information Abstract Cardiomyopathies are heart diseases involving high risk of heart failure and sudden cardiac death. In this chapter, we review the use of electrical devices (cardiac resynchronization therapy and implantable cardioverter defibrillator) to reduce the progression of heart failure and prevent arrhythmogenic sudden death in patients affected with these pathologies. The future of these therapies is a more appropriate indication for primary prevention of sudden death (defibrillator) and treatment of heart failure in a broader spectrum of patients (resynchronization).


In the improvement of pumpkins, the selection based on one or a few characters of interest tends to be less efficient, leading to a superior product only compared to the few characters selected. To maximize the simultaneous selection of multiple characteristics of interest, selection indexes are used to obtain a numerical value resulting from the combination of the characters on which the simultaneous selection is to be practiced. The objective of this study was to determine genetic parameters and the most appropriate selection indexes in strains of Summer squash (C. pepo). Statistical analyzes were performed based on 65 genotypes belonging to the vegetable germplasm bank of the Federal University of Uberlândia. The variables analyzed were: leaf area index, precocity, SPAD index, productivity. plant, number of fruits. Plant, leaf temperature, NDVI index and NDRE index. The indexes were used: Smith (1936) and Hazel (1943), the sum of "Ranks" by Mulamba and Mock (1978), and Willians (1962). The selection methodologies selected ten individuals (15% of the genotypes). The values found for h2 (%) ranged from 36.92% (SPAD) to 59.65% (cycle). The values obtained in the CVg / CVe quotient were below 1, varying from 0.18 for leaf temperature to 0.70 for the cycle, with the other variables close to 0.5. The CVg genetic variation coefficient (%) was also low, ranging from 1.84% for leaf temperature to 30.94% for productivity. The greatest gains obtained with direct and indirect selection were for the characters productivity (35.92%), NDRE (33.04%), number of fruits (28.93%) and leaf area index (22.72%). The Mulamba and Mock (1978) index showed the highest total selection gain value, providing a balanced distribution of selection gains, choosing the genotypes: 8, 31, 34, 38, 42, 64, 65, 66, 67 and 68.


Knowledge mining in Open-Source Software (OSS) brings a great benefit for software engineering (SE). The researchers discover, investigate, and even simulate the organization of development processes within open-source communities in order to understand the community-oriented organization and to transform its advantages into conventional SE projects. Despite a great number of different studies on OSS data, not much attention has been paid to the data filtering step so far. The noise within uncleaned data can lead to inaccurate conclusions for SE. A special challenge for data cleaning presents the variety of communicational and development infrastructures used by OSS projects. This paper presents an adaptive filter-framework supporting data cleaning and other preprocessing steps. The framework allows to combine filters in arbitrary order, defining which preprocessing steps should be performed. The filter-portfolio can by extended easily. A schema matching in case of cross-project analysis is available. Three filters spam detection, quotation elimination and coreperiphery distinction were implemented within the filter-framework. In the analysis of three large-scale OSS projects (BioJava, Biopython, BioPerl), the filtering led to a significant data modification and reduction. The results of text mining (sentiment analysis) and social network analysis on uncleaned and cleaned data differ significantly, confirming the importance of the data preprocessing step within OSS empirical studies.


The ability of glucocorticoids to modify the effect of insulin on glucose transport was investigated in both intact isolated rat adipocytes and in membranes isolated from hormone-treated adipocytes. In intact adipocytes, dexamethasone, a potent synthetic glucocorticoid, inhibited insulin-stimulated 3-O-methylglucose transport at all concentrations of insulin tested (0-2,000 microU/ml). Insulin sensitivity, as well as the maximal response to insulin, was decreased by dexamethasone in the absence of a change in insulin binding. The inhibition was observed regardless of which hormone acted first, was blocked by actinomycin D, and resulted from a decrease in Vmax rather than an increase in Kt of transport. In plasma membranes isolated from insulin-treated adipocytes, glucose transport activity and the amount of glucose transporter covalently labeled with [3H]cytochalasin B were increased in parallel in a dose-dependent fashion. The amount of labeled transporter in a low-density microsomal fraction (LDMF) was decreased in a reciprocal fashion. In contrast, addition of dexamethasone to insulin-stimulated cells caused decreases in both transport activity and amount of labeled transporter in the plasma membranes. This was accompanied by a small increase in the amount of [3H]cytochalasin B incorporated into the glucose transporter in the LDMF. These results are consistent with both insulin and glucocorticoids altering the distribution of glucose transporters between the plasma membrane and LDMF, in opposite directions.


Chalcogenide thin films are exciting candidates for electronic applications such as spintronic devices, non-volatile memories and thermoelectric materials. To achieve such applications the understanding of their thin film growth is of paramount importance. In this work the epitaxy of exemplary chalcogenides Sb2Te3 and GeTe on different surfaces of Si(111) with atomically sharp interfaces is presented and compared using plan-view transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. It is shown that depending on the monolayer surface termination the resulting films present drastic differences in terms of film morphology and crystallinity. In particular, a profound difference is found between the films grown on H-passivated and Sb-passivated surfaces. In both cases, the out-of-plane texture is strongly c-axis oriented, but the case of Si(111)–H shows the frequent occurrence of random in-plane twist for both films, while for Si(111)–Sb this is strongly suppressed. The role of the substrate-film interface for the epitaxy is discussed and the consequences for the properties of the films are highlighted. In general, the insights of these results shed light on chalcogenide thin film growth for topological insulator, ferroelectric, thermoelectric and phase-change materials research.


Microbial cultures usually produce a significant amount of acidic byproducts which can represses cell growth and product synthesis. In addition, the production of acids is a waste of carbon source thereby reduces the product yield and productivity. Metabolic engineering provides a powerful approach to optimize the cellular activities and improve product yields by genetically manipulating specific metabolic pathways. Previous work has identified mutation of Pyruvate Kinase (PYK) as an efficient way to reduce acids production; however, complete abolishment of PYK in Bacillus subtilis resulted in dramatically reduced cell growth rate. In this study, an inducible PYK (iPYK) mutant of B. subtilis was constructed and extensively characterized. The results demonstrated that good cell growth rate and low acetate formation can be attained at an appropriate PYK expression level. In addition, mutation at phosphofructokinase (PFK) on the glycolysis pathway also provides an alternative approach to reduce acetate formation.Two outcomes of the pyk mutant of B. subtilis, high phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) pool and low acetate concentration, prompted us to investigate the deployment of pyk mutation as an efficient way to improve folic acid and recombinant protein production. The high intracellular PEP and glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) concentration in the pyk mutant led to higher folic acid production by providing abundant synthetic precursors. Additional mutations in the folic acid synthesis pathway, along with the pyk mutation, resulted in 8-fold increase in folic acid production. Recombinant protein was improved two-fold by the pyk mutation due to low acetate formation and longer production time in the pyk mutant. In addition, using glycerol instead of glucose as the carbon source reduced acetate production and improved protein production by 60%.The effect of citrate on acetate production in Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) was investigated and the continuous culture results showed the effectiveness of citrate on reducing acetate formation. These results indicated pyk may be a potential mutation target to reduce acetate formation in Bt.


Association rules are important one of data mining activities. All algorithms of association rule mining consist of finding frequenc y of itemsets, which satisfy a minimum support threshold, and then compute confidence percentage for each k-itemsets to construct strong association rules'. Some of the se association rules are not important because the extracted knowledge from their is found in other. Hence we proposed algorithm to construct only important association r ules by depend on closed frequent itemset. An itemset is closed if one of its immedi ate supersets has the same support as the itemset. Finding these closed frequent itemsets can be of a great help to purge a lot of itemsets that are not needed to find association ru les. So that aid to reduce execution time and work space of algorithm and end the algorithm a t any level of k-itemset, without construct all K-itemset.


Abstract The film Bicentennial Man (1999) pictured in a nutshell a robot who/that became human via his personality by plunging into the realities of freedom and death. The aim of this paper is to reflect on the notion of personality in the case of what this paper coins as a 'robot-incarnate' with the name Andrew, the first man who lived for two hundred years from his inception as an artificial machine. The method of exposition proceeds from (1) utilizing a philosophical reflection on the film concerning the determinacy of Andrew as a person and (2) then anchoring his case as a subject for the understanding of machine ethics. Regarding the first, the paper focuses on the questions of personality, death, and freedom. Regarding the second, the paper exposes the discussions of machine ethics and the issue of moral agency. Deducing from the already existing literature on the matter, the paper concludes that machine ethics must stand as the principle that serves as law and limitation to any scientific machine advancement showing promising potentials.


This paper focuses on key economic and social factors underpinning worldwide issues aroundcybersecurity and, identifies a new agenda for addressing these issues that is being shaped by theInternet and related information and communication technologies, such as social media. All actorsin the widening ecology of the Internet require a better social and cultural understanding ofcybersecurity issues in order to effectively engage all relevant stakeholders in processes aimed atenhancing cybersecurity. The problems tied to cybersecurity are not new, but as the Internetbecomes ever more essential to everyday life and work, and empowers users as never before, thereare new social and economic aspects of the challenges to achieving a secure, open and globalInternet that require much more focused attention. For years, computer scientists and engineershave recognized that cybersecurity is not merely an engineering and computer science problem,but also an economic and behavioral challenge. But recognition of the fact that cybersecuritycannot be successfully addressed with technical solutions alone, is not sufficient. It is critical that economists and other social and behavioral scientists engage in this area and address the practices of a wider range of actors in local and global arenas who need strategies that provide feasible and practical steps for securing the Internet and the incentives and mindsets to take them.


Using survey evidence collected from social security organizations and contribution collection agencies, a major aim of this article is to advance knowledge sharing and good practice on contribution collection and the enforcement of compliance. Although contribution collection and compliance have important social protection, political and fiscal dimensions, this article frames the pursuit of these objectives as an aspect of administrative good governance. The evidence suggests that seven core factors combine often to form the basis of success in contribution collection and compliance. In addition to improving benefit adequacy and the financial health and public standing of programmes, such success may support also national and international efforts to extend social protection coverage. Ultimately, the achievement and scale of any such success may be determined and delimited by the broader national policy environment, over which most social security organizations have little or no influence.


This paper involves development of an algorithm to predict stability lobes in face milling operation. The modeling is based on frequency domain analysis and is an extension of Budak and Altintas to a three dimensional case. It considers the effects of insert and cutter geometry, cutting conditions, process nonlinearity, entry and exit angles and the fully dimensional structural dynamics of both the machine tool and workpiece, including axial dynamics which are often neglected by many researchers. In addition, the predictive capability of stability lobes by the presented models is compared with those results obtained by time domain simulations.


This paper studies the interaction effects between monetary policy actions and house price changes in China. I focus on the impact of M2 money supply on house prices in Beijing, the capital of China. A VAR model is constructed and shows that an M2 money supply shock has a significant positive impact on Beijing house prices from the fifth to the ninth month, whereas a house price shock has no significant impact on M2 money supply. To verify whether the impact of money supply is robust in different Chinese cities, I develop another VAR model to observe the housing market in Shenzhen, a first-tier city in southern China. The results show that an M2 money supply shock has only a small significant positive impact on Shenzhen house prices at one month, suggesting that the effect of money supply can vary due to institutional differences.


Fatigue is frequent and disabling in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) with mild neurological disability. These patients also have impaired physical fitness. Whether mildly disabled pwMS are deconditioned, and this deconditioning is linked to fatigue, remains unknown. Our aim is to determine the physical fitness of mildly disabled patients with multiple sclerosis and study its relationship with perceived fatigue and to link perceived fatigue with other parameters. Twenty patients (14 women; mean age: 45.5 years) with mild disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale 0–4) underwent a 2-min walking test, Timed Up-and-Go test, aerobic capacity testing, and isometric knee extension testing to assess strength and neuromuscular fatigability. They completed questionnaires assessing perceived fatigue, psychological status, and physical activity. Correlation coefficients and multivariate regression were used to analyze the relationships among variables. Seventeen (85%) patients reported a high level of fatigue. Thirteen (65%) patients had subnormal aerobic capacity. Fatigue was weakly to moderately associated with aerobic capacity, mobility, walking capacity, depression, and neuromuscular fatigability. An association of disease duration, aerobic capacity, and the neuromuscular fatigability index explained 65.1% of fatigue. A high proportion of pwMS with mild neurological disability are fatigued and deconditioned. Perceived fatigue is linked to aerobic capacity, neuromuscular fatigability, depression, mobility, and walking capacity. Focusing on these parameters could help in the management of fatigue.


: Aim: The objective of the study is to determine morbidity patterns in children with severe acute malnutrition. Methods: This cross-sectional study has been conducted at the Pediatric unit II of Jinnah Hospital, Lahore for one year duration from 1 st June 2019 to 30 th May 2020. Children aged 1-59 months with severe acute malnutrition (WHZ <-3 SD and / or bilateral pitting edema) were included. All patients were evaluated for clinical signs, various diseases such as infections, metabolic disorders, congenital / hereditary disorders and the result as stabilization, contrary to medical recommendations (LAMA) or expired at exit. Data was collected and analyzed using SPSS version 17 descriptive statistics. Results: One hundred and thirty children with an average age of patients - 16.8 months were examined. Serious cachexia was observed in 80.8%, while edema malnutrition occurred in 19.2% of cases. Anemia was found in 88% and 65.4% were feverish during the presentation. Diarrhea (50.8%), pneumonia (20%) and sepsis (16.2%) were the most common infections; while hyponatraemia (22.6%), hypokalemia (13.7%) and hypoglycemia (10.7%) were the most common metabolic disorders. Rickets (7.7%) and congenital / hereditary diseases (14.6%) were associated with this disorder. The result was stabilization in 83.1%, LAMA in 10.8% and death in 6.2% of cases. Conclusion: The spectrum of illness in severely malnourished children admitted to hospital includes both infections and congenital or hereditary disorders. Diarrhea and sepsis with metabolic disorders were the main contributors to death.


The shared-medium nature and complex wireless environment of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) poses fundamental challenges to the design of effective transmission scheduling algorithms that are optimised with respect to superframe length and reliability. In this study, the authors propose an adaptive and reliable transmission scheduling algorithm for WSNs based on low-cost estimation of channel states. The authors establish a hierarchical scheduling framework on global centralised timeslot scheduling and local distributed channel scheduling. On the one hand, global centralised timeslot scheduling aims to guarantee global optimality of resource allocation, during which a mathematical reliability model is built to avoid resource waste by the stationary allocation method and improve the reliability of packet transmission. On the other hand, local distributed channel scheduling shares the responsibility of resource allocation. During channel scheduling, the channel model is constructed by the dynamic programming method and takes both probing cost and channel quality into consideration, which alleviates the uncertain and time-varying interference and overcomes the blindness of traditional methods. In contrast with previous works that do not consider link reliability and channel probing cost and often assume two channel states, the scheduling algorithm performs reliably for an arbitrary number of channels and arbitrary number of channel states. Extensive simulations and experiments under a variety of network environments have been conducted to validate our theoretical claims.


Satyendra Nath Bose became a legendary figure of science in the 20th century in India with his revolutionary discovery on the nature of radiation. Despite the association with Einstein, however, little is known about him outside of India. This book highlights the remarkable intellect and the extraordinary personality of Bose set against the backdrop of a rich Bengali cultural tradition and British-Indian politics. Unlike other books covering the significance of Bose's discovery, this book describes his diverse scientific contributions to India's scientific community by bringing together selected articles and addresses by Bose as well as contributions from some well-known scientists on the many-faceted life of Bose, thus making it a truly unique volume.


Background: Anti-welfare narratives depict welfare systems as overly-permissive, open to fraud, and fundamentally unfair. Countering these supposed ills have been political appeals to evidence and reforms made to disability benefit assessments under the banner of objectivity.
 But objectivity is a complex construct, which entails philosophical and political choices that tend to oppress, exclude and symbolically disqualify alternative perspectives.Aims and objectives: To examine reforms made to UK disability benefits assessments in the name of objectivity.Methods:
 Thematic analysis of 50 in-depth qualitative interviews with UK disability benefit claimants.Findings: Reforms made in pursuit of procedural objectivity reproduce existing social order, meaning claimants without personal, social and economic resources are less likely to succeed.
 Data reveal an increasingly detached and impersonal assessment process, set against a broader welfare landscape in which advocacy and support have been retrenched. In this context, attaining a valid and reliable assessment was, for many, contingent upon personal, social and economic resources.Discussion
 and conclusions: Political appeals to evidence helped establish an impetus and a legitimising logic for welfare reform. Procedural objectivity offers superficially plausible, but ultimately specious, remedies to longstanding anti-welfare tropes. Despite connotations of methodological neutrality,
 procedural objectivity is not a politically neutral epistemological standpoint. To know disability in a genuinely valid and reliable way, knowledge-making practices must respect dignity and proactively counter exclusory social order. These latter principles promise outcomes that are more trustworthy
 by virtue of their being more just.


"Foreign trade statistics are the main data source to the study of international trade. However its accuracy has been under suspicion since Morgernstern published his famous work in 1963. Federico and Tena (1991) have resumed the question arguing that they can be useful in an adequate level of aggregation. But the geographical assignment problem remains unsolved. This article focuses on the spatial variable through the analysis of the reliability of textile international data for 1913. A geographical bias arises between export and import series, but because of its quantitative importance it can be negligible in an international scale."


In the European Esprit project VIVA (Visual Identity Verification Auditor) a real-time digital watermarking system for broadcast monitoring has been investigated and implemented. On top of the usual requirements for watermarks, the VIVA watermarking system has to satisfy an additional number of constraints. One of the most important constraints in a broadcast environment is the robustness of the watermark against scaling. This paper describes how robustness against scaling is achieved in the VIVA project. Furthermore, a real-time implementation of the algorithms is discussed. Experimental results prove the effectiveness of the algorithms.


Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/Pb-Sn composite coatings were prepared by electrodeposition technique. Friction coefficient and wear weight losses were investigated on a double rings apparatus using carbon steel (C: 0.45%) rings as counterparts under wet friction condition. Tribological characteristics were compared among the samples as carbon nanotubes concentration was changed in the bath. The results indicate that the composite coatings had smaller friction coefficient and weight loss than that of ordinary Pb-Sn coatings under the same work conditions. In addition, the wear performance of Pb-Sn-CNTs composite coating was optimized when the CNTs concentration in bath was 2 g L-1.


C!d,,Zn,Te (CZT) has recently shown great promise for use EIS a room temperature gamma-ray detector material. The availability of large volume (> 1 cm3) high resistivity CZT crystals has allowed the demonstration of detectors much larger than can be built with the similar material CdTe. However, CZT -- like many other room-temperature materials -- suffers from the poor transport properties of holes. The poor hole drift properties of CZT cause the characteristic "hole tailing" in gamma-ray pulse height spectra. We have applied pulse processing methods to reduce the hole tailing effects and improve the energy resolution of CZT detectors. We have used two signal processing methods to reduce hole tailing in CZT detectors: digital rise-time compensation and dual time-constant sampling. We discuss the implementation of these techniques, demonstrate results obtained in the laboratory, and compare the performance obtained with other detector systems.


dead, recovered, and quarantined cases. In this paper, we use the dataset of South Korea comprised of several control policies implemented for minimizing the spread of COVID-19. We compare the performance of the stacked Bi-LSTM with the traditional time-series models and LSTM model using the performance metrics mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and root mean square error (RMSE). Moreover, we study the impact of control policies on forecasting accuracy. We further study the impact of changing the Bi-LSTM default activation functions Tanh with ReLU on forecasting accuracy. The research provides insight to policymakers to optimize the pooling of resources more optimally on the correct date and time prior to the event and to control the spread by employing various strategies in the meantime.


Abstract. Introduction: The novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus - 2 (SARS-CoV-2), in Africa is characterised by a more substantial proportion of asymptomatic (or mildly symptomatic) individuals thought to be playing a role in the spread of the infection. The exact proportion and degree of infectiousness of asymptomatic individuals remains unclear. Studies however indicate that their management is crucial for control of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Methodology: We developed a simplified deterministic susceptible-exposed-infectious-removed (SEIR) mathematical model to assess the effect of active isolation of SARS-CoV-2 infected but asymptomatic individuals through blanket testing for control of the outbreak in Lusaka Province of Zambia. Here we modelled two scenarios; (1) assuming asymptomatic individuals comprised 70% of all COVID-19 cases and (2) asymptomatic individuals comprised only 50% of the cases. For contrast, the model was assessed first under the assumption that asymptomatic individuals are equally as infectious as symptomatic individuals and then secondly, and more likely, assuming asymptomatic individuals are only half as infectious as symptomatic individuals. Results: For the model assuming 70% asymptomatic cases, a minimum sustained blanket testing rate of [≥] 7911 tests/100000 population was sufficient to control the outbreak if asymptomatic individuals are only half as infectious while if equal infectiousness was assumed then a testing rate of [≥] 10028 tests/ 100000 population would be required. For 50% asymptomatic, minimum blanket testing rates of [≥] 4540 tests/ 100000 population was sufficient to control the outbreak at both assumed levels of infectiousness for asymptomatic individuals relative to symptomatic individuals. Discussion and conclusion: Our model predicts that the current testing rates of {approx} 150/100,000 population are inadequate to control transmission of SARS-Cov-2 in Lusaka. Active isolation of COVID-19 cases including asymptomatic individuals through blanket testing can be used as a possible measure for control of the SARS-Cov-2 transmission in Lusaka, Zambia. Key words: SARS-Cov-2, asymptomatic transmission, deterministic model, blanket testing


The capacity of a wireless network could be considerably improved by employing directional antennas that are capable of illuminating multiple beams toward different directions. However, more beams from the same BS may lead to stronger inter-cell interference. In this paper, we consider coordinated beam scheduling schemes to mitigate the inter-cell interference. We first formulate this problem as a combinatorial optimization problem. We then reveal that the complexity of this problem hinges upon a single scalar termed as degree of constraint (DoC), which is related to the degree of conflict a beam is subject to. If the DoC is at least three, the general beam scheduling problem is NP-hard. If DoC is smaller than three, which corresponds to a relevant subclass of the beam scheduling problem arising in practice, this problem can be solved in polynomial time. We propose an optimal beam scheduling algorithm based on the auction method to this particular subclass of problem. This algorithm is of low complexity and is well suited for distributed implementations. We then extend the auction algorithm to solve the general multi-cell beam scheduling problem. The performance of the proposed algorithms is finally assessed through extensive simulation studies.


This study examines the relationship between the environmental regulations and the FDI levels in China. The environmental regulation stringency is measured using emissions and other energy consumption data. The study is based on the pollution haven hypothesis and additionally applies direction of causality tests. The main objectives of the study are: to measure the environmental regulatory stringency and to identify the relationship between the application of the environmental restrictions and the level of FDI in China in the period from 1979-2013. The study adopts a quantitative approach; a correlation matrix, a multiple regression model, and granger causality are used first; then a time series multiple regression model is conducted; afterwards the granger causality is applied. The results of the statistical analysis show a negative relationship between environmental regulations and FDI levels and a negative bidirectional causal relationship between the emissions and energy consumption variables and the FDI levels. Thus, countries aiming at increasing their FDI levels need to consider their environmental regulations. In addition, the study provides useful information to other developing countries which are still in less developed stages, as it can have policy implications on increasing the FDI levels and on the environmental regulations.


The main purpose of this study was to investigate quality of life in patients' who had survived a cardiac arrest and were treated with an implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD). Two groups were compared, those that had received an ICD with those that were treated otherwise. This thesis comprises several studies on cardiac arrest survivors and especially those that received an ICD therapy.
In chapter 1 we described quality of life and the determinants of quality of life. The study design is also described in this chapter.
The sample consisted of 168 consecutive patients who were admitted to the hospital after OHCA. The patients completed a questionnaire at baseline, and at one, six and 12 months. The questionnaire contained items on quality of life (Rand-36 and HPPQ), depressive symptomatology (CES-D), anxiety (State Trait Anxiety Inventory), coping (Utrecht Coping List), social support ( Social Support List Interactions), social activities (subscale EORTC), sexuality (subscale EORTC), satisfaction with patient education (patient education questionnaire), continuity of care (CCCpQ) and utilization of care (RC-UD survey).
In Chapter 2 the results are presented on the relationship between continuity of care and quality of life. We found no significant association between patient education, continuity of care and quality of life in either group. We, however, did find an association between patient satisfaction with received care and quality of life.
Chapter 3 reports on a 12 month quality of life assessment of cardiac arrest survivors treated with or without an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. No differences were found between the ICD group and control group regarding quality of life and well-being. A significant improvement in physical and social functioning, and mental health were found in the first six months. The prevalence of anxiety and probable depression was high irrespective of the treatment received: anxiety and depressive symptoms did not change significantly between 1 and 12 months after discharge.
Chapter 4 details the factors that predict quality of life and depression in ICD recipients.
Mental health, appraisal support, feelings of displeasure and physical functioning measured at baseline (before treatment) were significant predictors of quality of life in ICD recipients at 12 months.
In Chapter 5 we assessed quality of life, depression and anxiety in ICD recipients who did and did not experience an ICD shock delivery. Significant differences were found within the groups over time regarding physical role limitations (p < 0.051). Those who experienced shocks throughout the year (group 1) felt more limited in their daily activities due to physical or mental problems. We concluded that overall quality of life and psychological well-being did not change in ICD recipients, irrespective of whether they experienced defibrillatory shocks.
Chapter 6 describes the content of the qualitative study. Seven major categories were derived from the analysis: anxiety, uncertainty, disappointment, frustration, unexpected barriers, acceptance of and dependency on the ICD played a major role in the lives of ICD recipients.
This study leads us to believe that survival of cardiac arrest has a greater impact on quality of life than the type of therapy received after the event.


Background After over a decade of use of biological agents (BA), is widely known to be effective in the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). With the increasingly widespread use of these drugs, a thorough knowledge of their long-term behavior is fundamental. Objectives To evaluate survival of BA, as well as causes of discontinuation, in a cohort of elderly patients with RA. Methods We conducted a retrospective longitudinal observational study of 13 years follow-up. Subjects: RA patients followed in our out-patient clinic, which started treatment with BA at ages over 65 years old, between January 1st 2000 and November 18th 2013. Primary endpoint: discontinuation of BA (etanercept (ETN), golimumab (GOLI), certolizumab (CTZ), infliximab (IFX) and adalimumab (ADA); other biological: rituximab (RTX), abatacept (Fold), tozilizumab (TZL)) due to: a) adverse event (AE) (moderate: suspension of the drug regardless of the impact; severe: suspension and hospitalization or death); b) inefficacy; c) decision of the patient; d) remission or improvement, e) other. Secondary variables: sociodemographic (age, sex); clinical (duration of illness, type of BA). Analysis: description of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients included and the reasons of discontinuation with frequency distribution, and the mean and standard deviation. The exposure time was defined from the start date of each BA to the date of discontinuation, loss of follow-up or end of the study. Discontinuation rates of BA by survival techniques, expressing the incidence per 100 patients * year with their respective 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results 146 patients with RA were included in the study, which began 286 different courses of treatment with BA, follow-up was 604.5 patients * year. Of these, 78% were women with a mean age at diagnosis of 66.5±7 years and a median time to the start of the first BA of 6±5 years. The most frequently used drug was ADA (27.3%), followed by IFX (22.4%), ETN (21.3%) and RTX (19.2%). 24% of patients continued treatment at the time the end of monitoring. We found 199 discontinuations in 87 patients: 21.7% due to inefficacy, 39% to EA (6% exitus), 2.8% to patient choice and 2.8% to improvement. The median survival of BA was 1.7 years (95% CI 1.2 to 1.9), with an incidence of discontinuation of 33 (95% CI 28.6 to 37.8). The incidence of discontinuation by BA is shown in the table. The discontinuation rate due to AE was 18.4 (95% CI 15.2 to 22.1). The discontinuation rate due to inefficacy was 10.3 (95% CI 8 to 13.5) and to improvement was 1.3 (95% CI 0.66 to 2.64). BA n Patients*year Incidence 95% CI IFX 53 176.8 30 23–39.2 ETN 40 117.2 34 25–46.5 ADA 54 185.5 29.1 22.3–38 RTX 36 91.6 39.2 28.3–54.4 Other BA 16 33.4 47.8 29.3–78.1 Conclusions After 2 years of treatment, half of patients over 65 have discontinuated BA due to different reasons. Discontinuation rate is estimated at 33 per 100 patient * year, the most frequent cause being inefficacy, followed by AE. This study contributes to increasing knowledge of long-term survival of these drugs in RA patients over 65 years and in real life. Disclosure of Interest None declared


In this paper a new CAD methodology for the statistical analysis of VLSI CMOS circuits is presented. A novel very accurate position-dependent mismatch model has been implemented into a complete CAD tool. The tool is fully integrated in an environment of commercial tools and it has been experimented on in the Flash Memory CAD Group in STMicroelectronics. As an example of application, a bandgap test circuit has been considered and the results have been compared with experimental data. This methodology has also been applied to the read path of a complex flash memory produced by STMicroelectronics, consisting of about 16,000 MOSFETs. Measurements of electrical performances have confirmed the accuracy of the proposed simulation flow and models.


A prosecutor's decision to charge or dismiss a criminal case is a particularly high-stakes choice. There is concern, however, that these judgements may suffer from explicit or implicit racial bias, as with many other such actions in the criminal justice system. To reduce potential bias in charging decisions, we designed a system that algorithmically redacts race-related information from free-text case narratives. In a first-of-its-kind initiative, we deployed this system at a large American district attorney's office to help prosecutors make race-obscured charging decisions, where it was used to review many incoming felony cases. We report on both the design, efficacy, and impact of our tool for aiding equitable decision-making. We demonstrate that our redaction algorithm is able to accurately obscure race-related information, making it difficult for a human reviewer to guess the race of a suspect while preserving other information from the case narrative. In the jurisdiction we study, we found little evidence of disparate treatment in charging decisions even prior to deployment of our intervention. Thus, as expected, our tool did not substantially alter charging rates. Nevertheless, our study demonstrates the feasibility of race-obscured charging, and more generally highlights the promise of algorithms to bolster equitable decision-making in the criminal justice system.


The Procedure of the subclavian flap angioplasty and reimplantation of the distal subclavian artery into the left carotid artery was used in 2 infants( 4-month-old and 5-month-old) with recurrent coarctation of the thoracic aorta through the median sternotomy. After median sternotomy, the aortic arch and its branches were extensively dissected. The descending aorta was minimally dissected. An arterial cannula was inserted into the brachiocephalic artery and the cardiopulmonary bypass was started by bicaval cannulation. The aortic root cannula was inserted into the aortic root and T-connected with the side hole of the brachiocephalic arterial cannula. The 2 cases underwent surgery with selective cerebral and myocardial perfusion. The left subclavian artery was transected and the subclavian flap technique was used to enlarge the recoarctation of the thoracic aorta. Then, the distal end of the transected left subclavian artery was reconstructed by performing an end to side anastomosis to the left carotid artery. This procedure has several advantages;(1) minimal dissection of the descending aorta is required,(2) the use of prosthetic material is avoided, (3) it prevents ischemic arm complication, (4) additional skin incision is avoided.


Purpose: In this paper, we describe the activities of the York Autism Community of Practice (YACP), a group that brings together adults with autism, carers, and professionals from healthcare, education, law enforcement, local authority and the third sector, to share best practice and ideas about how to enhance provision and inclusion for people with autism in the city of York. We also present an evaluation of the impact of this group for members and the wider autism community in the area.

Background: Autism affects approximately 1% of the population. While public understanding of the condition has improved in recent years, people with autism commonly report difficulties in accessing appropriate support, e.g., in entering further education or paid employment, accessing healthcare and socialising.

Methods: The YACP is convened on a quarterly basis. Each meeting includes some CPD training on an autism-related topic, an opportunity for networking and information sharing, and a discussion of recently published peer-reviewed research in the field of autism. Multiple methods have been used to evaluate the impact of this group.

Conclusions: YACP provides a useful forum for people working with individuals with autism in a range of settings and capacities to network and to enhance their understanding of autism, especially through the input of members who are autistic themselves. The group has been a catalyst for research collaborations and initiatives in local practice and policy.


ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATIONThe Genetic Architecture of High Voluntary Wheel Running in House MicebyRobert Michael HannonDoctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in Genetics, Genomics, and BioinformaticsUniversity of California, Riverside, December 2010Dr. Theodore Garland, Jr., Chairperson The voluntary wheel running phenotype is a complex trait. Its components include motivation and ability, both likely controlled by multi-allelic systems. This dissertation focuses on crosses of mice from lines selectively bred for high voluntary wheel running (HR lines). Cross 1 examined how a gene of major effect (GOME) known as the mini muscle (MM) would operate in a genetic background different from HR lines. Cross 2 tested for heterosis in a cross of two HR lines. Cross three investigated dominance and parental effects in a cross between one HR line and one control line. Finally, cross 3 mice were bred to produce F2 and backcross generations to estimate the minimum number of genes that contribute to the HR phenotype. When one HR line fixed for MM was crossed with inbred strain (C57BL/6J), effects were similar to those seen in the HR and control lines that possess the allele (e.g., homozygotes exhibit ~50% reduction in mass of the triceps surae muscle complex, but enlarged hearts). A 50:50 ratio of normal/MM was observed in the backcross generation, confirming Mendelian recessive inheritance. Cross 2 hybrid males ran more revolutions/day than purebred males, but hybrid females ran intermediate distances compared with purebred females. This result demonstrates differential and sex-specific responses to selection in two HR lines, implying divergent genetic architectures. Cross 3 found dominance for the HR phenotype in both sexes. Positive maternal influences were observed for all wheel measures, wherein F1 mice from HR dams ran more than those from C dams. Estimates of the minimum number of genes that account for the difference between an HR and control line were 10 for females and 11 for males, showing that high voluntary wheel running has a polygenic basis, as expected. In conclusion, this research supports ideas that the HR trait has a complex genetic architecture, consisting of multiple genes, dominance, maternal effects, and at least one GOME on traits related to wheel running. It also shows that during the artificial selection protocol, changes to the genetic architecture have occurred and that high levels of running can be achieved through different genetic pathways.


Objective: To assess the proportion of non urgent patients presenting to the emergency department and to
compare urgency evaluation between patients and doctors.
Study Design: Descriptive cross sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Emergency department Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Jhelum, from
November 2015 to December 2015.
Material and Methods: All the patients presenting to the emergency department after working hours between 4-6
pm were documented for 16 consecutive working days. They were assessed as to the urgency of their condition
by the doctor. The patients or guardians in case of children were also required to rate the level of urgency of their
medical condition. The level of urgency was graded on visual analog scale from 0-10. A 5 and above score was
labeled as urgent while a score of less than 5 was considered non urgent.
Results: A total of 205 patients reported in 32 hours over 16 days, to the emergency department. Of these 31
(15.12%) were assessed as emergencies by doctors while 49 (24%) were thought to be emergencies by patients.
The p-value for this difference was 0.021. The largest group of patients visiting the emergency department was
pediatric and they comprised the largest group of non urgent visits to the hospital as well.
Conclusion: Actual emergencies comprise a small proportion of visits to emergency departments while the main
bulk consists of non urgent visits.


An extensive survey of markers for transformation of adult rat liver-derived epithelial-like cell lines was conducted. The cell surface properties associated with tumorigenicity were reported earlier. Now we report the correlation of various growth characteristics and enzyme activities with tumorigenic ity. Among markers identified that correlated with tumorigenic ity within the population, biochemical assay of y-glutamyl transpeptidase activity was specific but not sensitive. Rapid growth rate accompanied by increased cell density showed a positive trend with tumorigenicity. Activity of plasminogen activator in cell lysates was not correlated with tumorigenicity. Among identified markers that gave an estimate of the fraction of tumorigenic cells in cultures, growth in soft agar was a good quantitative marker. Cytochemical activity of y-glutamyl transpeptidase was a specific and sensitive marker. Colony-forma tion in low-calcium medium also distinguished tumorigenic cells from nontumorigenic ones. Colony-forming efficiency in both 10 and 1% serum media was somewhat higher for tumorigenic lines, but the difference from non-tumorigenic lines was not great enough to make this a useful marker. Thus, among 11 properties examined in both parts of this survey, biochemical assay of y-glutamyl transpeptidase activity, high uptake of 2deoxy-D-glucose, and growth pattern in liquid medium can serve as population markers, while growth in soft agar, cytochemical assay of y-glutamyl transpeptidase activity, and growth in low-calcium medium can be used as cell markers. Combined use of these markers in adult rat liver lines provides a reliable means of identifying transformation in an epithelial cell system.


San Diego is one of the few major cities in California to have a larger share of non-union labor compared to union labor in the private specialty construction sector. Although union labor is on the rise in large cities due to California's strict labor wage laws, union specialty contractors are still running into challenges in terms of competitiveness in the San Diego area. Western Specialty Contractors has first-hand experience with competing against non-union contractors in San Diego. This paper will outline the methodology Western Specialty Contractors took to gain market share in San Diego. This paper will also focus on how employees, relationships, quality, and safety are key factors that differentiate a union contractor from a non-union contractor. These subtle differences can help award a union specialty contractor a project in San Diego.


Yogurt is a fermented milk product produced by two homofermentative lactic acid bacteria, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. It is consumed throughout the world as a healthy, nutritional food. In this study, the strains of Lactobacillus and Streptococcus were isolated from raw milk samples collected from different local geographical regions of Turkey. One hundred and thirty isolates were characterized to genus level by classical morphological, physiological and biochemical tests. Twenty six of all isolates were identified as L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and 47 isolates were identified as S. thermophilus using API 50 CHL system. RAPD-PCR was used to explain molecular characterization and genetic differentiation of a total of 73 strains. The whole cell protein profiles of these strains were tested by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). In this study, all strains were identified by the RAPD-PCR technique to species or strain level. SDS-PAGE was also shown to be an effective method for molecular differentiation all of the strains. Phenotypic identification, RAPD-PCR and SDS-PAGE proved to be informative methods suitable to explain molecular characterization and genetic differentiation of L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus strains isolated from raw milk. In the present study, we described an identification system by using RAPD-PCR and SDS-PAGE techniques and used this system for genetic differentiation of L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus strains isolated from raw milk. It is believed that these two molecular techniques allow researchers to fill the significant gaps present in our understanding of these organisms by providing a comprehensive view potentially involved in industrially relevant phenotypes from different geographical origin.


A genetic analysis of samples from the Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) bycatch of the 2016 Bering Sea-Aleutian Island (BSAI) trawl fishery for walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) was undertaken to determine the overall stock composition of the bycatch. Samples were genotyped for 43 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) DNA markers and results were estimated using the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) SNP baseline. In 2016, genetic samples from the Bering Sea were collected using a systematic random sampling protocol where one out of every 10 Chinook salmon encountered was sampled. Based on the analysis of 1,910 Chinook salmon bycatch samples collected throughout the 2016 BSAI walleye pollock trawl fishery, Coastal Western Alaska and British Columbia regions (34% and 29% respectively) dominated the sample set with smaller contributions from West Coast US (14%), and North Alaska Peninsula (13%) regions. Analysis of temporal groupings within the pollock "A" and "B" seasons revealed changes in stock composition during the course of the year with lower contributions of Coastal Western Alaska and North Alaska Peninsula regions and higher contributions of West Coast US, British Columbia, and NW Gulf of Alaska, regions during the "B" season when compared to the "A" season.


Background: The protocols of constraint induced movement therapy are heterogeneous, and it is difficult to adopt one particular protocol. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a standardized constrain induced movement therapy protocol where all the participants will perform same tasks and with same number of repetitions. Methods: Sixteen stroke patients (6 males, 10 females, with mean age 53.71 years) who were < 6 months poststroke were randomized into experimental and control groups. The experimental and control groups received standardized CIMT and traditional modified CIMT respectively for 4 weeks. Motor function was assessed at baseline, 2 and 4 weeks post-intervention using WMFT and MAL. The data was analyzed using t-test, one-way repeated measures ANOVA and one-way ANCOVA. Result: A significant difference was recorded using one way repeated ANOVA in the control group between baseline, and 2 weeks; and 4 weeks post-intervention(Wilk's Lambda = 0.29, p= 0.025) for both AOU, QOU and WMFT. The results recorded using t- test and one -way ANCOVA showed no significant difference between groups. However, there was a strong relationship that existed on the effect of covariate (baseline) on the 2 and 4 weeks post-intervention scores as indicated by large eta squared values. Conclusion: It is possible for stroke patients to perform 320 repetitions of tasks practice (same tasks) per day.


Introduction: In order to make nursing homes more attractive as work places in the Nordic countries, it should be important to identify possible issues that are central in good nursing care in this context. Aim: The aim of this study was to illuminate and interpret how good nursing care for older nursing home clients may be narrated by registered nurses in a Nordic context. Methods: Nine expert nurses from nursing homes in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden narrated experiences of good nursing care for older people that were tape recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. Results: Communication, creativity and community were the themes that constituted good nursing care for older people in the studied context. It was interpreted as a process of reciprocity between caregivers, clients and significant others, characterised by transcendence for the individuals that took part in the process. Discussion/Conclusion: Good nursing care in nursing homes demands mature individuals who are conscious and skilled professionals, able to create reciprocity in the care context. Such professional nurses could also serve as radiant role models to other registered nurses who are hesitant in entering nursing care of older people.


Randomized controlled trials continue to be at the pinnacle of the evidence hierarchy. With this unique vantage point, they inform medical practice, clinical guidelines, health policy, and reimbursement. Prior to an emphasis on randomized controlled trials, traditional clinical research consisted primarily of uncontrolled case series and expert opinions. Randomized controlled trials are a true experiment in clinical practice and provide the most valid answers to clinical questions by reducing bias originating from patients, providers, and investigators. Riding on the coattails of other medical subspecialties, orthopaedic surgeons have recognized the importance of evidence-based medicine. From 1975 to 2005, the number of Level-I studies increased over fivefold and comprised >20% of studies published in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American Volume) (JBJS). With the emergence of comparative effectiveness research, the definition and methods of best evidence may continue to evolve. In conclusion, substantial improvements in both the quantity and the quality of randomized controlled trials in orthopaedic surgery have occurred, although unique considerations still limit their widespread use.


To develop the physico-chemical basis of a complex technology for processing slurries hydrometallurgical production of vanadium pentoxide it is necessary to know in what form vanadium compounds are in the dump sludge and at what stage of processing they were formed, which is why vanadium is not completely extracted into the solution. This paper investigates the behavior of vanadium in the existing process chain (with the study of intermediate products of technological conversion) using a set of modern analytical methods (X-ray diffraction, SEM, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry).
Keywords: vanadium, slag, sludge, vanadium pentoxide, oxidation state, phase composition, processing technology


This document describes the Part-of-Speech (POS) tagging guidelines for the Penn Chinese Treebank Project. The goal of the project is the creation of a 100-thousand-word corpus of Mandarin Chinese text with syntactic bracketing. The Chinese Treebank has been released via the Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC) and is available to the public.
The POS tagging guidelines have been revised several times during the two-year period of the project. The previous two versions were completed in December 1998 and March 1999, respectively. This document is the third and final version. We have added an introduction chapter in order to explain some rationale behind certain decisions in the guidelines. We also include the English gloss to the Chinese words in the guidelines.
In this document, we first discuss the criteria for POS tagging and other factors that we considered when designing our POS tagset. Second, we describe each of the thirty-three POS tags in detail. Third, we provide tests to distinguish certain POS tag pairs and specify the treatment for some common collocations. Fourth, we list a number of words with each POS tag. Finally, we compare our tagset with three tagsets: the tagset for the Academia Sinica Balanced Corpus in Taiwan (CKIP, 1995), the tagset for the Grammatical Knowledge Base developed by Peking University in China (Yu et al., 1998), and the tagset for the English Penn Treebank (Santorini, 1990).


Chaperonins are complexes that promote the proper folding of newly synthesized or denatured proteins by encapsulating them in a protective shell. Chaperonins come in two classes, group I and group II, which differ in their localization and closing requirements; group I members require a ring-shaped cofactor to fully close the folding chamber whereas group II members contain a built-in "lid." Interestingly, as of yet, the structures of group II chaperonins have only been solved in the closed conformation, but in this Paper of the Week, Jose Pereira and colleagues present crystal structures of the group II chaperonin from the archaeal Methanococcus maripaludis in both closed and open states. This comparative information revealed that the closing mechanism for group II chaperonins is quite distinct from group I; during closing, all three domains—equatorial, apical, and intermediate—rotate as a single rigid body, whereas in group I chaperonins the equatorial domains remain relatively stationary. As a result, there is a significant reduction in the size and shape of the folding chamber during closing. However, substrate binding sites and sites for allosteric regulation are conserved between the two groups, suggesting they arose from a common ancestor. Together, the structures shed new light on this important class of proteins.


E-Learning is a form of instructional authoring that can be delivered through a CD-ROM, over the LAN or on the Internet. It includes Compute T-Based Training (CBT), Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS) and Web Based Training (WBT), as well as distance learning. Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS) represent a new paradigm in computer applications in the workplace (both academic and commercial) and are growing rapidly in importance. This growth has arisen because of the way in which such systems can be used to provide embedded training, information and advisory support at particular points of need - as and when it is required. Within many organizations EPSS has become an important mechanism for the Provision of just-in-time (JIT) training and information related to on-the-job problem solving. The provision of a performance support facility within a given task domain requires the use of appropriate prescriptive design guidelines and the application of a suitable implementation methodology. Sending a few bytes of data over a network is cheaper, faster and more convenient than sending a messenger or even making a phone call. The primary concern is security. The Internet is very public, and many people hesitate to send sensitive data over the wires where it might be intercepted by nefarious third parties. But with so many organizations excited about the benefits of e-learning, plenty of people are working on resolving the security issues. Within an EPSS, learners engage a various effectiveness that can promote meaningful learning by performing a task. EPSS include expert systems for interactive productivity software such as spreadsheets and job aids, for performing specific job tasks. The main objective of this project is to yield a software application with authentication technique capabilities and a security model in E-learning environment on Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS).


This study tested the feasibility of a surveillance system of the media's portrayal of suicide and mental illness in Nova Scotia. The general public was asked to monitor nonfiction media in the province using standardized checklists over 6 months. The checklists were available on the World Wide Web and various locations in the community, and participants could identify either appropriate or inappropriate coverage. The researchers received 414 submissions covering 366 media items (304 on mental illness and 62 on suicide) during the 6-month survey: 311 from print media and 55 from radio and television. Ratings showed good agreement. On most dimensions, the majority of media items were of good quality. However, details about getting appropriate help were included in only 8.5% of media reports. Items covering suicide were 3.5 times as likely to contain inappropriate content as those on mental illness (95% CI = 1.5-8.0). These results are guiding the development of media guidelines in Nova Scotia. The study also showed that the present methodology can be used to monitor any subsequent effect on the portrayal of mental illness and suicide in the media.


The dramatic rise in income inequality in the United States over the past several decades is likely having a significant impact on mainline Protestant congregations. The financially-comfortable tend to look to their religious traditions for a sense of meaning, while the financially-precarious tend to look for help in meeting the daily challenges of insufficient earnings. Wide differences in income can separate congregants into two groups: one with the means to participate in advocacy work and another in need of the reforms produced by this work. The non-traditional and unreliable hourly schedules of low-wage workers make church participation difficult, undermining integration into congregational life and class-bridging. Income gaps in congregations call for a thoughtful, proactive response and a sturdy theology of theologies spacious enough to embrace the distinct, but not necessarily antithetical, theologies of the financially-comfortable and of the financially-precarious.


This paper presents a complex study of anhydrite interbeds influence on the cavern stability in the Mechelinki salt deposit. The impact of interbeds on the cavern shape and the stress concentrations were also considered. The stability analysis was based on the 3D numerical modelling. Numerical simulations were performed with use of the Finite Difference Method (FDM) and the FLAC3D v. 6.00 software. The numerical model in a cuboidal shape and the following dimensions: length 1400, width 1400, height 1400 m, comprised the part of the Mechelinki salt deposit. Three (K-6, K-8, K-9) caverns were projected inside this model. The mesh of the numerical model contained about 15 million tetrahedral elements. The occurrence of anhydrite interbeds within the rock salt beds had contributed to the reduction in a diameter and irregular shape of the analysed caverns. The results of the 3D numerical modelling had indicated that the contact area between the rock salt beds and the anhydrite interbeds is likely to the occurrence of displacements. Irregularities in a shape of the analysed caverns are prone to the stress concentration. However, the stability of the analysed caverns are not expected to be affected in the assumed operation conditions and time period (9.5 years).


The Pediatric Anesthesia NeuroDevelopment Assessment (PANDA) study investigates the potential neurotoxicity of anesthetics in the pediatric population. At a recent symposium, a panel of nonsurgical physicians from the disciplines of radiology, neurology, cardiology, and critical care discussed the role anesthesia plays in their respective practices. To execute diagnostic studies and/or therapeutic interventions in each of these disciplines, general anesthesia is oftentimes required for pediatric patients. Given recent publications in the literature suggesting the potential for neurotoxicity following anesthesia in pediatric patients, physicians, parents, and other stakeholders are now challenged to continue to balance safety with efficacy in caring for children. This paper summarizes the panelist presentations and the ensuing discussion at the 2014 PANDA symposium.


This program allowed further advancing the development of a novel type of wave energy converter, a Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter or CycWEC. A CycWEC consists of one or more hydrofoils rotating around a central shaft, and operates fully submerged beneath the water surface. It operates under feedback control sensing the incoming waves, and converts wave power to shaft power directly without any intermediate power take off system. Previous research consisting of numerical simulations and two dimensional small 1:300 scale wave flume experiments had indicated wave cancellation efficiencies beyond 95%. The present work was centered on construction and testing of a 1:10 scale model and conducting two testing campaigns in a three dimensional wave basin. These experiments allowed for the first time for direct measurement of electrical power generated as well as the interaction of the CycWEC in a three dimensional environment. The Atargis team successfully conducted two testing campaigns at the Texas A&M Offshore Technology Research Center and was able to demonstrate electricity generation. In addition, three dimensional wave diffraction results show the ability to achieve wave focusing, thus increasing the amount of wave power that can be extracted beyond what was expected from earlier two dimensional investigations. Numerical resultsmore » showed wave cancellation efficiencies for irregular waves to be on par with results for regular waves over a wide range of wave lengths. Using the results from previous simulations and experiments a full scale prototype was designed and its performance in a North Atlantic wave climate of average 30kW/m of wave crest was estimated. A full scale WEC with a blade span of 150m will deliver a design power of 5MW at an estimated levelized cost of energy (LCOE) in the range of 10-17 US cents per kWh. Based on the new results achieved in the 1:10 scale experiments these estimates appear conservative and the likely performance at full scale will exceed this initial performance estimates. In advancing the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of this type of wave energy converter from 3 to 4, we find the CycWEC to exceed our initial estimates in terms of hydrodynamic performance. Once fully developed and optimized, it has the potential to not just outperform all other WEC technologies, but to also deliver power at a lower LCOE than competing conventional renewables like wind and solar. Given the large wave power resource both domestically and internationally, this technology has the potential to lead to a large improvement in our ability to produce clean electricity at affordable cost.« less


It is a theoretical essay aiming at proposing the usage of the communicative action theory, by philosopher Jürger Habermas, as a mediator of educational technologies in building nursing knowledge. Based on the contributions by the philosopher and authors such as Demo, Morin, Assman, Perrenoud, Waldow, and Ramos, we reflect on technological advances and the necessary innovations in the field of nursing education. We believe that this proposal can contribute to implementing the national curriculum guidelines in undergraduate courses.


High phosphorus concentrations in industrial wastewaters is one of the main causes of the eutrophication of water bodies, leading to a growing concern with the management of phosphorus loads from industrial wastewaters. In addition to the environmental aspects of containment, it is strategically desirable that the treatment processes enable the recovery and reuse of this element, which is considered to be of high biological demand. For these reasons, this review describes and critically analyzes the current state of phosphorus management technologies for industrial wastewaters, with emphasis on the reuse of the element. The technologies considered include chemical approaches (chemical precipitation and adsorption), biological (bacterial systems, microalgae and macroalgae) plus fertigation techniques.


Purpose: Recent studies of cancer metastasis have focused on the role of premetastatic gene expression and circulating tumor cells. We did a blind prospective study in gastric cancer to assess the significance of isolated tumor cells (ITC) and to test the hypothesis that vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (VEGFR-1) is expressed within the bone marrow at tumor-specific, premetastatic sites. Experimental Design: Both bone marrow and peripheral blood samples from 810 gastric cancer patients were collected at the Central Hospital, National Cancer Center (Tokyo, Japan). The samples were transferred to Kyushu University Hospital (Beppu, Japan) where they were analyzed by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR for three epithelial cell markers, carcinoembryonic antigen, cytokeratin-19, and cytokeratin-7, as well as VEGFR-1. Results: ITCs were observed in peripheral blood and bone marrow even in early stages of gastric cancer. The frequency of ITC in bone marrow was significantly associated with the stage of disease by ANOVA (P < 0.01). Gastric cancer metastasized when ITCs were observed in the presence of VEGFR-1. In the 380 patients who were ITC negative and showed low VEGFR-1 expression, synchronous (at the time of surgery) and heterochronous (recurrent) metastases were not observed. Conclusions: ITCs circulate even in early stages of disease. Furthermore, elevated expression of VEGFR-1 facilitates the establishment of hematogenous metastases in gastric cancer. This study indicates that the simultaneous presence of ITC and VEGFR-1 expression at premetastatic sites is clinically significant for disease progression.


Neonatal lupus erythematosus is an immune-mediated disease caused by transplacental passage of maternal autoantibodies, primarily anti-Ro (SSA) and anti-La (SSB). The major clinical manifestations are congenital heart block, cutaneous lupus lesions, and hematologic problems. Hepatic, pulmonary, and neurological involvements are rare. We report a 5-day-old male neonate, born to a clinically asymptomatic mother, presenting with conjugated hyperbilirubinemia, cutaneous lupus lesions, congenital heart block, and thrombocytopenia. Both the neonate and his mother had high titers of antinuclear antibodies (1:640), anti-Ro (SSA), and anti-La (SSB) antibodies. The thrombocytopenia improved with prednisolone (2 mg/kg/day) for 14 days. The skin lupus rashes and bilirubin resolved 2 months later, and liver enzymes were completely normal by 6 months.


Recent legislation has stressed the need to decide the best end-of-life (EoL) option for post-consumer products considering their full life-cycle and the corresponding overall environmental impacts. The life cycle assessment (LCA) technique has become a common tool to evaluate those impacts. The present study aimed to contribute to the better understanding of the application of this technique, by evaluating the influence of the selection of the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) method in its results and conclusions. A specific case study was chosen, using previous information related to an anti-glare lamellae (AGL) for highway use, made with virgin and recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Five distinct LCIA methods were used: Eco-indicator 99, CML 2 (2000), EPS 2000, Eco-indicator 95 and EDIP 97. Consistent results between these methods were obtained for the Climate change, Ozone layer depletion, Acidification and Eutrophication environmental indicators. Conversely, the Summer smog indicator showed large discrepancies between impact assessment methods. The work sheds light on the advantages inherent in using various LCIA methods when doing the LCA study of a specific product, thus evidencing complementary analysis perspectives.


We provide an overview of the theories and empricial evidence on the complex relationship among innovation, competition, and inclusive growth. Competition and innovation-led growth are critical to drive productivity gains and support broad-based growth. However, new technologies and trends in market concentration are stifling future innovation while contributing to the marked increase in inequality. Beyond consumer welfare in a narrow market, competition policy should adapt to this new reality by considering the spillover and dynamic effects of market power, especially on firm entry, innovation, and inequality. Innovation policies should tackle not only government failures but also market failures.


Today stroke is a leading cause of death in the world. Early treatment can reduce
the complications of the disease. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of A1 receptor
agonists and Neuroprotective effects of ascorbic acid on brain ischemia.
Materials & Methods: This study was done on temporal lobe of the brain and performed on eight
groups of mice. Ischemia was induced by ligation of common carotid artery and after the induction
inflammation ischemic area (for a week) medications were given via intraperitoneal injection. Ascorbic
acid was injected one week prior to the ischemic in order to evaluate its preventive effect. After
completion of the treatment, the brains were removed and fixed specimens were prepared for
histological studies.
Result: Nissl staining showed more cells necrotic in the ischemic ones. Tunnel tests showed apoptotic
cells in the treatment group is far less than the control group. Concurrent treatment of CPA and vitamin
C significantly reduced neuronal death in temporal lobe.
Conclusion: This study showed that the use of vitamin C and A1 receptor agonist particularly
concurrent treatment of these can significantly reduce the damage caused by ischemia, in temporal lobe.


The outpatient medication dosing error rate at a pediatric HIV clinic in Mwanza, Tanzania, was about 1 in every 34 prescriptions. Young children were at highest risk of a dosing error likely because of dose changes with growth and also the inconsistent supply of pediatric formulations. Majority of errors occurred at consecutive visits suggesting clinicians reordered medication without double checking dosing.


The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of using a 9.5deg head-up tilt bed rest model to simulate the effects of the 1/6 g load to the human body that exists on the lunar surface. The lunar analog bed rest model utilized a modified hospital bed. The modifications included mounting the mattress on a sled that rolled on bearings to provide freedom of movement. The weight of the sled was off-loaded using a counterweight system to insure that 1/6 body weight was applied along the long axis (z-axis) of the body. Force was verified through use of a force plate mounted at the foot of the bed. A seating assembly was added to the bed to permit periods of sitting. Subjects alternated between standing and sitting positions throughout the day. A total of 35% of the day was spent in the standing position and 65% was spent sitting. In an effort to achieve physiologic fluid shifts expected for a 1/6 G environment, subjects wore compression stockings and performed unloaded foot and ankle exercises. Eight subjects (3 females and 5 males) participated in this study. Subjects spent 13 days in the pre-bed rest phase, 6 days in bed rest and 3 days post bed rest. Subjects consumed a standardized diet throughout the study. To determine feasibility, measures of subject comfort, force and plasma volume were collected. Subject comfort was assessed using a Likert scale. Subjects were asked to assess level of comfort (0-100) for 11 body regions and provide an overall rating. Results indicated minimal to no discomfort as most subjects reported scores of zero. Force measures were performed for each standing position and were validated against subject s calculated 1/6 body weight (r(sup 2) = 0.993). The carbon monoxide rebreathing technique was used to assess plasma volume during pre-bed rest and on the last day of bed rest. Plasma volume results indicated a significant decrease (p = 0.001) from pre to post bed rest values. Subjects lost on average 8.3% (sd = 6.1%) during the bed rest phase. Findings from this feasibility study indicated that 1) the lunar analog bed rest model was well tolerated by subjects; 2) a 1/6 load was accurately applied to the z-axis of the body; and 3) plasma volume losses could be achieved in a head-up tilt bed rest model. Future work to refine this model should include extending the duration of bed rest to mimic longer mission durations and a comprehensive assessment of the physiological responses to this bed rest analog.


This article discusses proactive public disclosure of taxpayer information and how this may form a new strategy for securing tax compliance by tax administrators. It reports a case study from the Danish Customs and Tax Administration in which consumers of services-over a short period of time-were informed about businesses' lack of value-added tax (VAT) registration. Our approach to the case is twofold: First, the article lays out a legal analysis of the disclosure practice, and second, the article presents an organizational analysis of why the practice was initiated. The analyses show that using proactive public disclosure is compatible with the Duty of Confidentiality, but incompatible with Good Public Governance. Furthermore, the analyses show that there are a number of strong organizational rationales for using proactive public disclosure, despite its apparent incompatibility with Good Public Governance. The article is innovative in that it combines a legal and organizational approach to analyse a new regulatory strategy within tax administration.


The author from UNICEFs Bamako Initiative management unit provides an overview of child and maternal health in Africa in terms of survival primary health care and immunization. There is a summary of the Bamako Initiative of 1987 by African Health Ministers. 172 out of 1000 children born will die by the age of 5 versus 120 out of 1000 for all developing countries. Maternal mortality is 30-200 times greater than in the industrialized world and poor maternal health leads to low birth weight babies and neonatal illness. Malnutrition is an exacerbating factor. AIDs among the 25% of females of reproductive age means that approximately 1 out of every 10 urban children is born with the AIDs virus. Drug shortages abound. The African government support at the Alma Ata Conference in 1978 shifted primary health care (PHC) into the community. The approach which is based on trained health workers aims to address preventive and curative care by also improving sanitation and water access nutrition and education. UNICEF has doubled it funding for Africa and provided training drugs and medical supplies and efficient service systems based on situational analysis. The African Health Ministers Lusaka Resolution of 1986 marked the increase in immunization from 5% to 50% of children <1 in 1988. UNICEF and WHO have helped promote oral rehydration therapy; treatment for diarrhea has increased from 4% in 1984 to 12% in 1986. AIDs education is gaining a foothold in Tanzania and Uganda as examples. Teacher training has involved 2500 primary teachers and 2400 secondary teachers through the end of 1988. The Bamako Initiative strengthened child and maternal services within PHC by asking for UNICEF and WHO funding for basic drugs. The approach is part of a long term strategy to strengthen primary health care through self supported financing. There is confidence that progress has been made and determination to build for the future. The Bamako Initiative targeted the year 2000 for distributing good quality essential drugs to the community which upon sale has helped pay for 85% of operating costs and supplies. Generic supplies purchased in bulk would be sold at low cost which is far less that what is currently paid. 100 million is needed for this effort alone.


Polyacrylate microgel emulsion was prepared by emulsion polymerization using styrene, α-n-butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate as monomer, polyoxyethylene octylphenol ether (TX-30) and sodium dodecyl sulfate(SDS) as combine emulsifier, divinyl benzene and ammonium persulfate (APS) as initiator,respectively. The prepared microgel was analyzed by a variety of measurment methods, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The effect of microgel on the rheological properties of adhesives, leveling, mechanical properties and pigment printing performance was studied. The rhelogy and the color fastness of the pigment printing binder of printed fabrics were measured by rheometer and friction color fastness test instruments, respectively. At the same time, the mechanical properties of the adhesive film was measured by strength tester. The results show that the thixotropy, leveling and mechanical properties of adhesive printing binder and pringting quality of coating fabrics were improved when the microgel was added.


The p53 gene is a key regulator of cell apoptosis. It has been suggested that p53 function is involved in cell death in stroke. p53 immunoreactivity has been detected in brain tissue derived from animal models of stroke. Pharmacological inhibition of p53 function leads to decreased ischemic damage in animal stroke models. In addition, a recent study has reported that the human Tp53 Arg72Pro polymorphism correlates with different functional prognosis in stroke patients. However, both the pharmacological inhibitor and genetic linkage studies do not address the question whether p53 function determines the outcome of stroke by directly regulating cell death in neurons. To address this question, we investigated the role of p53 in ischemia-induced neuronal cell death using forebrain neuron-specific ablation of the gene coding for the p53 gene in mice. By expressing Cre recombinase under the control of the Camkinase II promoter, we achieved a selective deletion of functional p53 protein in forebrain neurons. This strategy represents a significant advance because it permits an evaluation of p53 function in these specific cells, compared to non-selective effects of pharmacological inhibitors on multiple cell types in multiple anatomical regions. Effectiveness of specific p53 deletion in forebrain, but no other brain regions and other organs, was confirmed by PCR in Camkinase II -cre/LoxP p53 ko mice. Loss of the p53 gene in forebrain neurons did not lead to abnormal development of the cortex, as demonstrated by normal structure of the forebrain and neuronal cell numbers (NeuN positive cells) in ko mice. This suggests that p53 is not involved in the apoptosis which eliminates excess neurons during development. However, we found that loss of p53 in forebrain neurons in adult mice is protective against ischemic injury after stroke (MCAo). Locomotor behavior measured in automated activity chambers showed that Camkinase II -cre/LoxP p53 ko mice have less locomotor deficits compared to wt mice after MCAo. Therefore, our data suggest that loss of p53 function specifically in forebrain neurons can protect these cells from ischemic injury occurring after stroke and neuronal-specific inhibition of p53 might be a new treatment strategy for improved prognosis.


This study explored the pattern of video game usage and video game addiction among male college students and examined how video game addiction was related to expectations of college engagement, college grade point average (GPA), and on-campus drug and alcohol violations. Participants were 477 male, first year students at a liberal arts college. In the week before the start of classes, participants were given two surveys: one of expected college engagement, and the second of video game usage, including a measure of video game addiction. Results suggested that video game addiction is (a) negatively correlated with expected college engagement, (b) negatively correlated with college GPA, even when controlling for high school GPA, and (c) negatively correlated with drug and alcohol violations that occurred during the first year in college. Results are discussed in terms of implications for male students' engagement and success in college, and in terms of the construct validity of video game addiction.


The differential diagnosis of cystic adnexal masses, some placed retroperitoneally, includes various pathologies. Preoperative diagnosis is important to prevent major neurological deficits during surgery. Herein, we present a case of anterior sacral meningocele diagnosed in an infertile woman using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and eliminated with surgery. An MRI performed to determine the origin of retroperitoneal fixated masses helps direct the patient to the right consultant department and may avoid an inappropriate surgical approach, which may lead to a failure. A retroperitoneal mass, such as anterior sacral meningocele, may contribute to the pathogenesis of infertility by distorting the utero-tuboovarian anatomy.


This study explores the impact of the social work practitioner's religiosity on religious practice behaviors. A random sample of 1,278 social workers who possessed M.S.W. degrees, who provided direct services to clients and were members of NASW were surveyed regarding their personal religiosity. They were also asked about their views on the appropriateness of six Religion and Prayer in Practice behaviors. Variations in Religion and Prayer Practice behaviors were analyzed in relationship to the worker's religiosity, race, gender and employing agency auspice. Regardless of all other factors, the more religious a worker is, the more likely a worker is to view religious and prayer activities in practice as appropriate professional behavior. Implications and recommendations regarding the integration of religion and spirituality in social work education and practice are discussed.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) collect information about the physical environment aiding to a wide variety of applications ranging from target detection to monitoring of harmful chemical gases. The drive to scale down the system size and cost has resulted in constraints in the quality of components. Reliable and accurate performance of sensors is necessary in critical applications. In this paper, we present statistical data analysis and signal processing techniques at the sensor node level to detect sensor faults and to eliminate noise. We also present the simulation of the proposed algorithm using real sensor data and demonstrate that the algorithm can distinguish between sensor faults and environmental events. Furthermore, we describe the real-time implementation of the developed algorithm. The information regarding the faulty sensor is broadcast to all nodes and the central processing base station node thereby achieving autonomous node level operation and a complete fault aware system.


Since Vladimir Putin returned to the Kremlin as President in May 2012, the Russian system of power has become increasingly authoritarian, and has evolved towards a model of extremely personalised rule that derives its legitimacy from aggressive decisions in internal and foreign policy, escalates the use of force, and interferes increasingly assertively in the spheres of politics, history, ideology or even public morals.

Putin's power now rests on charismatic legitimacy to a much greater extent than it did during his first two presidential terms; currently the President is presented not only as an effective leader, but also as the sole guarantor of Russia's stability and integrity.

After 15 years of Putin's rule, Russia's economic model based on revenue from energy resources has exhausted its potential, and the country has no new model that could ensure continued growth for the economy.

The Putinist system of power is starting to show symptoms of agony – it has been unable to generate new development projects, and has been compensating for its ongoing degradation by escalating repression and the use of force. However, this is not equivalent to its imminent collapse.


Lithium titanate compound, Li4Ti5O12 was prepared by a solid state reaction. The raw material, the calcination time, the atmosphere of the reaction and other conditions were investigated. The crystal structure and the electrochemical performance of the synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), laser particle-size distribution measurement (LSD), and electrochemical performance testing. The XRD patterns showed peaks attributable to Li4Ti5O12 phase for the sample prepared by LiOH•H2O, while there was impurity peak in the pattern of the sample prepared by Li2CO3. The precursor was sintered at various times of 12h and 24h at 800 °C. The galvanostatically charge and discharge tests show that the capacity and the cycle performance of the latter is obviously more excellent. The atmosphere of the reaction hasn't exerted a great influence on the performance of the material.


The pharmacokinetics of amlodipine 5 mg and felodipine ER (extended release) 5 mg o.d. after single and 2 weeks of repeated oral doses, were compared in 28 essential hypertensive patients using a crossover design. As a secondary parameter the effects of the drugs on blood pressure were assessed. Significant differences were found between all principal pharmacokinetic variables, when comparing the 2 treatments after both single and repeated dosing. The coefficients of variation of maximal drug concentration and AUC after single dosing and at steady-state were significantly higher for felodipine ER than for amlodipine. After repeated dosing the peak-to-trough plasma concentration ratio were 1.58 and 4.43 (p < 0.001) for amlodipine and felodipine ER, respectively. Both drugs lowered systolic and diastolic blood pressure to the same extent after 2 weeks of repeated dosing. No significant differences between the blood pressure lowering vs time profile of the 2 drugs were encountered. In conclusion, the interpatient drug concentration variability and the peak-to-trough plasma concentration ratio were more favorable for amlodipine compared to felodipine ER. It remains to be established whether these characteristics are also reflected in a more smooth and consistent blood pressure control.


Histopathological studies of the effects of chloroform and methanolic leaf extracts of Ilex kudingcha in Trypanosoma brucei infected albino wistar rats were investigated. The toxicity and phytochemical study were also carried out using standard protocol. T. brucei infected animals were administered orally with 200 and 400 mg/kg b.w. of the extracts and 3.5 mg/kg b.w. of the standard drug (diminazene aceturate). Results on acute toxicity studies (LD50) revealed no sign of lethality up to the dose of 5,000 mg/kg body weight but the liver and kidney histology of infected animals treated with 5,000 mg/kg b.w. of I. kudingcha extracts were observed to be hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic. The methanol extracts showed appreciably high in vivo anti-trypanosomal activities compared to the reference drug. Histological examination of the organs revealed serious pathological lesions in the liver of the infected animals without treatment (negative control). In the positive control animals (infected animals administered standard drug), mild multifocal aggregate of inflammatory leucocytes was observed. In the other experimental animals, no pathological lesion was observed in the liver, kidney, brain, and heart of infected animals treated with the methanolic extract and combined methanol and chloroform extracts. The effectiveness of the methanolic extract at reducing the lesions caused by the parasite is the same compared with the standard drug. Phytochemical analysis of the plant extracts showed that methanol extract contained appreciable high levels of alkaloids, saponin, tannins, phenol, and glycoside while flavonoid was not detected. Hence, the curative properties of methanolic extract of I. kudingcha as observed in the organs indicate its anti-trypanosomal properties but it should be consumed at minimal doses.


In agriculture, seeds are the most basic and vital input on which croplands productivity depends. These implies a good starting material, good production lines and good storage options. High-quality seed lots must be free of pests and pathogens and contain a required degree of genetic purity. Seeds need also to be stored in good condition between harvest and later sowing, to insure later on the field a good plant density and higher crop yield. In general, these parameters are already widely accepted and considered in many countries where advanced technologies evaluate them. However, the more and more frequently devastating climate changes observed around the world has put seed quality under threat, and current seeds may not be adapted to hazardous and unpredictable conditions. Climate-related factors such as temperature and water availability directly affect seed development and later germination. For these reasons, investigating seed quality in response to climate changes is a step to propose new crop varieties and practices that will bring solutions for our future.


In this survey, effective factors in little leaf disease on trees were studied in different pistachio orchards in Kerman province. Little leaf disease is the most serious disease of pistachio in Iran. Affected trees reduced growth rates. The first symptoms of little leaf disease are those of nutrient deficiency: a slight yellowing and shortening of the needles and reducing of shoot growth. New needles are discolored and shorter than normal, and the tree loses all but the new needles near the tips of the branches. This study examined the causes of the disease through several researches conducted in various places (Anar, Rafsanjan, Shahrbabak, Noogh, Koshkoeih), in Kerman, south of IRAN. The following treatments were employed: 1- healthy leaflet from healthy tree, 2- healthy leaflet from problem tree, 3- problem leaflet from affected trees. Little leaf disease was divided into two groups (trees with severe and low problem). External leaflet, total leaf and leaf stalk analysis were performed to determine nutrient element content. The results showed that concentration of iron in leaf stalk healthy leaflet from problem tree were statistically significant because of fixed and decreasing mobility of iron. Reductions in iron, manganese, cooper and zinc were noticed in healthy leaflet from problem tree (healthy leaflet from healthy tree). In places where the soil is characterized by low and poor iron, manganese, cooper and zinc, alone or together, the disease appears in leaflets. Therefore any foliar application can tackle the problem for the following year.


Dr Porntip Rojanasunan is Thailand's most famous forensic scientist who is instantly recognisable by her punk-rock hairstyle and fashionable style. Nicknamed 'Dr Death' by the mass media, her findings often contradicted those of the Thai police, leading to numerous clashes between the two. She gained international attention for her work on identifying victims of the 2004 tsunami and has since raised public awareness of forensic science in Thailand. In her second book, Dr Porntip delves into some of her most well-known cases, including the grisly murder of medical student Jenjira Ployangunsri, the mysterious disappearance of Thai-Muslim human rights activist Khun Somchai Neelapajit, and the death of Malaysian political aide Teoh Beng Hock. She also discusses the role of forensic science in stabilising the violent insurgency in southern Thailand and reflects on the milestones in her life. Brutally honest, Dr Porntip never flinches from the gruesome possibilities as she unearths the truth despite obstacles at every turn.


Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) outbreak is the third recognised case of infection of an animal coronavirus to humans in the 21st century with the first two being SARS and MERS. One of the major environmental transmission route for coronavirus is the person-to-person faecal droplet-respiratory transmission route. In order to better evaluate the hazards posed by this exposure pathway, there is the need for more information on the survival and persistence of coronavirus in water and sewage. This review collates information from research on transmission and stability of coronavirus in natural, wastewater and sewage. Factors that can influence virus survival in water include temperature, organic matter, and aerobic microorganisms. Our review reflects that the potential for long-term survival of coronavirus coupled with airborne faecal droplet transmission could be a major health risk in this pandemic. Water or sewage contaminated with coronavirus can become aerosolized exposing a major chunk of populace to infection in spite of quarantine measures being followed.


A new European guideline on drug-eluting stents (DES) introduces for the first time detailed information that European drug authorities should review concerning the medicinal substance that is incorporated into this type of drug-device combination product. Part I of this article discussed European requirements that apply to DES. This article discusses the new guideline, other stent guidelines, and the evolving process of drug-device regulatory review in Europe.


Several theories hold that income distribution affects economic growth. Some of them use cross-section country regression analysis to demonstrate their beliefs. This procedure has such a bulk of problems that its results should be analyzed carefully. Theories supported by this kind of empirical verification are most affected. Results suggest that a relationship between income distribution and economic growth exists but it seems to be nonlinear, complex and dynamic. Alternative statistical methods can be used in combination with historical studies and case studies, where institutions are included, for a better understanding of prevalent linkages.