TCP protocol behaviour. However to date models have not been offered which adequately describe the behaviour of the communication networks of information systems and which allow to apply the whole arsenal of classic methods of analyzing nonlinear dynamic systems.


The identification of the factors which predict increased risk for procedural complications in patients undergoing percutaneous revascularization allows a prospective stratification and evaluation of the risk benefit ratio in the individual patient. Such stratification may allow choice of other management options, such as medical therapy or bypass surgery, but probably more importantly allows the selective application of adjunctive pharmacotherapy or mechanical support techniques. It is important to recognize the limitations of all pre-procedural risk assessment however in that overall these criteria still have relatively low predictive value and to a great extent closure remains unforeseeable. Additionally, high risk characteristics are frequently encountered in clinical practice, and for many high risk patients the best option for revascularization may still be the percutaneous one.


The Kolb model is widely used to analyze the learning style of engineering students; however, there are no published studies carried out in Portugal. This study was applied to students who had just began there courses at a Portuguese engineering school. This study object is to assess whether there is a clearly majority learning style; whether there are differences in the learning style among all students and between students in the industrial management course and those in the technological engineering courses. The results allow the pedagogical practice improvement in the classroom regarding the effectiveness increase of the teaching process. This study results also allow improving the way students approach the study, overcoming difficulties in understanding the topics studied, improving the construction of their skills and increasing the quality of the learning process.


Recent survey data have shown the importance of West Sister Island National Wildlife Refuge, Lake Erie, to nesting waders. About 40 percent of all herons and egrets nesting in the U.S. Great Lakes are found there, including the Great Lakes' largest colonies of great blue heron (Ardea herodias), great egret (Ardea alba), and black-crowned nightheron (Nycticorax nycticorax), and the largest of two snowy egret (Egretta thula). West Sister Island's importance to Ohio has grown in recent decades with the loss of smaller mainland colonies of waders, especially the black-crowned night-heron. The double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) returned to Ohio as a successful nester in 1992 for the first time in more than a century. The effects of this species on wading bird colonies have been well documented in Canadian Lake Erie. Cormorants have successfully competed against great blue herons for nesting space and eliminated black-crowned night-herons through habitat destruction. Nest estimates made at the island since 1991 indicate that the night-heron has fallen to 37 percent of its historic numbers on the island and is dropping dramatically in the region. That species has been affected negatively as canopy height has increased with vegetative succession. A second concern is the cormorant, whose nest counts have increased from 0 to ~1,500 in 5 years. This rate of increase mirrors that on East Sister Island, a few kilometers northeast in Canada. To date, competition has not been a significant problem, but habitat degradation has been documented, with major leaf loss noted in 1995 on trees having cormorant nests and along the perimeter of West Sister Island. The Ohio Division of Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are concerned, both biologically and esthetically, about the future status of the island's colonies in light of habitat succession and the addition of the cormorant.


Language plays an important role in fashioning the identity of ethnic groups. This article explores a minority language – Irish – in Northern Ireland. Given the society's longstanding ethnic divisions, matters revolving around the Irish language are capable of generating heated debate. However, unlike some other minority languages, Irish is somewhat peculiar in that it is not used as a form of linguistic communication between speakers on a daily basis. Hence it lacks instrumental (but not symbolic) relevance in this sense and supporters of the language can be observed trying to create rather than maintain a community of speakers. This fact sets Irish apart from some other minority languages which have generated emotive political debate, for example, Afrikaans in South Africa and French in Canada. The article considers the language debate that has emerged in Northern Ireland in the light of such factors.


A novel idea to prepare Polymethacrylimide (PMI) foam is presented in this paper, in which PMI foam was prepared by two steps, the butyl methacrylate (BMA)/methacrylamide (MAM) copolymer was formed using solution polymerization through free radical copolymerization, and then PMI foam was produced through the BMA/MAM copolymer foaming. Mechanism of polymerization reactions was analyzed. The BMA/MAM copolymer and PMI foam were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It showed disappearance of the primary amide and appearance of the formation of PMI foam, which was in accordance with the mechanism of polymerization reactions. The polarizing micrograph showed PMI foam was highly transparent and closed cell. Differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis results showed PMI foam had excellent thermal stability below ~255°C because of the presence of the imide ring.


This paper involves the selection and sizing of the appropriate type of dc bus capacitor for various applications utilizing PWM operated three-phase voltage source inverters, such as battery operated systems, PV (photovoltaic) systems, UPSs, and motor drives. It classifies the power converter topologies based on dc bus ripple current frequency characteristics. A general approach for ripple current characterization is provided. Based on these characteristics, the two capacitor types suitable for this purpose, the electrolytic and film capacitors, used in inverter applications are reviewed. Capacitor power loss and voltage ripple calculation are provided for both types. Then, a thorough algorithm for dc bus capacitor design is provided. The application of the proposed design method is demonstrated through several design examples. Overall, the paper helps the power electronics development and design engineer in the design and performance evaluation procedure of dc bus capacitors for three-phase inverters. The method is simple but rigorous and accurate.


ABSTRACT Private land conservation provides an opportunity to address problems of habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss caused by an increase in the development and parcelization of private land. Conservation easements (CEs) are used to protect significant natural qualities of private land. In this study, we explore landowner attitudes toward CEs through the implementation of a mixed-mode survey to private landowners in the Whychus Creek Watershed (Deschutes County, Oregon). The results of an exploratory factor analysis suggest there are two dimensions to landowner attitudes toward CEs, an internal dimension and an external dimension. We found that positive external attitudes are primarily influenced by environmental beliefs, whereas positive internal attitudes are influenced by a suite of factors, including financial beliefs and perceived risk to private ownership. Awareness of CEs may also play a role in attitude development. Through this research, we argue that CEs may be beneficial in reintegrating the public good into private property.


We address the problem of localizing error sites in a combinational circuit that has been shown to be inequivalent to its specification. In the typical case, it is not possible to identify the error location exactly. We propose a novel diagnosis strategy of gradually increasing the level of detail in the analysis algorithm to ultimately derive a small list of potential error sites in a short time. Our techniques combine the use of simulation, BDDs, and SAT in a novel way to achieve the goal. A limitation of many previous approaches has been that they have been constrained to a specific error model. No such assumption is made in our work. We show through experimental results that these techniques are successful in that the final set of error sites derived is small, contains the actual error sites and is derived in a reasonable amount of time.


: Echographic examination of 3900 patients showed enlargement of the gallbladder wall in 3.5%. It was seen not only in cholecystitis but also in diffuse liver injury, portal hypertension, chronic heart failure and in other pathological conditions. Examples are given of 3 different sonographic versions of enlargement of the gallbladder wall. In some patients' groups (with diffuse liver injury, chronic heart failure, portal hypertension), a correlation was established between the thickness of the gallbladder wall and the diameter of the portal vein. It is assumed that echographic demonstration of the enlarged gallbladder wall in patients with diffuse liver injury may serve an early sign of portal hypertension.


This paper describes JaRec, a portable record/replay system for Java. It correctly replays multi‐threaded, data‐race free Java applications, by recording the order of synchronization operations, and by executing them in the same order during replay. The record/replay infrastructure is developed in Java, and does not require a modification of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) if it provides the JVM Profiler Interface (JVMPI). If the JVM does not support JVMPI, which is used for intercepting the loaded classes, only a minor modification to the JVM is required in order to run the system. On ystems with limited memory resources, JaRec can be executed in a distributed fashion. This also makes it suitable to aid debugging of multi‐threaded applications on embedded systems. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Glucocorticoids have been shown to accelerate fetal lung type II cell maturation, and this effect appears, in part, to be mediated via fibroblasts. To identify glucocorticoid induced genes in fetal lung fibroblasts, we screened a cDNA library from cortisol-treated fetal lung fibroblasts with a subtracted cDNA probe which was enriched for sequences specific for cortisol-treated fetal lung fibroblasts. Fifty-seven clones were isolated from the cDNA library. One cDNA represented approximately 30% of the 57 clones. Analysis of DNA sequence homology suggested that this cDNA encodes the rat transforming growth factor-beta 3 (TGF beta 3). We found that TGF beta 3 mRNA was expressed in fetal lung fibroblasts but not epithelial cells. Expression of message in fetal lung fibroblasts was developmentally regulated. TGF beta 3 mRNA levels were low during the pseudoglandular stage (day 18), peaked during the early canalicular stage of lung development (day 19), then fell again at days 20 and 21 (term = 22 days). Exposure of fetal lung fibroblasts to cortisol increased TGF beta 3 mRNA expression in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Maternal administration of dexamethasone also enhanced mRNA expression of TGF beta 3 in fetal lung fibroblasts. These data suggest that glucocorticoids may mediate their stimulatory effect on lung maturation by inducing TGF beta 3 expression in fetal lung fibroblasts.


Abstract A new awareness of the role of religion in international relations has started to inform concrete policy discussions in several Western Ministries of Foreign Affairs under the heading of 'religious engagement' in foreign policy. Italy is no exception, but as the country which hosts the Holy See, it represents a special case. As the approach to religion found in the historical record of Italian foreign policy shows, Italy has a comparative advantage and could well develop a unique model of religious engagement by strengthening the central structures involved in religious matters and foreign policy, as well as by using the vast network of Rome-based religious non-state actors as a forum of consultation and policy advice.


Reduction of information entropy along with ever-increasing complexity are among the key signatures of living matter. Understanding the onset of such behavior in early prebiotic world is essential for solving the problem of origins of life. To elucidate this transition, we study a theoretical model of information-storing heteropolymers capable of template-assisted ligation and subjected to cyclic non-equilibrium driving forces. We discover that this simple physical system undergoes a spontaneous reduction of the information entropy due to the competition of chains for constituent monomers. This natural-selection-like process ultimately results in the survival of a limited subset of polymer sequences. Importantly, the number of surviving sequences remains exponentially large, thus opening up the possibility of further increase in complexity due to Darwinian evolution. We also propose potential experimental implementations of our model using either biopolymers or artificial nano-structures.


Introduction: Pregnancy, labor and delivery may lead to hemodynamic changes that could cause neurologic complications in patients with moyamoya disease (MMD). We reviewed an operative series of moyamoya patients treated by pial synangiosis from 1985 to 2012 to identify those patients who became pregnant in an attempt to determine the safety of pregnancy in this group of patients. Methods: Clinical and radiographic records of all adult moyamoya patients treated at a single institution from 1985 to 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. Results: From 1985-2012, 8 pial synangiosis surgeries were performed on 5 women with moyamoya disease before or during pregnancy. The mean age at surgery was 16.2. Four patients presented with stroke and one with transient ischemic attacks. Pre-operative Suzuki grade was III or higher in all treated hemispheres. Post-operative angiogram was available in 3 patients (5 treated hemispheres), and all demonstrated good collateral formation (Matsushima grade A or B). Clinical follow-up was available for an average of 13.0 years (range 1-22.0 years). The mean duration from surgery to delivery was 9.4 years; one patient was diagnosed with MMD during pregnancy and was operated at 4 months gestation. All women experienced successful pregnancy outcome: three had normal vaginal delivery and two underwent Caesarean section. Post-pregnancy stroke occurred on the contralateral hemisphere in one patient originally treated with unilateral moyamoya. This patient was found to have developed MMD on the other hemisphere and underwent additional revascularization. No other complications were observed during the follow-up period. Conclusions: Women with moyamoya disease can go through pregnancy safely and successfully after adequate cerebral revascularization.


Fault slip is often localized in phyllosilicate‐rich fault gouges in a manner consistent with the relatively low friction coefficients measured for dry and especially wet phyllosilicates in laboratory experiments. However, the microphysics controlling these low friction coefficients remains unclear. Here, we propose a microphysical model, inspired by microstructural observations, for the prediction of the absolute value of the friction coefficient of pure dry and wet phyllosilicates. Experimentally produced phyllosilicate gouges suggest that shearing is controlled by sliding along (001) grain/platelet interfaces operating in series with removal of overlapping grain edge barriers by basal cleavage. We derive a model incorporating a subcritical crack propagation equation for the latter, constrained by subcritical crack growth data for muscovite. Model predictions for muscovite show similar trends regarding the effects of humidity and slip velocity on friction coefficient as do experiments at room temperature. The absolute value predicted for the friction coefficient is difficult to compare with experimental values, as it critically depends on atomic scale (001) sliding resistance, which is poorly constrained by available experimental data. Further discrepancies with experimental data can be explained by effects of varying grain size, grain aspect ratio, and porosity on the friction coefficient. While numerous qualitative explanations have been proposed previously for the low friction coefficient exhibited by phyllosilicates, especially in the presence of water, our study provides a new step toward a quantitative, physically based model.


efficacy, or protocol violation were considered the primary outcomes. Eighty-seven studies met the criteria for inclusion. Participants' mean age was 35 years and 63.7% of participants were women. Nearly all of the studies had at least a moderate risk of bias. The SSRIs sertraline and paroxetine, along with TCAs, benzodiazepines, and venlafaxine, showed significant effects on remission. Sensitivity and ranking analyses listed SSRIs as one of the top three drug classes for remission, ranking behind benzodiazepines and TCAs. Benzodiazepines and TCAs also were associated with significantly reduced dropout rates. However, both classes were associated with higher risk of adverse events compared with SSRIs. Clustered ranking found SSRIs to be the most efficacious treatment with the lowest risk of adverse events. Among the SSRIs, sertraline and escitalopram showed the most effective balance of efficacy and safety. The researchers pointed out that because the results regarding escitalopram were based on only one trial, they require replication. [Chawla N, et al. BMJ 2022; published online Jan 19; doi: 10.1136/bmj-2021-066084] ▪


In this work, we propose TediGAN, a novel framework for multi-modal image generation and manipulation with textual descriptions. The proposed method consists of three components: StyleGAN inversion module, visual-linguistic similarity learning, and instance-level optimization. The inversion module maps real images to the latent space of a well-trained StyleGAN. The visual-linguistic similarity learns the text-image matching by mapping the image and text into a common embedding space. The instancelevel optimization is for identity preservation in manipulation. Our model can produce diverse and high-quality images with an unprecedented resolution at 10242. Using a control mechanism based on style-mixing, our TediGAN inherently supports image synthesis with multi-modal inputs, such as sketches or semantic labels, with or without instance guidance. To facilitate text-guided multi-modal synthesis, we propose the Multi-Modal CelebA-HQ, a large-scale dataset consisting of real face images and corresponding semantic segmentation map, sketch, and textual descriptions. Extensive experiments on the introduced dataset demonstrate the superior performance of our proposed method. Code and data are available at https://github.com/weihaox/TediGAN.


Computer architects rely heavily on microarchitecture simulation to evaluate design alternatives. Unfortunately, cycle-accurate simulation is extremely slow, being at least 4 to 6 orders of magnitude slower than real hardware. This longstanding problem is further exacerbated in the multi-smany-core era, because single-threaded simulation performance has not improved much, while the design space has expanded substantially. Parallel simulation is a promising approach, yet does not completely solve the simulation challenge. Furthermore, existing sampling techniques, which are widely used for single-threaded applications, do not readily apply to multithreaded applications as thread interaction and synchronization must now be taken into account. This work presents PCantorSim, a novel Cantor set (a classic fractal)--based sampling scheme to accelerate parallel simulation of multithreaded applications. Through the use of the proposed methodology, only less than 5p of an application's execution time is simulated in detail. We have implemented our approach in Sniper (a parallel multicore simulator) and evaluated it by running the PARSEC benchmarks on a simulated 8-core system. The results show that PCantorSim increases simulation speed over detailed parallel simulation by a factor of 20×, on average, with an average absolute execution time prediction error of 5.3p.


Aim: To clarify whether plasma lipoproteins, including Lp(a), can predict relapse pattern in the first years after diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome (NS), we evaluated them in patients with steroid-sensitive NS. Methods: We analyzed the medical records of 35 patients with steroid-sensitive NS who were seen by us from January 1992 to December 1999 followed for at least 1 year. These patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 consisted of 20 patients who infrequently relapse (IR: <2 in 6 months or <3 in a year), group 2 consisted of 15 patients who frequently relapse (FR: ≥2 in 6 months or ≥3 in a year). Clinical and laboratory findings such as age at onset, gender, urinalysis, serum level of total protein, albumin, and concentrations of serum lipid including lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) were investigated between group 1 and group 2. Results: The concentration of plasma Lp(a) in group 2 was higher than that in group 1 (81.0 ± 35.2 vs. 35.9 ± 26.5 mg/dl, p < 0.01). On multivariate analysis using logistic regression model, the concentration of plasma Lp(a) was an independent risk factor for relapse of NS. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that of all the laboratory data examined, high values of Lp(a) can predict future relapse of NS and should be well documented.


The purpose of this research study was to examin the correlation between what kindergarten teachers identified as developmentally appropriate practices in kindergarten classrooms and what is included in their actual daily classroom practices. This quantitative research used a correlational research design to investigate the strength of the relationship between what teachers identied as their beliefs in developmentally appropriate practices for early childhood education and their self-reported use of developmentally appropriate practices within their own classrooms. The population included kindergarten teachers who currently teach in the northeastern counties of Pennsylvania. The participants completed an online survey developed for teachers of kindergarten children that identified Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) as presented in the revised 1997 National Association for the Educators of Young Children (NAEYC) guidelines. The teacher belief scores and the teacher practices scores identified the strength of the relationship between teacher beliefs in DAP and actual daily uses of DAP in their kindergarten classrooms. Results indicated that there was a significant weak positive relationship between teachers' beliefs in the use of DAP and their actual daily uses of DAP in their kindgergarten classrooms. A second analysis compared teachers' years of experience to their reported practices to determine whether or not their years of experience predicted their actual daily uses of DAP in their kindergarten classrooms. Results indicated that there was a significant strong positive relationship between teachers' years of experience in kindergarten and their actual daily classroom use of developmentally appropriate practices.


Document processing apparatus for processing a document described in a plurality of markup languages, represented by tag sets and by using plug-ins, such as an HTML unit and an SVG unit. In case a document to be processed is described in a plurality of tag sets, the document selects a processing system, which can process an element included in the document based on the element name and namespace of the element. The selected processing system sequentially determines, from the element toward the descendants of the element, whether elements can be processed, and when there is an element, which cannot be processed, the processing system delegates processing of the element to another processing system. Thus, an appropriate processing system to each element is dispatched.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
To determine whether undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and/or excessive daytime sleepiness are associated with symptomatic depression in Australian men.

METHODS
Participants were randomly selected, urban community dwelling men aged 40 to 88 years without a prior diagnosis of OSA. Clinically significant depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-1A or Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (2007-2010). A random sample of men (n = 788) undertook full at-home unattended polysomnography (Embletta X100, Broomfield, Colorado, United States) and completed the Epworth Sleepiness Scale questionnaire (2010-2012).

RESULTS
Undiagnosed severe obstructive sleep apnea (apnea-hypopnea index ≥ 30 events/h) was associated with depressive symptoms (adjusted odds ratio = 1.98; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-3.73; P = .036). However, a significant interaction was observed between obstructive sleep apnea and excessive daytime sleepiness (P = .03) such that individuals with OSA and excessive daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale score of 10 or higher) exhibited the strongest associations with depression (mild-moderate apnea: adjusted odd ratio = 3.86; 95% CI 1.87-7.95; severe apnea: adjusted odd ratio = 4.82; 95% CI 1.42-16.35) when compared to individuals without apnea.

CONCLUSIONS
Depressive symptoms in men were associated with undiagnosed OSA in the community. It is important that clinicians and primary care practitioners consider screening for depression in men with severe OSA and for OSA in men with depression. Screening for depression should also be considered in men with excessive daytime sleepiness regardless of OSA severity.


The Streptococcus pneumoniae mal regulon contains two operons, malXCD and malMP involved in the uptake and utilization of maltosaccharides. Both operons are transcribed from two divergent promoters, P(X) and P(M), and are negatively regulated by the MalR transcriptional repressor. Purified MalR protein binds to two DNA regions that encompasses both promoters, thus occupying its two operators, O(M) and O(X). However, the levels of occupation and repression were different, being higher when MalR was bound to O(M) than when it was anchored to O(X). Competition experiments between MalR and the Escherichia coli RNA polymerase on promoters P(M) and P(X) showed that the affinity of either protein for the promoter/operator DNA sequences was important to determine the frequency of transcription initiation. In addition to the control exerted by MalR, expression from promoter P(M) was affected by upstream sequences located within or close to P(X) promoter.


This study was conducted in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) context to explore Iranian teachers' perceptions of their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and their sense of professional identity (PI) as well as to scrutinize how their cognitions were practiced in EAP classes. To this end, two ELT teachers and two content instructors (i.e. subject experts who teach EAP courses in addition to their specialized field of study) from a university in Tehran participated in the study and their classes were observed for a full academic semester. To thoroughly probe the teachers' cognitions, semi-structured interviews were also conducted. The results of content analysis indicated some commonalities but major discrepancies in the cognitions and practices of the two pairs of teachers with regard to their PCK. Teachers of both camps claimed to have interactive EAP classes where group work is highly appreciated and students' questions are welcomed. Attending to their discrepancies, the content instructors seemed to adhere to 'transformative' education by reflecting on their teaching, hearing learners' voice, being responsive to their learning needs, and encouraging teacher-learner collaboration. On the other hand, the ELT teachers reflected a more 'traditional' approach, leaving behind issues of flexibility and innovation in their teaching methods. As far as the EAP teachers' PI is concerned, the study came up with eight factors as the underlying constituents of their PI. It was also found that pedagogical content knowledge and professional identity are interrelated attributes of EAP teachers. The findings provide implications for syllabus designers as well as EAP teacher education.


Humanoid robots are considered as complex and challenging platforms, and the state of the art in robotics. Humanoid robots are naturally expected to perform a wide variety of tasks using the same tools as humans, to operate in unconstrained environments, and to interact with other robots and humans in the same way we do. Humanoid robots are envisaged to be used in hazardous environments and as assistants to humans in the home or work place. In space, these platforms are considered as pre-human explorers operating in dangerous environments. The suitability of humanoid robots for space exploration has been acknowledged by NASA with the launch of the humanoid Robonaut to the International Space Station.

As the expectations of these platforms continues to grow, many challenges still exist on how to control and manipulate such systems to perform the tasks expected humans. For example, maintaining the robots balance under different perturbation, as well as generating a stable, fast and efficient walking gait, is an important requirement that has to be naturally inherited in these platforms. However, the large number of degrees of freedom, and the non-linear chaotic nature of robot dynamics, result in the increased difficulty in manipulating the full body behaviours of these robots.

The main goal of this research is to develop an efficient model that captures the full body behaviour accurately, while restoring balance and controlling the locomotion system. The Spherical Inverted Pendulum (SIP) concept was developed to model the biped robot centre of mass motion using the ankle joints. A novel balancing control law based on the principles of dissipative systems is developed and presented. It has been demonstrated that this controller restores balance by dissipating the kinetic energy introduced in the system as a result of disturbances. The SIP model is later used in the development of a balance and locomotion control framework using the concept of passive dynamic walking, and full body inverse kinetics, to achieve efficient and robust locomotion gait for the biped robot. Simulations were used to validate the SIP model and the new control framework for balance restoration and walking. Hardware validation of the multi-task manipulation and the simultaneous execution of tasks is also developed and presented in this thesis using the Nao humanoid robot.


Multi‐minicore disease is an autosomal recessive congenital myopathy characterized by the presence of multiple, short‐length core lesions (minicores) in both muscle fiber types. These lesions being nonspecific and the clinical phenotype being heterogeneous, multi‐minicore disease boundaries remain unclear. To identify its genetic basis, we performed a genome‐wide screening in a consanguineous Algerian family in which three children presented in infancy with moderate weakness predominant in axial muscles, pelvic girdle and hands, joint hyperlaxity (hand involvement phenotype), and multiple minicores. We mapped the disease to chromosome 19q13 in this family and, subsequently, in three additional families showing a similar phenotype, with a maximum LOD score of 5.19 for D19S570. This locus was excluded in 16 other multi‐minicore disease families with predominantly axial weakness, scoliosis, and respiratory insufficiency ("classical" phenotype). In the Algerian family, we identified a novel homozygous missense mutation (P3527S) in the ryanodine receptor type 1 gene, a positional candidate gene responsible for the autosomal dominant congenital myopathy central core disease. New muscle biopsies from the three patients at adulthood demonstrated typical central core disease with rods; no cores were found in the healthy parents. This subgroup of families linked to 19q13 represents the first variant of central core disease with genetically proven recessive inheritance and transient presentation as multi‐minicore disease.


High dietary consumption of anthocyanins has been associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is supported by evidence from human, animal and in vitro studies. However, owing to anthocyanins' poor bioavailability and extensive metabolism, it is likely their metabolites are responsible for their reported health effects; yet the bioactivity of anthocyanin metabolites remains largely unknown. This thesis aimed to address this deficiency in current scientific literature by investigating the vascular and
anti-inflammatory activity of cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G), the most abundant anthocyanin in the UK diet, and 11 of its recently identified metabolites (including six synthetic
metabolites) at physiological concentrations (0.1 – 10 µM) in a human endothelial cell model. Here protein and mRNA levels were established using ELISA and RT-qPCR,
superoxide levels were quantified by spectrophotometric measure of cytochrome creduction and electron paramagnetic resonancespectroscopy, and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation was established by flow cytometry. The data indicate that C3G, its A-ring degradant, phloroglucinaldehyde (PGA), and its phase II metabolite vanillic acid (VA) increased the basal expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) by between 1.5- to-3 fold (p<0.05). In contrast, none of the compounds tested modulated angiotensin II (Ang II)-stimulated superoxide production and basal endothelin-1 expression in endothelial cells. Anti-inflammatory activity of the treatments was characterised by their effects upon
oxidised low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) and cluster of differentiation 40 ligand (CD40L) stimulated expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in endothelial cells. Here, significant bioactivity of C3G metabolites was observed, as 7 out of 12 of the tested treatments reduced CD40L-induced VCAM-1 expression up to 65% (relative to control, p<0.05), eight compounds reduced CD40L-induced IL-6 production up to 95% (relative to control, p<0.05), and nine compounds reduced oxLDL-induced IL-6 protein secretion up to 99% of control incubations (p<0.05). Protocatechuic acid (PCA) and VA reduced VCAM-1 and IL-6 protein and mRNA levels under both stimulation conditions, and were therefore selected for further targeted investigation of transcription factor activity. Here IL-1β-induced activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) was significantly
reduced by both PCA and VA (p<0.05). Therefore, anthocyanin metabolites appear to exert their effects on inflammatory chemokines through attenuation of NF-κB p65
phosphorylation in endothelial cells. In summary, the beneficial effects of anthocyanins in Page 3 vivo may arise, in part, from the anti-inflammatory activity of their metabolites, as the metabolites displayed significant anti-inflammatory activity and are found in the circulation at considerably higher concentrations than their unmetabolised precursor structures, hence likely contributing to the observed vascular activity in humans. These findings provide novel insight to bioactivity of anthocyanins and extend current knowledge in the field of anthocyanin research.


INTRODUCTION
The genetic variations of co-stimulatory molecules can affect the extent of T cell activity during T-cell mediated immunity, especially in transplant patients. This study aimed to investigate the association of programmed cell death 1 (PDCD1) and programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PDCD1LG1) gene polymorphisms with clinical outcome of kidney transplantation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 122 patients with a kidney transplant were included in this retrospective study. Patients were classified into two groups of biopsy-proven acute allograft rejection (AAR) and stable graft function (SGF) during the 5-year follow-up period. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms in PDCD1 and PDCD1LG1 were determined in the groups of patients as well as in 208 healthy control individuals.

RESULTS
The frequencies of PD-1.3 (+7146 G>A), PD-1.9 (+7625 C>T), PD-L1 (8923 A>C), and PD-L1 (+6777 C>G) genotypes and alleles were not significantly different between the AAR and SGF groups. In comparison with healthy controls, PD-1.9 (+7625 C>T) genotype and T allele were significantly more frequent in all of the patients and in those with SGF. Overall, 27 of 122 kidney allograft recipients experienced delayed graft function, and a higher frequency of PD-1.9 (+7625 C>T) genotype and T allele was observed in this group versus those without delayed graft function. Similarly, a significant high frequency of this genotype was found among the AAR subgroup of patients with delayed graft function.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate that potentially functional genetic variation in PDCD1 can influence the outcome of kidney transplantation.


We describe a long-unnamed Chaetopterus Cuvier, 1830 species from southern California, using a combination of DNA barcoding and detailed morphological investigation employing high-resolution X-ray microtomography (micro-CT). Chaetopterus dewysee sp. nov. is not only one of the most dominant annelids in the benthic communities of the shallow end of the La Jolla submarine canyon, but also a well-established model for studying bioluminescence and has a published transcriptome. The description and naming of this southern Californian Chaetopterus is a step towards the much-needed revision of the group's taxonomy and towards resolving the confusion over the ʻcosmopolitan' Chaetopterus variopedatus species complex. Micro-CT data showing details of both internal and external anatomy has been made freely available as the first annelid cybertype.


One of the core requests in assuring competitiveness and sustainability in the food value chain is transparency. The complexity of the sector, the absence of focal players in the field,the complexity in the collection, processing and communication of information, and limitations in information and network technology have made it difficult to find concepts and solutions that could solve the transparency problem at consumers' end. This is where the Future Internet provides opportunities that allowed to meet the challenge and to appropriately address the transparency problem. This paper introduces into the subject through a detailed outline of the transparency complexity of the food sector and the requirements on concepts and systems that could deal with it.


Abstract Obesity is a well-known risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF). Epicardial fat, the true visceral fat depot of the heart, has been associated with changes in both cardiac function and morphology. In this study, we evaluated whether ultrasound-measured epicardial fat thickness is related to AF and HF. A cross-sectional study was performed in 84 consecutive subjects with clinical and ECG-documented history of permanent (AF) or paroxysmal AF (PAF) who underwent echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness measurement. Sixty-four subjects had AF and 20 showed PAF. AF subjects had higher prevalence of heart failure (HF), defined by ejection fraction (EF)<50%, (p<0.01). Subjects with AF had higher epicardial fat thickness than PAF subjects (4.8±2.5 vs. 3.5±2.4 mm, p<0.05). As subjects were stratified by HF, epicardial fat thickness was lower (4.4±2.2 vs. 5.4±2.3 mm, p<0.05) in those with HF as compared to subjects without HF. This study showed for the first time that echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness is significantly higher in subjects with chronic AF when compared to those with PAF. It is plausible that permanent AF is related to long-term influence of epicardial fat. Epicardial fat reduction in HF subjects may reflect the overall fat mass reduction, commonly observed in these patients. It is also possible to hypothesize that epicardial fat pad may incur in fibrotic changes during chronic cardiac failure.


The production of glycerol and ester by alcoholysis of vegetable oils has been widely studied. Various catalysts, such as sodium and potassium hydroxide and sulfuric acid have been used to increase the rate of reaction. This preliminary research studied the possibility of using potassium carbonate catalyst. The experiment was conducted in an autoclave. A certain amount of nyamplung seed oil was poured into the autoclave and then the heater was switched on to heat up the oil to the required temperature of reaction. Besides, a mixture of ethanol and potassium carbonate was heated in a flask equipped with condenser to form ethanolate. As soon as the required temperature was reached, the ethanolate was quickly put into the autoclave containing the nyamplung seed oil. The temperature of the reaction was kept constant for a period of time. At the end of each process, a sample was withdrawn and analyzed for its glycerine content by acetin method. The variables studied were reaction time and catalyst concentration. The experimental data were evaluated by applying pseudo homogeneous approach. It was found that data were in good agreement with first order reaction with respect to nyamplung seed oil. Using an equivalent ratio of 5.1 ethanol to nyamplung seed oil, a temperature of lOQoC,and an agitation speed of 150 rpm, the favorable catalyst concentration was found to be at 0.008 gram of potassium carbonate per gram of nyamplung seed oil. Under this condition, the glyceride conversion was 0.5159 in 75 min.