Efficient low-frequency calibration of the entire seismograph system can be accomplished by Fourier analysis of the system response to automatically generated transient test functions applied to the seismometer calibration coil. Typically, such calibrations are restricted to frequencies less than 10 Hz by the ambient ground motion, system noise, and limited dynamic range. To extend the calibration to a broader frequency range, we disconnect the seismometer and take advantage of the fact that the relative amplitude response of the electronic components in most systems can be measured with high accuracy at frequencies from as low as 0.02 Hz to the Nyquist frequency (e.g., 50 Hz) using standard electronics test equipment. The low-frequency amplitude response of the seismometer can then be isolated by dividing the total system response by that obtained for the electronic components. An iterative least-squares procedure is used to estimate the natural frequency and damping coefficient of the seismometer, along with a scaling parameter that specifies the absolute gain of the system. The phase response of the system is calculated directly from the amplitude response using the Hilbert transform. The procedure assumes that the seismometer is an ideal damped harmonic oscillator and that the system as a whole acts as a minimum phase filter. The only instrumental constants that must be known from independent measurement are the seismometer calibration coil force constant and the inertial mass.


Determining the generalizability of biological mechanisms supporting psychological constructs is a central goal of cognitive neuroscience. Self-esteem is a popular psychological construct that is associated with a variety of measures of mental health and life satisfaction. Recently, there has been interest in identifying biological mechanisms that support individual differences in self-esteem. Understanding the biological basis of self-esteem requires identifying predictive biomarkers of self-esteem that generalize across groups of individuals. Previous research using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging has shown that self-esteem is related to the integrity of structural connections linking frontostriatal brain systems involved in self-referential processing and reward. However, these findings were based on a small, relatively homogeneous group of participants. In the current study, we used an out-of-sample predictive modeling approach to generalize the results of the previous study to an independent sample of participants more than twice the size of the original study. We found that both linear univariate and multivariate machine learning models trained on frontostriatal integrity from the original data significantly predicted self-esteem in the independent dataset. These findings underscore the relationship between self-esteem and frontostriatal connectivity and suggest these results are robust to differences in scanning acquisition, analytic methods, and participant demographics.


Continuous-time (CT) complex SigmaDelta modulators seriously suffer from delay in real and imaginary feedback paths. The mismatched loop delay results in a degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio. In this paper, analytical considerations of mismatched loop delay in CT complex SigmaDelta modulators are presented. Discrete-time equivalent transfer functions to that of a CT complex loop filter are derived from continuous-discrete transformation in the complex signal domain. A solution for reducing or compensating the effect of mismatched loop delay is proposed.


This chapter focuses on challenges to improving the realism of socially intelligent agents and attempts to reflect the state of the art in human behavior modeling with particular attention to the impact of values, emotion, and physiology/stress upon individual and group decision-making. The goal is to help those interested in constructing more realistic software agents for use in human performance simulations in both training and analysis settings. The first two sections offer an assessment of the state of the practice and of the need to make better use of human performance moderator functions (PMFs) published in the behavioral literature. The third section pursues this goal by providing an illustrative framework for integrating existing PMF theories and models, such as those on physiology and stress, cognitive and emotive processes, individual differences, and group and crowd behavior, among others. The fourth section presents asymmetric warfare and civil unrest case studies to examine some of the concerns affecting implementation of PMFs such as verification, validation, and interoperability with existing simulators, artificial life emulators, and artificial intelligence components. The final section of this chapter concludes with lessons learned and with some challenges if the field is to reach a greater level of maturity.


Health status assessment and disease surveillance are essential to identify and priorize health issues, to evaluate intervention programs and to plan to meet future needs for health services. Canadians currently benefit by having among the highest life expectancies at birth in the world (81 for females, 74 for males). Disability-free life expectancies for females and males, respectively, were 10.1 and 11.3 years lower for the lowest income quintile compared to the highest. Canada's infant mortality rate in 1990 (7/1000 live births) was one of the lowest in the world but within Canada, the rate in the lowest income quintile (10.5/1000 live births) was almost double that in the highest income quintile (5.8/1000 live births). Fair or poor health was reported by 36% of adult Canadians in the lowest income category in 1990 compared to only 5% in the highest income group. The leading causes of premature death for females in 1991 were breast cancer, coronary heart disease, lung cancer, car crashes, birth defects and suicide; those for males were coronary heart disease, suicide, car crashes, lung cancer, birth defects, and AIDS. Lowest income quintile males had mortality rates at least double those for the highest income quintile for alcohol-related conditions, violence, injuries and emphysema. Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, musculoskeletal diseases, injuries and respiratory diseases imposed the highest direct and indirect economic costs in Canada in 1986. For all of these conditions, improved prevention is possible. For example, the forecasted tobacco-related deaths before age 70 among current male smokers age 15 will far exceed those due to car crashes, suicide, murder, AIDS, and drug abuse combined. Population aging will aggravate trends for many chronic conditions especially those with increasing incidence rates; there will be large increases in the numbers of persons with aging-related cancers, dementias and other conditions. There is an urgent need for Canadian health jurisdictions to ensure that rational priorities, goals/objectives, strategies, and programs are in place to enhance prevention and disease control.


Abstract: When chicks are trained to avoid pecking a bead coated with methylanthranilate in a one‐trial passive avoidance task there is an increase in fucose incorporation in vivo and in vitro in the right forebrain base of methylanthranilate (M)‐trained compared to water (W)‐trained chicks. The relation of this increase to de novo protein synthesis in vivo and in vitro has been examined. Cycloheximide (Cx), 1 mM, inhibited in vitro fucosylation of chick brain slices by 60% after 3 h. However, the training‐related increase in in vitro fucosylation still persisted. When Cx was injected intraventricularly 10 min before training, the subsequent increase in in vitro fucosylation due to training was still apparent. When Cx was injected and [14C]leucine and [3H]fucose incorporation studied in vivo in M‐trained and W‐trained chicks, there was no increase in fucosylation due to training in the Cx‐treated M‐trained over the W‐trained chicks. These results are taken to indicate that in vitro fucosylation and its increase subsequent to training is not protein synthesis‐dependent, but that both in vivo and in vitro there are interactions between Cx and fucosylation steps that are independent of Cx's effects on protein synthesis.


Paclitaxel (PTX) has shown pleiotropic immunologic effects on the tumor microenvironment, and nanomicelle has emerged as a promising strategy for PTX delivery. However, the detailed mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. Meanwhile, immunogenic cell death (ICD) is an effective approach to activate the immune system. This study investigated the ICD effect of PTX and how nanomicelle affected the immune-activation ability of PTX. Methods: The ICD effects of PTX were identified via the expression of ICD markers and cell vaccine experiment. Tumor size and overall survival in multiple animal models with treatment were monitored to evaluate the antitumor effects. The mechanisms of PTX-induced ICD and antitumor immunity were determined by detecting gene expression related to ER stress and analyzing immune cell profile in tumor after treatment. Results: We revealed the immune-regulation mechanism of PTX nanomicelle by inducing ICD, which can promote antigen presentation by dendritic cells (DCs) and activate antitumor immunity. Notably, nanomicelle encapsulation protected the ICD effects and immune activation, which were hampered by immune system impairment caused by chemotherapy. Compared with traditional formulations, a low dose of nanomicelle-encapsulated PTX (nano-PTX) treatment induced immune-dependent tumor control, which increased the infiltration and function of both T cells and DCs within tumors. However, this antitumor immunity was hampered by highly expressed PD-1 on tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells and upregulated PD-L1 on both immune cells and tumor cells after nano-PTX treatment. Combination therapy with a low dose of nano-PTX and PD-1 antibodies elicited CD8+ T cell-dependent antitumor immunity and remarkably improved the therapeutic efficacy. Conclusions: Our results provide systemic insights into the immune-regulation ability of PTX to induce ICD, which acts as an inducer of endogenous vaccines through ICD effects, and also provides an experimental basis for clinical combination therapy with nano-PTX and PD-1 antibodies.


The study was conducted in Moretna Jiru district, North Shoa zones of Amhara Regional State of Ethiopia from February 2014 to January 2016 to assess fattening cattle marketing system. The primary and secondary data were collected through structured interview, focus group discussion and direct filed observation. Statistical package for social science (SPSS 16) were used to analyze data. In the study area, most respondents (94.8%) did not record cattle history but 75% of respondents have recorded their cost analysis. Producers, traders and brokers were the main actors in fattened cattle marketing in the study area. Producers and brokers took the first and third rank respectively but brokers have a significant impact on bargaining. Traditionally, producers and traders invite the persons who made bargaining which is called "fintir". This was done by contributing equal amount of money from (seller and buyer). Most (45.0%) respondents bought cattle from South Wollo district market and 66.7% respondents were sold at village market. Majority of respondents in the study area obtain marketing information from market visit and neighbors. The maximum and minimum price of fattened cattle in the study area in 2015 was 58,000 and 21,000 Ethiopian birr (2566 and 927 US dollars) respectively. Majority (98.3%) of the respondents reported the occurrence of market fluctuation in fattening cattle due to different reasons. Fasting was the main cause (42.4%) for market fluctuation. Most respondents traveled on foot to buy and sell fattened cattle. The major challenge to transport fattened cattle to and from market was found to be transportation facilities. All of the producers and brokers did not have any license on fattening cattle for marketing and only 5% of trader's respondents had a license. This research was used to generate baseline information on fattened cattle market.

 Key words: Infrastructure, license, market actors, marketing fluctuation, market information.


In Neurospora crassa, evidence has recently been obtained for a cluster of four closely-linked genes controlling the inducible enzymes catalyzing the first three reactions in the catabolism of quinic acid. Three of these genes appear to be the structural genes for the three enzymes. The fourth gene, designated qa-1, has been interpreted as having a regulatory function, since qa-1 mutants are pleiotropic types, are noninducible for the three enzymes, and form heterocaryons which complement mutants in the structural genes. The present studies were undertaken to elucidate further the nature of the regulatory role of the qa-1 locus. A number of constitutive (qa-1(C)) mutants have been obtained from certain qa-1 mutants as revertants selected for their ability to grow on quinic acid as a sole source of carbon. These qa-1(C) mutants produce high levels of all three enzymes in the absence of an inducer, map within (or very close to) the qa-1 locus, and produce a catabolic dehydroquinase (EC 220.127.116.11) which is indistinguishable, on the basis of thermolability tests, from that of wild type. In addition, when grown in the absence of an inducer, heterocaryons between wild-type (qa-1(+)) and different qa-1(C) mutants exhibit markedly different levels of constitutivity (from 5 to 50% of the particular parental qa-1(C) mutant) for catabolic dehydroquinase, one of the enzymes under qa-1 control. These overall results are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that the qa-1(+) gene product (presumably a multimeric protein) plays only a positive regulatory role in initiating synthesis of the three quinate catabolic enzymes.


Communicating with adolescents about climate change can be challenging if we want to safeguard their emotional well-being. Here, we evaluate the emotional impact of climate change communication that is informed by self-determination theory (SDT). We conducted two experiments with samples of ethnically diverse adolescents from the United States to examine adolescents' emotions when reading needs-aligned, needs-misaligned, and needs-neutral (control) communication about climate change. Adolescents who read needs-aligned communication reported less anxiety compared with adolescents who read needs-misaligned (Study 1) and needs-neutral (Study 2) communication. Unexpectedly, compared with adolescents who read needs-neutral communication, adolescents who read needs-misaligned communication reported more positive emotions (i.e., enjoyment, pride) when learning about climate change (Study 2). Our research provides initial evidence that SDT can inform climate change communication strategies that buffer adolescents from experiencing anxiety.


Background Strong opioid substitution to a different route or a different strong opioid is common in palliative care. Variation in practice had been noted across the region despite the availability of regional, national and international guidance. Aim Within a regional palliative care audit program in the North West of England to; Evaluate opioid substitution practice in hospice, hospital and community settings; Update regional standards and guidelines for opioid substitution. Methods Systematic literature review; Multi–site retrospective case note analysis. Results 18 articles were identified to inform the update of the regional standards and guidelines. 285 patient records were analysed from 21 different sites. Patients had either undergone a change in route or a change to a different strong opioid. In 93% of cases the reason for opioid substitution was documented. The commonest reasons were neurotoxicity (58%), oral route being inappropriate (34%), renal impairment (14%) and inadequate analgesia (12%). In only 35% of cases was the rationale for the new dose documented (eg with a dose calculation or reference to a conversion table). In 21% there was documentation of alternative measures tried prior to the opioid substitution (n=281). The commonest alternatives were: treating adverse effects with medications (43%), using co-analgesics (38%), checking for drug interactions (18%) and making a dose reduction (16%). The opioid substitution was of clinical benefit (complete or partial) in 87% (n=52). Conclusion This study showed that strong opioid substitution was of benefit in the majority of patients. However there is risk involved in any opioid substitution. Clear documentation is critical to justify clinical decision-making. It is currently not widespread practice to be documenting rationale for the new dose of the strong opioid. This is now recommended in the updated regional guidelines.


Hodgkin lymphoma is a well-known clinico-pathological entity with a stable incidence among time accounting for 1200 new cases each year in France. The disease is one of the most curable cancer and occurs often in young patients with a median age at 33 years, the major clinical symptoms are lymph nodes mostly above the diaphragm (mediastinal and supra-clavicular). The diagnosis should be suggested with non-specific symptoms such as fever, night sweats, pruritus, weight-loss, lymph node, cough.. leading to prescribe routine exams like blood test with leucocyte count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and chest Xray. Treatments always include chemotherapy and radiotherapy in localized disease and at a low dose only in involved fields. The usually good prognostic of Hodgkin lymphoma may not let us forget that there are still deaths in patients with refractory or early relapse of the disease. There is still an unmet need is these patients and the search for new drugs is essential.


Quantitative measurements are indispensable in the conduct of science. This is as true for medicine as it is for chemistry or physics. The close interrelationships between the many branches of science and the international character of science and medicine require that a single, worldwide system of measurements be employed. The international system of units (SI) as recognized by the Conference Generale des Poide et Mesures has now been adopted by most countries and is being used in most scientific areas, including engineering. This system has seven base units and two supplementary units of measurements (Table 1). From the seven base units, all other measurements can be derived. As examples, volume, area, speed, pressure, force, and work are obtained by algebraically combining with multiplication and division two or more base units. When the base units are combined algebraically, the derived unit is said to be rational, and no prefix is needed


A recent article by the Victorian Paediatric Infant Perinatal Emergency Retrieval Service showed that phototherapy is feasible and safe during transport of neonates with severe unconjugated jaundice and may reduce the requirement for exchange transfusion. Interestingly, logistic regression analysis in that study showed that intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) did not emerge as independently associated with exchange transfusion. This raises two discussion points. The first is, how can regional areas improve the early identification of neonates who are at risk of severe jaundice at birth so as to instigate early intensive phototherapy and reduce the chances of exchange transfusion? Second, is there a role for IVIG in infants with severe jaundice awaiting retrieval? I think regional centres need to consider making umbilical cord bilirubin measurement routine in babies with Rhesus-negative mothers or other risk factors to enable early intensive phototherapy. By using available normograms, infants with high cord bilirubin values can receive intensive phototherapy even within 1 h after birth. The 2011 randomised controlled trial (RCT) quoted by the authors suggested that IVIG was ineffective in preventing exchange transfusion in Rhesus isoimmunisation. I would like to point out that the numbers in that RCT were small (80 infants), intensive prophylactic phototherapy was started immediately after birth, thereby reducing the risk of severe jaundice, and most of the infants had received intrauterine transfusions (IUTs). In regional Australia, it is unlikely to be the case that neonates requiring transport would have received prophylactic phototherapy immediately after birth nor would such patients have received IUT. Patients who are identified in pregnancy to be at very high risk or who would have received IUT are likely to be found in tertiary centres under Maternal Fetal Medicine units. The American Academy of Pediatrics 2004 guidelines recommended the administration of IVIG in isoimmune haemolytic disease, but there has been mixed evidence from systematic reviews. A 2002 Cochrane review and another systematic review of RCTs found a significant reduction in the need for an exchange transfusion with the use of IVIG. One later systematic review showed that the efficacy of IVIG was inconclusive in Rhesus isoimmunisation. Studies that had a low risk of bias showed no benefit, while studies with high risk of bias showed benefit. I think it is positive news for infants in regional areas that phototherapy is feasible and safe during transport.While the evidence for IVIG is inconclusive, I think regional hospitals in consultation with neonatologists still need to consider using IVIG prior to transport if it is available together with early intensive phototherapy,especially in caseswhere significant delays in transport are likely to occur and serum bilirubin is rapidly rising towards exchange levels. IVIG will be particularly useful in selected cases where parents are likely to object to exchange transfusion for religious reasons such as Jehovah's Witnesses or out of fear for adverse effects of exchange transfusion. Larger well-designed RCTs are obviously needed to determine the efficacy of IVIG in severe unconjugated jaundice.


Background: While the effects of war on individuals, age groups, and communities have been thoroughly studied, there has been relatively little mention in the literature regarding its differential effects on adult children and their elderly parents and grandparents. Methods: Three hundred thirty-eight participants (167 elderly parents and 171 adult offspring) living in the northern and southern regions of Israel, were interviewed after the Second Lebanon War (2006) and the Casting Lead Operation (2008). (A military operation took place at the Israeli southern border as a reaction to the 7 years of missiles bombing from the Gaza strip to the Israeli civilians.) The participants were sampled by a cluster sampling. Findings: Elderly population experiences higher levels of PTSD symptoms than their adult children do. Women experience higher levels of PTSD symptoms than men and Israeli Arabs and Druze more than Israeli Jews. Conclusions: A policy should be enacted among the local authorities and the governmental offices that would ensure accessibility to and the ability to provide proper care for the elderly population during times of war or terror events. In addition, it is important to setup local teams in every local community to deal with the level of mental and emotional preparedness of the home front and its inhabitants, in case the latter should again become part of the human casualties of the wars and terrorist events that occur in Israel.


Calving icebergs falling into water can generate large tsunamis, so-called iceberg-tsunamis. This phenomenon poses a threat for the fishing and shipping industries and coastal communities. Examples in Greenland include a 50 m amplitude wave recorded during an iceberg calving event at the Eqip Sermia glacier in 2014 and a tsunami generated by a capsizing iceberg in 1995 damaging a harbour. This work aims to numerically model the generation and propagation of such iceberg-tsunamis with the open source code Foam-extend 4.0. The original multiphase flow solver relying on the Immersed Boundary Method in this code has been modified to handle moving immersed boundaries, and it was then coupled with a motion solver to determine the iceberg motion. This method is validated with an own large-scale iceberg-tsunami test conducted in a 50 m × 50 m basin. The results show that the numerical iceberg motion and tsunamis generally agree with the laboratory observations. Further, the presented model can capture the laboratory wave heights and decay well. Future work will focus on simulating additional iceberg calving scenarios as well as modelling turbulence.


In this paper, we employ the extended boundary condition method with the Weierstrass-Mandelbrot (WM) fractal function to model and solve a relevant electromagnetic scattering problem. The key point of the procedure is the property of the WM to be an almost periodic function. This allows to generalize techniques employed for periodic problems and to express the field by means of a superposition of Floquet modes. The procedure is devised for the general case of dielectric surfaces. Criteria for assessing the validity of the method are discussed and provided. Validity of the method is confirmed by numerical results.


Objectives and methods : This research aims to study about conversion system of channels. In the present study, we investigated the movement and conversion of channels on the base of three step theory(三才論), Yeak(易), Hado.Laksea(河圖洛書) and five elements motion and six kinds of factors(Six-Qi). Results and Conclusions : The organization of meridian is composed of the following three parts: hand and foot, Yin and Yang, and the viscera and bowals. It is play an important role in energy flow and its conversion. The law governing energy conversion is divided into three groups i.e. taiyin-yangming channel, shaoyin-taiyang channel and jueyin-shaoyang channel group. Those are composed of Deadea(對待) of Six-Qi, making the body homeostasis. Taken together, we suggest that the conversion system of meridian is founded on the unity between the human body and nature which provides the medical workers with a necessary method of thinking in treating diseases.


OBJECTIVE
Colleges are potential hotspots for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 due to lower immunization rates and possible close contacts among young adults. Some universities have implemented policies mandating COVID-19 vaccination; however, their effects remain uncertain. We estimated COVID-19 vaccination rates with and without university-mandated vaccination policies.

PARTICIPANTS
A university-wide survey was conducted among 2,011 students.

METHODS
Students completed an online questionnaire on sociodemographics, COVID-19 vaccine status, and vaccine intention.

RESULTS
Without university vaccine mandates, 76% of students would receive a COVID-19 vaccination, and with vaccine mandates, more than 82% of students would receive vaccination. Despite this improvement, we observed fewer changes in vaccine coverage for certain subgroups of students, indicating these policies could exacerbate ongoing disparities in COVID-19 vaccination rates.

CONCLUSIONS
COVID-19 vaccine mandates on campuses are likely to increase vaccination rates modestly. However, interventions will likely be required to supplement vaccine mandates.


Chronic respiratory diseases, mainly asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), affect the lives of people by limiting their activities in various aspects. Overcrowding of hospital emergency departments (EDs) due to respiratory diseases in certain weather and environmental pollution conditions results in the degradation of quality of medical care, and even limits its availability. A useful tool for ED managers would be to forecast peak demand days so that they can take steps to improve the availability of medical care. In this paper, we developed an artificial neural network based classifier using multilayer perceptron with back propagation algorithm that predicts peak event (peak demand days) of patients with respiratory diseases, mainly asthma and COPD visiting EDs in Dallas County of Texas in the United States. The precision and recall for peak event class were 77.1% and 78.0%, respectively, and those for nonpeak events were 83.9% and 83.2%, respectively. The overall accuracy of the system is 81.0%.


The International Union of Railway provides an annually safety report highlighting that human factor is one of the main causes of railway accidents every year. Consequently, the study of human reliability is fundamental, and it must be included within a complete reliability assessment for every railway-related system. However, currently RARA (Railway Action Reliability Assessment) is the only approach available in literature that considers human task specifically customized for railway applications. The main disadvantages of RARA are the impact of expert's subjectivity and the difficulty of a numerical assessment for the model parameters in absence of an exhaustive error and accident database. This manuscript introduces an innovative fuzzy method for the assessment of human factor in safety-critical systems for railway applications to address the problems highlighted above. Fuzzy logic allows to simplify the assessment of the model parameters by means of linguistic variables more resemblant to human cognitive process. Moreover, it deals with uncertain and incomplete data much better than classical deterministic approach and it minimizes the subjectivity of the analyst evaluation. The output of the proposed algorithm is the result of a fuzzy interval arithmetic, $\alpha $ -cut theory and centroid defuzzification procedure. The proposed method has been applied to the human operations carried out on a railway signaling system. Four human tasks and two scenarios have been simulated to analyze the performance of the proposed algorithm. Finally, the results of the method are compared with the classical RARA procedure underline compliant results obtain with a simpler, less complex and more intuitive approach.


A method of calculation is introduced that allows the simulation of the time-dependent three-dimensional motion of liquid droplets on solid substrates for systems exhibiting finite equilibrium contact angles. The contact angle is a prescribed function of position on the substrate. An evolution equation is presented, using the lubrication approximation, that includes viscous, capillary, disjoining, and gravitational forces. Motion to and from dry substrate regions is made possible by use of a thin energetically stable wetting layer. Axisymmetric spreading on a uniform substrate is calculated, and it is found, in agreement with reported experiments, that spreading rates are independent of the contact angle until the drop has almost stabilized. We simulate motion on a heterogeneous substrate composed of two different materials having widely different contact angles. Motion proceeds in an almost discontinuous fashion as the initial droplet breaks up into smaller pieces through the action of the wetting forces. Various forms of the disjoining energy functional are employed; the particular choice is found to have only a limited quantitative effect of the drop dynamics. Experimental observations confirm the basic features of the simulation, although a time-scale correction needs to be applied.


An important area of Senghor's verse, which has not received any serious critical consideration among critics, centers on Man and Nature. The reason for this critical neglect is hard to fathom, especially, considering the fact that everything we have discussed about Senghor's poetics -- including Negritude, womanhood, the dead ancestors, the African topographical landscape, etc -- revolves around man and nature. By Man, I mean human beings; by Nature, I mean every other thing created by God. Senghor's poetic art benefits from each of these sources which we shall discuss here below.


Transport of fast ions is a crucial issue during the operation of ITER. Redistribution of neutral beam injection (NBI) fast ions by the ideal internal magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities in ITER is studied utilizing the guiding-center code ORBIT (R.B. White et al 1984 Phys. Fluids
 27 2455). Effects of the perturbation amplitude A of the internal kink, the perturbation frequency f of the fishbone instability, and the toroidal mode number n of the internal kink are investigated, respectively, in this work. The n = 1 internal kink mode can cause NBI fast ions transporting in real space from regions of 0 < s ≤ 0.32 to 0.32 < s ≤ 0.53, where s labels the normalized plasma radial coordinate. The transport of fast ions is greater as the perturbation amplitude increases. The maximum relative change of the number of fast ions approaches 5% when the perturbation amplitude rises to 500 G. A strong transport is generated between the regions of 0 < s ≤ 0.05 and 0.05 < s ≤ 0.12 in the presence of the fishbone instability. Higher frequency results in greater transport, and the number of fast ions in 0 < s ≤ 0.05 is reduced by 30% at the fishbone frequency of 100 kHz. Perturbations with higher n will lead to excursion of fast ion transport regions outward along the radial direction. The loss of fast ions, however, is not affected by the internal MHD perturbation. Strong transport from 0 < s ≤ 0.05 to 0.05 < s ≤ 0.12 does not influence the plasma heating power of ITER, since the NBI fast ions are still located in the plasma core. On the other hand, the influence of fast ion transport from 0 < s ≤ 0.32 to 0.32 < s ≤ 0.53 needs a further study.


The aim of the work is to reduce the unsprung weight of the wheel of a racing automobile due to the use of a disc made of titanium alloy in the brake mechanism. The object of the study is the brake disc of a vehicle of the Formula Student class. The subject of research is the use of titanium alloy in the design of the brake disc and its performance evaluation. As part of the work, an analysis of the thermal loading of the brake disc made of titanium alloy and the experimental verification of its performance were made. The calculations of thermal loading were carried out by the finite element method. To this end, a calculation method has been developed taking into account changes in the heat flux and convection co- efficient during multiple braking. The paper presents the results obtained when carrying out calculations in accordance with this method. The numerical evaluation showed that the temperature arising in the brake mechanism does not exceed the permissible for the working capacity of the brake mechanism. The full-scale experiment showed that the calculated disk temperature, which occurs during braking, is close to the temperature established during the full-scale experiment. The error is not more than 13 %. A full-scale experiment showed that the brake disc made of titanium alloy is not operational with the selected manufacturing technology. The conclusions were drawn on the applicability of the above method of thermal analysis of the brake disc, on the performance of the structure, and proposals were made for improving its efficiency.


Pharmacokinetics of the investigational cephalosporin ceftriaxone were studied after 30-min intravenous infusions of three ascending single doses of 0.5, 1, and 2 g crossed over in 12 normal subjects. Serially collected plasma and urine samples were analyzed for ceftriaxone by high-performance liquid chromatography. Plasma concentration-time profiles were characterized by a linear two-compartment open model with the following respective mean (+/- standard deviation) parameters at 0.5-, 1-, and 2-g dose levels: elimination half-life, 6.5 +/- 0.7, 6.2 +/- 0.8, and 5.9 +/- 0.7 h; apparent volume of distribution, 8.5 +/- 1.1, 9.0 +/- 1.1, and 10.1 +/- 1.0 liters; and plasma clearance, 929 +/- 150, 1,007 +/- 130, and 1,190 +/- 150 ml/h. The respective renal excretion parameters were as follows: renal clearance, 373 +/- 60, 399 +/- 50, and 533 +/- 128 ml/h; and percentage of dose excreted unchanged in the 48-h urine samples, 41 +/- 8, 39 +/- 5, and 43 +/- 10. The 6-h elimination half-life of ceftriaxone was 2- to 10-fold longer than those reported for marketed and other known investigational cephalosporins. The small dose-related increases in the apparent volume of distribution and clearance parameters can be explainhe 48-h urine samples, 41 +/- 8, 39 +/- 5, and 43 +/- 10. The 6-h elimination half-life of ceftriaxone was 2- to 10-fold longer than those reported for marketed and other known investigational cephalosporins. The small dose-related increases in the apparent volume of distribution and clearance parameters can be explainhe 48-h urine samples, 41 +/- 8, 39 +/- 5, and 43 +/- 10. The 6-h elimination half-life of ceftriaxone was 2- to 10-fold longer than those reported for marketed and other known investigational cephalosporins. The small dose-related increases in the apparent volume of distribution and clearance parameters can be explained by the concentration-dependent plasma protein binding of ceftriaxone in humans. The impact of the small dose-dependent changes in the pharmacokinetics of ceftriaxone is anticipated to be of negligible clinical significance.


The family Caecidae deserved special attention, among mollusks, because they occurred in more than 50% of studied stations in Oceanographic Operation Geomar XII, which was carried out in northern and southern coasts of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo States (Brazil), respectively. At the time, Caecum brasilicum Folin, 1874, C. aff condylum Moore, 1969, C. circumvolutum Folin, 1867, C. johnsoni Winkley, 1908, C. someri Folin, 1867, C. striatum Folin, 1868, C. venosum Folin, 1867, C. floridanum Stimpson, 1851, C. massambabensis Absalao, 1994, C. butoti Jong & Coomans, 1989, C. ryssotitum Folin, 1867, C. nitidum (Stimpson., 1851) e C. cubitatum (Folin, 1868) were identitied. C. venosum is reported, for the first time, since its original description, enlarging its occurrence area from Pernambuco to Rio de Janeiro; C. buloti as well, primarily restricted to Dutch Antilles, begins to make part of the Brazilian malacofauna. C. someri and C. butoti were pointed out for being largely non-sintopic with other congeneric species, suggesting that subtile differences in sediment can be responsable for this segregation.


Objective—MicroRNA-126 (miR-126) is an endothelium-enriched miRNA and functions in vascular integrity and angiogenesis. The application of miRNA as potential biomarker and therapy target has been widely investigated in various pathological processes. However, its role in lymphatic diseases had not been widely explored. We aimed to reveal the role of miR-126 in lymphangiogenesis and the regulatory signaling pathways for potential targets of therapy. Approach and Results—Loss-of-function studies using morpholino oligonucleotides and CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9) system showed that silencing of miR-126a severely affected the formation of parachordal lymphangioblasts and thoracic duct in zebrafish embryos, although their development in miR-126b knockdown embryos was normal. Expression analyses by in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence indicated that miR-126a was expressed in lymphatic vessels, as well as in blood vessels. Time-lapse confocal imaging assay further revealed that knockdown of miR-126a blocked both lymphangiogenic sprouts budding from the posterior cardinal vein and lymphangioblasts extension along horizontal myoseptum. Bioinformatics analysis and in vivo report assay identified that miR-126a upregulated Cxcl12a by targeting its 5′ untranslated region. Moreover, loss- and gain-of-function studies revealed that Cxcl12a signaling acted downstream of miR-126a during parachordal lymphangioblast extension, whereby Flt4 signaling acts as a cooperator of miR-126a, allowing it to modulate lymphangiogenic sprout formation. Conclusions—These findings demonstrate that miR-126a directs lymphatic endothelial cell sprouting and extension by interacting with Cxcl12a-mediated chemokine signaling and Vegfc-Flt4 signal axis. Our results suggest that these key regulators of lymphangiogenesis may be involved in lymphatic pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases.


In cardiovascular medicine, the assessment of blood flow is fundamental to the understanding and detection of disease. Many pharmaceutical, interventional, and surgical treatments impact the flow. The primary purpose of the cardiovascular system is to drive, control and maintain blood flow to all parts of the body. In the normal cardiovascular system, fluid transport is maintained at high efficiency and the blood flow is essentially laminar. Disturbed and turbulent blood flow, on the other hand, appears to be present in many cardiovascular diseases and may contribute to their initiation and progression. Despite strong indications of an important interrelationship between flow and cardiovascular disease, medical imaging has lacked a non-invasive tool for the in vivo assessment of disturbed and turbulent flow. As a result, the extent and role of turbulence in the blood flow of humans have not yet been fully investigated. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a versatile tool for the non-invasive assessment of flow and has several important clinical and research applications, but might not yet have reached its full potential. Conventional MRI techniques for the assessment of flow are based on measurements of the mean velocity within an image voxel. The mean velocity corresponds to the first raw moment of the distribution of velocities within a voxel. An MRI framework for the quantification of any moment (mean, standard deviation, skew, etc.) of arbitrary velocity distributions is presented in this thesis. Disturbed and turbulent flows are characterized by velocity fluctuations that are superimposed on the mean velocity. The intensity of these velocity fluctuations can be quantified by their standard deviation, which is a commonly used measure of turbulence intensity. This thesis focuses on the development of a novel MRI method for the quantification of turbulence intensity. This method is mathematically derived and experimentally validated. Limitations and sources of error are investigated and guidelines for adequate application of MRI measurements of turbulence intensity are outlined. Furthermore, the method is adapted to the quantification of turbulence intensity in the pulsatile blood flow of humans and applied to a wide range of cardiovascular diseases. In these applications, elevated turbulence intensity was consistently detected in regions where highly disturbed flow was anticipated, and the effects of potential sources of errors were small. Diseased heart valves are often replaced with prosthetic heart valves, which, in spite of improved benefits and durability, continue to fall short of matching native flow patterns. In an in vitro setting, MRI was used to visualize and quantify turbulence intensity in the flow downstream from four common designs of prosthetic heart valves. Marked differences in the extent and degree of turbulence intensity were detected between the different valves. Mitral valve regurgitation is a common valve lesion associated with progressive left atrial and left ventricular remodelling, which may often require surgical correction to avoid irreversible ventricular dysfunction. The spatiotemporal dynamics of flow disturbances in mitral regurgitation were assessed based on measurements of flow patterns and turbulence intensity in a group of patients with significant regurgitation arising from similar valve lesions. Peak turbulence intensity occurred at the same time in all patients and the total turbulence intensity in the left atrium appeared closely related to the severity of regurgitation. MRI quantification of turbulence intensity has the potential to become a valuable tool in investigating the extent, timing and role of disturbed blood flow in the human cardiovascular system, as well as in the assessment of the effects of different therapeutic options in patients with vascular or valvular disorders.


Financial exploitation, and particularly thefts and scams, are increasing at an alarming rate. In this study we (a) determined the national prevalence of older adults who report having been a victim of fraud, (b) created a population-based model for the prediction of fraud, and (c) examined how fraud is experienced by the most psychologically vulnerable older adults. The older adults studied were 4,400 participants in a Health and Retirement Study substudy, the 2008 Leave Behind Questionnaire. The prevalence of fraud across the previous 5 years was 4.5%. Among measures collected in 2002, age, education, and depression were significant predictors of fraud. Financial satisfaction and social-needs fulfillment were measured in 2008 and were significantly related to fraud above and beyond the 2002 predictors. Using depression and social-needs fulfillment to determine the most psychologically vulnerable older adults, we found that fraud prevalence was three times higher (14%) among those with the highest depression and the lowest social-needs fulfillment than among the rest of the sample (4.1%; χ2 = 20.49; p < .001). Clinical gerontologists and other professionals in the field need to be aware of their psychologically vulnerable clients' heightened exposure to financial fraud.


The paper reexamines the welfare economics of intergenerational risk. Risk and its resolution over time are modeled as a decision tree: in each period, the consumption of the current one-period living generation is to be traded-off against uncertain benefits of future generations; as time passes, the planner observes the realized shocks and becomes more informed about the economy. The characterized class of criteria, named fair intergenerational utilitarian, measures social welfare in terms of the ratio between the allocated consumptions and an endogenously-determined equitable reference. This allows social preferences to (i) disentangle aversion to intergenerational inequality from aversion to risk, (ii) exhibit a preference for early resolution of risk, (iii) show different discounting formulas depending on the magnitude of risk and on the timing of its resolution, and (iv) avoid extreme policy recommendations in the presence of fat-tailed catastrophic events.


This article seeks to further understanding of the significance and impact of national identity in the context of organizational globalization. Arguing against the tendency of organizational researchers to pose this identity as an objective, cognitive essence, the article claims that national identity constitutes a symbolic resource that is actively and creatively constructed by organizational members to serve social struggles which are triggered by globalization. It offers support to this claim with ethnographic field data generated from an Israeli high-tech corporation undergoing a merger with an American competitor. The implications of the article concern the need for researchers to take into account the space for choice that organizational members have in defining national identity and the interrelationships between the enactment of this identity and processes of resistance to globalization.


Fast discharge quench in ITER using injection of a krypton pellet is considered. A zero dimensional analysis predicts a hundred milliseconds quench time for a 10 mm pellet injected with a velocity of 3 km/s. No significant runaway electrons are expected in the Parail-Pogutse approach improved by the 'avalanche effect'. Temperature shock due to radiation onto the beryllium first wall is not greater than 850 K for 10 ms close to the start of the current rampdown. This seems acceptable for the wall performance.


The proposed inverters receive input dc voltage in a wide range and generate output ac voltage in a wide range due to their buck–boost ability. They require only three or four active switches and two inductors. Therefore, the circuit topologies and their operation are simple, and control is easy. The output current of the proposed inverters is continuous, which lowers the output harmonics and filtering capacitor. In the proposed inverters, the output and input voltage sources or capacitors share the same ground, which results in a constant common-mode voltage and negligible leakage current. Of the proposed inverters, an inverter with four active switches and double input voltage sources is analyzed and tested in detail. The circuit operation is discussed, a control strategy is developed, a common-mode voltage analysis is presented, and design guidelines for circuit components selection are given. To verify the theoretical analysis, a 500-W, 40-kHz prototype of the proposed four-switch inverter is designed, fabricated, and tested. An output ac voltage of 110 $\text{V}_{\mathrm {rms}}$ is generated from an input dc voltage of 100–200 V. A peak efficiency of 97.5% is obtained. The proposed inverter obtains high efficiency due to simple circuit operation, few circuit components in the conduction path, and switching of only one switch at high frequency.


Experimental flow visualizations and temperature measurements are conducted to investigate the passive air cooling of electronic components in partially open horizontal enclosures. A discrete flush type heat source, centrally mounted on a horizontal substrate is placed in a compact enclosure of size 127 mm/spl times/127 mm/spl times/41.3 mm. Computations of combined convection, conduction and radiation are used to derive the convective heat transfer data. Pronounced effects of power levels, opening sizes, enclosure aspect ratios and opening configurations on the thermal performance of the discrete components and their interactions are found using a design of experiments methodology. Convective heat transfer coefficients are obtained which provide guidance for thermal design of compact horizontal enclosures.


Private foundations - a type of charitable organization that does not enjoy broad public support - are constrained in their investment choices by the threat of two special excise taxes imposed by sections 4943 and 4944 of the IRC. The first of these imposes confiscatory sanctions on foundations that hold more than 20% of the voting stock of a corporation. The second, in effect, imposes sanctions on foundations whose investments are deemed excessively risky. In the author's view, these constraints need to be re-examined. Upon performing such a re-examination, the author concludes with respect to section 4943 - the so-called "excess business holdings" rules - that the overall limit of 20% is not necessarily problematic, but that its application with the use of an attribution rule is defective. Under the attribution rule, stock held by "disqualified persons" with respect to the foundation are attributed to that foundation for purposes of applying the 20% test. Among other things, this severely limits the amount of stock that a family foundation can hold in a corporation controlled by the family, and may in turn limit the amount of stock that the family members are willing to contribute for charitable purposes. In the author's view, the excess business holding rules can serve any legitimate purposes they may have if applied with this attribution rule. With respect to section 4944 - the so-called "jeopardizing investments" rules - the author contends that the rules induce foundations to adopt an excessively conservative investment orientation, potentially denying them the opportunity to achieve returns that include reasonable risk premiums. Even when the rules are not affirmatively counterproductive, they are vague and unnecessary, and should simply be repealed.


This study aims to identify the urban transformation strategy implemented in Istanbul for the last 15 years as a tool to promote the 'new' city discourse. This marking strategy leads to a thoroughly manipulated or re-written urban texture, constructed through concepts of identity, context and historicism. By decoding its actors, their roles, and branding images of five selected urban projects which relied on a top-down approach, the research exposes the implicit and explicit targets behind the political discourse of 'new' İstanbul. Through a qualitative content analysis of branding images and promotional media, the research focuses on the unseen agenda of the governing authority concerning the urban image and the state economy, which, on the contrary, undermines legitimate laws covering disaster mitigation. The conceptual framework of the study draws on Tafuri's (1969) seminal article "Toward a Critique of Architectural Ideology" to deepen our examination of the leading forces of urban ideology that are reshaping the city. The article aims to spark a debate over the 'new' Istanbul discourse and its planning practices through its re-reading of urban projects, the field of architecture and planning, development strategies, and their relevant actors.


The article examines the dynamics and causes of changes in the scientific research over thirty years of such terms as "Kazakhs from abroad", "oralman", "kandas", "repatriates", which are the concept of Kazakh repatriation and its equivalent. The relevance of repatriation and related problems as well as consequences arising in Kazakhstan's conditions is not based on formulas accepted in the world, but using individual (in historical, regional, and ethnic contexts) special theories and methods. Taking into account the legal and social reasons that have contributed to the change of the concept of ethnic migration over the past 30 years, it can be concluded that the scientific terms arising from the legal status and public opinion are invalid. In addition, the article provides comparisons of the international experience of repatriation on the example of Israel, Turkey, Germany, Russia, Poland, Korea, Japan, etc. and discusses terms that can fully characterize the migration processes of ethnic Kazakhs. The objective formulation of the problem and definition of ethnic migration in Russian science creates conditions for the appearance of research terms in this area.


OBJECTIVE
To review cases of testicular seminoma in Down's syndrome (DS) patients.

METHODS
The case of a patient diagnosed and treated at our institution is reported. The literature is reviewed for previous cases, with attention paid to age, stage, treatment and outcome.

RESULTS
Nineteen cases were found. The mean age at diagnosis is 32. Seventy three percent are Stage I. At 47, our patient is the oldest reported case. A body of evidence exists for an association between DS and testicular seminoma. An increased rate of cryptorchidism, increased gonadotropin levels and genetic instability are possible pathways.

CONCLUSION
The age distribution of seminoma in DS is skewed by the decreased life expectancy of patients with DS. More cases should be seen as this life expectancy increases. The stage at presentation in DS patients is comparable to that seen in the general population. Standard therapy has been successfully delivered in these patients.


The problem of estimating sparse eigenvectors of a symmetric matrix has attracted a lot of attention in many applications, especially those with a high dimensional dataset. While classical eigenvectors can be obtained as the solution of a maximization problem, existing approaches formulate this problem by adding a penalty term into the objective function that encourages a sparse solution. However, the vast majority of the resulting methods achieve sparsity at the expense of sacrificing the orthogonality property. In this paper, we develop a new method to estimate dominant sparse eigenvectors without trading off their orthogonality. The problem is highly nonconvex and hard to handle. We apply the minorization-maximization framework, wherein we iteratively maximize a tight lower bound (surrogate function) of the objective function over the Stiefel manifold. The inner maximization problem turns out to be a rectangular Procrustes problem, which has a closed-form solution. In addition, we propose a method to improve the covariance estimation problem when its underlying eigenvectors are known to be sparse. We use the eigenvalue decomposition of the covariance matrix to formulate an optimization problem wherein we impose sparsity on the corresponding eigenvectors. Numerical experiments show that the proposed eigenvector extraction algorithm outperforms existing algorithms in terms of support recovery and explained variance, whereas the covariance estimation algorithms improve the sample covariance estimator significantly.


Advanced scaffold materials are required for liver tissue engineering, to improve primary hepatocyte activity and hepatic function in vitro. The nanotopography of the scaffold material plays an important role in the regulation of cell growth and function. Therefore, in the current study, we developed a novel scaffold composed of type-I collagen coated nanoporous poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) fibers (nPFs) to provide a nanotopography with a combination of fibrous and porous features for the culture of primary hepatocytes. The interaction between the nanotopography and the hepatocytes was described by testing cell morphology, retention, activity and hepatic function over a 15 day culture period. Primary hepatocytes cultured on the nPFs formed large-area stable immobilized monolayers after 3 days of culture, and displayed excellent cell bioactivity with higher levels of liver-specific function maintenance, in terms of albumin secretion, urea synthesis, and CYP1A and UGT enzymatic activity, than those cultured on type-I collagen coated non-porous PLLA fibers (Fs). These results indicate that the combined fibrous and porous nanotopography of nPFs has a superior promoting effect on primary hepatocyte culture compared to the non-porous fibrous nanotopography of Fs. The nPFs may be a suitable material for liver tissue engineering research and potential therapeutic applications, such as in bioartificial liver devices, and as a substrate for primary hepatocyte culture.


Cloning (copy-move forgery) is a malicious tampering attack with digital images where a part of image is copied and pasted within the image to conceal the important details of image without any obvious traces of manipulation. This type of tampering attacks leaves a big question of authenticity of images to the forensics. Many techniques are proposed in the past few years after powerful software's are developed to manipulate the image. The proposed scheme is involved with both the block based and feature point extraction based techniques to extract the forged regions more accurately. The proposed algorithm mainly involves in matching the tentacles of same features extracted from each block by computing the dot product between the unit vectors. Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm is used to extract the matched regions. The experimental result of the algorithm which is proposed indicates that, it can extract more accurate results compared with existing forgery detection methods.


In two-particle angular correlation measurements, the distribution of charged hadron pairs are evaluated as a function of pseudorapidity ( Δ η ) and azimuthal ( Δ φ ) differences. In these correlations, jets manifest themselves as a near-side peak around Δ η = 0 , Δ φ = 0 . These correlations can be used to extract transverse momentum ( p T ) and centrality dependence of the shape of the near-side peak in Pb-Pb collision. The shape of the near-side peak is quantified by the variances of the distribution. The variances are evaluated from a fit combining the peak and the background. In this contribution, identified and unidentified angular correlations are shown from Pb-Pb collisions at s N N = 2.76 TeV from Monte Carlo simulations (AMPT, PYTHIA 8.235/Angantyr). Results show that transport models in AMPT give better results than PYTHIA 8.235/Angantyr when comparing to the experimental results of the ALICE collaboration.


Background: The minimally invasive cortical trajectory screw (MidLF) technique has been described accompanied with posterolateral interbody fusion (PLIF). We present our 2-year results of a hybrid technique to show that using transforaminal interbody fusion (TLIF) rather than PLIF in conjunction with MidLF is a less invasive and safe technique. Methods: We retrospectively identified 25 patients who underwent MidLF with TLIF from July 2015 through September 2017. The surgical technique was the same for each, with radiological, clinical, and patient-reported outcome data collected and analyzed at a 2-year follow-up. Results: The cohort showed a mean age of 55 (35–85) years. The length of hospital stay was between 1 and 4 days, with an average of 2.7 days. Postoperatively, lordosis across the motion segment fused increased by a mean of 7.3 8 (0 8 – 24 8 ), mean pelvic incidence was 53 8 (31 8 –80 8 ), and pelvic tilt reduced by an average of 3.5 8 (0 8 –11 8 ). The Oswestry Disability Index improved from 34 preoperatively to 19 postoperatively. Visual analogue pain score–leg improved by 4.7 points, from 6 down to 1. One patient showed delayed wound healing. There were no incidences of neurological injury or durotomy. Conclusions: Our data suggests that MidLF with TLIF is both less invasive than traditional techniques and safe. It restores lordosis, requires less exposure and retraction of neural elements than the more widely used PLIF, and shows early discharge and satisfactory medium-term patient-reported outcomes. Level of Evidence: 3. Clinical Relevance: The MidLF technique with PLIF is less invasive than traditional techniques, restores alignment and shows satisfactory medium term results.


On thelaboratory scale, foam can be slow to come to steady state (local equilibrium). In fitting dynamic foam corefloods, if local equilibrium does not apply, it is essential to understand and fit the dynamics so that an accurate local-equilibrium model can be applied on the field scale. We report an attempt to represent slow foam dynamics using a simple first-order kinetic expression for the approach of foam to steady state in a population-balance model. In particular, we attempt to fit a case of gas injection into a surfactant-saturated core ("SAG" injection) (Ma et al., 2013), where the peak in pressure difference across the core takes place well after gas breakthrough, in violation of most local-equilibrium foam models. As the kinetics of foam generation are slowed in our model, the peak pressure gradient is reduced, but the timing of the peak remains at the time of gas breakthrough, i.e. after less than one pore volume injection. For sufficiently slow kinetics, the peak can be broadened significantly by spreading of the traveling wave at the shock at the foam front. We survey published population-balance models for mechanisms that could give a late peak in pressure gradient in a SAG coreflood. Most previous studies with population-balance models use parameter values that would give rapid foam generation and a peak in pressure drop at gas breakthrough in a SAG coreflood. The data of Ma et al. suggest an abrupt onset of foam generation later in the coreflood. to represent it, we believe some sort of triggering mechanism for foam generation (for instance, pressure gradient) is needed in the population-balance model. Another possible mechanism leading to a late peak is a nonlinear response of gas relative permeability to gas trapping and refining foam texture. Copyright 2014, Society of Petroleum Engineers.


Gene-mutations at the 6-thioguanine locus, in fibroblast like-cells rapidly proliferating on the inside of rat subcutaneous air pouches were analysed (Granuloma Pouch Assay). Target cells were exposed directly by injection into the air pouch, or systemically by oral or intraperitoneal administration to three hepatocarcinogens aflatoxin B1, 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF) and vinylchloride. In addition ethylnitrosourea (ENU) was used as a positive control, and 2-aminofluorene to characterize the pharmacokinetic behaviour of 2-AAF. When administered directly, all chemicals except 2-AAF induced a dose-dependent increase in gene-mutation frequencies. However, 2-AAF was mutagenic after oral administration. The highest inducible mutation frequencies found with the hepatocarcinogens were 8 to 10 times the spontaneous mutation frequency, but only approximately 10% of that found with the control mutagen ENU. The known enzymic activation capacity of the granulation tissue, and the mutagenic activity of other chemicals in this system already reported, suggest that after direct exposure, the prostaglandin H synthetase pathway or lipoxygenases are involved in the activation of the hepatotoxins to gene mutation inducing species in vivo. 2-AAF seems to be converted via stable intermediates to the ultimate mutagenic species in the extra-hepatic target tissues.


ABSTRACT This study aims to compare teachers' self-efficacy across Turkish and American in-service middle-school mathematics teachers. The samples consist of 379 Turkish and 245 American in-service middle-school mathematics teachers. The self-efficacy questionnaire of the Middle-school Mathematics and the Institutional Setting of Teaching (MIST) scale was used in the study. The exploratory factor analysis revealed two dimensions of the self-efficacy measures across the American and Turkish teachers, such as classroom management and student support strategies. The measurement invariance property of the scale was evaluated before comparing the means of the groups. Despite the differences between the education systems, teachers' efficacy beliefs function quite similarly across the countries. The statistically significant mean differences in the subscale scores of efficacy measures between Turkish and American samples have no practical value. In both countries, teachers reported high level of confidence in efficacy beliefs in classroom management and student support strategies.


To enhance Internet security, researchers have largely emphasized diverse cyberspace monitoring approaches to observe cyber attacks and anomalies. Among them darknet provides an effective passive monitoring one. Darknets refer to the globally routable but still unused IP address spaces. They are often used to monitor unexpected incoming network traffic, and serve as an effective network traffic measurement approach for viewing certain remote network security activities. Previous works in this field discussed possible causes (i.e., anomalies) of darknet traffic and applied their classification schemes on short-term traces. Our interest lies, however, in how darknet traffic has evolved and the effectiveness of a darknet traffic taxonomy for longitudinal data. To reach these goals, we propose a simple darknet traffic taxonomy based on network traffic rules, and evaluate it with two darknet traces: one covering 12 years since 2006, while the other covering 11 years since 2007. The evaluation results reveal the effectiveness of this taxonomy: we are able to label over 94% of all source IPs with anomalies defined by the taxonomy, leaving the unlabeled source ratio low. We also examine the evolution of different anomalies since 2006 (especially in recent years), analyze the temporal and spatial dependency and parameter dependency of darknet traffic, and conclude that most sources in the datasets are characterized by just one or two anamalies with simple attack mechanisms. Moreover, we compare the taxonomy with a one-way traffic analysis tool (i.e., iatmon) to better understand their differences.


The TAP1 and TAP2 genes, located in the HLA class II region, encode subunits of a peptide transporter. Both genes display limited genetic variability; four different nucleotide substitutions have been found in theTAP2 gene. Here studies on linkage disequilibrium between TAP2 variants and HLA class II alleles are reported, in an attempt to evaluate whether TAP2 variants are associated with insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). As reported previously, a significant decrease of homozygosity for TAP2 alleles encoding alanine at residue 665 (665 Ala) and glut amine at 687 (687 Gin) paralleled by an increase in homozygosity for TAP2 alleles encoding threonine at residue 665 (665 Thr) and a stop codon at 687 (687 Stop), was found in both Finnish and Norwegian IDDM patients compared to random controls. However, a strong linkage disequilibrium between these TAP2 polymorphisms and given HLA‐DR and ‐DQ genes was observed among healthy controls. The frequent 665 Thr and 687 Stop variants were in linkage disequilibrium both with the DR4‐DQ8 and the DR3‐DQ2 haplotypes, haplotypes which are strongly associated with IDDM. In contrast, the DR1‐DQ5 and DR13‐DQ6 (e.g. DQB1*0603) haplotypes, which are decreased among IDDM patients, were associated with the 665 Ala and 687 Gin variants. Thus, when DR‐ and DQ‐matched patients and controls were compared, associations of the investigated TAP2 variants and IDDM were no longer detectable. These data, therefore, indicate that the associations previously found between certain TAP2 variants and IDDM are secondary to a primary association between this disease and particular DQαβ heterodimers.


The aim of this research was to characterize and analyze the formulation of emulsified modification bitumen (EMB) as well as the industrial wastes used in the formulation. Bitumen being a non-renewable product with severe environmental issues arising lately led to the use of industrial wastes such as plastic and recycled base oil in this research. Physical characteristic studies were performed to analyze the decomposition temperature, boiling point, flash point, density, moisture content, element content in waste plastics, and flowability of bitumen emulsion. Eight ratios of modified bitumen were formulated and compared with the industrial grade bitumen. The modified bitumen with a penetration value of 103 mm and softening value at 49 °C was chosen for the emulsification process where three emulsifiers were added into the mixture of bitumen and water. These samples were compared with the industrial bitumen emulsion. From the analysis, the formulated emulsion was obtained from a mixture consists of 20% bitumen, 7% polymer, and 73% recycled base oil.


The rise of big data has brought with it enormous possibilities, for better or worse. In China, the government has been enthusiastically preparing for the coming of the era of big data. This article examines how the authoritarian regime in China has been employing big data to improve its governance and to move towards a 'Big Brother 2.0' model. The regime has combined cooptation with coercive control to exploit digital technology, in order to maximize its utility and thus maintain authoritarian rule. Moreover, existing debates on digital technology largely focus on the changing power structures between state and society, but neglect power structures within regimes and their implications for authoritarianism. This article argues that the use of massive digital data may backfire against the authoritarian regime as it may change the power structure within the state. That is to say, efforts to embrace big data may also undermine the authoritarian rule. A more accurate understanding of the Chinese authoritarian regime's resilience and vulnerability in the information age will help us grasp the essence of China's rise as a fragile global power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


Purpose: This study evaluated some physical properties of two commercial MTA cements regarding it use as root canal filling material.
Methods: The compression strength (CS) of the evaluated materials was performed after 21 hours or 14 days of water immersion. The materials' radiopacity (RD) was measured according to aluminum thickness. Regarding setting time (ST), both initial and final times were measured. The solubility (SB) was calculated according to percentage of lost mass after water storage. The pH measurement was performed in three different times (initial, 1 and 24 hours) of water storage. All tests were performed according to ISO 6876-2:2001.
Results: Both cements showed that CS and pH were as in accordance with ISO standard. The two cements exhibited RD values higher than the equivalent limit of 3 mm-aluminum. Both materials exhibited SB values within the recommended limit of 3%. ST and pH also are in accordance with ISO 6876-2:2001. Additional SEM surface evaluation showed both amorphous and crystalline phase for both cements.
Conclusion: It is possible to conclude that all evaluated materials are in accordance with ISO standard, allowing its use as root canal filling material.


Background: Two novel HER2 aptamers were recently selected with great potential for the in vitro diagnosis of HER2-positive cancer. The goal of this study was to examine the in vivo diagnostic potential of these HER2 aptamers. Methods: Both HER2 aptamers were radiolabelled with 68Ga, injected in mice bearing a HER2-positive and HER2-negative tumour and evaluated by PET/MRI. Results: Ex vivo bio distribution analysis revealed high uptake in the blood, tissues and organs, except the brain. Interestingly, this high uptake was explained by the slow blood clearance due to non-specific aptamer binding to blood proteins. We observed accumulation of radioactivity in both tumours in time. Although higher uptake in the HER2-positive tumour compared to the HER2-negative tumour was observed, this was accompanied with more necrosis in the HER2-negative tumour, which was observed by 18FDG PET/CT. Conclusion: This work presents a first step towards the development of 68Ga-labelled aptamers for molecular cancer imaging.


Although heart transplantation can drastically improve the survival, shortage of the donor heart is a serious problem. The regenerative medicine of the failing heart had been long awaited. To address this question, we had developed novel methods to induce human iPS cells from circulating human T lymphocytes using Sendai virus containing Yamanaka 4 factors. We had screened the factor that were expressed in future heart forming area of the early mouse embryo, found several growth factors and cytokines that can induce cardiomyocytes diff erentiation and proliferation, and applied them to human iPS cells. We performed transcriptome of the metabolic enzymes and fl uxome analysis using 13glucose and 13lactic acid on ES/iPS cells and cardiomyocytes, and found that their metabolic pathways were completely diff erent. Based on these fi ndings, we purifi ed cardiomyocytes using glucose-free lactate-supplemented medium. Purity of the cardiomyocytes was > 99%, and they did not make teratoma formation. The transplanted cardiomyocytes using our technique can survive in the heart with more than 90%, and can show physiological growth after transplantation. We expect the combination of these techniques can achieve future heart regeneration. We also developed human disease model cardiomyocytes using human iPS cells from the patients with long QT syndrome and other hereditary heart disease. These disease model cardiomyocytes represented the phenotype of the disease, and might be helpful for drug screening and pathophysiological analysis. Clinical application of huma iPS cells for cardiovascular Medicine


The scaling laws associated with the miniaturization of planar inductively coupled plasmas (ICPs) are investigated. The applications for miniature ICPs include microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for chemical analysis and micro ion propulsion systems. Langmuir probe and microwave interferometry measurements of three ICPs with spiral-shaped coil diameters of 5, 10, and 15 mm show that electron density typically falls in the range of 10/sup 16/-10/sup 17/ m/sup -3/. The electron density is about an order of magnitude lower than large-scale ICPs as a result of the large surface-to-volume ratio of small discharges. The measured electron temperature is higher than predicted by a simple "global model" unless the plasma dimensions are determined more precisely by subtracting the sheath width from the chamber dimensions. Since the sheath width does not scale with the plasma size, the sheath width may ultimately limit the minimum size of ICPs. Plasma initiation power is determined to have a minimum at a gas pressure for which the electron collision frequency equals the frequency of the RF power supply. Small scale ICPs operating at 460 MHz can therefore be started most easily at /spl sim/1 torr. The design of the coil is critical to miniature ICP performance. Unlike large-scale ICPs that operate efficiently using a broad range of coil shapes, the miniature coil must be carefully designed and constructed to minimize parasitic resistance.


Replacing conventional solvents with deep eutectic solvents (DES) has shown promising effects on the extraction yield of (poly)phenols. DES can be combined with ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) to further increase the extraction efficiency of (poly)phenols from natural resources compared to conventional methods. This review discusses the factors associated with DES (composition, solvent-to-sample ratio, extraction duration, and temperature) and UAE (ultrasound frequency, power, intensity, and duty cycle) methods that influence the extraction of (poly)phenols and informs future improvements required in the optimization of the extraction process. For the optimum (poly)phenol extraction from natural resources, the following parameters shall be considered: ultrasound frequency should be in the range of 20-50 kHz, ultrasound intensity in the range of 60-120 W/cm2, ultrasound duty cycle in the range of 40-80%, ultrasound duration for 10-30 minutes, and ultrasound temperature for 25-50 °C. Among the reported DES systems, choline chloride with glycerol or lactic acid, with a solvent-to-sample mass ratio of 10-30:1 shown to be effective. The solvent composition and solvent-to-sample mass ratio should be selected according to the target compound and the source material. However, the high viscosity of DES is among the major limitations. Optimizing these factors can help to increase the yield of extracted (poly)phenols and their applications.


In this paper, a grid-connected distributed generation system, which consists of engine-generator, DC link with multiple energy sources, and inverter, is proposed. All six of the stator leads of the generator, which is the surface-mount permanent-magnet machine, are brought out to the terminal of the generator. Three leads are connected to the inverter, and the others are connected to the utility grid. In this proposed system, the power from the engine-generator and the power from DC link can be controlled simultaneously by only one three-phase power converter. Furthermore, the inductance of the generator functions also as the reactor of AC-DC converter. A control algorithm for the system is developed and verified by experimental results.


Background & Objectives: Hepatitis B is one of the major health problems in the world. Health care workers (HCWs) are at high risk of acquiring hepatitis B virus. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of HBV infection and the immune response to HBV vaccine among the HCWs in Babol, northern Iran. Methods: This study was accomplished on 527 HCWs and administrative staff working at Rohani Hospital, Babol, northern Iran from 2011 to 2012. HBs- Ag, HBc- Ab and HBs- Ab were measured by ELISA method. All susceptible staff vaccinated with recombinant hepatitis B vaccine (Pasteur Institute of Iran) and HBs - Ab titer was evaluated 3 months after the last dose. Results: Anti-HBc was positive in 32 (6.1%) and HBs-Ag in 4 (0.75%) of the participants. The HBV exposure in HCWs was four times greater than the administrative staff (6.65% vs. 1.63%). There was significant association between HBV exposure and occupation and also educational level (P < 0.001), however, this association was not found with age and gender. Seroconversion was seen in 211 (91.7%) of 230 participants who received three-dose series of hepatitis B vaccine. The seroconversion is significantly decreasing by the increase of age ( P < 0.001), however, no significant association was seen with age and gender. Conclusion: Considering high HBV infection exposure in HCWs, it is mandatory to ensure vaccination program and postvaccination evaluation along with education and safe work environment preparation.


In this paper, we revisit lessons learned regarding the process of Structured Dialogic Design in the arena during the past 50 years. Thirteen Lessons are presented with the intent of helping stakeholders design a strategy for escaping the labyrinth (vicious cycle) produced by the strong interactions among three issues: (1) the critical role of inclusive deliberative dialogue; (2) the dependency of inclusive deliberative dialogue on the application of a systemic methodology for supporting its authentic implementation; and (3) the commitment by organizations to inclusive deliberative dialogue. This paper will also discuss the development and deployment of Logosifa, the latest software platform to support the process and the enhancements (including improved metrics and a facilitator dashboard) informed by the lessons learned.


Summary: Incorporation of labeled glucose and fatty acid residues into saturated phosphatidylcholine was significantly reduced in lung slices from 27.5 days of gestation fetal rabbits during 90 min incubation in the presence of 100 μU/ml insulin. When 14C-glucose was used as substrate, incorporation into both phosphatidylcholine and saturated phosphatidylcholine was reduced by insulin. This occurred despite an increase in overall glucose utilization by the lung from 11.3 ± 3.9 to 16.3 ± 5.2 nmole/g tissue in the presence of insulin (P < 0.05). A decrease in incorporation of fatty acid residues into saturated phosphatidylcholine was also observed when 14C-paImitate was used as substrate, from 102 ± 4 to 90 ± 5 nmole palmitate/g tissue (P < 0.01). In the presence of insulin, there were significant reductions of both substrates appearing in lysophosphatidylcholine, a precursor of saturated phosphatidylcholine. There was no significant change in incorporation of glucose residues into glycogen or lactate under these conditions.Speculation: Hyperinsulinemia appears to be responsible for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in infants of diabetic mothers (IDM) and infants of gestational diabetic mothers (IGDM). Control of the maternal diabetic state to a degree which inhibits development of fetal hyperinsulinism reduces the incidence of RDS in IDM and IGDM by removing excess quantities of the factor, insulin, that is responsible for inhibition of surfactant production.


We have analyzed and characterized a terahertz stacked holes array over a broad transmission bandwidth. In this context, we identify the key contributions of the surface plasmon modes related to the periodicity of array, and of the subcut off transmission through the holes responsible of a ground left-handed dispersion branch. The experimental verification of a multimode electromagnetic behavior is performed by time domain spectroscopy, with a complementary assessment by full-wave analysis. A circuitlike approach appears suitable for the understanding of a zero-gap transition between the left- and right-handed characteristics, opening the way of nonvanishing group velocity in a near-zero index propagation medium. Such a balanced composite operation, pointed out over the past in the dual element transmission line approaches, is thus generalized for a stacked subwavelength holes array, whose operation can be compared to the one of the so-called fishnet structures.


Quantitative information about the presence and orientation of fractures is essential for the understanding of the geomechanical and geohydrological behavior of rocks. This report evaluates various borehole geophysical techniques for characterizing fractures in three Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (CRWM) Program test wells in the Palo Duro Basin in Deaf Smith County, Texas. Emphasis has been placed on the Schlumberger Fracture Identification Log (FIL) which detects vertical fractures and provides data for calculation of orientation. Depths of FIL anomalies were compared to available core. It was found that the application of FIL results to characterize fracture frequency or orientation is inappropriate at this time. The uncertainties associated with the FIL information render the information unreliable. No geophysical logging tool appears to unequivocally determine the location and orientation of fractures in a borehole. Geologic mapping of the exploratory shafts will ultimately provide the best data on fracture frequency and orientation at the proposed repository site. 22 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.


During the period from 1975 to 1977, the faecal egg output of gastrointestinal nematodes and the gain in weight of a group of calves and a group of ewes with lambs on pastures alternately grazed by the two groups, were compared with the egg output and the gain in weight of a group of calves and a group of ewes with lambs not grazed alternately. The annual level of the egg output was identical in each comparable group. Variations in larval differentiation were observed between the groups grazed alternately or not. More host-specific species of worm showed a higher egg output in the calves and lambs which were not alternately grazed. Both calves and lambs, which were not grazed alternately, showed a higher host-specific Ostertagia-egg output. Less host-specific species were easily transferred to another host. Haemonchus contortus was frequently found to be present in calves and Cooperia oncophora in lambs. The annual gain in weight of the calves in the comparable groups was the same throughout the years. Each year lambs grazed alternately showed higher gains in weight compared with animals not alternately grazed. However, it is apparent from the literature that management systems are an important factor and therefore these results merely suggest that more satisfactory results may be obtained by alternate grazing.


ABSTRACT Background Liver metabolite concentrations have the potential to be key biomarkers of systemic metabolic dysfunction and overall health. However, for most conditions we do not know the extent to which genetic differences regulate susceptibility to metabolic responses. This limits our ability to detect and diagnose effects in heterogeneous populations. Objectives Here, we investigated the extent to which naturally occurring genetic differences regulate maternal liver metabolic response to vitamin D deficiency (VDD), particularly during perinatal periods when such changes can adversely affect maternal and fetal health. Methods We used a panel of 8 inbred Collaborative Cross (CC) mouse strains, each with a different genetic background (72 dams, 3–6/treatment group, per strain). We identified robust maternal liver metabolic responses to vitamin D depletion before and during gestation and lactation using a vitamin-D-deficient (VDD; 0 IU vitamin D3/kg) or -sufficient diet (1000 IU vitamin D3/kg). We then identified VDD-induced metabolite changes influenced by strain genetic background. Results We detected a significant VDD effect by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (Q2 = 0.266, pQ2 = 0.002): primarily, altered concentrations of 78 metabolites involved in lipid, amino acid, and nucleotide metabolism (variable importance to projection score ≥1.5). Metabolites in unsaturated fatty acid and glycerophospholipid metabolism pathways were significantly enriched [False Discovery Rate (FDR) <0.05]. VDD also significantly altered concentrations of putative markers of uremic toxemia, acylglycerols, and dipeptides. The extent of the metabolic response to VDD was strongly dependent on genetic strain, ranging from robustly responsive to nonresponsive. Two strains (CC017/Unc and CC032/GeniUnc) were particularly sensitive to VDD; however, each strain altered different pathways. Conclusions These novel findings demonstrate that maternal VDD induces different liver metabolic effects in different genetic backgrounds. Strains with differing susceptibility and metabolic response to VDD represent unique tools to identify causal susceptibility factors and further elucidate the role of VDD-induced metabolic changes in maternal and/or fetal health for ultimately translating findings to human populations.


The aim of this study is to better understand the failure of young gifted athletes and the influence the parents / child relationships has on it. Three case studies are developed in order to put them back in their context. Interviews were carried out with players / parents / coaches. The players were specifically chosen as they had not reached elite level, despite very promising results in the junior leagues. The content analysis points out some favorable roles played by parents and other rather negative ones. It appears that their influence is closely linked to numerous interacting factors (parental values, motivations, parents / child, parents / coach relationships...). The case studies also clearly stress the importance of the choices made during the childs training, how they are linked to parental values, as well as the possible consequences of negative father / athlete relationships. Practical applications of this study should be taken into account to favor athletes carrer.


The tomographic method Physical Parameter Eclipse Mapping is a tool to reconstruct spatial distributions of physical parameters (like temperatures and surface densities) in accretion discs of cataclysmic variables. After summarizing the method, we apply it to multi-colour eclipse light curves of various dwarf novae and nova-likes like VZ Scl, IP Peg in outburst, UU Aqr, V2051 Oph and HT Cas in order to derive the temperatures (and surface densities) in the disc, the white dwarf temperature, the disc size, the effective temperatures and the viscosities. The results allows us to establish or refine a physical model for the accretion disc. Our maps of HT Cas and V 2051Oph, for example, indicate that the (quiescent) disc must be structured into a cool, optically thick inner disc sandwiched by hot, optically thin chromospheres. In addition, the disc of HT Cas must be patchy with a covering factor of about 40% caused by magnetic activity in the disc.


A method for acquiring range data based on time-correlated single-photon counting is described. This method uses a short-pulse ( approximately 10-ps) laser diode, a detector based on a silicon single-photon avalanche diode, and standard photon-counting timing electronics. The accuracy of the technique has been measured as approximately +/-30 microm in a laboratory experiment and corresponds closely to the results of a theoretical simulation.


The effect of GABA agonists on vagal efferent activity was studied in anesthetized rats. PCPGABA, a GABAB agonist (4 and 8 mg/kg, s.c.), markedly activated the neural efferent discharge of the vagus. Muscimol, a GABAA agonist (0.1 and 0.3 mg/kg, i.v.), also facilitated vagal activity. Both agonists caused significant gastric acid hyperacidity. Bicuculline (0.25 mg/kg, i.v.) or picrotoxin (0.5 mg/kg, i.v.) given 10 min prior to each agonist had no effect on the frequency of vagal nerve firing elicited by PCPGABA (4 mg/kg, s.c.) or muscimol (0.3 mg/kg, i.v.). Pretreatment with scopolamine (0.25 mg/kg, i.v.) abolished PCPGABA stimulated vagal activity and gastric acid secretion. Methscopolamine (0.25 mg/kg, i.v.) inhibited only the hyperacidity evoked by PCPGABA, but not vagal activation. These results suggest that PCPGABA and muscimol may cause gastric acid secretion through central cholinergic descending mechanisms that are resistant to GABAA and GABAB antagonists.


The longitudinal study reported in this article examines how the patterns of change over time for husbands who continue to care for their spouses in the community compare with husbands who place their spouses in nursing homes. There were 74 older men enrolled in the study initially; follow-up interviews were conducted with the available husbands who continued to provide care in their own homes or who had placed their spouses in nursing homes after one year. Potential theoretical relevance of the current findings and their implications for health and mental health social workers in terms of assessment, treatment, and program development for older male caregivers is highlighted.


This article proposes a perspective on certain practices within experimental music based on a particular understanding of sonic materialism. By tracing correlations and marking divergences between post-spectralism, minimalism, electroacoustic music, glitch and IDM's offshoots, this article reflects on sound-in-itself, the conception of space and time in music, poietics, perceptual and cultural factors, and suggests that there is a particular understanding of sonic materialism – which I term ecstatic-materialism – that is rooted in a synthesis of perception, theory and embodied actions. This perspective explores a new expressivity of sound in which the sound itself is the point of convergence for creative impulses and perceptual motives, sound being the common territory between composer and listener. By developing the idea of an ecstatic-sonic-materialism, various works across different genres can be brought together according to this mutual convergence on sound that embodies acoustic properties, intimate traces, external and corporeal experiences.


Effects of case management on quality of life were tested with 57 home care patients with AIDS, randomly assigning individuals to either usual care or case-managed care over the duration of home services (ranging from 5 days to over 2 years). Participants were primarily male (93%), white (79%), and never married (82%). Quality of life was measured monthly using the quality of Well-Being Index (QWB). Case-managed patients showed advantages over the usual care group in descriptive analyses of quality of life and survival. Large standard deviations in the QWB scores resulting from high fatality among subjects impeded statistical analyses of effects.


Aim: To investigate the correlation of embryo quality, fertilization and pregnancy rates with sperm morphology in ICSI (Intracytoplasmic sperm injection) cycles. Also, to compare early cleavage percentage with the sperm morphology. Methods: 60 infertile couples were included in this retrospective study. Azoospermic patients were not included in the study and female age was kept below 40. Sperm preparates were stained with hematoxylin method and morphology was evaluated according to Kruger criteria. Sperm morphology > 4% was accepted as normal. Fertilization was accepted as 2 pronuclei between 16th and 18th hours; embryo quality was classified as grade 1, 2 ,3 depending on the morphology and uniform distribution of blastomeres, and fragmentation on the third day. Fertilization, morphokinesis, embryo quality, early cleavage and pregnancy rates were evaluated according to sperm morphology in the current study. Results: Study group with teratozoospermi (normal morphology <%4, n=30) and control group with normozoospermi (normal morphology ≥%4, n=30; kontrol grubu) were evaluated among 60 patients. Fertilization rates were 53% and 40% in the normal and abnormal groups, respectively (p>0,01). Embryo quality were similar among both groups according to grade 1, grade 2 and grade 3 embryos (p>0,01). There was no significant correlation between the early cleavage and sperm morphology (p>0,01). Pregnancy rates were similar in both groups (45% and 55% in study and control groups, respectively (p>0,01). Conclusion: There is no significant relationship between sperm morphology and fertilization, , embryo quality, early cleavage and pregnancy rates in the current study.


ABSTRACT This paper presents a study of the recovering of polyphenols from grapefruit biowastes through extraction and batch adsorption process using novel resin-loaded cationic hydrogel. To prepare adsorbent, 2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) monomer was polymerized by free radical mechanisms in presence of resin particles and then tertiary amino groups on PDMAEMA residue were quaternized using methyl iodide. The developed adsorbent was then characterized by FTIR, SEM, XRD, and Brunauer, Emmet, and Teller analysis. The resin-loaded cationic hydrogel displayed an enhanced affinity for binding with polyphenols at pH value of 10 due to the strong electrostatic attraction between positively charged adsorbent surface and solute molecules. The adsorption capacity of 60 (mg-naringin-g−1-adsorbent) was obtained when the other experimental conditions were chosen as follows: initial polyphenol concentration; 0.13 g mL−1, contact time; 30 min, temperature; 25°C. On the other hand, the adsorbent consisting solely of resin particles shown lower affinity for polyphenols. The adsorption results revealed that the resin-loaded cationic hydrogels exhibited significant improvement in the recovery of polyphenols from grapefruit peels through integrated extraction–adsorption process.


Natural cell-mediated cytotoxic activity of mouse lymphoid cells against isolated epiphyseal chondrocytes was tested in 18 h chromium-release assay. The highest anti-chondrocyte cytotoxicity was demonstrated with spleen- and peritoneum-derived leukocytes. Bone marrow cells and lymph node cells exerted weak activity while thymocytes and Peyer's patch-derived cells exerted no cytotoxic activity. Slight, but significant, activity appeared in spleen of 1-week-old mice. It increased with age reaching the maximum in about the 8th week which was followed by subsequent decrease. The ability to lyse isolated chondrocytes by peritoneal cells appeared in 3-6th week of life. It reached the maximum on about the 8th week and disappeared completely in about the 12th week. On the contrary, there were no changes in anti-chondrocyte activity of bone marrow cells.


In the cases of Web applications, RDF(S) can be used to semantically describe the distributed information sources in enterprises to make the information retrieval more accurate. In this paper, a distributed RDF(S) model is presented to describe distributed and heterogeneous RDF(S)s. Based on this model, a method to query distributed RDF(S) descriptions is also presented, which can retrieve data of concepts as well as that of instances. By this method, users can retrieve RDF(S) descriptions and the information they describe in the same way and implement distributed RDF(S)s' integration.