The pronounced effects of the composition of four-atom monometallic Cu and Pd and bimetallic CuPd clusters and the support on the catalytic activity and selectivity in the oxidative dehydrogenation of cyclohexene are reported. The ultra-nanocrystalline diamond supported clusters are highly active and dominantly produce benzene; some of the mixed clusters also produce cyclohexadiene, which are all clusters with a much suppressed combustion channel. The also highly active TiO2-supported tetramers solely produce benzene, without any combustion to CO2. The selectivity of the zirconia-supported mixed CuPd clusters and the monometallic Cu cluster is entirely different; though they are less active in comparison to clusters with other supports, these clusters produce significant fractions of cyclohexadiene, with their selectivity towards cyclohexadiene gradually increasing with the increasing number of copper atoms in the cluster, reaching about 50% for Cu3Pd1. The zirconia-supported copper tetramer stands out from among all the other tetramers in this reaction, with a selectivity towards cyclohexadiene of 70%, which far exceeds those of all the other cluster-support combinations. The findings from this study indicate a positive effect of copper on the stability of the mixed tetramers and potential new ways of fine-tuning catalyst performance by controlling the composition of the active site and via cluster-support interactions in complex oxidative reactions under the suppression of the undesired combustion of the feed.


ABSTRACT Introduction Ascites is a common complication of chronic liver diseases and is related to the extent of portal hypertension. This study evaluated whether the serum ascites albumin gradient (SAAG) (the difference between the albumin level of serum and of ascitic fluid) is endowed with clinical implications. Materials and methods This is a prospective study involving 50 patients with cirrhosis of liver with ascites. The SAAG was measured in all patients and its relation with portal hypertensive changes was analyzed. Results Based on SAAG values, the patients were divided into three groups: Group 1 – SAAG value 1.1 to 1.49 gm/dL (n = 15); group 2 – SAAG value 1.5 to 1.99 gm/dL (n = 9); and group 3 – SAAG value 2.0 gm/dL (n = 26). In group 1, 14 patients had esophageal varices (93.3%) and 13 had gastropathy (86.6%). In group 2, all 9 patients had esophageal varices (100%), 7 (77.7%) had gastropathy, and 1 (11.1%) had gastric varices. In group 3, all 26 patients had esophageal varices (100%), 24 patients (92.3%) had gastropathy, and 1 patients (3.8%) had gastric varices. Conclusion Serum ascites albumin gradient value is weakly related to the extent of portal hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis and its implication seems to be limited in clinics. How to cite this article Shahed FHM, Al-Mahtab M, Rahman S. The Evaluation of Serum Ascites Albumin Gradient and Portal Hypertensive changes in Cirrhotic Patients with Ascites. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2016;6(1):8-9.


Pigeons were trained to peck with differing force requirements on a key specially designed to measure and control force of pecking without changes in the mechanical threshold. Following training on a key illuminated by a single wavelength, a generalization test was given. Force and rate gradients were obtained. Force gradients were shown to have a form similar to rate gradients. The slope of the force gradients was a direct function of the force of responding at the conclusion of training. Rate gradients were independent of the force of responding.


The effects of environment temperature on initiation and multiplication of transverse crack in cross-ply carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) laminates have been investigated. Static tensile tests for the cross-ply laminates and the 90° unidirectional laminates were carried out at room temperature, 93 °C and 130 °C, respectively. The transverse cracks were observed by soft X-ray photography. The tensile strength and the failure strain in the cross-ply laminates and the 90° unidirectional laminates at high temperature decreased compared to the values at room temperature. It was also found that the behavior of initiation and multiplication of the transverse cracks in the cross-ply laminates was changed due to the environment temperature. The experimental results under different temperature were analyzed by Weibull distribution on the basis of probabilistic model. Next, the energy release rate was calculated due to formation of a new micro crack based on the Weibull distribution. The predicted transverse crack density by Weibull distribution was compared with the experiment result and the reasonability of using Weibull distribution to CFRTP cross-ply laminates under high temperature was verified. It was found that the critical energy release rate of CFRTP laminates has decreased at high temperature and the experimental results showed that the matrix strength was decreased at high temperature. Also, the fiber-matrix interfacial fracture on the fracture surface of the 90° unidirectional laminates was observed in some areas at high temperature whereas the matrix fracture was observed at room temperature. Therefore, it was suggested that the interface strength between polymer and fiber was decreased at high temperature.


Purifying efficiency and culture performance in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) combined with subsurface flow wetland (SFW) were investigated in this paper. The results showed that the wetland effectively removed total suspended solids (78.6%), chemical oxygen demand (49.2%), 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (70.4%), total ammonia (53.7%) and nitrite (64.7%) from the aquaculture effluents at a hydraulic loading rate of 344 mm/d. The channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) with initial length of 18.97±2.92 cm were reared for 223 days in three recycling ponds at different stocking densities (0.055, 0.109, and 0.164 kg/m3) and a control pond at stocking density 0.055 kg/m3. Fish were fed to satiation twice daily with a commercial diet and the amount fed was measured to determine feed efficiency (FE). In the recycling ponds, fish growth appeared to be negatively correlated with stocking density, in which total weight gain of fish ranged from 374.9% to 886.7%. Fish in the control pond had low survival rate (61.1%) and total weight gain (465.2%), comparing with the recycling pond which had same stocking density (0.055 kg/m3). Feed efficiency (0.34) of the control pond was also significantly lower than that of the 0.055 kg/m3 treatment (0.96). A logistic model of was employed to simulate the growth of channel catfish. The estimated parameters and predicted results showed that the growth rate of channel catfish reared in recycling pond is significantly higher than that in static pond.


OBJECTIVES
To describe the proportions of veterans living with schizophrenia-related disorders monitored for dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia and to investigate whether the likelihood of metabolic dysregulation monitoring was influenced by veterans' sociodemographic characteristics, preswitch pharmacologic treatment, and monitoring before the switch from one second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) to another.

DESIGN
Retrospective, observational, descriptive study.

SETTING
Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System between October 1, 2001, and December 31, 2003.

PATIENTS
1,826 veterans with schizophrenia-related disorders.

INTERVENTION
Veterans who were dispensed two or more prescriptions for one of five SGAs (i.e., clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, and ziprasidone) on the VA Healthcare System formulary were identified. Of these veterans, a subset that was switched from one SGA to another was identified. From this subset, veterans were identified who were on the first SGA continuously for at least 90 days before the index date and the new SGA for 180 or more days after. Finally, among these veterans, ICD-9 codes were used to identify veterans with a schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder diagnosis (ICD-9 code 295.xx or 296).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Proportions of veterans with lipid (i.e., low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides) and blood glucose (i.e., fasting blood glucose [FBG], glycosylated hemoglobin [A1C]) laboratory results.

RESULTS
Nearly 39% of the veterans had at least one of three lipid fractions monitored 6 months or less before their SGA switch and 59% during the 12 months after. The corresponding proportions of veterans monitored were 57% and 80% for FBG and 19% and 31% for A1C. Pharmacologic agent for metabolic dysregulation, monitoring during the 6 months before the switch, and age 50 years or older were significant predictors of monitoring after the SGA switch for all three laboratory parameters.

CONCLUSION
These findings serve as a benchmark for lipid and blood glucose monitoring among patients who switch SGA therapy. Veterans' metabolic dysregulation was more likely to be monitored after SGA switch for those receiving pharmacologic treatment for metabolic dysregulation, monitored before the switch, and aged 50 years or older. Implementation of monitoring guidelines in daily practice is emphasized to ensure that individuals living with schizophrenia-related disorders and taking SGAs achieve optimal physical health.


Although studies have shown that adherence to traditional masculine norms (i.e., Status, Toughness, Antifemininity) affect men's attitudes toward sexual health, there is little research on how men's adherence to these norms affect them in the context of heterosexual, dyadic relationships. Among 296 young pregnant couples, we investigated the extent to which adherence to traditional masculine norms affected male and female partners' own condom-related beliefs (i.e., condom self-efficacy, positive condom attitudes) and that of their partners. We tested an interdependence model using a dyadic-analytic approach to path analysis. We also tested for differences across gender and race-ethnicity (i.e., African American, Hispanic). Results showed that adherence to the Antifemininity and Toughness masculine norms predicted negative condom-related beliefs, whereas, overall, adherence to the Status norm predicted positive condom-related beliefs. Men's and women's adherence to traditional norms about masculinity were associated with their partner's condom self-efficacy, and moderated associations based on gender and race-ethnicity were detected. In contrast, each dyad member's traditional masculine norms were not associated with his or her partner's positive condom attitudes. Taken together, findings indicated that the roles of traditional masculinity and condom-related beliefs in sexual health should be addressed within the context of relationships and associations between masculine norms and condom-related beliefs are not uniformly negative.


Estimating the sensitivity of swaption values to volatility changes is tricky, because there are many different ways the volatility function may be deformed that give rise to the same change in overall variance. The authors show how a standard recalibration based on perturbing forward rate volatilities and simulating the changes in swaption values the "time homogeneous forward rate volatility" approach can lead to substantial uncertainty in swap vegas. They propose an alternative technique based on time homogeneity of swap rate volatility, which performs much better because it distributes the effect of the perturbation more smoothly across maturities. This allows more accurate swap vega estimates using many fewer Monte Carlo runs.


&NA; As with biopsies from other sites in the female genital tract, immunohistochemistry is now being increasingly used in cervical pathology as an aid to diagnosis. In this review, I discuss applications of immunohistochemistry in diagnostic cervical pathology with a particular focus on recent developments. It is emphasised that immunohistochemistry is to be used as an adjunct to routine morphological examination and that no marker is totally specific or sensitive for a given lesion. Although much of this review focuses on glandular lesions, the value of markers, such as MIB1 and p16, in the assessment of pre‐invasive cervical squamous lesions is discussed. In the broad field of cervical glandular lesions, topics covered include: the value of markers such as MIB1, p16 and bcl‐2 in distinguishing adenocarcinoma in situ and glandular dysplasia from benign mimics; markers of mesonephric lesions, including CD10; markers of value in the diagnosis of minimal deviation adenocarcinoma, such as HIK1083; markers of value in distinguishing metastatic cervical adenocarcinoma in the ovary from primary ovarian endometrioid or mucinous adenocarcinoma. Rarely ectopic prostatic tissue occurs in the cervix, which can be confirmed by positive staining with prostatic markers. A panel of markers, comprising oestrogen receptor, vimentin, monoclonal carcinoembryonic antigen and p16, is of value in distinguishing between a cervical adenocarcinoma and an endometrial adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type. Markers of use in the diagnosis of cervical neuroendocrine neoplasms, including small cell and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, are discussed. It is stressed that small cell neuroendocrine carcinomas may be negative with most of the commonly used neuroendocrine markers and this does not preclude the diagnosis. p63, a useful marker of squamous neoplasms within the cervix, is of value in distinguishing small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (p63 negative) from small cell squamous carcinoma (p63 positive) and in confirming that a poorly differentiated carcinoma is squamous in type.


This paper focuses on the display of identity on Facebook, and more specifically on how undergraduate students in Cardiff, Wales, say they express identity on their profiles. The theoretical context of this study is observed processes of change in the way we play out identity through what have been described as globalisation, deterritorialisation and the rise of lifestyle consumer society. The paper is based on an analysis of responses from a questionnaire and interviews with 100 students from Media and Communication degrees at the University of Glamorgan. The data collection is designed to indicate what kinds of self-categorisation are used. These data are analysed using Social Actor Analysis developed by Machin and Van Leeuwen. The paper shows that we find a range of identity categories, some that are based around a biological model of national identity, while others focus on a belonging to a territory, others on national cultural activities and yet others link to lifestyle identity. What is most notable in this Welsh sample is the high use of nationalist identity categories and biological ethnic classification alongside other lifestyle identities.


The University of Utah Seismograph Stations (uuss) earthquake catalogs for the Utah and Yellowstone National Park regions contain two types of size measurements: local magnitude ( M L ) and coda magnitude ( M C ), which is calibrated against M L . From 1962 through 1993, uuss calculated M L values for southern and central Intermountain Seismic Belt earthquakes using maximum peak-to-peak (p-p) amplitudes on paper records from one to five Wood–Anderson (W-A) seismographs in Utah. For M L determinations of earthquakes since 1994, uuss has utilized synthetic W-A seismograms from U.S. National Seismic Network and uuss broadband digital telemetry stations in the region, which numbered 23 by the end of our study period on 30 June 2002. This change has greatly increased the percentage of earthquakes for which M L can be determined. It is now possible to determine M L for all M ≥3 earthquakes in the Utah and Yellowstone regions and earthquakes as small as M To maintain continuity in the magnitudes in the uuss earthquake catalogs, we determined empirical M L station corrections that minimize differences between M L s calculated from paper and synthetic W-A records. Application of these station corrections, in combination with distance corrections from Richter (1958) which have been in use at uuss since 1962, produces M L values that do not show any significant distance dependence. M L determinations for the Utah and Yellowstone regions for 1981–2002 using our station corrections and Richter's distance corrections have provided a reliable data set for recalibrating the M C scales for these regions. Our revised M L values are consistent with available moment magnitude determinations for Intermountain Seismic Belt earthquakes. To facilitate automatic M L measurements, we analyzed the distribution of the times of maximum p-p amplitudes in synthetic W-A records. A 30-sec time window for maximum amplitudes, beginning 5 sec before the predicted Sg time, encompasses 95% of the maximum p-p amplitudes. In our judgment, this time window represents a good compromise between maximizing the chances of capturing the maximum amplitude and minimizing the risk of including other seismic events.


To delineate potential angiogenic roles of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), we have investigated PDGF and its receptors on bovine aortic endothelial cells that exhibit spontaneous angiogenesis in vitro (angiogenic endothelial cells). Initiation of cord/tube formation by angiogenic endothelial cells required bovine or human serum. Neutralization of PDGF-BB in human serum with a monoclonal anti-PDGF-BB antibody reduced cord/tube formation by 37 +/- 10%, whereas neutralizing anti-PDGF-AA and an IgG isotype-matched control antibody had no effect. DNA synthesis in response to PDGF-BB increased as the cords and tubes developed; furthermore, PDGF-BB induced the incorporation of BrdU in the nuclei of cells associated with these structures. PDGF beta-receptor (PDGF-beta) mRNA increased concomitantly with cord/tube formation, and PDGFR-beta were specifically localized by immunocytochemistry to developing and mature cords and tubes. However, PDGFR-beta transcripts and protein were undetectable in nonangiogenic endothelial cells, and PDGF alpha-receptor mRNA was not expressed in either endothelial cell strain. In contrast to nonangiogenic endothelial cells, angiogenic endothelial cells did not express the PDGF B-chain, the required ligand for the PDGFR-beta. We conclude that (a) PDGF-BB can contribute to angiogenesis in vitro, (b) PDGFR-beta are specific for cord/tube-forming endothelial cells and mediate endothelial proliferation and cord/tube formation, and (c) in angiogenic and nonangiogenic endothelial cells, the expression of PDGFR- beta and PDGF B-chain is inversely correlated. We therefore suggest that paracrine PDGF might amplify angiogenesis via direct action on endothelially expressed PDGFR-beta.


The aim of the present study was to determine the sensitivity of Aeromonas hydrophila to dis-infectants and to propose an efficient method for control of fish diseases caused by this patho-gen The tested A. hydrophila strains were inactivated by the combinations of glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde and quaternary ammonium salts (HMI® Glicofin) and glutaraldehyde, (ethylene-dioxy) dimethanol and benzalkonium chloride (Aldesept®). Iodine (Desinfekt B®), n-alkyl-dimethyl-benzyl-ammonium chloride (HMI® Roda Super), ethanol (40%, 50% and 70%) and potassium permanganate (1000 mg/l) were also found effective against A. hydrophila. At a concentration of 5 mg/L, potassium permanganate reduced A. hydrophila (?TCC 7965) counts by 3% (log10 0.25), while the strain was completely inactivated by 100 mg/L. Under the influ-ence of 5 mg/L and 100 mg/L potassium permanganate, the clinical A. hydrophila isolate counts were reduced by 0.7% (log10 0.06), and 2.3% (log10 0.19), respectively. Most tested disinfectants were effective against A. hydrophila, with the exception of potassium permanga-nate at 5 mg/L.


The auther, having examined the frequency of ABO-type blood-types that appears in the total 10, 767 inhabitants, containing (including) the eastern shoremen of Koshikijima (male, 4.175, female, 3.738), the western-shoremen (male 726, female, 695) of the same, as well as the villagers of Kashima (male 671, female 762), with similar method as used in the case that examined the fingerprint, has arrived at results as follows: 1. Comparison in frequency proved among the eastern-shoremen, the western-shoremen, both of Koshikijima, and the village people of Kashima. The east-shoremen and Kashima people proved superior to the west-shoremen in their frequency of O-type blood, and besides, the former proved higher in ratio than Kashima villagers. As to A-type frequency, both the east-and west-shoremen surpassed Kashima villagers, but while in the former no marked difference has been detected among the three, the frequency proved rather high in general; in the frequency of AB-type, the west-coasters proved highest, compared to the east-shoremen or Kashima-villagers, the last proving very low indeed. II. Comparison of those people of Koshikijima, as well as of Kashima, with several local peoples of Kyushu. In their high ratio of frequency in O-type blood, the east-shoremen seem to belong the local people of Southern Kyushu; esp., they closely resemble the people of Tanegashima; whereas, the Kashima-villagers enjoy a still higher ratio. The west-shoremen closely approach to the local people of Northern Kyushu, but prove lower in ratio. In A-type frequency, both the east and west-shoremen indicate no special diversity, compared to the Noerthern and Southern Kyushu men; only the Kashima villagers have proved as inferior. In B-type frequency, the former three groups alike stand higher than the South-Kyushu men. In AB-type frequency, the western-shoremen is superior, but in Kashima villagers it has proved lower than local peoples of Kyushu. III. In eastern as well as western shoremen and Kashima villagers, the frequency of O-type which often characterized the southern peoples, shows more outstanding than in the South-Kyushu men; the eastern shoremen approach close to peoples of South-Kyushu and Tanegashima; moreover, have tendency to approach to such races and tribes as Amami-Oshima, Loochou, Taiwan-Takasago, Micronesia and Indonesia, with gradual stages in crease; the frequency in Kashima people so closely resembles those of Paiwan triwan tribe of Taiwan-Takasago race or Indonesians of Java, proving remarkably southern. In this point, the eastpeople and Kashima people, as seen from the fingerprint, reveal their southern quality; while west-shoremen, similar to the case of fingerprint, approaches to the Koreans in their low frequency of O-type blood type.


Purpose: To compare the outcomes, sessions and shock wave numbers in patients undergoing standard procedure shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) and patients undergoing SWL with mild hydronephrosis induced by full-bladder following oral hydration before SWL procedure for lower calyceal stones. Materials and Methods: Between January 2014- January 2016 a total of 371 patients who underwent SWL, for lower pole calyceal stones ≤ 2 cm, were included into the study. 127 patients were treated in the supine position (Group A), 123 in the prone position (Group B) and 121 in the prone position with full bladder and mild hydro- nephrosis checked by ultrasound before procedure (Group C). There were 286 men and 85 women with a mean ± SD age of 36 ± 11 years Results: The mean (SD) stone sizes within the group A, group B and group C were 11 mm (±3 mm), 12 mm (±4.1 mm) and 11 mm (± 3.8 mm) respectively. No significant difference was found in age ( P = .18) and stone size between 3 groups ( P = .07). The median interquartile range (IQR) number of shocks within the group A, group B and group C were 7600 (3855), 6500 (4300) and 6700 (4915) respectively. Significant difference was found in number of shock waves among 3 groups ( P < .01). The difference between groups according to stone expulsion rate was found significant in all sessions ( P = .01). Conclusion: The present study suggests that mild hydronephrotic status induced by full-bladder before SWL can lower cost and patient discomfort by decrease in number of sessions and increase in stone clearance.


In formation-flying satellite SAR system, especially the satellites are LEO or MEO, Doppler frequency shift of SAR echo has a character of long-range changes and quick time variation. Because of this, imaging with high quality become difficulty. Based on the theories and methods of universal gravitation, the relative positions and velocities between every satellite and the ground detection center can be computed, then the Doppler frequency shift for formation-flying satellite SAR system can be estimated that only need to known the parameters of satellite orbit, the working frequency and the azimuth of antenna of master satellite radar. The simulation results show that by using this method, the scope of Doppler frequency shift can be reduced to a very small range, about two in a thousand compared to original echo.


Abstract. A time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS)
utilizing the Filter Inlet for Gas and Aerosol (FIGAERO) was deployed at a
regional site 40 km north-west of Beijing and successfully identified and
measured 17 sulfur-containing organics (SCOs are organo/nitrooxy organosulfates and sulfonates) with biogenic and anthropogenic precursors. The SCOs
were quantified using laboratory-synthesized standards of lactic acid sulfate
and nitrophenol organosulfate (NP OS). The variation in field observations
was confirmed by comparison to offline measurement techniques (orbitrap and
high-performance liquid chromatography, HPLC) using daily averages. The mean
total (of the 17 identified by CIMS) SCO particle mass concentration was
210 ± 110 ng m−3 and had a maximum of 540 ng m−3,
although it contributed to only 2 ± 1 % of the organic aerosol (OA).
The CIMS identified a persistent gas-phase presence of SCOs in the ambient
air, which was further supported by separate vapour-pressure measurements of
NP OS by a Knudsen Effusion Mass Spectrometer (KEMS). An increase in
relative humidity (RH) promoted partitioning of SCO to the particle phase,
whereas higher temperatures favoured higher gas-phase concentrations. Biogenic emissions contributed to only 19 % of total SCOs measured in this
study. Here, C10H16NSO7, a monoterpene-derived SCO,
represented the highest fraction (10 %) followed by an isoprene-derived
SCO. The anthropogenic SCOs with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and
aromatic precursors dominated the SCO mass loading (51 %) with
C11H11SO7, derived from methyl naphthalene oxidation,
contributing to 40 ng m−3 and 0.3 % of the OA mass. Anthropogenic-related SCOs correlated well with benzene, although their abundance depended
highly on the photochemical age of the air mass, tracked using the ratio
between pinonic acid and its oxidation product, acting as a qualitative
photochemical clock. In addition to typical anthropogenic and biogenic
precursors the biomass-burning precursor nitrophenol (NP) provided a
significant level of NP OS. It must be noted that the contribution analysis
here is only representative of the detected SCOs. There are likely to
be many more SCOs present which the CIMS has not identified. Gas- and particle-phase measurements of glycolic acid suggest that
partitioning towards the particle phase promotes glycolic acid sulfate
production, contrary to the current formation mechanism suggested in the
literature. Furthermore, the HSO4⋅H2SO4- cluster measured by the
CIMS was utilized as a qualitative marker for acidity and indicates that the
production of total SCOs is efficient in highly acidic aerosols with high
SO42- and organic content. This dependency becomes more complex
when observing individual SCOs due to variability of specific VOC precursors.


Purpose: In NSABP B-41, pathologic complete response (pCR) was associated with prolonged survival among women with HER2-positive operable breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and lapatinib, trastuzumab, or the combination. We used a large human breast cancer gene expression panel to select candidate prognostic biomarkers for pCR among women treated with trastuzumab in NSABP B-41. Patients and Methods: Eligible patients had a baseline preadjuvant treatment core biopsy sample, known pCR status, and no withdrawal of consent. We analyzed extracted RNA using the human nCounter Breast Cancer 360 gene expression panel. Gene counts were normalized to housekeeping genes and transformed into logarithmic scale with base 2. To screen for candidate genes and metagene signatures prognostic of pCR, we used univariate logistic regression. Variable selection was done by multivariable logistic regression with lasso regularization. Results: Analyses of data from 130 patients revealed that a composite of gene expression from 19 genes and one gene signature appeared to predict pCR in women with HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy with trastuzumab-containing regimens. The identified genes are involved in important pathways such as epithelial–mesenchymal transition, adhesion and migration, estrogen receptor signaling, DNA damage and repair, apoptosis, and proliferation. The AUC from a 10-fold cross-validation on predicting pCR, with these 20 genomic markers in a logistic regression model, was 0.73. Conclusions: The expression level of ERBB2, ESR1, and a few other genomic markers was highly predictive of pCR after trastuzumab-containing regimens. These findings need to be validated and calibrated in future studies.


This paper investigates the noise shaping properties of a sigma-delta modulator type control system applied to a micromachined accelerometer. Three noise sources are present in such an electromechanical closed loop system: mechanical noise due to Brownian motion, electronic noise introduced by the interface circuit due to thermal noise sources in the electronic devices and quantisation noise due to the analog to digital conversion process. It is well known that the sigma-delta modulator system shapes the quantisation noise in an advantageous way by attenuating it in the signalband. It is shown here that it also shapes the electronic noise favorably. However, this property is less pronounced. The Brownian noise remains unaffected in the signal band. With the outlined simulation procedures it is possible to predict the dominant noise contributions for different sampling frequencies of the sigma-delta control system and hence design an optimized control system. Ke ywo r d s : Brownian noise, quantisation noise, micromachined accelerometers, sigma-delta modulator


Curling is compared to the Chess because of variety and importance of strategies. For winning the Curling game, selecting optimal strategies at decision making points are important. However, there is lack of research on optimal strategies for Curling. 'Aggressive' and 'Conservative' strategies are common strategies of Curling; nevertheless, even those two strategies have never been studied before. In this study, Markov Decision Process would be applied for Curling strategy analysis. Those two strategies are defined as actions of Markov Decision Process. By solving the model, the optimal strategy could be found at any in-game states.


Quantifying the impact of teaching quality on pupil learning, and understanding what teacher characteristics or practices are likely to improve student achievement, are pressing research questions in all countries. Empirical evidence also needs to be context specific since different education systems are likely to have different facilitators and barriers to good teaching. Existing evidence, largely from the US, suggests a number of strong research designs that enable researchers to model the impact of teaching on pupil achievement. However, operationalising these models in more resource-constrained contexts is challenging. In this paper we describe our attempt to model the impact of teachers and their practices on pupil achievement using the quantitative data generated for this research (household and school surveys with a teacher survey and an attempt to assess teacher knowledge). We describe the challenges when trying to implement this approach in the Indian and Pakistan context and the methodological adaptions needed. We reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of our approach. We note that existing literature tends to provide relatively minimal descriptions of the specific research design and instruments used to model teacher quality and hence provides a partial picture of methodological considerations. In this paper we contribute a detailed and frank account of developing a workable research design and the challenges we encountered.


The Holomorphic Embedding Load-Flow Method (HELM) solves the power-flow problem to obtain the bus voltages as rational approximants, that is, a ratio of complex-valued polynomials of the embedding parameter. The proof of its claims (namely that: 1) it is guaranteed to find a solution if it exists; 2) it is guaranteed to find only a high-voltage (operable) solution; and 3) that it unequivocally signals if no solution exists) are rooted in complex analysis and the theory developed by Antonio Trias and Herbert Stahl. HELM is one variant of the holomorphic embedding method (HEM) for solving nonlinear equations, the details of which may differ from those available in its published patents. In this paper we show that the HEM represents a distinct class of nonlinear equation solvers that are recursive, rather than iterative. As such, for any given problem, there are an infinite number of HEM formulations, each with different numerical properties and precision demands. The objective of this paper is to provide an intuitive understanding of HEM and apply one variant to the power-flow problem. We introduce one possible PV bus model compatible with the HEM and examine some features of different holomorphic embeddings, giving step-by-step details of model building, germ calculation, and the recursive algorithm.


Plant sterol (PS)-supplemented foods are recommended to help in lowering serum LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C). Few studies have examined the efficacy of PS-enriched skimmed milk (SM) or semi-SM enriched with vegetable fat (PS-VFM). There is also insufficient information on factors predictive of LDL-C responses to PS. We examined the effects of PS-SM (0·1 % dairy fat) and PS-VFM (0·1 % dairy fat plus 1·5 % vegetable fat) on serum lipids and non-cholesterol sterols in hypercholesterolaemic individuals. In a placebo-controlled, crossover study, forty-three subjects with LDL-C>1300 mg/l were randomly assigned to three 4-week treatment periods: control SM, PS-SM and PS-VFM, with 500 ml milk with or without 3·4 g PS esters (2 g free PS). Serum concentrations of lipids and non-cholesterol sterols were measured. Compared to control, LDL-C decreased by 8·0 and 7·4 % (P < 0·015, both) in the PS-SM and PS-VFM periods, respectively. Serum lathosterol:cholesterol (C) ratios increased by 11-25 %, while sitosterol:C and campesterol:C ratios increased by 70-120 % with both the PS-fortified milk. Adjusted LDL-C reductions were variably enhanced in participants with basal low serum lathosterol/C or conversely high sitosterol/C and campesterol/C. Subjects with post-treatment serum PS:C ratios above the median showed mean LDL-C changes of - 5·9 to - 10·4 %, compared with 1·7 to - 2·9 % below the median. In conclusion, consumption of 2 g/d of PS as PS-SM and PS-VFM lowered LDL-C in hypercholesterolaemic subjects to a similar extent. Basal and post-treatment changes in markers of cholesterol metabolism indicating low cholesterol synthesis and high cholesterol absorption predicted improved LDL-C responses to PS.


We propose a new methodology for reliably solving the correspondence problem between sparse sets of points of two or more images. This is a key step inmost problems of computer vision and, so far, no general method exists to solve it. Our methodology is able to handle most of the commonly used assumptions in a unique formulation, independent of the domain of application and type of features. It performs correspondence and outlier rejection in a single step and achieves global optimality with feasible computation. Feature selection and correspondence are first formulated as an integer optimization problem. This is a blunt formulation, which considers the whole combinatorial space of possible point selections and correspondences. To find its global optimal solution, we build a concave objective function and relax the search domain into its convex-hull. The special structure of this extended problem assures its equivalence to the original one, but it can be optimally solved by efficient algorithms that avoid combinatorial search. This methodology can use any criterion provided it can be translated into cost functions with continuous second derivatives.


The molecular mechanisms regulating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) persistence in a major cell reservoir such as the macrophage remain unknown. NF-kappa B is a transcription factor involved in the regulation of the HIV long terminal repeat and is selectively activated following HIV infection of human macrophages. Although little information as to what signal transduction pathways mediate NF-kappa B activation in monocytes-macrophages is available, our previous work indicated that classical protein kinase C (PKC) isoenzymes were not involved in the HIV-mediated NF-kappa B activation. In this study, we have focused on atypical PKC isoenzymes. PKC-zeta belongs to this family and is known to be an important step in NF-kappa B activation in other cell systems. Immunoblotting experiments with U937 cells demonstrate that PKC-zeta is present in these cells, and its expression can be downmodulated by antisense oligonucleotides (AO). The HIV-mediated NF-kappa B activation is selectively reduced by AO to PKC-zeta. In addition, cotransfection of a negative dominant molecule of PKC-zeta (PKC-zeta mut) with NF-kappa B-dependent reporter genes selectively inhibits the HIV- but not phorbol myristate acetate- or lipopolysaccharide-mediated activation of NF-kappa B. That PKC-zeta is specific in regulating NF-kappa B is concluded from the inability of PKC-zeta(mut) to interfere with the basal or phorbol myristate acetate-inducible CREB- or AP1-dependent transcriptional activity. Lastly, we demonstrate a selective inhibition of p24 production by HIV-infected human macrophages when treated with AO to PKC-zeta. Altogether, these results suggest that atypical PKC isoenzymes, including PKC-zeta, participate in the signal transduction pathways by which HIV infection results in the activation of NF-kappa B in human monocytic cells and macrophages.


The following article is an autoethnographic reading of carnival as an inter-cultural and interpersonal event, and one that does not always profit from anthropological models such as inversion or safety-valve theories. The radical proximity of carnival experience destroys the objectivity of the event and makes it meaningful mainly as a lived-in moment. The following is an account of an individual experience that defines the significance of carnival as a form of kinesis, the shaking up of the static ethnographic "I"; an (un)expected humping. My case-study is the Pyrenean carnival of Bielsa in Spain, and my theoretical ideonauts are Mikhail Bakhtin and Judith Butler. The analysis of their concepts of dialogism and performativity lead to a series of complex anthropological questions regarding the meaning and doing of social and cultural events.


The veterinary profession finds itself in the midst of a new world order. Today veterinarians are part of a world that is exquisitely interconnected culturally, economically, socially, and professionally. As a consequence, societal needs and expectations of the profession are more demanding, critical and far-reaching. Veterinarians must play important roles in five intersecting domains of work: public health, bio-medical research, global food safety and security, ecosystem health and the more traditional role of caring for animals. To be successful in this broad and complex range of services and activities, veterinarians must possess an expanded knowledge base, acquire new skills, and develop a new mindset that will ensure their success and excellence in all these domains. The veterinary profession is becoming more fragmented and specialised, and it needs to be brought back together by a single sphere of knowledge or discipline that can serve as an intellectual foundation. The concept of One World of Veterinary Medicine can do just that. With this mindset veterinarians will become better connected to the world around and gain new public recognition and esteem. To achieve this, a special commitment by academic veterinary medicine is, of course, essential. Veterinary schools must lead an educational transformation that reaffirms the social contract of veterinarians and works to align diverse sectors, build a global community, find a common purpose and expand the 21st Century veterinary portfolio of services, activities, and new possibilities.


Transient global amnesia (TGA) is a clinical syndrome characterized by reversible anterograde amnesia, in which the patient is alert, self-awareness appears intact and other neurological symptoms are absent. The diagnosis is based on the following criteria: i) witnessed event; ii) acute onset of anterograde amnesia; iii) no accompanying neurological symptoms; iv) no alteration of consciousness; v) no epileptic features; vi) resolution within 24 hours; vii) exclusion of other causes. We conducted a cohort study at the Department of Emergency Medicine on 119 patients with TGA diagnosis from 2010 to 2014, with follow-up evaluation by telephone interview. The objectives of our study were to evaluate the frequency of subsequent episodes, to identify predisposing factors, and to investigate whether TGA is a possible predictor of neurological disease. The frequency of comorbidity in our population was in line with literature. We observed a recurrence rate of 9.5%, with a prevalence for the male gender, while no other factor correlates with TGA recurrence. TGA was not a predictor of further neurological diseases. In conclusion, TGA is a benign pathology with a low probability of relapse. Accordingly, management in Emergency Department should be based on a correct initial clinical classification for rapid discharge.


PURPOSE
The objective of this study was to develop uncoated HPMC matrix tablets, evaluating the relationship and influence of different content levels of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), starch, and lactose, in order to achieve a zero-order release of Diclofenac Sodium.

METHODS
HPMC matrix tablets of Diclofenac Sodium using microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), starch, and lactose were prepared by wet granulation process. The USP paddle method was selected to perform the dissolution profiles carried out in 900 mL 0.1 N HCl, and phosphate buffer.

RESULTS
There was no significant difference in drug release between the hydrophilic matrices when the HPMC concentration was modified in low percentage. Release kinetics of Diclofenac Sodium from these swollen matrices was principally regulated by starch (17 percent) or lactose (17 percent), even on the presence of MCC. When starch (8.5 percent) and lactose (8.5 percent) were mixed at lower concentration in a ratio 1:1, MCC (5 percent or 7,5 percent) appeared to control the drug release. The release profile remained unchanged after three months storage of tablets. The best-fit release kinetics was achieved with the zero-order plot, followed by the Higuchi and first-order equations. The data obtained proved that the formulations are useful for a sustained release of Diclofenac, due to the percentage released after 8 hours is nearly to 70 percent.

CONCLUSIONS
The release of Diclofenac Sodium was influenced by the presence of MCC, and by the different concentrations of starch and lactose. Drug release kinetics from these formulations corresponded best to the zero-order kinetics. Compared to conventional tablets, release of the model drug from these HPMC matrix tablets was prolonged; as a result, an oral release dosage form to avoid the gastrointestinal adverse effects was achieved.


ABSTRACT
Introduction: Delay in access to health care involves problem
in disease recognition, decision making and availability of
health services. Health Care Seeking Behaviour (HCSB) is an
important component of Health Systems Research (HSR) which
is necessary for planning child health policies. Escalating health
care expenditure and inaccessibility to health care facilities have
been identified as major deterrent to seek health.
Aim: To study: 1) HCSB of mothers for childhood illness;
 2) Source of healthcare sought and expenditure incurred.
Materials and Methods: Cross sectional community based
study among representative sample of mothers of under 5 (U5),
1980 mothers from Dakshina Kannada district were interviewed
and 431 reported illness. HCSB was predefined by 'Appropriate
care', 'Appropriate and prompt care' and 'prompt care'. Health
expenditure incurred was studied in various income groups.
Results: Illness episodes were reported in 431 (22.6%) out of
1903 mothers. 'Appropriate and Prompt care' was given by 388
(90.02%) and most mothers interviewed were aware of danger
signs. Private Health Care System (PHCS) was preferred by
most, but expensive (Rs. 514.5) than Public Health System
(PHS) (Rs. 236) per illness episode. Of 262 people with income
less than 1000, 32(12.2%) did not have BPL card.
Conclusion: Significant percentage of families with monthly
income < Rs.1000 do not have BPL cards thereby deprived of
benefits, contributing to "impoverished care". Most mothers were
aware of danger signs and health services were available within
short distances, indicating good accessibility to healthcare.
Most mothers (90.02%) sought prompt and appropriate care
irrespective of economic status, literacy, occupation, parity and
distance from health provider.


AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with 0.2 m V-gate recesses were developed. The 0.2 m recess lengths were shrunk from the 0.6 m designed gate footprint length after isotropic SiN deposition and anisotropic recessed gate dry etching. The AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with 0.2 m V-gate recesses on sapphire substrates exhibited a current gain cutoff frequency ft of 35 GHz and a maximum frequency of oscillation fmax of 60 GHz. At 10 GHz frequency and 20 V drain bias, the V-gate recess devices exhibited an output power density of 4.44 W/mm with the associated power added efficiency as high as 49%.


In this article, a multi-link internet reverse charging (IRC) scheme model in a multi-service network with the addition of a bundling strategy is proposed. Reverse charging schemes in multi-link and multi-service networks are rarely discussed in previous studies. This financing scheme is designed with the aim of maximizing service provider profits by minimizing internet usage costs. The basic cost and satisfaction level of the service provided by the ISP is focused on this effort. The model formed in this study is a Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP) model that is completed using software LINGO 13.0. This problem comprises two cases, when α case as a parameter and β as a parameter and or variable with sub–cases   increases in usage based financing schemes. Thus, the results obtained can be a consideration for ISPs in determining the price of services that can support an ISP. The updated IRC model provides a more optimal solution than the original IRC model.


Coevolution between insects and bacterial endosymbionts contributes to the success of many insect lineages. For the first time, we tested for phylogenetic codivergence across multiple taxonomic scales, from within genera to superfamily between 36 psyllid species of seven recognised families (Hemiptera: Psylloidea), their exclusive primary endosymbiont Carsonella and more diverse secondary endosymbionts (S-endosymbionts). Within Aphalaridae, we found that Carsonella and S-endosymbionts were fixed in one Glycaspis and 12 Cardiaspina populations. The dominant S-endosymbiont was Arsenophonus, while Sodalis was detected in one Cardiaspina species. We demonstrated vertical transmission for Carsonella and Arsenophonus in three Cardiaspina species. We found strong support for strict cospeciation and validated the informative content of Carsonella as extended host genome for inference of psyllid relationships. However, S-endosymbiont and host phylogenies were incongruent, and displayed signs of host switching and endosymbiont replacement. The high incidence of Arsenophonus in psyllids and other plant sap-feeding Hemiptera may be due to repeated host switching within this group. In two psyllid lineages, Arsenophonus and Sodalis genes exhibited accelerated evolutionary rates and AT-biases characteristic of long-term host associations. Together with strict vertical transmission and 100% prevalence within host populations, our results suggest an obligate, and not facultative, symbiosis between psyllids and some S-endosymbionts.


Vocalizations of koalas are classified as follows: squeak, the basic call of cubs; squawk, a sign of mild distress or aggression; low grunt, the response to very weak stimulus contrast; harsh grunt, of fighting males. All these are poorly structured, with many overlapping frequencies; they are not discrete but are linked by intermediates. The snarl, wail and scream are agonistic calls made by females: the snarl is brief and guttural, the others prolonged and well structured, with distinct harmonics; all three serve as defensive threats only. The bellow is the characteristic male call, and consists of a long series of deep, snoring inhalations and belching exhalations. It is most frequent during the mating season, and is fully developed at 3 years old. Females bellow less often and more softly. The context of all agonistic calls is analysed; those of females are related to the degree of excitement and the nature of the stimulus; bellowing is related to the presence or apparent absence of stimulus and the degree of motivation. Bellowing probably functions as a general broadcast vocalization, evolved from a call made during aggression.


Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) programs can provide high-value care but may be challenging in people who inject drugs (PWID) and homeless individuals. We conducted a single-center, retrospective, cohort study of adults who received OPAT at an urban, public health hospital from January 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016, grouped by PWID and housing status. Outcomes included clinical cure, length of stay, secondary bacteremia, line-tampering, and readmission. A total of 596 patients (homeless PWID (9%), housed PWID (8%), homeless non-PWID (8%), and housed non-PWID (75%), received OPAT. Assuming that patients lost to follow-up failed therapy, homeless PWID were least likely to achieve cure compared with housed non-PWID, (odds ratio [OR] = 0.33, 95% CI 0.18-0.59; P < .001). Housed PWID were also less likely to achieve cure (OR = 0.37, 95% CI 0.20-0.67; P = .001). Cure rates did not differ in patients not lost to follow-up. OPAT can be effective in PWID and the homeless, but loss to follow-up is a significant barrier.


Problem-based learning (PBL) is one of the student centered approaches and has been considered by a number of higher educational institutions in many parts of the world as a method of delivery. This paper presents a creative thinking approach for implementing Problem-based Learning in Mechanics of Structure within a Malaysian Polytechnics environment. In the learning process, students learn how to analyze the problem given among the students and sharing classroom knowledge into practice. Further, through this course's emphasis on problem-based learning, students acquire creative thinking skills and professional skills as they tackle complex, interdisciplinary and real-situation problems. Once the creative ideas are generated, there are useful additional techniques for tender ideas that will grow into a productive concept or solution. The combination of creative skills and technical abilities will enable the students to be ready to "hit-the-ground-running" and produce in industry when they graduate.


This paper begins by reviewing literature relevant to the history of children of battered women and difficulties in defining domestic violence. Major attempts to explain the behavioral profile of children of battered women include issues related to family characteristics and patterns; effects of family violence on children; links between marital violence and child abuse; and critiques of assessment and treatment research studies. The major domains frequently studied in children's behavior problems related to exposure to multiple forms of family violence are identified and discussed. Particular attention is paid to the effects of wife battering and a violent home environment on the development of children, and the role these play in understanding the developmental delays and behavioral dysfunction of children who witness and experience violence. Research on the approaches to the assessment and treatment of children of battered women is reviewed. Directions for future research are also discussed. (Contains 150 references.) (Author/MKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. CHILDREN OF BATTERED WOMEN: FAMILY DYNAMICS AND THEIR EFFECT ON BEHAVIORAL PROFILES


Equipment in which an assembly of in-line cylindrical components rotated in water at 1040 rpm displayed excessive vibration after less than one hour of operation. The malfunction was traced to an aluminum alloy 6061-T6 combustion chamber that was part of the rotating assembly. Analysis (visual inspection, 100x/500x/800x micrographic examination, spectrographic analysis, and hardness testing) supported the conclusions that, as a result of improper heat treatment, the combustion-chamber material was too soft for successful use in this application. Misalignment of the combustion chamber and one or both of the mating parts resulted in eccentric rotation and the excessive vibration that caused malfunction of the assembly. Irregularities in the housing around the combustion chamber and temperature variation relating to the combustion pattern in the chamber were considered to be possible contributing factors to localization of the cavitation erosion. Recommendations included adopting inspection procedures to ensure that the specified properties of aluminum alloy 6061-T6 were obtained and that the combustion chamber and adjacent components were aligned within specified tolerances. In a similar situation, consideration should also be given to raising the pressure in the coolant in order to suppress the formation of cavitation bubbles.


A 16 Gb 4-state MLC NAND flash memory augments the sustained program throughput to 34 MB/s by fully exercising all the available cells along a selected word line and by using additional performance enhancement modes. The same chip operating as an 8 Gb SLC device guarantees over 60 MB/s programming throughput. The newly introduced all bit line (ABL) architecture has multiple advantages when higher performance is targeted and it was made possible by adopting the ldquocurrent sensingrdquo (as opposed to the mainstream ldquovoltage sensingrdquo) technique. The general chip architecture is presented in contrast to a state of the art conventional circuit and a double size data buffer is found to be necessary for the maximum parallelism attained. Further conceptual changes designed to counterbalance the area increase are presented, hierarchical column architecture being of foremost importance. Optimization of other circuits, such as the charge pump, is another example. Fast data access rate is essential, and ways of boosting it are described, including a new redundancy scheme. ABL contribution to energy saving is also acknowledged.


Previous studies by the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics (MOLGEN) research group at NTNU have investigated how N-terminal peptide fusions influence gene expression levels. The present study seeks to expand these efforts to reveal possible mechanisms that promote increased expression by application of peptide fusions. To meet this aim, novel peptide fusions of increasing lengths were constructed using the celB gene encoding phosphoglucomutase as a template. This was conducted to establish how the length of celB peptide fusions influences gene expression. Furthermore, the effect of 5´ terminal end mRNA secondary structures on gene expression was investigated. This was achieved by introduction of synonymous mutations to the celB fusions to possibly stabilize or eliminate secondary structures in the transcripts. To establish if the peptide fusions influence gene expression in a universal manner, three different proteins of medical importance were adopted as model proteins: IFN-α2b, GM-CSF and scFv-phOx-AP The results gained from this study suggest that celB fusion partners act to increase expression in a manner that positively correlates with the length of the celB fusion sequence. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that mRNA transcript levels do not fully correlate with levels of translated protein. Hence, it is assumed that peptide fusions influence both transcription/mRNA stability and translational efficiency. Two different mechanisms have been suggested to explain the stimulative effect of celB fusion partners on gene expression: increased ribosomal recruitment and optimized distribution of ribosomes along the transcript. The increase of ribosomal recruitment is thought to occur as a result of the fusion partners ability to destabilize a secondary structure forming within the RBS of transcripts. Optimized distribution of ribosomes is a possible consequence of fusion partners introducing poorly adapted codons at the 5´teminal end of transcripts. This concept has not been tested experimentally previously, which makes these results especially intriguing. Collectively, the suggested mechanisms could act to increase translation rates, while stabilizing the transcript. However, these mechanisms do not explain all the trends seen in the expression data, meaning that there must be additional undiscovered mechanisms that influence expression when celB fusion partners are utilized.


The Cauvery delta is the most productive food bowls in India and which cultivates more than 70 percent of paddy in Tamil Nadu. However, the situation of farmers suicides is alarming and leading to farm suicides manifested from the fragile situation during 2017, since farmer suicides are rare in this region. In this context, this study is taken-up and used descriptive research design with both primary and secondary data source. Empirical data have been collected from the 21 victim farmers' households of three Cauvery districts of Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, and Nagapattinam. The empirical research found several causes: the scarcity of water and drought are the major causes of the present agrarian crisis. It is reported that every victim farmers of the study area borrowed for crop cultivation and unable to repay the borrowings on time due to crop failure. The victim farmers are disappointed by the crop failure, agriculture policies, and schemes are failed to compensate for their needs. Thus, safety net measures like crop insurance and allowances may be provided as immediate relief from debts. Intensive counseling at the household level is another intervention, which may reduce the suicides immediately. Local educational institutions and their community service wings may be utilized for educating and counseling the distress farmers.


The literature pertaining to tumors of the third ventricle is largely concerned with the various clinical syndromes, postmortem observations and histologic studies of the lesions and, only recently, with preoperative diagnosis and surgical removal of the new growths. It is not my purpose in this paper to give a resume of the literature on the numerous clinical syndromes caused by tumors of the third ventricle, which have been so ably described by Weisenburg and by several others. 1 As regards the early diagnosis of these lesions, one finds that the injection of air into the ventricles either by the direct or by the lumbar route, as first described by Dandy 2 in 1918 and 1919, respectively, is of the greatest help. Furthermore, the injection of dye into one lateral ventricle to determine the patency of the foramina of Monro has also contributed to the diagnosis of lesions obstructing one or


In order to evaluate millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) intercropping, an experiment was conducted during 2008-2009 at Agriculture Research Center of Zabol University, Iran. The experiment was as randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatment s consisted of sole crop of millet, sole crop of cowpea, 25% millet + 100% cowpea, 50% millet + 50% cowpea, 75% millet + 100% cowpea and 100% millet + 100% cowpea. The results showed that intercropping treatments had significant effect (P < 1%) on millet and bean seed yield, LER, dry matter of weeds, PAR, temperature and (P < 5%) on soil moisture content. The highest seed yield of millet and cowpea obtained from treatments of sole crops. The LER for most intercrops was greater than one which indicated that intercropping had advantage over sole crop. For weeds management and control the results indicated that weed suppressing effects in intercropping treatments is better than sole crops treatment, so that the lowest dry matter of weeds obtained from 100% millet + 100% cowpea treatment. PAR in all of stages showed that the highest PAR interception obtained from intercropping treatments specially 100% millet + 100% cowpea treatment. In addition to the lowest of soil moisture content and temperature obtained from this treatment.


We conduct the first experiment in the literature in which a novel is translated automatically and then post-edited by professional literary translators. Our case study is Warbreaker, a popular fantasy novel originally written in English, which we translate into Catalan. We translated one chapter of the novel (over 3,700 words, 330 sentences) with two data-driven approaches to Machine Translation (MT): phrase-based statistical MT (PBMT) and neural MT (NMT). Both systems are tailored to novels; they are trained on over 100 million words of fiction. In the post-editing experiment, six professional translators with previous experience in literary translation translate subsets of this chapter under three alternating conditions: from scratch (the norm in the novel translation industry), post-editing PBMT, and post-editing NMT. We record all the keystrokes, the time taken to translate each sentence, as well as the number of pauses and their duration. Based on these measurements, and using mixed-effects models, we study post-editing effort across its three commonly studied dimensions: temporal, technical and cognitive. We observe that both MT approaches result in increases in translation productivity: PBMT by 18%, and NMT by 36%. Post-editing also leads to reductions in the number of keystrokes: by 9% with PBMT, and by 23% with NMT. Finally, regarding cognitive effort, post-editing results in fewer (29 and 42% less with PBMT and NMT, respectively) but longer pauses (14 and 25%).


Competition for trade liberalization is best explained by the concept of "competitive liberalization". The concept is used to analyze whether the EC/EU's trade liberalization has affected the decision of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to sign free trade agreements (FTA) with third countries. In order for "competitive liberalization" to be initiated and imitated, we suggest that it is critical for decision-makers to attribute their countries' lack of competitiveness to the liberalization measures of competitors. At the same time, decision makers must believe that the only way to rectify the situation is to join the competitive race by signing FTAs with trade partners. This being so, not only must objective trade data be used, but the subjective evaluations of decision makers must also be included to verify the competitive liberalization hypothesis. By analyzing covariations of long-term trade data and the 1960-2002 EFTA Council records, we find that the EC/EU's signing of an FTA increases the likelihood of EFTA signing an FTA. This is the case even when we control for trade variables. Moreover, the data from EFTA Council records suggests that the greater the emphasis that ministers place on FTA "word strings", the greater the likelihood that the EFTA will sign FTAs with other countries. This effect disappears if we control for trade data. Finally, we find that the more concerned EFTA ministers are with a state's application for EC/EU membership, the more likely it is that an FTA will be signed. Thus, subjectively speaking, the EFTA ministers' decision to sign FTAs with other countries may be more complicated than argued by theorists of "competitive liberalization".


Dosimetry of blood irradiation using x-ray beams on a medical linear accelerator has been studied to evaluate the accuracy of a diode detector and the delivery achievable. Variations in applied doses for a standard dual field 6 MV x-ray are measured with a commercial diode detector. Results show that the diode detector measured applied in vitro doses to within 5.4% (2 standard deviations (2 SD)) of those calculated with a collapsed-cone convolution treatment-planning computer for a sample of 100 blood irradiations. Experiments involving the packing procedure of the blood products in the blood box were performed. It was found that a large proportion of the variation in the predicted and measured dose was due to the compacting of the scatter material at the base of the blood box (over a 6 month period) producing a higher density below the blood than originally scanned; hence an overall reduction of delivered dose was observed. The diode measurements (which provide an immediate printout) are recommended in conjunction with a film dosimeter such as radiochromic film, which still provides a back-up dose monitor and a visual reminder that the blood has been irradiated. It is also recommended that the blood box be completely evacuated of all scatter material every month and the base be carefully repacked to provide uniform scatter material.


ABSTRACT Farmed arctic char were divided into two groups after slaughtering. One group (T1) was stored in ice up to 18 d and the other (T2) was stored at 18°C for 24 h (temperature increased from 3°C up to 12°C), then iced and stored up to 18 d. Changes during storage were observed with sensory evaluation using the Quality Index Method (QIM) and Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA), total viable counts (TVC), and hydrogen sulphide (H2S)-producing bacteria. A high correlation between Quality Index (QI) and storage time in ice was found. Storage time could be predicted within ± 1.3 d. The maximum shelf life, determined with QDA and microbial counts, was 17 and 15 d, respectively, for iced (T1) and temperature-abused (T2) arctic char. At the end of shelf life, TVC was 105–106 CFU/g in the flesh of both groups, with H2S producing bacteria constituting a higher proportion of TVC in T2.


The developed groundwater pipe network drainage system in the gravel soil slope has a significant impact to its stability. Considering the underground water level monitoring result, this paper simulates the xikengkou slope after the excavation and rainfall conditions based on fluid-solid coupling. The result presents that excavation at toe of slope damaged the groundwater discharge path. In the rainfall condition, the groundwater level increases significantly, which leads displacement occurring within the gravel soil slope. On the other hand, the displacement makes the drainage system be further destroyed and the permeability coefficient continues decreasing. Finally, the high water table leads the slope stability decreasing considerably, even to instability.


In this chapter, we study the Herschel-HIFI observations of high-J lines (up to Ju=10) of 12CO, 13CO and C18O are presented toward three deeply embedded low-mass protostars, NGC 1333 IRAS 2A, IRAS 4A, and IRAS 4B, obtained as part of the Water In Star-forming regions with Herschel (WISH) key program. The spectrally-resolved HIFI data are complemented by groundbased observations of lower-J CO and isotopologue lines. The 12CO 10–9 profiles are dominated by broad (FWHM 25–30 km s−1) emission. Radiative transfer models are used to constrain the temperature of this shocked gas to 100–200 K. Several CO and 13CO line profiles also reveal a medium-broad component (FWHM 5–10 km s−1), seen prominently in H2O lines. Column densities for both components are presented, providing a reference for determining abundances of other molecules in the same gas. The narrow C18O 9–8 lines probe the warmer part of the quiescent envelope. Their intensities require a jump in the CO abundance at an evaporation temperature around 25 K, thus providing new direct evidence for a CO ice evaporation zone around low-mass protostars.


AIM
In the critically ill patient the hemodynamic management is essential. Usually the hemodynamic status is estimated by the measurement of the intravascular pressure or volume and by computing the fluid balance, while the change in body weight estimates the total body water. The fluid balance is computed by subtracting the fluid output to the input. Although the input (fluids, drugs, infusion.) are well known, the output are difficult to correctly compute, because they depend on several factors such as the body-room temperature, amount of humidity and may change with time. Aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate the accuracy of the fluid balance compared to the body weight measured by a dedicated mattress (Hill-Rom).

METHODS
Fifteen critically ill patients were enrolled (mean age of 63.2+/-19.7 years, body mass index of 24.9+/-3.5 kg/m2) and the measurements were computed every 8 hours. The data were analyzed by the Bland-Altman test.

RESULTS
Four-hundred and seventy-two measurements for a mean intensive care stay of 12.3.+/-7.3 days were computed. The Bland-Altamn showed a great inaccuracy, because the agreement (the difference between the 2 methods) was poor with a standard deviation of 1 840 L.

CONCLUSION
Although the fluid balance was not accurate, the only body weight without any intravascular measurement is not helpful for a correct clinical hemodynamic management of the patient.


Abstract. We present a method for identifying dominant surface type and estimating high spectral resolution surface albedo at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) facility at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site in Oklahoma for use in radiative transfer calculations. Given a set of 6-channel narrowband visible and near-infrared irradiance measurements from upward and downward looking multi-filter radiometers (MFRs), four different surface types (snow-covered, green vegetation, partial vegetation, non-vegetated) can be identified. A normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is used to distinguish between vegetated and non-vegetated surfaces, and a scaled NDVI index is used to estimate the percentage of green vegetation in partially vegetated surfaces. Based on libraries of spectral albedo measurements, a piecewise continuous function is developed to estimate the high spectral resolution surface albedo for each surface type given the MFR albedo values as input. For partially vegetated surfaces, the albedo is estimated as a linear combination of the green vegetation and non-vegetated surface albedo values. The estimated albedo values are evaluated through comparison to high spectral resolution albedo measurements taken during several Intensive Observational Periods (IOPs) and through comparison of the integrated spectral albedo values to observed broadband albedo measurements. The estimated spectral albedo values agree well with observations for the visible wavelengths constrained by the MFR measurements, but have larger biases and variability at longer wavelengths. Additional MFR channels at 1100 nm and/or 1600 nm would help constrain the high resolution spectral albedo in the near infrared region.


Optimal control of stochastic nonlinear dynamical systems is a major challenge in the domain of robot learning. Given the intractability of the global control problem, state-of-the-art algorithms focus on approximate sequential optimization techniques, that heavily rely on heuristics for regularization in order to achieve stable convergence. By building upon the duality between inference and control, we develop the view of Optimal Control as Input Estimation, devising a probabilistic stochastic optimal control formulation that iteratively infers the optimal input distributions by minimizing an upper bound of the control cost. Inference is performed through Expectation Maximization and message passing on a probabilistic graphical model of the dynamical system, and time-varying linear Gaussian feedback controllers are extracted from the joint state-action distribution. This perspective incorporates uncertainty quantification, effective initialization through priors, and the principled regularization inherent to the Bayesian treatment. Moreover, it can be shown that for deterministic linearized systems, our framework derives the maximum entropy linear quadratic optimal control law. We provide a complete and detailed derivation of our probabilistic approach and highlight its advantages in comparison to other deterministic and probabilistic solvers.


BACKGROUND
Gambling urges in pathological gambling (PG) often immediately precede engagement in self-destructive gambling behavior. An improved understanding of the neural correlates of gambling urges in PG would advance our understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying PG and would help direct research into effective treatments.

METHODS
Echoplanar functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess brain function during viewing of videotaped scenarios with gambling, happy, or sad content. Participants rated the quality and magnitude of their emotional and motivational responses.

RESULTS
Men with PG (n = 10) reported mean +/- SD greater gambling urges after viewing gambling scenarios vs control subjects (n = 11) (5.20 +/- 3.43 vs 0.32 +/- 0.60; chi21,19 = 21.71; P<.001). The groups did not differ significantly in their subjective responses to the happy (P =.56) or sad (P =.81) videotapes. The most pronounced between-group differences in neural activities were observed during the initial period of viewing of the gambling scenarios: PG subjects displayed relatively decreased activity in frontal and orbitofrontal cortex, caudate/basal ganglia, and thalamus compared with controls. Distinct patterns of regional brain activity were observed in specific temporal epochs of videotape viewing. For example, differences localized to the ventral anterior cingulate during the final period of gambling videotape viewing, corresponding to the presentation of the most provocative gambling stimuli. Although group differences in brain activity were observed during viewing of the sad and happy scenarios, they were distinct from those corresponding to the gambling scenarios.

CONCLUSIONS
In men with PG, gambling cue presentation elicits gambling urges and leads to a temporally dynamic pattern of brain activity changes in frontal, paralimbic, and limbic brain structures. When viewing gambling cues, PG subjects demonstrate relatively decreased activity in brain regions implicated in impulse regulation compared with controls.


The important aspect of social life now-a-days is mostly confined to the genderissues in various socio-economic-health-demographic and cultural classifications ofpeople in Punjab. Violence on females of any age is the regular feature in our social,political and cultural lives. Unfortunately females are neglected in a historical process atthe helm of male dominant society. This feature is perhaps still persisted in the recentperiod, though the extent may be different. This paper examines the work participationrate (WPR) of women in Punjab (India) based on the census conducted in 2001. As per2001 census, the work participation rate of women was 21.6% in Punjab though theyconstituted 47.17% of the total population. It was well documented that the educationalcondition of women has improved in the past few decades but their work participationrate is still low. Here, the paper tries to see reasons pertaining to this difference. Thereare many determinants of work participation rate but this paper is limited to education.It is based on the hypothesis that women work participation rate increases witheducational development. The correlation matrix between occupational composition andeducational development shows significant relation. This implies that education is oneof the reasons for increasing work participation rate. In addition, it was found thatwomen with primary education are actively engaged in the agricultural sector. Finally,the paper Concludes with some general observations and suggestions. Key words: Gender inequality, Economic participation, Education, Workers, Regionalanalysis.


The field programmable gate array (FPGA) routing resources are fixed and their usage is constrained by the location of programmable interconnects (PIs) such as antifuses. The routing or the interconnect delays are determined by the length of segments assigned to the nets of various lengths and the number of PIs programmed for routing of each net. Due to the use of PIs certain unconventional faults may appear. In this paper we model the PI faults and address the design and routability of the FPGA channel architecture to achieve 100% routing with minimum performance penalty in the presence of PI faults. A channel routing algorithm has also been developed which routes nets in the presence of PI faults. Experiments were performed by randomly injecting faults of different types into the routing channel and then using the routing algorithm to determine the routability of the synthesized architecture. Results on a set of industrial designs and MCNC benchmark examples show the feasibility of achieving routability with minimum performance penalty when a large number of faults are present in the channel. >


This article has presented nursing care strategies for rural elderly persons at the individual and community level. The approach for the strategies was accomplished through presentation of Lawton and Nahemow's Ecological Model of Adaptation and Aging. Competencies of older rural adults and their physical, personal, and social environment were explored using current available literature. Nurses are and can play a key role in maintaining and promoting the health of rural elderly persons.


We propose a framework toward more explainable reinforcement learning (RL) agents. The framework uses introspective analysis of an agent's history of interaction with its environment to extract several interestingness elements regarding its behavior. Introspection operates at three distinct levels, first analyzing characteristics of the task that the agent has to solve, then the behavior of the agent while interacting with the environment, and finally by performing a meta-analysis combining information gathered at the lower levels. The analyses rely on data that is already collected by standard RL algorithms. We propose that additional statistical data can easily be collected by a RL agent while learning that helps extract more meaningful aspects. We provide insights on how an explanation framework can leverage the elements generated through introspection. Namely, they can help convey learned strategies to a human user, justify the agent's decisions in relevant situations, denote its learned preferences and goals, and identify circumstances in which advice from the user might be needed.


Bottom sediments are one of the most objective indicators of the ecological state of water body as a whole. Of particular importance is the assessment of bottom sediments quality in the regions subject to intensive anthropogenic load. In the Middle Ob basin, an intensive long-lasting oil production resulting in oil-pollution of bottom sediments takes place. One of the major water bodies used for oil production is Lake Samotlor. In September 2007, the macroinvertebrates were sampled from the Samotlor sediments, which differed in granulometric composition. It is shown that benthos communities of different sediments (sand, silt, mixed sediments) differed significantly in taxonomic composition, abundance and structure of dominant macroinvertebrates. To choose a method for assessing the ecological state of the water body, the correlation of biotic indices with oil concentration in the bottom sediments was determined. It is noted that the Goodnight-Whitley index significantly correlated with oil concentration in all types of bottom sediments except for sands. Indices of diversity correlated with oil only on mixed sediments, the Woodiwiss biotic index-only on sands and silts with detritus. The level of pollution of bottom sediments corresponded to the 3rd class, i.e., "moderately polluted". The decrease in environmental quality (class 4-5) was observed only in the western part of the lake, as well as in some parts of the central sectors. Recommendations on the choice of indices for environmental monitoring of water bodies in the region are given.
Keywords: Oil pollution; macroinvertebrates; middle Ob; bottom sediments
References:
Bakanov, A. I. (2000). Use of zoobenthos for monitoring of freshwater bodies. Biology of inland waters, 1, 68-82.
Brekhovskikh, V. F. (2006). Bottom sediments of the Ivankovo reservoir: state, composition, features.
Kitaev, S. P. (1984). Ecological bases for bioproductivity of lakes of different natural zones.
Litvinov, А. S., Bakanov, А. I., Zakonov, V. V., & Kochetkova, M. Yu. (2004). On the relationship of indices of benthos communities with their habitat. Water resources, 31(5), 611-618.
Pesenko, Yu. А. (1982). Principles and methods of quantitative analysis in faunistic research.
Protasov, А. А. (2002). Biodiversity and its assessment. Conceptual diversification.
Schweizer, M., Dieterich, A., Morillas, N. C., Dewald, C., Miksch, L., Nelson, S., Wick, A., Triebskorn, R., Kohler H.-R. (2018). The importance of sediments in ecological quality assessment of stream headwaters: embryotoxicity along the Nidda River and its tributaries in Central Hesse, Germany. Environmental Sciences Europe, 30, 22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-018-0150-4.
Semenchenko, V. P. (2004). Principles and systems of biological indication of flowing water.
Shitikov, V. K., Rozenberg, G. S., & Zinchenko, T. D. (2003). Quantitative Hydroecology: methods of system identification.
Timofeev, I. V., & Klipikov, I. V. (2015). Oil production and ecology: Russian features and problems on the example of Samotlor field. Geoprofy, 6, 20-22.
Tolkacheva, V. V. (2004). Assessment of Lake Samotlor pollution. Progress of Modern Natural Sciences, 10, 81-82.
Vinogradov, G. А., Berezina, N. А., Lapteva, N. А., & Zharikov, G. P. (2002). The use of structural indicators of bacterio- and zoobenthos to assess the quality of bottom sediments (on the example of water bodies in the Upper Volga basin). Water resources, 29(3), 329-336.
Vinson, M., Dinger, E., Kotynek, J., & Dethier, M. (2008). Effects of oil pollution on aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages in Gabon wetlands. African Journal of Aquatic Science, 33(3), 261-268. http://dx.doi.org/10.2989/AJAS.2008.33.3.9.621.


The streaming of video service, either live or video on-demand streaming is in receipt of remarkable attraction from the users and industry. The ISPs nowadays provide the smart TV access over the Internet connectivity, where the users can access the real-time contents adjoining to the trendy contents like web browsing, email and downloading. The multimedia applications, specifically video streaming contains delay, bandwidth and packets loss requirements. The congestion over the network is a critical factor that creates packets loss, consequently the quality of streaming video is degraded. In this paper, evaluation of the video streaming performance has been performed by applying different simulation scenarios over IP-based network. The core objective is to analyse the network behaviour and video quality. The network behaviour includes packets loss, end-to-end delay and throughput. The received video quality is compared and analysed using application level values, which include Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) method and Mean Opinion Score (MOS) scale. In this paper, each experiment performed in simulation, shows different network behaviour and quality of received video depending on the network congestion and sent with dummy background traffic.


We studied people's acceptance of robots that per- form tasks in a city. Three different beings (a human, a human wearing a mascot costume, and a robot) performed tasks in three different scenarios: endless guidance, responding to irrational complaints, and removing an accidentally discarded key from the trash. All of these tasks involved beings interacting with visitors in troublesome situations: dull, stressful, and dirty. For this paper, 30 participants watched nine videos (three tasks performed by three beings) and evaluated each being's appropriateness for the task and its human-likeness. The results indicate that people prefer that a robot rather than a human perform these troublesome tasks, even though they require much interaction with people. In addition, comparisons with the costumed-human suggest that people's beliefs that a being deserves human rights rather than having a human-like appearance and behavior or cognitive capability is one explanation for their judgments about appropriateness.


We consider ferromagnetic Ising models on graphs that converge locally to trees. Examples include random regular graphs with bounded degree and uniformly random graphs with bounded average degree. We prove that the "cavity" prediction for the limiting free energy per spin is correct for any positive temperature and external field . Further, local marginals can be approximated by iterating a set of mean field (cavity) equations. Both results are achieved by proving the local convergence of the Boltzmann distribution on the original graph to the Boltzmann distribution on the appropriate infinite random tree.


Peripheral giant cell granuloma (PGCG) is a non-neoplastic, tumor-like reactive lesion occurring exclusively on gingiva/alveolar crest. It is thought to arise from the periodontal ligament or the periosteum. Clinically, it bears resemblance to pyogenic granuloma, peripheral ossifying fibroma and many other peripheral lesions seen in the oral cavity, thereby histopathology is mandatory for the diagnosis of this lesion. The lesion although being relatively common, but still carries a lot of ambiguity. The ambiguity is in terms of its etiology, growth potential, biological behavior (recurrence), histogenesis of its cells and its treatment. The entity further holds significance because of its notorious behavior and its high tendency to recur. The present paper describes recurrent PGCG with a comprehensive insight of the literature on its etiology, clinical, radiological, histological, ultrastructural and molecular aspects. Special attention is given on the histogenesis of cells and their types as also on the differential diagnosis and treatment of this lesion.


Surgeons have conducted placebo-controlled double-blind investigations to determine the value of surgical procedures by comparing the results of real operations with sham operations. The sham operation served as a placebo control, permitting analysis of the alleged benefit of the real operation by eliminating the effect caused by the rest of the surgical experience. A modern operation starts with a series of events resembling ritualistic practices used by shamans. Shamans are traditional healers in cultures that believe communication with the gods and spirits influence health and well being. Shamanistic healing measures include: journeying to a healing place, fasting, wearing ritual garb, ingesting psychotrophic substances, anointment with purifying liquid, an encounter with a masked healer, and inhaling stupefactive vapors. These steps are followed by a central ritual activity that may include extracorporeal, surface, and penetrative components. Postoperative ritual activities reinforce the suggestive value of the healing. These experiences increase a patient's suggestibility, thereby enhancing the likelihood of a favorable outcome. Any research on the effectiveness of surgical procedures, especially those designed to relieve pain, must consider the strongly suggestive effect of the elaborate perioperative ritual.


Condensation during heat transfer processes can be very beneficially used due to the large amount of energy contained in phase change (vapor to liquid). This contribution focuses on the possible use of polymer hollow fiber heat exchangers (PHFHEs) in air conditioning. PHFHEs consist of hundreds or thousands of polymer hollow fibers with an outer diameter of around 1 mm. The wall thickness is approximately 10% of the outer diameter. PHFHEs are heat exchangers with such benefits as low weight, easy shaping, corrosion resistance, and resistance to many chemical solutions. In comparison with metal heat exchangers (made of copper, aluminum, or stainless steel) the plastic wall of PHFHEs has low thermal conductivity (between 0.1 and 0.4 Wm-1K-1). This seems to be their key disadvantage. However, due to the extremely small thickness of the fiber's wall this disadvantage is negligible. PHFHEs are compact heat exchangers with a large heat transfer area with respect to their volume.
 This paper shows the results of condensation tests for PHFHEs that consist of 6 equivalent layers of polypropylene fibers with a length of 190 mm. The total number of fibers is 798. The air humidity was set to 50% with an air temperature of 27°C, which are the typical conditions for such tests in air conditioning technology. Another important parameter was the velocity of the air. Testing velocities were chosen as 3 m s−1 and 1 m s−1.
 The influence of gravity was studied by putting the PHFHEs in three different positions. The fibers were placed in horizontal and vertical positions, and in a position where fibers form an angle of 45° with the ground.
 The study showed the ineffectiveness of placing the PHFHE in a horizontal position and suggests that it is better to have a larger distance between the layers of fibers.


In the past half-century, the practice and study of global environmental politics and governance have been dramatically rescaled. They have become increasingly complex and interconnected with respect to the level (between local and global) at which they take place, the range of actors engaged in them, and the linkages between them and nominally nonenvironmental issues. Global environmental politics and governance have been rescaled vertically down toward provincial and municipal governments and up toward supranational regimes. They have also been rescaled horizontally across regional and sectoral organizations and networks and across new issues, such as development, security, and trade among others. This rescaling reflects shifts in the magnitude, complexity, and interconnectedness of the global environmental problems humans face as well as epistemological shifts in how humans understand and respond to these problems, and rescaling has implications for both the practice and study of global environmental politics.


In a paper in 1929, Ferenczi revealed his discovery that the rejection of foetus or infant by its mother entails the consequence that maternal love and care do not restrain the actual and subsequent destructive effects of the death instinct. This discovery was founded on his experience of psychoanalytic therapy and, in my opinion, his personal experiences. According to Ferenczi, results include character disorders, psychosomatic illnesses and suicidal impulses. In my opinion the abstract concept of the death instinct does not constitute an essential component of this correlation.


History and Objectives: Growth and development of children has an important role in life and one of the basis of general health. The most important determinants of growth in children are weight, height and head circumference. Because the most rapid period of growth of brains is the first year and increase of head circumference indirectly indicates brain growth, so, regular measurement of head circumference and it's comparison with standard curves is important in health centers for monitoring of head circumference growth use from standard curves NCHS. Genetic, nutritional and social status of infants will have direct effect on the body growth charts and adjustment to a given population under study is essential. The present study is carried out to address such a purpose. Materials and Methods: In this longitudinal descriptive study, 200 girls and 200 boys with weight between 2.5-4 kg born as the Shabihkhani hospital were evaluated in first 6 months, monthly and in the second 6 months. Bimonthly head circumference was measured and statistical analysis is presented. Results: In this study average HC for boys and girls were 34.6 and 34.4cm respectively. The 50th percentage increment of HC in boys during the first year of life was 12.12cm and for girls was 11.56cm. Average growth of HC during the first 3 months of life in boys was 5.7cm, second 3 months 3.15cm and second 6 months of life was 3.25cm. Average growth of HC during the first 3 months of life among girls was 5.63cm and second 3 months was 3.02 cm and in second 6 months of life was 3.91cm. Conclusion: In this study, average rate of HC after birth in boys and girls was similar to reference tests. In addition, head circumference growth rate during the first year of life in comparison with NCHS charts did not show any significant difference. So we used NCHS charts for monitoring HC growth in the Kashan.


The effect of the Orion shipwreck on fish assemblage distribution near the reef was studied to the northeast of Rio de Janeiro with six different fishing gears: gillnets, mid-water longlines, circular traps, rectangular traps, vertical longlines, and bottom trawling. The study consisted of a pre-monitoring survey four months before the shipwreck in the area (A) and in two control areas (B and C). After 36 months, a total of 56 species were caught in the Orion reef area, 49 in control area B and 59 in control area C. The similarity analysis, considering the number of fish caught during the nine surveys in the three study areas, clustered the pre-monitoring and first post-settlement surveys of the three sites. This occurred due to the low number of fish captured and the dominance of Trichiurus lepturus and Lagocephalus laevigatus. These results differed from all the other studies in the three areas due to the co-dominance of Ctenosciaena gracilicirrhus and Stephanolepis hispidus. Such spatial similarity shows the low influence of the Orion reef in the area after three years. Biomass values were 15% higher in the Orion reef area than in the control areas, representing an increase of up to 1.2 times in wet weight. The increment of fish communities is still insufficient for proposing sustainable fishery activity in the shipwreck area. The monitoring time (32 months) after the sinking of the Orion may be considered too short to assure that the wreckage had reached its maturity as an artificial reef, either as a fish attractor or producer.


This paper proposes a new differential dynamic programming algorithm for solving discrete time optimal control problems with equality and inequality constraints on both control and state variables and proves its convergence. The present algorithm is different from differential dynamic programming algorithms developed in [10]-[15], which can hardly solve optimal control problems with inequality constraints on state variables and whose convergence has not been proved. Composed of iterative methods for solving systems of nonlinear equations, it is based upon Kuhn-Tucker conditions for recurrence relations of dynamic programming. Numerical examples show file efficiency of the present algorithm.


The population of baby boomers (age 60–65) is rapidly increasing globally. The aging of the human body is associated with the decline of cellular function which leads to the development of a variety of diseases. The increased demand for health care for the aging population creates significant financial burden to any healthcare system. Developing strategies and health intervention methods to ameliorate this situation is paramount. Experiments utilizing heterochronic parabiosis in mice have demonstrated that replacing the aging cellular milieu with the plasma of a young experimental animal leads to reversal of cellular senescence. This article describes a hypothetical model of intermittent heterochronic plasma exchange in humans as a modality for heterochronic parabiosis in an attempt to delay cellular senescence. J. Clin. Apheresis, 28:387–389, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Book synopsis: This book addresses three key areas of intellectual enquiry: literary criticism, cultural critique, and philosophical theology. Once closely related, especially in the Catholic tradition, they often appear to be separate and unconnected domains in the modern university. The work of Nicholas Boyle is one of the most significant recent attempts to reconnect them. Responding to that initiative, The Present Word challenges this fragmentation of knowledge.

Several of the essays reflect a major change of emphasis in literary studies over the last two decades: the reconnection of an idea of literary criticism closely related to the experience of reading, and the wider societal and political concerns addressed by Cultural Studies. Contributors also debate, from both perspectives, whether theological concepts can illuminate the secular culture in which literature is written and read.