Leaves and flowers of four chemotypes of Origanum vulgare L. were examined for the main components of their essential oil and for the types and distribution of their glandular hairs. Two varieties have high phenol content, one thymol and the other carvacrol, in their essential oils; one has a moderate thymol content and the fourth has a low phenol content and a high alcohol content. The percentage of essential oil and the number of peltate hairs were higher in the flowers than in the leaves, the highest being in the flowers of a chemotype with a high phenol (thymol) concentration. While there were no differences in structure of the peltate and two types of capitate hairs between chemotypes, the density of the peltate hairs varied and appeared to be correlated with the total essential oil content.


the medical home with a provider specifi cally trained in children's health care issues. The AAP further states that retail-based clinics are inappropriate source for primary care for children. In order to meet the demands of the pediatric health care consumers, the primary care medical home must provide quality, organized and evidence based care that is also accessible and convenient. That's what patients expect from us.


heumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder leading to joint destruction. The roles of proinflammatory cytokines have been appreciated in the pathogenesis of RA. Among the proinflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is known to play a central role in RA. In fact, the agents inhibiting TNF-α have brought drastic changes in the treatment of RA, so called "paradigm shift." TNF-α is produced from macrophages and lymphocytes by various inflammatory triggers. TNF-α expressed on the cell surfaces is called transmembrane TNF-α, which is cut by metalloproteinases such as TNF-α converting enzyme (TACE) into soluble TNF-α. It is noteworthy that Mitoma et al. demonstrated that infliximab (IFX) and adalimumab exerted antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement Original Contribution Kitasato Med J 2016; 46: 60-66


In this paper a system to move a ferrofluid mass along a predefined path is presented. The mass is driven by a travelling magnetic fields generated through an electromagnetic actuation system. The pattern is defined and controlled by a dedicated LabView® interface. A description of the adopted experimental set-up is given along with some experimental results.


APA Citation Ghebrial, F. (2019).Financial Inclusion in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges [Master's Thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/799 MLA Citation Ghebrial, Farid. Financial Inclusion in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges. 2019. American University in Cairo, Master's Thesis. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/799


Low resolution faces are the main barrier to efficient face recognition and identification in several problems primarily surveillance systems. To mitigate this problem we proposes a novel learning based two-step approach by the use of Direct Locality Preserving Projections (DLPP), Maximum a posterior estimation (MAP) and Kernel Ridge Regression (KRR) for super-resolution of face images or in other words Face Hallucination. First using DLPP for manifold learning and MAP estimation, a smooth Global high resolution image is obtained. In second step to introduce high frequency components KRR is used to model the Residue high resolution image, which is then added to Global image to get final high quality detail featured Hallucinated face image. As shown in experimental results the proposed system is robust and efficient in synthesizing low resolution faces similar to the original high resolution faces.


The paper briefly refers to the present treatments of micro-channel flows that are based on the existing Navier-Stokes-Equations and the employment of wall-slip boundary conditions. The Maxwell slip velocity is employed for this purpose. This theoretical treatment is questioned. It is shown by the authors that the existing Navier-Stokes-Equations are incomplete. They do not contain terms for the self diffusion of mass. Introducing these terms yields the extended Navier-StokesEquations that allow micro-channel flows to be treated without the assumption of Maxwellian slip velocities at the wall. A pressure driven slip velocity occurs at the wall and it results as part of the solution for flows in micro-channels by the "Extended Navier-Stokes Equations". Using these equations, analytical treatments of micro-channel flows are presented. Good agreement with existing experimental results is obtained.


The purpose of this work is to demonstrate that rapid prototyping can be effectively applied for fabricating test models to be used in aerodynamic experimental investigations. The present work, in particular, concerns a linear cascade of 2½-D blades, with NACA 65-12(A10)10 profile section. Each one of the nine separate (identical) blades of the cascade has been fabricated using a stereolithography rapid prototyping technique. The cascade has been installed in an aerodynamic test rig, in order to simulate the flow conditions through a compressor blading. Aspects concerning the fabrication of the test models/blades, their functionality, their post-processing, the mounting arrangement and the pressure tubing and ports are discussed in detail. Experimental results for the distribution of the blade surface airflow pressure for various incidence angles compare favourably with computational results obtained with a panel inviscid flow numerical scheme. This implicitly indicates the effectiveness of employing stereolithography for fabricating wind tunnel test models.


An objective-prism survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud has been performed through an Hα + [NII] interference filter, using the 0.90 m Curtis Schmidt telescope of Cerro Tololo. 1898 emission-line objects have been detected in the main body of this galaxy, almost quadrupling the number of those found, in the same region, by the previous objective-prism surveys. Among these objects are newly discovered planetary nebulae, compact HII regions and late-type stars. Continuum intensity, as well as the shape and relative strength of the Hα emission-line have been estimated; coordinates, cross-identifications for the listed objects and 2.25 arcmin square finding charts for all the objects are provided


For more than a decade, deep learning algorithms have consistently achieved and improved upon the state-of-the-art performance on image classification tasks. However, there is a general lack of understanding and knowledge about the decision boundaries carved by these modern deep neural network architectures. Recently, an algorithm called DeepDIG was introduced to generate boundary instances between two classes based on the decision regions defined by any deep neural network classifier. Although it is very effective in generating boundary instances, the underlying algorithm was designed to work with two classes at a time in a non-commutative fashion which makes it ill-suited for multi-class problems with hundreds of classes. In this work, we extend the DeepDIG algorithm so that it scales linearly with the number of classes. We show that the proposed U-DeepDIG algorithm maintains the efficacy of the original DeepDIG algorithm while being scalable and more efficient when applied to larger classification problems. We demonstrate this by applying our algorithm on MNIST, Fashion-MNIST and CIFAR10 datasets. In addition to qualitative comparisons, we also perform extensive quantitative comparison by analyzing the margin between the class boundaries and the instances generated.


The stromal pH of chloroplasts contained in wheat leaf protoplasts was determined by incubating the protoplast suspension with radioactively labelled DMO, followed by rapid subcellular fractionation and measurement of the radioactivity in the separated chloroplast fraction. The stromal pH was found to be about 8.0 upon illumination and 7.6 in darkness. These results demonstrate that light-dependent stromal pH changes, which have been found earlier in isolated chloroplasts, also occur in a plant cell.


Increasing the utilization rate of regenerative braking energy in rail systems is one of the ongoing applications increasing in significance in recent years. This study develops a novelty algorithm within the scope of this objective and provides the calculation of the regenerative braking energy recovery rate and then making a decision for storage or back to grid of this energy. Afterwards, the regenerative braking energy was calculated with the help of this algorithm for Eskisehir-Ankara and Ankara-Eskisehir trips in two different passengers (load) scenarios, using the YHT 65000 high-speed train, which was chosen as a case study. Then, with a decision maker added to this classical regenerative braking energy algorithm, it will be decided whether this energy will be stored or forward back into the grid for the purpose of providing non-harmonic energy to the grid.


This paper discusses the possibility of perceiving international cooperation as a legal instrument for the establishment of the human right to health. Firstly, it was found that the Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) – Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and St. Thomas and Prince – recognize health as a right, be it in their constitutions, be it through international law. However, historically, these countries have had enormous difficulties in the implementation of this right and North-South international cooperation faces many contradictions in the task of promoting social and economic development. The horizontal cooperation between Brazil and each of these countries – through bilateral actions – is studied in this paper. Data analysis suggests positive elements and also aspects that can be improved in the cooperation among developing countries. And the set of agreements signed allows a prospective analysis of health cooperation, considering its improvement as a South-South mechanism to guarantee rights.


This paper presents the first temperature-growth performance curves for a coral reef fish. Thermal tolerance and growth for the juvenile spiny damselfish Acantho- chromis polyacanthus were measured at a range of tem- peratures from 15°C to 38°C. A. polyacanthus juveniles showed a critical thermal minimum at 15.5°C±0.1 and a critical thermal maximum at 38°C±0.12. Maximal growth (based on changes in length) occurred at 28-31°C, whereas weight gain was maximised at 28°C, which corresponds closely with the annual mean temperature currently ex- perienced by these fishes in their natural environment. At temperatures >31°C the growth rate decreased markedly in length and weight up to 34°C, where fishes had neg- ligible growth and died within 8-15 days. Sustained in- creases in ambient temperature (due to climate change) are expected to have significant adverse effects on these fishes. However, any effects of increasing temperature may also be offset by changing the timing of reproduction; by breeding in early spring or late summer, these fishes may still be able to exploit narrow windows of thermal optima, whereas fishes breeding in the height of summer will expose offspring to potentially lethal temperatures at critical stages during their development.


Wolf-Dietrich HeyerThe heterodimeric nuclease Mus81–Eme1 has beenproposed to be a Holliday junction resolvase and hasnow been found to be responsible for nearly allmeiotic crossovers in fission yeast. The intriguing sub-strate preference of this enzyme for nicked Hollidayjunctions opens the possibility that crossover forma-tion may not always involve double Holliday junctions.


This paper develops a continuous optimal investment strategy problem for maximization of risk sensitivity,where the underlying assets consist of defaultable bond and risk assets,and the prices of the risk assets are affected by macroeconomic and financial factors. Using stochastic control and stochastic analysis theory,we obtain a sufficient condition for optimal investment strategy.Under a special assumption,we conclude that the optimal investment strategy satisfies an algebra equation with respect to the financial factor levels and default probability of the bond.Therefore,the optimal investment strategy is a practical and tractable for numerical computation.


ABSTRACT Teaching the introductory LIS management course may be the most challenging assignment for LIS professors because of the breadth of the subject, the probabilistic nature of management principles, and the differing management environments of LIS organizations. The best teaching strategy is to describe honestly to students the benefits and limitations of the course and to focus on the achievable objectives of introducing students to core management concepts, providing skill enhancement, and encouraging them to evaluate their management potential. The article discusses the difficulties of teaching leadership skills, the limits imposed by student competencies, and the impact of the professor's background on course content.


The purpose of this research is to ascertain how the performance of government auditors at BPK RI West Java Representative is impacted by their independence and knowledge of good governance. This study employed a quantitative approach with a descriptive methodology. Primary data collected via survey distribution was utilized in this study. Probability sampling is used in the sampling method. Based on a minimum of two years of work experience as an auditor at BPK RI West Java Province, the chosen sample has been modified to the preset parameters. At the BPK RI West Java Representative, surveys were disseminated using Google Forms, and respondents who met the requirement of having 58 auditors responded. With the aid of SPSS 26, multiple linear regression analysis is the analytical method performed. The findings of this research suggest that government auditor performance is significantly and positively influenced by independence and knowledge of good governance.


This week's quiz is on child protection and is taken from the OnExamination revision questions for the MRCPCH part 1A and 1B exams. A boy aged 6 months is brought to the emergency department having fallen off a chair the previous day. The infant appears clinically well, but he has a boggy occipital swelling. Which of the following are appropriate actions? A Admit the infant to a paediatric ward B Arrange urgent axial computerised tomography CDischarge the infant after warning the parents that you are suspicious about possible child abuse D Discharge the infant and arrange an appointment at the next paediatric clinic E Discharge the infant and notify the duty social worker Answers


Despite every person incurring acute wounds on a regular basis, the genetics and molecular mechanisms regulating wound healing remain to be elucidated. Wound closure requires the concerted action of cellular proliferation, differentiation, and migration. Interferon Regulatory Factor 6 (IRF6) has been shown to regulate all of these processes, with IRF6‐deficient keratinocytes displaying both a decrease in the expression of Rho GTPase Activating Protein 29 (ARHGAP29) as well as an increase in stress fibers. ARHGAP29 is a Rho GTPase Activating Protein with a high affinity for the small GTPase RhoA, a known regulator of stress fibers. However, despite our current knowledge about IRF6 and RHOA, little is known about how IRF6 regulates ARHGAP29 and the role of ARHGAP29 in cellular migration, adhesion, and wound healing. We hypothesize that ARHGAP29 is transcriptionally regulated by IRF6 and perturbation of this system will result in impaired wound healing. To test our hypothesis, we first characterized the expression and subcellular localization of ARHGAP29 in keratinocytes. Using immunofluorescence, ARHGAP29 was detected at the lamellipodia and filopodia as well as in fine puncta throughout the cytoplasm with the strongest expression surrounding the nucleus. In vivo, ARHGAP29 was observed throughout all layers the epidermis, with the highest epidermal expression observed in basal keratinocytes. ARHGAP29 was also detected in dermal fibroblasts, myocytes, endothelial cells and sebocytes. Following wounding, ARHGAP29 was observed at the wound margin in keratinocytes and in inflammatory cells in the granulation tissue throughout the process of wound healing. Preliminary immunofluorescent staining of ARHGAP29 throughout the process of wound healing suggest an increase in the variability of ARHGAP29 expression in the keratinocytes of the leading edge of the migratory tongue when compared to unwounded tissue and closed wounds. To determine if ARHGAP29 is required for proper wound healing in vivo, we took advantage of a murine allele harboring a K326X orofacial cleft patient‐derived mutation. Because homozygotes are embryonic lethal, we performed full thickness excisional wounds on heterozygotes and harvested them 4 and 7 days post‐injury. Morphometric analyses revealed no significant differences at 7 days following wounding, suggesting that at that time point, 50% reduction of ARHGAP29 is sufficient for proper healing. Collectively, these results indicate that ARHGAP29 is expressed during wound healing in a number of cell types relevant to tissue repair. The reduced level of ARHGAP29 observed in our ARHGAP29 K326X mice is, however, still sufficient to heal a cutaneous wound. A keratinocyte‐specific knockout of ARHGAP29 will be essential to understand the role of ARHGAP29 in cutaneous wound healing and to test the interaction between ARHGAP29 and IRF6. These findings will provide key information on the mechanism underlying wound healing and fill the gap linking the previously observed relationship between IRF6 and the RHOA pathway.


with the continuous advancement of curriculum reform, and leadership of education system of Zhucheng City and research activity is keeping moving forward, teaching and research are drawing more and more the attention from education workers. Based on the kindergarten-oritended teaching and research mode,each unit takes teaching and research union as the main teaching and research mode,and conducts it in many schools and kindergartens gradually,and because of its characteristics such as openness, interactivity, it is more and more welcome to many firsttiers teachers.


The effect of grazing by the common sea urchin on a local kelp bed was studied. The need for this investigation was felt in view of the importance of kelp beds to the near-shore ecosystem and reports describing the extent of damage to some Californian and eastern Canadian kelp beds by the grazing activity of certain urchin species. Experimental sites typical of the area were permanently marked. A study site was protected from urchins, while the control was not. Urchins were regularly removed from the study site. Kelps growing on the experimental plots were harvested seasonally, counted and their biomass calculated. Results over one year suggest that although the grazing potential of sea urchins is considerable, little impact was made on kelp beds in the study area. The grazing potential of Parechinus seems to be directed principally at the early sporophytes of Ecklonia maxima rather than at adult plants.


In this paper, we establish homological mirror symmetry where the A-model is a finite quotient of the Milnor fibre of an invertible curve singularity, proving a conjecture of Lekili and Ueda from arXiv:1806.04345 in this dimension. Our strategy is to view the B--model as a cycle of stacky projective lines and generalise the approach of Lekili and Polishchuk in arXiv:1705.06023 to allow the irreducible components of the curve to have non-trivial generic stabiliser, a result which might also be of independent interest. We then prove that the A--model which results from this strategy is graded symplectomorphic to the corresponding quotient of the Milnor fibre.


This study aims to explain the dual roles and patterns of reciprocal relationships between teachers, students, and parents in the context of educational communication. This study used phenomenology methods and group discussion forums, so the authors only examine at a glance the aspects of educational communication among the main actors in the education process, namely teachers, students, and parents. The expected results of this study are the formation of patterns of interaction teachers, students, and parents in the school, family, and also in the life of the nation and state. The reciprocal relationship between students, teachers, and parents do not cause social conflict. It can actually reduce social conflict and build social integration. It is necessary to build a community of teachers, students, and parents who can create a conducive situation in developing educative values in the context of nation


We show, for a field ${\mathbb F}$ of prime characteristic $p>0$, that the truncated filiform Lie algebra ${\frak m}_0(p)$ admits a family ${\frak m}_0^\lambda(p)$ of restricted Lie algebra structures parameterized by elements $\lambda\in {\mathbb F}^p$. We compute the ordinary cohomology groups $H^q({\frak m}_0^\lambda(p))$ and restricted cohomology groups $H^q_*({\frak m}_0^\lambda(p))$ for $q=1, 2$, and we give explicit descriptions of bases for these cohomology spaces. We apply our results to restricted one-dimensional central Extensions of the algebras ${\frak m}_0^\lambda(p)$.


This chapter uses an evolutionary lens to depict a journey that is also a destination for a lifelong learner passionate about upward mobility in intellectual, psychological, and economic realms. A mainstay of the research endeavors has been the study of innovation and enterprise. Starting as an economist studying the evolution of technologies and industries, the scholarly journey progressed to strategic management to examine firm and industry evolution and then to strategic entrepreneurship to examine individual, firm, and industry evolution. Currently, the research focuses on the interplay of enterprise and markets through an integration of economics, psychology, and sociology perspectives to understand the causes and consequences of enterprising individuals, organizations, and economies.


The paper will review the theory and present in detail the properties, implementation and experimental results of the nonlinear maximum entropy spectral analysis method proposed by P.F. Fougere. Both real and complex signals as well as the two-dimensional (separable) signals are considered. Application to signal recognition is also examined.


The piezoelectric properties and the crystallographic nature of (1-x)(Na,Bi)TiO3–xBaTiO3 (NBT–BT) thin films around the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) composition (x=0.05–0.10) were studied. NBT–BT thin films were grown epitaxially on Pt(100)/MgO(100) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering and exhibited highly (001)-oriented single-phase perovskite with a tetragonal structure. A maximum piezoelectric coefficient e31 of -14.4 C/m2 was obtained at the x = 0.07 composition of the tetragonal side near MPB (x = 0.06). These results indicate that NBT–BT thin films around the MPB are a promising lead-free replacement for Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) based applications.


The Strait of Hormuz is an important oil gas transportation channel in the Middle East.Recent increased tension in the Strait,resulting from confrontation with westernized countries over Iranian nuclear development and large scale military exercises by Iran since the end of 2011,has sparked serious volatility in the international oil market.The US is unlikely to directly use force on Iran,while it is highly probable that Iran will soften its stance;Russia will not support the direct use of force on Iran by the US;however,Israel might gain the upper hand by first striking Iranian nuclear facilities.The author accordingly advises China's government to promote exploration and development of domestic oil gas resources,and speed up transformation of the economy's extensive growth mode into slow steadily increase in oil gas imports.


There are many varieties of Tibetan traditional constriction,which have rich Tibetan peculiarity.In order to inherit and develop the construction austere of Tibetan,we should research the essence of them.And we should explore some form that fit in with the times of present and society.Then we could create some indoor design of Tibetan,which is suitable for the demand of development.During the research and creation,we should particularly pay attention to the national style of Tibetan and utilize the character of regional culture.


OBJECTIVE To investigate drug resistance of clinical isolates of important Gram negative rods from three Qingdao hospitals for the guidance of rational use of antibiotics. METHODS Antimicrobial susceptibility of clinical isolates was tested by Kirby Bauer method. RESULTS Of Gram negative rods from clinical isolates in three hospitals, 5 pathogenic organisms to be surveyed were ranged from first to fifth. The percentage of resistant Escherichia coli to fluoroquinolones was 60 87%. These bacteria to imipenem showed excellent activity, but the resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to imipenem went up to 25.8%. The antibacterial activity of cefazidime was the most in the third generation cephalosporins. β Lactam/β lactamase inhibitor still had markedly activity to these bacteria. CONCLUSIONS Bacteria resistance is still a serious clinical problem. It is important that the regional surveillance net of bacterial resistance will be set up.


Attainment of SDGs has been derailed mainly by conflicts, pandemics and climate change. In Uganda, limited quantification of the value Riverine fisheries provide to communities is a major driver to unsustainable harvesting and destruction fisheries resources. This study was conducted to determine the monetary value contributed to households by fisheries activities at Namasagali fishing Village, one of the spots along Victoria Nile, major challenges faced and possible strategies to be adopted to enhance community ownership and sustainable management. A cross sectional survey was conducted using questionnaires and data on major activities conducted around the fishery and the corresponding income recorded and as analyzed using SPSS statistical package. Results showed that fisheries activities aprovided the highest amount of daily household income of between (5000 - 100,000 Shillings; USD $1.35-2.70) to 45% of households in the community. This income was higher than the established World Bank poverty line of US $1.25/1.9 per day in the year 2005. Major challenge to sustainability of the fishery were use of illegal fishing gears and methods. Sensitization of the fisherfolk i and enforcement of fisheries regulations was recommended as the main strategy to advance sustainable fisheries resources at Namasagali Fishing Village.


Acerola fruit is one of the richest natural sources of ascorbic acid ever known. As a consequence, acerola fruit and its products are demanded worldwide for the production of health supplements and the development of functional products. However, the analytical determination of ascorbic acid is time-consuming and costly. In this study, we show a non-destructive, reliable, and fast method to measure the ascorbic acid content in intact acerola, using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) associated with multivariate calibration methods. Models using variable selection by means of interval partial least squares (iPLS) and a genetic algorithm (GA) were tested. The best model for ascorbic acid content, based on the prediction performance, was the GA-PLS method with second derivative spectral pretreatment, with a root mean square error of cross-validation equal to 22.9 mg/100 g, root mean square error of prediction equal to 46.3 mg/100 g, ratio of prediction to deviation equal to 8.0, determination coefficient for calibration equal to 0.98 and determination coefficient for prediction equal to 0.96. The current methodology, using NIR spectroscopy and chemometrics, is a promising and rapid tool to determine the ascorbic acid content of intact acerola fruit.


Studies on functional propertiesof a protein concentrate produced from the seeds of bakul (Mimusops elengiL.; Sapotaceae) have been carried out. Solubility of the protein was minimum at pH 4.0. Water and oil holding capacities of the seed protein concentrate were 1.70 g g-1and 3.23 g g-1, respectively. Minimum foaming capacity, minimum emulsifying activity, minimum emulsion stability and maximum foam stability were found at pH 4.0. Moreover, emulsion stability of the protein concentrate was high (above 88.3%) over the pH range of 2-10.


OBJECTIVE:
Develop a new MRI based method for quantifying the cross-sectional area of the spinal cord along the length of the entire cord.
 BACKGROUND:
Several neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and human T-cell lymphotropic virus-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), are associated with a progressive myelitis. MRI of the spinal cord often shows spinal cord thinning in such diseases. Here we present a robust and fast algorithm to quantify spinal cord cross-sectional area (SCCSA) along the length of the cord to better characterize myelitis.
 DESIGN/METHODS:
MRI was performed on 18 HAM/TSP, 9 MS, and 10 healthy volunteers (HV) on a Siemens 3T Skyra system equipped with head-neck and spine array coils. On 3D T1-weighted images (GRE, TR/TE= 7.8/3ms, FA=16deg), SCCSA was measured perpendicular to the cord edge along multiple points from C1 to T10 and was normalized to the cord length. Clinical scores of disability, including Scripps Neurologic Rating Scale (SNRS), Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Hauser Ambulation Index (AI), were measured in patients. SCCSA patterns were compared between groups (ANOVA) and correlated with disability scores in patients.
 RESULTS:
SCCSA from MS patients were significantly smaller in the T-spine when compared to HV (p<0.001). SCCSA in the cervical cord in MS tended to be lower, but did not reach significance in the small group studied herein. In HAM/TSP patients, SCCSA was significantly lower than HV in both the C- and T-spine (p<0.0001). SCCSA in MS patients was significantly correlated with SNRS (C1-C5, T1-T7) and EDSS (C1-C3, T1-T6), whereas the SCCSA in HAM/TSP patients was correlated with disease duration (C1-C3, C6, T1-T2), EDSS (T2), and AI (T2, T6).
 CONCLUSIONS:
These results suggest that the pattern of spinal cord tissue damage is specific to the underlying inflammatory disease. Our method could be used not only to develop an imaging marker for disease, but also to serve as a surrogate end point in clinical trials.
 Study Supported by:
Intramural NIH Disclosure: Dr. Nair has nothing to disclose. Dr. Liu has nothing to disclose. Dr. Massoud has nothing to disclose. Dr. Reich has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jacobson has nothing to disclose.


This monograph presents practical job retention strategies that are appropriate for use by rehabilitation professionals working with disabled individuals. The first section provides an introduction to assessing and enhancing job retention skills. The second section presents a general description of 12 basic behavior modification terms and techniques. The next six sections are organized around six duties critical for retaining work. Material in these sections provides specific applications of the approaches and strategies defined in the second section to work adjustment problems related to the six work duties. The six duties are (1) accepting the work tole; (2) responding satisfactorily to change; (7,A) being a productive worker; (4) monitoring one's own work and work needs; (5) accepting supervision; and (6) working with coworkers. A sample work personality profile and a list of 51 references are included.


Industrial long-range planning requires forecasts of market requirements, business environments and corporate (or divisional) capabilities. This article concerns itself with the problem of forecasting weapon markets. The needs for such forecasts are discussed and it is shown that mere reliance on official military plans, programs, statements, and "requirements" is a poor guide for long-range planning in the defense industry. It is further shown how system research studies can improve the forecasts sought. The proper conduct of such long-range-planning-oriented studies is outlined in some detail. "Management Technology", ISSN 0542-4917, was published as a separate journal from 1960 to 1964. In 1965 it was merged into Management Science.


Theoretical and experimental studies have been conducted of the transmission of phonons in sapphire and their reflection at a crystal-vacuum interface. The effects of crystal anisotropy on the reflection process are discussed in detail. The heat-pulse technique has been used to obtain high-resolution time-of-flight spectra as a function of the angle of incidence in accurately known crystallographic directions. The agreement with predictions from numerical calculations is excellent. The relevance of these observations to studies of the anomalous transmission of energy through a crystal-liquid helium interface is also discussed.


With the aid of some fundamental concepts of Theory of Public Choice, the paper expounds the formulation of accounting standard in the cost of public choice, standard of value, economic consequences, etc.. It also probes into the formulation of accounting standard in combination with the related problems.


The article discussed the advantages of active learning methods for foreign students studying in Ukrainian, when studying the subject «Microbiology, virology and Immunology», namely the round table. During these sessions, there is an active exchange of knowledge, the students formed professional ability to express opinions, to argue their reasoning, to justify the proposed decisions and to defend their beliefs, despite the language barrier. At this, there is increased activity, increasing the number of statements, the possibility of individual inclusion of each student in the discussion, increased motivation, non-verbal means of communication, such as facial expressions, gestures, emotional expression, are also included, and all of this subsequently leads to proper consolidation of knowledge.


Is is believed that 3rd-body wear of polyethylene, be it from particles of bone, bone-cement (PMMA), or metal, is an unavoidable risk in total hip arthroplasty (THA). Simulator studies have demonstrated that wear in conventional polyethylene (CXPE) and highly crosslinked polyethylene (HXPE) cups increased 6 and 20-fold respectively when challenged by circulating 3 rd -body PMMA particulates. There was no corresponding change in head roughness, i.e. the PMMA did not roughen CoCr surfaces. Many contemporary cup designs now use the vitamin-E process combined with higher crosslinking dosage (VEPE). However, little if anything is known about the VEPE debris. Therefore in this study we analyzed the morphology of VEPE particles from cups that had been run in, a) standard simulator test mode and b) adverse PMMA debris-challenge mode. The aim of this study was to determine how a clinically relevant challenge, such as addition of PMMA particles affected the wear debris. This had not been attempted previously due to contamination polyethylene by PMMA debris. The hypotheses were that, a) during the 'clean' test, VEPE would yield smaller debris of standard globular shape compared to controls (XPE) and b) in adverse PMMA challenge mode, VEPE debris size would increase and become more flake-like. The XPE and vitamin-E blended cups (VEPE) cups were gamma-irradiated at 7.5 Mrad and 15 Mrad, respectively. Cups were run Inverted and mated with ceramic femoral heads of diameter 44 mm (Biolox-delta, Ceramtec). The three test phases included; 'clean' for 6 million cycles (6 Mc), abrasive slurry 6–8 Mc (concentration 10g/L), and 'clean' 8–10 Mc. The debris was isolated using standard procedure for 'clean' tests and a modified procedure for the abrasive slurries. Particles were imaged using SEM and the micrographs analyzed (Image J). Approximately 600 particles were analyzed from each sample (4.5 Mc and 8 Mc) and morphology defined via aspect ratio (AR), equivalent circular diameter (ECD), and circular shape factor (CSF). The clean test revealed slight differences in shape factors for XPE and VEPE (AR, CSF within 30%: p 0.9999). The median ECD for both XPE and VEPE was approximately 0.55 μm. The abrasive test revealed a statistical difference (p It was determined that addition of vitamin E to the PE did not change the size, but did change the shape of PE debris particles up to 30%. This study was the first to isolate debris particles during an abrasive slurry test and determine morphology under such conditions. Debris particles formed in abrasive conditions were found to be 4-fold larger in diameter, suggesting a larger volume of shreds in comparison to the mostly submicron population observed under standard testing conditions. Figure 1: Boxplot of equivalent circular diameter values. Figure 2: Boxplot of aspect ratio values. Figure 3: Boxplot of circular shape factor values.


Abstract A relationship between the Kruskal–Wallis nonparametric statistical test on k samples and the Borda positional method for voting is established and then exploited to gain a complete analysis of the counterintuitive results and statistical orderings that arise when a set of data is restricted to various subsets of the k samples. This is done by introducing and examining the "dictionary" of possible orderings of the samples occurring with the Kruskal-Wallis procedure. It is shown that using ranks, as opposed to any other weights, minimizes the number and kinds of paradoxes that can arise from examining subsets of the data—projection paradoxes. The idea of a dictionary for a statistical procedure is discussed. The dictionaries for the Deshpande class ℒ of statistical procedures (including Bhapkar's V test and Deshpande's L test) are computed. An estimate for the relative sizes of the number of paradoxes for the Kruskal-Wallis test and any other such test—by comparing relative sizes of their dictiona...


Bomb Queen is a satire of politics and pop culture, with the media and the comic industry itself as frequent targets. Its self-referential nature has led Roy T. Cook to call Bomb Queen a "metacomic." Inspired by rhetorician Aaron Hess's critique of political satire, this essay analyzes the use of parody and irony in Bomb Queen. This essay argues that Bomb Queen's approach both criticizes and perpetuates the gendered politics of the comic book industry and the superhero genre.


The study is mainly concerned to examine theuse of ICT in Dr.BabasahebAmbedkar College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Bramhapuri. The current study demonstrates and extends the current way of assessing how ICT is used to access. Observations have been made to make this service more beneficial to the library users of Dr.BabasahebAmbedkar College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Bramhapuri.


Bridges built at mountain areas and rivers often face the problems of washing by flow water and causing rock bareness without coating,the construction of Wushui Bridge at Jishou to Huaihua Expressway is introduced,which provides references to construction at this kind of geological conditions.


As the day-by-day the depletion of the existing conventional electrical energy resources and the incorporation of technological developments in various sectors increasing the gap between the generation and demand. These situations demands to think of the renewable energy resources or the combinations of different energy sources as hybrid energy system. This is one of the challenging tasks for the electrical engineers to effectively integrate them to grid for the required electrical demand and maintaining the quality of power. With the swift developments in power electronics systems applications to power systems for control and compensation of modern power systems made job easier for engineers to maintain the different operating conditions of the power system. In this work, modelled a hybrid renewable energy system consisting of solid oxide fuel cell and permanent magnet synchronous generator based wind energy system, weak grid and p-q theory based unified power quality conditioner. From the simulation studied it is found that the unified power quality conditioner effectively mitigated the tower shadowing effect of wind energy system, symmetrical voltage sags due to load variations and unsymmetrical swells due to unsymmetrical conditions.


Abstract : The dication of 2,3,7,8-tetramethoxythianthrene was studied in solid nitromethane at 77K by computer controlled electron spin resonance. The Delta m=2 transition was observed, yielding a value of D* = 0.094/cm. For comparison the value of D* for thianthrene and 2,3,7,8-tetramethoxythianthrene photogenerated triplets determined. Lifetimes of these triplet states were also determined. Frozen solutions of the tetramethoxythianthrene dication exhibited a very broad Delta m=1 signal that could not be resolved into components D and E of the dipolar tensor. The free energy separation between the triplet and singlet states is between 90 and 190/cm. The esr spectrum of the cation was redetermined.


Friction is an essential component of the forces recorded in the joint of an industrial robot-manipulator, and has a significant impact on the functional qualities of the robot. The type and number of kinematic connections used in the joint design determine its friction model. The friction of each joint can exhibit individual features due to the variety of structures, as well as their condition. In view of the interaction complexity between kinematic pairs, friction is essentially nonlinear, often unsteady, and also depends on many factors. In this article, it is proposed a technique that allows to identify the friction model as a function of load, velocity and temperature, to separate the components such as dry and viscous friction, the Stribeck effect, and also their dependence on these factors. Dependency measurements are performed in such a way as to isolate the influence of individual factors. The technique can be applied without special technical preparation of the robot or knowledge of its kinematic model and mass-inertial characteristics. The proposed solution is demonstrated by experiments on KUKA KR10 industrial robot.


In this paper, the finite element method (FEM) is used for simulation of piercing process of the tube in Mannesmann mill. The sensitivity of the simulation results to numerical methods and physical parameters is discussed. The simulated results visualize dynamic evolution of force in the piercing process. The stability of the process and force condition is analyzed by FEM simulation. The model is verified by comparing the values of calculated force parameters and those measured in laboratory conditions. Finally, the future plans are presented.


The innovation of digital and information technology has spurred new thinking and new modes in various industries, which also makes architecture education tend to be digital in this context. In this paper, the construction of digital teaching system and teaching mode in Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Zurich (ETH Zurich), renowned for its digital architecture teaching, guiding research and result transformation, is summarized, by means of presenting and analyzing course setting of digital architecture, basic laboratory research and teaching achievements in serving society on the basis of reviewing the development course of digitalization of architecture education, with a view to producing beneficial reference and significance for digital architecture education in China.


The decomposition is the essential process found in the nature; carried out by microorganisms. Plants are no exception to decomposition. There dead remains get decomposed; and the nutrients locked up in the litter as well as a number of new substrates formed in the process of decomposition, pass down to the soil profile, this increase the " humus" and fertility of soil. The plant material generally made up of lignocellulosic materials. Due to complexities involved in the separation of microbial material synthesized from the unchanged residues, the analysis of biochemical changes further more difficult. Some efforts have been made to develop techniques for the biochemical analysis of decomposing plant litters. It has been observed those water soluble fractions (Amino acid, simple sugars and peptides) are least resistant therefore first to be metabolized by microorganisms and followed by celluloses, hemicelluloses and lignin.


Optical interferometry is the most accurate known method to measurement of the thin film thickness. With phase shifting interferometry (PSI) can achieve fast automatic measurement of the thin film thickness, however, this method requires high-precision phase shifter, such as PZT phase shifter, to the introduction of phase shift. This paper will use Digital Moiré technique to obtain the information of the thin film thickness by processing and analysis a static interferogram. The static interferogram with a certain spatial frequency introduced by the interferometer, then a virtual sinusoidal grating with this spatial frequency is generated in the computer. By changing the initial phase of the sinusoidal grating, π/2 phase shift between adjacent sinusoidal gratings will be made accurately. 4 sinusoidal gratings are obtained in a grating period, then overlapped these 4 sinusoidal gratings on the interferogram to get 4 moiré patterns. Processing and analysis the moiré patterns then the thin film thickness can be obtained by 4-bucket algorithm. In this method, the static interferogram is analyzed with PSI algorithm but there is no need to have phase shifter. The phase shift is introduced mathematically to avoid the associated error.


In this paper, the study on computer imitation of planet gear mechanism is finisbed. The problem of computer imitation about sun gear,planet gear and circle gear exact mating bas been resolved, and effective observe and judge the correctness and redsonableness of design about planet gear mechdnism in computer screen. [Descriptors] Computer imitation,Planet gear mechanism


Paleolimnological reconstructions of lake histories are nowadays an essential too! for lake management, and several approaches have been adopted for inferring changes in physical and chemical parameters (SMOL 2002). To improve our understanding offreshwater environments and their past development, however, it is important to include and evaluate the historical impact ofbiological factors. Predation constitutes an important biological factor that has profound effects on lake food webs and zooplankton community composition (ZARET 1980, KERFOOT & SIH 1987). Selective vertebrate and invertebrate predation can induce changes in morphology, size, migratory behavior, and life history characteristics of prey species (BoERSMA et al. 1998, TOLLRIAN & DonsoN 1999), influencing the overall zooplankton community structure. Because planktivorous fish also affect invertebrate predators, they can p1ay a central ro le in shaping and regulating freshwater food webs (NORTHCOTE 1988). Despite the importance o f fish predation in structuring limnetic communities, the historical informatian on changes in planktivorous fish predation ( or fish abundance) is often poor or comp1etely lacking; thus, this information must be obtained through analyses of sedimentary deposits. Fishes do leave some identifiable remains such as scales, teeth and bones (FREY 1964 ), and fish scales have recently been used to demonstrate changes in fish communities (DAVIDSON et al. 2003). However, in agreement with the general view, DAVIDSON et al. (2003) emphasized that these remains are often scarce, and thus require large volumes of sediment for adequate analyses. Instead, a more indirect approach, utilizing the often abundant zoop1ankton sub-fossil remains, may provide more reliab1e indications of past planktivorous fish predation. Lake sediments can be rich in cladoceran sub-fossils of diverse origins. Hard-shelled Bosmina spp. have well preserved carapaces, head-shie1ds, mucrones, antennules, and mandib1es, whi1e soft-shelled Daphnia spp. usually are represented by post-abdominal claws, ephippia (resting eggs), and mandibles (FREY 1986). lnvertebrate predators may also leave identifiable remains, Iike mandibles of phantom midges (Chaoborus spp.) and the caudal cerca of Bythotrephes. Copepods and rotifers, however, do not fossilize well and may on1y be represented by occasiona1 resting eggs (FREY 1964). In this review we examine and demonstrate how different properties o f sub-fossil assemblages can be used for reconstructing past impact o f fish predation. Possibilities of using new indicator species are also discussed.


We propose a JPEG decompression algorithm for document images based on image segmentation. Our segmentation algorithm classifies each JPEG block of the image into one of three classes: text, background, or picture. We develop a different decoding strategy for each class and apply this strategy to every block in this class. Our experiments demonstrate that this approach can improve the quality of JPEG decompression.


This paper presents an approach to mining information relating people, places, organizations and events extracted from Wikipedia and linking them on a time scale. The approach consists of two phases: (1) identifying relevant pages - categorizing the articles as containing people, places or organizations; (2) generating timeline - linking named entities and extracting events and their time frame. We illustrate the proposed approach on 1.7 million Wikipedia articles. Povzetek: Predstavljene so metode rudarjenja informacij iz Wikipedie in urejanje v


Using special cationic surfactants, properties that otherwise would be possible only with elaborate formulations can be achieved even in simple anionic surfactant systems. This paper shows how such systems can be made compatible and what active ingredients are available today for manufacturing divergent surfactant systems with special properties. Examples of application are presented for floor cleaners and cleaners with 2-in-1 properties.


This paper,based on the analysis of Emerson's works,explores the limitations of American Eco-criticism which stresses the ecological relationship between literature and the natural environment but neglects the modern context of the natural ecological consciousness in the modern sense,its correspondence with the construction of the western traditional culture and the cultural source of modern ecological problem.Emerson paid more attention to the ecological defects and remedies of the modern industrial and commercial civilization rather than lay emphasis on the disordered or balanced relationship between man and nature.His literary creation and ideas not only have important practical significance on the transformation of modern American culture;but cannot help but have a sense of idealism and time limitations as well.


1. Eric T. Lobben
 1. is a managing director and head of the Portable Alpha Strategies Group at Deutsche Asset Management.

Several important themes have accompanied the rapid growth in the investment industry over the past decade ([Exhibit 1][1]). A natural tendency to categorize, coupled with


Brain metastases (BM) frequently cause focal neurological deficits leading to a reduced Karnofsky performance score (KPS). Since KPS is routinely used to guide the choice of adjuvant therapy, we hypothesized that improving KPS by surgical resection may improve the chance for adjuvant treatment and ultimately result in better survival. We therefore analyzed the course of a large cohort undergoing resection of symptomatic brain metastases in the context of further treatment and clinical outcome.


Fluoride is a trace element which human body need, but it can arouse injure on bone System if one who have taken in too much. Epidemiology and results of animals experiment show that it can lead to impairment of central nervous system when exposure to high doses of fluoride occurs for prolonged period of time, then hazard to in learning and memory of animals and the intelligence quotient of children. The free-radical theory may be an important factor in connection with the mechanism of the brain dysfunction due to chronic fluorosis. Selenium(Se) is an essential trace element, results of animals experiment provide evidence that proper concentration of Se might antagonize brain impairment caused by fluoride toxicity, its mechanism may be based on the biological function of antioxidant capacity of Se.


In March 1988 the Department of Health and Human Services of the US issued a temporary ban on experimental transplants of fetal tissues. The ban was extended on 1 November 1989. See The New York Times, 2 November 1989, Section A, p. 1.


A multi-fingered universal robot hand has been developed in order to construct the platform of humanoid hand study. We also have developed a small and five-fingered robot hand. The robot hand is designed to protect the small driving system from a large external force. This protection mechanism is small enough to be installed in the joint driving mechanism and adaptable enough to deal with various load. This paper describes basic and unique specifications of the robot hand, and the effectiveness is confirmed by fundamental experiments.


The East Han Dynasty is the key period when the ancient Chinese language transfers to the middle ancient Chinese language. Xu Shen and Gao You make notes for huainanzi in the very period. There appear the disyllable new words in their notes which deserve our notice. As the new words are not collected in The Chinese Words Dictionary, we list them here for discussion.


For the IsoDAR (Isotope Decay-At-Rest) experiment in neutrino physics, a high intensity (10 mA cw) primary proton beam is needed. To generate this beam, H is accelerated in a cyclotron and stripped into protons after extraction. An RFQ, partially embedded in the cyclotron yoke, will be used to bunch and axially inject the H beam into the cyclotron's central region. The excellent RFQ bunching capabilities will be used to optimize the overall injection efficiency. To keep the setup compact, the distance between ion source and RFQ can be kept very short as well. In this paper, we describe the technical design of the RFQ. We focus on two critical aspects: 1. The use of a split-coaxial structure, necessitated by the low frequency of 32.8 MHz (matching the cyclotron RF) and the desired small tank diameter; 2. The high current, cw operation, requiring a good cooling concept for the RFQ tank and vanes. INTRODUCTION Within the framework of the IsoDAR and DAEδALUS "Sterile Neutrino experiments" intense proton driver beams are requested [1]. The first stage is a 60 MeV/amu cyclotron delivering 5 mA of H ions, which is equivalent to a 10 mA proton beam [2]. The requested beam current level opens a new chapter of cyclotron technologies: So far PSI (Villligen, Switzerland) is the record holder with a two-staged cyclotron system up to 590 MeV delivering up to 3 mA cw in machine beam times. They use a 12 mA, 760 kV Cockroft Walton electrostatic injector with central, axial injection into the 70 MeV injector cyclotron. Bottlenecks with respect to the beam current increase beyond the 2.2 mA routine level behind the injector cyclotron are significant beam losses at injection into the first cyclotron, as well as the transmission and extraction at both cyclotrons causing high activation of the equipment. To alleviate the requirement of very high primary beam currents from the ion source and reduce the massive particle losses in the central region, a novel type of injection, using an RFQ, accelerating protons from 7.5 keV/amu to 35 AkeV inserted into the cyclotron yoke to pre-bunch the beam with high efficiency [3], was proposed by the MIT group (which leads the accelerator design for IsoDAR). This concept had been proposed before in 1981 by RW Hamm [4], but was never realized. BEVATECH GmbH is collaborating with MIT to develop the technical design of this cw operated RFQ running at 32.8 MHz matching the cyclotron frequency.


The proteins isolated from cold resistant mutants of Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC13525 were biologically characterized. These proteins, designated as CRP-1 (41.6 kDa, from CRPF9) and CRP-2 (14.1 kDa, from CRPF8), were able to protect freeze-labile alkaline phosphatase (ALP) against freeze denaturation up to approximately 84% activity. Addition of BSA could not yield similar cryoprotection of ALP. However, 60% loss of enzymatic activity was recorded in absence of the proteins. Furthermore, the two proteins in combination protected the enzyme activity up to 86%. The freeze-thaw challenge given to the mutants and wild type cells revealed the mutant to be more resistant to freezing (-20°C). The survival percentage of the mutant cells after repeated freeze thaw was significantly higher (55.6%) than wild type (9.8%). Nevertheless, incubation at 10°C, prior to freezing (-20°C) resulted in a further increase in survival percentage of mutant cells (79.6%). The proteins isolated from these mutants possessed the cryoprotective ability, which could be correlated with increased freezing resistance of the mutants at low temperature.


Obese population is rapidly growing worldwide. Obesity is associated with chronic lung diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Impairment of lung regeneration and repair contributes to the pathogenesis of COPD. Angiogenesis – the formation of new blood capillaries ‐ plays a key role in organ regeneration. Inhibition of angiogenesis attenuates lung growth after unilateral pneumonectomy (PNX) and obesity is accompanied by endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction. However, the effects of obesity on lung vascular and alveolar regeneration remain unclear. Compensatory lung growth and vascular and alveolar morphogenesis after PNX are suppressed in leptin‐deficient ob/ob mice treated with high‐fat diet compared to that in control lean mice. The levels of the major angiogenic factor, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are higher in the serum and the brown adipose tissue collected from post‐PNX mice compared to those from sham‐operated control mice, while these effects are attenuated in post‐PNX leptin‐deficient ob/ob mice with high‐fat diet. The serum collected from post‐PNX control mice stimulates EC sprouting, while EC sprouting is inhibited when treated with serum collected from leptin‐deficient ob/ob mice after PNX. These results suggest that obesity may inhibit post‐PNX regenerative lung growth through VEGF signaling. Modulation of VEGF signaling may be the efficient strategy to restore lung regeneration and repair in obese population.


The new technology was discussed for synthesis of m ethanol which was produced by the synthetic gas made from the coal-carbon gasification and from the by-produced coking gas from coal-coking furnace and by separately adding the H 2 CO to synthetic gas; the new type of industrialized path to make the alcohol-ether fuels and chemical products was also discussed.


The paper is focused on identifying factors affecting the energy consumption & comfort conditions of multi-storied apartments in composite climate of north India. The findings reveal that the residents are very well adapted to their thermal environment and are comfortable at a broader temperature range (22.5–30.6 ̊C). The TSV-PMV difference was observed to be fairly significant for the winter and summer period, i.e. 5°C and 1.1°C respectively whereas marginally differed for the annual data i.e. 0.6° C. The energy-use evaluation through simulations has identified solar gain through ext. windows to be the most important contributor to the internal gains. The heat conduction through walls & glazing has also shown the highest values for heat gains. Building design, especially, the orientation and WWR is observed to be significantly affecting the thermal behaviour of the building envelope, and are suggested to be the prime focus while designing naturally ventilated buildings in this climatic zone.


Recognising the need for a strong sport science support system, a programme of biomechanical support was set up by Swim Ireland (the Irish Swimming Federation) in 2006. This programme, which forms part of a larger overall inter-disciplinary sport science and medicine service, aims to provide a comprehensive level of biomechanical support for Irish high-performing swimmers and their coaches to enhance performance at elite level. At the centre of the biomechanics programme is the swimmer-coach unit; their performance needs are critical. The scientist's role is to provide the coach with useful, user-friendly and objective evidence upon which the coach can make effective informed training decisions. Both qualitative and quantitative biomechanical assessment techniques are used to analyse swimmers in training and competition, which typically require the use of above and below water digital video recordings. Suitable intervention strategies for modifying swimming techniques, where necessary, can then be implemented and regularly monitored for effectiveness. The aim of this presentation is to provide an overview of the biomechanics support programme being provided to elite Irish swimmers and their coaches, with particular reference to: 1) competition analysis; and 2) two-dimensional video analysis. Such examples encourage the use of evidence-based coaching.


Bradford (1977) described a new sensitive easy rapid method for protein assay, depending on colour change of the stain Coomassie Brilliant Blue G 250. In this study Bradford's method was compared with the Lowry et al. 91951) and biuret methods. Coomassie method appears to be as sensitive as Lowry, as simple as biuret. Another advantage is a very short time of performing.


The Discrete Fast Fourier Transform allows us to easily extract an image's amplitude and phase spectra. The extent to which the early visual system codes image properties in terms of parameters of these spectra has been an active research topic for a number of years. Both parameters have been shown to contain important information regarding the appearance of an image [Tadmor and Tolhurst, Vis. Res., 33:141-145, 1993] and a large body of work investigated the effects of manipulating these spectra on the recognition or classification of image content. Here, we use a novel means of investigating sensitivity to amplitude and phase spectra properties, by using synthetic images of textured surfaces that are broadband in the frequency domain, and by testing the ability of observers to detect degradations of their spectral content (smoothing of the amplitude spectrum, or randomisation of the phase spectrum). We directly compare the effects of display time and retinal eccentricity on detection of these two manipulations, by using stimuli matched for difficulty of detection. We find no difference between the time-courses for the detection of degradation in the two spectra; in both cases, accuracy rises above chance with display times greater than 80 ms. Increasing retinal eccentricity to 9 deg, however, has a significantly stronger effect on the accuracy of detecting degradations of the amplitude spectrum than of the phase spectrum.


Purpose – The aim of this paper is to focus on the personal financial traits of individuals and shows how they directly affect the financial performance and valuation of an organization.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents an approach to management and leadership that is very bottom‐line oriented and focused on organizational value creation.Findings – The paper finds that we all have traits that lead us to make financial decisions in a particular way. Once we understand that particular way, or "financial signature", we can predict how a particular executive, or individual, will make financial decisions. This, in turn, allows us to predict the financial performance of that executive, or executive team.Originality/value – The paper recognizes that many executives, who would not rank highly on traditional personality and competency‐based leadership ratings, are often highly successful leaders who create outstanding products, profitability and value for their shareholders.


Objective. Determination of blood serum 2-microglobulin and lactoferrin concentration in patients on renal replacement therapy (programmed hemodialysis) for the diagnosis of uremic pseudoperitonitis and peritonitis.
Materials and methods. We examined 56 patients admitted to the Surgical Department of Astrakhan Clinical Hospital RZhD-Medicine and City Clinical Hospital № 3, and studied the concentration of blood serum 2-microglobulin and lactoferrin in patients urgently hospitalized with suspicion of uremic pseudoperitonitis or peritonitis, who receive renal replacement therapy (programmed hemodialysis). The control group included 50 outpatients on renal replacement therapy (programmed hemodialysis). The study did not include patients with suspected peritonitis who did not receive renal replacement therapy (programmed hemodialysis). The period of the study is 20192021.
Results. The concentration of serum 2-microglobulin is statistically higher than normal in all patients receiving renal replacement therapy (programmed hemodialysis) in anamnesis. The most statistically high concentration of 2-microglobulin was detected in patients with uremic pseudoperitonitis (n = 39), and was 30000 6680 ng/ml compared with the concentration in the blood serum among patients with peritonitis 6000 519.9 ng/ml. The concentration of lactoferrin is statistically high in peritonitis (n = 17) and was 3480 439 ng/ml compared with uremic pseudoperitonitis 1160 148 ng/ml. In the control group of outpatients (n = 50), who received renal replacement therapy (programmed hemodialysis), no statistically significant concentrations of blood serum 2-microglobulin and lactoferrin were detected.
Conclusions. A clear dependence of 2-microglobulin and lactoferrin concentrations on the severity of uremic pseudoperitonitis and peritonitis was established. Statistically high values of 2-microglobulin concentration were obtained in patients with uremic pseudoperitonitis, and the level of lactoferrin was statistically high in peritonitis.


The purpose of this study was to investigate preference in clothing fashion design and clothing purchase behavior. The questionnaires were administered to 281 female university students in Cheongju area to measure of demographic information, preference in clothing fashion design, interest of fashion in clothing, and clothing purchase behavior. As statistical analysis, frequencies, -test and ANOVA were used. The results were as follows : 1. There were different preference in clothing fashion design. 2. The female university students had moderate interest of fashion in clothing, and the interest of fashion in clothing were significantly different according to personal factors. 3. The female university students purchased mainly their clothings at department store, and they were purchased on sale. 4. Most of female university students purchased T-shirts and pants from February to April, 1995.


This article is concerned with the stochastic stability and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$l_{1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-gain control of two-dimensional (2-D) positive Markov jump systems (PMJSs) with directional delays based on the Roesser model. First, necessary and sufficient conditions (NSCs) for the stochastic stability of the addressed system are established by constructing a deterministic "equivalent" system and applying a stochastic copositive Lyapunov function. This reveals that the stochastic stability of 2-D PMJSs with delays is affected by the size of directional delays, the transition matrix, and system matrices. Second, the exact <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$l_{1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-gain index is calculated and NSCs in the form of linear programming (LP) are established for the addressed system. Systematic methods for the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$l_{1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-gain controller design are proposed so that the closed-loop system (CLS) is positive and stochastically stable and has an optimal <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$l_{1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-gain performance, which is achieved using an iterative algorithm and an analytical calculation method for a single-input case. Finally, the potency and accuracy of the theoretical results are verified using two examples.


A price/marginal-cost technique is developed for detecting the presence and direction of regulatory bias in electric-utility rate structure. The method also tests for internal subsidies between customer classes. The procedure involves a regression analysis of short- and long-term cost forecasts. A sample of 80 privately-owned utilities reveals price discrimination in favor of industrial customers, but does not indicate any political motivation. The data shows intraclass discrimination in each consumer group, which suggests that efficiency will increase if marginal prices are raised in each block. 30 references, 3 tables. (DCK)


The paper reviewed development of genetics,gene location,identification methods of cold tolerance of germination,bud,early seedling,booting stage,flowering stage,and relation of cold tolerance in different stage in rice.Foreground was viewed in cold tolerance of rice.


Sentiment analysis is a process to obtain the tendency of the authors in an article. Sentiment analysis classifies textual data into a class of positive, negative, or neutral sentiments. CNN is one of the deep learning algorithms capable of classifying textual data into positive, negative, or natural classes. In general, the standard learning methods learn from one domain to produce a model. Another learning paradigm is lifelong learning which is believed to be able to accumulate learning from various domains for learning in the new domain. In this paper, we examine lifelong learning of CNN for sentiment analysis on Indonesian textual data. Our simulation shows that the accuracy of CNN increases with the increase in the number of source domains where CNN learns. This shows that lifelong learning using CNN works well for sentiment analysis on Indonesian textual data.


This study examines the contribution of prior knowledge to improving problem-solving in learning using interactive multimedia. This research is an experimental quantitative study with a sample of 38 people. The implementation process begins with giving a pretest, giving material by the researcher, practicing by the participants using an EMS (engine management system), and ending with providing a post-test. The research uses EMS as a result of the development of existing media on campus. Analysis of research data is using an independent sample t-test. The work shows that there is a significant contribution of prior knowledge to problem-solving. This study shows that prior knowledge is essential to increase problem-solving abilities. Problem-solving is an essential ability in facing the industrial 4.0 era. Prior knowledge is the overall competence of students as a result of learning activities before following the next learning process.


The article considers and defines such concepts as "humanitarian culture", "students' humanitarian culture", "digitalization of education". A special attention is paid to the role of additional education, in particular, foreign language education, in the formation of humanitarian culture, which is considered as an important part of lifelong education. An important issue is also the transformation of additional foreign language education within the framework of digitalization of all aspects of life and how the formation of students' humanitarian culture should be carried out in this context. The authors of this work justify scientifically methodological, theoretical and technological foundations of the strategy of forming humanitarian culture of students within the framework of digitalization of additional foreign language education. These foundations play a significant role in the socio-cultural development of students, in improving their intellectual and creative abilities, determine the readiness for professional and other activities in conditions of uncertainty, and influence the formation of global citizenship of the younger generation by means of a foreign language based on the digital dialogue of cultures. Thus, the aim of the study was to give a scientific description of the strategy for developing students' humanitarian culture in the context of the digitalization of additional foreign language education.


The relations between the gain factor, defined as the ratio of modal gain to material gain, and the optical confinement factor are discussed for the TE and TM modes in slab waveguides. For the TE modes, the gain factor is larger than the optical confinement factor, due to the zigzag propagation of the modal light ray in the core layers. For the TM modes, the existence of a nonzero electric field in the propagation direction results in a more complicated relation of the gain factor and the confinement factor. For an air-Si-SiO2 strong slab waveguide, the numerical results show that the modal gain can be larger than the material gain and the higher-order transverse mode can have an even larger modal gain than the fundamental mode, The efficiency of waveguiding photodetectors can be improved by applying the modal gain or loss characteristics in strong waveguides.


The metabolic profile of human aortic tissues is of great importance. Among the analytical platforms utilized in metabolomics, LC‐MS provides broad metabolome coverage. The non‐targeted metabolomics can comprehensively detect the entire metabolome of an organism and find the metabolic characteristics that have significant changes in the experimental group and the control group and elucidate the metabolic pathway concerning the recognized metabolites. Employing non‐targeted metabolomics is helpful to develop biomarkers for disease diagnosis and disease pathology research; for instance, Aortic aneurysm (AA) and Aortic dissection (AD).


Signcryption is a public key cryptographic method that achieves unforgeability and confidentiality simultaneously with significantly smaller overhead than that required by "digital signature follow...


Minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu, has suspended Australian mining company Mintail's operations in Kagiso on the West Rand after community members embarked on protests citing serious…


Four different isolates were derived from the fungal and bacterial origin from the soil sample taken from rhizosphere for the detection of siderophores production. Biochemical characters were studied and the isolates were identified. Isolated colonies were confirmed as E. coli, P. fluorescens, A. flavus, and Rhizopus sp. The high amount of siderophores production was observed by Pseudomonas fluorescens from bacterial isolates, and from fungal isolates Aspergillus flavus showed more production and produces hydroxamate type of siderophores in high production compared to that of the catecholate. Thus, we can conclude that rhizosphere soil organisms which produce siderophores can be used to improve the plant growth.


Lhermitte Duclos Disease is commonly associated with progressive mass effects of posterior fossa and typically
presents with headaches, cerebellar dysfunction, occlusive hydrocephalus and cranial nerve palsies. The
anaesthetic management of these patients requires clear understanding of the disease. Here we describe
anaesthetic management of an 18 year old female having Lhermitte Duclos Disease posted for VP Shunting under
 general anaesthesia.


Transforming growth factor ß (TGFß) is a paracrine mediator of prostate epithelial cell apoptosis. In rodents, castration induces production of TGFβ by stromal cells, which leads to apoptosis of epithelial cells. To identify potential mediators of this cell death pathway, we developed a model using DU145 cells, a tumorigenic human prostate epithelial cell line. We discovered that at low density, in low mitogen media, DU145 cells apoptose when treated with TGFβ1. Prior to the onset of death, TGFβ1 treatment downregulated the expression of the caspase inhibitor FLICE‐like inhibitory protein (FLIP), at both the mRNA and protein level, suggesting a causal role between FLIP downregulation and cell death. To confirm the importance of FLIP in TGFβ1‐induced apoptosis, we employed small interfering RNA (siRNA) to silence FLIP expression. Doing so led to apoptosis, which is consistent with the hypothesis that FLIP prevents death in these cells. Furthermore, inhibition of caspase‐8 by siRNA knockdown partially rescued the apoptotic effects of TGFβ1, suggesting a role for death receptor signaling components in TGFß‐mediated death of prostate epithelial cells. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The economic crisis has not bypassed the European autoclaved aerated concrete industry. The first plants have been decommissioned or temporarily shut down. Pressure on the price of aerated concrete has grown. It is in the interest of manufacturers to focus on commercially viable utilization rates. The market is fragmented: the two leading companies account for 40% of market share while the top 10 account for only 61 % in total. However, it is clear that there will be significant changes over the coming years, in particular as a result of new plants that are now constructed in Eastern Europe which will profit from the latest technology and will, in part, replace old plants. Part 2 of this market overview takes a closer look at the key manufacturers and the most important technologies for producing autoclaved aerated concrete.


Abstract Among the vast swathes of Gondwanan sedimentary rocks in India, exposures of the Lower Permian Talchir Formation at Manendragarh in India are exceptional for their cold marine faunal assemblage and muddy conglomerates of possible glacial origin. They may represent a record of the late Palaeozoic glaciation that affected Gondwana in the Permo-Carboniferous. Although the fossil record is relatively well documented, the sedimentology of this area is not well understood. This paper intends to fill the gap in knowledge regarding palaeogeography and the palaeoenvironmental changes within the basin through space and time. We distinguish conglomerates that are formed by glacial and mass flow processes. The lateral variation in facies associations along a NNE-SSW transect in the study area identifies the depositional basin as an interior sea that formed when the sea spilled over a steep basement ridge during a transgression. The benthic organisms remained confined to the seaward basin margin where they only flourished in the initial stage of basin filling. Locally derived, bioclastic storm beds are limited to the seaward flank of the basin. Alternating phases of glaciation and interglaciation resulted in an interbedded succession of grey shales and interglacial density flow deposits. The channels that fed these density flows are preserved closest to the landward margin of the basin. Co-existence of glacial diamictites and interglacial density flow deposits highlights the climatic changes in this part of Gondwana during the Late Palaeozoic.


The report has been carried out by SBU in collaboration with: Carina Blomstrom Lundqvist (expert), professor, chief physician, Section for Arrhythmias, Cardiology Clinic, University Hospital (or Academic Hospital), Uppsala and Lennart Bergfeldt (reviewer), professor, chief physician, Cardiology Clinic, Sahlgren University Hospital, Gotheburg with participation of Tatiana Dubikaytis, HTA lab in SPbMAPS.


Traffic is formally organized in many jurisdictions, with marked lanes, junctions, intersections, interchanges, traffic signals, or signs. Traffic is often classified by type: heavy motor vehicle (e.g., car, truck); other vehicle (e.g., moped, bicycle); and pedestrian. Different classes may share speed limits and easement, or may be segregated. Some jurisdictions may have very detailed and complex rules of the road. It is propose that dynamic time-based coordination schemes where the green signal time of the traffic lights is assigned based on the present conditions of traffic. This is achieved by using 3 pair of IR sensors (Transmitter and Receiver) across the road to monitor a particular length / zone while vehicles on the same zone block the IR light falling on the IR receiver to assume low traffic density. Keyword — Microcontrollers, Transmitters, Receivers, Displays.


Johannes Bugenhagen's church orders revealed the lasting imprint of religious values on the poverty policies of many German cities. Originally from Pomerania (the coastal region of present-day Poland and Germany), Bugenhagen crafted legislation that included practical measures for poor relief. As a Wittenberg pastor, professor, and organizer of church reform, Bugenhagen became the diplomat for translating Lutheran ideals into practical laws that would reorganize or create new institutions of poor relief in north German cities, as well as in Scandinavia. In his negotiations with city councils and political rulers, he highlighted an emerging need to support poor pastors who, as married clergy, now had families to support. His experience of creating laws for diverse circumstances led him to delineate flexible policies with an adaptable understanding of the deserving poor.


Insomnia is present at any age, but it becomes more evident as years go by. The estimated prevalence of insomnia differs greatly among the different publications, due to the definition used and the types of insomnia studied. Statistically significant associations between this sleep disorder and a several somatic and mental diseases have been found, and there is controversy as for the causal relationship between insomnia and depression. Insomnia indirect costs are a lot much higher than the direct medical costs, but as it was mentioned in relation to prevalence, the estimations have methodological problems that make them controversial. The impact of insomnia on work is important, and, as for therapeutic choices, they may be combined to obtain better results. The current concepts related to insomnia as a health problem are analyzed in this chapter, from Sleep Medicine's perspective. The aim is to synthesize the estimations of insomnia prevalence, its different forms of expression, and explore its impact on people's health, labor productivity and the consumption of health resources, as well to review the therapeutic choices that have proved to be efficient for the treatment


A first step in determining all the global projective unitary representations describing free particle systems in imaginary Lobachevsky space is made. Essentially we determine explicitly the global form of any representation describing a free particle of spin j on the group generated by rotations and translations of space–time at time t and time translations. We also discuss whether or not positional observables should be preserved under physical equivalence and determine the effects this has on the representation theory of free particle systems.


This paper is being dedicated to Boolean Complement Method development reckoning synthesis of self-checking digital devices and systems. Here were highlighted specialties of constant-weight code '1-out-of-4' application for synthesis of embedded control circuits of combined logical devices via Boolean Complement Method. We described basic organization structures of embedded control systems by means of Boolean Complement Method till constant-weight code 1-out-of-4'. Several options of control circuits arrangement were considered by us. Initial one is concentrated on devices control with disengagement of four exits' and implementation of three exits transformation out of four per basic structure. Second option of control circuit organization is Boolean Complement Method till constant-weight code '1-out-of-4', which means the search of triple exits' with addition it to four-digit coded word ' '1-out-of-4' via actual connection of logical control segment to tester input without signal transformation. Third alternative is related to application of basic structure of prior signal compression from being diagnosed site and control of reduced exits quantity. Within this paper several results of experimental research are being presented per each option of embedded control circuits with indices estimation. The event of insertion of single permanent malfunction will be discussed relating difficulties of technical structures realization as well as possibility of errors definition while data input procedure per being supervised site. In Boolean Complement Method for many cases allows us to fulfill synthesis for more simple self-checking devices, compare to implementation of Duplication Method with high level of errors definition on outputs of being monitored site


The use of waveguides or buffer rods (BR) is well known in performing Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) with ultrasonic or generally in high-temperature ultrasonic time domain reflectometry (TDR). However, determining optimal geometrical shapes of these buffers and parameters of the ultrasonic transducers are not straightforward. In this paper the signal to noise ratio (SNR) achieved with different combinations of buffer diameters and transducer diameters are considered based mainly on experiments and on some dedicated simulations. Experimental results show large variations of the SNR as the ratio between the transducer and the buffer rod diameter varies. Corresponding simulated results are less influenced by such variations in the ratio of diameters considered, showing possible limitations of these simulations.


The objective of our paper is to evaluate the relevance of customer oriented strategies used by Slovak companies. We put emphasis on loyalty development and loyalty strategies in the process of retaining customers. In recent years, academics as well as practitioners have increasingly directed their attention to the loyalty problem. Until now, academic research on loyalty has, however, been focused on measurement aspects and correlation between loyalty and customer characteristics. Two types of loyalty strategies are presented in the paper: reward strategy and relationship strategy. Under the "reward strategy" we understand offering discounts, rebates, or goods. On the contrary, the "relationship strategy" means using information to tailor offerings to individual customer tastes, buying patterns or value to the company. Most authors believe that only the relationship strategy is able to stimulate customer loyalty. However, in practice we expect most companies to develop reward strategies, because these are much easier to implement. The aim of our research is to analyse the implementation and characteristics of both strategies and of their perceived contribution to customer loyalty.


During a study on the feasibility of a lightweight, medium high-frequency radio telephone, the need arose for a receiver of rather unusual design. None of the circuits available to the project engineers were wholly suitable, and it was decided to develop one from the beginning rather than to modify an existing design.


Abstract Based on the results of a foregoing paper (Z. Naturforsch. 44 a, 519 - 523 (1989)) the density-dependence of the discrete energy states and the continuum level is calculated with better accuracy. A static approximation to the line shifts is derived and discussed


The defining property of currency lies in its capability of being exchanged with any given commodity, the value of this commodity being measured by that of the currency. In other words, currency serves as a general equivalent, and the essential quality of currency is fixed as a kind of commodity functioning as general equivalent. For this reason, Marx defined currency as a general commodity in contrast with other particular commodity.


Myositis-specific autoantibodies (MSAs) are closely associated with distinct clinical subsets of dermatomyositis (DM). In 2007, a novel MSA-reacting small ubiquitin-like modifier activating enzyme (SAE) was identified in some patients with DM characterised by extensive rash and dysphagia1 . Owing to the low proportion of patients with DM having the anti-SAE antibody (1.5%-3% in Asia2-4 and 6.7%-8.4% in Europe5-7 among all patients with DM), their clinical features have not been sufficiently analysed. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


To date the production of gas hydrates has proved difficult and flows uncertain. Recent work by a international group seems set to change all that, reports Gordon Cope.


Objective This study was carried out to investigate the myocardial morphology effect of propranolol pretreatment on the isolated retroperfused rat hearts made hypertrophy by aortic banding. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats (age,8 weeks) were subjected either to constriction of the abdominal aorta just above the renal artery or to sham operation. The rats were studied at 14-15 weeks of age ,the hearts were subjected to 2h of global ischemia followed by 1h of reperfusion, with propranolol pre-ischemia ( daily 10 mg/kg,for 10 days) or unpretreatment. Aniamls completing the experiment included the propranolol pretreated group (n=12),the unpretreated group(n=12) and normal age-matched control group (n=12). Myocardial morphology were assessed in this study. Results The left ventricular weight/body weight ratio in the hypertrophied hearts was(3.77±0.04)g/kg versus (2.10±0.03)g/kg in the age-matched controls(P0.01).Propranolol reduces or delays the damage to the hypertrophied myocardiad cells. Morphometric study of electron micrographs demonstrated that mitochondrial swelling was distinctly less in propranolol-treated than in untreated rats(P0.01). Conclusion Propranolol pretreatment in hypertrophied hearts provides protectior of hypertrophied rat hearts. This effect is maximal in protecting the mitochondria, thereby suggesting that mitochondrial salvage may play an important role in propranolol pretreatment's abillity to protect ischemic hypertrophied myocardium.


This project funded for four years (02.92 to 01.96) was a renewal of a project funded for 2.5 years (07.89 to 01.92). This report covers the period 07.89 to 07.94. The original project was entitled {open_quotes}Correlation of physical and genetic maps of Human Chromosome 16{close_quotes}. The aim over this period was to construct a cytogenetic-based physical map of chromosome 16, to enable integration of its physical and genetic maps. This was achieved by collaboration and isolation of new markers until each bin on the physical map contained a polymorphic marker on the linkage map. A further aim was to integrate all mapping data for this chromosome and to achieve contig closure over band q24.


Biodegradable and multifunctionalized nanotubes are of special interest since they can be applied to biological systems including bioseparation, biocatalysis and biomolecule delivery. In this paper, magnetic polypeptide nanotubes were fabricated through the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of poly-L-lysine hydrochloride (PLL), poly-L-glutamic acid (PGA) and magnetic nanoparticles within the inner pores of polycarbonate templates with subsequent removal of the templates. The wall thickness and inner diameter of as-prepared nanotubes can be tuned by changing the assembled layers, and the length and outer diameter are dependent on the used templates. These magnetic polypeptide nanotubes can be used as a DNA carrier and manipulated under magnetic force.


166 Background: The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening for men aged≥75 in 2008 and all men in 2012 in an effort to reduce overdiagnosis and overtreatment of men with prostate cancer (PCa). This recommendation may delay diagnosis of clinically significant PCa. Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER) was used to identify men diagnosed with PCa between 2004-2015. PCa stage was categorized as localized (N0M0), nodal (N1M0) and metastatic (NxM1). Trend analysis was stratified on age group (PSA screening eligible was defined as age 55-69 according to the 2018 updated USPSTF recommendation). Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify predictors for nodal and metastatic disease. Results: Between 2004-2015, there were 603,323 men with PCa identified. Metastatic disease accounted for 2.8% of PCa in 2004-2008, 3.7% in 2009-2012, and 6.1% in 2013-2015. In men eligible for PCa screening, metastatic disease increased from 1.9% in 2004-2008, to 2.6% in 2009-2012, to 4.2% in 2013-2015; nodal disease increased from 1.4% to 1.6% to 2.6%, respectively (both p-value for trend< 0.0001). This stage migration was also observed in non-screening eligible groups (age >70 and <55). Compared with PCa diagnosed in 2009-2012, PCa diagnosed in 2013-2015 had higher odds of metastatic disease (AOR: 1.70, p-value<0.0001) or nodal disease (AOR: 1.71, p-value<0.0001). Conclusions: Men diagnosed with PCa in 2013-2015 were more likely to have metastatic or nodal disease, suggesting PCa stage migration since PSA screening was recommended to be discontinued in 2012. Although the impact of PSA screening on PCa mortality remains debatable, the reduced quality of life with advanced Pca should not be overlooked. Future population studies are warranted to investigate the influence of the updated 2018 USPSTF recommendation. [Table: see text]


In a recent study, Robinson et al report (1) that nutrition status plays an integral role in determining outcomes in critically ill patients. We applaud the authors for their thorough and well-conducted study on an important topic. In particular, we were fascinated by the data demonstrating that obese patients with malnutrition have worse outcomes as compared to obese patients without malnutrition. Based on the results and conclusions presented, we have a few comments and questions for the authors.

First, both in this article and in the editorial by Lasocki (2), obese patients are portrayed as having a high prevalence of malnutrition, while the results of this study indicate that malnutrition is actually less common in obese than in regular-weight patients. This does not minimize any effect of malnutrition on outcomes, but the authors use numerous statistical descriptions to stress the importance of malnutrition rather than simply stating that malnutrition is less prevalent in the context of obesity. While this may have been unintentional, the multiple statements discussing the prevalence of malnutrition in obesity are misleading. Since malnutrition is more prevalent in regular-weight, and even more so in underweight patients, why were separate analyses (such as in Table 5) not conducted in these subsets of patients to determine the association of malnutrition with mortality?

Second, as Lasocki pointed out in his editorial (2), an important source of potential selection bias was the inclusion of only 6,518 out of a total of over 25,000 patients. While we realize that only those deemed at risk for malnutrition were formally evaluated by a dietitian, the inclusion of fewer than 30% of patients makes it difficult to know the real prevalence of malnutrition, as well as the contribution of malnutrition to outcomes in critically ill patients. It would have been helpful for the authors to address this in the limitations section.

Finally, why were trauma patients excluded from this study? They are listed in Table 1, but excluded from further analyses. Large recent studies indicate that obese patients have an increased mortality risk following trauma (3), so it would be interesting to compare differences between outcomes in trauma versus other critically ill patients who are obese, as these demographics would likely have disparate malnutrition profiles as well as a different burden of comorbid conditions. We have recently shown that following orthopedic trauma, obese rats have an increased risk of developing acute lung and kidney injury, and that these are mediated by exacerbated hyperglycemic, inflammatory, and oxidative stress responses in obese as compared to nonobese rodents (4, 5). Clinical studies have shown that these variables are also associated with poor outcomes in the critically ill. It is possible that malnutrition could have a significant effect on factors such as these in the setting of trauma and critical illness. This may help to explain the seemingly contradictory results in clinical studies regarding outcomes in obese versus nonobese patients, and in trauma versus other critically ill patients.


The Angle of a Random Rotation in 3 Dimensions Any rota t ion of the o r ien ted eucl idean 3-space ~3 has a well-def 'med rota t ion angle ~ E [0, ~r], and, in the case 0 < a < 7r, also a wel l -def ined axis, which may be r ep resen ted by a unit vec tor ~ E S 2. F o r the identity, only the angle a = 0 is well-defined, whe rea s any ~ E S 2 can be cons ide red as axis; if a = ~-, there a re two axis vec tors _+ ~. By a random rotation we unders t and a random variable in SO(3), which is uniformly d is t r ibuted with respec t to Haar measure . It is c lear that the axis of such a r andom rota t ion mus t be uniformly dis t r ibuted on the sphere S 2 with r e spec t to the natural a rea measure , but wha t about the ro ta t ion angle? It is cer ta inly not uni formly distr ibuted: The ro ta t ions by a small angle ~, le t ' s say with 0 -< ~ < 1 ~ fo rm a small ne ighbourhood U of the ident i ty 1 E SO(3), whe rea s the rota t ions with 179 ~ < a -180 ~ const i tute a ne ighbourhood V of the set of all ro ta t ions by 180 ~ which make up a surface (a project ive p lane) in SO(3). It is p lausible tha t V has a grea ter volume than U, i.e., the dis t r ibut ion of ro ta t ion angles should give more weight to large angles than to small ones. In o rder to ca lcula te the dis t r ibut ion of the ro ta t ion angle, I first express the Haar measure of SO(3) in appropr ia te coordinates . The Haar meas u re o f SO(3)


To investigate the ability of high field ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to localize prostate cancer (PCa) and to predict the margin status in fresh radical prostatectomy (RP) specimens using histology as the reference standard.