Considering that integrins may play a major role in the localization in distinct biological features as well as in the dissemination of several types of lymphomas, we studied the expression of the monoclonal antibody HML-1-defined alpha E beta 7 integrin (CD103) in the clinically and histologically determined stages of 53 mycosis fungoides (MF) skin biopsies and in 16 affected lymph nodes. Immunoperoxidase staining revealed HML-1 immunoreactivity with T cells in the early stages of disease (patch and plaque stage MF). HML-1 expression was more pronounced on infiltrating epidermal than on dermal T cells. In contrast to early stages, tumor stage MF and lymph nodes affected in the course of cutaneous T cell lymphoma were HML-1 negative. We found a strong association between HML-1 expression, epidermotropism of infiltrating T cells, and the stage of disease. We provide evidence that: 1) the loss of the HML-1 antigen on T cells in MF is a marker of poor prognosis and 2) because the HML-1 antigen is selectively expressed on T lymphocytes of epithelial sites such as gut and skin, our results are compatible with the view that alpha E beta 7 integrins perform homing receptor functions for epitheliotropic T cells.


Softness discrimination and the detection of inclusions are important in surgery and other medical tasks. To better understand how the characteristics of an inclusion (size, depth, hardness) and substrate (stiffness) affect their tactile detection and discrimination with the bare finger, we conducted a psychophysics experiment with eighteen participants. The results indicate that within a more pliant substrate (21 kPa), inclusions of 4 mm diameter (20 mm3 volume) and greater were consistently detectable (above 75% of the time) but only at a depth of 5 mm. Inclusions embedded in stiffer substrates (82 kPa) had to be twice that volume (5 mm diameter, 40 mm3 volume) to be detectable at the same rate. To analyze which tactile cues most impact stimulus detectability, we utilized logistic regression and generalized estimating equations. The results indicate that substrate stiffness most contributes to inclusion detectability, while the size, depth, and hardness of the stimulus follow in individual importance, respectively. The results seek to aid in the development of clinical tools and information displays and more accurate virtual haptic environments in discrimination of soft tissue.


We report a first-principles study of electrical transport in a single molecular conductor consisting of a buthane-dithiol sandwiched between two Au (100) electrodes. We show that the current was increased by increasing of the external voltage biases. The projected density of states (PDOS) and transmission coefficients (T(E)) under various external voltage biases are analyzed, and it suggests that the variation of the coupling between the molecule and the electrodes with external bias leads to the increase of the current. Therefore, we propose that the most origin of electron transport mechanism in molecular devices is caused by the characteristics of both the molecule and the electrodes as well as their cooperation, not necessarily only by the inherent properties of certain species of molecules themselves.


In this paper, we propose a class of high breakdown point estimators for the linear regression model when the response variable contains censored observations. These estimators are robust against high-leverage outliers and they generalize the LMS (least median of squares), S, MM and τ-estimators for linear regression. An important contribution of this paper is that we can define consistent estimators using a bounded loss function (or equivalently, a redescending score function). Since the calculation of these estimators can be computationally costly, we propose an efficient algorithm to compute them. We illustrate their use on an example and present simulation studies that show that these estimators also have good finite sample properties.


There is a lack of theoretical integration and comparative analyses of diaspora nationalist movements. In this article I compare the structures of the diaspora Hindutva and Khalistan movements in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. Differences in their mobilizing structures are the result of underlying ideology and strategic choices, rather than political opportunities. The Hindutva movement's use of brokerage contrasts with the Khalistan movement's reliance on gurdwara politics. In understanding mobilizing structure, greater attention should be paid to strategic choices and internal mechanisms instead of focusing solely on the external environment.


Abstract:In recent years, there has been increasing use of several novel agents that specifically target the V600E BRAF mutation in melanoma and other malignancies. One significant side effect of these drugs is the development of cutaneous squamoproliferative lesions, variously described as keratoacanthomas (KAs) and well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas. We undertook a histopathological review of lesions excised from patients on BRAF inhibitor therapy, and found that 73% of lesions were squamoproliferative in nature. Of these, 33% met histologic criteria for a diagnosis of keratoacanthoma, whereas 43% showed features more in keeping with verruca vulgaris and were designated as BRAF inhibitor associated verrucous keratosis. To our knowledge this represents the first detailed histological analysis of the squamoproliferative lesions which arise in the context of treatment with BRAF inhibitors, and highlights the morphological diversity of these lesions. With the ongoing success of these drugs in clinical trials, these lesions are likely to be more often encountered in routine dermatopathology practice.


THE difficulties that our technological Tsocieties have in dealing effectively with the adverse side-effects of the products of technology are well exemplified by our efforts to control the health hazards of cigarettes. For more than 12 years the evidence has been incontrovertible that cigarette smoking is one of the major public health problems of our era. A number of different technological means are available for the control of cigarette hazards. One technological mean is the use of filter tips to reduce the amount of tar and nicotine in the smoke. But progress along this and other lines has been held up by continuing controversies over whether the dangers to human beings are actually reduced by any of these methods. The recent criticism of Columbia University for sponsoring a new filter' is one example of these controversies. Ironically enough, the one point on which spokesmen for health agencies and the tobacco industry agreed was that there was a dearth of factual evidence on the effectiveness of filters in controlling human health hazards. Surveillance System


BACKGROUND
Recently there has been considerable debate about possible false positive study outcomes. Several well-known epidemiologists have expressed their concern and the possibility that epidemiological research may loose credibility with policy makers as well as the general public.

METHODS
We have identified 75 false positive studies and 150 true positive studies, all published reports and all epidemiological studies reporting results on substances or work processes generally recognized as being carcinogenic to humans. All studies were scored on a number of design characteristics and factors relating to the specificity of the research objective. These factors included type of study design, use of cancer registry data, adjustment for smoking and other factors, availability of exposure data, dose- and duration-effect relationship, magnitude of the reported relative risk, whether the study was considered a 'fishing expedition', affiliation and country of the first author.

RESULTS
The strongest factor associated with the false positive or true positive study outcome was if the study had a specific a priori hypothesis. Fishing expeditions had an over threefold odds ratio of being false positive. Factors that decreased the odds ratio of a false positive outcome included observing a dose-effect relationship, adjusting for smoking and not using cancer registry data.

CONCLUSION
The results of the analysis reported here clearly indicate that a study with a specific a priori study objective should be valued more highly in establishing a causal link between exposure and effect than a mere fishing expedition.


Three types of photochemical swithcing phenomena in LB films were observed using amphiphilic molecules consisting of azobenzene, alkyl chain, and pyridinium(TCNQ) 2 . For two types the conductivity of the LB film changed reversibly with photoisomerization of azobenzene. The third type showed phenomena which are compared to the learning process


Multivariate volumetric datasets are important to both science and medicine. We propose a transfer function (TF) design approach based on user selected samples in the spatial domain to make multivariate volumetric data visualization more accessible for domain users. Specifically, the user starts the visualization by probing features of interest on slices and the data values are instantly queried by user selection. The queried sample values are then used to automatically and robustly generate high dimensional transfer functions (HDTFs) via kernel density estimation (KDE). Alternatively, 2D Gaussian TFs can be automatically generated in the dimensionality reduced space using these samples. With the extracted features rendered in the volume rendering view, the user can further refine these features using segmentation brushes. Interactivity is achieved in our system and different views are tightly linked. Use cases show that our system has been successfully applied for simulation and complicated seismic data sets.


The Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ) reliably quantifies level of psychological functioning and change during treatment. The three subscales, however, are not well validated. Could alternative scales, based on personality dimensions or other groupings of psychological problems better explain patterns of response? In Study 1, the intended structure and four alternative models were compared using EFA and CFA in random thirds of a community clinic intake sample (N = 1,822). Oblique and bi-level models were compared. Preferred models were tested for stability in samples from later time points. In Study 2, the models were compared in a nonclinical sample (N = 589). Most bi-level models provided adequate fit per standards previously established for the Outcome Questionnaire-45. A seven-factor model of psychological problems provided better fit than any yet reported for this inventory.


Many strategic management and marketing scholars have been occupied by the question as to whether early entrants into a market achieve higher performance. Despite a wealth of research related to the hypothetical first-mover advantage (FMA), there has been little consensus as to whether the FMA actually exists. To redress these inconsistencies, we perform a systematic literature review to reconcile the contradictory perspectives offered by the extant empirical literature. The 31 articles selected for analysis contained 261 statistical tests of the relationship between entry timing and performance. Of these tests, 168 (64.4%) provided statistical support for the relationship between early entry and performance, 61 (23.4%) were non-significant, and 24 (9.5%) significantly refuted the presence of the FMA (i.e., they provided evidence for first-mover disadvantages).


Abstract In the present study, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(ethylene succinate) (PESu) or poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) under the framework of quality by design, were blended to produce effective sustained-release matrices for Paclitaxel delivery. A complete physicochemical characterization including weight variation, thickness, water uptake, moisture absorption, moisture loss, and hydrolytic degradation under physiological conditions, was performed. Quality by design approach was applied to study the critical parameters. In vitro cancer toxicity was studied in human cancer cell lines including lung and breast adenocarcinoma. The developed Paclitaxel-loaded films can act as a promising alternative topical matrix as an implant for breast and lung cancer treatment. Graphical Abstract


The number of the topological degrees of freedom is calculated by using the world sheet instanton action. The result has shown that the topology quantum field may be the unbroken phase of string theory.


Structural changes in giant DNA induced by the addition of the flexible polymer Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) were examined by the method of single-DNA observation. In dilute DNA conditions, individual DNA assumes a compact state via a discrete coil-globule transition, whereas in concentrated solution, DNA molecules exhibit an extended conformation via macroscopic phase segregation. The long-axis length of the stretched state in DNA is about 10(3) times larger than that of the compact state. Phase segregation at high DNA concentrations occurs at lower PEG concentrations than the compaction at low DNA concentrations. These opposite changes in the conformation of DNA molecule are interpreted in terms of the free energy, including depletion interaction.


A ventrally localized melanization-inhibiting factor (MIF) may play an important role in the expression of dorsal-ventral pigment patterns of amphibians. In efforts to purify this putative MIF, ventral skin conditioned medium (VCM) from Rana forreri was partially fractionated and used to immunize mice. A monoclonal antibody that has the ability to block the activity of MIF was isolated, and an immunoaffinity matrix was prepared by cross-linking the antibody to protein G-Sepharose. The fraction of VCM that bound to the affinity matrix decreased the number of melanized cells in the Xenopus laevis neural tube explant assay, but did not reduce significantly the number of cells that emigrated. The monoclonal antibody was used for immunohistochemical studies on R. pipiens skin. Strong staining with the antibody was observed beneath the basement membrane, in mucous glands, and in the subcutaneous tissue of the ventral skin. A weak staining was also observed in the ground substances of both ventral and dorsal skin. These results confirm that a monoclonal antibody has been secured against at least one of the MIF constituents and that it is useful as a probe in detecting the distribution of MIF in tissues. The results of its use in this study support the hypothesis that MIF plays a role in the expression, development, and maintenance of the dorsal-ventral pigmentation patterns of frogs.


Regioselective metal insertion into aromatic C-C bonds is a long-standing problem critical for development of new arene functionalizations and cleaner conversion of fossil fuel into value-added chemicals. We report reversible insertion of iridium into the aromatic C-C bonds of η4-bound methyl arenes to give eight-membered diiridium metallacycles with yields up to 99%. While at 50-100 °C the reaction yields a mixture of isomers corresponding to iridium insertion in both unsubstituted and Me-substituted ring C-C bonds, at 150 °C a single isomer dominates. Kinetic and DFT studies suggest that at 150 °C insertion of iridium is reversible, allowing equilibration of the metallacycle products via a diiridium arene sandwich complex. The selectivity of metal insertion is determined by the relative stabilities of isomeric metallacycles governed by steric repulsion between methyl groups of the hydrocarbon chain of the cleaved arene and the Cp* ligands.


Artificial intelligence is gaining increasing relevance in the field of radiology. This study retrospectively evaluates how a commercially available deep learning algorithm can detect pneumonia in chest radiographs (CR) in emergency departments. The chest radiographs of 948 patients with dyspnea between 3 February and 8 May 2020, as well as 15 October and 15 December 2020, were used. A deep learning algorithm was used to identify opacifications associated with pneumonia, and the performance was evaluated by using ROC analysis, sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV. Two radiologists assessed all enrolled images for pulmonal infection patterns as the reference standard. If consolidations or opacifications were present, the radiologists classified the pulmonal findings regarding a possible COVID-19 infection because of the ongoing pandemic. The AUROC value of the deep learning algorithm reached 0.923 when detecting pneumonia in chest radiographs with a sensitivity of 95.4%, specificity of 66.0%, PPV of 80.2% and NPV of 90.8%. The detection of COVID-19 pneumonia in CR by radiologists was achieved with a sensitivity of 50.6% and a specificity of 73%. The deep learning algorithm proved to be an excellent tool for detecting pneumonia in chest radiographs. Thus, the assessment of suspicious chest radiographs can be purposefully supported, shortening the turnaround time for reporting relevant findings and aiding early triage.


We investigate paramagnetic metal-insulator transitions in the infinite-dimensional ionic Hubbard model at finite temperatures. By means of the dynamical mean-field theory with an impurity solver of the continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo method, we show that an increase in the interaction strength brings about a crossover from a band insulating phase to a metallic one, followed by a first-order transition to a Mott insulating phase. The first-order transition turns into a crossover above a certain critical temperature, which becomes higher as the staggered lattice potential is increased. Further, analysis of the temperature dependence of the energy density discloses that the intermediate metallic phase is a Fermi liquid. It is also found that the metallic phase is stable against strong staggered potentials even at very low temperatures.


An autonomic system provides self-adaptive ability that enables system to dynamically adjust its behavior on environmental changes or system failure. Fundamental process of adaptive behavior in an autonomic system is consist of monitoring system or/and environment information, analyzing monitored information, planning adaptation policy and executing selected policy. Evaluating system utility is one of a significant part among them. We propose a novel approach on evaluating autonomic system at runtime. Our proposed method takes advantage of a goal model that has been widely used at requirement elicitation phase to capture system requirements. We suggest the state-based goal model that is dynamically activated as the system state changes. In addition, we defined type of constraints that can be used to evaluate goal satisfaction level. We implemented a prototype of autonomic computing software engine to verity our proposed method. We simulated the behavior of the autonomic computing engine with the home surveillance robot scenario and observed the validity of our proposed method


The RADARSAT-2 synthetic aperture radar is required to generate a wider range of data products than any other preceding civilian satellite SAR. To achieve the required flexibility the antenna on RADARSAT-2 is a fully active phased array, which provides two-dimensional beamforming and beamsteering. Phased arrays are subject to a wide variety of phase, amplitude and mechanical error sources, all of which vary with temperature. This paper discusses the various sources of error. These error sources are translated into beampattern variations in azimuth and elevation, and the resulting pattern variations are then translated into image quality performance variations in sensitivity, resolution and ambiguity ratios.


Fluid forces on a rotating and whirling centrifugal impeller in a volute are analyzed with the assumption of a two-dimensional rotational, inviscid flow. For simplicity, the flow is assumed to be perfectly guided by the impeller vanes. The theory predicts the tangential and the radial force on the whirling impeller as functions of impeller geometry, volute spacing, and whirl ratio. A good qualitative agreement with experiment is found.


Complex gene regulatory mechanisms underlie differentiation and reprogramming. Contemporary single-cell lineage tracing (scLT) methods use expressed, heritable DNA barcodes to combine cell lineage readout with single-cell transcriptomics enabling high-resolution analysis of cell states while preserving lineage relationships. However, reliance on transcriptional profiling limits their adaptation to an ever-expanding tool kit of multiomic single-cell assays. With CellTag-multi, we present a novel approach for independently profiling lineage barcodes with single-cell chromatin accessibility without relying on co-assay of transcriptional state, paving the way for truly multiomic lineage tracing. We validate CellTag-multi in mouse hematopoiesis, characterizing transcriptional and epigenomic lineage priming across progenitor cell populations. In direct reprogramming of fibroblasts to endoderm progenitors, we use CellTag-multi to comprehensively link early cell state with reprogramming outcomes, identifying core regulatory programs underlying on-target and off-target reprogramming. Further, we reveal the Transcription Factor (TF) Zfp281 as a novel regulator of reprogramming outcome, biasing cells towards an off-target mesenchymal fate via its regulation of TGF-β signaling. Together, these results establish CellTag-multi as a novel lineage tracing method compatible with multiple single-cell modalities and demonstrate its utility in revealing fate-specifying gene regulatory changes across diverse paradigms of differentiation and reprogramming.


This study aims to develop a low invasive and selective laser cleaning procedure for the removal of reactive corrosion products on Cu-based artefacts without damage the substrate. In a preliminary step, laser cleaning was performed on two typologies of artificially corroded copper reference samples. The effect of the variation of laser parameters as pulse duration and output power, was thus evaluated on an oxide layer, simulating a protective patina, and a hydroxychloride layer, simulating a reactive corrosion products layer to be removed. The optimized cleaning procedure was validated on an archaeological artefact, a bronze coin. Morphological, microchemical and microstructural characterizations were performed by means of optical microscopy, confocal microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-Ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, before and after laser cleaning. The experimental findings show that laser cleaning, in optimized conditions, can reduce the thickness of the hydroxychloride layers slightly affecting the oxide layers. The difference in the interaction with laser radiation of these two layers seems to be mainly related to the difference in grain size and porosity. Notwithstanding these encouraging results, in order to define the real feasibility of the laser cleaning procedure, a further validation on real artefacts is mandatory due to the variation in thickness and composition of the corrosion products formed during long-lasting uncontrolled degradation processes.


Eleven-year-old Robbie Darko is a stage magician whose tricks always seem to go a little bit wrong. Now, after a disastrous talent-show performance the year before, he's starting fifth grade desperate to redeem himself. It's hard to focus on improving your sleight of hand, though, when your teachers are always thwarting your efforts, your mother's attention is always on her job, and your little brother (affectionately known as Ape Boy) is always climbing on your stuff and chewing on your props. Things only seem to get worse when cranky, bossy Grandma Melvyn (who isn't even his real grandma) moves in, taking over his room and making his life miserable. Like a good magic trick, there's more to Melvyn than meets the eye, and soon Robbie not only has an audience but a mentor, as the old lady turns out to be a former world-class magician complete with her own cabinet of illusions. As Melvyn and Robbie bond over their shared passion, each learns to appreciate, trust, and even forgive the other for their mistakes, until an unexpected medical condition threatens to take Grandma Melvyn away for good. Narrated in Robbie's own inimitable voice speaking directly to the reader (because "magicians always talk to their audiences"), this story captures all the eagerness, confusion, and frustration of being a kid on the cusp between elementary and middle school. Robbie's yearning to be taken seriously and his impatience at being dismissed by distracted, busy adults are utterly relatable, and readers will appreciate his annoyance at having his life turned upside down for an unfriendly relative, even as they recognize that Grandma Melvyn isn't as awful as Robbie originally believes. A thoroughly likable middle-grade novel, offering a blend of poignancy and giggle-worthy humor, this book is a solid back-to-school read. AM


The role of light scattering in the spectrophotometric measurement of arteriovenous oxygen difference (a ¿vO2) in whole blood was investigated. Optical absorbance of whole blood and corresponding hemoglobin solutions was measured to elucidate the contributions of true absorbance and "total scattering effects" to the total absorbance of whole blood. Twersky's radiation scattering theory, which provides a mathematical separation of absorbance and total scattering effects, was applied to the data. It is shown that, although the optical density of whole blood is a highly nonlinear function of hematocrit, the difference in optical density between venous and arterial blood is approximately a linear function of the arteriovenous difference in oxygen content. Furthermore, "total scattering effects" contribute significantly more than true absorbance to the total optical density of whole blood and hence to the actual spectrophotometric measurement of a ¿vO2. Twersky's equation fits the data remarkably well and thus provides a theoretical basis for whole blood measurements. The validity of whole blood spectrophotometric arteriovenous oxygen difference analyzers is thus demonstrated both empirically and theoretically.


This study used the descriptive design as it aimed to explore the Technology and Livelihood (TLE) instruction in the secondary schools in Northern Samar Division in terms of level of attainment of the objectives of Technology and Livelihood Education, level of effectiveness of the methods and techniques used in the Technology and Livelihood Education Instruction, level of adequacy of instructional materials and equipment used in the instruction of Technology and Livelihood Education, and the problems encountered in the Technology and Livelihood Education instruction. This study was conducted in selected public high schools in the Division of Samar which includes the following secondary schools: University of Eastern Philippines Laboratory High School, Catubig Valley National High School, Hibubullao National High School, Somoroy Agro-Industrial School, and Las Navas National High School. The respondents of the study were one hundred twenty eight (128) fourth year students who were taking up Technology and Livelihood Education subjects. The main tool in gathering data and information from the respondents was the questionnaire. The goal of technology education is to promote technological literacy of a broad and encompassing nature. Technology and Livelihood Education has techniques in teaching focuses on the quality of the acts used by the teacher in representing the subject matter to the pupils. It may also include the skill of the teacher in accomplishing the task of learning. It is a technical skill, or artistic execution. Technique in teaching is a factor which promotes learning through teaching with the aid of devices. Original Research Article Tan; AJARR, 15(2): 75-84, 2021; Article no.AJARR.66102 76 Results of the study, brought out remedial measures may be developed to improve the Technology and Livelihood Education instruction in Northern Samar Division such as: The national vocational schools or public secondary schools should endeavor to offer cluster of practical courses rather than concentrating in only one or two popular courses, so that students should be fully aware that in all occupational endeavor, they should have a knowledge of marketing and selling of their goods or services, and consequently, bookkeeping and accounting. Moreover, entrepreneurship or selfemployment of the students need this knowledge when running his own business; Measures should be made by the schools in providing adequate and needed essential facilities, tools, equipment, and supplies and materials to fully implement their program of practical arts in order to attract more students in interest of improved learning; The institutions need to exert greater efforts in securing more community resources to aid in the implementation of the program and to argument insufficient funding for the purchase of materials to enrich curricular offerings; Teachers need to improve their skills and competence in imparting knowledge to their students, likewise, the institutions should adequately provide for the shortage such as lack of books, instructional materials, equipment/tools and the like in order that the students may be able to derive for the instruction.


Abattoir wastewater treatments were monitored using physicochemical parameters, bacterial profile and biodegradation potential for 28 days at 7 days intervals. The stages of abattoir wastewater treatment were evaluated through determination of physicochemical parameters such as pH, conductivity, total dissolved solid, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, phosphate, nitrate and iron using standard procedures.  Bacterial plate counts were determined using the pour plate method with nutrient agar. Characterization and identification of bacteria was done on the basis of cultural appearance of colony, morphology, differential and selective media. The results showed that Escherichia sp., Pseudomonas sp., Enterobacter sp., Klebsiella sp., Staphylococcus sp., Salmonella sp., Streptococcus sp. were common to both abattoir wastewater samples. Serratia sp. was identified only in Ikpoba Hill abattoir wastewater. The bacteria occurrence frequency revealed that Escherichia sp. was dominant (P>0.05) in both abattoir samples while Streptococcus sp. was least abundant. Bacterial plate count revealed significant increase in both abattoir wastewater samples. BOD5/COD ratio revealed that degradation was slow below normal limit of 0.6, and then significantly increased with time. Physicochemical parameters showed significant difference at P>0.05 for both abattoirs. These results suggest that temporal variations of the effluent bacterial community may be useful to predict the wastewater treatment performance and settleability of activated sludge.

 Key words: Bacteria profile, biodegradability, physicochemical parameters, bacterial community, abattoir wastewater.


Knowledge about dental and oral health is one of the factors that influence the occurrence of various dental and oral complaints. Lack of knowledge about the importance of dental and oral care can lead to individuals neglecting dental and oral hygiene. To measure knowledge about dental and oral health, a questionnaire that has been tested and is ready for use is needed. This study aims to test the validity and reliability of a questionnaire about dental and oral health. A random sample of 29 people were selected to complete the questionnaire. The validity test used the Kappa coefficient, and the reliability test used the Cronbach alpha test. The results showed that of the 25 questions tested, 25 questions were valid, and 5 questions were reliable. In conclusion, the questionnaire needs to be reviewed in terms of sentence structure by experts in dentistry, so the questionnaire is easily understood by respondents.
Keywords: validity, reability, questionnaire


To assess the capabilities of our fully functional, prototype telepresence surgery system, experienced surgeons performed complete operative procedures on live, anesthetized pigs. Cholecystectomy, the prototypical procedure for evaluating the integration of surgical skills, was successfully performed in six animals. There were no aborted attempts or complications. Other procedures completed included gastrotomy and enterotomy closures, anastomosis of the small intestine, and nephrectomy. No specific training was required for using the telepresence surgery system, and the "feel" of the system was described as intuitive. Operative times were longer than required in conventional, open surgery, most likely the result of the four degrees of freedom available in the manipulators of the current-generation system. Force feedback and high-resolution, stereoscopic video input facilitated performance. Surgeons operating through a first-generation telepresence system can achieve technical results equivalent to those obtained in conventional surgery.


Here we review recent experimental and theoretical studies of hydrogen approaching metallization regime. Experimental techniques have made great advances over the last several years making it possible to reach previously unachievable conditions of pressure and temperature and to probe hydrogen at these conditions. Theoretical methods have also greatly improved; exemplified through the prediction of new structural and ordered quantum states. Recently, a new solid phase of hydrogen, phase IV, has been discovered in a high-pressure high-temperature domain. This phase is quite unusual structurally and chemically as it represents an intermediate state between common molecular and monatomic configurations. Moreover, it shows remarkable fluxional characteristics related to its quantum nature, which makes it unique among the solid phases, even of light elements. However, phase IV shows the presence of a band gap and exhibits distinct phonon and libron characteristic of classical solids. The quantum behavior of hydrogen in the limit of very high pressure remains an open question. Prospects of studying hydrogen at more extreme conditions by static and combined static-dynamic methods are also presented.


Background

Obesity has became a global health issue. The previous studies suggested that acupoint catgut embedding (ACE) might be a potential treatment option for obesity. In this study, we will conduct a rigorous and normative trial to determine the efficacy of ACE for obesity.

Methods/design

A total of 99 eligble patients diagnosed with obesity will be recruited. They will be randomly allocated to either the verum ACE group, sham ACE group or waiting-list group with 33 patients in each group. Each patient in two ACE groups will recieve 8 sessions of treatment over 8 weeks. The primary outcomes will be the reduction of body mass index after treatments. Secondary outcomes will include waist circumference, hip circumference, waist hip rate, body fat percentage, blood lipid level, as well as the subcutaneous fat area, visceral fat area and the scale assessments of World Health Organization Quality of Life. All outcomes will be evaluated at baseline, end of 8 weeks treatments and 3-month follow up. The evaluators and data analysts will be blinded to group allocation.

Discussion

The finding of this randomized, sham- and waiting-list-controlled trial will help to investigate the influence of ACE on clinical variables as well as visceral fat area, which will provide high-quality evidence on the efficacy of ACE for treatment of obesity.


Minimizing communication by increasing the locality of data references is an important optimization for achieving high performance on distributed memory machines. But in the progress of decomposition, reorganization is inevitable. And the communication produced by reorganization is inevitable too. In this paper, the authors present a linear decomposition algorithm that automatically finding computation and data decomposition, including finding data and computations decomposition that has data reorganization communication. And the authors improve the method and reduce the communication cost by merging parallel regions with the same data decomposition.


Background: The cochlear implant (CI) procedure is one of the most efficient surgical options for the management of patients suffering from severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Notably, CI exposure is one of the most commonly reported complications. Herein, we report our experience in the management of three patients with CIs complicated by implant exposure. Methods: We present a retrospective review-based case series of three patients with exposed CIs requiring soft tissue coverage who were referred to plastic surgery care. These patients underwent their CI procedures at a university hospital specializing in ear, nose, and throat, after which they were referred for plastic surgery care at our university hospital for reconstruction after exposure. Each patient was managed through different surgical techniques based on the size, site, and condition of the surrounding tissue. The management options are discussed in this article. Results: Three patients with exposed cochlear implants were treated with different surgical techniques. During the 1-year follow-up period, the patients made an uneventful recovery with fully functional cochlear implants. Conclusions: The management of CI extrusion with local scalp flaps can constitute an effective and reliable option to salvage CI with a good prognosis and a lower incidence of exposure recurrence. Optimal results for establishing effective soft tissue coverage can be achieved by choosing the appropriate technique according to the clinical presentation.


Crises are both risks and opportunities. They create uncertainty and ambiguity not only because they tend to bring about change but also because they simultaneously point to different directions of policy. Politicians are torn between two opposing forces. They face the challenge of urgently needing to respond to the exigencies of the moment while being tempted by the opportunity to implement long awaited reforms. Response is defined as the short-term effort – e.g., tax increases and spending reductions – to return things back to "normal." Reform makes deep, structural changes in policies – e.g., tax collection and public employment – to bring about a new "normal." There are incentives to move in both directions at once which are periodically updated by elections. However, quite often politicians end up using crisis rhetoric to undermine reforms and return back to the same policies that caused the crisis in the first place. Following the Euro-elections, the Greek government of Antonis Samaras appears to be heading in precisely this direction.


Background The population of uncontrolled asthma patients represents a large therapeutic burden. The PDE3-inhibitor enoximone is a strong and quick bronchodilator and is known to successfully treat life-threatening bronchial asthma (status asthmaticus). Translational mice models showed anti-inflammatory effects when PDE3 was targeted. Methods Here, we investigated the effectiveness of PDE3-inhibitor enoximone as oral treatment for chronic asthma in a real-life off-label setting. Investigational use of PDE3-inhibitor enoximone: 51 outpatients (age 18–77) with chronic asthma were followed using off-label personalized low doses of the PDE3-inhibitor enoximone. Duration of treatment was 2–8 years. Results Four groups could be distinguished as follows: The first group includes patients who use enoximone as an add-on, because it helps them in maintaining a better general wellbeing; they still use their traditional medication (n = 5). The second group consists of patients who use enoximone and were able to phase down their traditional medication without deterioration of their asthma symptoms (n = 11). The third group comprises patients who were able to discontinue their traditional medication and use only enoximone without deterioration of their asthma symptoms (n = 24). The last one has patients who, after having used enoximone for some time, saw their symptoms disappear and now use no medication at all, not even enoximone (n = 11). All patients reported improvement or at least alleviation of their asthma symptoms. All patients reported a better quality of life and greater drug compliance. Conclusion The evaluation shows that PDE3-inhibitor enoximone is a viable alternative for or addition to current asthma therapeutics, as both add-on and stand-alone, considerably reducing the use of LABAs/SABAs/ICS, with no or negligible side effects. Additional studies are advisable.


Prospective pricing is on the rise. Operating surpluses have vanished. Cash flow has become a trickle. Credit ratings have been reduced. The cost of liability insurance has gone through the overhead. Regulatory red tape is strangling creativity. There aren't enough nurses, money or hours in the day to deal with all the problems. Why would anyone in his right mind want to run a hospital?


Breast cancer patients are routinely followed after primary treatment. Many intensive diagnostic methods (tumor markers, chest x-ray, mammogmphy, liver sonar, bone scans) are performed periodically. However, it remains to be determined how often attempts should be made to detect the first recurrence of breast cancer by these methods. To evaluate the effect of imaging diagnosis and tumor markers, we analyzed methods of detection of first recurrence sites during intensive follow-up of breast cancer patients. Of 550 female patients who had been surgically treated between march 2004 and December 2007, 65 recurrent cases had been diagnosed as of July 2008. Thirty cases (46%) had been found as a result of symptoms related to the site of recurrence and 14 cases (22%) were detected by physical examination. In the remaining 21 cases (32%), detection was by other methods: in eight cases by imaging diagnosis, in three cases based on abnormal tumor markers and in 10 cases by imaging diagnosis and abnormal tumor markers. There was a significant difference between first recurrence sites (loco-regional, bone and viscera ) and the methods of detection (symptoms, physical examination and other diagnostic methods) (p<0.0001). However, no statistical difference in overall survival after operation was observed between the 30 cases found as a result of symptoms and the 35 cases detected by physical examination or other diagnostic methods, Period of fellow up extend between 6-45 months post operative .


During the mid-1980s, as Prince cemented his position among the biggest pop stars of all time, some critics bandied about an unsubstantiated theory that once he achieved crossover fame, Prince abandoned his Black audience. However, Prince's presence in Black media, his performance on Billboard charts, and his own words refute this misconception. It is impossible to fully understand or appreciate the legendary first decade of Prince's career without acknowledging the importance of his Black audience. Yet, his relationship with this audience remains largely ignored by the white critical and scholarly establishments as well as the Prince Estate. Therefore, this article argues that while the massive crossover success of 1999 and Purple Rain allowed Prince to expand his audience, his reign would have been impossible without the ardent support of his Black audience—his first and most loyal audience.


The common disorder called tennis elbow exhibits typical clinical characteristics, i.e. painful condition at the lateral aspect of elbow joint on resisted wrist extension.
However an exact cause for this painful condition has not yet been established.
Many observers believe that the usual lesion of tennis elbow is a partial rupture of the ex- tensor tendon at the tenoperiosteal juction on the lateral epicondyle of humerus. However the mechanism of the tendon rupture has never been explained.
Conservative treatments on the tender area have been the most common therapeutic modali- ties for pain relief of tennis elbow.
Based on my clinical experiences and anatomical studies, I discerned that tennis elbow is a periostitis of lateral epicondyle of humerus secondary to spastic contraction of muscular belly of extensor carpi radialis after over-stretched injury.
Therefore, spasmolytic treatment on the extensor carpi radialis muscle provided a favorable result for permanent relief for tennis elbow pain.


The ageing of double base (DB) rocket propellants is the result of chemical decomposition reactions and physical processes, causing degradation of a number of relevant propellant properties (such as reduction in stabilizer and nitroglycerine (NG) content, reduction of the mean molecular mass of nitrocellulose (NC) etc.), which is reflected in a decrease in the reliable service life time of DB propellants. This is the reason why the study of processes of ageing and their consequences (effects) is so important. In this paper we have studied the kinetics of DB rocket propellant decomposition during their artificial ageing, i.e. at elevated temperatures. The kinetic parameters were obtained by measurements of the stabilizer/Ethyl Centralite (EC) content and the mean molecular mass reduction of NC, during artificial ageing at temperatures of 80, 85 and 90 °C. Consumption of the EC was observed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), whilst the reduction in the mean molecular mass of NC was monitored using Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC). It has been shown that artificial ageing of DB propellant causes significant EC consumption and a reduction in the mean molecular mass of NC, from the very beginning of ageing. EC is entirely consumed after 120 days at 80 °C, and is followed by the intensive reactions of NC decomposition. Significant changes in the mean molecular mass of NC starts after 60 days of ageing at 90 °C (or ~250 days at 80 °C). The results obtained from the kinetic data have shown that the activation energy of DB propellant decomposition, determined on the basis of changes in the mean molecular mass of NC is 145.09 kJ·mol-1, whilst the activation energy 246 S. Matecic Musanic, M. Suceska, R. Culjak of decomposition obtained on the basis of EC consumption is 142.98 kJ·mol-1, which is consistent with available literature values [1, 2].


The purpose of this study is to develop a mathematical model and calculate photon-absorbed fractions in a homogeneous nonradioactive cylinder placed inside off-center and outside a cylindrical homogeneous distribution of activity. In the second case, both the radioactive cylinder and the nonradioactive one are placed in a tissue-equivalent nonradioactive medium. The values of the photon-absorbed fractions are investigated for various geometrical configurations using water as the material filling the cylinders and the medium in between and an isotope commonly used in Nuclear Medicine, 99mTc. The calculations for off-center cylinders allows for modeling inhomogeneous distributions of activity within a tumor by placing several "cold" cylinders of various sizes in a radioactive finite cylinder. This three-dimensional model calculates photon-absorbed fractions for inhomogeneous activity distributions that can be used in quantitative nuclear medicine for self-absorption correction, thus introducing a more realistic correction than the one-dimensional corrections. These calculations are also used to model the response of a cylindrical TLD (thermoluminiscent dosimeter) placed inside a homogeneous radioactive cylinder and outside the homogeneous radioactive cylinder, in an absorbing nonradioactive surrounding medium. The purpose of these calculations is to evaluate the photon-absorbed fraction in the TLD as an instrument of measuring the time-integrated activity of a homogeneous radioactive source versus an inhomogeneous one. The dependence of the TLD-absorbed fraction on the position of the TLD with respect to the radioactive cylinder is investigated.


Infants are curious learners who drive their own cognitive development by imposing structure on their learning environments as they explore. Understanding the mechanisms underlying this curiosity is therefore critical to our understanding of development. However, very few studies have examined the role of curiosity in infants' learning, and in particular, their categorization; what structure infants impose on their own environment and how this affects learning is therefore unclear. The results of studies in which the learning environment is structured a priori are contradictory: while some suggest that complexity optimizes learning, others suggest that minimal complexity is optimal, and still others report a Goldilocks effect by which intermediate difficulty is best. We used an auto-encoder network to capture empirical data in which 10-month-old infants' categorization was supported by maximal complexity [1]. When we allowed the same model to choose stimulus sequences based on a "curiosity" metric which took into account the model's internal states as well as stimulus features, categorization was better than selection based solely on stimulus characteristics. The sequences of stimuli chosen by the model in the curiosity condition showed a Goldilocks effect with intermediate complexity. This study provides the first computational investigation of curiosity-based categorization, and points to the importance characterizing development as emerging from the relationship between the learner and its environment.


Aim: The aim of the proposed work is to predict the performance of an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithm in detection of vehicle quality performance based on Features customization and differentiators by comparing it with the Digraph algorithm. Materials and Methods: The proposed ANN is trained and tested with a "Novel Car Evaluation Database" created by Marko Bohanec. With correct quality 826 samples and inaccurate quality 826 samples in two groups with a total sample size of 1652. Training data [75% of dataset] and testing data set [25% of data set] are separated from the obtained samples. The samples are calculated using G power analysis using clincalc, which includes two groups: alpha (0.05), power (80%). There is a statistically significant difference between the groups with p=0.04 Results: The proposed ANN algorithm provided better results in predicting the quality of novel car evaluation compared to the Digraph approach. Conclusion: For the given data set, from the results it is found that the ANN algorithm is significantly more suitable for recognition of better car quality.


Key words: Teaching Style, Compulsory Adult Education
ABSTRACT
The contemporary universities across the world offer programs run in a foreign language; the courses are planned, delivered, and assessed in the language that has to be mastered by the non-native student population. The heterogeneity among their students is met in quite unique ways, since both the domains of compulsory adult education and foreign language education are dictated by various andragogical and pedagogical theories and approaches. When educational philosophies are studied the focus is on the educators' beliefs about education and other relating concepts. If teaching styles are to be studied the focus is not only on the beliefs and values, but also on the educational decisions and displayed teaching actions. Therefore, defining the appropriate teaching styles in compulsory educational settings seems to be crucial if the efficiency of teaching actions or educational decisions is to be questioned. This research presents the freshman students' preferences over teaching styles they had been exposed to. More than 150 freshman students of International University of Sarajevo were surveyed during the last three semesters. The comparative analysis of the stated preferences and the learner profiles under the scope confirms the premise that an advanced foreign language course delivery at the college level needs to be segmented into the teaching tasks of informing, demonstrating, facilitating, and delegating nature, which alternate not only in the classroom but in every other available teaching – learning exchange context during the process of instruction. Consequently, the concept of an appropriate teaching style is challenged by the concept of a preferred teaching style in this article.


The aim of the analysis is to present the subject-matter and the dynamics of the literature in the field of public health and health services, in the years 2000-2012, through the bibliometric analysis of the literature in 11 subject areas. Research questions: Which areas of public health and health services abound at this period in the largest number of publications? Can we observe in the period 2000-2012 growth in number of publications? Is it possible to see any patterns in the dynamics of publishing in particular areas? In which journals the articles on topics related to public health and health services are published most often?
Method: The thematic areas of public health were identified following the basic functions of the public health highlighted in subject literature, and widened by inclusion of "management and organization of health care" and "health economics". The Polish Medical Bibliography (PBL) was searched to find all types of publications published in the years 2000-2012, indexed with the major headings (descriptors) corresponding with the selected topics. The data obtained from PBL was processed by especially written computer program.
Results: A total of 24,631 articles on predetermined topics were recorded in PBL, in the chosen period. Dominate publications on "management and organization", "law regulation" and "health economics". Together they constitute more than half of all publications. Next, most frequently presented in publications issue was "monitoring the health of the population". Incomparably less is publications on the prevention of diseases and their causes. During this period, there are only few comparative studies published showing Poland among other countries. Also, very little work is published about the aging of the Polish population seen as a public health problem. From 2000 to 2010, the number of publications in the entire public health area has remained relatively stable. From 2010 begins gradual decrease in the number of articles in almost all fields, with the exception of "disease monitoring"," prevention of accidents and injuries" and "epidemiological surveillance". More than half (51%) of the publications were published in 55 journals, of which only 20 deal extensively with issues of public health. Other articles are distributed in more than 300 other bio-medical journals.
Conclusions: Public health and health services fields, as areas of research and professional discussion in Poland are dominated by issues of management, organization, economics and law regulations. Number of publications in all analyzed subjects (public health + management+economics) in the years 2000-2012, shows a weak growth, with significant differences between individual areas and sub-areas. In such areas as "disease prevention", "management", "health economics"," quality of care" issues - the number of publications is falling. Dispersion of publications in hundreds of magazines, mostly bio-medical, probably is not conducive to the consolidation of public health.


Given the importance of climate change it is vital to find a transition away from fossil fuels. The transition will include electrification of several sectors, for example road transport, but considering the strong dependency on carbon-based fuels and associated infrastructures, it is reasonable to assume that biomass-based hydrocarbon will play a key role to smoothen the transition away from fossil fuels. This study provides an analysis of direct and indirect technological options for liquid biofuels based on lignocellulosic resources in the context of greening European fossil-fuel infrastructures. Direct options are those which result in integration of biogenic feedstock in a fossil-based process and then co-processing in a downstream conventional unit or substituting a conventional part of the production chain of a liquid fuel by a bio-based one. Indirect options are those which pave the way for ramping-up biomass supply chain in the form of infrastructure and market. Examples of direct options in the focus of this study are biomass gasification for production of intermediates and biomass pyrolysis substituting fossil feedstock. Examples of indirect options are co-firing biomass in coal-fired power plants and integrating biomass gasification plants with district heating (DH) networks. Such options are important for establishing biomass supply chains and markets. This study also assesses the potential of biomass use in other industrial sectors not directly related with fossil-based fuel or energy production, such as the pulp and paper industry and the iron and steel industry. In this context, opportunities and barriers for both direct and indirect greening options are discussed, focusing mainly on technological and logistic aspects. It is highlighted that fossil-fuel infrastructures can act as drivers for the development of advanced biofuels production as they can reduce the initial risks, in terms of cost and technological maturity, offering the opportunity to increase gradually the demand for biomass, and develop the logistic infrastructure. It is, however, important to make sure that such biofuel production processes are part of a long-term strategy, which needs incentives to overcome current barriers and eventually phase out fossil infrastructures.


Optimal point-to-point trajectory planning for planar redundant manipulator is considered in this study. The main objective is to minimize the sum of the position error of the end-effector at each intermediate point along the trajectory so that the end-effector can track the prescribed trajectory accurately. An algorithm combining Genetic Algorithm and Pattern Search as a Generalized Pattern Search GPS is introduced to design the optimal trajectory. To verify the proposed algorithm, simulations for a 3-D-O-F planar manipulator with different end-effector trajectories have been carried out. A comparison between the Genetic Algorithm and the Generalized Pattern Search shows that The GPS gives excellent tracking performance.


Objectives
Despite significant progress in addressing respiratory infections, diarrhea, and child mortality over the past 30 years, the estimated health burden of dietary imbalances in Mongolia ranks among the highest globally. We sought understand the burden of malnutrition in Mongolia by synthesizing available information on ecological determinants of nutrition status (agriculture and food supply), proximal determinants (diet and nutrition-related lifestyle factors), biochemical, functional, and anthropometric indictors of nutrition status, and nutrition programs and policies in order to guide future research and interventions.

Methods
We conducted a narrative review of malnutrition in Mongolia by searching numerous online databases for relevant research articles, survey reports, and statistics. We supported this review by searching Mongolian national policy documents and tabulating their inclusion of FAO key recommendations for improving nutrition through agriculture and food systems.

Results
Historic geographic and climatologic extremes, compounded by rapid urbanization, globalization of the food market, and increases in sedentary lifestyles in recent decades have contributed to a widespread and severe double burden of micronutrient deficiencies and metabolic disease in Mongolia. Despite continued governmental support for nutrition, program priorities have not been clearly defined and food security has generally been conflated with nutrition, resulting in a lack of effective nutrition-sensitive initiatives. Formidable challenges to programmatic action remain, especially in recruiting nutrition professionals and funding.

Conclusions
Broadly, future efforts should prioritize institutional capacity building, training and recruitment of nutrition personnel, and developing systems for collecting and applying nutrition and health surveillance data in Mongolia. An initial assessment of current and projected capacity requirements for promotion of cross-sector nutrition initiatives would be beneficial.

Funding Sources
None.


This is a demonstration of a voice dialer, implemented as a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP). A real-time graphical display shows the POMDP's probability distribution over different possible dialog states, and shows how system output is generated and selected. The system demonstrated here includes several recent advances, including an action selection mechanism which unifies a hand-crafted controller and reinforcement learning. The voice dialer itself is in use today in AT&T Labs and receives daily calls.


We consider jointly distributed random variables X and Y. After describing the Gács-Körner common information between the random variables from the viewpoint of the capacity region of the Gray-Wyner system, we propose a new notion of common information between the random variables that is dual to the Gács-Körner common information from this viewpoint in a well-defined sense. We characterize this quantity explicitly in terms of two auxiliary quantities that are asymmetric in nature, and illustrate the operational significance of these new quantities by characterizing a corner point of the solution to a problem of source coding with side-information in terms of them. We also contrast this new concept of common information for a pair of random variables with the Wyner common information of the random variables, which is also a kind of dual to the Gács-Körner common information.


Elevated pH in the gastric contents of babies immediately after birth suggests the presence of alkaline amniotic fluid in the stomach of the fetus. After the stomach had been lavaged, a strongly acid secretion was immediately noted, implying that the secretory ability of the gastric mucosa is unimpaired immediately after birth. Therefore, no delay in the onset of oral feedings based on poor gastric functioning seems warranted.
 Infants born by Cesarean section and not subjected to abdominal compression by the birth process had an even more alkaline gastric residuum at birth, suggesting the presence of excessive amniotic fluid in the stomach of these babies. The recommendation that babies' stomachs be emptied immediately after Cesarean section seems justified to avoid an increased hazard from vomiting and aspiration. This has proved an innocuous and beneficial procedure in our hands.


Objectives
High quality fortified premixed cereals can help caregivers meet infants' nutrient needs after 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding, as complementary foods alongside breastmilk especially where family foods have low nutrient density. Such cereals are widely used in nutrition assistance programs, but commercially-sold brands are rarely subject to quality assurance using international standards for composition and labeling. Previous work found low and variable nutrients and high mycotoxin levels in a few samples. This study aimed to provide the first combined test for nutrient and mycotoxins in multiple samples of all premixed cereal brands for sale in a country, using Malawi as an example of a country with high burdens of child malnutrition and an active market for commercial premixed cereals.

Methods
We purchased a convenience sample of 94 packages from all 8 brands available in markets representing the Central and Southern regions of Malawi, and conducted tests for macronutrients, iron and zinc as well as aflatoxins and fumonisin, using standards set by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Test results were compared to labeled values and the few available standards, and interpreted in the light of qualitative findings from semi-structured interviews using snowball sampling with Malawian stakeholders.

Results
Premixed cereals generally met moisture, ash, and iron standards set by the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS), but just 35%, 56% and 39% of samples were compliant with the MBS standards for zinc, protein, and fat respectively, and only 63% of samples met Codex standards for energy. Most of the locally-made products exceeded national and international standards for aflatoxin and fumonisin. Labeled values deviated significantly from test results (P < 0.05) for all nutrients except protein and zinc. Key informants identified several challenges in achieving high and uniform quality premixed products in Malawi including reliability and independence of test results, cost of testing, and quality control.

Conclusions
Test results showed low and variable nutrient content, discordance with labeled values and mycotoxin contamination above Malawian standards, revealing the need for introduction of trustworthy quality assurance standards to improve quality and labeling practices for complementary foods in Malawi.

Funding Sources
This project was supported by a USDA award to Tufts University.

Supporting Tables Images and/or Graphs


AIM
To investigate anti-angiogenic effects of polysulfated heparin endostatin (PSH-ES) on alkali burn induced corneal neovascularization (NV) in rabbits.

METHODS
An alkali burn was made on rabbit corneas to induce corneal NV in the right eye of 24 rabbits. One day after burn creation, a 0.2 mL subconjunctival injection of 50 µg/mL PSH-ES, 50 µg/mL recombinant endostatin (ES), or normal saline was administered every other day for a total of 14d (7 injections). Histology and immunohistochemisty were used to examine corneas. Corneal NV growth was evaluated as microvessel quantity and corneal vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression was measured by immunohistochemical assay.

RESULTS
Subconjunctival injection of ES and PSH-ES resulted in significant corneal NV suppression, but PSH-ES had a more powerful anti-angiogenic effect than ES. Mean VEGF concentration in PSH-ES treated corneas was significantly lower than in ES treated and saline treated corneas. Histological examination showed that corneas treated with either PSH-ES or ES had significantly fewer microvessels than eyes treated with saline. Additionally corneas treated with PSH-ES had significantly fewer microvessels than corneas treated with ES.

CONCLUSION
Both PSH-ES and recombinant ES effectively inhibit corneal NV induced by alkali burn. However, PSH-ES is a more powerful anti-angiogenic agent than ES. This research has the potential to provide a new treatment option for preventing and treating corneal NV.


A new sensitized chemiluminescence method by acidic permanganate oxidation was developed for the sensitive determination of trazodone. A fluorescent dye as used rhodamine 6G to increase a chemiluminescence intensity. Under optimum conditions, the liner range of the calibration curve was obtained for 1-5000 nmol/L. The limit of detection was calculated from 3σ of a blank was 0.23 nmol/L. The coexistent ions and substances had no interference with the chemiluminescence measurement. The chemiluminescence spectra were measured to elucidate a possible mechanism for the system. The present method was satisfactorily used in the determination of the drugs in pharmaceutical samples and animal serums.


Erythrocyte 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) levels in- crease in hyperthyroidism. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of thyroid hormones on red blood cell (RBC) 2,3-DPG levels. Erythrocyte suspensions, prepared from whole blood samples of healthy volunteers, were incubated with 4 ng/mL 3,5,3�-triiodothyronine (T3) and 0,15 �g/mL 3,3�,5,5�-tetraiodothy- ronine (T4) at 37°C for 1 hour. These incubations were also done in the presence of inhibitors that exert effect on the enzymes of the Rapoport-Luebering cycle (RLC) in which 2,3-DPG is formed. Diphosphoglycerate mutase (DPGM) and phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) were inhibited by N-ethylmaleimide (NEM; 750 mg/L) and suramin (SUR; 3 mmol/L), respectively. Triiodothyronine, T3 � NEM, and T3 � SUR incubations all caused an increase in erythrocyte 2,3-DPG levels compared with controls. When erythrocytes were incubated with T3 in the presence of both inhibitors, however, no increase in 2,3-DPG levels was observed. These data suggest that thyroid hormones may control 2,3-DPG accumulation in RBCs.


1H MRS thermometry has been investigated for brain trauma and hypothermia monitoring applications but has not been explored in brain tumours. The proton resonance frequency (PRF) of water is dependent on temperature but is also influenced by microenvironment factors, such as fast proton exchange with macromolecules, ionic concentration and magnetic susceptibility. 1H MRS has been utilized for brain tumour diagnostic and prognostic purposes in children; however, the water PRF measure may provide complementary information to further improve characterization. Water PRF values were investigated from a repository of MRS data acquired from childhood brain tumours and children with apparently normal brains. The cohort consisted of histologically proven glioma (22), medulloblastoma (19) and control groups (28, MRS in both the basal ganglia and parietal white matter regions). All data were acquired at 1.5 T using a short TE (30 ms) single voxel spectroscopy (PRESS) protocol. Water PRF values were calculated using methyl creatine and total choline. Spectral peak amplitude weighted averaging was used to improve the accuracy of the measurements. Mean PRF values were significantly larger for medulloblastoma compared with glioma, with a difference in the means of 0.0147 ppm (p < 0.05), while the mean PRF for glioma was significantly lower than for the healthy cohort, with a difference in the means of 0.0061 ppm (p < 0.05). This would suggest the apparent temperature of the glioma group was ~1.5 °C higher than the medulloblastomas and ~0.7 °C higher than a healthy brain. However, the PRF shift may not reflect a change in temperature, given that alterations in protein content, microstructure and ionic concentration contribute to PRF shifts. Measurement of these effects could also be used as a supplementary biomarker, and further investigation is required. This study has shown that the water PRF value has the potential to be used for characterizing childhood brain tumours, which has not been reported previously. © 2014 The Authors. NMR in Biomedicine published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


topically to painful ulcers. J Pain Symptom Manage 2005; 29: 118–19. 3 Stein C, Comisel K, Haimerl E et al. Analgesic effect of intraarticular morphine after arthroscopic knee surgery. N Engl J Med 1991; 325: 1123–6. 4 Ribeiro M, Joel S, Zeppetella G. The bioavailability of morphine applied topically to cutaneous ulcers. J Pain Symptom Manage 2004; 27: 434–9. 5 Watterson G, Howard R, Goldman A. Peripheral opioids in inflammatory pain. Arch Dis Child 2004; 89: 679–81.


In this article, I begin with the position that knowledge production and reproduction is partial and situated. Through an examination of academic research on and teaching of religion in Singapore, I demonstrate how scholarly interventions at once re-present and conceal religion as experienced and lived. I posit that the partiality of such interventions is due to the influential official narrative about religion in Singapore, so that what is studied and taught reflects certain dimensions of religious life and religious-secular relations that dominate official discourse. In particular, through academic writing (and to a lesser extent, teaching), religion in Singapore is constructed as a particular mosaic of social, cultural, and political life, socially relevant, culturally rich, spatially manifested, transnationally linked, politically delicate, and historically steeped. Drawing from this reflection on Singapore, I emphasize the need to recognize the geography, sociology, and politics of knowledge (re)production, and to decenter the notion that there is an emerging "Asian religious studies."


Charles Gore (1853-1932) is a towering figure in Anglicanism. His independence of mind and prophetic spirit model a way of doing theology with rigour of thought, clarity, deep devotion and practical pastoral concern. An influential leader in the Anglo-Catholic movement, his writings and lectures on the incarnation, the doctrine of God, revelation, faith and reason, the nature of the church and sacraments, ecumenism, authority and biblical inspiration, shaped theological discussion for decades. Today, they still offer a comprehensive vision of the Christian faith in dialogue with modern thought, and provide a platform for exploring key contemporary issues in social and economic justice. The first Bishop of Birmingham, he founded the Community of the Resurrection (now at Mirfield) and actively supported the emerging trade union movement. His writings on the responsibilities of employers have a biting relevance today. This collection of his writings draws on his published and unpublished works, letters and archive material held at Mirfield.


Stent design and geometry influence the fluid mechanical environment in an artery and hence affect clinical outcomes of restenosis. There is clearly a role for biomechanics in improving current stent designs. This review summarizes some of the work that has been done to address the fluid mechanical aspects of stenting. A variety of computational, experimental, and in vivo approaches have been employed, and the results demonstrate a strong dependence on stent design, as well as effects on hemodynamics in locations of the circulatory system quite removed from the stented segment. There are also important solid mechanical aspects that affect clinical failures of stents that are not summarized here.


To the Editor.— The Australia antigen has been associated with both "serum" and "infectious" hepatitis, and many laboratories are using reaction electrophoresis to detect the antigen. 1-4 Our case report points out a source of error that 'has apparently been unrecognized in the past. Report of a Case.— A 21-year-old white, male, college student entered the Abington Memorial Hospital with a history of intermittent nausea and vomiting of two weeks' duration, and dark urine, light-colored stools, pruritus, hives, and joint pains during the week prior to admission. He gave a history of bimonthly abuse of heroin, administered intravenously, and on two occasions had shared a needle with several individuals who had developed viral hepatitis. The patient was icteric and had a tender liver 13 cm in breadth in the midclavicular line. The hemoglobin level was 15.3 gm/100 ml. The serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase was greater than 1.500μ/ml; lactic dehydrogenase level


: Content of thiamin and metabolism of ascorbic acid were studied in 150 male rats administered with ascorutin (vitamins C and P complex) after physical exercises within 10, 15 and 20 days. Content of the vitamins studied was decreased depending on duration and severity of the physical exercises. High doses of ascorutin simultaneously with physical exercises normalized the ascorbic acid content in adrenal glands and increased the vitamin concentration in blood. At the same time, ascorutin caused different decrease in content of thiamin in blood and liver tissue accompanied by a marked decrease of the transketolase activity in blood and by an increase in the TDP-effect. The data obtained suggest that ascorutin should be combined with compensatory doses of thiamin.


Zero-shot human-AI coordination holds the promise of collaborating with humans without human data. Prevailing methods try to train the ego agent with a population of partners via self-play. However, these methods suffer from two problems: 1) The diversity of a population with finite partners is limited, thereby limiting the capacity of the trained ego agent to collaborate with a novel human; 2) Current methods only provide a common best response for every partner in the population, which may result in poor zero-shot coordination performance with a novel partner or humans. To address these issues, we first propose the policy ensemble method to increase the diversity of partners in the population, and then develop a context-aware method enabling the ego agent to analyze and identify the partner's potential policy primitives so that it can take different actions accordingly. In this way, the ego agent is able to learn more universal cooperative behaviors for collaborating with diverse partners. We conduct experiments on the Overcooked environment, and evaluate the zero-shot human-AI coordination performance of our method with both behavior-cloned human proxies and real humans. The results demonstrate that our method significantly increases the diversity of partners and enables ego agents to learn more diverse behaviors than baselines, thus achieving state-of-the-art performance in all scenarios. We also open-source a human-AI coordination study framework on the Overcooked for the convenience of future studies.


The exact double-Kerr solution of Kramer and Neugebauer is analysed by expanding it in powers of the masses m1, m2. For general values of the parameters the solution contains NUT sources and therefore is not flat at spatial infinity. These do not occur (or can be removed) in two special cases: (I) if a1/m1 = a2/m2, where a1, a2 are the angular momenta per unit mass; (II) if a1 + a2 = 0. In case (I) there is present, in addition to the two spinning objects, a massless spinning rod of finite length. The spacetime in this case contains closed timelike curves (CTC) even though the sources are realistic and lie in a compact region. We conclude that, in the absence of an explanation of CTC, general relativity does not give a satisfactory account of this physical system.


This paper proposes a mutidimensional scaling method for asymmetric proximity data whose diagonal entries are not all equal. For a suggested model, necessary and sufficient conditions and algebraic solutions are presented. The method consisting of two algorithms is developed, which gives multidimensional configuration, unidimensional scale of any psychological quantities and the degree of asymmetry of the data. The quantities should be interpreted through data analysis or examined with any hypothesis. A simulation study using artificial data demonstrates that the method works successfully, showing sufficient robustness and capability to recover the original structure. Illustrative applications are presented. Extensions of the model are argued, and properties of the model and the algorithms are discussed with another simulation study.


The paper sets to explore the debate of whether a shift to a more stabilized low-inflation regime as a result of monetary policy dynamics could lead to a decline in the degree of pass-through of exchange rate movements to consumer prices. The paper deviates from previous empirical work as it subjects the series to multiple structural break tests as proposed by Bai and Perron (2013) which help to identify policies related to stabilizing the environment and also uses panel-data approach. The paper utilizes quarterly data from 1981q1 to 2014q3 and covers oil exporting countries in Sub-Saharan African and lends it support to the Taylor Hypothesis. Specifically, the paper confirms the hypothesis that the degree of exchange rate pass-through to consumer price declines following inflation stabilization policies as witnessed in the selected countries. Guided by the findings of the paper, the policies adopted after 2010s seems to be more credible in stabilizing the environment than the policies implemented in the 1990s.Several explanations have been offered for the relative efficiency of the 2010s policies.


BACKGROUND: Urinary retention after rectal resection is common and managed prophylactically by prolonging urinary catheterization. However, because indwelling urinary catheterization is a well-established risk factor for urinary tract infection, the ideal timing for urinary catheter removal following a rectal resection is unknown. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that early urinary catheter removal (on or before postoperative day 2) would be associated with urinary retention. DESIGN: This study is a retrospective review of medical records. SETTING: This study was conducted at a colorectal surgery service at a tertiary care academic teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Adults undergoing rectal resection operations by colorectal surgeons in 2005 to 2010 were selected. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The primary outcome measured was urinary retention. RESULTS: Of 205 patients included, 41 (20%) developed urinary retention. Male sex (OR, 3.9; 95% CI, 1.7–9), increased intraoperative intravenous fluid (OR for each liter, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.04–1.48), and urinary catheter removal on postoperative day 2 or earlier (OR, 3.8; 95% CI, 1.4–10.5) were associated with urinary retention on multivariable analysis. Early catheter removal was not associated with decreased urinary tract infection rates (p = 0.29) but was associated with shorter length of stay (6.5 vs 8.9 days; p = 0.005). LIMITATIONS: The retrospective nature of this study did not allow for a precise definition of urinary retention. Preoperative urinary function was not available, and the patient sample was heterogeneous, including several indications for rectal resection. Urinary catheters were not removed per protocol and therefore subject to bias. The study is likely underpowered to detect differences in urinary tract infection between urinary catheter removal groups. CONCLUSION: In patients undergoing rectal resection, we found that urinary catheter removal on or before postoperative day 2 was associated with urinary retention (see Video, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/DCR/A172).


The primary objective of this study is to employ semi-parametric regression techniques in the balanced longitudinal data model. Where the parametric regression models are plagued by the problem of strict constraints, while non-parametric regression models, despite their flexibility, suffer from the problem of the curse of dimensionality. Consequently, semi-parametric regression presents a suitable solution to address the problems in parametric and non-parametric regression methods. The advantage of this model is that it contains all the positive properties included in the previous two models such as containing strict restrictions in its parametric component, complete flexibility in its non-parametric component, and clarity of the interaction between its parametric and non-parametric components. According to the above, two methods were used to estimate a semi-parametric balanced longitudinal data model. The first is the Bayesian estimating method; the second is the Speckman method, which estimated the unknown nonparametric smoothing function by employing the kernel smoothing Nadaraya & Watson method. The Aim was to make a comparison between the Bayesian estimation method and the classical estimation method. Based on simulation experiments conducted on three different sample sizes (50, 100, and 200), it was concluded that the Bayes method is best at the variance levels (1,5). In contrast, the Profile least square method is best at the variance level (10).


Impact of climate change on average annual water balance of Lake Balaton was examined under different climate scenarios. Increase in annual temperature by 1.5 degrees C and decrease in annual precipitation by 5% are likely to lead to considerable decrease in water recharge of lake. If an increase in annual temperature by 2.8 degrees C is coupled with a decrease in precipitation by 10%, Lake Balaton could turn into a closed lake without outflow.


The aim of the article was to internationally compare the market concentration of grocery retailers in the six countries of Central Europe Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The market concentration was measured by CR4 ratio, Herfindahl-Hirschman Index and the GRS index. Data covered the period 2010 2015. The secondary data came from the Euromonitor International and Bureau van Dijk databases. The results showed that the market structure of the Central European grocery retailers has mostly a character of asymmetric oligopoly. The pairwise correlation did not reveal any strong relationship between the market power and profitability of the grocery retailers. The Central European grocery market is controlled by strong national retail chains and multinational companies which operate modern grocery retail formats. However, traditional grocery retailers are still popular in Hungary while traditional individual grocers in other countries are disappearing or gradually joining the networking system based on franchising.


Phenol and its derivatives are considered among the most hazardous organic pollutants from industrial wastewater and they are toxic even at low concentrations. Besides the existence of phenol in natural water source it can lead to the formation of other toxic substituted compounds. So this has led to growing concern on setting up of rigid limits on the acceptable level of phenol in the environment. The various methods for the treatment of phenol from wastewater streams are briefly reviewed. The various technologies like distillation, liquid-liquid extraction with different solvents, adsorption over activated carbons and polymeric and inorganic adsorbents, membrane pervaporation and membrane-solvent extraction, have been elucidated. The advantages and disadvantages of the various methods are illustrated and their performances are compared.


OBJECTIVES
To analyse: 1) the associations between the therapists' and patients' assessments of the relationship, 2) the relationship between the personality traits of the therapists the personality traits of the patients and their assessments of the relationship, 3) the relationship between age, sex and the personality traits of both groups and their assessment of the relationship.

METHODS
34 patients in long-term psychotherapy and their 11 therapists were investigated. The Dyadic Therapist-Patient Relationship Questionnaire, The Costa and McCraeea's NEO-FFI Personality Inventory, Pearson coefficients of correlation and the regression analysis were used.

RESULTS
The therapists' sense of professionalism was associated with the patients' acceptance of them (p=0.032). Therapists in whom the traits of Extroversion and Openness were more prominent accepted their patients more often (p=0.006; p=0.041), felt more professional (p=0.000; p=0.023) and more rarely felt uncertain in the relationship (p=0.013; p=0.048). Patients in whom the trait of Conscientiousness was more prominent more rarely rejected therapists (p=0.004) or perceived them as uncertain (p=0.007). A higher level of Neuroticism in patients was associated with greater uncertainty in the relationship on the part of therapists (p=0.039).

CONCLUSIONS
1) Extroversion and Openness of therapists are associated with their attitude to patients 2) Conscientiousness and Neuroticism of patients are associated with their perception of therapists as well as with therapists' experience of the relationship 3) There is a positive influence on the therapeutic relationship when the patient is younger and the therapist older and female.


Purpose
This study furthers metadata quality research by providing complementary network-based metrics and insights to analyze metadata records and identify areas for improvement.

Design/methodology/approach
Metadata record graphs apply network analysis to metadata field values; this study evaluates the interconnectedness of subjects within each Hub aggregated into the Digital Public Library of America. It also reviews the effects of NACO normalization – simulating revision of values for consistency – and breaking up pre-coordinated subject headings – to simulate applying the Faceted Application of Subject Terminology to Library of Congress Subject Headings.

Findings
Network statistics complement count- or value-based metrics by providing context related to the number of records a user might actually find starting from one item and moving to others via shared subject values. Additionally, connectivity increases through the normalization of values to correct or adjust for formatting differences or by breaking pre-coordinated subject strings into separate topics.

Research limitations/implications
This analysis focuses on exact-string matches, which is the lowest-common denominator for searching, although many search engines and digital library indexes may use less stringent matching methods. In terms of practical implications for evaluating or improving subjects in metadata, the normalization components demonstrate where resources may be most effectively allocated for these activities (depending on a collection).

Originality/value
Although the individual components of this research are not particularly novel, network analysis has not generally been applied to metadata analysis. This research furthers previous studies related to metadata quality analysis of aggregations and digital collections in general.


Our empirical method to fabricate molecular dots from thin organic films by dewetting, is further developed and quantified. The films are deposited at UHV conditions on helium-cooled substrates. Controlled annealing to room temperature transforms the films into homogeneous distributions of isolated dots. To achieve regular and closely packed patterns of nano-dots we applied the dewetting process on topographically structured substrates as templates. The dots are characterized and accessed by scanning microscopies.


Student's satisfaction has important role in improving student's performance and the academic institution quality. Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, an academic institutes shifted their traditional learning methods to online classes. In teaching SAP, which is prominent software for Enterprise Resource Planning, the student's satisfaction requires further attention because of the subject complexity; in terms of delivery mode and infrastructure requirements. Hence, this paper aims at examining the student's satisfaction for SAP courses during the outbreak. The examination includes relationship between factors that include instructor's dimension, environmental dimension, student trust and student satisfaction. A total of 332 responses were collected from students who were involved in SAP subjects and experienced the transition of traditional teaching to online teaching of the subject. The data was analyzed using SPSS for descriptive analysis and AMOS for Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Internal consistency of the research instrument, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy and exploratory factor analysis revealed that the research instrument was suitable. The findings indicate that instruction dimension significantly affected environmental dimension, student trust and student satisfaction. Environmental dimension significantly affected student trust and student trust significantly affecting student satisfaction. Student trust is mediating the relationship between instruction dimension and environmental dimension toward student satisfaction. Moreover, the results show that instructor plays dominant role toward student trust and student satisfaction. The learning environment, which include interaction between students and lecturer, enhances the student to overcome difficulties while learning online. These findings are critical in understanding the students' satisfaction in online learning and contribute in improving the learning environment.


The results derived from treadmill exercise test and coronary angiog-raphy in 65 patients were assessed comparatively. 29 patients had coronary artery steno-sis≥50%, exercise test results were positive in 22 patients and negative in 7 patients;36 patients had normal coronary artery, exercise lest results were positive in 7 patientsand negative in 29 patients, so that exercise test identified patients with coronary heartdisease with a sensitivity of 76%, specificity of 80% and predictive accuracy of 76%.The sensitivity was associated with the extent of coronary artery disease: in patientswith two or three vessel disease (88% or 83%) was significantly higher than that in patients with vessel diseas (64%) all patients with three vessel in disease, ischemia in-duced at early stage of exercise test and low workload, so the onset time of exercise in-duced ischemia (identified by electrocardiogram with ST segment depression ≥1 mmm)in patients with three vessel disease (256. 7±132. 3 second) was significantlyless thanthat in patients with two or vessel disease (341. 4±170. 8 or 457. 3±251. 7 second). In29 patients typical angina history, exercise test results were positive in 22 patients andtrue positive in 20 patients, the predictive accuracy was 76%0. In 36 patients with atypi-cal angina history. exercise test results were positive in 8 patients and ture positive in 2patients, the predictive accuracy was 25%


Service quality is the ability of the institute to meet or exceed customer (student) expectations. Monitoring of the service quality performance of organizations (institutions) is an important factor for quality sustenance, a necessary step towards gaining the competitive advantage over the other organizations (Getty and Getty, 2003; Zeithaml et al., 2006). Research and awareness about what students think important will enable educators to better anticipate and address their particular needs which in turn will strengthen the educational institutions. The purpose of this study is to examine the usage of different dimensions of service quality in education system and evaluate the service quality (tangibility, responsiveness, reliability, assurance and empathy) with students' satisfaction in the higher education institutes in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Questionnaire was administered to collect the primary related data to establish the relationship between service quality and student satisfaction in higher education. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS package. The findings of this study showed that the assurance and the reliability dimensions of service quality were the two most important dimensions and had significant positive relationship with student satisfaction. Recommendations were presented and suggestions for further research were highlighted.


Background: The proteinuria resulting from IgA nephropathy is secondary to altered charge-selective and/or size-selective properties of the glomerular capillary walls. However, the functional changes occurring within the glomerular capillary network which lead to proteinuria are still poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed the participation of charged components in the glomerular capillary and their role with respect to proteinuria in childhood IgA nephropathy. Methods: We examined glomerular anionic charge in renal biopsy specimens with confocal laser scanning microscopy using FITC-conjugated poly-L-lysine as a cationic tracer. The renal specimens investigated were from 9 children with IgA nephropathy (IgAN(+)) associated with detectable proteinuria in a morning urine specimen, 8 children with IgA nephropathy (IgAN(–)) and 11 children with thin basement membrane disease (TBMD) with no detectable proteinuria. Results: The labeling intensity of glomerular fixed anionic sites from IgAN(+) was significantly lower than that of IgAN(–) and TBMD. Staining the serial sections following methylation treatment revealed that the labeling intensity for fixed anionic sites in TBMD was significantly higher than that of both IgAN(+) and IgAN(–). On the other hand, saponification treatment resulted in significantly more intensive fluorescence in TBMD and IgAN(–) than in IgAN(+). Furthermore, statistical analysis demonstrated a significant correlation between 24-hour protein excretion and the intensity of fixed anionic sites in all patients with IgA nephropathy at pH 7.0 and following staining with saponification treatment. Conclusions: These findings suggest that a reduction of glomerular anionic charge might be causally associated with the development of proteinuria in childhood IgA nephropathy. Furthermore, sulfate components such as heparan sulfate proteoglycan might be involved initially followed by carboxyl components such as sialoglycoproteins in the glomeruli of patients with IgA nephropathy contributing to the occurrence of proteinuria. We suggest that this method represents a straightforward approach to dissect the participation of charged components in the pathogenesis of childhood IgA nephropathy and their relationship to the development of glomerular proteinuria.


Aspergillus is a fungus and toxins produced by fungi that negatively affect patients' lives, and recent
research has focused on the relationship between different diseases caused by inhaling portions of fungi
or fungal spores. There are some complete reports that fully reveal the relationship of Aspergillus fungi by
determining the percentage of toxins produced by this type of fungi or their frequency in feed, food, or even
clinical specimens, as well as the effect of toxins secreted by fungi on people who have been exposed to
these fungi. It was purified from clinical samples, which included sputum, edema, wiping, tissue parts of the
lung and other samples such as serum. As an immunological study, in addition to samples of cereals, nuts and
homemade cheeses, as well as some other foods and vegetables. In this review, research in scientific research
engines was conducted through four science-based data bases using the following keywords (Aspergillus
fungi and the toxins they produce) (diseases associated with Aspergillus fungi). Scientific criteria were
adopted in this review, and 41 subjects were selected. The results were compared in these articles regarding
the presence of mushrooms in Iraqi governorates such as Najaf, Dhi Qar and Basra, as well as the frequency
of mushrooms in Iraq and some neighboring countries such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
And Syria during the period 2009-2018 these results were compared with the WHO reports and the permissible
proportions in food and feed. It was found that the highest rate of fungi was in Iraq at approximately 89.5%,
while in Syria the frequency of fungi was 86.6% isolated, and in Egypt and Jordan it was 70.67% 77.6%,
respectively, while in Saudi Arabia the Arabian Peninsula was 50.56% less frequent. The high rate of fungi
frequency in Iraq may be due to black storage of foodstuffs, which has led to a high rate of fungi frequency
and an increase in the proportion of foodstuffs or in clinical samples, according to the materials under study