A field trial was conducted in 2012–2013 at Pukekohe to determine the efficacy of wettable sulphur, applied as a foliar treatment within a reduced insecticide programme, to control tomato-potato psyllid (TPP). Three of the four treatments included wettable sulphur (Kumulus® DF; at 6 kg/ha), either alone or in combination with other insecticides. The remaining treatment was a standard 7 day insecticide spray programme. Spraying for all treatments began at 60% plant emergence on 29 November 2012, and continued until 14 March 2013. The study demonstrated that although sulphur applications may reduce TPP nymph numbers on potato foliage, especially when used in combination with insecticides, sulphur alone is not an adequate TPP management strategy. The field trial results for sulphur-only treatments support previous work suggesting that although sulphur may slow the build-up of TPP populations by deterring egg-laying, the lack of repellence or anti-feeding properties still results in the transmission of Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum by TPP. Given the ZC results, it is difficult to draw conclusions from this trial about the efficacy of sulphur/insecticide combinations for TPP management.


The concept of using LDD spacers that are independently biased with respect to the gate electrode is presented. It is shown that the lateral electric field is strongly influenced by the drain polysilicon spacer potential. Depending on the N/sup -/ dose, the peak substrate currents can be either enhanced or reduced by shorting the drain polysilicon spacer to the drain potential. Short-channel LDD MOSFETs have been fabricated with polysilicon LDD spacers shorted to the source and drain electrodes by titanium silicide.<<ETX>>


Category: Ankle Arthritis Introduction/Purpose: There is evidence from clinical studies and case reports that realignment of knee deformities for accompanying arthritis by high tibial- (HTO) and distal femoral osteotomies (DFO) inevitably changes the hindfoot alignment and ankle pressure characteristics. Methods: Varus and valgus malalignment of the knee was simulated in 12 fresh-frozen human cadaver full-length legs by removal of 5° bony wedges below and above the knee, respectively. Three hundred Newton, representing half body weight were applied onto the femoral head for static axial compression. Intra-articular high-resolution ankle sensors captured pressure. Testing included four measurements: baseline malalignment (1), 5° (2) and 10° realigning osteotomy (3), and control baseline malalignment (4). For the more common HTO, testing was rerun with the subtalar joint fixed in varus and valgus position. Results: Compared to the baseline measurement the opening HTO of 5° led to a mean center of force (COF) medialization of 0.1 mm and a HTO of 10° to a mean lateralization of 0.5 mm. The closing DFO of 5° and 10° both led to a COF mean medialization of 0.3 mm. No COF migration or change of Pmax was significant. With the subtalar joint fixed in varus position significant lateralizations of the COF was seen for the 5° HTO (2.5 mm) and the 10° HTO (2.9 mm). With the subtalar joint fixed in valgus position the 5° HTO led to a COF lateralization of 1.1 mm (significant) and the 10° to a COF lateralization of 0.9 mm (not significant). Pmax changes were not significant. Conclusion: In this biomechanical study, realignment of coronal plane deformities around the knee by HTO and DFO altered ankle pressure characteristics. The COF migration after HTO was significant, when the subtalar joint was fixed. Clinical relevance When indicating a HTO for medial rather than DFO for lateral knee arthritis or deformities, the impact on ankle pressure characteristics should be considered, particularly when compensatory capacity of the subtalar joint is restricted.


We describe the generation of communicative actions in an implemented embodied conversational agent. Our agent plans each utterance so that multiple communicative goals may be realized opportunistically by a composite action including not only speech but also coverbal gesture that fits the context and the ongoing speech in ways representative of natural human conversation. We accomplish this by reasoning from a grammar which describes gesture declaratively in terms of its discourse function, semantics and synchrony with speech.


We present a QCD light-cone sum rule (LCSR) estimation of the B -> pi, B -> K, and Bs -> K form factors calculating gluon radiative corrections at next-to-leading order. The MS-bar b-quark mass is used, instead of the one-loop pole mass employed in the previous analyses. For B -> K and Bs -> K form factors the SU(3)-symmetry breaking corrections are included, both in the hard-scattering kernels and in the distribution amplitudes (DAs). By combining the predicted value for f^+_{Bpi}(0) with the product |Vub f^+_{Bpi}| extracted from the B -> pi l nu measurement, we obtain the LCSR prediction for Vub CKM matrix element.


Frequency-domain equalization (FDE) and spectrum-based optical carrier frequency offset estimation (FOE) are presented. These signal processing operations are both carried out in frequency domain and suitable for coherent optical communications.


We report on the growth of the uniaxial InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) on n-GaN nanowires (NWs) on Si(111) substrates by dynamically adjusting the growth parameters using the pulsed flow metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique. We carried out a two-step growth process to grow the uniaxial InGaN/GaN MQW/n-GaN NWs structure. In the first step, the n-GaN NWs were grown at 950 °C and in the second stage, we suitably decreased the growth temperature to 630 and 710 °C, respectively, to grow InGaN/GaN MQW NWs. The surface morphology, structural and optical characterization of the grown InGaN/GaN MQW/n-GaN NWs were studied by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements. The CL spectrum recorded on an individual InGaN/GaN MQW/n-GaN NW is dominated by the band-edge emission at 366.7 and 413.5 nm corresponding to n-GaN and MQW structures, respectively. The resultant NWs were found to be free of strain. These results indicate that the pulsed MOCVD technique is an effective method to grow uniaxial InGaN/GaN MQW on n-GaN NWs which is advantageous to other growth techniques. These kinds of uniaxial NWs are promising to allow flat band quantum structures that are shown to improve the efficiency of light-emitting diodes.


This study highlights the heterogeneity in two-parent families and examines how adolescents fare when they reside in simple two-parent, blended, and stepfamilies. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N= 1,769), we find that shared biological children in blended families have worse outcomes than children in simple two-parent families, even though they reside with both of their biological parents. These differences occur for academic performance, delinquency, school detachment, and depression. Current explanations in the family literature do not account for the poorer outcomes of shared children in blended families. We suggest that the presence of half-siblings creates a unique family situation that is not accurately represented in the current family literature.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the issue and the reasons why fertility patterns in many industrialized and post-industrialized societies decline so rapidly, primarily in newly industrialized countries, particularly in East Asia, and especially after the countries have adopted the capitalist and market economy as the preferred approach to improve the lives of their population.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors discuss gender equality and the relationship between fertility and female labor force participation in industrialized and post-industrialized countries, in the context of role incompatibility, mainly for women and the level of the strength and rigidity of family- and gender-role norms/attitudes that affect the behaviors of men and women.

Findings

The existing family-related policies and programs which have reduced the role conflict and incompatibility experienced by working mothers are reviewed and discussed under national orientations toward the resolution of work–family conflict since they could affect the relevance, acceptance, significance and effectiveness of policies being developed and approved to carry on under institutional context within a nation.

Originality/value

Specific strategies and policies to reduce role incompatibility and childcare arrangements and their costs are discussed, especially for East Asian nations.


Objective To establish a novel method for quantitative detection of MGMT promoter hypermethylation based on mismatch hybridization and chemiluminescence. Methods Genomic DNA was modified by sodium bisulfite,converting all unmethylated,but not methylated,cytosines to uracil,and subsequent a pair of primer which have no CpG sites was designed for amplification target DNA contained methylated or unmethylated CpG sites. Two oligonucleotide probes,which perfectly match the methylated and unmethylated CpG sequences respectively,were synthesized. The PCR products spanning CpG sites were hybridized with two oligonucleotide probes and the hybrids were detected by chemiluminescence. Results The methylation level of MGMT gene by using the method of detection of mixed samples and tumor tissues,and the results are fully consistent with the actual. Conclusion Campared with the existing methods,this asssy is a simple,sensitive,and specific method for quantitative analysis of the promoter methylation of MGMT gene.


Dr. Fleming is the chair of the 2015 Middle States Accreditation Periodic Review and led the University's Middle States Accreditation Self-Study Taskforce in 1999. She is currently the interim dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Computer Sciences and a professor and former chair of the Department of Civil Engineering at Howard University. She is a licensed professional engineer, who, since joining the Howard faculty in 1985, in addition to leading the University's Middle States Accreditation Self-Study Taskforce in 1999, has led a number of research and intervention initiatives to attract and retain African American students in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and improve the quality of engineering education for Howard undergraduates. Dr. Fleming is the founder and director of the HUSEM (Howard University Science, Engineering, and Mathematics) program, and serves as the principal investigator and director of the National Science Foundationfunded Global Education, Awareness, and Research Undergraduate Program (GEAR-UP), which provides STEM undergraduates with research opportunities abroad as well as exposure to engineering research in an international setting. She is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a commissioner of the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, and a member of the American Society for Engineering Education and Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society. She earned her doctorate in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. She holds a Master of Science degree from the George Washington University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering at Howard University. She is the author of several engineering publications including articles in peer-reviewed engineering education journals.


In this paper,the Mongolian fine ore and the India fine ore were compared in chemical properties,post-sintering fuction and sintering costs to provide a reference for the sintering with Mongolia fine ore in the future.


The invention provides a control method and a control device for an electronic apparatus having a touch sensitive display, and provides an electronic apparatus thereof, wherein the method comprises the following steps: acquiring a combination of touch control operations on a plurality of touch control devices or on the plurality of the touch control devices as well as the touch sensitive display; and controlling the electronic apparatus based on the combination of the touch control operations. By utilizing the technical scheme mentioned above, the problem of poor user experience due to the fact that the touch control operations in related technologies are less in variety and are inflexible in use is solved.


To present an alternative surgical technique in treating cases of Chiari I Malformation with mild‐to‐moderate syringomyelia after decompressive suboccipital craniectomy: incising only the outer layer of the dura mater, then dissecting it from the inner layer without opening the latter.


Unlike outdoor positioning, there is no unique solution to obtain the position of a person inside a building or in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-denied areas. Typical implementations indoor rely on dead reckoning or beacon-based positioning, but a robust estimation must combine several techniques to overcome their own drawbacks. In this paper, we present an indoor positioning system based on foot-mounted pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) with an efficient map matching, received signal strength (RSS) measurements, and an improved motion model that includes the estimation of the turn rate bias. The system was implemented using a two-level structure with a low-level PDR filter and a high-level particle filter (PF) to include all the measurements. After studying the effect of the step displacement on the PFs proposed in the literature, we concluded that a new state with the turn rate bias (a nonobservable state in PDR) is needed to correctly estimate the error growth and, in the long term, correct the position and heading estimation. Additionally, the wall crossing detection of map matching was optimized as matrix operations, and a room grouping algorithm was proposed as a way to accelerate the process, achieving real-time execution with more than 100 000 particles in a building with more than 600 wall segments. We also include a basic path-loss model to use RSS measurements that allows a better initialization of the filter, fewer particles, and faster convergence, without the need for an extensive calibration. The inclusion of the map matching algorithm lowers the error level of the RSS-PDR positioning, from 1.9 to 0.75 m, 90% of the time. The system is tested in several trajectories to show the improvement in the estimated positioning, the time to convergence, and the required number of particles


Systems with hysteresis present challenges to control designers due to the difficulty in analyzing the effect of hysteresis on the system's behavior. In this paper we propose a novel approach to the analysis of the harmonic content produced by a hysteresis operator when it is subject to a periodic input. The commonly used Prandtl-Ishlinskii (PI) operator is used as an example. In particular, we present an algorithm for evaluating the Fourier series of the outputs of individual elementary hysteresis units (called hysterons) comprising the operator. Each output is reconstructed as a combination of the input and a series of pulses. The formation of these pulse waves requires computation of time instants when the hysteron behavior switches, and these times are evaluated using knowledge of the input signal and hysteresis parameters. Illustrative examples are presented for a play operator (hysteron for the PI operator), when it is subject to a sinusoidal signal and a sawtooth signal, respectively, and we show that the resulting Fourier coefficients are functions of the signal amplitude and the play radius. We also show that these calculations can be used as a control design tool for systems with hysteresis, for example, by providing guidance on selecting the order of the servocompensator for controlling such systems.


In 1952, Moya Talty (Saunders) became the first female presenter on ABC Newcastle. Her on-air career, however, started in 1942 on ABC Perth during World War II. 71 years later, Moya dropped in for morning tea.


Drawing on in-depth interviews undertaken during doctoral research on the faith journeys of Generation X and Y (20s and 30s) and their relationship to church in New Zealand, this article explores the practice of people regularly attending two churches. While the practice of attending two churches is not a new phenomenon it has not yet been theorised, nor have reasons for it been explored. One of the aims of this article is to theorise the practice of attending two churches, here referred to as 'church two-timing', and to provide insight and understanding into the reasons behind it. The two churches are often different denominations but not always different expressions of faith. Church two-timing then is not simply about experiencing different 'styles' of church. Rather, it is often motivated by relational and spiritual reasons which are discussed in this article. In order to understand the practice of church two-timing a distinction is made between primary and secondary churches that involve different levels of commitment and engagement.


OBJECTIVE
To prepare shuxiong micropellets.

METHOD
Shuxiong micropellets were prepared by using a centrifugal granulator. The formulation composition and process factors were optimized investigated by adopting several indices such as size distribution, repose angle, bulk density and friability as indexes.

RESULT
The optimal process parameters were as follows. The ratio of fine intermediate product and MCC was 3:1 (w/w), the adhesive agent was 3% HMPC solution, the rotating rate of plate was 200 r x min(-1), the blower rate was 15 x 20 L x min(-1), the rate of air flow was 15 L x min(-1), the spray air pressure was 0.5 MPa, the rotating of spray solution pump was 5-25 r x min(-1) and the rotating rate of powder feed machine was 5-25 r x min(-1).

CONCLUSION
Under the optimal conditions, micropellets prepared by using centrifugal granulator hadpossessed prefect shape and surface characteristics and the yield of shuxiong pellets was 90.5%.


Renin is the enzyme catalyzing the rate-limiting step of the Renin-Angiotensin-System (RAS) generating Angiotensin II (AngII). RAS inhibitors are a main pillar of current heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Although used since over 30 years in clinical routine, the studied effects of RAS-inhibitors on renin level changes during the course of HFrEF and its impact on patient outcomes, especially under current guideline directed medical therapy (GDMT), are lacking.

 Consecutive patients with stable chronic HFrEF and GDMT were enrolled prospectively from the our outpatient unit of heart failure between 06/2013 and 08/2021. Active plasma renin concentration (ARC) was documented for all patients consecutively at first measurement, i.e. baseline (BL), and at follow-up (FUP) visits at 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months, respectively. BL renin was correlated with N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and compared between NYHA class, HF medication use and renin levels between baseline and FUP timepoints. To assess the effect of changes in renin levels, patients were categorized into three groups based on the change of renin from baseline within the first year of observation: decrease = change >−50%, undulating=change between −50 to 50%, increase=change>50% and survival curves were displayed as Kaplan-Meier plots and compared for different ARC categories by the log-rank test.

 A total of 491 patients were included in the study. BL characteristics are shown in Table1. Renin levels showed no relationship with HF severity reflected by a lack of correlation with NT-proBNP [rs=−0.05, p=0.273] and comparable levels between NYHA groups [p=0.753] (Figure 1A). Renin levels were further comparable for different RAS inhibitors and patients with and without beta blockers, however higher in patients with mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRA) [189 μIE/ml vs. 59 μIE/ml, p=0.0001] and SGLT2-inhibitors [280 μIE/ml vs. 100 μIE/ml, p=0.004] (Figure 1B). Renin levels at different yearly FUP timepoints are displayed in Figure 1C. There was no significant difference in renin levels between BL and 1-year FUP, while renin concentration was increased at 2-year FUP [126 μIE/ml vs. 243 μIE/ml, p=0.002]. Baseline renin levels were not associated with survival [crude HR for an increase of 100μiE/ml 1.014 (95% CI: 0.997–1.032), p=0.102]. Within one year following BL, renin decreased in 77 (27.6%), was undulating in 74 (26.5%) and increased in 128 (45.9%) patients. Kaplan-Meier suggests worse survival for patients with increasing renin though the difference was statistically not significant [p=0.2573] (Figure 1D).

 Renin was elevated in patients with MRA and/or SGLT2-inhibitors. Renin tends to increase over time in stable HFrEF. Although RAS is the main target of HFrEF therapy, surprisingly there seems to be no strong association between RAS activation and thereby potential effectivity of achieved RAS-blockade and outcome.

 Type of funding sources: None.


The immunohistochemical location of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was used to study the state of maturation of retinal astrocytes from an 18‐mo‐old infant and to compare it with the situation in the adult. Infant astrocytes showed intense GFAP immunoreactivity in the perikarya and possessed spindle‐like enlargements in their processes, while in the adult immunoreactivity in the perikarya was scarce and the spindle‐like enlargements were not evident. Two types of astrocyte were observed in adult and child retinas: elongated and star‐shaped. In the adult, the star‐shaped type tend to be more stylised and to have longer processes than in the infant. In the infant, numerous astrocyte cell bodies were observed over vessels, while in the adult these were scarce. In the infant, the star‐shaped astrocytes made up a honeycomb plexus, but this was not fully developed. These results suggest that at 18 mo of postnatal development the retinal astrocytes are still increasing and growing into the astroglial structure found in adults.


Since Plato, we have considered that the ideal polis, or political community, is the small state, akin to the idyllic 'Magnesia' of the Laws. The Platonic ideal, however, generally has been considered unrealistic. Even in the ancient world, the Alexandrine model ‐ an expanding, pluralistic network of large trading cities under a single aegis ‐ came to contradict it. Subsequent history, especially the imperialism of the nineteenth century which swallowed up many small polities around the world, seemed to prove that only large and powerful entities were 'fit' to survive. Why, then, are there still so many small‐sized countries in the world today? Why is their number actually increasing? Decolonisation, the end of bipolarity, democratisation, trade liberalisation and the digital revolution are five factors that have given small states more freedom. Yet many are vulnerable, and the economics of their situations are precarious. The workings of the global system, particularly the globalisation of business, may harm them even while promoting their freedom. The international community, a large part of which is now in fact made up of small states, should be prepared to act, for the global public good as well as out of sheer political and also environmental self‐interest, to help safeguard the livelihood of the world's many and varied small states, whose 'Magnesian' venues and values can be of both functional and normative importance for mankind as a whole.


Spectral estimation techniques are important tools in different fields of acoustics such as speech processing or traffic noise. In traffic noise typically conventional techniques are used such as third octave band filterbanks and long term averages. Certain situations where e.g. the acoustical events are short and have strong tonal components may, however, require more sophisticated methods of analysis. An example of such a situation are rumble strips which are a safety measure to keep cars from running off the road. Rumble strips typically consist of grooves milled at regular intervals next to the outermost traffic lanes, i.e. on the hard shoulder. Thus, when a vehicle passes over the grooves a signal with strong tonal components is produced which should warn the driver from the imminent danger of running of the road. Here, the potential of different multitaper methods is investigated using a recording of a car passing over such a rumble strip. The main interest is whether the tonal components can be reliably detected. In multitaper approaches the time-frequency analysis is performed using different orthogonal window functions. The time-frequency representations for each window are then combined to form a single estimate of the spectrum. To detect the tonal parts, different approaches using either the conventional multitaper method as well as combining multitaper with reassignment or synchrosqueezing are investigated. The comparison is done using either simple combinations of the modified spectrograms or applying random projections to the multiple short-term Fourier transforms before the reassignment/synchrosqueezing as recently suggested. The results illustrate that the different methods applied in this work are well suited for the analysis of the rumble strip data.


Among the pests of concern to the producers in the State of Para, the black fly the citrus, Aleurocanthus woglumi (hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) stands for cause direct and indirect damage to citrus plants, besides being present or quarantine pest A2 high alert, restricting trade with other regions. Being an exotic pest, newly introduced, lacking basic knowledge to implement appropriate management in the Amazon region. Was observed to occur Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby attacking African mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) in reforestation areas in eastern Amazonia. This is the first record of this whitefly attacking African mahogany in the Brazilian Amazon. We report the first occurrence of Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby attacking African mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) in reforested areas of the Eastern Amazon. Until then, we had no record of insect pests attacking the African mahogany in the Amazon.


Background: Urodynamic evaluation is mandatory in order to correctly assess and classify bladder dysfunction in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. Study investigated patterns of neurogenic bladder dysfunction in patients with post traumatic spinal cord injury and assessed the relationship of detrusor leak point pressure with compliance, post void residual urine volume and maximum cystometric capacity. Methods: Eighty six patients with neurogenic bladder secondary to traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) underwent cystometry with electromyography (EMG). T-test was used to compare detrusor leak point pressure (LPP) between complete and incomplete injury groups. Pearson correlation test was used to seek correlation between detrusor LPP and compliance, post void residual volume (PRV) and maximum cystometric capacity (MCC). Results: Mean detrusor LPP in suprasacral complete injury group, suprasacral incomplete injury group and sacral complete injury was 52±21 cm of H2O, 53±18 cm of H2O and 16±9 cm of H2O respectively. No significant difference in detrusor LPP was found between suprasacral complete and incomplete group on t-Test (p= 0.571068). Significant difference in detrusor LPP was found between suprasacral and sacral group (p= 5.71891E-12). Mean compliance in sacral injury group was 24±16 and in suprasacral complete injury group was 5±6. Mean compliance in suprasacral incomplete injury group was 4±2. Pearson correlation showed negative correlation (r = -0.6918934) between detrusor leak point pressure and compliance (p= 1.2744E-13). Negative correlation (r = -0.311409922) was observed between detrusor leak point pressure and post leak/ void residual urine volume (p= 0.003335033) and between detrusor LPP and maximum cystometric capacity (r = -0.31354), (p= 0.003115). Conclusions: Significant difference in urodynamic parameters exists between sacral and suprasacral injury patients. However there is no significant difference in urodynamic parameters between complete and incomplete injury at suprasacral level.


The authors applied a person-centered approach based on the five-factor model of personality to organize personality data of criminal offenders and examine psychological differences between resulting prototypes. In the first study, 91 offenders were administered the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), the Antisocial Personality Questionnaire, the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), the Borderline Personality Inventory, and the White Bear Suppression Inventory. In a second study of 102 offenders, the authors again used the NEO-FFI, IIP, and additional self-report instruments measuring psychopathological symptoms, social interaction problems, and functional and dysfunctional forms of self-consciousness. Cluster analyses revealed five prototypes that replicate previous ones from nonoffender studies. Subsequent analyses demonstrated systematic and psychologically meaningful differences between these groups in their tendencies to behave, think, and feel. These findings are discussed with reference to the advantages of the person-centered approach as a supplement to the predominant variable-centered approach of personality.


a Society for Community Health Awareness, Research and Action (SOCHARA), Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Correspondence to Ravi Narayan (email: firstname.lastname@example.com) The WHO South-East Asia Region was one of the crucibles for development of the primary health care (PHC) concept. The Bandung Conference on Rural Hygiene held in 1937 drew global attention, through the League of Nations Health Organization, to the health needs of the poor rural populations.1 The first primary health units were started in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Mysore state of Southern India in 1929. The Government of India established Health Survey and Development Committee (Bhore Committee) in 1946, identified access to safe water, sanitation, housing and adequate nutrition as essential conditions for healthy living with a curative-preventive mix of services available irrespective of the ability to pay, and emphasized intersectoral actions.2 Subsequently, primary health centres developed in several countries to reach the rural and marginalized populations. In Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand several communitybased primary health care experiments by civil society organizations complemented the primary health care system development by the State. These advances made significant contribution to the development of primary health care (PHC) as an approach to health system strengthening.3


This comparative dissertation explores the new moral politics of authenticity emerging in the Western world in the post-1960s era. Examining the development of the popular music genre punk since the 1970s, this study helps to explain why Germany after decades of dictatorship became democratic and how rock'n'roll contributed to this transformation. Investigating how youths used music to build alternative communities and identities during the Cold War, this project details the often uncomprehending and repressive responses by East and West German authorities. In the East, the genre became a form of opposition to the dictatorial SED regime, while in the West, punk became a political and aesthetic platform for individual and social revolution along more 'authentic' lines—efforts sparking debates about the contentious Nazi past and the future contours of German identity, society and citizenship. Tracking West German youths travelling abroad to London to experience punk first-hand, and then returning home to rearticulate the genre into the local context of the Federal Republic, I follow the spread of popular culture across state boundaries and the consequences of such transmissions. East German authorities at first tried to repress the genre beaming into the GDR via Western radio before reversing course in the late 1980s in a desperate attempt to use popular music to cultivate a distinctive socialist national identity and shore up their waning political legitimacy. But by then it was too late: forced into the Evangelical Churches to escape persecution, punks became the foot-soldiers of the opposition and helped, in the end, to bring down the Berlin Wall. Detailing the consequences of the 1960s on democratic change in the Federal Republic and contributing to new literature stressing the space for alternative identities and practices in the East German dictatorship, fundamentally, this dissertation argues for the importance of punk and popular cultural in contributing to modern German democracy, national identity and pluralist society.


One of the characteristics of Manly and Rickert's work on The Canterbury Tales is their holistic approach to the manuscript tradition: they consider not only the text of The Canterbury Tales in 84 pre-1500 witnesses, but also the philology, codicology, palaeography, artwork and provenance of every one of these witnesses (Manly and Rickert 1940.) Whether or not an individual scholar possesses the knowledge and experience necessary to do justice to all these facets, Manly and Rickert do recognize that a manuscript tradition such as that of The Canterbury Tales is symbiotic, and every one of these manuscripts possesses particular physical characteristics and originates from a particular historical context. In order to understand the manuscript tradition of The Canterbury Tales we have to explore every element which has a bearing on the creation of the witnesses. We shall not arrive at any reliable answers through simply looking at the text alone. It is noticeable that witness descriptions written by scholars since Manly and Rickert repeat this holistic approach, considering all the manuscript versions on all these different levels in order to acquire as complete a picture as possible. However, our preliminary investigation into the presentday condition of the Hengwrt manuscript of The Canterbury Tales (National Library of Wales, MS. Peniarth 392 D) suggests that a further influencing factor to be taken into consideration is the manuscript's history as recorded and preserved in facsimile. This is particularly relevant to scholarship of the late twentieth century, since photographic technology has advanced considerably and, as we shall now see, the history of the Hengwrt manuscript in facsimile is not necessarily one of progress towards a clearer, more informative image. Before we can take any holistic approach to the manuscript we first of all need to answer the question: how reliable is the manuscript's testimony? One example of why the testimony of Hengwrt is open to doubt is the inscription Stokes which occurs in the footer of folio 85v. Manly and Rickert describe it as a name in 'red crayon' (1940, I: 282), whilst Doyle and Parkes speak of 'a large red plummet inscription' (1979, xlvii.) Mosser makes no mention of the inscription in his manuscript descriptions for The Wife of Bath's Prologue on CD-ROM, although he emphasizes that these are a truncated and provisional version of his own wider project (see Mosser 1996.) However, whereas Manly and Rickert categorically state that the Stokes inscription is one of 'only two legible clues' to 'the earlier history of Hengwrt' (1940, I: 282), Doyle and Parkes are cautious, and merely note that the inscription had been 'read by Manly and Rickert' (1979, xlv); they acknowledge Manly and Rickert's testimony, but are reluctant to confirm the reading themselves. Consequently, we decided to look for the inscription ourselves. It certainly is not present in the 1979 Variorum Chaucer facsimile, but this cannot be considered a reliable witness, since it is a facsimile in greyscale and is predominantly concerned with


Introduction: Nowadays, the development of participatory approac hes with emphasis on community empowerment is recognized as an important tool in h ealt promotion. The present study was conducted t o assess the strengths, weaknesses, challenges and le ssons learned from participatory community-based programs in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Methods: In this qualitative study, thirteen community-based participatory programs related to health have been assessed in leadership, community partici tion/other stakeholders and capacity building the mes. Results: In this study, the main strength of leadership was volunteers` motivation in service delivery and community resource mobilization. The weak points we re lack of community participation in decisionmaking process in national level, lack of regular m onitoring and evaluation programs, and lack of appropriate policymakers` supports. In participatio n axes, the partnership of women was as the strengt h and lack of male participation and weakness of team wor king were as the challenges of the programs. Moreov er, the participatory process of community empowerment was important as well as the other strengths in man y programs and lack of appropriate update was the wea k point. Conclusion: Capacity building of community, NGOs and policymak ers are important in cooperation mechanisms, partnership, team working and resource mobilization fields in development of participatory community-based programs.


Reaching agreements is part of the life of any human group, but it is especially important in the context of political relations. In parliamentary systems, when no party has an absolute majority, it is necessary to establish pacts with other parties to carry out as many laws as possible that fit with our ideology. However, finding the best possible deals is not an easy task. In fact, in this work we not only show that it is an NP-complete problem, but also that it is impossible to guarantee a good approximation ratio in polynomial time. Even so, we show that it is possible to use genetic algorithms to obtain reasonably satisfactory pacts, and we illustrate it for a specific case study of the Spanish parliament.


This article studies the citation influence of editorials. It is found that only a few journals publish highly cited editorials (New England Journal of Medicine, Nature and Science) and that their authors come overwhelmingly from the USA, with Harvard as the leading university. It turned out that this article is much more about methodology than about finding the most influential editorials.


Abstract Lee, C. 1999. Genetic antagonism between direct and maternal effects. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 15: 105–116. Negative genetic correlations between direct and maternal effects for weaning weight were found from beef cattle data. There has been much debate over the biological existence of this genetic antagonism. Recent research oil estimating the genetic correlation were reviewed. To explain genetic antagonism, inclusion of the direct-maternal genetic covariance in the analytical models was proposed, with a biological justification.


The invention discloses fiddlehead wet noodles and a preparation method thereof. The fiddlehead wet noodles comprise: 8-16 parts of fiddleheads, 20-30 parts of starch, 40-100 parts of buckwheat powder, 50-120 parts of flour, 6-10 parts of duck eggs, 1-3 parts of edible salt and 0.6-1 part of monosodium glutamate. The preparation method is as follows: preparing a finished product by the steps such as preparing powder, preparing saline-water liquor, kneading dough, tabletting, cutting and forming, hanging and drying until the moisture content of the fiddlehead wet noodles is 25%-35%, vacuum-packaging, sterilizing, and the like. The fiddlehead wet noodles prepared by the method disclosed by the invention are smooth and elastic in mouthfeel, moderate in softness, sufficient in tenacity, convenient to eat, rich in nutrition, easy to digest and absorb after being eaten, and have healthcare effects of clearing away heat and toxic materials, reducing phlegm, purging and invigorating stomach, treating diarrhea and inducing dieresis, relaxing tendon and activation collaterals, and the like.


Abstract We study repeated interactions among a fixed set of "low rationality" players who have status quo actions, randomly sample other actions, and change their status quo if the sampled action yields a higher payoff. This behavior generates a random process, the better-reply dynamics. Long run behavior leads to Nash equilibrium in games with the weak finite improvement property, including finite, supermodular games and generic, continuous, two-player, quasi-concave games. If players make mistakes and if several players can sample at the same time, the resulting better-reply dynamics with simultaneous sampling converges to the Pareto optimal Nash equilibrium in common interest games. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C70, C72, C73.


Pediatric myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a group of heterogeneous clonal disorder with lesser frequency compared to adults. Additionally, there is much rare data in pediatric age group in relation to presentational findings and treatment.

The clinical and laboratory data, in addition to therapeutic interventions and outcomes of 47 patients in a single centre who were diagnosed between January 2001-May 2014 were summarized.

Median age of the study group was 2.8 years (0.1-16.8). The most common complaints at presentation included fever (27%), fatigue (17%), bleeding (15%), abdominal distention (13%), in addition to other rare presentational complaints including pallor, rash, vomiting, irritability, jaundice, stridor, abdominal pain and easy bruising. The underlying disorder was established as: neurofibromatosis in 5, Down syndrome in 3, secondary to prior chemotherapy in 2 (ALL and PNET), Fanconi anemia in 1, Jacobsen syndrome in 1, Klinefelter in 1. Final diagnosis was MDS in 22, JMML in 19, hypoplastic MDS in 4 and chemotherapy related MDS in 2. Median Hb, WBC, thrombocyte counts at presentation were 8.7 g/dl (4.1-12.7), 10.3x109/L (1.3-117) and 55x109/L (4-1515), respectively. Of the mutations studied related to MDS in 22 of the patients, k-ras positivity was the most common (23%). The most common cytogenetic abnormality was chromosome 7 related abnormalities (25%). Of the patients, 21 (45%) are alive and of these alive patients 62% are alive subsequent to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

The patients with pediatric MDS may present with various complaints and they may have underlying genetic diseases causing propensity for MDS. The survival is better among patients who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Aonidiella aurantii (Mask.) is probably one of the most important insect pest of citrus trees (Citrus sinensis) in Alexandria district. The population fluctuations of hymenopterous parasites attacking this pest were studied during a whole year.


Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) are the most promising delivery system that improves the stability, bioavailability and controlled release of food bioactive compounds. The delivery of any bioactive compound to targeted sites is directly affected by particle size and thus a nano delivery system has the potential to enhance bioavailability, the controlled release of the bioactive compounds, to a greater extent than microencapsulation. However, the effect of different particle sizes on the bioavailability of the active compound has been less explored. Moreover, nanoencapsulation of hydrophilic compounds by SLN technique has not been much studied due to the complexity involved in non-compatibility between the hydrophilic core and lipophilic wall matrix. Hence, in order to improve the efficiency of SLN to load the hydrophilic molecules and to evaluate the effect of micro and nanoparticles on the bioavailability, HCA, a model hydrophilic compound was nanoencapsulated using solid lipid nanocarriers. The HCA loaded SLN (327 nm) exhibited an encapsulation efficiency of about 57% and excellent storage stability with retention of 82% HCA and 558 nm particle size during 50 days of storage. Moreover, in simulated gastrointestinal conditions, SLN-HCA exhibited higher gastrointestinal stability (about 88%) for HCA with better retention of particle size and it also showed excellent controlled release of HCA. On comparison of bioavailability, HCA loaded nanoparticles (SLN-HCA) had 2 fold higher bioavailability than unencapsulated HCA and 1.3 fold higher bioavailability than the microparticles (SLM-HCA) due to smaller particle size, longer residence time and controlled release of HCA.


In the earlier days of hematology it was supposed that the leukocyte count was a quite reliable guide to the extent, progress and severity of various infections. It was shortly recognized, however, that other factors entered into the problem and that the degree of leukocytosis was more of an index of the amount of resistance, the fighting force possessed by the body, than of the virulence of the infection or of the actual progress of the combat between the invading bacteria and the natural resisting powers of the organism. Thus a normal leukocyte count or slight leukocytosis might mean little or no infection with no need of great resisting force or, on the contrary, it might be indicative of a very severe infection by which the body was overwhelmed without even a chance of combating it. Some other additional index was needed to complement this early one. Such an index


A novel peptide stapling method effected by a double thiol-ene reaction between two cysteine residues and a divinyl diester to access stapled peptides with enhanced cell permeability is reported. This diverse chemical tool kit provides facile access to stapled peptides with varying bridge lengths. Stapled Axin mimetics were synthesised using this stapling method resulting in improved α-helicity relative to the unstapled peptide. Cell penetrating stapled analogues of the SIGK peptide that targets the protein-protein interaction hotspot of Gβγ proteins were also synthesized that exhibited a moderate increase in α-helicity and were cell permeable. This chemoselective peptide stapling method is highly amenable as a facile method to easily modify synthetic α-helical peptides to target intracellular proteins.


Ralph F. Turner is Assistant Professor, Department of Police Administration, Michigan State College. Mr. Turner has been active in the field of police science both as a student at the University of Wisconsin where he received a B. S. S. degree in chemistry after specializing in police laboratory techniques and also in later years. Before joining the faculty of Michigan State College he was Supervisor of the Kansas City (Mo.) Police Laboratory and has served as Book Review Editor of the Journal for several years. He was a participant in the program of the American Medicolegal Congress of which he now writes.-EDIToR.


The judging procedure for Athenian dramatic contests is not well understood. In this paper, we present a new model that we believe takes account of all the relevant data, which possesses the additional virtue of clarity of execution, so that a large festival audience can easily follow the proceedings as the winner is determined publicly. It differs in certain important respects from other interpretations, in particular those of PickardCambridge, Pope, Csapo and Slater, and Wilson. While these discussions are important, none presents a completely satisfactory judging model, leaving cases unanswered or producing a nontransparent system. We cannot know for certain what the process was, and several assumptions do need to be made along the way. However, the attempt to come to grips with the evidence to produce a coherent voting procedure does reveal much about Athenian attitudes towards competition and drama. In this light, we believe our proposal possesses a plausibility that can be measured mathematically: this can therefore provide a benchmark against which other proposals may be evaluated. The initial four sections of the paper focus on the tragic competition at the Dionysia in which there were three competitors. Section V discusses comedy and the Lenaia, and section VI considers dithyrambic competitions.


Abstract. The importance of dust heterogeneous oxidation in the removal of atmospheric SO2 and formation of sulfate aerosols is not adequately
understood. In this study, the Fe-, Ti-, and Al-bearing components, Na+,
Cl−, K+, and Ca2+ of the dust surface, were discovered to be closely associated with the heterogeneous formation of sulfate. Regression
models were then developed to make a reliable prediction of the heterogeneous reactivity based on the particle chemical compositions.
Further, the recognized gas-phase, aqueous-phase, and heterogeneous oxidation routes were quantitatively assessed and kinetically compared by combining
the laboratory work with a modelling study. In the presence of 55 µg m−3 airborne dust, heterogeneous oxidation accounts for approximately 28.6 % of the secondary sulfate aerosols during nighttime, while the
proportion decreases to 13.1 % in the presence of solar irradiation. On
the dust surface, heterogeneous drivers (e.g. transition metal constituents,
water-soluble ions) are more efficient than surface-adsorbed oxidants (e.g. H2O2, NO2, O3) in the conversion of SO2,
particularly during nighttime. Dust heterogeneous oxidation offers an
opportunity to explain the missing sulfate source during severe haze
pollution events, and its contribution proportion in the complex atmospheric
environments could be even higher than the current calculation results.
Overall, the dust surface drivers are responsible for the significant
formation of sulfate aerosols and have profound impacts on the atmospheric
sulfur cycling.


Double-ply-welded bellows of nesting type are used as sealing devices of valves for high-temperature and high-pressure applications, and so far, the same-metal-welded bellows have been used exclusively. In the present investigation, the authors manufactured dissimilar-metal-welded bellows aiming at high corrosion resistance as well as mechanical strength. Namely, highly corrosion-resistant Ni base alloy B is placed on the fluid-contact side and higher-strength Ni base alloy A is placed on the no-fluid-contact side for the purpose of mechanical back-up of Ni base alloy B. As a result of study on its characteristics, it has been found that the welded part of this dissimilar-metal-welded bellows has mechanical strength near that of the Ni base alloy A and the chemical composition is intermediate between Ni base alloys A and B. Furthermore, it was confirmed that this bellows has higher resistance to corrosion than the bellows made of only Ni base alloy A, and has a longer total life than the same-metal-welded bellows made of only Ni base alloy A or B.


ABSTRACT: Combined usage and analysis of images from different sensors for various applications, including disaster monitoring, often needs first an image co-registration. Co-registration is based on automated matching of corresponding image features (e.g. just 10-40) and becomes very difficult when the images differ a lot. Perhaps the most difficult case is that of co-registering optical and SAR images, while also multispectral images can vary a lot. In difficult co-registration cases, the point correspondences are mostly wrong. Thus, an additional problem is to find and automatically eliminate matching errors. In this paper, we present and compare various matching methods and show some benefits when combining them. The two main methods used include Mutual Information (MI) and a Discrete Fourier Transform method (FTCC). We extend the methods to also estimate the matching quality and exclude blunders, showing also results on that. Additionally, in one test a previously used Least Squares Matching (LSM) method was employed. Our test data include SAR and optical images, from the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, 2011 in Japan and a region in Thun, Switzerland. Since there was no ground truth, the results for Tohoku were checked visually. As an extra test dataset we use very different AVHRR multispectral images, which are already coregistered. By introducing known geometric distortions we can perform quantitative evaluations with this data. Both MI and FTCC show a quite robust performance, with FTCC showing generally more blunders, but, when points are correct, slightly better accuracy. Matching quality evaluation and less matching method combination reduce the number of blunders very significantly to almost complete elimination.


An analytical method was developed for the simultaneous determination of carbosulfan and its metabolites( carbofuran and 3-hydroxycarbofuran) residues in tobacco leaf and soil by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry( GC-MS). Soil samples w ere extracted w ith acetone-petroleum ether [V( acetone) ∶ V( petroleum ether) = 1 ∶ 4]; Fresh tobacco samples and flue-cured tobacco leaf samples w ere extracted w ith acetone-acetonitrile [V( acetone) ∶ V( acetonitrile) = 1∶ 9]and acetonitrile, respectively. The extracts w ere concentrated by rotary evaporation,and follow ed by cleanup on Florisil column. With fortified concentration range of 0. 05- 1 mg/kg,the average recoveries ranged from 74% to 99%,and w ith relative standard deviation( RSD,n = 5) of 1. 5%- 9. 2%. The pre-treatment step of the current method is relatively simple,and the accuracy,precision and sensitivity of themethod meet w ith the technical requirements for the analysis and detection of pesticide residues. The method is suitable for analysis and detection of carbosulfan and its major metabolites in tobacco leaf and soil.


THE FIRST TECHNIQUE for imaging carbohydrates as they are produced on cell surfaces of live animals has been developed by glycobiology specialist Carolyn R. Bertozzi and coworkers at the University of California, Berkeley. Specific glycan (oligosaccharide) structures in cells are important markers and mediators of many physiological processes, but up to now changes in these glycans couldn't be visualized in living organisms. The new technique, based on cell-friendly fluorescent-labeling chemistry devised by the same group, will help scientists more closely probe the functional roles of carbohydrates during development and in both health and disease. Chemistry professor M. G. Finn of Scripps Research Institute says the Bertozzi group's technique "provides a 'global positioning system' for tracking carbohydrates through organisms. This is chemical biology at its finest: refined and reliable chemical tools illuminating—literally—molecular interactions in living biological systems." In recent years, Bertozzi ...


: Untreated soil typically has low shear strength, swelling behavior, high compressibility and its characteristics were highly dependent on the environment. In general, such problematic soil will lead to severe damages in road construction industry such as bearing capacity failure, slope instability, and excessive settlement. Agricultural waste, construction waste, and municipal waste have recently gained considerable attention as a sustainable material in road construction application due to its availability, environmental friendly and low-cost materials. Therefore in this review, randomly distributed fiber reinforced soil and oriented distributed fiber reinforced soil will be extensively discussed based on the emerging trend. It further reviewed the feasibility of using waste materials as a reinforcement material for the road construction industry. The review also attempts to evaluate and compare the engineering properties of soil and sustainable materials in order to enhance soil performance as well as help to improve the environment affected by growing waste materials.


As one of the most important eco-resources, an urban waterfront area not only acts as the physical landscape for recreation and entertainment, but also plays an indispensable part in the urban eco-system. However, the current development of urban waterfront area is faced with some problems, which exert a certain impact upon the eco-system. The key to solve these problems is to plan with regional eco-priority rules at the very beginning of these projects. With the case of Chongqing Jialing River Caojie Waterfront Area Landscape Plan as an example, this article firstly analyzes the field survey of project eco-resources, and then conducts the ecological design and function division through a series of work such as ecological sensitivity classification, low impact development research and the construction of eco-system framework and eco-infrastructure. In this way, this article explores the method of urban waterfront area landscape planning based on regional ecological priority.


The objective of this research was to investigate paracetamol FDT formula with potato starch and xanthan gum or glycine or ac di sol combination that can produce the best tablet quality. The tablets were prepared by direct compression technique. Superdisintegrant such as Glycine, Ac di sol, Xanthan Gum, and Potato Starch Extract was optimized as 1-19 % on the basis of least disintegration time. Binders such as HPMC were optimized along with optimized superdisintegrant concentration. 3,5% HPMC was selected as optimum binder concentration on the basis of least disintegration time. Granule parameters included in the analysis were flowability, angle of repose, Carr's index, Hausner's ratio, and loss on drying (LOD). Tablet parameters included in the analysis were hardness, friability, disintegration time, dissolution, wetting time, and absorption ratio. The result was analyzed by Design Expert 22.214.171.124 program to decide the combination of superdisintegrant that can provide the best tablet qualities. The result showed that potato starch 15.162% and xanthan gum 4,838%, potato starch 15,050% and glycine 4,950%, and potato starch 18.390% and ac di sol 1.610%. Combination of superdisintegrant that can provide the best tablet qualities. It was concluded that, by employing commonly available pharmaceutical excipients such as superdisintegrants, hydrophilic and swellable excipients and proper filler, a fast disintegrating tablet of Paracetamol in tablet dosage form, were formulated successfully with desired characteristics.


The invention relates to a high-strength flame-retardant polyamide composite material and a preparation method, wherein the composite material comprises, by weight, the following components: 20-40 parts of polyamide sections, 10-20 parts of alkali-free glass fiber, 50-60 parts of magnesium hydroxide, 0.1-0.5 parts of antioxidants, and 0.1-1 parts of lubricants, and the preparation method comprises the following steps: putting magnesium hydroxide powder into a high-speed mixer, adding a coupling agent, performing surface treatment, mixing with other raw materials, putting the mixture along with the alkali-free glass fiber into a screw compressor for extrusion pelletization so as to obtain a product. Compared with the prior art, the method of the invention prepares a halogen-free phosphorus-free flame-retardant polyamide composite material with high strength and improved impact resistance by using polyamide as a basic resin, and the composition is applicable to electronic appliance industry; and the invention well solves the problem that the mechanical properties of the materials are reduced and the impact resistance is reduced as a result of the existing high filling amounts.


Traditional approaches to generic secure computation begin by representing the function f being computed as a circuit. If f depends on each of its input bits, this implies a protocol with complexity at least linear in the input size. In fact, linear running time is inherent for non-trivial functions since each party must "touch" every bit of their input lest information about the other party's input be leaked. This seems to rule out many applications of secure computation (e.g., database search) in scenarios where inputs are huge. Adapting and extending an idea of Ostrovsky and Shoup, we present an approach to secure two-party computation that yields protocols running in sublinear time, in an amortized sense, for functions that can be computed in sublinear time on a random-access machine (RAM). Moreover, each party is required to maintain state that is only (essentially) linear in its own input size. Our approach combines generic secure two-party computation with oblivious RAM (ORAM) protocols. We present an optimized version of our approach using Yao's garbled-circuit protocol and a recent ORAM construction of Shi et al. We describe an implementation of our resulting protocol, and evaluate its performance for obliviously searching a database with over 1 million entries. Our implementation outperforms off-the-shelf secure-computation protocols for databases containing more than 218 entries.


Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is wreaking havoc throughout the world However, we know little about the virus load and changes of laboratory i


A driver assistance device (10) comprises a first driving assistance module (14) and a second driving assistance module (16). A selection module (12) is adapted, when the first module (14) is activated and the second module (16) off of: - deactivating the first module (14) to receiving disabling information (OFF_INT) or, when configuration information is a first value (LDW_CONF) upon receipt of an actuation information (B_REL) of a button (52); - to activate the second module (16) for receiving activation information (LDW LKA_INT +) of the second module (16) or, when the configuration information is a second value (+ LKA_CONF LDW), on receipt of said operation information (B_REL).


The model Archaeon Halobacterium sp. NRC‐1 is an extreme halophile known for its resistance to multiple stressors, including electron‐beam and ultraviolet radiation. It is a well‐developed system with a completely sequenced genome and extensive post‐genomic tools for the study of a variety of biological processes. To further understand the mechanisms of Halobacterium's, radiation resistance, we previously reported the selection for multiple independent highly resistant mutants using repeated exposure to high doses of 18–20 MeV electrons using a medical S‐band Linac. Molecular analysis of the transcriptional profile of several of these mutants revealed a single common change: upregulation of the rfa3 operon. These genes encode proteins homologous to the subunits of eukaryotic Replication Protein A (RPA), a DNA binding protein with major roles in DNA replication, recombination, and repair. This operon has also been implicated in a somewhat lesser role in resistance of wild type Halobacterium to ultraviolet ...


Trypanosoma brucei, a protozoan parasite transmitted by the tsetse fly, invades the bloodstream and CNS of humans, causing African sleeping sickness. In addition to antigenic variation of its surface glycoprotein coat, T. brucei employs a second immune evasion tactic: upregulation of endocytosis to clear lytic cell surface immune complexes, a strategy likely involving membrane turnover and fatty acid synthesis (FAS). Acetyl‐CoA carboxylase (ACC) catalyzes the first committed step of FAS and is a regulatory control point. Previous work showed that ACC RNA interference (RNAi) in T. brucei bloodstream forms (BFs) reduced virulence in mice, but had no effect on growth in culture. We hypothesized that ACC is required in BFs for immune evasion via endocytosis upregulation. We examined endocytosis in BF ACC RNAi cells and observed a 90% reduction in fluid phase and receptor‐mediated endocytosis upon ACC RNAi. ACC RNAi also caused a 30% delay in the clearance of surface‐bound antibodies and 40% increase in the susceptibility to complement‐mediated lysis. Because endocytosis upregulation may increase demand for FAS, we examined if ACC is regulated in response to changes in lipid supply. In BFs, we found no change in ACC expression, activity, or phosphorylation upon growth in low or high lipid media. Also, ACC RNAi had similar effects on endocytosis, antibody clearance, and complement‐mediated lysis under low and high lipid conditions. In contrast, insect form cells exhibited a 2X increase in ACC protein and enzymatic activity in low lipid media. Phosphorylation of insect form ACC increased 3X in high lipid media and decreased by 80% in low lipid media. We propose a model whereby T. brucei ACC is up‐regulated in the mammalian host to support increased endocytosis and immune evasion, while in the insect host, ACC is regulated in response to the environmental lipid supply.


MindGym is an approach for improving the quality of life of the elderly by applying cognitive processes and mind gymnastics in order to keep them active in vital mental shape. The target is to influence mental conditions that lead to mental disorders, such as depression, dementia, sedentariness, cognitive decline and personality disorders, mostly present in elder people, but also experienced by youngsters. The idea is to develop a prototype interactive system for creating everyday mind gymnastics, which is based on recommended audio-visual content, IPTV, social networks, cloud enabled devices and applications. Furthermore, it will enable detecting the abnormal changes in the elderly brain by using fMRI and EEG technologies for various stimuli. The authors give an overview of current research and projects in the area and define the basic objectives of planned MindGym research activities. Several experiments are conducted in order to prove the hypothesis that various types of music stimulate the brain differently, which can be used as mental activities for elderly.


The branching fractions for the five-charged-particle decays of the [tau] lepton have been measured in [ital e][sup +][ital e][sup [minus]] annihilations using the CLEO II detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. Assuming all charged particles to be pions, the results are [ital B](3[pi][sup [minus]]2[pi][sup +][ge]0 neutrals [nu][sub [tau]])=(0.097[plus minus]0.005[plus minus]0.011)%, [ital B](3[pi][sup [minus]]2[pi][sup +][nu][sub [tau]])=(0.077[plus minus]0.005 [plus minus]0.009)%, [ital B](3[pi][sup [minus]]2[pi][sup +][pi][sup 0][nu][sub [tau]])=(0.019[plus minus]0.004[plus minus]0.004)%, and [ital B](3[pi][sup [minus]]2[pi][sup +]2[pi][sup 0][nu][sub [tau]])[lt]0.011% at the 90% C.L. [ital B](3[pi][sup [minus]]2[pi][sup [minus]][pi][sup 0][nu][sub [tau]]) is measured for the first time by exclusive [pi][sup 0] reconstruction. The results are compared with the predictions from the partially conserved-axial-current and conserved-vector-current hypotheses assuming isospin invariance.


Recent emphasis on the use of electronic digital computers has focused attention on a number of practical problems which were hitherto treated on an "existence" basis. One problem which arises in computer analysis of electrical networks is the listing of all trees in the network. Any practically useful scheme must find all the trees of the network without generating duplicates (for practical networks the number of trees exceeds the fast memory of any computer and, hence, slows down search for duplicates). Also, the trees must be generated by replacement of one branch at a time in order to keep track of signs (for active network analysis). A practical procedure satisfying these conditions is presented in this paper.


We observed the surface resistance of metal thin films by a nondestructive characterization method using a near-field scanning microwave microprobe (NSMM). The NSMM system was coupled to a dielectric resonator with a distance regulation system. To demonstrate the ability of local microwave characterization, the surface resistance dependence of the metallic thin films has been mapped nondestructively.


Diagrid structures have become an innovative and attractive choice for high‐rise buildings due to their high rigidity and esthetic appearance. Inclined concrete‐filled steel tube (CFST) columns, as the main load‐carrying members of diagrid structures, are supposed to be subjected to axial tension and compression loads. However, few studies have investigated the seismic behavior and damage assessment of CFST columns under axial cyclic loading. This study presents experimental results for eight circular CFST columns under axial cyclic loading. Based on the observed damage evolution, a damage assessment model for CFST columns subjected to axial cyclic loading was developed using a nonlinear combination of stiffness degradation and hysteretic energy dissipation. The contributions of the maximum response and cyclic loading effects to the damage were specified by introducing combination coefficients, which can be determined from a proposed equation based on the aspect ratio and confinement index of the CFST columns. Finally, the corresponding relationships between the range of the damage index and the degree of damage of CFST columns under different performance levels were established, which can provide the necessary basis for economic loss assessment and repair of earthquake‐damaged diagrid structures.


Satellite cluster maneuvers are often analyzed using idealized assumptions about the available thrust. In this paper, an near-optimal planner for spacecraft formations in elliptical reference orbits is presented for a satellite with realistic thruster placements, as well as one undergoing rotation. A spline approximation for thrust effect integrals is used to solve for minimum fuel maneuvers for individual spacecraft in a relative reference orbit utilizing the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman formulation; these results are then compared with linear programming. The formulations are applied to the operating conditions of the CU Sat mission for possible use in an on-board application.


The station's crew tackled science and computer work Tuesday while preparing for next week's departure of half of the crew.


A survey was made to study the different services provided by auditors in the audit market in Sudan and study their perception the effect of provision of non-audit services on auditors' independence and the quality of audit. A questionnaire was disseminated to thirty audit firms. Analysis showed that only two types of services are provided regularly by auditors. Results have also shown that according to auditors' perceptions independence is not impaired by nonaudit services however there are some areas that are controversial and need to be addressed. Equally important, evidence significantly showed that non-audit services do not adversely audit quality. Recommendations were made for policy and practice, of which: Governing bodies have to address the problems underlying auditors' independence and quality of financial reporting. Policy makers must have a rule that govern the provision of no-audit services and must establish a task force that address oversight issues when non-audit services are provides besides audit. In addition to that auditors must identify all threats to independence and must apply the necessary safeguards, and employ practices like peer reviews and mandatory


A process for preparing microcapsules which comprises; dissolving a film-forming polymer in an organic solvent to form a solution, said solvent having a dielectric constant between 10 and 40 and a poor compatibility with liquid paraffins and silicone oils; dispersing a core substance in the solution, to form a first dispersion; dispersing said first dispersion in an encapsulating medium comprising a liquid paraffin or a silicone oil in the form of fine droplets; and evaporating the solvent and the encapsulating medium from the dispersion.


An improved adaptive cloud genetic algorithm is proposed.In view of the shortcomings of CGA that taking fixed control value in cloud model will lead premature and low convergence speed,this paper presents an Adaptive Cloud Model Based Genetic Algorithm(ACGA) that introduces adaptive operator between linear and non-linear to solve the problem of geting the proper value of the control parameters in the process of crossover and mutation.In ACGA,the control parameters are adaptively adjusted according to population fitness.Its correctness has been proved by the performance analysis.The result of the simulation shows that compare with GA and CGA,ACGA is of better converging and searching abilities.


In this paper, we suggest a method for lossless video compression based on the combination of temporal and spatial adaptive predictions. Then the context-based entropy coding is adopted in the proposed scheme. Experimental results show that the proposed method has superior performance to JPEG-LS or CALIC by 30% .


This report is one of a series of publications growing out of a survey and research project to investigate the influence of certain economic and institutional factors on couples fertility behavior in Peninsular Malaysia....The purpose of the project was to identify factors within the range of direct public policy influence that affect birthspacing and family size and to estimate the magnitude of statistical relationships between these factors and fertility outcomes. The present report contains an introductory section on the survey design and methodology followed by the entire master codebook for the survey. (EXCERPT)


This paper mainly introduces the Wanwei group limited liability company used in the production of polyvinyl alcohol byproduct methyl acetate as raw materials for production of acetic anhydride,acetic anhydride carbonylation synthesis technology to solve the whole manufacturing process design,selection of catalyst and process control,the carbonylation reactor and separation system for efficient processing,tar by-product acetic acid index of quality control difficult,realization of acetic anhydride production,the prepared products of good quality,stable process efficient,polyvinyl alcohol for domestic enterprises to the road of sustainable development provides reference.


Graph classification is very vast area for research. The key task in graph classification is extracting a set of proper features from graphs. Graphs are represented by a complex data structure, this issue has been dispensed with for a long time. Graph mining has mainly two approaches for mining data. 1) Apriori based approach and 2) Pattern based approach. Apriori based approach is used Candidate generate-and-test and breadth-first search techniques. Pattern based approach is used Divide-and-conquer and depth-first search techniques. The pattern based approach is more flexible regarding its search method. It can use breadth-first search as well as depth-first search (DFS), the latter of which consumes less memory.


Thrombolytic therapy has clearly become an established therapeutic modality to treat patients with acute myocardial infarction. Since there is no ideal agent at this time, we must evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of current therapy based on major clinical studies. Thrombolysis is the body's natural response to dissolving clots after they have served their purpose. Thrombolytic agents accelerate fibrinolysis by overwhelming the system. There are 4 thrombolytic agents currently available: streptokinase urokinase, anistreplase (APSAC), and rt-PA. Tissue plasminogen activator is a naturally occurring protein that can be created with genetic recombinant technology (rt-PA). It establishes higher patency rates (70–90%) than the other available thrombolytic agents. Recently published results of accelerated rt-PA infusion during acute myocardial infarction demonstrate that the infarct-related artery seems to open more quickly and provide greater blood flow. The use of intravenous heparin as adjunctive therapy along with aspirin seems to maintain patency at comparable levels to streptokinase. Not only is mortality reduced in the accelerated rt-PA group, but complications from myocardial infarction such as arrhythmia and heart failure are significantly reduced. rt-PA remains the drug of choice in the hypotensive patient and, because of potential allergy, in patients with previous exposure to streptokinase. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is frequently needed to improve long-term patency and reduce ischemic episodes. Recent studies show that it may provide some advantage over thrombolytic therapy, because the artery can be opened faster, with higher flow rates.


In this paper a new VLSI architecture for the implementation of an enhanced full-search motion estimator for multimedia terminals is proposed: beyond the usual algorithm, advanced prediction and static priority options are supported to improve the SNR/bit-rate efficiency. The architecture is parametrizable in terms of block size (N) and maximum search area size (p/sub max/) (the latter being also programmable in the range [1, p/sub max/]) thus permitting the implementation of a family of ICs suitable for QCIF, CIF, 4CIF image format processing. Two ASICs were realized on a 0.25 /spl mu/m, 2.5 V, CMOS technology able to process 30 frames/s QCIF, CIF, 4CIF formats with a search area of -16/+15. The resulting CIF and 4CIF ASICs feature a high throughput vs. area efficiency for a small hardware complexity and power consumption. The former, characterized by a core area of 1.6 mm/sup 2/, is able to process either QCIF and CIF with a clock frequency of 18 and 72 MHz, respectively, and with an estimated power consumption of about 42 and 170 mW. By exploiting the p programmability, it also processes the QCIF with a clock frequency of about 6 MHz and a power consumption of 15 mW resulting of a great interest for wireless multimedia applications. The 4CIF-ASIC is characterized by a core area of 3.9 mm/sup 2/ with a clock frequency of 105 MHz.


The aim of the present work was to quantify the difference in performance of hands when doing tasks of defined difficulty. Results of five experiments are reported in which strongly lateralised subjects performed movement tasks with their preferred and non-preferred hands. These tasks were (i) ballistic movements (ii) Fitts' task (iii) pin-to-hole transfer (iv) Drury tracking task (v) a modified form of the Drury tracking task in which subjects cut paper with scissors. The results showed that in ballistic tasks there was no significant effect of handedness or of hand used. With visually-controlled tasks, where there was considerable control of accuracy required, the preferred hand generally performed better than the non-preferred hand. There was however no significant difference, in any of the tests, between right and left handers when using their preferred hands. Left handers, in some tasks, performed better with their non-preferred hands than did right handed persons using the non-preferred hand.


Abstract Consider the problem of allocating a fixed total number of observations or a fixed budget to several populations with the goal of minimizing the variance of the product of sample means, where this product of sample means estimates the product of population means. The main application of this problem is to reliability, where the population mean is the Bernoulli success probability that the respective system component will function and the product is the probability that a series system composed of these components will function. The solution of the problem is shown to be allocation approximately proportional to population coefficients of variation or to the square root of the odds of failure in the reliability case. Furthermore, balanced allocation is shown to have a maximin property in terms of its asymptotic relative efficiency to optimal allocation. Finally, guidelines are given for constructing allocations that improve on balanced allocation.


Purpose: The current study was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic effect of resistive training in reducing the effect of cancer cachexia. Subjects and Methods: Thirty patients with gastrointestinal cancer cachexia participated in this study. Their ages ranged from 50-70 years. They were recruited from Al Kasr El-Ani hospital outpatient clinic to be treated in the outpatient clinic, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University and were divided randomly into two equal groups.Group (A) composed of 15 patients who received their ordinary medical treatment in addition to resistive training program 2 times per week for 8 weeks. Group (B) composed of 15 patients who received their ordinary medical treatment.  Methods of assesment was measurements of Handgrip strength assessed by handgrip dynamometry, Lower body strength  assessed using a 30-second sit to stand test, Lean body mass  assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Results: There was a significant increase in both muscle strength and lean body mass in patient who received resistive training. Conclusion: Resistive training can be considered as an effective method in decreasing severity of cancer cachexia in gastrointestinal cancer patient.


Advanced Mirror Technology Development (AMTD) is being done at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in preparation for the next Ultraviolet, Optical, Infrared (UVOIR) space observatory. A likely science mission of that observatory is the detection and characterization of 'Earth-like' exoplanets. Direct exoplanet observation requires a telescope to see a planet that is 10-10 times dimmer than its host star. To accomplish this using an internal coronagraph requires a telescope with an ultra-stable wavefront. This paper investigates two topics: 1) parametric relationships between a primary mirror's thermal parameters and wavefront stability, and 2) optimal temperature profiles in the telescope's shroud and heater plate that minimize static wavefront error (WFE) in the primary mirror.


The response of natural Baltic Sea spring plankton communities topredicted higher temperature and increased seawater acidification was studied in an indoor-mesocosm experiment. Plankton communities ...


The utility model relates to a plastic mudguard which comprises a mudguard body, the middle of the mudguard body has two layers. Compared with the prior plastic mudguard, the mudguard body of the plastic mudguard is a two-layer hollow mudguard body, the strength of the plastic mudguard is high, and the service life is long.


The aim of this work was to evaluate a previously-developed model on supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) for carotenoid recovery from carrot peels on various carotenoid-rich fruit and vegetable wastes. To this end, 15 matrices, including flesh and peels of sweet potato, tomato, apricot, pumpkin and peach, as well as flesh and wastes of green, yellow and red peppers, were submitted to SFE under optimised conditions (59 °C, 350 bar, 15 g/min CO2, 15.5% (v/v) ethanol as co-solvent, 30 min of extraction time). The obtained extracts were characterised for their total carotenoid content, antioxidant activity and total carotenoid recovery (TCR). TCR values were greater than 90% w/w for most samples, with β-carotene being the most successfully extracted compound (TCRs 88–100% w/w). More polar carotenoids, such as lutein and lycopene, exhibited lower TCRs. A comparison with literature data suggested that carotenoid extraction is partially dependent on the composition of vegetable matrices, specifically on polysaccharide and moisture content. The results indicated that the optimised SFE conditions can be used as a general model for carotenoid extraction from various fruit and vegetable matrices and as a viable method for adding value to these waste streams by generating carotenoid-rich extracts.


The article is devoted to the consideration of synergetics as a new scientific direction. The disclosure of the paradigmatic essence of the concept of synergetics, which is important for modern science, seems to be a very urgent problem.The article examines the basic concept of linguosynergetics as a new direction in modern linguistics, analyzes the views and concepts of scientists involved in the study of the concept of "synergy". Synergetics is a new interdisciplinary discipline, the subject of its research is the processes of self-organization of various complex systems, at present one of the most important problems is the definition of its methodological apparatus and the search for the most complete definition. Synergetics is a scientific direction, a methodological method, a self-organizer of complex, non-linear complex systems. Science of the twentieth century through selfdevelopment gradually formed its new paradigm, which in the early 70 G. Haken called "synergetics".Today, synergetics has become actively used in the field of integrated humanities. The problem of synergy, as in the natural sciences, began to penetrate into linguistics in accordance with the nature of integration and organization of the internal laws of the language. In accordance with the anthropocentric orientation of modern linguistics, in the process of learning a language, the definition of the actualized synergy of the word began to be considered.


This work summarizes the main aspects of the theory developed in the doctoral thesis La Belle Epoque Argentina. Arte, arquitectura domestica y diseno de muebles aplicados a la decoracion de interiores burguesa (1860-1936) [ The Belle Epoque in Argentina. Art, domestic architecture and furniture design applied to the upper-class interior design (1860-1936) ] presented in the Facultad de Bellas Artes, Universidad Nacional de La Plata [School of Fine Arts, National university of La Plata]. This article analyzes the upper-class or non-modern capitalist aesthetics applied to the industrial design of contemporary furniture, the relationship between industrial design and arts and crafts, and their relation with the history of art and the architecture. With the aim of going beyond the debate, this work takes a closer look at the epistemological bases of the academic industrial design teaching and at the necessity of reformulating the design theory under the philosophical spirit of the critic.


There are many types of microalgae that can grow in sea and fresh water, having a high lipid content in their composition. Lipids in microalgae are used for the production of biofuels, cosmetics, medicines and other products. This article is devoted to the assessment of optimal growing conditions for such microalgae, taking into account their individual spectral sensitivity in the maximum use of sunlight. This will make it possible to create film-ceramic composites that provide the greatest increase in biomass with minimal water consumption and time.


Livestock pollution is the main source of environmental pollution in rural areas. To explore the effects of the farmers' environmental behaviour on livestock pollution using the questionnaire and interview methods, the environmental cognition of farmers and their willingness to practice faeces decontamination in livestock breeding were analysed with survey data collected from 80 farmers in Xiantao of China, on September 2016. Results show that the environmental cognition of farmers is related to the status of rural development. In addition, when the farmers' educational level is high, the environmental cognition is also high. The farmers' environmental behaviour is also influenced by their state of environmental cognition and willingness to practice faeces decontamination. Production scale and government policies are also important factors affecting the behaviours of farmers. The choice of faeces decontamination has a positive interrelated relationship with the education levels of farmers, as well as the livestock breeding scale and time. This study's findings provide guidelines on the formulation of relevant policies to control pollution resulting from livestock farming.


Students' mathematical connection is one of ability that students must have. However, one of the reasons that student's mathematical connection is still poor is the lack of enthusiasm of students while learning mathematics, and learning that does not give flexibility to students to empower the brain. Therefore, it is necessary to have an alternative learning that can develop students' mathematical connection. The purpose of this study is to find out students' enhancement in mathematical connecting ability who worked under brain-based learning model and students' who worked under expository learning model and the effect of brain based learning model on enhancing mathematical connection ability. This study used a quasi-experimental method. The subject in this research was 49 students from 2 classes in one of junior high schools, in Subang, West Java, selected by applying purposive sampling technique. The instruments used were mathematical connection test and attitude scale. Based on the results it was concluded that: (1) students' enhancement in mathematical connecting ability who worked under brain-based learning model is higher than that of students' who worked under expository learning model; and (2) the students' who worked under brain-based learning model showed positive attitude toward mathematics lesson.


Learning algorithms are proliferating in a variety of business contexts, ranging from automated bidding in online auctions to pricing on shopping platforms and setting rents. This diffusion has been accompanied by fears that such automation could facilitate collusion. A number of recent papers on algorithmic pricing show in simulations that learning algorithms coordinate on less-than-competitive outcomes.


The model of the molecular weight distribution (MWD) of polypropylene produced in a loop reactor is established. The simulated MWD data of the polymers produced in steady-state polymerizations agree with the actual data collected from certain plant. The simulated weight-average molecular weight data also agree with the plant data in start-up processes. Furthermore, the model can be used to simulate the influence of the operation parameters on the MWD of the polymers produced in the steady-state polymerizations as well as the dynamic polymerizations. The simulated results of the steady state polymerizations show the MWD width of polypropylene decreases with the increase of both the propylene flow and the hydrogen flow, but increases with the increase of the catalyst flow. We also find the weight fraction of the polymers with short chains increases with the increase of both the propylene flow and the hydrogen flow, meanwhile, a small shift of the MWD curve to long chains can also be found as the catalyst flow increases. In the dynamic polymerizations, simulations indicate the MWD width and the weight fraction of the polymers with long chains all decrease in both of the start-up process and the end-up process of the polymerizations. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 47:1643–1649, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers


Many papers which deal with the dynamic instability of shell-like structures under the STEP load has been published but there have been few papers related to the dynamic instability of hybrid cable domes. And also there are a few researches which treat the essential phenomenon of the dynamic buckling using the phase for investigating occurrence of chaos. In this study the indirect buckling of hybrid cable domes considering geometric nonlinearity are investigated numerically and compared it with the static critical load The dynamic critical loads are determined by the numerical integration of the geometric nonlinear equation of motion and the mechanism of the indirect buckling is examined by using the phase curves.


AIMS
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the PROMETA™ Protocol for treating methamphetamine dependence.

DESIGN
A double-blind, placebo-controlled 108-day study with random assignment to one of two study conditions: active medication with flumazenil (2 mg infusions on days 1, 2, 3, 22, 23), gabapentin (1200 mg to day 40) and hydroxazine (50 mg to day 10) versus placebo medication (with active hydroxazine only).

SETTING
Three substance abuse treatment clinics: two in-patient, one out-patient.

PARTICIPANTS
Treatment-seeking, methamphetamine-dependent adults (n = 120).

MEASUREMENTS
Primary outcome was percentage of urine samples testing negative for methamphetamine during the trial.

FINDINGS
No statistically significant between-group differences were detected in urine drug test results, craving, treatment retention or adverse events.

CONCLUSIONS
The PROMETA protocol, consisting of flumazenil, gabapentin and hydroxyzine, appears to be no more effective than placebo in reducing methamphetamine use, retaining patients in treatment or reducing methamphetamine craving.


The general actions of matter-coupled supergravity have Peccei–Quinn terms that may violate gauge and supersymmetry invariance. In addition, supergravity with vector multiplets may also contain generalized Chern–Simons terms. These have often been neglected in the literature despite their importance for gauge and supersymmetry invariance. We clarify the interplay of Peccei–Quinn terms, generalized Chern–Simons terms and quantum anomalies in the context of supergravity and exhibit conditions that have to be satisfied for their mutual consistency. This extension of the previously known matter-coupled supergravity actions follows naturally from the embedding of the gauge group into the group of symplectic duality transformations. Our results regarding this extension provide the supersymmetric framework for studies of string compactifications with axionic shift symmetries, generalized Chern–Simons terms and quantum anomalies.


Preliminary TECXY code simulation results of scrape‐off layer conditions in DEMO1 reactor design are presented. The values for snowflake (SF) and single null divertor configurations are discussed. The SF divertor configuration used here, although not fully optimised yet, already promises better performance than standard single null divertor as far as heat load mitigation due to interactions with neutrals. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Summary: Backgrounds: Patients with cancer are highly susceptible to infections. There is lack of evidence-based guidelines or protocols for their management in palliative and terminal cancer care. Purpose: To define optimal management of diagnosis and therapy of infections and infection related symptoms in patients in palliative and terminal cancer care. Infections are, along with tromboembolic disease and progression of cancer, the most frequent causes of death in oncology. Besides the impact on mortality are accompanied with myriad of symptoms which worsen quality of life. High incidence of infectons is due to malignant disease, therapy and host factors. There is lack of guidelines and protocols of therapy infections in palliative and terminal cancer care, which can be evidece-based. Most of studies are retrospective in nature with different methods and cohorts. Incidence of infections in palliative medicine is between 16%-55% in specialized palliative units, and grows almost to 83% in acute care hospitals. The most frequent are urinary tract (39%-42%) and respiratory infections (22%-36%), soft tissue and skin infections (6%-12%) and bacteremia (5%-14%). There is no positive impact on survival with antibiotics in this group. Symptom control and antibiotic therapy in palliative and terminal care is controversial, in most of studies is symptom control only in few patients. Mostly in urinary tract infections (60%-79%), less in other infection localizations (30%-43%), in last week of life there is symptom control around 10%. For management of diagnostics and therapy of infections is very important prognosis, actuall status and patient preference. In terms od weeks and months is diagnostics and therapy not different with comparison of other oncologic patients. In terminal cancer care is use of antibiotics strictly symptomatic with palliative care plan. This article reviews current knowledge of diagnostics and therapy of infections in palliative cancer care.


In general, the main objective of this study was to find ways to extend the reach of public transportation systems in Morgantown, West Virginia, and provide users with more convenient and economical modes of transportation. This research investigates the integration of the Morgantown Downtown People Mover (DPM) system with other transportation systems, namely, the bus system and private autos, into one comprehensive system that better serves the needs of the city. The Morgantown DPM (or Personal Rapid Transit) system is a new mode of public transportation; it is a fully automated computer-controlled system. The rubber-tired vehicles are electrically powered, and the stations are off-line, so that the flow of vehicles is not disrupted by stops at each station.


The present study employs a process-based DSSAT (Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer) model for estimating agriculture water use and its evaluation for simulating groundwater fluctuations. A field experiment was performed during kharif season with PR 121 variety (rice) at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. There were six treatments with three dates of transplanting – June 5 (D1), June 20 (D2) and July 5 (D3), one cultivar – PR121 (V) and two irrigation regimes – 2-day drainage (I1) and tensiometer-based (I2). Both simulation and experimental results showed that paddy transplanted on June 20 (D2) and tensiometer-based irrigation treatment (I2) gave 23 and 32% higher yield in comparison to June 5 (D1) and July 5 (D3) with maximum water use efficiency of 1.69 kg/m . The validated DSSAT model was simulated for a historical time slice (1998–2014) and indicated that 66% of applied water in the form of rainfall or irrigation in paddy fields was lost as drainage component. The simulated change in storage (rainfall minus evapotranspiration) was able to explain groundwater level fluctuations in terms of trends/magnitude in most of the years.