Different morphologies of SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures like nanocubes, nanoparticles, nanospheres, and nanofibers were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal process using TiO2 as both a template and precursor in Sr(OH)2 solution. Their structure, interface and composition can be rationally tailored by simply adjusting the Sr(OH)2/TiO2 (Sr/Ti) mole ratios and the morphology of SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures can be controlled easily using TiO2 with different morphologies. A SrTiO3 crystal thin layer was grown on an anatase TiO2 substrate to fabricate a heterostructure interface contact between SrTiO3 and TiO2 and the lattice mismatch had an effect on the electrical transport properties. The SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures are beneficial for the fast separation of photogenerated electrons and holes so as to suppress the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes at the interface of SrTiO3 and TiO2. Besides this, the different morphologies of the SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures allowing facile electron transfer, the hierarchical structure promoting mass transfer and allowing more light reflection and absorption, and the large specific surface area providing more reaction sites to facilitate the reactants to the desired oxidation places all together create a synergistic effect to improve the photocatalytic activity of the hierarchical SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures. Under the irradiation of UV light, in a water/methanol sacrificial reagent system, the SrTiO3/TiO2 NP heterostructures at a Sr/Ti mole ratio of 40% with the highest BET and smallest crystallite size achieve the highest photocatalytic activity generating 0.731 mmol of H2. The SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures exhibit better photocatalytic activity by generating three times more H2 than bare TiO2 and pure SrTiO3.


While model-checking of pushdown models is by now an established technique in software verification, temporal logics and automata traditionally used in this area are unattractive on two counts. First, logics and automata traditionally used in model-checking cannot express requirements such as pre/post-conditions that are basic to software analysis. Second, unlike in the finite-state world, where the μ-calculus has a symbolic model-checking algorithm and serves as an "assembly language" of temporal logics, there is no unified formalism to model-check linear and branching requirements on pushdown models. In this survey, we discuss a recently-proposed re-phrasing of the model-checking problem for pushdown models that addresses these issues. The key idea is to view a program as a generator of structures known as nested words and nested trees (respectively in the linear and branching-time cases) as opposed to words and trees. Automata and temporal logics accepting languages of these structures are now defined, and linear and branching time model-checking phrased as language inclusion and membership problems for these languages. We discuss two of these formalisms— automata on nested words and a fixpoint calculus on nested trees—in detail. While these formalisms allow a new frontier of program specifications, their model-checking problem has the same worst-case complexity as their traditional analogs, and can be solved symbolically using a fixpoint computation that generalizes, and includes as a special case, "summary"-based computations traditionally used in interprocedural program analysis.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in obese and overweight patients treated at the Professor Alberto Antunes University Hospital (HUPAA - UFAL).

METHODS
This is a descriptive study. The sample consisted of overweight or obese females. Anthropometric data were collected for assessment of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). In all subjects we measured the levels of blood glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides. We applied a Portuguese-validated version of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSDI), which assesses sexual response as for desire, arousal, vaginal lubrication, orgasm, sexual satisfaction and pain. The total score is the sum of scores for each domain multiplied by the corresponding factor and can vary from '2 'to '36', a total score less than or equal to '26 ' being considered risky for sexual dysfunction.

RESULTS
We evaluated 23 women with a mean age of 44, where 73.9% were obese and 82.6% had a highly increased risk for metabolic complications (WC e" 88 cm). The increased risk for sexual dysfunction was present in 78.3% of the interviewees, causing biopsychosocial impairment. Hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia were present in 33.3%, 22.2% and 61.1%, respectively, of patients at risk for sexual dysfunction.

CONCLUSION
The analysis of the results demonstrates the need for better research and attention of physicians to patients with obesity or overweight.


This essay explores the historical process in which homosexuality became an object for pastoral, medical, and mental health care in the Dutch Catholic community during the twentieth century. The confrontation between a moral-religious approach and the professional (medical and psychological) treatment of homosexuality is the central issue. In a continuing dialogue and a process of changing power relations between clergymen, physicians, psychiatrist, psychologists, and pedagogues as well as Catholic homosexuals themselves, homosexuality was transformed from sin and pathology into a psychological and social problem that could be treated in pastoral and mental health care. The changing attitudes of Catholics towards homosexuality can be explained in the context of the changing relations between religion on the one hand and health care on the other hand. Current viewpoints resulting from sociohistorical studies on the development of the medical and welfare professions have concluded that religion lost importance in modern society because physicians, psychiatrists, psycho-therapists, and social workers not only created new areas of intervention in people's private lives, but also took over the traditional tasks of the church in the field of charity and pastoral care. Medical anamnesis, psychoanalysis, and psychotherapy took the place of confession and pastoral care, thus the argument runs, and remission of sins and redemption were replaced by health and welfare. However, especially in the case of the development of the Dutch welfare state, there was a more complicated interplay between changing religious values and professional strategies. In the Netherlands professional health care and welfare institutions often were organized in a religious context and it is difficult to make a clear differentiation between religious and moral discourses on the one hand and medical and psychological ones on the other hand. Moreover, professional interventions did not take the place of pastoral care; it appears that pastoral care for homosexuals gained ground and was intensified after medical and psychological definitions of homosexuality had found acceptance in the Catholic community. Professional strategies did not supersede religion, but rather contributed to a moral re-orientation and a new pattern of Christian values and appreciations in the field of sexuality.


Leviathan-Thomas Hobbes 2021-02-09 Written by one of the founders of modern political philosophy, Thomas Hobbes, during the English civil war, Leviathan is an influential work of nonfiction. Regarded as one of the earliest examples of the social contract theory, Leviathan has both historical and philosophical importance. Social contract theory prioritizes the state over the individual, claiming that individuals have consented to the surrender of some of their freedoms by participating in society. These surrendered freedoms help ensure that the government can be run easily. In exchange for their sacrifice, the individual is protected and given a place in a steady social order. Articulating this theory, Hobbes argues for a strong, undivided government ruled by an absolute sovereign. To support his argument, Hobbes includes topics of religion, human nature and taxation. Separated into four sections, Hobbes claims his theory to be the resolution of the civil war that raged on as he wrote, creating chaos and taking causalities. The first section, Of Man discusses the role human nature and instinct plays in the formation of government. The second section, Of Commonwealth explains the definition, implications, types, and rules of succession in a commonwealth government. Of a Christian Commonwealth imagines the religion's role government and societal moral standards. Finally, Hobbes closes his argument with Of the Kingdom of Darkness. Through the use of philosophical theory and historical study, Thomas Hobbes attempts to convince citizens to consider the cost and reward of being governed. Without an understanding of the sociopolitical theories that keep government bodies in power, subjects can easily become complicit or allow society to slip into anarchy. Created during a brutal civil war, Hobbes hoped to educate and persuade his peers. Though Leviathan was a work of controversy in its time, Hobbes' theories and prose has survived centuries, shaping the ideas of modern philosophy. This edition of Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes is now presented with a stunning new cover design and is printed in an easy-to-read font. With these accommodations, Leviathan is accessible and applicable to contemporary readers.


The Pākehā (settler) writing that flourished in New Zealand in the middle decades of the twentieth century is often seen as an attempt to ground settler culture in the precolonial earth. Produced at a time when erosion was seen as a pressing national and global environmental crisis, however, this essay argues New Zealand literary culture in fact was suffused with awareness of settlement's profoundly damaged landscape. Returning to prominent critical statements, prose, and poetry from this period — notably by Allen Curnow, Charles Brasch, Monte Holcroft, and Frank Sargeson — reveals that imagery of erosion was central to imagining the nature and impact of settlement in geological terms. In contrast to the antagonistic relationship with nature plotted in these texts, writers such as Ursula Bethell and Herbert Guthrie-Smith offered alternative possibilities for environmental thought through models of geological understanding that drew on religious vocabularies and Māori thought. At the broadest level, focusing on settler literature produced in a moment of environmental crisis framed in geological terms has the potential to illuminate critical responses to the challenges posed by the Anthropocene.


In recent years, the railgun focus has switched to developing tactical weapons with launch velocities of 2 to 3 km/s. The projectile focus for tactical weapons has switched from plasma to solid armatures because of their high efficiency. Since few measurements have been made on the state of the solid armature during an electromagnetic launch, new diagnostics need to be developed to substantiate theoretical models. This paper presents several recent developments in the area of railgun instrumentation that attempt to directly or indirectly measure physical quantities that relate to the function of a solid armature during a launch. >


In this paper we extend the neoclassical model presented by Baxter and King (1993) to evaluate the effects of two alternative fiscal policy rules on the business cycle. The rules we analyze are similar to those implemented in practice by some countries, such as: limits to the structural fiscal deficit (which eliminates the effects of the business cycle on the government revenues) and limits to conventional fiscal deficit. We focus our analysis in a model calibrated to mimic Peruvian data to evaluate the short run dynamics and the conditions for the stability of the equilibrium. We find that the rule based on the structural balance generates a counter cyclical fiscal policy, which reduces significantly output volatility. Moreover, we find that a condition for a determinate equilibrium in the model endowed with the structural rule is that non-financial government expenditures react more than one–to-one to changes in interest expenditures.


Abstract. Due to the measurement principle of the radio occultation (RO) technique, RO data are highly suitable for climate studies. RO profiles can be used to build climatological fields of different atmospheric parameters like bending angle, refractivity, density, pressure, geopotential height, and temperature. RO climatologies are affected by random (statistical) errors, sampling errors, and systematic errors, yielding a total climatological error. Based on empirical error estimates, we provide a simple analytical error model for these error components, which accounts for vertical, latitudinal, and seasonal variations. The vertical structure of each error component is modeled constant around the tropopause region. Above this region the error increases exponentially, below the increase follows an inverse height power-law. The statistical error strongly depends on the number of measurements. It is found to be the smallest error component for monthly mean 10° zonal mean climatologies with more than 600 measurements per bin. Due to smallest atmospheric variability, the sampling error is found to be smallest at low latitudes equatorwards of 40°. Beyond 40°, this error increases roughly linearly, with a stronger increase in hemispheric winter than in hemispheric summer. The sampling error model accounts for this hemispheric asymmetry. However, we recommend to subtract the sampling error when using RO climatologies for climate research since the residual sampling error remaining after such subtraction is estimated to be only about 30% of the original one or less. The systematic error accounts for potential residual biases in the measurements as well as in the retrieval process and generally dominates the total climatological error. Overall the total error in monthly means is estimated to be smaller than 0.07% in refractivity and 0.15 K in temperature at low to mid latitudes, increasing towards higher latitudes. This study focuses on dry atmospheric parameters as retrieved from RO measurements so for context we also quantitatively explain the difference between dry and physical atmospheric parameters, which can be significant at altitudes below about 6 km (high latitudes) to 10 km (low latitudes).


Summary: Single-spore strains of Verticillium albo-atrum from hop, which had previously been classified into three serotypes by immunoelectrophoretic and immunofluorescence methods, have been further characterized using a series of morphological and biochemical parameters. Serotype 1 strains were characterized by high sporulation and low polygalacturonase activity when cultured on hop root cell walls, the presence of certain protein bands on isoelectric focusing of mycelial extracts, and a characteristic dark-pigmented mycelial morphology on prune/lactose/yeast extract agar. It is suggested that the expression of serotype 1 characteristics is controlled by the previously reported hyl+ cytoplasmic factor. Serotypes 2 and 3 were both associated with low sporulation and high polygalacturonase activity and a fully hyaline fluffy mycelium, although many serotype 3 strains were only partially hyaline. Serotype 2 was associated with a characteristic pattern of mycelial proteins on isoelectric focusing gels: serotype 3 strains showed a heterogeneous series of patterns. None of the characters studied could be correlated with virulence for hop but the results do allow the selection for future studies of well-characterized strains which are extremely similar in many respects and yet still differ markedly in virulence.


We investigated the efficacy of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy for depression by searching for rct's. studies were classified according to chronicity and severity and a meta-analysis was applied. ten studies were included. remission did not differ between psychotherapy (38%) and pharmacotherapy (35%). no differences were found in chronic, or in non-chronic depression, and in mild or in moderate depression. Both treatments performed better in mild than in moderate depression. Drop-out was larger in pharmacotherapy (28%) than in psychotherapy (24%). at follow-up relapse in pharmacotherapy (57%) was higher than in psychotherapy (27%). psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy appear equally efficacious in depression. Both treatments have larger effects in mild than in moderate depression, but similar effects in chronic and non-chronic depression and at follow-up psychotherapy outperforms pharmacotherapy.


Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) infection in a family resulted in a fatal disseminated heterophil negative infectious mononucleosis syndrome in a nine‐year‐old girl. This was followed closely by a similar disease process in her six‐year‐old brother which evolved over a one‐year period into Stage IIIB Hodgkin's disease. Finally, three years after the index EBV case in the daughter, the mother was diagnosed with a non‐Burkitt's‐type undifferentiated lymphoma that proved rapidly fatal. The EBV involvement in the sister and brother was well documented serologically and virologically. The pathologic diagnosis was established and confirmed by more than one pathologist. There was no obvious evidence for either a specific or general immune defect in any of the family members tested. The progression of the six‐year‐old boy's EBV infection from a benign, yet disseminated disease process into a histopathologically confirmed case of Hodgkin's disease offers a strong suggestion that this virus was not behaving solely as a passenger. Especially relevant is the fact that the boy never fully recovered from his EBV infection and essentially became persistently infected with the virus as evidenced by his EBV‐EA serology and virology results.


House of Women (2017)
14:00 | sound | colour
Dir. Michelle Williams Gamaker
Somebody Nobody Productions

In 1946, auditions were held for the character of the silent dancing girl Kanchi in Black Narcissus (1947), the upcoming film by venerated British directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. In a nationwide search close to 1000 hopefuls applied, with over 200 girls tested and interviewed. The coveted role finally went to seventeen-year-old Jean Simmons, who had recently won worldwide acclaim for her performance as Estella in David Lean's Great Expectations. To fulfil the role, the white English actor had to wear dark Panstick make-up and a jewel in her nose to become the "exotic temptress" of Rumer Godden's novel of the same name.

House of Women recasts the role, auditioning only Indian ex-pat or first-generation British Asian women and non-binary individuals living in London. Unlike in the original role, for House of Women the re-cast Kanchi of the 21st Century speaks. Shot on 16mm film, the four candidates, Jasdeep Kandola, Arunima Rajkumar, Tina Mander and Krishna Istha, introduce themselves to an anonymous reader (voiced by Kelly Hunter) and recite a personalised alphabet including references to the history of photography and gender politics.

Candidates are asked to read lines from a script while both seated and standing in order to experience the somewhat unnatural and staged conditions of the audition. And just as those auditioning for House of Women feel the glare of the studio lights, the space of the audition and the violence of the camera's gaze are brought into question, while the film plays with the inherent voyeurism of the director – and by inference the viewer – in watching young hopefuls competing for a role.

Drawing on tension between construction and illusion, House of Women explores the gaps in representation and the spaces opened up by the "fiction machine" of the 1940s British studio system, which presented a very controlled colonial vision of the British Raj and its people, often replacing Indian actors with British actors.

A short preview can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/200714969


Background Skill-mix imbalance is a global concern for primary healthcare in low-income countries. In Rwanda, primary healthcare facilities (health centres, HCs) are predominantly led by nurses. They have to diagnose a multitude of health complaints. Whether they feel capable of undertaking this responsibility has yet to be explored. Aim This study explored how healthcare providers (HPs) at Rwandan HCs perceived their capability in the diagnostic practice. Setting Rural and urban HCs in Muhanga district, Rwanda. Method Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with nurses and clinical officers, and observations of consultations were made. Findings were analysed thematically. Results Rwandan HPs were confident in their competences to perform diagnostic procedures although nurses felt that the responsibilities lay beyond their professional training. Clinical officers believed that their professional training prepared them to function competently and autonomously in the diagnostic practice, although all HPs experienced a high dependency on medical history taking, physical examination and laboratory tests for reaching a diagnosis. Resource constraints (time, rooms and laboratory tests) were seen as a barrier to perform diagnostic tasks optimally, and HPs experienced in-service training and supervision as insufficient. They increased their diagnostic competences through work experience, self-learning and supportive peer collaboration. Conclusion Clinical officers perceived themselves as capable in the diagnostic practice. Nurses may compensate for insufficient school training through in-service learning opportunities and feel capable in the diagnostic practice. Formative mentorship schemes and tailored education may prove valuable, but further research on how to improve HPs' diagnostic capability in Rwanda's primary healthcare sector is needed.


In the effective range of a lead smelting plant, the repercussions of cadmium emissions (mainly past) on vegetables, fruit, soil and drinking water as well as of immissions were investigated by means of atomic absorption spectrometry. As compared to the "normal" cadmium level, the cadmium contents in vegetables and fruit were some 2- to 85-fold higher; and those in soils, some 70- to 230-fold. The mean contents in vegetables ranged from 0.4 to 25.5 p.p.m. (on a dry-weight basis); those in fruit, from 0.09 to 1.17 p.p.m. Cadmium concentrations varying from 6.8 to 22.8 p.p.m. were found in soil samples. The drinking water contained 0.009 p.p.m. of cadmium. The mean cadmium contents in the atmosphere and the sedimentary dust were 0.007 mg/m3 and 0.550 mg/m2/30d, respectively. In the territory investigated, the total human uptake of cadmium supplied by vegetables, fruit, potatoes, drinking water and air is 3.3-32.6 microgram/d. The following cadmium levels were found in human organ samples obtained at necropsy: right and left renal cortex, 33.99 and 35.98 p.p.m., respectively; liver, 3.14 p.p.m.; lungs, 0.63 p.p.m.; pancreas, 1.47 p.p.m.; brain stem, 0.16 p.p.m.


Objective : To identify additional  risk factors  of   complicated  pregnancy  and to  develop  a mathematical model for prognosing   the course  of gestation  using integrative  analysis. Materials  and  methods .  We  carried   out  a  prospective   parallel  group  study  of  240 women  with  low perinatal risk in the  first and second trimesters  of pregnancy.  To  study  the  psycho-emotional state  and personality characteristics of pregnant  women, we used the SF-36 questionnaire, Osgood's Semantic differential,  G.  Eysenck's   self-assessment  personality test  and  the  Big five questionnaire proposed   by R. McCrae  and P. Costa. To assess the impact  of the environment  on pregnancy,  a questionnaire "Degree of satisfaction  with the urban  environment"  composed  by   Yu.Kataeva was used. Results . We established  additional  criteria for  predicting  the  course  of gestation.  In  the  first  trimester they were restrictions of everyday functions due to painful manifestations  and signs of early toxicosis, poor health,  bad mood,  high levels of anxiety,  difficulty in being flexible in new life conditions  and a tendency to react  aggressively. In the second trimester they experienced  painful conditions,  mood swings, preferring seclusion to  relationships  and lack of satisfaction  with the  quality  of the  urban  environment.  During the interpretation of the  study  results  we identified  additional  prognostic  factors  of the  unfavorable  course of pregnancy,  which allow us to develop targeted programs  for medical and psychological  support  during pregnancy. Conclusion . We investigated  the  interrelations between  the  most  important factors  affecting  the  normal course  of pregnancy,  childbirth and the condition  of the newborn.  This study will allow us to predict  the course  of pregnancy  and elicit  additional  criteria to  form  groups  with  increased  obstetric and perinatal risks.  We  also  designed  a  mathematical model  for  prognosing  the  course  of  gestation  that  takes  into account  the identified additional  criteria.


For the first time, 3D complex hollow Au microstructures (HL-AuMSs) fabricated via a 3D structure-preserving galvanic replacement approach are presented. 3D nanoporous Ag microstructures (np-AgMSs) are employed as templates, which are galvanically replaced by Au3+ under extremely high Cl− environments. During this galvanic replacement process, insoluble surface blocking AgCl species, is transformed under extremely high Cl− environments into a water soluble AgCl2− complex, which is easily liberated from the Ag surface. Therefore, chloride ion is the key parameter in the 3D morphological preservation of these templates. The preferential galvanic replacement is observed at the tips of np-AgMSs templates due to high charge density. The wall thickness of HL-AuMSs can be easily controlled by varying the mole ratio of Au3+ : Ag. This 3D structure-preserving galvanic replacement is not only applied for various morphologies of Ag templates, but also applied for other precious metals with excellent template morphology retention. Moreover, due to this stabilizer-free protocol, the fabricated HL-AuMSs show efficient catalytic activity for the reduction of p-nitrophenol by NaBH4 within 10 minutes for 6 cycles.


Knowledge of healing plants worldwide properties it has been extensively studied by their biological activities. The increasing number of plant users for healthcare originated the Research Center in Complementary Alternative Medicine, National Institute of Health (NIH) whose primary function is to be alert with a strictly scientific sense about de use of plants as main source of Complementary Alternative Medicine. It is currently about the synergy known that Is achieved on the hepatoprotective, antioxidant and hypoglycaemic activities with mixtures formed by selected plants and combined. These plants are characterized by their content of hidroxyphenolic compounds as cynarin, rosmarinic acid, flavonoids silybin and among others. Actually this kind of herbal preparations are investigated in patients with cirrhosis, type II diabetes mellitus, breast cancer and arthritis diseases. Patients with Chronic Degenerative Diseases are in state of stress and Its metabolism produces free radicals such as superoxide oO2, hydroxyl oOH and peroxynitrite highly reactive with unsaturated fatty acids of cell membranes producing lipid peroxidation. The main product of this process is the peroxyl, that when it's reduced forms hydroxiperoxyle its decomposition forms MDA and 4-hidroxialquenal. These substances bind to R-SH2 of the aminoacids of the proteins and to the thymine of DNA, altering their biological function. Before the treatments with selected and micropulverized plants to patients, it is necessary and required in animal models demonstrate that plants do not produce toxic effects. Using mixtures of plants micropulverized is good choice because these microparticles behave as micro-releasing their constituents with increased activity and bioavailability to target cells so it will be possible to achieve greater power to control their activity and perhaps cure the disease, and provide patients an effective herbal medicine safe, free of toxic effects and low cost.


Teenagers have big influence on clean and health lifestyles such as no smoking lifestyle. That is why; the family function has an important role on controlling the smoking behavior of the teenagers. This is a descriptive correlation research with the cross Sectional approach to find out the family function influence that divided into 5 family functions; affective, social function, economic function, reproductive function, and health function correlated with the smoking behavior of SMA/SMK  students in Gombong, Kebumen Regency, Central Java. There are 220 teenagers as the samples in this research. They are still in Senior High School (Vocational High School/SMK and General High School/SMA) and they are smokers. The sampling technique was done by using the Cluster Random Sampling. The data analyses used were univariate, bivariate, with Chi Square test and multivariate with the regression logistic test. The research found that the family function influenced the smoking behavior of the students in SMK/SMA in Gombong are social function (p value =0.000), economic function (p value =0.003), reproductive function (p value =0.004) and affective function (p value =0.008). Meanwhile the most dominant family functions variable that influenced the smoking behavior of SMK/SMA students were social and family economic functions. Because of this reason, it is necessary for the parents or family to have a strong commitment to apply their function as the family to control their teenage children and they can also consider their teenage children development characteristics. Community Nurse has a role on giving suggestion to the parents so that they can do their exact function as the family and give the right and needed information for their teenage children appropriate with their children development stages. Keywords; family function, teenage smokers.


: For more than 30 years various scoring systems have been used as a method to asses the injury severity of multi-system trauma. They have been used as a tool for triage, for emergency-room quality management, for educational reasons or, nowadays, in order to evaluate the cost effectiveness of either a complete hospital or a single department. This review provides the knowledge to score multi-system traumatized patients after their first treatment in the emergency-room. It shows advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of various traumascores which includes knowledge about the used parameters, the type of validation, the medical system in their country of origin, and of course their mathematical background. Relevant examples like physiological trauma scores (GCS, RTS, MEES), anatomic, injury pattern based scores (ISS, NISS, ICISS), biological aspects, mixed scoring systems (PTS, TRISS, ASCOT) and future developments ("Rixen-pattern", RISC) are illustrated. These scores are explained in detail and discussed as to their practicability.


A number of new techniques and approaches to the management of biliary tract stone disease have been developed in the past decade. The modern biliary surgeon must be aware of these and of their logical and proper place in the management of patients with biliary stone disease. However, the wise surgeon will continue to hone his surgical skills because the results of definitive, sure, and deliberate operative treatment of biliary tract stone disease remains the standard by which newer methods must be gauged.


BAM (Business Activity Monitoring) and CEP (Complex Event Processing) have been deeply studied in traditional BPM, according to the procurement of relevant results about process execution, especially for improvement and monitoring purposes. Once BPM was introduced in the cloud and it was necessary to decompose processes in order to execute them in hybrid environments, the conception of monitoring has suffered several changes. In previous works we have designed an architecture for process execution and monitoring which considers several services in order to gather and show the recollected information as relevant results. A new approach over this architecture takes place in this work: it considers BAM and CEP as mechanisms for the information gathering process, and also enhances the monitoring application taking advantage of these two methodologies, now under the distributed perspective. Additionally we make a comparison about when it is convenient to use BAM or CEP alternatively in a distributed environment, according to the nature of the recollected data, the type of indicators needed to be shown and also the latency window over the data used as a source.


We present a data structure to randomly sample rows from the Khatri-Rao product of several matrices according to the exact distribution of its leverage scores. Our proposed sampler draws each row in time logarithmic in the height of the Khatri-Rao product and quadratic in its column count, with persistent space overhead at most the size of the input matrices. As a result, it tractably draws samples even when the matrices forming the Khatri-Rao product have tens of millions of rows each. When used to sketch the linear least squares problems arising in CANDECOMP / PARAFAC tensor decomposition, our method achieves lower asymptotic complexity per solve than recent state-of-the-art methods. Experiments on billion-scale sparse tensors validate our claims, with our algorithm achieving higher accuracy than competing methods as the decomposition rank grows.


This paper addresses the problem of accurately realizing the interpolation of spatially discrete head-related transfer function (HRTF) for synthesis of virtual auditory space. By analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of general bilinear interpolation method in 3D-sound, associating with human auditory system's mechanism of band-pass filtering and consulting critical bands of psychoacoustics, the paper presents a piecewise interpolation method based on log-least square error criterion for HRTF's magnitude to compensate the deficiency of bilinear method in intermediate frequency. As seen from the following simulations, this new method accomplishes preferable results


This small book is a review from a surgical viewpoint of the several syndromes and their pertinent physiology arising after gastrectomy. The author and the publisher pleasantly assemble this material in more detail than is present in either the textbooks or the literature. The discussion of the early postprandial dumping syndrome, the late postprandial dumping syndrome, and the afferent loop syndrome is well done. Overall I was troubled in knowing for whom the book was intended. The review is insufficiently exhaustive or critical to serve as a reference source and much longer than several good reviews on the subject inSurgical Clinics of North Americato compete with their conciseness.


Background: Proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is a hallmark of arterial diseases, especially in arterial restenosis after angioplasty or stent placement. VSMCs reprogram their metabolism to meet the increased requirements of lipids, proteins, and nucleotides for their proliferation. De novo purine synthesis is one of critical pathways for nucleotide synthesis. However, its role in proliferation of VSMCs in these arterial diseases has not been defined. Methods: De novo purine synthesis in proliferative VSMCs was evaluated by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The expression of ATIC (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase/inosine monophosphate cyclohydrolase), the critical bifunctional enzyme in the last 2 steps of the de novo purine synthesis pathway, was assessed in VSMCs of proliferative arterial neointima. Global and VSMC-specific knockout of Atic mice were generated and used for examining the role of ATIC-associated purine metabolism in the formation of arterial neointima and atherosclerotic lesions. Results: In this study, we found that de novo purine synthesis was increased in proliferative VSMCs. Upregulated purine synthesis genes, including ATIC, were observed in the neointima of the injured vessels and atherosclerotic lesions both in mice and humans. Global or specific knockout of Atic in VSMCs inhibited cell proliferation, attenuating the arterial neointima in models of mouse atherosclerosis and arterial restenosis. Conclusions: These results reveal that de novo purine synthesis plays an important role in VSMC proliferation in arterial disease. These findings suggest that targeting ATIC is a promising therapeutic approach to combat arterial diseases.


The interaction of streptokinase (SK) with human plasminogen (HPlg) was investigated using truncated SK peptides prepared by gene cloning techniques. SK(16-414) and SK(16-378) could activate HPlg as efficiently as the authentic SK. SK(60-414), which had been preincubatd with SK(1-59), could also activate HPlg. SK(91-414), SK(127-414), and SK(158-414), at a concentration of one-tenth of HPlg, all failed to activate HPlg. However, the truncated SK peptides in complexes with equimolar HPlg could form amidolytically active virgin enzymes that slowly converted to human plasmin (HPlm) after a lag period of 15 min. SK(16-316) could not activate HPlg. No virgin enzyme was detected when SK(16-316) was incubated with equimolar HPlg, but the HPlg in the complex was modified to HPlm after reaction for 20 min. SK(220-414) and SK(16-251) had no ability to transform HPlg to virgin enzyme or to HPlm in equimolar complex with HPlg, although they could bind to HPlg. The functions of five regions in the SK molecule (a, Ile1-Lys; b, Ser-Asn; c, Val-Arg; d, Tyr-Ala; e, Ser-Ala) in interaction with HPlg are deduced. Region a is important in stabilizing the conformation of the SK molecule, and region b is essential for HPlg activation. Region c is required for induction of the conformational changes of HPlg to virgin enzyme. Regions c and d are required for the conversion of HPlg to HPlm in the HPlg•SK equimolar complex. Coordination of regions c, d, and e of SK is essential for a virgin enzyme formation, and coordination of regions b, c, d and e is required for an effective SK-type HPlg activator.


The paper proposes one processing method of optimizing estimation of direction of arrival (DOA) by utilizing long distance cell's data to suppress radio frequency interference (RFI). After exploiting long distance cell's data to acquire the eigenvector of RFI signal and construct the subspace of RFI signal, we can project the data of distance cell to be tested onto the subspace of RFI signal. Then the result of projection is subtracted from the data of distance cell to be tested. So RFI signal can be suppressed. We utilize the method of DOA estimation based on MUSIC algorithm to process the data in two cases, i.e. one without suppressed RFI and the other with suppressed RFI, and compare the results of the DOA estimation in the two cases. The feasibility of the processing method is proved by the results of simulation.


Abstract:In this article I reconstruct Nietzsche's largely implicit understanding of how value systems are created. At the heart of this process are affects, which Nietzsche sees as drive-based evaluative feelings. Affects create value systems when they form rational patterns of feeling around the aims of their underlying drives. But Nietzsche sets this process of value creation in a functionalist context in which values work to promote underlying drives through the direct privileging of their aims over the aims of other drives, through encouraging the pursuit of objects and conditions that facilitate the drive's discharge, and through the justification of the affects that create the values in the first place. I show how Nietzsche's functionalism can be reconciled with his commitment to the idea that affects create values. And I test my claims against Nietzsche's analysis of slave morality to show that his interpretations of the morality of custom, asceticism, and noble morality follow the same pattern.


This paper summarises the work done by Eurosystem staff in the context of the Strategy Review Seminar on Monetary Policy Instruments. More specifically, it focuses on the efficacy, efficiency and potential side effects of the key monetary policy instruments employed by the European Central Bank since 2014. The following main findings emerge from the analysis. First, instruments have been effective in easing financing conditions and supporting economic growth, employment and inflation. Second, considering the effective lower bound on policy rates, a combination of instruments is generally more efficient than relying on a single tool. Third, side effects have been generally contained so far, but they are found to vary over time and need to be closely monitored on an ongoing basis. Fourth, the monetary policy toolkit needs to remain innovative, diversified, and flexible, i.e. reviewed regularly to ensure that it remains fit for purpose against the backdrop of evolving financial and macroeconomic conditions.


This article explores the family relationships of mothers and children living at a women's refuge because of intimate partner violence. Theoretically, the article contributes to the sociological literature analysing family relationships in terms of 'doing' and 'displaying' rather than 'being' a family. Empirically, it is based on ethnographic fieldwork and semi-structured interviews with children living at a refuge in Denmark. The article shows that family display at the refuge is conducted by both mothers and children and sometimes in conflicting ways, not least when it comes to the question of how to define the position of the father (who has committed the violence) in the family's future life. This highlights how display – as an evaluative practice – can be done in different ways in order to protect or reject family relationships, both internally and when addressing external audiences. Furthermore, the article analyses family relationships in a semi-public setting (the refuge) where powerful audiences are active interpreters of the family display enacted, and participants in decisions concerning the families' futures.


Evacuation models used in fire safety engineering have largely expanded their capabilities over the last decades. They started as simple computational tools in which people movement equations were implemented in discrete spaces, while they now often allow the simulation of complex behaviours and decision making through advanced agent-based simulation techniques in three-dimensional environments. While the progress of evacuation modelling techniques appears evident comparing their capabilities over the years, there are still quite a few areas in which there is room for significant improvements. This paper wants to open a discussion on a research roadmap for evacuation models used in fire safety engineering. In other words, this paper explores what features need to be possibly implemented, improved, or expanded in existing evacuation models for fire safety engineering applications. This considers both improvements based on existing knowledge in the evacuation research field as well as possible future research directions. Five areas of development concerning evacuation modelling are here discussed, namely 1) factors affecting people movement, 2) route choice modelling, 3) behavioural uncertainty, 4) integration with other models and 5) validation methods. (Less)


One of the problems of raising the efficacy and acceleration of investigations and developments under the conditions of scientific technical progress is competitive power of products and technologies. The problem is especially acute in international economic cooperation when one must choose an object of license and lines of research promoting its development. The existing mechanisms of control do not ensure reliable solution of this problem and need to be improved. The paper is concerned with the consideration of routine approaches to control of competitive power; new mechanisms based on algorithmic methods using a clustering analysis of patent and scientific medical information have been proposed. The author shows a possibility of building up the functional structure of research pursued in one or several institutions involved in the development of a multipurpose problem, and the choice of directions of research, among them potential objects for license sale and concluding an agreement of international cooperation on a contract basis.


The 35-residue ShK peptide binds with high affinity to voltage-gated potassium channels. The dynamics of the binding surface was studied recently with (microsecond to millisecond) (15)N relaxation dispersion and (picosecond to nanosecond) (15)N spin relaxation of the N-H bonds. Relaxation dispersion revealed microsecond conformational-exchange-mediated exposure of the functionally important Y23 side chain to the peptide surface. The spin relaxation parameters acquired at 14.1 and 16.45 T have been subjected to model-free (MF) analysis, which yielded a squared generalized order parameter, S(2), of approximately 0.85 for virtually all of the N-H bonds. Only a "rigid backbone" evaluation could be inferred. We ascribe this limited information to the simplicity of MF in the context of challenging data. To improve the analysis, we apply the slowly relaxing local structure (SRLS) approach, which is a generalization of MF. SRLS describes N-H bond dynamics in ShK in terms of a local potential, u, ranging from 10 to 18.5 kBT, and a local diffusion rate, D2, ranging from 4.2 × 10(8) to 2.4 × 10(10) s(-1). This analysis shows that u is outstandingly strong for Y23 and relatively weak for K22, whereas D2 is slow for Y23 and fast for K22. These observations are relevant functionally because of the key role of the K22-Y23 dyad in ShK binding to potassium channels. The disulfide-bond network exhibits a medium-strength potential and an alternating wave-like D2 pattern. This is indicative of moderate structural restraints and motional plasticity, in support of, although not directly correlated with, the microsecond binding-related conformational exchange process detected previously. Thus, new information on functionally important residues in ShK and its overall conformational stability emerged from the SRLS analysis, as compared with the previous MF-based estimate of backbone dynamics as backbone rigidity.


Debonding and removal of adhesive remnants after orthodontic treatment will increase the surface roughness of enamel, This condition promotes plaque accumulation which leads to enamel demineralization. Analyzing enamel surface roughness changes after debonding using resin infiltration system, nano-filled resin coating, and the combination of both materials. We also analyze the differences in surface roughness changes of enamel between the three groups. 30 extracted upper first premolar tooth specimens were bonded with standard edgewise bracket and stored in distilled-water for 24 hours. Then, brackets were debonded and adhesive remnants were removed using highspeed dome tapered tungsten carbide bur at 30.000rpm. Afterwards, each specimen was randomly assigned into one of the three treatment groups (n=10), which were: resin infiltration system (R); nano-filled resin coating (N); A combination of resin infiltration system + nano-filled resin coating (RN). The surface roughness of enamel was measured using Mitutoyo SJ-301 Surface Roughness Tester before and after the treatment. Enamel surface roughness were significantly changed in all three groups after the treatment (p<0.05). Enamel surface roughness of R group decreases from 0.424 μm to 0.277 μm while N group decreases from 0.421 μm to 0.202 μm, and RN group decreases from 0.419 μm to 0.162 μm. The differences in surface roughness changes between three groups were also significant (p<0.05). The biggest differences found in RN group (0.257 μm) resulting the smoothest surface, followed by N group (0.218 μm) and R group (0.147 μm) respectively. A combination of resin infiltration system and nano-filled resin coating reduced the surface roughness of enamel after debonding significantly compared to resin infiltration system or nanofilled resin coating alone. Experimental article (J Int Dent Med Res 2019; 12(1): 95-100)


Marangoni Convection occurs when a surface tension gradient is established at a liquid-gas interface. The variation in surface tension could be driven by an interface temperature gradient, resulting in Thermocapillary Convection, or by an interface concentration gradient, giving rise to Diffuso-Capillary Convection, or a combination of both. Such flows are found to be of interest in microgravity (and otherwise), as they are known to significantly contribute to heat and mass transfer enhancement at the interface. This paper deals with the computational study of bubble induced thermo-diffuso capillary convection in the presence of surfactants and a stratified thermal field.
 Bubble induced thermo-capillary convection in a pure liquid has been substantially studied and the effects of various parameters like liquid properties, wettability, bubble size, channel depth, and temperature gradients on the strength of thermo-capillary currents and the associated heat transfer enhancement at the bubble interface are well established.
 In this study the physico-chemical properties of an aqueous solution of Sodium-Dodecyl-Sulphate (SDS), a surfactant, were used to introduce the effects of surfactant concentration-induced surface-tension gradients in addition to the temperature induced gradients. Unlike in purely thermo-capillary flows, where the interface sees a near-constant surface-tension gradient from base to apex, the presence of surfactant molecules at the interface results in gradients that vary significantly along the interface with maximum gradients at the bubble base and the apex, resulting in a pair opposing vortices anchored to the bubble interface. The presence of the opposing vortices, results in weaker capillary-flows at higher thermal Marangoni numbers. This is in contrast with purely thermal Marangoni convection, where a larger Marangoni number yields a stronger capillary flow.
 It was also observed that while the Marangoni number may provide an accurate estimation of heat-transfer enhancement under steady-state conditions, it may not be possible in the case of a transiently developing Marangoni-flow. The heat transfer enhancement is maximum near the time of bubble introduction and then diminishes to a lower, stable value. Also, the capillary flows and the associated heat transfer is found to significantly vary with the wetting behavior at the liquid-solid-vapor interface, even for the same set of Marangoni numbers.


This paper considers the extent and impact of monopsony power exercised by Walmart Supercenters. I focus on Walmart as it has long been the largest private-sector employer in the U.S., and as it pays very low wages. Previous research into the firm's labor market impact has yielded incongruous results, with little consensus on how to address identification concerns regarding endogeneity of store entry. A more recent literature has also demonstrated that widely-used estimators are often subject to numerous sources of bias when units are treated at different times. I address these identification concerns by adopting a stacked-in-event-time synthetic control approach to estimate average county-level labor market effects of the Walmart Supercenter roll-out across the U.S. Crucially, I construct the pools of synthetic control donor counties from novel observations of counties where Walmart tried to open a Supercenter but was blocked by local efforts. I find Supercenter entry caused significant reductions in local aggregate employment and earnings. Retail employment concentration grew, as retail employment initially jumped up before reverting to pre-entry levels. In counties with a Supercenter, subsequent exogenous minimum wage increases led to significant growth in aggregate and retail employment. These results run counter to predictions for competitive labor markets, and indicate Walmart Supercenters gradually accumulated and exercised monopsony power in their local markets for labor, with negative consequences for workers.


By biodiversity we understand the variety of expression of the living world, plant species (flora), animal species (fauna), microorganisms, and the values of biodiversity being integrant part of the natural patrimony which, in the context of sustainable development, must be used by the actual generations without endangering the chance of the future generations to enjoy the same life conditions. United Nations Organizations declared the year of 2010 as "The International Year of Biodiversity", the reason being the decline of the ecosystems, being alarming the negative accentuation of human impact on the natural ecosystems in the last decades. According to a global census realized by the officials of Bird Life International, 45% of the common of the Europe decreased as number, the decline being registered too in the case of 80% of aquatic birds from Australia. Thus, we assist to an accelerate extinction of the vegetal and animal life, reason for why the population informing about the importance of natural habitat protection is equally important as the settlement of a juridical regime of their protection. Considering these aspects, the present paper proposes to approach this subject at specific territorial level, respectively in Timis County, beginning with a stock taking of the existing protected natural areas in Timis County and continuing with analysis of the juridical regime regarding their protection depending on type of the protected natural area and not in the last place the identification of the possible threats on the natural habitats existing within the protected natural areas. Timis County has a surface by 8697 km 2 , being as extension the broadest county in the country, with a preponderantly plain relief - 85%, and under biodiversity aspect the habitats within Timis County are characterized by specific composition of flora and fauna, components of the biocoenosis influenced by various climatic and edaphic factors. The climatic oceanic influences from the western side of the country, as well as the climatic differences between plain and mountain imposed by the altitude of relief determined the apparition of a large number of habitats. Another factor determining the great variety of habitats is represented by the chemical composition of the substrate rocks (soil, subsoil). It is important to remember that all Member States of the European Union have the obligation to identify the priority habitats of community interest which exist on their administrative territory and to designate those areas as natural areas of community interest components of the ecological network Natura 2000, which represents a base stage of the conservation policy of nature within the European Union. Romania, as a Member State of the European Union, ratified the Birds Directive - 79/409/EEC and Habitats Directive - 92/43/EEC, identifying and designating within Timis County several special protection areas and Sites of Community Importance as integrant parts of the European ecological network Natura 2000.


Correlations between alterations in hip joints, described in a post-mortem study, have established the independence of limited and progressive alterations, and in addition have shown that there is a weak association between limited alterations and osteophytes and a strong one between progressive alterations and osteophytes. Nevertheless limited alterations may rarely undergo progressive damage. Cysts relate strongly to osteophytes but only moderately with progressive alterations. Limited alterations of both head and acetabulum can be subdivided. Some implications of these findings are discussed.


This paper outlines the research and resulting curriculum design activities conducted as a collaborative venture between Northumbria University's School of Design, School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences and Newcastle Business School undertaken in the creation of a new postgraduate programme in Multidisciplinary Design Innovation.
With the area of multidisciplinary innovation education practice being comparatively new, the research conducted in support of the programme development was undertaken through a series of industry-linked pilot-study projects conducted with Philips, Hasbro, Lego and Unilever. The key finding from this research was an understanding of the importance of freeing students from different disciplines of the inhibitions that limit creativity in collaborative settings.
This paper gives an account of the pilot studies and the associated learning derived from them, the collaborative development of the programme and approaches in curriculum and assessment design adopted in order to create what we call 'safe environments for innovation'; environments designed to free students of these evident inhibitions.


The classical nucleation theory finds the rate of nucleation proportional to the monomer concentration raised to the power, which is the "critical nucleus size," nc. The implicit assumption, that amyloids nucleate in the same way, has been recently challenged by an alternative two-step mechanism, when the soluble monomers first form a metastable aggregate (micelle) and then undergo conversion into the conformation rich in β-strands that are able to form a stable growing nucleus for the protofilament. Here we put together the elements of extensive knowledge about aggregation and nucleation kinetics, using a specific case of Aβ1-42 amyloidogenic peptide for illustration, to find theoretical expressions for the effective rate of amyloid nucleation. We find that at low monomer concentrations in solution and also at low interaction energy between two peptide conformations in the micelle, the nucleation occurs via the classical route. At higher monomer concentrations, and a range of other interaction parameters between peptides, the two-step "aggregation-conversion" mechanism of nucleation takes over. In this regime, the effective rate of the process can be interpreted as a power of monomer concentration in a certain range of parameters; however, the exponent is determined by a complicated interplay of interaction parameters and is not related to the minimum size of the growing nucleus (which we find to be ∼7-8 for Aβ1-42).


Pulmonary dendritic cells (DCs) are among the first responders to inhaled environmental stimuli such as ozone (O(3)), which has been shown to activate these cells. O(3) reacts with epithelial lining fluid (ELF) components in an anatomically site-specific manner dictated by O(3) concentration, airway flow patterns, and ELF substrate concentration. Accordingly, the anatomical distribution of ELF reaction products and airway injury are hypothesized to produce selective DC maturation differentially within the airways. To investigate how O(3) affects regional airway DC populations, we utilized a model of O(3)-induced pulmonary inflammation, wherein C57BL/6 mice were exposed to 0.8 ppm O(3) 8 h/day for 1, 3, and 5 days. This model induced mild inflammation and no remarkable epithelial injury. Tracheal, but not more distant airway sites, and mediastinal lymph node (MLN) DC numbers were increased significantly after the third exposure day. The largest increase in each tissue was of the CD103(+) DC phenotype. After 3 days of exposure, fewer DCs expressed CD80, CD40, and CCR7, and, at this same time point, total MLN T cell numbers increased. Together, these data demonstrate that O(3) exposure induced site-specific and phenotype changes in the pulmonary and regional lymph node DC populations. Possibly contributing to ozone-mediated asthma perturbation, the phenotypic changes to DCs within pulmonary regions may alter responses to antigenic stimuli. Decreased costimulatory molecule expression within the MLN suggests induction of tolerance mechanisms; increased tracheal DC number may raise the potential for allergic sensitization and asthmatic exacerbation, thus overcoming O(3)-induced decrements in costimulatory molecule expression.


Chest X-rays remains to be the most common imaging modality used to diagnose lung diseases. However, they necessitate the interpretation of experts (radiologists and pulmonologists), who are few. This review paper investigates the use of deep transfer learning techniques to detect COVID-19, pneumonia, and tuberculosis in chest X-ray (CXR) images. It provides an overview of current state-of-the-art CXR image classification techniques and discusses the challenges and opportunities in applying transfer learning to this domain. The paper provides a thorough examination of recent research studies that used deep transfer learning algorithms for COVID-19, pneumonia, and tuberculosis detection, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches. Finally, the review paper discusses future research directions in the field of deep transfer learning for CXR image classification, as well as the potential for these techniques to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases.


Abstract DNA polymerase β (pol β) selects the correct deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate for incorporation into the DNA polymer. Mistakes made by pol β lead to mutations, some of which occur within specific sequence contexts to generate mutation hotspots. The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene is mutated within specific sequence contexts in colorectal carcinomas but the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. In previous work, we demonstrated that a somatic colon cancer variant of pol β, K289M, misincorporates deoxynucleotides at significantly increased frequencies over wild-type pol β within a mutation hotspot that is present several times within the APC gene. Kinetic studies provide evidence that the rate-determining step of pol β catalysis is phosphodiester bond formation and suggest that substrate selection is governed at this step. Remarkably, we show that, unlike WT, a pre-catalytic step in the K289M pol β kinetic pathway becomes slower than phosphodiester bond formation with the APC DNA sequence but not with a different DNA substrate. Based on our studies, we propose that pre-catalytic conformational changes are of critical importance for DNA polymerase fidelity within specific DNA sequence contexts.


Study Design. Case-series. Objective. To report our modified iliac-screw insertion technique and its clinical outcomes. Summary of Background Data. Iliac-screws are one of the preferred methods for modern spinopelvic-fixation. However, the technique is not without complications, predominantly because of iliac-screw head prominence, leading to pain and revisions. Conventional iliac-screw entry point is sited superficially at the posterior-superior-iliac-spine (PSIS) contributing to screw-head prominence. We propose a more low-profile, subcrestal entry point that is more medial and inferior to the PSIS at the medial wall of the iliac crest, lying underneath the crest but above the sacroiliac joint. This position keeps the screw-head low profile and in-line with proximal instrumentation to ease rod engagement. Methods. Ten consecutive patients who underwent spinal deformity correction surgery using the modified iliac-screw entry point fixations were enrolled. Clinical, radiological, and surgical parameters were reviewed. Results. Five males and five females with average age of 66 years and average follow up of 29 months were reviewed. Mean preoperative Cobb angle and C7-SVA were 32.1° and 10.3 cm, respectively. Surgical indication was progressive deformity and neurogenic claudication in eight cases and fracture in two cases. Twenty noncannulated, polyaxial iliac-screws with median dimension of 7.5 x 75 mm were inserted free hand. Bilateral S1 screws were used in all except two cases. Only five out of 16 iliac-screws with concomitant S1 screws needed side-connectors. At the last follow up only one iliac-screw head was felt to be prominent but without pain in a Parkinson's patient. None of the 10 patients had cases of revision, breakages, or sacroiliac pain. Conclusion. Subcrestal iliac-screw insertion is feasible, safe, and has the potential to reduce screw-head complications and avoid the use of side-connectors, lowering construct complexity and cost. The technique has the advantage of both the low-profile S2 alar iliac screw and the ease of free-hand insertion of the traditional iliac-screw. Level of Evidence: 4


OBJECTIVE
To assess tolerance and preliminary efficacy of a perfluorocarbon emulsion (AF0144) used with acute normovolemic hemodilution to reduce allogeneic blood transfusion for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).

DESIGN
Controlled, single-blind, parallel-group phase II dose escalation trial.

SETTING
Single-institution university medical center.

PARTICIPANTS
Adult patients undergoing elective CABG surgery (n = 36).

INTERVENTIONS
A calculated volume of autologous whole blood was harvested for each patient with a target on-bypass hematocrit of 20% to 22%. Placebo, low-dose (1.8 g/kg) AF0144, or high-dose (2.7 g/kg) AF0144 was infused. During CPB, blood was transfused at protocol-defined triggers (hematocrit <15%, PvO(2) <30 mmHg, SvO(2) <60%). After CPB, all autologous whole blood was reinfused. Allogeneic red blood cells were transfused if a trigger was reached.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Safety assessments (vital signs, hematology, blood chemistry, coagulation, and adverse events) were monitored through postoperative day 21. Efficacy endpoints included percentage of patients reaching a transfusion trigger and number of allogeneic units of red blood cells transfused. During CPB, <25% of subjects reached a transfusion trigger. During hospitalization, significantly fewer (p < 0.01) high-dose subjects (33%) reached a trigger than did control patients (91%). Allogeneic red blood cell transfusion did not differ significantly among groups. Safety assessments indicated AF0144 was well tolerated.

CONCLUSION
The data suggest that AF0144 when used with acute normovolemic hemodilution is well tolerated and may be effective when used to enhance oxygen delivery for patients undergoing CABG surgery. Confirmation of safety and efficacy in a larger phase III clinical trial is warranted.


A time-resolved optically stimulated exo-electron (TR-OSE) measurement system has been developed using a Photon Timer attached to a gas-flow semi-proportional pancake electron detector within a Risø TL/OSL reader. The decay rate of the exo-electron emission after the stimulation pulse depends on the probability of (1) escape of electrons into the detector gas from the conduction band by overcoming the work function of the material and (2) thermalization of electrons in the conduction band, and subsequent re-trapping/recombination. Thus, we expect the exo-electron signal to reflect the instantaneous electron concentration in the conduction band. In this study, TR-OSE and time-resolved optically stimulated luminescence (TR-OSL) were measured for the first time using quartz, K-feldspar and NaCl by stimulating the samples using pulsed blue LEDs at different temperatures between 50 and 250 °C after beta irradiation and preheating to 280 °C. The majority of TR-OSE signals from all the samples decayed much faster than TR-OSL signals irrespective of the stimulation temperatures. This suggests that the lifetime of OSL in these dosimeters arises mainly from the relaxation of an excited state of the recombination centre, rather than from residence time of an electron in the conduction band.


Container terminals offer transfer facilities to move containers from vessels to trucks, and vice versa. Within the terminal the container yard serves as a temporary buffer where incoming containers are piled up in stacks. Outgoing containers need to be transported from the yard to a ship or to trucks in predefined sequences. Generally, the retrieval sequence does not match the stacking order within the yard. Since only the topmost container of each stack can be accessed, containers stored above it must be relocated first. A common procedure is to relocate containers within one bay (row of container stacks) since relocations between bays are very time consuming. In order to minimize turnaround times, a move sequence to retrieve containers from the bay in the prescribed order with a minimum number of reshuffles has to be determined. This problem is known as the container relocation problem (CRP) and is known to be NP-hard. We present a column generation approach for this problem. The master problem represents the bay layout over time with two sets of variables. State variables indicate the position of each container in the bay over time. Each movement variable represents a series of movements to retrieve exactly one container and to relocate containers stacked above it. The subproblem uses complete enumeration enhanced with bounding mechanisms to choose movement variables with negative reduced costs. Experiments are conducted for an exact method of the subproblem and for its heuristic variant. First results are very promising since both approaches provide very tight lower bounds on the minimum number of relocations.


Problem. Co-dependence (CODC) is described as an "incurable disease" by some practitioners in the addictions treatment business. The CODC concept developed in isolation from mainstream psychology and psychiatry and remains an unverified diagnostic category. It has been compared with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and this relationship was investigated. Method. Representative samples of the voluminous literature on CODC and BPD were reviewed in an effort to identify commonalities. The characteristics used for comparison were the ones identified by Dr. E. G. Goldstein in Borderline Disorders: Clinical Models & Techniques (1990). Two self-report, anonymous instruments were used; one was completed by clinicians and the other by persons who self-identify as co-dependent or were so identified by a relative, friend, or counselor. Results. Evidence of commonalities between CODC and BPD was provided by an exacting comparison of descriptions from both bodies of literature. In addition, the survey of clinicians revealed insufficient understanding of the nature and characteristics of BPD and CODC that could lead to a failure to diagnose accurately. The survey of clients provided rich evidence that many persons identified as co-dependent obtained scores on a BPD instrument higher than required to be suggestive of a diagnosis of BPD. Conclusions. There appears to be an area of overlap between CODC and BPD. Clinicians are not taught to recognize this overlap but when they are tested on a BPD instrument, "co-dependent" persons often endorse enough items to be suggestive of a BPD diagnosis.


Aims Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), which metabolizes many peptides and plays a key role in blood pressure regulation and vascular remodeling, is expressed as a type-1 membrane glycoprotein on the surface of different cells, including endothelial cells of the heart. We hypothesized that the local conformation and, therefore, the properties of heart ACE could differ from lung ACE due to different microenvironment in these organs. Methods and results We performed ACE phenotyping (ACE levels, conformation and kinetic characteristics) in the human heart and compared it with that in the lung. ACE activity in heart tissues was 10–15 lower than that in lung. Various ACE effectors, LMW endogenous ACE inhibitors and HMW ACE-binding partners, were shown to be present in both heart and lung tissues. "Conformational fingerprint" of heart ACE (i.e., the pattern of 17 mAbs binding to different epitopes on the ACE surface) significantly differed from that of lung ACE, which reflects differences in the local conformations of these ACEs, likely controlled by different ACE glycosylation in these organs. Substrate specificity and pH-optima of the heart and lung ACEs also differed. Moreover, even within heart the apparent ACE activities, the local ACE conformations, and the content of ACE inhibitors differ in atria and ventricles. Conclusions Significant differences in the local conformations and kinetic properties of heart and lung ACEs demonstrate tissue specificity of ACE and provide a structural base for the development of mAbs able to distinguish heart and lung ACEs as a potential blood test for predicting atrial fibrillation risk.


Damage in composite materials is challenging to detect because of complex behavior. Using nonlinear analytical techniques, the behavior of a disbond in an aluminum honeycomb material is illuminated. By analyzing the superharmonic frequencies under sinusoidal excitation, quadratic stiffness was seen in a disbonded panel and tracked as the damage area increased. A cubic nonlinearity was also observed, but only when the damaged area was larger. It is hypothesized that the quadratic nonlinearity is due to the change in face sheet stiffness as the top sheet vibrates off and into the honeycomb core. The cubic nonlinearity is not as easily explained due to the changes in response amplitude not following the analytical approximations. The lack of a nonlinear backbone curve indicates that the cubic nonlinearity is not related to stiffness but most likely damping. The elastic behavior of the epoxy adhesive under high strains and geometric constraints is thought to contribute to the cubic nonlinearity. More work into understanding the relationship between the epoxy viscoelastic behavior and the panel response is necessary.


Genome-wide association studies have detected more than 30 inherited prostate cancer risk variants. While clearly associated with risk, their relationship with clinical outcome, particularly prostate cancer–specific mortality, is less well known. We investigated whether the risk variants are associated with various measures of disease aggressiveness and prostate cancer–specific mortality. In a cohort of 3,945 men of European ancestry with prostate cancer, we genotyped 36 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP): 35 known prostate cancer risk variants and one SNP (rs4054823) that was recently reported to be associated with prostate cancer aggressiveness. The majority of subjects had a diagnosis of prostate cancer between 1995 and 2004, and the cohort included a total of 580 prostate cancer–specific deaths. We evaluated associations between the 36 polymorphisms and prostate cancer survival, as well as other clinical parameters including age at diagnosis, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) at diagnosis, and Gleason score. Two SNPs, rs2735839 at chromosome 19q13 and rs7679673 at 4q24, were associated with prostate cancer–specific survival (P = 7 × 10−4 and 0.014, respectively). A total of 12 SNPs were associated with other variables (P < 0.05): age at diagnosis, PSA at diagnosis, Gleason score, and/or disease aggressiveness based on D'Amico criteria. Genotype status at rs4054823 was not associated with aggressiveness or outcome. Our results identify two common polymorphisms associated with prostate cancer–specific mortality. Cancer Prev Res; 4(5); 719–28. ©2011 AACR.


The four examples presented are representative of nursing service organizations at the turn of the century that fit our current definition of nursing center. They share commonalities that led to their creation and continuation. These nursing centers were created to respond to a recognized need: There was a clientele that was not being served; the clientele served were generally poor, of low socioeconomic status; and income generation (money) was not a motivating factor for the nurses. There was a strong leader for each center who championed the cause and took the risks, and these centers were all very successful at what they set out to do. It is interesting to note that the commonalities from the turn of the century can also be applied to the 1980s. Using this history to refresh our memory can help us build on the strong base that these early nursing centers provided.


A man gets up earlier and earlier each day, dresses in the dark, makes his coffee and lights the fire with a box of matches. Then he rummages through the thoughts that crowd his head and preoccupy him. Here is mid-life domesticated man, whose thoughts veer brilliantly from love and marriage, to firelighters and suicide, in the twinkling of an eye. This is Baker at his best, humorous and observant, revealing the underlying truths about the ephemerality of life, the joy of small things, the darkness just the other side of everyday life - all human life in a box of matches.


ABSTRACT Predator–prey relationships have been suggested to be one of the primary evolutionary factors driving the development of functional hemispheric asymmetries. However, lateralization in many predator species is not well understood and existing studies often are statistically underpowered due to small sample sizes and they moreover show conflicting results. Here, we statistically integrated findings on paw preferences in cats and dogs, two predator species within the Carnivora order that are commonly kept as pets in many societies around the globe. For both species, there were significantly more lateralized than non-lateralized animals. We found that 78% of cats and 68% of dogs showed either left- or right-sided paw preference. Unlike humans, neither dogs nor cats showed a rightward paw preference on the population level. For cats, but not dogs, we found a significant sex difference, with female animals having greater odds of being right-lateralized compared to male animals.


The objective of the study was to evaluate whether the introduction of patient-focused nursing care affected the number of seclusions and the length of time patients spent in seclusion, in an acute psychiatric unit. The study used a pre-intervention–post-intervention design and was conducted in an eight-bed locked unit within a large regional general hospital in Queensland, Australia. The medical records of all people who were secluded as part of their management while in hospital, during two 6-month periods, were retrospectively reviewed. Changes to the ways in which nurses conducted their daily activities were implemented during the time between the data collection periods. There were no differences between the groups with respect to the number of times a patient was secluded. However, following implementation of patient-focused care, there was a reduction in the length of time for which patients were secluded. The only change in medication administration was that post-implementation, Haloperidol was used in fewer seclusion episodes. The findings indicate that changes to nursing practice may result in closer monitoring of patients and a reduction in the time patients spend secluded in acute inpatient psychiatric settings.


: Morphologic alterations of the slit diaphram and glomercular epithelium were examined in rats with experimental autologous immune complex nephritis following perfusion fixation with tannic acid-glutaraldehyde. The changes observed included a displacemnt by immune complex deposits of foot processes and associated slit diaphragms towards the urinary space. With the onset of proteinuria, foot processes spreas, resulting in a decrease in spithelial cell surface area and a diminution in the length of interpithelial slits. Concomiantly, the redundant slit diaphragm became folded and pleated in the residual interpithelial spaces. No primary defect in the slit diaphragm was observed to account fo the severe proteinuria seen in this disease. Instead areas of detached epithelial cells and an occasional slit pore lacking a slit diaphragm may consitute sites for substantial protein loss in the urinary space in autologous immune complex nephritis.


Named Data Networking (NDN) is one of five projects funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation under its Future Internet Architecture Program. NDN has its roots in an earlier project, Content-Centric Networking (CCN), which Van Jacobson first publicly presented in 2006. The NDN project investigates Jacobson's proposed evolution from today's host-centric network architecture (IP) to a data-centric network architecture (NDN). This conceptually simple shift has far-reaching implications for how we design, develop, deploy, and use networks and applications. We describe the motivation and vision of this new architecture, and its basic components and operations. We also provide a snapshot of its current design, development status, and research challenges. More information about the project, including prototype implementations, publications, and annual reports, is available on named-data.net.


The toxicokinetics of alpha-pinene were studied in human volunteers exposed by inhalation (2 h, 50 W) in an exposure chamber on four occasions. The exposures were about 10, 225, and 450 mg/m3 (+)-alpha-pinene and 450 mg/m3 (-)-alpha-pinene. The relative pulmonary uptake was about 60% for the higher exposures, and total uptake increased linearly with increasing exposure. The total blood clearance was high, about 1.11.h-1.kg-1. After the exposure was terminated, less than 0.001% of the total uptake was eliminated unchanged in the urine and about 8% in exhaled air. A long half-time in poorly perfused tissues indicates a high affinity to adipose tissues. There was a statistically significant exposure-response relationship among five subjects who experienced irritation. Short-time exposure to alpha-pinene did not give rise to acute changes in lung function 20 min after the exposure.


Margaret E. Fountaine (1863-1940) collected and reared butterflies all over the World. She visited the Caribbean island of Trinidad in November 1911 - February 1912, February - June 1931, and December 1936 - June 1937. She died in Trinidad on a fourth visit in 1940 at the age of 78. Her collection from all over the world is preserved as the Fountaine-Neimy Collection in the Norwich Castle Museum, UK. Using extracts from her journal, information is given on her collecting methods and experiences at the Trinidad localities: Fonds Amandes, Hololo Mountain Road and Mt. St. Benedicts. Sostrata festiva Erichson, Pythonides limnaea Hewitson (Hesperiidae) and Fountainea ryphea ryphea Cramer (Nymphalidae) are illustrated from the Fountaine-Neimy collection. A table is provided of the 39 species which she reared in Trinidad.


A mechanized system for the production processes planning involving the use of an electronic code device for data preparation on a punched tape of the "EPECT-IT" type, at the base of which there are classifiers of standard operations and transitions to individual design members, is considered. A fragment of the classifier and a skeleton diagram of the system are presented. It is pointed out that the use of the system helps improve the quality of the design work, as well as to yield considerable economic advantages. The system is in operation at some enterprises of the medical engineering industry.


Relativistic heavy-ion collisions can produce extremely strong magnetic fields in the collision regions. The spatial variation features of the magnetic fields are analyzed in detail for non-central Pb–Pb collisions at LHC at , 2760 and 7000 GeV and Au–Au collisions at RHIC at , 130 and 200 GeV. The dependencies of magnetic field on proper time, collision energies and impact parameters are investigated in this paper. It is shown that an enormous and highly inhomogeneous spatial distribution magnetic field can indeed be created in off-centre relativistic heavy-ion collisions in RHIC and LHC energy regions. The enormous magnetic field is produced just after the collision, and the magnitude of magnetic field of the LHC energy region is larger than that of the RHIC energy region at small proper time. It is found that the magnetic field in the LHC energy region decreases more quickly with the increase of proper time than that of the RHIC energy region.


BackgroundSelf-esteem and body image are the factors that change during different periods of a women's life. Some of the women experience low self-esteem and negative body image in pregnancy and postpartum. These two factors along with other factors can reduce the rate of exclusive breastfeeding among women. Cognitive-behavior therapy is one of the psychological approaches that is effective on the betterment of many of the psychological and personality disorders such as body image disorders as well as improvement of self-esteem. The aim of this randomized control trial is to recognize the effects of cognitive-behavior counseling during pregnancy period on self-esteem, body image (primary outcome) and exclusive breastfeeding (secondary outcome).Methodsin this randomized controlled trial, 70 eligible pregnant women referring to health centers of Tabriz- Iran were assigned to two groups of 35 as intervention and control groups using randomized blocking method. For intervention group, 8 sessions of cognitive-behavior therapy based on Cash and Strachan's body image protocol and Michael Free's for self-esteem were performed.Rosenberg self-esteem scale and multidimensional body self-relation questionnaire (MBSRQ) were completed before intervention, immediately after intervention and 4 weeks after delivery. Likewise, exclusive breastfeeding questionnaire was completed 4 weeks after childbirth. Independent t-test, chi square and repeated measures ANOVA tests were used to analyze the data.ResultsAccording to repeated measures ANOVA test and with controlling baseline score, the mean scores on self-esteem (adjusted mean difference (AMD): 7.18; 95%CI: 4.43 to 9.94; p<0.001) and body image (AMD: 49.74; 95%CI: 70.91 to 28.54; p<0.001) in the intervention group were significantly higher than the control group. 63.6 % of intervention group mothers and 30.3% of control group mothers had exclusive breastfeeding which for the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group based on chi square test (p=0.007). Conclusionscognitive-behavior approach was effective on the improvement of self-esteem and body image and through which might lead to the increase of exclusive breastfeeding among women. Trial register number: Iranian registry clinical trials (IRCT20110524006582N33). Date of registration: 2020-8-19. URL: https://en.irct.ir/trial/43395.


Well-dispersed fluorite Er2Zr2O7 nanocrystals have been successfully prepared by a convenient salt-assistant combustion method. The effects of calcinations temperature and salt category on the characteristics of the products were investigated by XRD and TEM. The thermal treatment temperature has an important effect on crystal size and lattice distortion of the nanocrystals. The experiment showed that the introduction of salt in the combustion synthesis process resulted in the formation of well-dispersed Er2Zr2O7 nanocrystals. The average size was 30 nm and was in agreement with the XRD result, which indicated that the nanocrystals were uniform in particle size distribution. Moreover, the possible formation process in the salt-assisted combustion synthesis was also analyzed.


Men 2.7% 19.4% 46.1% 30.0% 1.8% 100.0% Women 0.9% 17.1% 52.2% 29.6% 0.2% 100.0% Men and women 2.1% 18.6% 48.2% 29.9% 1.2% 100.0% To the Editor: It is astonishing that a journalist preparing what seems intended as a comprehensive article on medical booksellers in Sydney should apparently have failed to discover the existence of the Medical Society Book Depot. This gap in the research done by Ms Way will be glaringly obvious to the thousands of medical graduates from Sydney University who have relied for 30-odd years (and still do!) on the bookshop run by the Sydney University Medical Society. The original and for very many years the only specialist medical bookshop in Sydney is situated within the Medical School (Blackburn Building)on the University Campus. It carries an unsurpassed selection of books covering every aspect of medicine, and offers expertise and services (including mail and phone orders) of the highest standard.


Fifteen children (16 years and younger, 10 females, 5 males, mean age 13 years) with juvenile primary fibromyalgia syndrome (JPFS) were seen in a private rheumatology practice over two years. This represented 45 percent of the total number of pediatric rheumatology patients. Symptoms included polymyalgias, polyarthralgias, nonrestorative sleep, difficulty concentrating in school and fatigue. Examination revealed typical tender points, absence of joint swelling, synovitis or nodules and absence of neurological findings. Dolorimetry was abnormal and standard laboratory tests were normal. Most of these patients (67 percent) had seen three or more doctors prior to their rheumatological evaluation and not (60 percent) were told they had juvenile chronic arthritis. Other diagnoses offered were "growing pains" (20 percent), hysteria (7 percent) and psychological problems (7 percent). None of the JPFS patients responded to salicylate or other anti-inflammatory medication. Most (73 percent) responded to cyclobenzaprine, mean dose 12.75 mg. (range 5-25 mg. qhs). JPFS is a very common pediatric rheumatologic problem and is confused with other disorders. Reassurance is very important in the therapy since many parents are fearful that their children may have a potentially crippling disorder. Medication, especially with tricyclics, moderate exercise and proper sleep are also mainstays of therapy.


Tissue is frequently damaged or lost in injury and disease. There has been an increasing interest in stem cell applications and tissue engineering approaches in surgical practice to deal with damaged or lost tissue. Tissue engineering is an exciting strategy being explored to deal with damaged or lost tissue. It is the science of generating tissue using molecular and cellular techniques, combined with material engineering principles, to replace tissue. This could be in the form of cells with or without matrices. There have been developments in almost all surgical disciplines, including plastic surgery. Unfortunately significant hurdles remain to be overcome in many areas before tissue engineering becomes more routinely used in clinical practice. In this paper, the tissue engineering approaches relevant to plastic surgery for tendons and skin are discussed. © 2013 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.


Objective: To develop and implement a new audiological fitting procedure for auditory brain stem implants (ABIs), based on an efficient algorithm, and to compare it with two procedures presently used in clinical practice. Design: First, the different procedures were compared by using computer models and simulations with normal-hearing subjects (N = 4). This allows for an analysis of the accuracy of the procedures in a way that is not possible when testing ABI users. The root-mean-square error between the order estimated by the procedure and the true order was calculated. In addition, ABI users (N = 2) were tested with the new procedure to see if it could be successfully applied in clinic. The degree of variability of their results across runs and sessions was analyzed. Results: The tests of the normal-hearing subjects showed that our proposed procedure required significantly fewer trials (22 on average) than procedures presently used in clinic (with 76 and 234 trials on average for the two other procedures tested) to produce the same degree of accuracy. Computer modeling also demonstrated this advantage. Additional testing showed this advantage was maintained under a variety of conditions relevant to the clinic. The two patients tested were able to use this procedure with success, even though they were poor at discriminating the pitch of electrodes. The patients showed results consistent with having about 4 to 5 discriminable groups of electrodes with the 12 to 14 electrodes tested. Conclusions: The proposed procedure requires fewer trials to produce a clinically useful result and is well tolerated in the clinic. An additional advantage is that it allows testing to be broken down into several "blocks," each containing a small number of trials. If the variability between blocks is small, information can be combined across blocks to increase the accuracy of the result. If the variability is large, perhaps between blocks on different days, this may reflect a significant change in the percepts generated by the implant, and signal to the clinician that a significant alteration in the fitting is required. We recommend its use in ABI user fitting and in cochlear implant fitting when pitch ranking is problematic.


The following stray descriptions and records refer to species from New Guinea, Kei Island, Sumatra and Java. The material is chiefly in the collection of the British Museum (Natural History), London (BM) and also in the Leiden Museum (LM). Four genera and 11 species are discribed on the following pages. My thanks are due to Mr. Ch. Hoorn, of this museum, for his able printing of the photographs. Tortricidae: Tortricinae: Archipini Adoxophyes croesus spec. nov (pl. 1 figs. 1-4) ♂ 19-21 mm. Head light ochreous mixed with fulvous, face fulvous. Palpus light ochreous-fulvous. Antenna light ochreous. Thorax light ochreous, mixed with fulvous, a large subapical raised crest deep ferruginous. Abdomen light orange-ochreous, anal tuft very large, whitish-ochreous inside. Fore wing rather broad, truncate, costal fold extremely broad, beyond base reaching almost to middle of wing breadth, thence gradually narrowed to beyond middle of costa, costa curved anteriorly, slightly and somewhat irregularly concave beyond base, gently sinuate posteriorly, apex obtusely rectangular, termen gently concave above, rounded and prominent below, vertical, almost outwards-oblique. Pale ochreous, strewn with concolorous but brightly glossy and slightly curled scales. Markings ferruginous, with narrow, deep ferruginous edges. Basal patch reaching almost to middle, edge prominent below middle, with two acute teeth, lower of these in fold, between prominence and costal fold with a rectangular excision, two spots of ground colour on base of dorsum; space between basal patch and central fascia reduced to a series of four blotches of ground colour, costal and subcostal quadrate,


Antimicrobial activity of Vietnamese coriander, turmeric, and asam gelugor leaves
 were determined via in vitro using agar well diffusion test and minimum inhibitory
 concentration (MIC). The leaves of these plants have continuously applied in the
 food system, and in this case, gulai tempoyak paste (GTP) had been chosen as the
 food subject to evaluate the effectiveness of these leaves in controlling microbial
 growth through the study of storage condition. Apart from that, the phytochemistry
 and the sensory properties of GTP were determined to identify the differences
 between nil addition of plant leaves (control sample) and with addition of
 Vietnamese coriander, turmeric, and asam gelugor leaves. Based on agar well
 diffusion test result, a concentration of 2 mg/mL of Vietnamese coriander leaves
 extract in distilled water showed strong antibacterial effect with (17.20 ± 5.42 mm)
 at inhibition zone. As for antifungal activity, extract of turmeric leaves in distilled
 water resulted strong activity (15.13 ± 0.17 mm) at inhibition zone compared to
 other solvents. Meanwhile, as for MIC, 2 mg/mL was the lowest concentration
 needed from all extracts of leaves to inhibit growth of microbial, as shown in
 Vietnamese coriander, turmeric, and asam gelugor leaves extracts towards selected
 spoilage microorganisms. On the other hand, GTP without addition of leaves was
 treated as control and all the prepared GTPs were stored at 30 °C for 2 days before
 analyses had been carried out using total plate count (TPC) and yeast and mould
 count (YMC). The addition of asam gelugor leaves to GTP for 5 minutes of the
 cooking period significantly (p<0.05) reduced TPC (log10 3.54 CFU/g) compared
 to Vietnamese coriander (log10 4.67 CFU/g) and turmeric leaves (log10 4.70
 CFU/g). Apart from that, this study also demonstrated that TPC and YMC for GTP
 with plant leaves reduced significantly within 14 days when stored at 4 oC, and up
 to 8 days when stored at 30 oC, thus, emphasize the microbiological evaluation of
 GTP. Moreover, the phytochemistry properties of the GTP samples demonstrated significant differences (p<0.05) in pH, moisture, ash, crude fat, crude fibre and
 carbohydrate between the control sample and the treated samples. Higher level of
 crude fibre content was demonstrated in GTP added with Vietnamese coriander
 (4.42 ± 0.23%). Based on sensory evaluation test, the addition of plant leaves
 slightly affected the acceptability of eating and the physical quality scores of GTP.
 Nevertheless, there was insignificant difference (p>0.05) in colour,
 viscosity/consistency, spiciness, and aftertaste. GTP added with Vietnamese
 coriander leaves resulted in better aroma mean score, and at once produced
 significantly higher result for overall acceptability. In conclusion, these three types
 of plant leaves exhibited antimicrobial activity of against selected spoilage bacteria
 and the addition of plant leaves in GTP possibly improved the microbial safety by
 inhibiting microbial growth. Furthermore, there were significant effects on
 microbiological safety of GTP when added with Vietnamese coriander, turmeric,
 and asam gelugor leaves at different exposure time based on TPC and YMC.
 Besides, the phytochemistry and the sensory properties of the GTP samples with
 addition of plant leaves also improved in terms of crude fibre content as well as
 enhanced sensory attributes for colour, aroma, taste, and overall acceptability of
 the product.


The integration to the EU markets has resulted in significant changes in production and market activities in Hungarian agriculture. Our case study found that efforts on product differentiation through quality improvement have been critical for staying competitive in the more liberalized market conditions. Diversification of farming and non-farming activities seems to be also important for farm management coping with production and price risks associated with agricultural production and marketing activities. Organic farming in Hungary is certainly one way of achieving success in competitive markets in the EU. Lack of appropriate policy tools and shortage of new institutions to support Hungarian farms, which are in search for survival in the EU markets, obviously limit the enhancement of farming businesses in Hungary. Authors think that the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture can do better job in informing everyone in farming businesses the available resources in the CAP framework. The delay in the payment for the tax refund is creating a serious financial problem for Hungarian agriculture. Prompt actions are required for policy decision makers in Hungary.