The spherical chitosan adsorbent was prepared by graft copolymerization of acrylic acid onto the cross-linked spherical chitosan beads, and then was adopted to adsorb the L-histidine. The adsorption conditions, i.e., solution pH, adsorption time, initial concentration and adsorption temperature were optimized. The spherical chitosan adsorbent showed excellent equilibrium adsorption capacity of 78.3 mg/g for the L-histidine when the solution pH value was 7.5, adsorption time was 180 min, initial concentration was 1500 mg/L and the adsorption temperature was 25 °C. Moreover, the inorganic salt of NaCl also showed great effect on the equilibrium adsorption capacity exceeding 0.8 mol/L. The static adsorption processes followed the Langmuir adsorption isothermal equation and Freundlich adsorption isothermal equation. Furthermore, L-histidine could be desorbed with 1.5 mol/L of ammonia solution, and the regeneration capacity of the spherical chitosan adsorbent was excellent.


Introduction In the past decade, resiliency among African Americans has been a major research topic. For example, studies have explored the resiliency of African American military families (Kaslow, 1993; McCubbin et al., 1998), investigations have documented the resiliency of African American families in general (Franklin & Boyd-Franklin, 2000; McAdoo, 2007), and previous research has examined psychological and social adjustment following a life-threatening event (Becker & Newsom, 2005; Brown & Keith, 2003; Bullard, 1990; Ortega, Rosenheck, Alegria, & Desai, 2000). Although studies have indicated that older Black people exhibit post-disaster cultural resiliency philosophies (Rubinstein, Kilbride, & Nagy, 1992), other research has reported that older racial/ethnic minorities experience a severe post-event disadvantage (Sundet & Mermelstein, 1996; Williams & Williams-Morris, 2000). Few studies have explored the coping strategies of older African Americans following a natural disaster. As a result, scant attention has been paid to gendered coping strategies among African Americans. Most studies have assumed that older men and women develop similar coping resources and cultural strengths due to exposure to social marginality (Dunlap, Johnson, Golub, & Wesley, 2000; Ellison, Hummer, Cormier, & Rogers, 2000; Masten, 2001; Mattis, 2000, 2004; Steffen, Hinderliter, Blumenthal, & Sherwood, 2001). This article pays particular attention to gendered coping variations while exploring the capacity of African Americans to rebound following one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history. Katrina, a category 5 hurricane, caused catastrophic damage (Campanella, 2006; Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, 2006). Breached levees flooded 80% of New Orleans, resulting in $75 billion of damages. Katrina was responsible for 1,417 deaths (Roig-Franzia & Husa, 2005; U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). Between 3,000 and 5,000 people were missing, and 1.5 million were displaced as of October 2005. Approximately 50,000 households comprising mostly poor, Black American residents had no plans to return to New Orleans (Herring, 2006; Mann, 2006). If that number is accurate, Katrina-induced migration will be the largest internal migration in a generation (U.S. House of Representatives, 2006). As the New Orleans levee system collapsed, the aftermath of Katrina deteriorated into a social debacle. Thousands of people, mostly Black and poor, many of them older men and women, were trapped in the New Orleans Superdome and the city's convention center or on rooftops. They suffered without electricity, water, or food. Older residents plummeted to the bottom of the Katrina response priority list. Many bodies that emerged from the floodwaters were of people age 50 years or older (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). Furthermore, corpses that remained in the streets, hospitals, nursing homes, collapsed houses, and on porches were of mostly poor, older African Americans. Sadly, rescuers later found more than 154 bodies in nursing homes (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). The consequences of Katrina were grave; 1.5 million people decided where to live or work and pondered if they would return to their homes. While coping with an incompetent Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), they also grieved deaths of family members and friends and dealt with survivors' guilt. The relatively few professional survivors confronted temporary unemployment while adjusting to an identity as an evacuee. Property owners often refused to accept FEMA temporary housing vouchers. Older Katrina survivors were often forced to live in isolated upper-class retirement apartments, where residents resented living next to poor African Americans (CNN.com, 2005; Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, 2006; Mann, 2000). Thus, survivors were distressed from Hurricane Katrina, traumatized by breeched levees, exploited by a federal agency created to provide assistance, and often lived in unwelcome retirement complexes (CNN. …


Despite its importance, the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) has not been successful so far. Although negotiations about agricultural-sector trade liberalization have been built into the agenda of the DDA, the views of countries within the Cairns group are not easily reconciled with those of nonCairns group countries. This paper examines the quantitative effects of liberalization of the agricultural sector in Northeast Asia based on the proposal of Stuart Harbinson, chairman of WTO's agriculture negotiating committee. The simulations undertaken here suggest that welfare gains from partial agricultural liberalization would be relatively modest in China (US59 million), South Korea (US687 million), and Japan (US2.4 billion). However, the welfare distribution would be very uneven in South Korea and Japan. Most of the welfare losses would originate from impacts on rice farmers in these two countries, and losses would be politically difficult to accept. If rice were to be treated as a strategic product, the uneven welfare distribution would be considerably mitigated.


Slice-based Network Control allows the delivery of different SLAs to heterogeneous services and the isolation of network flows, all within the same shared infrastructure. Industry 4.0 and the IoT are prime use-cases for Network Slicing and expose a large number of embedded systems that cannot run advanced anti-malware routines - this raises significant security concerns. An approach to defending against these issues is honeynets, isolated sandbox networks with decoy functions (honeypots) mimicking the real endpoints. However, steering an active TCP connection (i.e., the attack) to a different endpoint (i.e., the decoy) is still a significant challenge. This article proposes using the SDN controller to bootstrap a smooth handover of the active TCP session across endpoints. Our proposal's core is a purpose-built proxy function that will resume a live attack session with the decoy using the Linux Kernel's TCP-REPAIR features. Because we are effectively recreating the socket as if the connection was initially established with that new endpoint, all of the TCP state machine and control sequence inner-workings are still done seamlessly by the kernel's built-in routines and the higher-level abstractions that use them. The results show that our approach has a similar performance to a regular socket (latency and throughput), while the new management interfaces integrate nicely into the existing Network Slicing operations.


We investigate factors that influence family business owners' choice between passing ownership within the family or to new external owners. Taking an embeddedness perspective focusing on owner–family structure and involvement, we hypothesize that ownership dispersion, number of potential heirs, multigenerational involvement, and whether the chief executive officer is a family member influence the choice of an internal or external transition of ownership. We build a longitudinal data set from a sample of 3,829 family firms and their ownership transitions. Our theorizing and findings regarding ownership transitions complements the abundant research on management succession and therefore constitutes an important contribution to the literature.


Applied scientific disciplines use mathematical models to make predictions. In the majority of cases these models are constructed using plausible mathematical characterizations of various component processes of the modelled system, rather than being based entirely on exact mathematical descriptions of proven mechanisms. We use general arguments and a specific example from applied ecology to demonstrate that model predictions can show alarming sensitivity to apparently tiny changes in model specification, in a manner that is counterintuitive and entirely invisible to conventional model sensitivity analysis. This result has serious implications for practical prediction using biological models.


The dynamic architecture of the network is monitored by exchanging so-called Network State Beacons (NSBs) between key network nodes. The Beacon Exchange rate and the network state define both the time and nature of a proactive action to combat network performance degradation at a time of crisis. It is thus essential to select and update the beacon exchange rate (FX) according to the variations in the load profile of the network. This paper presents a novel localized method that for selecting and updating the FX by adapting to the network load and energy constraints. The results indicating that the model reconfigures the network more effectively to achieve higher throughput as well as greater network integrity, with minimal resource overheads. KeywordsHigh Density Ad-hoc Networks, Self Configuration, Distributed Adaptive Optimization, Beacon Exchange Rate


A miniaturized ultrasonic probe has been constructed to measure the local volume fraction of immiscible phases in liquid-liquid contactors. The new probe has a 9 mm diameter and varying length and is based on sound pulse-echo measurements. It consists of a sound reflector and an ultrasonic transducer which operates as a transmitter-receiver. The probe has been successfully used to measure the dispersed phase transient volume fraction (holdup) in stirred tanks. Measurements between 0.08 and 0.8 were obtained at the top, bottom, and impeller discharge regions of the tanks. It has been found that local variations in the holdup exist, due to density differences of the two phases, which can be quantified by the new pulse-echo ultrasonic probe. Furthermore, measurements were obtained during phase inversion at which the continuous phase becomes dispersed and the dispersed phase continuous. Scattering and discontinuity is observed in the measurements in the proximity of phase inversion, which may be useful to determine which phase is dispersed and which is continuous


In 2018 key concerns included shrinking civic space and the impact of this on democracy. Developments between the two periods, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter and decolonisation movements, have only increased emphasis on commitments made as part of the Grand Bargain to localise and decolonise. This invariably means working more frequently with local partners and civil society organisations in the delivery of international aid to advance Open Society and Human Rights agendas. These three briefing notes summarise key considerations emerging from the 'Working with Civil Society' Learning Journey facilitated for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) as part of the Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development (K4D) Programme.


RUSSIA'S SPACE RACE TO NOWHERE. (By Pavel Luzin, scholar at the [Russian
 Academy of Sciences'] Institute of World Economy and International Relations.
 The Moscow Times, April 9, ... 2015, p. 8. Complete text:) The idea of building a cosmodrome in the Far East
 first arose in 1996, when the Russian government first became concerned that
 Russia's space program relied entirely on the Baikonur cosmodrome in what is now
 a different country [i.e., Kazakhstan - Trans.]. ... And when Russia began the long process of developing the new Angara family of
 launch vehicles in 1995, it also became clear that the country would need a new
 launch complex at a geographically suitable location. ... The initial solution was to build the military cosmodrome Svobodny on the basis
 of an existing Strategic Missile Forces facility in Amur [Province]. However,
 the necessary upgrades to that complex were delayed for years, first because the
 Angara rocket program was experiencing serious setbacks, and second because the
 authorities knew that any additional funds allocated for the military cosmodrome
 would only disappear through the usual embezzlement schemes. ... As a result, government officials abandoned the Svobodny project in 2007 and, at
 the same location, began construction on the Vostochny launch complex under their
 direct control. ... In addition to objective difficulties, the Vostochny cosmodrome faces problems
 stemming from the nature of Russia's political system. The objective problems
 include its remote location and the lack of developed industry in the Amur region,
 and in the [Russian] Far East in general. ... With no local space industry, specialists must travel in from other regions and
 key equipment will have to be shipped along the already overburdened Trans-Siberian
 Railroad. In fact, the first asphalt road linking the region to western Russia
 was built as recently as 2010. ... Meanwhile, the Russian political system is saddling the project with enormous
 administrative and budgetary costs. The frequent scandals surrounding the project
 offer clear proof of this. However, those scandals and officials' penchant for
 boasting that they are "working to achieve Russia's independent access to space"
 - as it states on the Roskosmos [Federal Space Agency] Web site - mask deeper problems. ... However, apart from political goals, the only practical purpose the new cosmodrome
 fulfills is achieving the timely launch of the new Angara rockets. Space industry
 officials have stated no other objectives for the project. ... Of course, the Angara rockets will enable Russia to stop using outdated Proton
 rockets, but to what end? "I will think about that tomorrow," Scarlett O'Hara
 famously said, and apparently Russia's officials are taking the same approach. ... For now, the construction of new rockets and a cosmodrome from which to launch
 them has become an end in itself. This offers an outline of Russia's priorities
 in space over the next few years. ... The Vostochny complex and Angara rocket require something more to justify their
 existence. This means that in addition to moving the launch of state-owned
 satellites from Baikonur to the new cosmodrome, Russia will try to build a new
 manned spacecraft that would ride the Angara into orbit. ... Such a spaceship has all the signs of becoming a new "national priority": The
 current Soyuz launch vehicles really are becoming obsolete, and sending cosmonauts
 into space from Russian territory dovetails nicely with the Kremlin's efforts to
 extend its new nationalism into space. ... What's more, successfully launching cosmonauts into orbit from Vostochny would
 not only justify the enormous cost of the project, but would also enhance the
 political image of the ruling regime - thereby imbuing the entire effort with
 importance. Ironically, all of that will de facto help revive Russia's nearly
 stagnant space program. ... The authorities also consider the Vostochny project a tool for developing the
 economy of the Far East. However, they had the same hopes for the extensive
 construction of buildings and infrastructure for the 2012 APEC [Asia-Pacific
 Economic Cooperation] summit in Vladivostok [see Current Digest, Vol. 64, No.
 37, pp. 3-5] - although the outlays involved far exceeded any positive effect
 for the city. ... For that reason, it is unrealistic to expect that the Vostochny cosmodrome will
 transform the [Maritime Territory] into a US-style "Sun Belt." On the other hand,
 the project is being undertaken in the spirit of colonialism that characterizes
 Moscow's relations with the regions, and will thus bind the Far East more strongly
 to the federal center. ... On the foreign policy front, the new cosmodrome will inevitably reduce the importance
 of Baikonur. Russia has no need of two full-fledged cosmodromes, and the last
 two decades have produced no clear sign that its relations with Kazakhstan will
 markedly improve.


Pass the Cisco CCDA exam with help from a Study Blast!! So what is a Study Blast? A Study Blast is a book of facts and items listed out for you to read, learn and memorize before taking a test. What can you do with the book? Try making flashcards from the items that give you difficulty. Read through before taking a practice test. Review after your practice tests. Read this book the night before the exam.. Make your own quizzes and tests.. Use this book for group studies.. All that and more We review all the latest data and present it here. And by all means we are not a replacement for the Official Study Guide but we are an add on for every test taker to benefit from in helping them pass an exam. Please check out all of our Study Blast books!


Objective To estimate the extent to which gender contributes to severity of post-concussion symptoms (PCS) in youth with concussion, who are slow to recover and who receive an active rehabilitation intervention as part of their standard care. Design A retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort Setting Concussion Clinic of a Paediatric Trauma Centre in Canada. Participants 355 youth with persistent PCS (188 girls; 167 boys). All Concussion patients' information is entered prospectively in a clinical database and participants were selected for this study if they met the following criteria: 1) aged 6 to 17 years (mean=14.34, SD=2.22 years); 2) presenting with at least one PCS interfering with daily activities (mean total PCS score at initial assessment=24.50, SD=18.88), and 3) beginning an active rehabilitation intervention 4 weeks post injury (mean=30.46, SD=3.74 days). Outcome measures Severity of post-concussion symptoms, measured by the PCS scale included in the SCAT3, was the dependent variable. PCS were assessed 3 times over a 4-week follow-up period. Main results Boys presented with significantly less symptoms than girls 4 weeks post-injury, when starting the active rehabilitation intervention (PCSS total score mean; ♂=19.9, ♀=28.5, p<0.001, CI [−14.8, −6.4]). They continued to do so 2 and 4 weeks later, but the rate of recovery was slightly faster for girls over the follow-up period. Conclusions Although there are gender differences in the levels of PCS 4-weeks post-injury, and while boys may recover earlier from persistent PCS, both boys and girls benefit from participating in an active rehabilitation intervention. Competing interests None.


Schwannomas are benign, slow-growing tumors originating from sensory rootlets. Schwannomatosis is a distinct clinical syndrome characterized by the presence of multiple schwannomas in the spine with the absence of typical features suggestive of either neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) and neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2). It is essential to name schwannomatosis as a distinct syndrome on the basis of genetic and molecular studies. Management in schwannomatosis is surgical removal if symptomatic, and if asymptomatic it is better to follow-up with regular screening. The author reports here a rare case of a 33-year-old male patient, who had a history of being operated for dorsal spine schwannoma at D6 level 7 years back. Now, after 7 years, the patient presented with back pain, moderate to severe, associated with difficulty in walking. After proper history, clinical and radiological evaluation the patient was found to be having multiple lesions at D12 and L3 level with no family history, and on histopathology, both lesions were found to be schwannomas. Hence, this case was diagnosed as a case of multiple schwannomas without any features suggestive of either NF1 or NF2 (schwannomatosis). Regular follow-up is very essential in every case suggestive of schwannoma, as new multiple lesions can develop at any time, after years as discussed in our case.


Members of the Stat transcription factor family are specifically activated by cytokines, and each Stat mediates its biological effects through the trans-activation of a unique profile of target genes. This specificity is achieved even when Stat proteins mediating opposite transcriptional effects bind to the same palindromic Stat sites in target genes. We show here that the non-conserved sequences of Stat transcription activation domains (TADs) contribute to specificity in promoter activation. Chimeric proteins in which the Stat6 TAD was replaced by that from Stat1α or Stat5 exhibited normal interleukin-4-inducible DNA binding activity, but at best modest trans-activation of reporters containing Stat6 binding sites, and a failure to activate the endogenous CD23 promoter in primary B cells. The p160 coactivator nuclear coactivator-1 (Src-1) was specifically recruited by and coactivated Stat6 but not the chimeric Stat6 molecules. Strikingly, transcriptional responses exhibited distinct requirements for the nuclear coactivator-1 interaction motif of the Stat6 C terminus. Together, these findings indicate that the Stat6 TAD contributes to promoter specificity by the differential recruitment of and requirement for a p160-class coactivator.


Sampling designs for the detection of sure signals in Gaussian noise are considered. Both deterministic and random sampling schemes, using optimal and nonoptimal detectors, are presented and their performance is studied. The analytical results are supplemented by comparison of performance for small and large Sample size for some representative processes including the Gauss-Markov and Wiener processes.


Very low levels of visually scored stage 4 sleep are found in 40% to 50% of acute and chronic schizophrenics. Stage 4 is a visual estimate of high-amplitude delta (0.5 to 3 Hz) electroencephalographic waves; these waves can now be measured directly and reliably by computer. In this pilot study, we carried out such measurement in the successive non-rapid-eye-movement periods (NREMPs). We also sampled and measured visually sleep spindles by NREMP; spindles constitute a second distinctive feature of the NREM electroencephalogram. In five unmedicated, recently rehospitalized schizophrenic patients we found reduced delta amplitude and abundance (and increased spindle density) in NREMP1 (also called "REM latency") as compared with ambulatory normal controls. NREMP1 was also abnormally short with an average length similar to that reported for major depression. These striking abnormalities of NREM sleep may underlie the abnormal rapid eye movement distributions sometimes found in schizophrenic and depressed patients. Further studies are required to evaluate the relation of these NREM abnormalities to psychopathology (and hence their utility as biological "markers") and to rule out confounding effects of hospitalization or undetected napping.


In 1982, R. Hamilton introduced a nonlinear evolution equation for Riemannian metrics with the aim of finding canonical metrics on manifolds. This evolution equation is known as the Ricci flow, and it has since been used widely and with great success, most notably in Perelman's solution of the Poincare conjecture. Furthermore, various convergence theorems have been established. This book provides a concise introduction to the subject as well as a comprehensive account of the convergence theory for the Ricci flow. The proofs rely mostly on maximum principle arguments. Special emphasis is placed on preserved curvature conditions, such as positive isotropic curvature. One of the major consequences of this theory is the Differentiable Sphere Theorem: a compact Riemannian manifold whose sectional curvatures all lie in the interval (1,4] is diffeomorphic to a spherical space form. This question has a long history, dating back to a seminal paper by H. E. Rauch in 1951, and it was resolved in 2007 by the author and Richard Schoen. This text originated from graduate courses given at ETH Zurich and Stanford University, and is directed at graduate students and researchers. The reader is assumed to be familiar with basic Riemannian geometry, but no previous knowledge of Ricci flow is required.


Two monoclonal antibodies that cause changes in the morphology of cultured myogenic cells are described. Antibody JG9 causes myoblasts to round up and causes myotubes to become thin, cable‐like structures with multiple round swellings. Antibody JG22 causes both myoblasts and myotubes to become round refractile cells poorly attached to the substratum. The effects of both antibodies are reversible. Fab fragments of JG22 can cause the morphological change. A tentative identification of the antigen recognized by JG22 is made.


Wood fibres have several advantages compared to man-made synthetic fibres: they have high specific stiffness, are renewable, relatively inexpensive, available in industrial quantities and biodegradable. However, to increase and diversify their utilisation, it is necessary to increase the understanding on what controls their mechanical properties.In this work, the hygroelastic behaviour of isolated wood fibres has been investigated using an analytical model and a finite element model based on three dimensional images obtained using synchrotron-based X-ray micro-computed tomography. It was thus possible to show how the cell wall responds to a mechanical load or a change in ambient relative humidity.The wood fibres were then mixed with a biopolymer aiming to produce a cost-efficient, 100% renewable composite material. The microstructure of the produced composites has been characterised using X-ray microtomography and digital image processing. It was for instance possible to measure the moisture-induced swelling of fibres embedded in a polymeric matrix. The experimental results have then been successfully compared with prediction obtained with a finite element model. The length of the fibres inside the composite has also been measured from three dimensional images, aiming to understand how each step of the processing chain is affecting the degradation of the aspect ratio of the reinforcing fibres.The presence of defects inside the composite has also been quantified using X-ray microtomography. The effects of the defects on the tensile strength have been predicted using an analytical model. The results have been compared with the measured tensile strength on each sample, showing that the size and orientation of the critical defect controls the tensile strength of the material.Finally, wood-fibre mats without any matrix material were compressed in the chamber of a microtomographic scanner. Sequential images were taken during the test. Using digital volume correlation, it was possible to calculate the local strain field inside the material. The effects of heterogeneities on the strain field have then been investigated. The applied compressive load resulted in transport of material from high to low density regions.


In this paper we shall present a reconfigurable architecture that has been specifically conceived for emulating large-scale bio-inspired systems. The architecture is organized as a regular array of programmable elements that can be used either as fine grain logic elements or configured in order to construct massively parallel SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) machines. As it will be explained, the specific features that have been included in the architecture permit the efficient implementation of a wide range of complex systems.


Objectives To examine the impact of changes to the reporting requirements in coronial legislation on the nature and frequency of nursing home resident deaths reported to Coroners. Design National retrospective study of a population cohort of nursing home resident deaths. Setting Accredited Australian nursing homes between July 2000 and June 2013. Participants Residents who died in nursing homes accredited by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency reported to Coroners. Main outcome measures We explored three death-reporting models in the nursing home setting: comprehensive model, selective 'mechanism of death' model and selective 'age of death' model. These models were examined by manner of death subgroups: natural, falls-related and other external causes using the outcome measure of deaths notified to the Coroner per 1000 residents. We used an interrupted time series analysis using generalised linear regression with a negative binomial probability distribution and a log link function. Results The comprehensive model showed the proportion of reportable deaths due to natural causes far exceeded those from falls and other external cause. In contrast, the selective notification models reduced the total number of reportable deaths. Similarly, the selective 'age of death' model showed a decline in the reportable external cause deaths. Conclusions Variation in the causes, locations and ages of persons whose deaths are legally required to be notified to Coroners impacts the frequency and nature of deaths of nursing home residents investigated by Coroners. This demonstrates that legislation needs to be carefully framed and applied to ensure that the prevention mandate of Coroners in Australia is to be achieved.


As U.S.-based colleges and universities seek to globalize education with experiential learning, the risk of reinforcing assumptions about Western superiority, white supremacy and the "neediness" of "developing" countries increases. This essay discusses the rationale for a program that wrestles with questions of power, communication, and creativity by engaging students from the two U.S. liberal arts colleges (a consortium) and a Ghanaian university in a summer action research project. The program takes place in part on campus in the U.S. and in part in a village in Northern Ghana in partnership with three grassroots educational organizations: a community radio station, an Internet training center, and a non-governmental organization focused on early education. Tracking key words in two languages central to the programs a way to make the different histories in play visible, I argue that the purpose of the work is "lagim tehi tuma" -- Dagbani for "thinking together," to develop not people, countries, or cultures, but knowledge, questions, and relationships. Drawing on Apusigah's discussion of "tullum," an indigenous, gendered approach to development, I advance a conception of collaboration that accepts limitation, impermanence, and risk as part of sustainability.


The objective of this study was to compare reality of remedial groups (G.Rx) in public schools in Hofuf City in Saudi Arabia and the theoretical psychological and educational principles of remedial instruction. The study was two-sided-theoretial and field. Two null hypotheses were generated: (1) There are no significant differences between teacher's views (Saudi and non-Saudi) with regard to: a) the need for students with poor academic performance to enrol in the (R.Cs.) program; b) the importance of these programs for these students; c) the obstacles that hinder the program from achieving its obgectives, (2) there arc no significant differences between Saudi and non-Saudi teachers that can be attributed to the difference in the educational stage (primary, intermediate and secondary. To test these hypotheses, a questionnaire was designed. Three hundreds fourty Saudi and non-Saudi teachers at the three school's levels were randomly assigned. Tptest and analysis of variance were selected to test the two hypotheses respectively. No significant differences were found between means, and the two null hypotheses were accepted. It was concluded that the subjects agreed on: (a) the importance of the (R.Gs.) program for the academically weak students; (b) the need for such students to enrol in such a program; (c) the existence of obstacles that hinder the program for achieving its objectives. Finally the study put porward a number of recommendations with a view to design and develop educational program for remedial instruction at the three school's levels of public education in Hofuf city.


Slug flow induced by the combination of a downstream and an upstream two phase flow is very common in the oil industry, mainly when the pipelines are installed on hilly terrains. This phenomenon can be dangerous for the equipment operation because it induces vibrations due to the slugs intermittent movement into the separators. A loop, where it is possible to change the flow conditions and the loop geometrical parameters as the length and inclination angle of the pipe sections was built. Instruments for slug detection and for measuring their characteristic parameters as hold up, frequency, length, and velocity were installed. Three conductive probes were used for the hold-up measurement in different points; all of them were designed, constructed, tested and calibrated. Experimental runs for a set of four alternated sections upstream downstream W shaped pipe have been undertaken. The gas and liquid flow rates were selected in order to obtain stratified flow at the inlet, which is the condition to induce the severe slugging. The main conclusions of the experimental results analysis are presented in this paper. The Barnea's criterion has been compared against our experimental results, three slugging regions have been found.


The aim of this work was to verify the linear alteration of castings using two phosphate – bonded investments, one with granuled ceramic – based refractory (Microfine 1700), and the other by cristobalite (Bellavest – T). Forty wax patterns were obtained through direct molding from a stainless steel matrix. Twenty wax patterns were invested with Microfine and twenty with Bellavest – T. A profile projector measured the distance between two points pre- established on the matrix. The same two points were measured later on the metal casting reproduced in NiCr, thus obtaining the measurement of possible dimensional changes. Along the experiment, wax patterns were measured and compared to the stainless steel matrix and to the NiCr castings. The results show that the two investments could not compensate the contraction of the alloy and wax in the casting process. The mean distance of the castings obtained with Microfine 1700, despite the fact of being smaller than the matrix and the castings of Bellavest – T, showed more constant dimensions.


Porous granules without organic residues were produced from bovine medular anorganic bone. Sample showed carbonate content and crystalline order similar to natural bone. The cytotoxicity of anorganic bovine xenograft (Ossĕus®) was valuated from fibroblasts (1.5x104/cm2) cultured in serial diluted extract (0 – 100%) of Ossĕus plus 10% of fetal bovine serum (FBS). Pure extract (100%) reduced in 15% the number of viable cells (p<0.05, ANOVA, Tukey test) indicating very low cytotoxicity. Samples were implanted in the subcutaneous tissue of mice in order to evaluate tissue reaction. An organized connective tissue in contact to the granules was observed nine weeks after implantation. The anorganic bovine xenograft (Ossĕus®) was biocompatible and its behavior and osteoconduction potential should be evaluated in bony defects.


Many different P2P overlay networks providing various functionalities, targeting specific applications, have been proposed in the past five years. It is now reasonable to consider that multiple overlays may be deployed over a large set of nodes so that the most appropriate overlay might be chosen depending on the application. A physical peer may then host several instances of logical peers belonging to different overlay networks. In this paper, we show that the coexistence of a structured P2P overlay and an unstructured one may be leveraged so that, by building one, the other is automatically constructed as well. More specifically, we show that the randomness provided by an unstructured gossip-based overlay can be used to build the routing table of a structured P2P overlay and the randomness in the numerical proximity links in the structured networks provides the random peer sampling required by gossip-based unstructured overlays. In this paper, we show that maintaining the leaf set of Pastry and the proximity links of an unstructured overlay is enough to build the complete overlays. Simulation results comparing our approach with both a Pastry-like system and a gossip-based unstructured overlay show that we significantly reduce the overlay maintenance overhead without sacrificing the performance.


The only histologic finding common to all types of lupus erythematosus lesions is a perivascular lymphocytic infiltrate. The other histologic changes in lupus erythematosus are entirely dependent on the morphology and age of the individual lesions biopsied. We do not believe that the main clinical subsets of lupus erythematosus can be reliably diagnosed on the basis of histology alone. Some of the less common forms of lupus erythematosus have distinctive but not pathognomonic, histopathologic features. The pathogenesis of most of the histologic changes is relatively unknown, leaving room for speculation and future research.


Proman is a new product containing the active substance metobromuron. The intended use is as a broad spectrum selective herbicide for potatoes grown outdoors.
VKM's Panel on Plant Protection Products has discussed the questions raised by The Norwegian Food Safety Authority in the Terms of reference and has stated the following opinion:
On the relevance of the carcinogenic effects observed in the rat carcinogenicity study; fibrosarcomas in females and pheochromocytomas and Leydig cell tumours in males:
It is the opinion of VKM's Panel for Plant Protection Products that the relevance of the observed incidence in mammary gland tumours and Leydig cell tumours in the rat carcinogenicity study is strengthened by the fact that the tumours are observed in hormone responsive tissues. The panel concludes that the carcinogenic effects observed in the rat carcinogenicity study are likely to be relevant for tumours that are influenced by the endocrine system, also in humans.
On the higher incidences of still dumbbell-shaped centres of thoracic vertebrae and nonossification of the 13th rib observed in the rat developmental toxicity study and whether these are considered to be malformations:
VKM's Panel on Plant Protection Products has discussed the classification of the different types of incomplete ossifications and concluded that incomplete ossification of sternebrae and non-ossification of the 13th rib in rats should by itself be considered to be variations, and not adverse developmental effects. On the other hand, the Panel agrees with ECHA that the "thoracic vertebral centres still dumbbell-shaped" should be considered as malformations, due to limited data and understanding of the mechanism underlying the observed slow reversal of these anomalies. Furthermore, it is the view of the Panel that the different types of retarded ossification induced by the exposure of metobromuron should be considered as a whole when assessing for developmental effects.
On the establishment of the NOAEL for the developmental toxicity study in rats and the reference value (ARfD):
VKM's Panel on Plant Protection Products supports the proposal of an ADI value of 0.008 mg/kg bw/day based on a NOAEL of 0.8 mg/kg bw/day from the 2-year study in mouse, and VKM Report 2015: 03 5.
AOEL of 0.016 mg/kg bw/day based on the NOAEL of 1.6 mg/kg bw/day from the 1-year feeding study in dog. An UF of 100 is applied. The panel suggests on the other hand an ARfD of 0.03 mg/kg bw based on a LOAEL of 10 mg/kg bw /day with the observations of incomplete ossification in the rat developmental study. An UF of 300 is applied.
On the possible anti-androgenic potential of metobromuron:
It is the view of the Panel that the rat carcinogenicity study suggests that metobromuron may possess endocrine disrupting potency. The data from the Hershberger in vivo rat study and the in vitro studies is also suggestive of a weak anti-androgenic effect. Thus, it is the opinion of the VKM Panel on Plant Protection Products that an anti-androgenic effect of metobromuron cannot be excluded.


Time-Module Intensive Reading Program is the first speed-reading course ever accredited by the University of Paris. All general content developed in the Paris lectures and exercises are included herein. This system has been taught successfully to students and professionals in America and Europe, and has had great success in Japan. It represents a systematic attrition of bad reading habits through exercising good reading habits.


There are two distinct types of sheep in Indonesia: thin-tailed and fat-tailed, with some strain differentiation within each. The most important sheep breeds of Indonesia are the Javanese Thin Tail (JTT) and Javanese Fat Tail (JFT) sheep of West and East Java, respectively. Included are strains of thin tailed sheep Sumatra Thin Tailed (STT), Semarang, Garut and the Priangan sheep. The government also introduced some temperate sheep breeds (such as: Merino, Suffolk, Dorset, Suffas, Dormer, St.Croix and Barbados Blackbelly sheep). The purposes of this paper are to review the potential of productivity for local sheep and their crosses with some imported sheep breeds. The concepts of breeding strategies for sheep in Indonesia are also discussed in three parts: (1) evaluation and improvement of local breeds (2) nucleus structure, and (3) gene migration (crossbreeding).


We studied the spatial arrangement of fl oristic diversity in two systems of limestone outcrops, located in two distant Neotropical sites: the region of Nizanda (S Mexico) and the Parana Valley (Central Brazil). We addressed the question whether their vegetation could display a similar zonation, and we explored the relative effects of distance and an environmental gradient on α-, β- and γ-diversities. The limestone outcrops at both sites are similar in size and in elevation, but strongly differ in between-outcrop distance by an order of magnitude. At each study site three individual limestone outcrops were selected; in each of them three plant communities along the edaphic gradient were distinguished (a xerophytic scrub and two tropical dry forests types, one of which had a more xeric character than the other), and sampled for structural variables and fl oristic composition in 100-m 2 plots. At both study sites, structural variables responded similarly to the edaphic gradient. Species density was larger in Nizanda for both α- and γ-diver- sity, but the largest value of β-diversity was obtained in Parana. The edaphic gradient produced larger mean β-diversity values than the simple distance effect, with the interaction of both factors resulting in an even larger β-diversity. Classifi cation analyses by site showed larger fl oristic similarities between the two xerophytic communities than those existing between them and the more mesic forests. The spatial arrangement of diversity showed that both α- and γ-diversity were smaller for the xerophytic communities. As hypothesized, the more extreme changes in community physiognomy were associated with larger β-diversity values.


The primary goal of the present study was to answer the following question: is visual working memory capacity indeed extremely limited, or it is erroneously underestimated due to inadequate encoding of stimuli? Visual working memory capacity is estimated by a procedure known as change-detection paradigm, in which two sets of stimuli are presented. These two displays are separated by an interstimulus interval, during which a change may occur, usually on one of the stimuli. Participants' task is to answer if change had occurred or not, and the memory capacity is then estimated through analyses of their performance. In the majority of recent studies it was found that the memory capacity is limited to three or four objects. Although there is a consensus regarding the capacity limitation, all previous studies are based on the same procedure, in which it is uncertain that visual objects are adequately encoded into working memory. In order to assure their adequate encoding, we constructed a new procedure, in which stimuli are presented successively in the initial stage. That experimental condition was compared to a condition using classical change-detection paradigm, in which objects are initially presented simultaneously. Besides the initial presentation, testing of memory was also varied: in one condition memory was tested with partial test-displays, while in the other, full test-displays were applied. Thus, a 2 x 2 experimental design was used. Analyses have shown that the main effect of the type of presentation was not significant, and it can therefore be concluded that visual working memory capacity was not underestimated due to encoding limitations in previous studies. The main effect of test display type and the interaction were both also insignificant.


Autoionization, which results from the interference between direct photoionization and photoexcitation to a discrete state decaying to the continuum by configuration interaction, is a well known example of the important role of electron correlation in light–matter interaction. Information on this process can be obtained by studying the spectral, or equivalently, temporal complex amplitude of the ionized electron wave packet. Using an energy-resolved interferometric technique, we measure the spectral amplitude and phase of autoionized wave packets emitted via the sp2+ and sp3+ resonances in helium. These measurements allow us to reconstruct the corresponding temporal profiles by Fourier transform. In addition, applying various time–frequency representations, we observe the build-up of the wave packets in the continuum, monitor the instantaneous frequencies emitted at any time and disentangle the dynamics of the direct and resonant ionization channels.


[1] A significant fraction of the fine particulate matter in Hong Kong is made up of organic carbon. In order to quantitatively assess the contributions of various sources to carbonaceous aerosol in Hong Kong, a chemical mass balance (CMB) receptor model in combination with organic tracers was employed. Organic tracers including n-alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), steranes, hopanes, resin acids, cholesterol, levoglucosan, and picene in PM2.5 collected from three air monitoring sites located at roadside, urban, and rural areas in Hong Kong are quantified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in the present study. Analyses of some overlapping species from two separate laboratories will be compared for the first time. Spatial and seasonal source contributions to organic carbon (OC) in PM2.5 from up to nine air pollution sources are assessed, including diesel engine exhaust, gasoline engine exhaust, meat cooking, cigarette smoke, biomass burning, road dust, vegetative detritus, coal combustion, and natural gas combustion. Diesel engine exhaust dominated fine organic carbon in Hong Kong (57 ± 13% at urban sites and 25 ± 2% at the rural site). Other sources that play an important role are meat cooking and biomass burning, which can account for as much as 14% of fine organic carbon. The primary sources identified by this technique explained 49%, 79%, and 94% of the measured fine organic carbon mass concentration at the rural, the urban, and the roadside sites, respectively. The unexplained fine OC is likely due to secondary organic aerosol formation.


Leadership development programs are notoriously difficult to evaluate, and when evaluations are attempted, they often do not go beyond measuring low-level, short-term outcomes of the impacts experienced by participants. Many leadership development programs do not systematically assess changes that are catalyzed within the organizations, communities and systems in which participants lead. To address these challenges, evaluators of the Clinical Scholars National Leadership Institute (CNLI) have designed a comprehensive, mixed-methods evaluation approach to determine the effectiveness of the training and explore the impacts of participants in the spheres in which they lead. Guided by Michael Patton's Developmental Evaluation approach and framed by Kirkpatrick's Training Evaluation Model, the CSNLI evaluation collects data on multiple levels to provide a robust picture of the multiple outcomes of the program. The approach focuses on individual participant outcomes, by measuring competency changes over time and exploring how participants use the competencies gained through the training in their work. Social network analysis is utilized to measure the development and expansion of participants' networks and collaboration within the teams, cohorts, and across sectors and disciplines throughout their time in the CSNLI. The Most Significant Change methodology and semi-structured alumni interviews are used to measure impacts participants identify as occurring as a result of their participation. Finally, Concept Mapping is implemented to explore how Fellows make meaning of the foundational concepts and values of the CSNLI. The outcome and impact evaluation activities employed by the CSNLI, in combination with quality improvement-focused process evaluation, support innovation and excellence in the provision of a health equity-grounded leadership development program.


Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the surface receptor for SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV), directly interacting with the spike glycoprotein (S protein). ACE2 is also suggested to be the receptor for the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which is causing a serious epidemic in China manifested with severe respiratory syndrome. B0AT1 (SLC6A19) is a neutral amino acid transporter whose surface expression in intestinal cells requires ACE2. Here we present the 2.9 Å resolution cryo-EM structure of full-length human ACE2 in complex with B0AT1. The complex, assembled as a dimer of ACE2-B0AT1 heterodimers, exhibits open and closed conformations due to the shifts of the peptidase domains (PDs) of ACE2. A newly resolved Collectrin-like domain (CLD) on ACE2 mediates homo-dimerization. Structural modelling suggests that the ACE2-B0AT1 complex can bind two S proteins simultaneously, providing important clues to the molecular basis for coronavirus recognition and infection.


Background: Veno arterial membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) is increasingly used for cardiogenic failure. However, hemodynamic targets for adequate resuscitation remain a challenge. The PCO 2 gap and the ratio between PCO 2 gap and the arteriovenous difference in oxygen (PCO 2 gap/Da–vO 2 ) are marker of peripheral hypoperfusion. We hypothesized that the PCO 2 gap and the PCO 2 gap/Da– vO 2 ratio might be useful parameters in VA ECMO patients. Methods: We conducted an observational prospective study between September 2015 and February 2017. All consecutive patients >18 years of age who had been treated with peripheral VA ECMO for cardiac failure were included. We compared 2 groups of patients: patients who died of any cause under VA ECMO or in the 72h following VA ECMO weaning (early death group) - and patients who survived VA ECMO weaning more than 72h (surviving group). Blood samples were drawn from arterial and venous VA ECMO cannulas at H0 and H6. The ability of PCO 2 gap and PCO 2 gap/Da–vO 2 to discriminate between early mortality and surviving was studied using ROC curves analysis. Results: We included 20 patients in surviving group and 29 in early death group. The PCO 2 gap was higher in the early death group at H6 (7.4 5.7–10.1 vs. 5.9 3.8– 9.2, p < 0.01). AUC for PCO 2 gap at H6 was 0.76 (0.61–0.92), with a cut-off of 6.2 mmHg. The PCO 2 gap/Da–vO 2 was higher in the early death group at H0 (2.1 1.5–2.6 vs. 1.2 0.9–2.4, p < 0.01) and at H6 (2.1 1.3–2.6 vs. 1.0 0.8–1.7, p < 0.01). AUC for PCO 2 gap/Da–vO 2 at H0 and H6 were 0.79 and 0.73 respectively; the cut-off value was 1.4. Conclusions: The PCO 2


Diarrhea may present as an acute transient condition that is hardly more than an inconvenience or as an acute devastating condition that decimates whole armies and cities. In places in which it is endemic, chronic diarrhea may be equally devastating; however, chronic diarrhea is usually the problem of an individual patient. A clinician may require the most extensive analysis for proper appraisal of chronic diarrhea. A thoughtful, thorough history and physical examination will often serve to narrow the number of tests required to reach a satisfactory diagnosis. Rational therapy may then be quickly determined from many existing references.


The viscosity-temperature curve of Bi melt showed that the viscosity values deceased with the increase of temperature. However, the discontinuous changing pattern took place on the viscosity curve. Viscosity of Bi melt can be divided into three parts as high temperature zone, moderate temperature zone and low temperature zone according to its change rate with temperature. The temperature ranges of the abnormal viscosity change were about 400~430°C and 610~640°C. With the DSC analysis, the abnormal phenomenon was explored from the microscopic structure viewpoint. It was assumed that the change from inhomogeneous atom configuration to homogeneous one led to the discontinuous variation, which is related to the bond transformation with the increase of temperature in melt Bi.


Introduction: Primary and secondary liver tumors resemble some of the most common causes of cancer and represent a major clinical problem owing to the poor prognosis. First-line therapeutic concepts are mainly based on surgical resection and/or systemic chemotherapy (SCT). However, many patients are not suitable for surgery or have failed SCT, although the total tumor load is still limited, which makes a regional therapy approach appealing. Areas covered: This review focuses on different types of transarterial instillation of chemotherapy, which encompasses conventional and drug-eluting transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) chemotherapy and isolated hepatic perfusion (ILP). Expert opinion: TACE can be regarded as the treatment of choice in patients with multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma, but it should still be performed as a lipiodol-based regimen, while the value of doxorubicin-eluting beads needs to be exploited in further randomized controlled trials (RCTs). For patients with colorectal liver metastases, HAI chemotherapy has been challenged by the advent of more effective SCT, but encouraging results have been observed for the combination of the most recent, active drugs given by means of HAI with SCT. Nevertheless, data from RCTs comparing SCT with this transarterial regional therapy approach, as well as with TACE and ILP, are urgently needed.


In this work, the influence of magnetic field on I-V characteristics of bifacial silicon solar cell n+-p-p+ structure is studied under constant multispectral illumination. After resolution of continuity equation related to photogenerated minority carriers' density in the base region of this cell, MATLAB numerical simulations of excess minority carriers', photocurrent densities and junction photovoltage profiles, have been developed with magnetic field in the bulk of the base region. In the same way, the IV characteristics have been studied with magnetic field. It has been demonstrated that the I–V characteristics decreased. It also has shown how the I–V characteristics changed.


A methodology is presented for forecasting the response of salinity movement in a tidal estuary to seasonal rainfall and freshwater inflows. The forecasting procedure uses linked stochastic and deterministic models to provide information to aid decision makers. These models include: (1) Multisite stochastic rainfall data generation models used to generate long-term synthetic records of 10-day rainfall for stations in the upper river basin; (2) a deterministic rainfall-runoff multiple regression model used to compute a long-term record of 10-day mean flow on the river's main stem based on real-time initial flow and rainfall data and synthetic rainfall records; and (3) a one-dimensional finite difference salinity intrusion model used to compute the movement of the 1 part per thousand (ppt) salinity level for each year of the computed long-term flow record. A cumulative probability distribution of the maximum salinity flushing distances along the estuary is developed as a tool for decision makers. The Gambia estuary in West Africa was used as a case study.


Background and Purpose: Dysphagia affects between one and two thirds of patients with acute stroke. According to the Danish national guideline, the standardized instrument "Gugging Swallowing Screen (GUSS)" including an indirect and a direct test of swallowing is the optimal method for swallowing assessment. The instrument has been translated to Danish form the original developed and validated. A strategy for implementation GUSS was started in January 2012. The aim of this report is to document the strategy and the results of this strategy.

Methods: Guided by the conceptual model for implementing improvements "Plan-Do-Study-Act" the strategy included following steps in the study period from January 2012- December 2012: 1. A steering committee representing nursing staff and occupational therapist was created. All nurses were educated in the use of GUSS theoretically and practical with bedside following up. A "screening package" including all instruments needed for the assessment and a registration form was made. 2. The implementations process was monitored.3. Monthly and early reports from the Danish Stroke Register on goal achievements in % of patients tested indirectly and directly on the admission day, respectively were studied. Depending on the results a plan for improvement e.g. a gatekeeper function was organized

Results: Data in The National Stroke register for the year 2012 showed that 599 patients were admitted with stroke within the study period. Indirect swallowing test: % patients assessed on the day of admission: 87% (95%CI 69-80%) (359 in 416 relevant patients) - an improvement from the year 2011 75% (69-80) 95 %CI (200 in 268 relevant patients).Direct swallowing test: % patients assessed on the day of admission: 86% (95%CI 83 - 89%) (359 patients in 416 patients) an improvement from the results in 2011: 71% (95%CI 66-75) (241 in 339 relevant patients); 525 patients were admitted with symptoms of stroke in 2011.

Conclusions: The instrument "Gugging Swallowing Screen GUSS" has effectively been implemented in the acute stroke unit in our institution, and had improved the goal achievement. The standard of 80% defined by the national steering group for both indicators has been achieved in 2012.


Scotland's First Settlers comprised a survey project to locate and examine sites relating to the earliest, Mesolithic, settlement of the Inner Sound, along the coastlands between Skye and the west coast of Scotland. Particular foci of interest included the existence and nature of midden sites, the use of rockshelters and caves, and the different types of lithic raw material in use. In addition, information relating to the human use of the area up to the present day was recorded. Fieldwork took place over five years between 1999 and 2004: the entire coastline of the Inner Sound together with its islands was walked; 129 new archaeological sites were recorded; 36 sites were shovel pitted; 44 test pitted; and one major excavation took place. Excavation at Sand has been particularly exciting as it has resulted in the analysis of a shell midden dating to the early-mid-7th millennium BC, the early Mesolithic of Scotland. This report comprises the results of survey and excavation work as well as detailed artefact reports, full information on ecofacts such as shell, and bone, and information on the development of the landscape and environment, including sea level change. Finally, the broad-scale coverage of the project has led to a number of discussion points that have much to offer further work, both within the area and further afield.


The concept of assisting driver in the task of longitudinal vehicle control is known as cruise control. Starting from the cruise control devices of the seventies and eighties, now the technology has reached cooperative adaptive cruise control. This paper will address the basic concept of adaptive cruise control and the requirement to realize its improved versions including stop and go adaptive cruise control and cooperative adaptive cruise control. The conventional cruise control was only capable of maintaining a set speed by accelerating or decelerating the vehicle. Adaptive cruise control devices are capable of assisting the driver to keep a safe distance from the preceding vehicle by controlling the engine throttle and brake according to the sensor data about the vehicle. Most of the systems use RADAR as the sensor, a few uses LIDAR also. Controller includes the digital signal processing modules and microcontroller chips specially designed for actuating throttle and brake. The stop and go cruise control is for the slow and congested traffic of the cities where the traffic may be frequently stopped. Co-operative Adaptive Cruise Controls are not yet released but postulations are already there.


NLP Interpretability aims to increase trust in model predictions. This makes evaluating interpretability approaches a pressing issue. There are multiple datasets for evaluating NLP Interpretability, but their dependence on human provided ground truths raises questions about their unbiasedness. In this work, we take a different approach and formulate a specific classification task by diverting question-answering datasets. For this custom classification task, the interpretability ground-truth arises directly from the definition of the classification problem. We use this method to propose a benchmark and lay the groundwork for future research in NLP interpretability by evaluating a wide range of current state of the art methods.


Minimization of distribution matching losses is a principled approach to domain adaptation in the context of image classification. However, it is largely overlooked in adapting segmentation networks, which is currently dominated by adversarial models. We propose a class of loss functions, which encourage direct kernel density matching in the network-output space, up to some geometric transformations computed from unlabeled inputs. Rather than using an intermediate domain discriminator, our direct approach unifies distribution matching and segmentation in a single loss. Therefore, it simplifies segmentation adaptation by avoiding extra adversarial steps, while improving both the quality, stability and efficiency of training. We juxtapose our approach to state-of-the-art segmentation adaptation via adversarial training in the network-output space. In the challenging task of adapting brain segmentation across different magnetic resonance images (MRI) modalities, our approach achieves significantly better results both in terms of accuracy and stability.


Background This study describes physical activity patterns and their association with socioeconomic factors in six countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and examines whether physical activity associations with socioeconomic status follow similar patterns across the six countries. Methods Population-wide representative surveys of non-communicable disease risk factors and socioeconomic factors conducted in Australia, China, Fiji, Malaysia, Nauru and the Philippines between 2002 and 2006 were used. Survey respondents aged 18–64 years who provided information on their socioeconomic status (age, education, income, area of residence) and physical activity level in three domains (leisure-time, occupation, commuting) were included in the study (Australia N=15 786; China N=142 693; Fiji N=6763; Malaysia N=2572; Nauru N=2085; Philippines N=3307). Results Leisure-time physical activity increased with age in China, showed inverse associations for Fiji and Nauru men, and there were no age relationships in other countries. Individuals in China, Fiji and Malaysia living in urban areas, with higher educational attainment and affluence were physically active during leisure time but less active at work and during commuting compared to those in rural areas, with lower educational attainment and lower income. Conclusion There is a link between types of physical activity participation and socioeconomic factors in developing countries. Associations with socioeconomic indicators are likely to reflect economic growth. The findings strongly support the need for a comparable non-communicable risk factors surveillance system in developing countries.


Loasaceae, a mostly American group, is one of the largest families of Cornales. In spite of considerable progress over the last 20 years, the relationships of some clades remain controversial, especially in the "South Andean Loasas" (SAL-Blumenbachia, Caiophora, Loasa, Scyphanthus). The present study addresses the phylogenetic relationships in SAL employing four plastid markers (rps16, trnL-trnF, trnS-trnG, matK) and ITS and aims at resolving the systematics and evolution of the group. Sequences obtained from a total of 59 SAL species (ca. 70% of the total, representing all lineages in the group) and 25 outgroup taxa were analysed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference approaches. ML best and BI strict consensus trees showed no significant differences in their topologies. Our results confirm that two species of Loasa ser. Malesherbioideae are not part of the SAL clade, but should be included in Presliophytum, a result which is here formalized. Blumenbachia (including sect. Angulatae and sect. Gripidea) is confirmed as a monophylum with high support. Loasa has to be redefined and restricted to a clade including only ser. Deserticolae, ser. Floribundae, ser. Loasa and ser. Macrospermae. Scyphanthus and Caiophora both are each monophyla and sister groups, but with two clades of Loasa as successive sister groups: (((Caiophora+Scyphanthus) +Loasa ser. Pinnatae)+(L. ser. Volubiles+L. ser. Acaules)) in a very well-supported clade. Accordingly, Caiophora, Loasa ser. Pinnatae, L. ser. Volubiles, L. ser. Acaules and Scyphanthus could be included into a single genus, with Scyphanthus taking priority over Caiophora, creating a fairly heterogenous genus of ca. 52 species and requiring 50 new names. Alternatively, the clades Loasa ser. Pinnatae and L. ser. Volubiles+ser. Acaules can be removed into new segregate genera, which is here argued for and which requires the creation of only 16 new names. The new genus names and some of the new combinations are here formalized.


The purpose of the present study was to explore the self-learning experiences of depression patients on interactive multimedia education program. Qualitative in-depth interviews were employed. Fourteen patients with a first episode of major depression were recruited from a psychiatric outpatient department. Explanations of the purposes of the exercise and on-the-spot teaching were provided by the researcher before the study began. A tape-recorded, semi-structured interview format was employed after two weeks. Data analysis was performed in the framework of line-by-line content, contextual and thematic analysis. Eight subjects successfully completed the entire learning activities. Content analysis revealed 4 main aspects of successful self-learning experiences: the triggering of learning motivation, the enjoyment of self-paced learning, support for the effects of learning materials, and the gaining of self- awareness and changes. The factors influencing learning performance were related to: environmental impact, the degree of familiarity with traditional learning, possession or non-possession of the necessary computer operation skills, and good computer support. However, the findings provide a preliminary understanding of the application of interactive multimedia education programs in terms of self-learning outcomes and recognizing key elements of learning impediments among the study sample. A larger sample size with different clinical contexts is recommended to determine the effect and generalizability for future research. Furthermore, the creation of a computerized learning environment with different educational styles is crucial to patients' success in obtaining depression-related information and understanding effective adaptive skills.


Background Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) are co-morbid and associated with similar neural disruptions during emotion regulation. In contrast, the lack of optimism examined here may be specific to GAD and could prove an important biomarker for that disorder. Method Unmedicated individuals with GAD (n = 18) and age-, intelligence quotient- and gender-matched SAD (n = 18) and healthy (n = 18) comparison individuals were scanned while contemplating likelihoods of high- and low-impact negative (e.g. heart attack; heartburn) or positive (e.g. winning lottery; hug) events occurring to themselves in the future. Results As expected, healthy subjects showed significant optimistic bias (OB); they considered themselves significantly less likely to experience future negative but significantly more likely to experience future positive events relative to others (p < 0.001). This was also seen in SAD, albeit at trend level for positive events (p < 0.001 and p < 0.10, respectively). However, GAD patients showed no OB for positive events (t 17 = 0.82, n.s.) and showed significantly reduced neural modulation relative to the two other groups of regions including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and caudate to these events (p < 0.001 for all). The GAD group further differed from the other groups by showing increased neural responses to low-impact events in regions including the rostral mPFC (p < 0.05 for both). Conclusions The neural dysfunction identified here may represent a unique feature associated with reduced optimism and increased worry about everyday events in GAD. Consistent with this possibility, patients with SAD did not show such dysfunction. Future studies should consider if this dysfunction represents a biomarker for GAD.


A method is described for determining the number of bacteria in a solution by the use of a machine which deposits a known volume of sample on a rotating agar plate in an ever decreasing amount in the form of an Archimedes spiral. After the sample is incubated, different colony densities are apparent on the surface of the plate. A modified counting grid is described which relates area of the plate of volume of sample. By counting an appropriate area of the plate, the number of bacteria in the sample is estimated. This method was compared to the pour plate procedure with the use of pure and mixed cultures in water and milk. The results did not demonstrate a significant difference in variance between duplicates at the α = 0.01 level when concentrations of 600 to 12 × 105 bacteria per ml were used, but the spiral plate method gave counts that were higher than counts obtained by the pour plate method. The time and materials required for this method are substantially less than those required for the conventional aerobic pour plate procedure.


Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are strategic business expansions across national boundaries, which provide bundle of resources and opportunity for growth strategies, however can prove rather problematic and complex. One of the most complex stages in cross-border M&As is when two firms are in the integration process. The most challenging part in a cross-border M&A, is the integration of two different firms that feature different management styles and organizational cultures. Once the integration seeps deeper into functional levels, the strategic level M&A commitment is faced with operational implementation issues. The marketing department is usually heavily involved in this integration process. These are the people who create and generate the sales which thereby increase the income of the combined firm. However, research on marketing integration related to M&As has paid little attention to the amalgamation of similar resources from two similar departments, particularly in the cross-border M&A context. Furthermore, the existing research does not clearly demonstrate the success factors that contribute to the marketing integration process in cross-border M&As. Hence, this thesis explores the role of the antecedents that influence the marketing integration process in cross-border M&As. Results indicate a significant impact on integration from marketing synergy and the redeployment of marketing resources. Meanwhile there is a striking result pertaining to the relationship between interaction and the speed of integration which is significant but negatively to influence the marketing integration process. In addition, cost savings and relationship effectiveness among the marketers of both the acquirer and the acquired firms are found to be highly significant and to positively support the M&A performance. This means that the commitment of the marketers from both firms relies on a close relationship in order to uphold the integration synergy while at the same time reducing cost and improving M&A performance.


A therapeutic challenge. Emphysematous pyelonephritis is a rare form of kidney infection characterized by the presence of gas-forming coliform bacteria which affects more frequently diabetic subjects. We report the case of a 57-years-old diabetic woman, who was admitted in septic shock, signs of acute bilateral emphysematous pyelonephritis, and diabetic ketoacidosis. Both blood and urine cultures yielded Escherichia coli. The patient was successfully treated using longterm broad-spectrum antibiotics, diabetic control and supportive measures alone. Catheter drainage and nephrectomy were not necessary to overcome this life threatening situation


Devices, systems, and methods for implanting radially expandable prostheses in the body lumens rely on tacking or anchoring the prostheses with separately introduced fasteners. The prostheses may be self-expanding or balloon expandable, and may include a single lumen or more than one lumen. After initial placement, a fastener applier system is introduced within the expanded prostheses to deploy a plurality of fasteners to at least one prosthesis end. The fasteners are usually helical fasteners which are releasably restrained on the fastener driver, and are delivered by rotation of the fastener driver. The fasteners may be applied singly, typically in circumferentially spaced-apart patterns about the interior of at least one end of the prosthesis. A lumen extension or lumens may be coupled to the prosthesis to extend the reach of the prosthesis within the implantation site. Fasteners may also be applied to the lumen extensions.


The complexity of spatial use has an impact on poverty and the development of slum settlements towards a decrease in environmental quality. In this study, we aim to analyze (1) urbanization and spatial expansion as determinants of spatial dynamics in suburban areas, (2) the effect of spatial expansion, land use change, population increase, and spatial activity patterns on the development of slum settlements, and (3) the relationship between control of spatial planning, handling land reclamation, and improving the quality of infrastructure with improving the quality of the environment and the sustainability of handling slum settlements in the suburbs. We use a sequential explanatory design, which is a combination of quantitative and qualitative research, and data are obtained through observation, in-depth interviews, surveys, and documentation. The results showed that slum settlements in watersheds and coastal areas as well as inadequate support for infrastructure services resulted in excessive groundwater use, soil pollution, and surface water quality pollution resulting in less smooth river flow regulation, lowering of water levels, urban flooding, and disease transmission. Weak control over spatial use, utilization of water catchment areas, and the inadequate fulfillment of slum settlement infrastructure services cause a decrease in environmental quality. These results indicate that it is very important to deal with slum settlements in a sustainable manner, including spatial use and environmental, economic, and social aspects. This study recommends that the handling of slum settlements requires policy support from the government in an effort, to meet the city target without slums by 2030 in Makassar City, Indonesia.


In this thesis the function of the ATB2 transcription factor in relation to carbohydrate partitioning was investigated. Transcription factors are targets of signal transduction cascades that serve to adapt transcriptional rates of specific downstream genes. Transcription factors do so by binding DNA in a sequence-specific manner. Such DNA elements are present in promoters of target genes which allows transcription factors to enhance or repress the activity of the general transcriptional apparatus.
Plants express a plethora of different types of transcription factors which can be classified on the basis of overall sequence homology that likely reflects similar operational mechanisms. Completion of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome in 2000 allowed genome-wide comparison with other organisms. The Arabidopsis thaliana genome has a relatively high transcription factor content compared to organisms of other Kingdoms. ATB2 belongs to the group of bZIP transcription factors that is represented by 75 members which are involved in a broad variety of processes. Several aspects concerning the function of ATB2 and its signaling pathway have previously been presented. ATB2 expression is associated with the vasculature of sink tissues and is especially prominent in funiculi of fertilized ovules. Furthermore, ATB2 functions in a sucrose-signaling pathway. ATB2 expression is modulated by physiologically relevant concentrations of sucrose in a 5 untranslated region-dependent manner. Recently it was shown that ATB2 translation depends on the highly conserved sucrose-controlled upstream open reading frame.
The studies described in this thesis show that ATB2 serves a function in carbohydrate partitioning, the process of prolonged and directed allocation of sugars that results in a specific distribution of carbohydrates over all plant organs. In Chapter 2 an overexpression study of ATB2 in tobacco shows its detrimental effects on plant growth and development. Carbohydrate partitioning was severely affected presumably via a combinatorial effect of cell-wall invertases and sucrose transporter misexpression and altered activity. In Chapter 3 it is described that ATB2 overexpression causes similar growth impairments in Arabidopsis thaliana. ATB2 was shown to regulate a specific subset of Arabidopsis thaliana cell-wall invertases genes which could be partially responsible for the observed growth impairment. Furthermore, ATB2 was shown to regulate transcription of two close homologs, bZIP2 and bZIP44. The sucrose-specific translational regulation and expression pattern of bZIP2 and bZIP44 using transgenic promoter-GUS plants are described in Chapter 4. The expression patterns of both bZIP2 and bZIP44 are associated with the vasculature and with metabolically demanding tissues. Expression of both bZIP2 and bZIP44 can be repressed by sucrose in a 5 UTR-dependent manner. The overlapping expression patterns and sucrose-repression strengthen the idea of in vivo concerted action.
In conclusion, the data presented in this thesis support a model that explains the function of ATB2 in regulating sucrose supply to competing sinks in accordance to local sink demand. Furthermore, it appears that bZIP2 and bZIP44 could also play such a role as deduced from the similar and overlapping expression patterns. Also the presence of the sucrose-controlled upstream opern reading frame and the resulting translational dependency for sucrose suggests that all three bZIP transcription factors have similar roles in the control of carbohydrate partitioning.


In this dissertation we collate a unique hand-collected dataset of 417 IPO firms for the 2001 to 2004 period, and study the effectiveness of governance and signaling mechanisms at an IPO. In chapter 1 our main contention is that current management research on IPOs has primarily looked at how corporate governance variables like board composition and ownership structure affect IPO underpricing, while largely overlooking the implications of these governance structures for long-term liquidity. This is a significant oversight, given the many benefits to IPO issuers from having a liquid stock (e.g., reduced cost of capital, increased external monitoring etc.). We find that both preIPO ownership structures and the degree of underpricing affect aftermarket liquidity. More specifically, the information advantages of large ownership reduce stock liquidity, while increased liquidity following greater underpricing underlines a key benefit of underpricing that has been previously ignored. We are therefore able to present a fuller picture of pre-IPO ownership and underpricing and their long term performance implications. In chapter 2 we look at how signaling at the time of IPO certifies firm quality and helps address the adverse selection problem for uninformed investors. We contend that classifying signals according to common characteristics (like cost) has significant managerial implications in terms of whether, when and how much firms need to invest in developing signals, and how these decisions are likely to influence subsequent firm performance. We then contribute to the literature by proposing a typology of signals based on whether signaling costs are incurred upfront (defaultindependent) or whether they depend on future profitability (default-contingent). We argue that this definitional distinction highlights more fundamental differences in the underlying characteristics of the two signal types in terms of cost, clarity, consistency, commitment and visibility. Only default-independent signals usually possess these desirable characteristics, making them more powerful determinants of firm value than default-contingent signals.


[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to measure the center of mass using a smartphone application during walking in healthy. [Subjects and Methods] Forty eight healthy participants volunteered for this study. Measurements of center of mass were obtained by gait analysis application using smartphone while subjects performed 6 meter walking test. The measured data were automatically calculated by the application, subjects performed three trial walks to get a more accurate data analysis. [Results] There were no significant differences among subjects or between genders during the three trials in the vertical and lateral displacement of COM, and the results of the Kolmogorov-Simirnov test showed no differences in vertical and lateral displacement of COM in all subjects or between genders. However, the vertical displacement of COM significantly varied in male subjects than in female subjects, but the lateral displacement of COM did not significantly differ between the male and female subjects. [Conclusion] We can use the Smartphone application to measure the COM for walking; however more studies comparing advanced technological instruments with the smartphone application are needed.


World-wide large repositories of learning material are created with the dual goals of global access for the learner and of re-use of material by the teacher. Content description standards have been defined which make it possible to locate appropriate material. This paper looks into complementing these standards by extending the possibilities of describing the actual content of the learning material and by extending the use of these descriptions beyond the normal search-and-retrieve tasks. A framework for the multi-modal description of learning material is suggested. The framework aims at providing multiple content description mechanisms and suggests the design of an information system to perform this content description. The content description mechanisms are text-based, that is keywords, freeform text, FSCL description, and audio-based. The system design addresses issues like ownership, public and private access rights for description and the subsequent retrieval.


The standard Medicare Part D drug insurance contract is nonlinear—with reduced subsidies in a coverage gap—resulting in a dynamic purchase problem. We consider enrollees who arrived near the gap early in the year and show that they should expect to enter the gap with high probability, implying that, under a benchmark model with neoclassical preferences, the gap should impact them very little. We find that these enrollees have flat spending in a period before the doughnut hole and a large spending drop in the gap, providing evidence against the benchmark model. We structurally estimate behavioral dynamic drug purchase models and find that a price salience model where enrollees do not incorporate future prices into their decision making at all fits the data best. For a nationally representative sample, full price salience would decrease enrollee spending by 31%. Entirely eliminating the gap would increase insurer spending 27%, compared to 7% for generic-drug-only gap coverage.


This paper documents the detailed investigation of the relationship between molecular structure and biological activity of few tetraaza macrocyclic metal (II) complexes equipped by the template condensation of o-bromoaniline, ethylenediamine and salbenz in 2:1:1 ratio with metal (II) salts (1mM). All these complexes are found to be stable in air and soluble in CN3CN or DMSO, and are characterized through spectral (UV-Vis, IR, EPR) and electrochemical methods. A square planar geometry is proposed for Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) complexes, while an octahedral geometry is suggested for Mn(II) and Fe(II). The IR spectra indicate that the NH groups of the amine exist as such even after complexation without deprotonation, and all the complexes show a strong band in 1580-1590 cm-1 region corresponding to ν(C=N), due to coordinated azomethine group to the metal. The solution electronic spectra of these complexes show intense LMCT bands around 400 nm. Intense electronic absorption spectra as well as the four line pattern in EPR spectra with broad g⊥ suggests that the copper(II) complexes have distorted square planar geometry. On titration with herring sperm DNA, CuN4, CoN4, NiN4 and MnN4 complexes exhibit an abrupt amend in their electronic spectrum and cyclic voltammogram. The intense intraligand π-π* transition in the region 350–420 nm is found to show hypochromicity on titration with DNA in all these complexes, due to their electrostatic interaction with DNA. All these complexes show one well–defined quasi-reversible redox couple with values ranging from ∆Ep 137 to 337 mV. Their spectral and electrochemical outcome designate that the square planar complexes Cu(II), Co(II) and Ni(II) interact much better than the axially coordinated octahedral complexes Mn(II) and Fe(II). The decrease found in the negative absorption peak, characteristic peak due to helicity of DNA, in circular dichroism studies reflects the perversion in the helical nature of B-DNA upon the addition of complex. The binding of plasmid DNA by these complexes has also been investigated by agarose gel electrophoresis, remarkably Ni(II) complex was found to cleave the DNA double helix.


The possibility of interval extension between two dry docking is alternatively offered to the shipowners by classification societies. Although, for now, such a possibility is limited only to certain types of ships, a significant shift has been accomplished in accordance with today's technical and technological capacities. It is quite clear that not all shipowners will accept this option, as either five-year or even mid-interval might suit them well. The option introduces an economic benefit, but requires additional preparation to withstand the full interval without negative consequences, primarily related to the protection of underwater part of the hull. The relationship of economic benefits and the cost of investment to successfully pass the complete period gives a clear view to the shipowner for the decision of accepting an extended dry docking period between two consecutive dry dockings. This paper is presenting one of the approaches to calculate feasibility of prolonging dry docking interval. Calculation example represents an economic indicator, crucial for shipowner's decision to accept prolonged dry docking interval. The paper presents an analysis of underwater hull condition for the vessel with a composite coating. It is based on a collection of actual data registered in the period of seven years. Significant data have been derived from the analysis, allowing basic set up for theoretical assessment as well as the real justification of extended dry docking period between two consecutive dry dockings of the vessel. Some of the presented facts, related to underwater composite coating, might be used for similar calculations.


Thermokarst lakes and ponds are major elements of permafrost landscapes, occupying up to 40% of the land area in some Arctic regions. Shallow lakes freeze to the bed, thus preventing permafrost thaw underneath them and limiting the length of the period with greenhouse gas production in the unfrozen lake sediments. Radar remote sensing permits to distinguish lakes with bedfast ice due to the difference in backscatter intensities from bedfast and floating ice. This study investigates the potential of a unique time series of three-year repeat-pass TerraSAR-X (TSX) imagery with high temporal (11 days) and spatial (10 m) resolution for monitoring bedfast ice as well as ice phenology of lakes in the zone of continuous permafrost in the Lena River Delta, Siberia. TSX backscatter intensity is shown to be an excellent tool for monitoring floating versus bedfast lake ice as well as ice phenology. TSX-derived timing of ice grounding and the ice growth model CLIMo are used to retrieve the ice thicknesses of the bedfast ice at points where in situ ice thickness measurements were available. Comparison shows good agreement in the year of field measurements. Additionally, for the first time, an 11-day sequential interferometric coherence time series is analyzed as a supplementary approach for the bedfast ice monitoring. The coherence time series detects most of the ice grounding as well as spring snow/ice melt onset. Overall, the results show the great value of TSX time series for monitoring Arctic lake ice and provide a basis for various applications: for instance, derivation of shallow lakes bathymetry, evaluation of winter water resources and locating fish winter habitat as well as estimation of taliks extent in permafrost.


It is somewhat ironic that while the major focus of regulators and institutions in the financial services sector over recent years has been on developing models for measuring and managing credit risk, most of the large losses in financial institutions over this time have been sourced to operational risk - and more specifically, the actions of single individuals, or small cohorts of individuals. A common thread has been excess risk taking by traders and credit managers - including unauthorised trading and misrepresentation of trades - leading to large, undercapitalised positions in the books of financial institutions. In the majority of cases individuals acted in response to incentives set before them, as encompassed in their remuneration schemes. Although these losses occurred in dealing operations, and thus appear more attuned to market risk than operational risk, the fact that these losses arose from inadequate and failed internal processes, systems and people classifies them as operational risk-related from the perspective of bank regulators. In this paper we compare and contrast the factors that led to large losses in three banking institutions over recent years: Barings, Allied-Irish and the National Australia Banks. We conclude it highly unlikely that these losses would have been recognised and consequently prevented under the revised capital standards for financial institutions currently promulgated by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision of the Bank for International Settlements. With this in mind, we examine how various non-financial measures may have been robust leading indicators of operational risk losses in these institutions, and show how these indicators could be incorporated into a scorecard approach for risk-capital allocation and pricing decisions in financial institutions.


RNA-binding protein 39 (RBM39) is a splicing factor and a transcriptional co-activator of estrogen receptors and Jun/AP-1, and its function has been associated with malignant progression in a number of cancers. The C-terminal RRM domain of RBM39 belongs to the U2AF homology motif family (UHM), which mediate protein-protein interactions through a short tryptophan-containing peptide known as the UHM-ligand motif (ULM). Here, crystal and solution NMR structures of the RBM39-UHM domain, and the crystal structure of its complex with U2AF65-ULM, are reported. The RBM39-U2AF65 interaction was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation from human cell extracts, by isothermal titration calorimetry and by NMR chemical shift perturbation experiments with the purified proteins. When compared with related complexes, such as U2AF35-U2AF65 and RBM39-SF3b155, the RBM39-UHM-U2AF65-ULM complex reveals both common and discriminating recognition elements in the UHM-ULM binding interface, providing a rationale for the known specificity of UHM-ULM interactions. This study therefore establishes a structural basis for specific UHM-ULM interactions by splicing factors such as U2AF35, U2AF65, RBM39 and SF3b155, and a platform for continued studies of intermolecular interactions governing disease-related alternative splicing in eukaryotic cells.


Computed tomography(CT) is currently the gold standard to monitor lower respiratory tract infection(LRTI), however CT is expensive and involves considerable doses of radiation which prevents monitoring patients with the required frequency. As spirometry is a simple procedure that measures inhaled and exhaled volume of air as a function of time, it may have potential to overcome some of these difficulties. This study aimed to explore the correlation between spirometry and CT parameters in LRTI.

Volumetric CT was performed in 34 outpatients with LRTI using a 64 MultiDetector CT. Tracheobronchial tree and lung parenchyma were segmented with Region Growing technique and Morphological Operations to obtain tracheobronchial and bronchial(left and right) trees and lung parenchyma volumes(LPV). Forced expiratory volume in the 1o second percentage predicted(FEV1pp), forced vital capacity percentage predicted(FVCpp) and FEV1/FVC ratio were also collected. Correlations were explored with Pearson's Correlation(PASW 18.0).

Participants'(47.1% males) mean age was 52.7±18.9y. Tracheobronchial tree volume correlated significantly with FEV1pp(r=0.357, p=0.038) and FVCpp(r=0.369, p=0.032). Left and right bronchial tree volumes also correlated significantly with FEV1pp(r=0.514, p=0.02 and r=0.507, p=0.02, respectively) and FVCpp(r=0.503, p=0.002 and r=0.436, p=0.010, respectively). Regarding the FEV1/FVC ratio, a negative and significant correlation with LPV was found(r=0.385, p=0.025).

These findings suggest that spirometry should not be used alone to monitor LRTI as correlations found were mainly moderate. Further research is needed to explore other non-invasive measures, e.g., respiratory sound analysis.


Titanium and its alloys has been widely used for the design of dental implants because of its biocompatibility, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. The powder-metallurgy process is a promising alternative to the casting fabrication process of titanium alloys for bone implants design as the porous structure mimics the natural bone structures, allowing the bone to grow into the pores which results in a better fixation of the artificial implant. However, under in vivo conditions the implants are subjected to tribocorrosion phenomenon, which consists in the degradation mechanisms due to the combined effect of wear and corrosion. The aim of this study is to evaluate the tribocorrosion behaviour of cast and sintered Ti6Al4V biomedical alloy for dental applications using the cast material as reference. Titanium samples were tested in artificial human saliva solution with three different pHs (3, 6, 9) and in an acidic saliva with 1000 ppm fluorides (AS-3-1000F−) by different electrochemical techniques (potentiodynamic curves, potentiostatic tests and tribo-electrochemical tests). Cast and sintered titanium alloys exhibit the same tribocorrosion mechanisms in AS independently of the pH which consists in plastic deformation with passive dissolution, but the addition of fluorides to the acidified solution changes the degradation mechanism towards active dissolution of the titanium alloys.


X-ray computed tomography (CT) has been widely used in medical diagnostic imaging. However, conventional, energy-integrated CT requires a high radiation dose and can only provide monochromatic images that cannot eliminate various artifacts. In contrast, photon-counting CT (PC-CT) provides low-dose multicolor CT imaging, which enables the identification of multiple contrast agents. However, in the PC-CT system, the lack of photon statistics, which is also caused by image reconstruction in the limited energy band, severely affects the image quality. In this study, we applied three types of machine-learning (ML) techniques to improved the image quality of PC-CT, that is, dictionary learning, U-Net, and Noise2Noise. These ML models were trained using low- and high-dose image pairs created in simple steps. The trained ML models were applied to simulated data, and experimental PC-CT images of contrast agents used in clinical practice. Consequently, in the simulated data, the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) value improved from 21.3 for the input to 26.6, 33.3, and 30.1 for dictionary learning, U-Net, and Noise2Noise, respectively. Furthermore, in the actual PC-CT images, we successfully reproduced PC-CT images with high PSNR, which enabled simultaneous imaging of multiple contrast agents with improved accuracy of concentration estimation. As a future perspective, we will develop a processing technique that can be applied to in vivo CT images.