Objective To find an efficacy,safety and economic prophylactic regimen after the transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy (TRUSPBs) by comparing the results of infection complications after the oral levofloxacin application with other intravenous prophylaxis antibiotics.Methods It was a prospective,randomized,multicenter,effective drug control and open-label clinical study.From October 2011to December 2012,296 patients who had indications of prostate biopsy in 8 medical centers were randomized into two groups:test group (n=150,levofloxacin,500 mg,po,qd for 3 days) and control group (n=146 intravenous antibiotics of any kinds,3 days).All those antibiotics were used on the day of biopsy and within two days after the biopsy.The average age in test group and control group was (67.6±8.6) years vs (68.7± 8.8) years,the average PSA level in test group and control group was (105.8±638.1) μg/L vs (174.6±861.4) μg/L,respectively (P>0.05).In test group and control group,the mean duration of present illness was (0.6±2.3) months and (0.4± 1.2) months.The positive rate after the digital rectal examination was 45.3% (68/150) in test group and 51.4% (75/146) in control group.All patients underwent TRUSPB.The infectious complications and the expenditure of medicine in two groups were compared.Results The occurrences of infection complications in test group and control group were 6.0% (9/150) and 6.2% (9/146).Meanwhile,the rate of asymptomatic bacteriuria was 4.7% (7/150) in test group and 3.4% (5/146) in control group.In those groups,the rate of symptomatic urinary tract infection was 0 vs 0.7% (1/146),the rate of fever was 0 vs 0.7% (1/146),the rate of bacteremia was 1.3% (2/150) vs 0 and the rate of urosepsis was 0 vs 1.4% (2/146),respectively (P>0.05).The average costs of medicine in test group and control group were (43.0±3.8) yuan and (403.7±277.6) yuan,respectively (P<0.05).Conclusions Levofloxacin (500 mg,po,qd for 3 days) is an effective and safe regimen for infection prevention after the TRUSPB.Additionally,levofloxacin 500 mg 3 days regimen has significant cost benefit as well.

Key words:
Levofloxacin;  Transrectal prostate biopsy;  Infection;  Prophylaxis


Rodway, S. (2005). The date and authorship of Culhwch ac Olwen: a reassessment. Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies. 49, pp.21-44. RAE2008


The possibility that regions of shear in turbulent gas flows can align molecules and give rise to detectable electromagnetic radiation has been suggested by Clark (1958, 1975). This paper describes further research in this area and in particular considers the effect of acoustic interaction and vibration on the sensitive magnetic and electric probes used to detect the signals. The conclusion is that vibration effects are likely to dominate in most practical configurations in the laboratory. Calculations suggest an upper limit of approximately 1017 T for the molecular alignment effect, which is a factor of 106 below the background noise level when vibration effects are excluded. The probes can, however, be adapted for studies of flow-induced vibration.


Titanium thin-wall laminated structures, representing the combination of the load-carrying plating with filler, are produced by diffusion bonding. In diffusion bonding of metals, including titanium alloys, the formation of the joint is based on the mechanism of high-temperature creep. The titanium alloys in the as-received condition are characterised by the formation of a large variety of microstructures and by the strong dependence of the deformation resistance on the condition of the microstructure in the temperature range above 800 °C and below the temperature of completion of the α+ β→β transformation. In alloys with a globular (fine-grained equiaxed) structure, resistance to high-temperature deformation is considerably lower in comparison with alloys with a coarse-grained plate structure. Therefore, by the regulation of the initial microstructure of the welded components, it is possible to control the quality of the produced diffusion-bonded joint in titanium alloys. It was shown in Ref. 4 that in diffusion bonding of load-carrying plating with a honeycomb filler, the higher strength of the joint in tensile testing is obtained when the plating in the initial condition is characterised by the formation of the equiaxed fine-grain structure, and the filler has a coarse-grained plate structure. The application of filler with plate microstructure makes it possible, without reducing the stability of the filler in welding, to increase the compression force by a factor of 5–8 and, consequently, increase the deformation of the metal in the welding zone. The formation of the welded joint takes place as a result of the penetration of filler into the load carrying plating characterised by the equiaxed fine-grained structure. The depth of penetration of filler into the plating may be determined on the basis of the profile measurement results, taken from the surface of the plating (after mechanical testing of the joint) using a profilograph–profile meter (Fig. 1). The extent of penetration in relation to the technological conditions of the welding regime (temperature, pressure, time) and the ratio of thickness of the sheets of the load carrying plating and the filler reaches 10–15 % of the thickness of plating. It should be mentioned that deformation of metal in the welded zone (as a result of the penetration of filler into plating), although it supports the development of the welding process and increase of the strength of the diffusion-bonded joint in the static uniaxial test, it does lead to the formation of stress concentrators as a result of the reduction of the thickness of the plating in the areas of contact with the filler and, consequently, is accompanied by a large decrease of the cyclic fatigue limit of the material of the plating. In order to prevent (or, at least, reduce) the degree of penetration of filler into the load carrying plating in diffusion bonding, it is necessary to ensure that the resistance to high-temperature deformation of the part of the filler, taking part in the deformation and formation of the diffusion-bonded joint, was lower or similar to the resistance of the material of the plating. This may be achieved if, for example, welding is carried out using a filler in the form of a composition of microstructures (Fig. 2): the coarse grained plate-shaped microstructure in the volume of the filler and the globular (or equiaxed finegrained microstructure) in the zone which takes part in the formation of the joint. In the production of filler for titanium thin-wall laminated structures from the commercially produced sheet alloys with a thickness of 0.3–0.5 mm, the zone with the globular (or equiaxed) structure should be equal to 1.0–1.5 mm, Optimisation of the microstructure of filler for titanium diffusion-welded thin-wall laminated structures


CAD and finite element analysis were applied, the datachable grips for aerial ropeways and a set of testing and trial devices have been developed and produced. Those testing and trial devices are based on the actual conditions of ropeway in China; it will benefit to the practical applications of the national detachable grip ropeways.


The article examines family relationships shown in the poetic cycle entitled The Delightful Garden of God's Love by Adrian Wieszczycki. Attention is drawn to the status of the Holy Family, especially to the figures of Mary and Jesus, and their role in the work of salvation was analyzed. It is noticed that the Mother of God and her Son – apart from the strictly human relationship – are connected by a bond that goes beyond the canon of the traditional family, and thus beyond the accepted patterns of behavior and relationships with other people. The author also analyzed the form of poetic expression, i.e., a combination of the following forms: cloister and emblematic, resulting in a very original and intricate construction. The poems have a meditative character, and the composition of the cycle is based on the mysteries of the Rosary that tell the History of Salvation. The poet created a literary garden in which specific flowers bloom: lilies symbolizing the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Virgin Mary and Christ, the Lover and the Beloved; roses referring to the attributes of Mary, the Passion of Christ and royal power; and amaranths, which are a symbol of immortality. The Holy Family is an inspiration and a role model for secular families, and its eternal status is constituted by the presence of angels.


The following paper by the Principal of Kingsway College for Further Education was originally written as the keynote paper for the Walsall Seminar to serve as a starting point for the discussions.


Asymptotic formulae for the solution of the initial-boundary value problem for a singularly perturbed partially dissipative system of reaction-diffusion type are constructed and justified. The system consists of a parabolic and an ordinary differential equation in the case when the corresponding degenerate equation has a root of multiplicity two. The behaviour of the boundary layer functions and the algorithm for constructing them are significantly distinct from the case of a simple (multiplicity-one) root of the degenerate equation. Bibliography: 8 titles.


The effect of reinforcing roof, sides and floor corners to control floor heave of extraction opening was analyzed, It was proved by engineering practice and numerical simulation that reinforcing any part of surrounding rock have certainly control effect for floor heave, in the basis of this, the new way that roof, sides and floor corners were rein-forced to control floor heave was put forward. Contrasting control result of reinforcing floor with this, it is determined that reinforcing is more suitable to control floor heave of extrac-tion opening than reinforcing floor when advancing abutment pressure is in some range.


Objective The present study was conducted to gain insight into the status quo of direct network reports of infectious diseases for a better epidemic management. Methods The data on the epidemic reports before and after the implementation of direct network report from the First People's Hospital of Zhumadian were analyzed and evaluated. Results It was shown that 11 infectious diseases affecting 127 cases were reported before implementing direct network report with a time limit of less than 24 hours,and 10 infectious diseases involving 263 cases were reported after using direct network report with a time limit of less than 2 hours. Compared with the number of reported infectious disease cases before exercising direct network report,there was an increase by 136 cases in the reported number after employing the method,with an increase by 107.09%. Conclusion It is seen that those who are responsible for the work after adopting direct network report have a stronger sense of responsibility for the reporting with an accelerated report rate,conducing to an earlier epidemic surveillance and analysis,and institution of preventive actions.


Some significant correlations have been established between the time of relaxation, ATPase/Ca-uptake ratio and Tl/T2-ratio in myotonias. Apart from some morphometabolic features peculiar to Steinert''


There has been little work on the history of Chinese in Queensland's sugar industry. Their involvement was substantial and in the case of the lower Herbert district, resulted in a thriving Chinese community in the 19th century. Racist legislation designed to produce a 'White Australia' in the early 20th century was successful in this district, with the Chinese community declining after the 1920s. By the post-World War II period only a few families were left.


In this work we describe and analyse both the syntactic and the semantic properties of a number of sentential particles (henceforth SPs), which can appear in some Veneto dialects in main non declarative clauses. The presence of these particles induces interesting interpretive effects; more generally, an investigation of their properties is relevant for the analysis of the left periphery of the clause; in addition, a detailed study of these particles turns out to have theoretical relevance for a crosslinguistic theory of clausal typing on the one hand and for a deeper understanding of the syntax-semantics interface on the other. The distribution of SPs also involves a number of interpretive and pragmatic distinctions that contribute to highlight the way sentence type is encoded in the syntactic structure and to provide some insights into more fine-grained distinctions internal to each sentence type.


The purpose of the research was to analyze the elasticity of credit of motorbike at PT. FIF in Manokwari Regency. The method used is descriptive statistical analysis method with interview and questionnaire instruments as guidelines. Data analysis was performed using a log-linear regression analysis tool to determine the elasticity of demand. The results showed that only the price had a negative and significant effect on the demand for motorcycle credit in Manokwari Regency. While the level of income does not affect the demand for motorcycle credit at 95% confidence level. The elasticity value of price demand is 0.079 <1, so its nature is inelastic. This means that the change in the price of credit goods is greater than the change in the number of motorcycle loans. Furthermore, the value of the elasticity of income shows that the motor credit is the income-inferior goods, where consumption of credit is inversely related to consumer income.


Background: There are limited studies on wall imaging of human basilar artery (BA). Our aim was to investigate remodeling mode of advanced BA atherosclerosis using 3-T MRI. Methods: Thirty-two consecutive symptomatic patients with atherosclerotic BA stenosis ≥70% were imaged with a 3-T magnetic resonance scanner. Proton density-weighted (PDW) cross-sectional images with submillimeter voxel size were obtained. The vessel area (VA) and lumen area (LA) at the maximal lumen narrowing (MLN) site and reference site were measured. Intraobserver and interobserver variability was determined by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Wall area (WA) was estimated by VA − LA. Plaque size (PS) was estimated by WA at MLN site − reference WA. Percent plaque burden was calculated as (PS/VA at MLN site) × 100%. Remodeling index (RI) was the ratio of VA at MLN site to reference VA. RI ≥1.05 was defined as positive remodeling (PR) and RI <1.05 as non-PR. Results: Measurements of cross-sectional BA images were available in 30 of 32 patients. Intraobserver or interobserver variability was small, with ICC ranging from 0.955 to 0.996. The mean RI of the 30 patients was 1.2 ± 0.4. PR was found in 19 (63.3%) patients and non-PR in 11 (36.7%) patients. Compared with the non-PR group, the PR group had greater PS (15.0 ± 9.3 mm2 vs 6.4 ± 3.9 mm2, p = 0.007) and greater percent plaque burden (50.5 ± 9.9% vs 28.5 ± 12.7%, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: 3-T high-resolution PDW imaging is a reproducible tool for measuring BA dimensions. In patients with advanced BA atherosclerosis, PR lesions are more frequently observed and contain larger plaques than non-PR lesions.


The classical model of hair‐cell stimulation in the mammalian cochlea, according to which the tectorial membrane acts as a stiff anchor for the cells' sterocilia, requires the stiffness of the membrane in the radial cochlear direction to be greater than that of the sterocilia. This stiffness was measured by means of flexible, calibrated micropipettes inserted deep into the membrane at the location of the outer hair cells. They were introduced into the cochlea through an opening in the lateral wall of the scala media, as described previously [J. J. Zwislocki, S.C. Chamberlain, and N. B. Slepecki, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Suppl. 1 81, S6 (1987)]. The stiffness was determined by moving the micropipettes radially and by measuring their bend and the resulting displacement of the tectorial membrane. According to the experiments, the radial stiffness of the tectorial membrane is several times smaller than the corresponding stiffness of the stereocilia determined by Strelioff and Flock (Hearing Res. 15, 19–28). This contradicts the classical model of cochlear hair‐cell stimulation. The tectorial membrane appears to act on the stereocilia as a mass load rather than their stiff anchor.


Most converter folks I know are obsessed with spectral performance, and rightly so. After all, most analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) these days work as "waveform coders"; their output is intended for some frequency-domain purpose. Of course, time-domain "measurement" applications are still out there, especially in the high-precision realm, but the communications boom has caused many to abandon integral nonlinearity and differential nonlinearity (DNL) for spurious free dynamic range.


Abstract : The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston is an innovative institution by almost any standards. It was four years ago that the faculty and administration abolished conventional courses from the dental curriculum. Today, the students' progress toward the DDS degree is measured by his mastery of topics rather than courses. With this as a basis, the next step was to institute self-pacing. Experimental at first, after four years this 'self-directed program' now involves about 20 percent of the student body and may next year incorporate the entire school. Launching of the self-directed program required the preparation of an entire curriculum of self-instructional materials, a gigantic task. It was achieved in four years time without any faculty released time.


UNESCO promotes geoconservation through various programs intended to establish an inventory of geologically and geomorphologically significant features worldwide that can serve as an important database to understand the Earth's global geoheritage. An ultimate goal of such projects globally is to establish geoparks that represent an integrated network of knowledge transfer opportunities, based on a specific array of geological and geomorphological sites able to graphically demonstrate how the Earth works to the general public. In these complex geoconservation and geoeducational programs, the identification of significant geological and geomorphological features is very important. These are commonly referred to as 'geosites' or 'geomorphosites', depending on whether the feature or processes the site demonstrates is more geological or geomorphological, respectively. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an extraordinary place due to its arid climate and therefore perfect exposures of rock formations. The Kingdom is also home to extensive volcanic fields, named "harrats" in Arabic, referring particularly to the black, basaltic lava fields that dominate the desert landscape. Current efforts to increase awareness of the importance of these volcanic fields in the geological landscape of Arabia culminated in the first proposal to incorporate the superbly exposed volcanic features into an integrated geoconservation and geoeducation program that will hopefully lead to the development of a geopark named, "The Harrat Al Madinah Volcanic Geopark" [1]. Here we describe one of the extraordinary features of the proposed Harrat Al Madinah Volcanic Geopark, namely a steep lava spatter cone formed during a historical eruption in 1256 AD.


In this paper, by choosing catalyst of FeNiMnCo alloy, boron-doped diamond single crystals are synthesized under 5.1-5.6 GPa and 1230-1600 degrees C; the temperature field is studied by finite element method (FEM). First, the P-T phase diagram for diamond single crystal growth, in the synthesis system of FeNiMnCo-C-B, is obtained, and the lowest synthesis conditions of 5.1 GPa and 1230 degrees C is found in the studies. By simulation with FEM, it is found that the content of boron element should be less and less in the growth of diamond single crystal in the {111} sector, and the reason is that the growth speed is reduced in the sectors. By growing diamond crystals with {111} faces, it is also found that the content of boron element in {111} secondary sector is greater than that in {111} primary sector, which is duo to the rapid growth of {111} secondary sector. Compared with the synthesis of diamond single crystal by film growth method, the diamond crystals thus obtained has no pits, the doping content of boron can be greater, and the diamond can be synthesized by temperature gradient method.


The 4-amion-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine (Temp) was grafted into the Sodium Lignosulfonate (SL) to obtain the hindered amine modified lignosulfonate (SL-Temp). Then the polymer surfactant (SL-Temp-CTAB) was prepared by using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and SL-Temp. The obtained SL-Temp-CTAB was used as emulsifier to prepare green Emulsifiable Concentrate (EC) of avermectin (AVM), which shows good emulsifying property and storage stability. The prepared AVM green EC can form AVM-loaded microspheres with nanometer particle size distribution after emulsification in water. After UV irradiation for 70 hours, the AVM retention rate of the green EC prepared using SL-Temp-CTAB was 75.8%, which is much higher than that of commercial EC (0.4%) and the green EC prepared using unmodified SL (31.4%). Moreover, the AVM green EC prepared using SL-Temp-CTAB has slow-release performance, and the release equilibrium time is 5.3 times of the commercial EC. Therefore, the newly prepared AVM green EC using lignin-based functional emulsifier shows good anti-photolysis and slow-release performance compared with the traditional EC.


Structural parameters of 24 substituted naphthalin compounds were computed at four levels using Hartree-Fock and DFT methods. Based on the experimental data of octanol/water partition coefficient (lgKow),three-parameter (energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital (EHOMO),the most positive atomic net charges of molecule (q+) and molecular average polari-zability (α)) dependent equations were developed using structural parameters as theoretical des-criptors. Especially,lgKow dependent equation calculated at the HF/6-311G** level is more advantageous than others in view of their correlation and predictive abilities. This dependent equation was validated by variance inflation factors (VIF) and t-test methods and used to predict lgKow of eight designed compounds. Upon comparison,the predictive abilities of our work are all more advantageous than those calculated from molecular property calculator program.


In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph. Over the years, changes in technology have contributed to shaping the way in which we live our lives. From the invention of the light bulb to that of the television set and computer, nothing remains the same once a technological advance has come about. Currently, another technological advance is preparing to change the way we live our lives. This new device is known as the DVD player and it is attempting to replace the CD player in the electronic multimedia world. This article is available in The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol2/iss1/11 CD versus DVD: The Ultimate Portable Storage Battle By: Brian Schmidt Over the years, changes in technology have contributed to shaping the way in which we live our lives. From the invention of the light bulb to that of the television set and computer, nothing remains the same once a technological advance has come about. Currently, another technological advance is preparing to change the way we live our lives. This new device is known as the DVD player and it is attempting to replace the CD player in the electronic multimedia world. Some people can remember back to when they used to listen to music on the radio and watch movies on the projector. Then came some enhancements that moved music onto vinyl records that were played with a needle. Movies eventually made their way onto VHS tapes and, at about the same time, music found its way to cassette tapes. Laser Discs came out bearing the weight of movies and offering somewhat better quality, but never got a strong hold in the movie industry. Around this time everything seemed fairly calm in the media industry until that one fateful day when the CD was introduced. It was only about 13 years ago when the CD-ROM was introduced into the PC world. CD's rapidly took over the software industry, as it was more practical to release a software package, or multiple packages, on one CD. This eliminated the need to monitor an installation (waiting to insert another floppy) . Also, CD's had a storage capacity equal to many hard drives of the time. Eventually, the CD-Rand CD-RW emerged, making it possible for a user to create their own CD's. This technology grew very quickly, as it gave users the chance to create their own CD's to hold music or software. The CD-R gave users the chance to write their own CD's while the CD-RW allowed them to write and re-write CD's. This ability to reuse the same CD a couple of times was an excellent enhancement and made the write-able CD drives a little more economical. More recently, the DVD has entered the picture. The DVD, otherwise known as the Digital Versatile Disk or Digital Video Disk, is preparing to change the way we think about movies, music, and software. 1 The development of DVD technology started out in the hands of two separate groups. The Multimedia CD (MMCD), designed by Philips and Sony, and the Super Density (SD) disc, created by seven companies led by Toshiba, were the two possible technologies on the drawing board in December of 1995 when the two groups united to form the standard now known as DVD. From this point, DVD ran into many pitfalls, just as all new technologies do. on its way to becoming a viable contender against the CD. The next question is just how viable this new contender is. The DVD industry had many problems which needed to be resolved before it could begin releasing and marketing this new technology. One of the main issues was with the motion picture industry. This problem delayed the shipping of DVD products from the summer of 1996 to the spring of 1997. The problem stemmed from political and technical disagreements over the amount of protection DVD technology offered against the illegal copying and distributing of the movies which it would hold. It wasn't until October 29, 1996 that an agreement was made about the copy protection issues and work was finally able to resume on the development of the technology. This delay cost the DVD industry to lose a lot of potential profits since it was not able to release its new product in time for the Christmas buying season. Marketing has increased greatly for the DVD since the delay, which pushed its release into 1997. As soon as the first DVD players began to appear in March 1997 for use with television, people began buying them as quickly as they could. This was due to the


For the purpose of promoting the Russian language, whose sphere of functioning is gradually diminishing in the world, specifically in the Post-Soviet era, the ideas of "Rusophonia" and "Russian World" were suggested in Russia. Both of these ideas are an effort to create a supra-governmental and supra-national network structure that unites all Russian speakers and those who are interested in the Russian culture, regardless of their nationalities. And to create such a network structure, recently Russia turned to the possibilities of the Internet. In this article we analyze current situation with the Russian language in relation to the expanding limits of Runet (Russian-language Internet) in the Post-Soviet nations and also on the perspectives of the future of the Russian language on Runet.


The paper consists of a historiography about the Nuremburg Trial after the Holocaust and World War II.  The article addresses the different schools of thought that view the trail and the lasting impact of the trial.  Within the paper, it discusses about the men on trial, the lawyers and the evidence of the case.


This note shows that the horizontal ambient flow of a stratified fluid must be such that the density gradient has no component parallel to the velocity sheer.


The Hawkesbury River around Sackville is a ridally mixed, freshwater and mosdy shallow river on rhe outskirrs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (Fig. 1). Alrhough most of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River system is free o f severe cyanobacterial blooms, rhe area around Sackville has persistent high levels of Microcystis aeruginosa. On occasions these blooms of Cyanobacteria are replaced by large populations of Chlorophyceae or Bacillariophyceae. Water in rhe Sackville area is used for domestic supply, stock watering, some drinking water purposes and for recreation. As Microcystis aeruginosa can produce rhe potent hepatotoxin microcystin-LR, the factors controlling its dominance and growth are of interest. In many lakes (Hu~tl'HRIES & LYNE 1988) and some rivers (WEBSTER et al. 1995) a significant advantage can be conferred on cyanobacteria through buoyancy regulation and subsequent vertical positioning. Buoyant cyanobacteria can harvest enhanced levels of light in comparison to many


This paper has studied the feasibility of detection of bending deformation on hydrogenation reactor based on magnetic memory test. The bend specimens were made of 2.25Cr1Mo steel, which is always used in hydrogenation reactors. Specimens were divided into defect-free specimen, cracks specimen and welding specimen. And then three-point bending tests were done on the material test machine. The magnetic signals were detected by magnetic memory sensors to research different variation of magnetic signals on different bend stage. The ferromagnetic theory was used to explain the variation. It is feasible to preliminarily evaluate the bend state by the magnetic memory signal.


This work presents how to improve an algorithm based on artificial neural network (ANN) for microwave filter tuning. Sets of ANN learning vectors which contain scattering filter characteristics and corresponding tuning elements deviations are used in the concept. The main idea is to transform filter characteristics to wavelet Daubechies D4 representation before ANN training. Experimental results have shown that usage of truncated D4 filter characteristics allows us to minimize ANN topology and thus has significant influence on ANN training time, whilst ANN generalization ability remains at a similar level.


This gas engine is equipped with: a cylinder head (30); a prechamber cap (43) that protrudes into a main combustion chamber (33) when inserted in an insertion hole (38) formed in the cylinder head (30), has a prechamber (41) therein, and supplies a flame generated in the prechamber (41) to the main combustion chamber (33); and prechamber holder (42) that is disposed inside the cylinder head (30) and holds the prechamber cap (43). A concave section (47) for accommodating an end part (43a) of one of the prechamber cap (43) and prechamber holder (42) is formed on the other of the prechamber cap (43) and prechamber holder (42), and the outer diameter of the end part (43a) is set smaller than the inner diameter of the concave section (47), thereby forming a space (S) between the concave section (47) and the end part (43a) at least in the radial direction that is orthogonal to the axial direction.


We read with deep interest the article by Hill et al 1 who examined whether high-dose fish oil was superior to low-dose supplementation for symptomatic and structural outcomes in knee osteoarthritis (OA). This study suggested that The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) pain and function scores were improved in high-dose and low-dose fish oil groups compared with baseline, and high-dose groups had no additional benefit for people with symptomatic knee OA compared with low-dose groups. We really appreciate the work that has been done by the authors, but there are some worthwhile issues that need to be explored.

Since this study might encourage supplementation of fish oil (eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)+docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)) in many patients with knee OA, we think, first, safety issues should be the object of particular scrutiny. Recent review …


With the Lecture-Free Teaching method, teachers build "learning partnerships" with students to create more flexible, cooperative learning environments. These partnerships lead to engaged students who participate and share ideas through discussions and in-class activities, such as inquiry-based exercises and case studies.


The Functional Bowel Disorders (FBD) are a group of disorders in which the symptoms are referable to the mid or lower gastrointestinal tract. The symptoms include abdominal pain, bloating or distension and various symptoms of disordered defecation. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is the most common FBD and the others include functional abdominal bloating, functional constipation and functional diarrhea.


Experimental results on positron trapping at vacancies in electron-irradiated silicon are presented. The positron lifetimes 273\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3 and 248\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2 ps in pure Si and heavily-phosphorus-doped Si ([P]=${10}^{20}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}3}$) are assigned to a negative monovacancy ${V}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ and a negative vacancy-phosphorus pair (V-P${)}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$, respectively. In pure Si, positron trapping displays a strong negative temperature dependence, and the specific trapping rate reaches very large values ${(10}^{17\char21{}}$${10}^{18}$ ${\mathrm{s}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$) at low temperatures. In Si:P the trapping rate is independent of temperature. These different temperature behaviors are attributed to different positron-trapping mechanisms, a cascade of one-phonon transitions in pure Si, and an Auger process in Si:P.


Joubert syndrome (JS) is a rare, autosomal recessive ciliopathy characterized by a triad of hypotonia, developmental delay, and molar tooth sign on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Apart from these, they may also have respiratory abnormalities, oculomotor apraxia, ataxia, and mirror movements. Among the reported clinical presentations, myoclonus has never been described as a prominent clinical sign in JS and related disorders. We report a case of JS with myoclonus as a disabling symptom.


Since at least the fourteenth century the Slavic ethnic minority population known as Polish Lemkos has claimed the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains as its homeland. Lemkos are part of a larger east Slavic population of Carpathian Rus' collectively known as Rusyns, who reside in the Lemko region (in Poland), the Prešov region (in Slovakia), and western Subcarpathian Rus' (in Ukraine) (see Figure I). Beyond the Carpathian homeland Rusyns live in Serbia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and outside of Europe in the United States, Canada, and Australia (Magocsi 2005, 433; 2006, II). By the outset of the twentieth century in the Lemko Region, the term "Lemko" was gradually adopted as an ethnonym instead of "Rusyn." Some Rusyns in lands other than Poland also choose to refer to themselves as Lemkos.


Because of the strong logical structure and narrative structure of argumentative essay, we propose an improved key sentence extraction algorithm based on features computing, which not only considers word level features, such as keywords attribute, sentiment attribute, verb attribute, conjunction attribute, summary word attribute and viewpoint word attribute, but also includes sentence level features, such as position attribute, sentence frequency attribute and title similarity attribute. In our algorithm, a scoring mechanism is set for text sentences according to above attributes extraction, then the top sentences are extracted as key sentences. Experiments show that it has good performance and proves the effectiveness of the key sentence extraction algorithm based on features computing.


A quasi-static method to analyze equilibrium path and trajectory deflections for the load of polar crane in nuclear power plant is presented based on three-dimensional analyses. The governing equations of equilibrium path and the compatibility conditions of the rope–pulley system are provided in the method; properties and formulations of the variables involved in these equations are studied in detail. A method to describe general rope–pulley system is given, and a numerical method is derived to solve the common tangent between spatial pulleys, which was conforming to the rope reeving. Moreover, the rope lengths wound by the drum and left in the system are computed, and the transitive relation for rope velocities between two sides of the pulley is derived. Two numerical examples prove that the proposed method is reasonable and valid, and to a large extent, the method is universal and can be applied to general rope–pulley systems.


The knowledge of roof shapes is essential for the creation of 3D building models. Many experts and researchers use 3D building models for specialized tasks, such as creating noise maps, estimating the solar potential of roof structures, and planning new wireless infrastructures. Our aim is to introduce a technique for automating the creation of topologically correct roof building models using outlines and aerial image data. In this study, we used building footprints and vertical aerial survey photographs. Aerial survey photographs enabled us to produce an orthophoto and a digital surface model of the analysed area. The developed technique made it possible to detect roof edges from the orthophoto and to categorize the edges using spatial relationships and height information derived from the digital surface model. This method allows buildings with complicated shapes to be decomposed into simple parts that can be processed separately. In our study, a roof type and model were determined for each building part and tested with multiple datasets with different levels of quality. Excellent results were achieved for simple and medium complex roofs. Results for very complex roofs were unsatisfactory. For such structures, we propose using multitemporal images because these can lead to significant improvements and a better roof edge detection. The method used in this study was shared with the Czech national mapping agency and could be used for the creation of new 3D modelling products in the near future.


BACKGROUND
Understanding the motor and sensory contributions to balance function in older persons is important in order to design effective interventions to prevent falls and loss of mobility. We tested the contributions of visual and proprioceptive input, muscle strength, and age to balance performance in 110 subjects free of clinical evidence of neurologic disease (mean age 80 years).

METHODS
The EquiTest Sensory Organization Test was used to present sequential conditions that altered sensory input in a 2 (tactile/proprioceptive input) x 3 (visual input) design. Center of force and shear force data were recorded from the platform; the primary outcomes were loss of balance (LOB) and anterior-posterior center of force (COF) displacement as a proportion of foot length (COFD).

RESULTS
Subjects had 3.5 +/- 2.7 LOB during testing. Reduction of vision input increased the odds ratio of a LOB 5.7 fold (3.9, 8.4, 95% CI) in unstable surface conditions, but adaptation with repeated trials was substantial. The adjusted odds ratio of a LOB was 0.65 and 0.45 in the second and third trials, respectively, compared to the first. Muscle strength and age were independent predictors of LOB. Gait velocity, single stance balance, and reported difficulty with ambulation, mobility, and instrumental activities of daily living were also associated with LOB.

CONCLUSIONS
Performance on clinical tests of strength, balance, and gait was associated with performance on a challenging balance test which reduced sensory input and effectiveness of motor responses. Adaptation to challenging balance conditions was substantial in this group of older subjects, but was diminished in the oldest subjects.


Fuel America Areva NP Inc. and the University of Idaho are using green chemistry to take sustainable development to a new level. When faced with the challenge of extracting enriched uranium from 32 metric tons of incinerator ash at Areva's uranium fuel plant in Richland, Wash., Syd Koegler, an Areva engineer, and Chien Wai, a University of Idaho researcher, turned to an environmentally friendly solution. Disposable solid waste generated by normal plant operations is reduced by a factor of 25 to 1 through a carefully controlled incineration process. Chemical analysis determined that the 32 tons of accumulated waste ash awaiting final disposal contained more than 2 tons of enriched uranium—worth about $5 million in today's market. "Sustainable development is always uppermost in our thinking and planning at Areva," said company Vice President Joe Zwetolitz. "By recovering such a valuable energy resource that otherwise could have been lost to disposal and by using an environmentally sensitive process to do it, it's a win-win result for our planet and for Areva." Green chemistry will help Areva extract enriched uranium from tons of incinerator ash. Radioactive Waste Not Wasted with New Green Chemistry Technology


A new type of ferredoxin was isolated from Azotobacter vinelandii cells. The protein was able to replace the native chloroplast ferredoxin in the photoreduction of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) and functioned as a reductant for the Azotobacter nitrogenase.


The present invention relates to high voltage switching components technical field processing, particularly copper discloses a high-voltage switch contacts, contact fingers, the contact processing method seat type parts. The processing method: Melting: electrolytic copper was added to the induction furnace and the old plate material, and then covered with charcoal, followed by heating melting electrolytic copper plate, phosphor bronze is added before the final deoxygenation released; incubated: a step (1) obtained melt transfer into the holding furnace insulation for storage and fully slag; extrusion casting step: firstly preheating extrusion die, after which the melt was cast into the cavity of the extrusion die, the press opened downward, a direct liquid extrusion, to obtain a blank; blank by machining, to obtain copper high-voltage switch contacts, contact fingers, the contact holder parts. Under the process of this invention provides the crystalline melting point using a pressure molding technique, short process, material utilization, excellent performance and low production cost.


To study the long-term morphological changes in endothelium of clear corneal grafts after penetrating keratoplasty (PK),the relationship of the morphological changes with the lifespan of grafts,and the frequency of cataract,glaucoma,graft rejection and graft failure.Follow-up was 23 years. Methods:Using endothelium microscopy and computerized digitizer,the corneal endothelial morphologies of 148 grafts and corneas from single-eye PK patients were analyzed. Results:Within the first 10 years after PK,endothelial cell lost rapidly (72 5±17 7%,r=13%) The coefficients of variation of cell area,the cell area,cell perimeters and the percentage of non-hexagonal cells increased (P0 01),while the percentage of hexagonal cells and cell figure coefficient decreased (P0 006).Then cell loss occurred at a considerably slower rate (r=3%) and the coefficient of variation of cell area kept relatively constant (27 8%,P0 01),the percentage of hexagonal cells and figure coefficient returned gradually to normal value (P0 05).The frequencies of subsequent cataract surgery were 14%.Glaucoma and graft rejection were 16% and 29%,respectively.The rate of graft failure was 18%.Endothelial failure became the major cause of graft failure,accounting for 7 of the 12 failure cases during 5 to 23 years after operation. Conclusions:The outcomes suggest the re-establishment of stability of endothelial structure has completed within 11 to 23 years after PK.The roles of endothelial cell density and endothelial morphometry on the assessment of endothelial healing after PK are equally important.Subsequent cataract surgery,glaucoma and the rejection after PK might increase the rate of endothelial de-compensation of graft.


The turbulent flow field generated in a baffled stirred tank with a Rushton turbine was computed by large eddy simulation(LES).The dynamic subgrid model was used to model the unresolved scales.The spatial discretization of the governing equations was performed on a cylindrical staggered grid.The momentum and continuity equations were discretized by the finite difference method with a third order QUICK scheme for the convective terms.The interaction between rotating impeller and static baffles was accounted for through the improved inner-outer iterative algorithm.The phase-resolved predictions were compared with the experimental data of references and good agreement was observed both for mean resolved fields and turbulence quantities.


: A method for selecting a most appropriate multicritenon decision making (MCDM) technique for watershed resources management is modeled as a multicriterion problem. The procedure consists of identifying a set of feasible MCDM techniques, and evaluating them with respect to four sets of choice criteria, namely (1) problem related, (2) decision-maker (DM)/analyst related, (3) technique-related, and (4) solution-related criteria. Altogether 15 techniques are evaluated in terms of 24 criteria, forming an evaluation matrix of criteria versus alternative MCDM techniques. The evaluation matrix is then analyzed by means by a composite programming algorithm resulting in a preference ranking of the alternatives. Application of the techniques to a watershed resources management problem illustrates the method throughout the paper. (KEY TERMS: alternative selection; watershed resources management; multicriterion decision making; composite programming.)


The active development of modern wireless networks and technologies for Internet of Things (IoT) requires their more in-depth study. This can be done by using simulation products and real build of the studied technology. In order to verify the reliability of the simulation results, they can be compared with real ones. This paper compares Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) results in a ZigBee sensor network obtained by simulation with real results.


Size and weight considerations are very important in certain specialized industries as offshore oil drilling and marine/subsea systems that employ adjustable speed drives (ASD). Typical ASD topology consists of a three phase diode rectifier front-end. It is also common to specify a dc-link inductor and/or ac line reactors to reduce utility line current harmonics to acceptable levels. However, the required dc-link inductor/ac line reactors contribute to additional weight and volume. In this paper an active inductor approach is explored to emulate a large size dc-link inductor. Analysis and design of an active inductor for a 1 MW ASD is proposed and analyzed. The required inductance value is commanded and current control regulates the active inductor current to match inductor behavior. It is shown that the proposed active inductor topology is similar in weight/volume as the smaller inductor while emulating a higher per unit inductance. The proposed active inductor meets the required compact and lightweight specifications of ASDs in retrofit and special applications. Furthermore, the active inductor is tunable to achieve high performance operation during faults. Experimental results from a scaled down prototype are presented. A size, weight and loss analysis is detailed and a soft switching method to reduce losses is also explained.


With the first issue of this journal a series of articles begins which describes the functions and activities of the various committees dealing with printed circuits. Among those to be included in this series, but not necessarily in the order outlined below, are: International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) —TC 52 Printed Circuits British Standards Institute (BSI) —TLE/19 (Printed Circuits) Electronic Engineering Association (EEA) —Printed Circuit Committee Radio and Electronic Component Manufacturers Federation (RECMF) —Panel Z (Printed Circuits) To start the series, an introductory article has been written by G. C. Wilson who, as a member of three of the committees mentioned, is certainly qualified to contribute an authoritative article on this specific subject.


Assesses the extent to which existing EC laws provide a satisfactory solution to the problem of circumvention whereby broadcasters in one Member State transmit programmes to another Member State while avoiding the latter state's broadcasting legislation. Considers whether legislation should be adopted subjecting such broadcasts to the laws of the receiving Member State, including looking at the origins of the circumvention principle and its application in European Court of Justice broadcasting case law.


The present invention relates to at least one novel human anti-amyloid antibodies, including isolated nucleic acid encoding at least one anti-amyloid antibody, amyloid, vectors, host cells, transgenic animals or plants, as well as preparation and use thereof methods (therapeutic compositions, methods and devices and the like) are included.


Android malware is a spreading disease in the virtual world. Anti-virus and detection systems continuously undergo patches and updates to defend against these threats. Most of the latest approaches in malware detection use Machine Learning (ML). Against the robustifying effort of detection systems, raise the \emph{evasion attacks}, where an adversary changes its targeted samples so that they are misclassified as benign. This paper considers two kinds of evasion attacks: feature-space and problem-space. \emph{Feature-space} attacks consider an adversary who manipulates ML features to evade the correct classification while minimizing or constraining the total manipulations. \textit{Problem-space} attacks refer to evasion attacks that change the actual sample. Specifically, this paper analyzes the gap between these two types in the Android malware domain. The gap between the two types of evasion attacks is examined via the retraining process of classifiers using each one of the evasion attack types. The experiments show that the gap between these two types of retrained classifiers is dramatic and may increase to 96\%. Retrained classifiers of feature-space evasion attacks have been found to be either less effective or completely ineffective against problem-space evasion attacks. Additionally, exploration of different problem-space evasion attacks shows that retraining of one problem-space evasion attack may be effective against other problem-space evasion attacks.


The article identifies causal factors in establishing TESOL as a profession and 'trade', queries whether it can be considered 'global', and explores the discourses that serve to legitimatise it. It documents the problematical roles played by English and by the TESOL expertise export business, which interlocks with contemporary empire. Such issues are professional - they have to do with the foundations of our expertise - but also deeply political, cultural and ethical, since they impact on the ecology of language world-wide.


The foaming property of CaOAl2O3 system LF refining slag was determined in laboratory. The results show that SiO2 in molten slag can accelerate the slag foaming, and the 2CaO·Al2O3·SiO2 component with high melting point can increase the viscosity of slag, so the foaming time is prolonged, and the low CaF2 content of less than 5 % improves the foaming property obviously. It is found that the slag with low oxidizability and adding slag in batches are pone to form foamed slag at a low temperature.


Abstract : Methods of particle size measurement of fueloxidant systems were reviewed. A perusual of the results indicates that, among the methods considered for particle size analysis, the turbidimetric liquid sedimentation method as exemplified by the Eagle-Picher Turbimeter appears to most nearly conform to the acceptable criteria discussed throughout the report. The precision and reliability seem to be adequate. Also, the simple technique involved and the time necessary to complete an analysis make the Turbimeter readily adaptable to production situations. Although finely divided metals were the only powders analyzed on the Turbimeter during this study, the instrument is adaptable to a wide variety of particulate materials, including both organics and inorganics. There are certain materials which are not adaptable to this method. These are very low specific gravity materials as flour, extremely fine, dark colored pigments such as Prussian Blue, and materials with no particles above 0.5 micron radius.


e16076 Background: R223, an alpha-emitting radioisotope, has emerged as a viable treatment option for patients with CRPC with bone metastases. Despite the benefits on quality of life and improvement in survival observed with R223, clinical practice patterns and utility of this agent are largely unknown. The objective of this study is to characterize the population of men receiving R223 commercially and evaluate clinical variables associated with completion of therapy. Methods: We conducted a pooled retrospective analysis of patients receiving R223 at DFCI (n = 54) and TCC (n = 58). Patients were classified into 2 therapy completion groups: received ≥ 5 doses vs < 5 doses and association with clinical variables was evaluated using Fisher's exact test or Wilcoxon rank sum test, as appropriate. Results: While the majority of patients (56%) received ≥ 5 R223 doses, 20% (n = 22) received ≤ 2 doses. Patients receiving < 5 R223 doses were more likely to have a lower baseline Hgb (10.9 vs 12.1 g/dL), prior blood ...


Cotton is currently graded on its color, leaf, and preparation. Individual component measurements for color and trash are currently reported along with the cotton grades. The cotton industry now requires a method to identify all types of trash in a sample. An image processing system, a test of feature invariance, and two preliminary pattern classification methods used to identify the types of trash in cotton samples are presented. In one approach, the classical grouping performed uses divisive hierarchical clustering based on a normalizecj Euclidian distance metric. Clustering classified 568 trash objects in the training data set with 92% accuracy into bark, stick, and leaf/pepper categories. An area cutoff in the pepper-leaf continuum could handle a separation between leaf and pepper. In the second approach, neural networks minimize identification error in a training data set. Using 75% of a 562 object data set for training, neural networks classified the remaining 134 trash objects into bark versus nonbark categories with a 99.3% accuracy (one piece of bark misidentified). Another network further classifies the nonbark objects into either stick or a combined leaf/pepper category with 96.4% accuracy. Combining both networks gives an accuracy of 96.3%.


Lightweight cryptography is a new concept for securing data more effectively while using fewer resources and providing greater throughput, conservatism, and low battery consumption. Every fraction second, the Internet of Things (IoT), which connects billions of objects, generates massive amounts of data. As the number of devices grows, so does the amount of data generated, and the security of that data becomes a concern. In IoT architecture, gadgets are essentially smaller and low-powered. Because of their complexity, traditional encryption methods are computationally expensive and take many rounds to encrypt, basically wasting the limited energy of IoT devices. However, a less sophisticated method may jeopardise the intended fidelity. There are various lightweight cryptography techniques available, and we choose one of the symmetric encryption techniques known as Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). The speed of this algorithm is six times that of triple DES.


In Ok, the rational prime 2 has the principal prime factorization (2) = ( 3 √ 2)3, so k has class number 1: the ring Ok has unique factorization. Next we show Ok = Z[ 3 √ 2]. Let α = a+b 3 √ 2+c 3 √ 4 be an algebraic integer, with a, b, c all rational. Computing Trk/Q of α, α 3 √ 2, and α 3 √ 4 we see 3a, 6b, 6c ∈ Z. So the denominators of a, b, and c involve at most 2 and 3. To show 2 and 3 do not appear in the denominator, we consider the situation p-adically for p = 2 and p = 3. Lemma 2. Let L/L′ be an extension of local fields. If L/L′ is unramified and a is any integer of L that generates the residue field extension, then OL = OL′ [a]. If L/L′ is totally ramified and λ is any prime of L, then OL = OL′ [λ].


Myocarditis, postpericardiotomy syndrome, double aortic arch, heart-hand syndromes, stroke, cardiac valvulopathy, hemochromatosis, myocardial rupture—these visual presentations cover a range of heart diseases and related problems.


The finite element model is used to simulate the deflection behavior of laminated glass with different thickness under short-term or long-term static load,and impact load,the calculation results conform well to the experimental data in references.Further study shows that the main factors affecting the deformation properties of laminated glass,are load type,load duration,support condition and glass ply.The flexural stiffness of laminated glass under blast load is larger than that under static load,and the performance of blast resistance of frame-supported glass is better than that of point-supported glass.According to the simulation,the equivalent thickness formula in current code is amended.The suggested formula is applicable for different support conditions.


The French Enlightenment is, with some justification, regarded as an epoch of increasing knowledge and progress. With respect to contemporary ideas of the past circulating in the 18th century, however, progressive thinking is only one possible perspective on a more complex and contradictory conception of time and history. In opposition to a continuous rise (of luxury), this conception can also be considered a (moral) decline. This study discusses these two different points of view, referring to Voltaire's Le mondain and Louis de Fontanes' Le vieux château in order to reveal the influence of ideology and socio-historical context on both of these interpretations of history.


This article, a keynote delivered to the First North American Conference on Spirituality and Social Work 2006, poses the question "Who Am I?" in relation to us as individuals and as social work practitioners who give importance to the historical foundations and the current necessity of spirituality in social work practice. The article considers this question in the context of not succumbing to the bullshit of capitalist estrangement, finding our sources of inspiration, finding and experiencing our soul's destiny, understanding our diverse collection of spiritual foundations, being surprised, and thus reclaiming the meaning of happiness.


A series of phenanthroimidazole–carbazole (1 : 2) hybrids as bipolar host materials have been designed and synthesized through facile typical Ullmann reactions. These compounds with rigid configurations exhibit excellent thermal and morphological stabilities with high glass transition temperatures (Tg) (143–282 °C). Their photoelectronic properties, energy levels, charge transport mobility, and film morphologies can be controllably tuned through judicious engineering of the linkage modes between the two carbazole groups and the 2,5-diphenyl-1,3,4-phenanthroimidazole (para and meta). The promising physical properties of these new compounds make them suitable for use as hosts doped with Ir-based phosphor for realizing highly efficient phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes (PhOLEDs). A green device hosted by compound PhBIDmpCP shows a maximum current efficiency of 74.3 cd A−1 and a maximum power efficiency of 74.4 lm W−1 (corresponding EQEmax = 20.2%).


Use of prefabrication in construction projects is increasing due to the benefits in cost, time, quality, and safety. However, utilizing prefabrication introduces uncertainties inherent with the supply chain of the process. These uncertainties, if not managed, can disrupt the prefabrication process and result in schedule delays and cost overruns. This study proposes a model to measure disruption risks in the prefabrication process. The model was used in measuring the disruption risks of prefabrication of headwalls in patients' rooms for a healthcare project as a pilot study. The risk model could successfully identify the disruption risks originating anywhere in the supply chain based on input information such as required material quantity, batch sizes of material deliveries, production rates, and batch sizes of transporting the headwall units. Using the model, the project team identified two uncertainties that could lead to possible disruptions: the start of the prefabrication processes and the required production rate to meet the on-site schedule. This is a first step to developing a risk exposure model that can prove valuable to the risk managers to analyse and manage the impact of disruptions. This will help the risk managers in making informed decisions about where to focus their limited resources. This paper aims to bridge the gap by offering a framework to manage operational disruption risk in the prefabrication supply chain of a construction project. The need to manage operational risk is addressed by proposing a conceptual framework to measure disruption risks based on risk exposure model that can evaluate the impact of a disruption originating anywhere in the supply chain. This approach allows identifying the effect of a disruption on the progress of a project before estimating the probability associated with that disruption helping risk managers in making informed decisions about where to focus their limited resources. The paper summarises the uncertainties associated with on-site construction and prefabrication and briefly describes the supply chain networks specific to construction projects. Subsequently, the paper presents the proposed framework based on the risk exposure model and a pilot case study conducted to test the model.


Background and Purpose Nitric oxide-mediated cerebral vasodilation is altered in spontaneously hypertensive strokeprone rats. Stroke predisposition in this strain could be related to a genetic defect of brain nitric oxide synthase, the enzyme responsible for nitric oxide production. We tested the hypothesis that brain nitric oxide synthase activity is altered in spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats compared with spontaneously hypertensive or Wistar-Kyoto rats. Methods A colony of spontaneously hypertensive strokeprone rats was bred, in which the rate of neurological events under salt load was assessed. In a separate cohort of animals brain nitric oxide synthase activity was measured in spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats (n=6) and in spontaneously hypertensive (n=6) and genetically related Wistar-Kyoto rats (n=6). Calcium dependency of nitric oxide synthase was also assessed in cortical brain samples from the three rat strains to determine if altered calcium-dependent activation of nitric oxide synthase was present. Results Brain nitric oxide synthase activity was highest in the cerebellum (eg, spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats: cerebral cortex, 10.6±0.9; cerebellum, 50.1±12.0; brain stem, 14.7±10.3 pmol/mg protein per minute); however, there was no difference among the three rat strains in any region (eg, cerebral cortex: spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone, 10.6±0.9; spontaneously hypertensive, 10.8±0.5; Wistar-Kyoto, 10.9±0.7 pmol/mg protein per minute) or at any calcium concentration tested. Conclusions A genetic defect of brain nitric oxide synthase is unlikely to be the cause of stroke predisposition in spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats.


It is necessary to define the nature and significance of Bifengxia Pattern. It is the tourist development and management of a general scenery land resources, incompatible with heritage tourist management, but the latter can learn from it its service, sale, personnel management and composition of tourist resources. It brings to light the necessity of different management system and mode with different resources, of attaching great importance to development significance of general scenery land resources and its encouragement, support and guidance on the part of policy, and of highly valuing management and concordance of heritage tourist resources.


During December, 1926, and January, 1927, Grafton, W. Va., suffered from a disastrous typhoid fever epidemic, which was dueto a polluted public water supply. More than 150 cases of typho'd fever developed and 25 deaths occurred, according to the records obtained by he sanitary engineers, J. B. Harrington and E. S. Tisdale, detailed to investigate the epidemic by Dr. W. T. Henshaw, State Health Commissioner. Accompanying the typhoid infection, which was unusually virulent for a water-borne infection, as ind cated by the proportion of deaths to number of cases, there occurred a large number of cases of intestinal disorders of five or six days' duration. The sanitary engineers visited Grafton following an appeal for help from Dr. F. S. Suddarth, the school physician. Case data were gathered by personal visits to all physicians and the attention of the engineers was immediately directed to the city water supply, since the cases were distributed throughout the town wherever the city water maMns ran, and no other common food or milk supp'y was found.


Changes in the fraction of workers experiencing job separations can account for most of the increase in earnings dispersion that occurred both between, as well as within educational groups in the United States from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. This is not true of changes in average earnings losses following job separations. A search model with exogenous human capital accumulation calibrated to match some selected moments of the U.S. labor market is used to measure the effects of changes in the fraction of workers experiencing job separations (extensive margin) versus changes in average earnings losses following job separations (intensive margin). While both margins do well in accounting for the increase in the college premium, only the changes in the extensive margin do well in accounting for the increases in the variance of both the permanent and transitory components of earnings.


Least square twin support vector machine is an emerging learning method applied in classification problem. This paper present a tree-based least square twin support vector machine (T-LSTWSVM) for classification. Classification procedure depends on the correlation of input feature as well as output feature. UCI benchmark data sets are used to evaluate the test set performance of tree-based least square twin support vector machine (T-LSTWSVM) classifiers with multiple kernel functions such as linear, polynomial and radial basis function (RBF) kernels. This method applies on two main types of classification problems such as binary class problem as well as multi-class problem. The evaluation and accuracy is calculated in terms of distance metric. It was observed that multi-class classification problem performed excellently by tree-based method.


Li0.2375+xLa0.5875-xSrxTiO3-LaPO4 fast ionic conductor was synthesized by high temperature solid state reaction.A.C.impedance measurements show that the system has higher conductivity in low doping content of Sr2+,but the conductivity goes down from 5.78×10-5 to 3.11×10-7 S*cm-1 with increasing the content of Sr2+.The activation energy is about 20 kJ*mol-1 in the temperature range of 25~400 ℃.X-ray powder diffraction shows that the doping Sr2+ would not affect the structure of compositions in the system.The main phase is Li0.2375+xLa0.5875-xSrxTiO3 perovskite solid solution,LaPO4 as a second phase can also be found.With increasing the content of Sr2+(x>0.05),another phase SrTiO3 appears.IR measurement also indicates that the structure of compositions in the system would not be affected by Sr2+ doping.The decomposition voltage of Li0.2375+xLa0.5875-xSrxTiO3-LaPO4 remain unchanged(1.5 V).


Abstract In the low-energy regime light and strange baryons should be considered as systems of constituent quarks with confining interaction and a chiral interaction that is mediated by Goldstone bosons as well as by vector and scalar mesons. The flavor-spin structure and sign of the short-range part of the spin-spin force reduce the St/(6)FS symmetry down to SU(3)F × SU(2)S, induce hyperfine splittings and provide correct ordering of the lowest states with positive and negative parity. There is a cancellation of the tensor force from pseudoscalar- and vector-exchanges in baryons. The spin-orbit interactions from p-like and ω-like exchanges also cancel each other in baryons while they produce a big spin-orbit force in NN system. A unified description of light and strange baryon spectra calculated in a semirelativistic framework is presented. It is demonstrated that the same short-range part of spin-spin interaction between the constituent quarks induces a strong short-range repulsion in NN system when the...


Boasting a fully-computerised onboard touch-screen and the ability to drill up to 200 m continuously, Trenchless Technologies' latest machine - the Terra-Jet 5415 S - was acquired to service both the civils (water and sewer) as well as the fibre optic market. Candice Landie was on site to witness the commissioning of this machine and learn more about the other machines within the Trenchless stable.


The use of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) First Action method, which is based on acid leaching of the dried, ground sample, is examined for its suitability for the recovery of fluoride from leaf material derived predominantly from indigenous Australian trees. The method is compared with two independent but time-consuming procedures based on oxygen pyrolysis and pyrohydrolysis. These two reference methods give internally consistent results and provide a sound basis on which to critically examine the AOAC First Action method. It is concluded that the AOAC method, in general, gives reliable and rapid results, although two of the species studied showed a low fluoride recovery. The AOAC method uses a fluoride electrode finish which is slow for solutions of low concentration. A graphical procedure is examined for estimating the steady-state electrode potential; this procedure increases the speed of the analysis without affecting unduly the accuracy of the analysis.


Do not be misled by the title of this book. While it does describe a strike carried out by sugar-cane workers, its reach and implications are much broader than that focus might suggest. Masayo Duus has succeeded in telling the microhistory of this strike and a murky, perhaps related episode of a dynamite explosion at a plantation supervisor's home, while at the same time making some important points about the history of Japanese immigration to Hawaii and California, the response of haole (white) elites in Hawaii and mainstream politicians on the mainland, and global connections in the history of labor politics.


We consider the problem of controlling the rate of failures triggered by fatigue processes of Base Stations (BSs) in cellular networks subject to Sleep Modes (SMs). Specifically, the increase of time spent in SM tends to decrease the BS failure rate by following, e.g., the Arrhenius law. However, the transitions between the power states tend to increase the BS failure rate, which can be predicted by the Coffin-Manson model. In this context, the energy savings triggered by SMs would not be economically useful if the BS failure rate were increased too much. Our goal is therefore to tackle the problem of minimizing the BS failure rate in a cellular network subject to SMs. After showing that the optimal formulation of the problem is NP-Hard, we propose a new algorithm, named LIFE, to practically solve it. We run LIFE on different scenarios (driven by LTE and legacy UMTS technologies). Our results show that LIFE outperforms two previous energy-aware algorithms, which instead do not take into account the BS failure rate. Specifically, our solution is able to achieve up to 40 percent of power saving at night, without a strong penalty in the BS failure rate.


Introduction Sunitinib is the first-line targeted drug for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but its therapeutic potential is limited by premature drug resistance. In an attempt to overcome this limitation, a sunitinib-resistant cell-derived xenograft (CDX) model of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) in vivo was constructed in this study. The molecular mechanism of drug resistance was analyzed using sequencing and bioinformatics tools. Methods First, mice were injected subcutaneously with tumor cells 786-O to create tumors and were simultaneously treated with sunitinib. After three consecutive passages, a drug-resistant xenograft model was obtained. Then, key pathways and genes were identified via second-generation sequencing of the tissue and the examination of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with bioinformatics tools. Results Analysis of sequencing data revealed that 646 DEGs were upregulated and 465 were downregulated in the drug-resistant tissues when compared with the sensitive tissues. GO showed that the DEGs were significantly enriched in angiogenesis, cell hypoxia response, and apoptosis. KEGG analysis demonstrated that the main pathways were PI3K-Akt, HIF-1, NF-kappa B, and MAPK. Modular analysis of the PPI network indicated that the GO and KEGG analyses of module 1 with the highest ranking were mainly related to ubiquitinase activity. Similarly, the GO and KEGG analyses of the top 10 hub genes were also chiefly linked to ubiquitinase activity. Then, comprehensive expression analysis of the hub genes, and finally, the genes BTRC and TRIM32 were identified, which were consistent in all observations. Conclusion In this study, through the construction of in vitro models and bioinformatics analysis, the important pathways and key genes related to ccRCC sunitinib resistance were discovered. Among them, ubiquitinase may play an important role in drug resistance and may be a potential therapeutic target and biomarker.


Soil physical properties of purple soil under four typical types of land-use were studied in Xingning Basin.The results show that soil natural moisture capacities are low.Contents of clay are little and contents of the sand are rich.Soil bulk density and specific gravity are higher,but soil porosity is lower.Abandoned field and bamboo land approached soil natural profile,and orchard was reasonably improved by man so that soil quality was enhanced.Aiming at the situation,some suggestions were put forward so as to maintain sustainable development of the purple soils in Xingning Basin.


Energy demand, supply and pricing impact on socio-economic development, living standards and the overall quality of life of people. The role of energy in the industrial sector activities underscores its link with economic development. For more than three decades, economists and policymakers have been preoccupied with the classic debate on energy consumption and economic growth nexus. This Paper examines the causal relationship between energy consumption disaggregated into coal, hydro and oil, and economic growth in Nigeria and South Africa. Several studies have adopted the standard Granger causality method which places some minimum restriction on the stationarity property of data. Thus, the Hsiao's Granger causality version was applied to correct these restrictions for the comparative analysis. The estimated results reveal that economic growth causes total energy consumption in South Africa while energy consumption causes economic expansion in Nigeria. The economic implication of this finding is that sub-optimal utilization of energy resources through energy conservative policy may not lead to significant positive effect on economic growth in Nigeria. However, energy enhancement policy could engender economic growth in South Africa. Key words: Energy Consumption, Economic Growth and Energy policy.


The conformation of angiotensinogen, a tetradecapeptide, with the sequence Asp1–Arg2–Val3–Tyr4–Ile5–His6–Pro7–Phe8–His9–Leu10–Leu11–Val12–Tyr13–Ser14, was studied in aqueous medium by 2D NMR spectroscopy. Complete resonance assignments were made using a combination of DQF‐COSY, TOCSY and NOESY spectra. The kinetics of deuterium exchange of NH protons were also studied. The NMR results indicate the presence of at least two conformations in dynamic equilibrium. A total of 39 NOEs were used in the restrained molecular dynamics simulation to generate the solution structure. The dominant conformation of angiotensinogen is characterized by a β‐turn around the tetrapeptide sequence Val3–Tyr4–Ile5–His6, two γ‐bends at Tyr4 and Leu10 and a sharp turn around Val12. The conformation of angiotensinogen in water is radically different from the conformation in DMSO reported earlier. ©1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The amorphous Fe 78 B 13 Si 9 alloy has been treated by high current density electropulsing and the structure of the electropulsed samples has been studied using Mssbauer spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).The experimental results show that nanocrystallization in the amorphous of Fe 78 B 13 Si 9 sample can occur at temperature of 400℃ or above under the used electropulse parameters.Based on the analysis of Mssbauer parameters,two crystalline phases are ascribed to be α Fe(Si) and t Fe 2B.The intergranular phase is characterized by a lower atom density and an extended spacing distribution with neither long range order nor short range order.It is originated from the pulse induced nanocrystallization,in which the excess free volume is not fully attenuated,but is pushed to the residual amorphous phase till further intergranular boundaries, therefore different from the nanocrystalline prepared by the conventional isothermal annealing method.


DISCOVERY OF NEW AUTISM GENE Autism Speaks, the world's largest science and advocacy organization pertaining to autism, has been working with an international consortium to analyze neurobiological substrates, compare medication responses, and observe genetic influences pertaining to autism. A high-density genotype was conducted on 1,000 individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 1,300 individuals without ASD. All participants and their biological parents and/or siblings met the criteria for pervasive developmental disorders, were 3–50 years of age, had no history of substance abuse, and no current use of any medications, including psychotropic medications, antidepressants, stimulants, or antipsychotics. After receiving a diagnostic assessment for ASD, a cognitive test, and an assessment on demographics, blood was collected from participants and family members so that neurologists could conduct a DNA analysis and observe genetic influences. Those eligible were also able to participate in neuroimaging tests and a medication treatment study. Because those with ASD carry more copy-number variants (CNVs) in their genome than those without ASD, CNVs were closely observed. Some CNVs were found to be inherited, while others appeared to be newly acquired. The CNVs seemed to disrupt genes in those with intellectual disabilities, such as ASD, more so than expected. Among the results, new autism susceptibility genes were found (such as SHANK2, SYNGAP1, DLGAP2), and the Xlinked DDX53-PTCHD1 locus, some of which were found to be involved in the proliferation, projection, movement of cells, and intracellular signaling, while others were found to belong to synapse-related pathways. The study supports the concord that autism is caused, in part, by rare variants that generally account for a large percentage of people with ASD. The results also provide awareness for the usage of possible common pathogenic mechanisms. The newly found susceptibility genes further prove that other psychiatric developmental disabilities share certain risk factors. By identifying such pathways, the possibility of new scientific investigations and treatments pertaining to ASD will be furthered, based on a better understanding about the core symptoms of ASD. The Autism Genome Project plans to continue their studies by increasing their sample spaces in order to analyze rare variants in more depth. Funding for this research was provided by Autism Speaks, the Medical Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Health Research Board of Ireland, Genome Canada, and the Hilibrand Foundation. (Nature. 2010;466:368-372) –Casey Musicant


In this article, a novel 4-RRCR parallel mechanism is introduced based on screw theory, and its kinematics and singularity are studied systematically. First, the degree of freedom analysis is performed using the screw theory. The formulas for solving the inverse and direct kinematics are derived. Second, a recursive elimination method is proposed to solve the Jacobian matrix based on the algebra operation of reciprocal product. Then, three kinds of singularity, i.e. limb, platform, and actuation singularities are analyzed. Finally, the analysis proves that the proposed mechanism possesses two advantages of simple forward kinematics and no platform singularity.


This paper discusses the adoption of quality management programmes and techniques within the corporate public affairs function. Although total quality management programmes and techniques are being rapidly assimilated within organizational production and operations areas, they are adopted much more slowly in "softer" organizational areas. The contexts and processes surrounding the adoption of quality in corporate staff areas like public affairs, which primarily produce policy-oriented outputs, has received measurably less attention than manufacturing areas which produce material goods for consumption. This shortcoming is addressed by describing quality in a specific corporate staff function context, the public affairs area. Using information gathered from 25 semi-structured interviews of senior public affairs officers and questionnaire survey research of nearly 450 top-level North American-based public affairs officers, this paper identifies commonly experienced barriers to quality adoption and implementa...


Available commercial software to simulate flowsheets incorporating drying is reviewed briefly. Such software can be very cost effective in the design, analysis, trouble-shooting, as well as control and optimization of drying systems. A new comprehensive drying software suite is proposed and analyzed. Key factors to the success of drying software products are discussed. Motivation, principles, and applications of the new drying software package, Simprosys, which represents a major step toward development of a comprehensive drying software suite, are presented.


The failure to determine the grammatical gender category of adjectives, ordinal numerals and possessive pronouns in the speech production of foreigners representing a monoethnic (Chinese) group of students is considered from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. The analysis of the written works and oral statements of students studying Russian as a foreign language reveals a mechanism that leads to typical mistakes in this aspect of Russian grammar. Categorization by gender of nouns occurs through cognitive mechanisms of correlation and comparison, namely: by biological gender – motivated, by formal attribute – unmotivated; categorization by gender of adjectives, possessive pronouns and ordinal numerals, as the categorization of secondary (unmotivated) features, is absent for foreign residents. Accordingly, for a foreigner, a cognizable category that does not have an ontological character becomes a difficult obstacle to overcome at the initial stage of language learning.


The emergence of "big data" offers unprecedented opportunities for not only accelerating scientific advances, but also enabling new modes of discovery. While we understand how to automate routine aspects of data management and analytics, most elements of the scientific process currently require considerable human expertise and effort. We argue that realizing the full potential of data to accelerate discovery calls for a concerted effort in advancing Discovery Informatics: (i) understanding, formalization, and information processing descriptions of the entire scientific process; (ii) design, development, and evaluation of the computational artifacts (representations and processes) that embody such understanding; and (iii) application of the resulting artifacts and systems to advance science (by augmenting individual or collective human efforts, or by fully automating science).


In the wire-driven parallel suspension system, interference between wires and a mobile platform will limit the movement of the platform so that the expected workspace can not be reached and the motion control is not achieved. A mathematical model has been built for the interference problem, when the mobile platform moves at a single pitching degree of freedom. By the model, the interference points between the platform and wires can be determined. And a solution has been presented to avoid the interference. It has been proved that the solution can enlarge the actual workspace of the wire-driven parallel manipulators by using a suitable example and through feasible mathematical analysis. The result shows that the proposed solution in this paper is valid for coping with the interference problem in wire-driven parallel manipulators.


A significant proportion of approaches to drive uptake of distributed generation (DG) and energy efficiency (EE) by end-users typically rely on a combination of price signals and information. These approaches are based on the assumption that, if exposed to appropriate price signals, and with access to relevant information, end users will make rational decisions regarding energy use. As a result, DG & EE (here termed Distributed Energy, DE) will be deployed to the extent they are financially beneficial for the enduser and economically beneficial for society. However, a growing body of research indicates that end-user behaviour, especially in the residential sector, is much more complex than this and is influenced by the broader social context (here termed BSC) in which people live – which manifests in different behaviours, habits and practices shaped by factors such as socio-economic status, ethnicity, geography, fashion and other cultural considerations. A component of the BSC that we particularly wish to focus on, because it has a strong influence on endusers' energy demand and potential interest in DE, is the infrastructure that provides energy and energy services termed the infrastructures of provision (IoP). To examine how these influences affect end-user decision-making and therefore take-up of DE, we have used residential photovoltaics as a case study. Our findings indicate that (i) care should be taken when using generic financial costs and values to model uptake of residential PV, and (ii) taking the IoP and BSC influences into account will require an integrated mix of policies that goes well beyond simple price signals and information.


NoSQL Not only SQL is an efficient database model for storing and manipulating huge quantities of precise data. However, most NoSQL databases scale well as data grows and often are flexible enough to accommodate imprecise and ambiguous data. This comprehensive hands-on guide presents fundamental concepts and practical solutions for using fuzziness with NoSQL to deals with fuzzy databases FDB. In this paper, the authors present a graph-based fuzzy NoSQL model to deal with large fuzzy databases while extending the NoSQL one. The authors consider the cypher declarative query language proposed for Neo4j which is the current leader on this market to querying fuzzy databases.


Objectives: To assess the relationship of body mass index with fasting blood glucose in postmenopausal women. Methods: The study was conducted on 100 postmenopausal women in the age group of 45-55 years. Subjects were divided into 3 subgroups normal, overweight and obese on the basis of BMI. Body weight and height was taken and BMI was calculated using Quetlet index. Blood samples were taken in the early morning after a minimum 8 hours of fasting and were investigated for fasting blood glucose. Data obtained was compiled and statistical analysis was done. All parameters were reported as mean and standard deviation. The statistical differences in mean values were tested using Levene' test for equality of variances followed by t-test for equality of means. ANOVA was used to do comparison with in the subgroups. Pearson correlation was usedto calculate the correlation between various variables. A p-value 0.05 was considered non-significant. Conclusion: A highly significant correlation was seen between fasting blood glucose and BMI in normal, overweight as well as obese postmenopausal women.


AIM
This study aimed to explore perceptions of people with spinal cord injuries regarding the information they received during their rehabilitation programme on post-injury sexual functioning.

BACKGROUND
Spinal cord injury is a traumatic, life-altering event that is associated with loss of motor and sensory function and sexual impairment. Existing evidence suggests that sexual issues are poorly handled during the rehabilitation phase of the patient's journey.

DESIGN
A descriptive qualitative design was utilized in this study.

METHODS
Twenty-nine people with spinal cord injury participated in qualitative in-depth interviews between November 2017 and April 2018, and data were analysed using the Burnard (1991, https://doi.org/10.1016/0260-6917(91)90009-y) thematic analysis framework.

RESULTS
Some participants indicated they were sexually inactive prior to their spinal cord injury. They testified that they had not received information on post-injury sexual functioning. Many participants who received post-injury information on sexual functioning reported dissatisfaction with the content and timing of this information.

CONCLUSION
Personal conversations between spinal cord injured patients and dedicated members of the interdisciplinary health team can enhance the quality of rehabilitation care and patients' satisfaction with rehabilitation care. Nurses are central clinicians in the rehabilitation programme of spinal cord injured patients and should engage in individually designed conversations about post-injury sexual functioning.


At present,the method of designing trimming curve by interactive handwork in developing automobile body panel die is used widely,which costs a lot of time.A new method was given to design the trimming curve of automobile body panel die automatically by the secondly developed tool-UG/OPEN.The length of material beyond the intersection line between addendum surface and flanging part was considered not to change based on that there was almost no plastic deformation in the subsequent handling after drawing of automobile body panel.The program used to design trimming curve of automobile body panel die automatically based on UG/OPEN was developed and the principle of this program was put forward.It emphasized that the results should be corrected by CAE technology.This method was used to design trimming curve of one automobile body panel-successfully.The good results were obtained and the die developing cycle was shortened.


This paper presents Star-EDT—a novel deterministic test compression scheme. The proposed solution seamlessly integrates with EDT-based compression and takes advantage of two key observations: 1) there exist clusters of test vectors that can detect many random-resistant faults with a cluster comprising a parent pattern and its derivatives obtained through simple transformations and 2) a significant majority of specified positions of ATPG-produced test cubes are typically clustered within a single or, at most, a few scan chains. The Star-EDT approach elevates compression ratios to values typically unachievable through conventional reseeding-based solutions. Experimental results obtained for large industrial designs, including those with a new class of test points aware of ATPG-induced conflicts, illustrate feasibility of the proposed deterministic test scheme and are reported herein. In particular, they confirm that the Star-EDT can act as a valuable form of deterministic BIST.


A drive train for, having at least one planetary gear stage of the transmission unit, having a ring gear of the planetary gear stage, a plurality of planet gears, a planet carrier and the sun gear. In addition, the shaft is provided associated with the first transmission unit, having a connecting flange can be connected to the work machine shaft or rotor shaft and by mounting the carrier. Actuator housing encloses the engine unit or the generator unit connected to a second shaft of the transmission unit and the transmission unit, the housing having a circumferential cardanic symmetric or partially symmetric suspension means for the wind power structural elements connected to the device play a supportive role.


Disclosed relates to a wireless access system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus capable of performing it for more efficient area change. How An improved base stations operating in mixed mode BWA system according to an embodiment of the present invention improved (MixMode ABS) terminal (AMS) performs region changes, legacy region of the improved base station (LZone) scolded improvement terminal support area (MZone) mounting system information wo including ranging response message (RNG-RSP) wo reception to the ancient capital; Oyobi the system information wo using hand the improvement terminal support area two ranging wo perform ancient city; wo including ancient city can. .Field


The continuous aging of the population has increased health risks, mostly translated in mobility impairments. New therapeutic options have come to light in the past years, with the rise of e-health architectures. The use of optical fiber based sensors has been considered as a possible e-health enabling technology, due to their advantages compared to electronic based sensors. In this paper, we present an e-health optical fiber based solution to monitor the knee angular flexion/extension during gait. The presented design is an accurate non-invasive solution, using kinesio tape and optical fiber Bragg grating sensors, in order not to limit the movement of the individuals. The paper shows the accuracy of the acquired measurements during gait using the proposed designed sensor.


Objective
To investigate the clinical efficacy of folding palmaris longus tendon and pulling out wire technique in the treatment of old mallet finger.

Methods
From June 2010 to June 2017, 19 cases (19 fingers) of old mallet fingers with extensor tendon and insertion defects were treated. The palmaris longus tendon was dissociated and folded, and the extensor tendon was repaired and the extensor tendon insertion was reconstructed by pulling out wire technique.

Results
All the wounds achieved primary healing after operation. The follow-up time ranged from 3 to 18 months with an average of 6 months. According to the Patel evaluation system for mallet finger, the results were rated as excellent in 7 cases, good in 9 cases, fair in 2 cases and poor in 1 case.

Conclusion
The method of folding palmaris longus tendon and pulling out wire technique for the treatment of old mallet finger is simple in material, simple in operation, good recovery of finger function and satisfactory in clinical efficacy.

Key words:
Tendon injuries; Treatment outcome; Transplantation; Mallet finger


The article considers the need to organize a digital educational environment in the field of forming a healthy and safe lifestyle for students, based on the psycho-physiological features of the development of modern children and adolescents. It accentuates the problem of deficit of credible medical research related to future health prognosis of participants in the digitization process, and insufficient financing of the educational environment for the introduction of supplementary digital educational tools in the work of teachers. Barriers to the digital transformation of education are highlighted. The review and systematization of currently used digital learning technologies in the field of life safety is carried out. Effectively applied digital teaching methods are proposed for use in general education organizations at the lessons of "Fundamentals of life safety". The possibilities of using VR-simulators in the field of first-aid skills formation, safe behavior on the roads, during a fire and in other dangerous situations.


Research Article This article examines the narrative structure and the "textual architecture" of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, an African American novel. According to Henry Louis Gates Jr. this masterpiece defines Hurston as a pioneer of a literary tradition aesthetically grounded on the interface of orality and literacy. The analysis is based on a narratological and stylistic approach that addresses the fabric of Hurston"s novel often called "tale-novel". The study brings to the conclusion that Their Eyes Were Watching God builds upon particular and innovative narrative strategies through the eyes of a competent and implied reader. Hurston presented the novel to the public of its time with innovative narrative strategies, and then pioneered a new African American literary tradition.