In this paper, we propose a video coding scheme supporting direct 4:4:4 source format, which is designed as a straight-forward extension of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 high profile coding. In the proposed scheme, each color component is encoded with independent spatio-temporal prediction using coding tools supported by MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 high profile, which is now regarded as the most powerful video compression standard in the world. We discuss the performance of the proposed method in comparison with several candidate schemes, and will show that the proposed scheme achieves coding performance improvement in terms of signal representation fidelity (PSNR) around higher bitrate range that is valuable for high quality applications. The presented scheme has been proposed to the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 standardization body as a candidate technique for the new 4:4:4 video coding standard.


Background The vaginal microbiome and genital tract inflammation play an important role in HIV transmission and birth outcomes in South Africa. Intravaginal practices (IVPs) such as cleansing may influence the microbiome and levels of inflammation. IVPs are commonly practiced by women in South Africa, however, studies generally only include collection of data on cleansing and insertion of herbs. Methods We conducted an exploratory study to obtain insight in the variety of IPVs practiced by women in the rural Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Group discussion was held with participants (n=10) in an STI workshop and additional information was obtained through snowballing. Participants were two medical doctors, two project managers, two nurses, and four counsellors/social workers. IPVs that participants were aware of or had heard about were recorded. Results Other than intravaginal cleansing and insertion of herbs, participants had knowledge of women inserting a variety of substances in their vagina such as snuff (tobacco powder), ice cubes, toilet refreshener, Chinese pills, uvutha wabafazi (a traditional vaseline-like ointment), Indian holy ash, soft drinks and Vicks VapoRub. Intravaginal use of live organisms (Kombucha aka Amoeba mabhebeza, frogs and snakes) was also known. In addition, genital steaming practice is common using water with salt, onion, avocado seeds, guava leaves. Finally, external and internal sanitary packs created of potato sack or newspaper are used. The purpose of all these practices was to enhance male sexual pleasure, genital health, for sexual fortune and energy, and for traditional healing purpose. Conclusion Studies of genital tract microbiome and inflammation in women in rural South Africa should take a wide range of IPVs into account. Further research is required to document the frequency and geographic spread of these practices, and their impact on genital health.


The germination rate, growing and developing dynamics, soil moisture change, water consumption rule and water use efficiency of beer barley under the different quota of water storage irrigation in spring were measured by the TDR soil moisture measuring instrument combined with the micro-lysimeters, and conventional determining method for crop indexes, also combined the climate information to compare the advantage of different irrigation treatments.Meteorological materials and other auxiliary data were also used to analyze the effects of different irrigation treatment and analyzed the impacts of different water storage irrigation quotain spring to the soil water,utilization of rainfall and crop yield.The research results have showed that it was really feasible from the technical level to change the water storage irrigation in Winter into the water storage irrigation in spring under the conditions of suitable irrigation quota, using the water storage irrigation technology in spring compared with the winter irrigation,the irrigation water volume can be reduced 75 mm,the soil evaporation reduced 37.4% and the water use efficiency increased 26.2%. It was advisable to 75 mm for spring irrigation quota, five irrigation times for whole growing period with the irrigation quota of 75 mm for the actual production of barley planting. This technology notonly can be saving the limited water resources, improving the ground temperature and water use efficiency, to achieve the purpose of savingwater and increasing benefit.


Decision-making based on peers' actions often results in one of the following two groups: coordinators who tend to blend in with the population and make trending decisions, and anticoordinators who act against the majority. Only mixed networks of both coordinators and anticoordinators are capable of not reaching an equilibrium state, where every individual is satisfied with her choice. However, the conditions for nonequilibration, and more challengingly, the characterization of the non-equilibrium limit set remain concealed. We answer these problems for ring networks. We show that a mixed ring of coordinators and anticoordinators equilibrates if and only if it does not contain a particular arrangement of consecutive agents, and never equilibrates if and only if it contains a particular arrangement of consecutive agents with particular actions. As a result, a ring may admit both equilibrium and non-equilibrium limit sets. We further investigate the stability of the equilibrium states of the resulting network dynamics.


Correspondence Address: (52) U.S. Cl. ................................... 712/28: 712/E09.023 Joseph J. Laks Thomson Licensing LLC (57) ABSTRACT 2 Independence Way, Patent Operations, PO Box Specialized image processing circuitry is usually imple 5312 mented in hardware in a massively parallel way as single PRINCETON, NJ 08543 instruction multiple data (SIMD) architectures. Known implementations suffer from the long and complicated con nection paths between a processing element and the memory (73) Assignee: Thomson Licensing LLC, Subsystem, and the resulting limitation of maximum operat Princeton, NJ (US) ing frequency. An optimized architecture for image process ing has processing elements that are arranged in a two-dimen sional structure, and each processing element has a local (21) Appl. No.: 11/985,229 storage containing a plurality of reference pixels that are not neighbors in the reference image. Instead, the reference pix els belong to different blocks of the reference image, which (22) Filed: Nov. 14, 2007 may vary for different encoding schemes.


Heavy‐duty, high‐build ccatings may be defined in a number of ways, but it is the intention in this article to discuss only those which are air‐curing, organically‐based, and applied as liquids. They should produce in one coat (normally wet multi‐pass) a dry film thickness of not less than 125 microns.


Introduction of microvascular free‐tissue transfer to head and neck surgery has completely altered the current approach to extirpation and reconstruction. The increased flexibility now available offers multiple options for reconstruction and has essentially removed the limitations of size and geometry which existed with other types of repair. Despite these advantages, increased surgical time and potential flap failure loom as limiting factors.


In this work, we study the impact of the multiplicative phase noise in an IRS-assisted system. We consider an IRS-assisted system with multiplicative phase noise both at the BS and user. A novel channel estimation algorithm is proposed considering the phase noise. By utilizing the proposed channel estimates we investigate the system performance in the downlink, more specifically, we derive the ergodic capacity in closed form. Simulation results verify the correctness of the closed-form expression. We observe that the system becomes more robust against the phase noise as the number of reflective elements increases. Moreover, the influence of the additive channel noise in uplink vanishes as the number of reflecting elements grows asymptotically large.


Calculation of relation between the EBIC contrast and the recombination strength for dislocations and quasi-two-dimensional dislocation trails has been carried out taking into account the real values of depletion region width. Using the relations obtained the linear defect density along dislocations and sheet density in dislocation trails are estimated. The results of EBIC investigations of dislocations and dislocation trails in plastically deformed n- and p-Si are analyzed.


Firstly, the requirement and technical passibility of the countermeasure to SAR satellite are discussed in the paper. And some technical approaches are proposed. Then, the paper introduces some basic researches, such as the countermeasure possibility of SAR satellite, EMPG into the countermeasure technology test, analysis of near and far region foil interfering mechanism, the analysis of passive interfering to SAR antenna, radio source character analysis, material character change test, etc. Finally, the countermeasure of SAR satellite should adopt both the passive and active, pay attention to the passive countermeasure, and do the basic work well. These suggestions are also discussed in the paper.


This paper takes the dialect words in dialect as the corpus, selects the disyllabic words as the starting point, and uses quantitative and qualitative methods to summarize and analyze the combined disyllabic dialect words in dialect.


Abstract : The overview begins with reviews of the geological sequence, soils, climate and ecology of the Saylorville Lake area. Emphasis is placed on natural factors that affect(ed) human activities, and special attention is given to the reconstruction of landforms--the basis for cultural and site evaluations. In the next section the four dozen cultural (archaeological) investigations in the project area are reviewed in an annotated discussion. Here, the chronological relationships of past investigations are emphasized to show how cultural information has accumulated to the point where an overview is needed. Following this the overviews of prehistoric and historic cultural resources are presented. Benn's overview of the prehistoric culture periods stresses chronology, synthesis of the artifact types with settlement patterns and ecology, and perceived biases in the data base. Rogers' overview of the historic culture periods focuses on the current state of artifact collections and analyses, and on the potential avenues of research in the written and oral records. The last section of text evaluates the current site information--inherent biases, past and future site impacts, distributions and densities of sites on landforms. This and the cultural overview information is employed to create a list of research questions and evaluations of Study Units in the Resource Protection and Planning Process. Much of the hard data and sources for future research are detailed in the appendices.


This article discusses Nigeria's Response to Climate Change (NRCC) project and policies. Climate change and related environmental issues are seen as an important aspect of education for Nigerian students. The impact of climate change on education is examined here in terms of children's poor school performance and its contribution to poverty. Through knowledge students can measure equally with students from other nations while also contributing to the management of climate change. Students can participate in educating the citizenry on climate change in their various localities. The article insists on the importance of curriculum review so as to present the science of climate change to learners who will in turn disseminate what they have learned to others. How Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are solving their climate change challenges is also discussed. Some recommendations are made in terms of making the teaching of climate change explicit in the curricula and moving beyond a basic understanding of how the climate system works. In conclusion, the article emphasizes the importance of periodical curriculum change in order to be abreast of the latest developments in climate change. This article is addressed to education managers, planners, curriculum reviewers and policy makers in Nigeria.


As part of a nationwide dental survey in 1986 a caries study was executed in 3526 adults, aged 15-74 yr, living in 40 residential areas in The Netherlands. Marked differences were found between the social classes distinguished (more edentates in the lower classes) and between the different regions. It is supposed that these differences reflect the lack of dental manpower in the past.


This paper presents an ethnographic study of the out of school literacy practices of children living in residential care in Malaysia. Although residential homes generate much publicity, especially during the festive seasons, not much is known about the children living within the confines of these homes. Even more lacking is research on their literacy practices, despite the embeddedness of literacy in the everyday lives of these children, which includes formal schooling, after-school tuition classes and devotion sessions with volunteers.


In this, paper I draw upon recent accounts of the state, notably that developed by Michael Mann, in order to investigate the formation of 'Locations' (segregated and separately administered residential areas for African people) in South Africa. The central argument is that the Location was a territorial strategy employed by the state (amongst others) to enhance its powers and capacities with respect to South Africa's black population. This argument relies upon a theory of the state which preserves state autonomy, but which allows that outcomes, such as the Location, are the result of a variety of processes, including economic conflict. State territorial strategies abound both in the South African context and in the more general colonial context, and thus, in this paper I put forward a wide-ranging research agenda around the themes of the colonial or racial state, territoriality, and power-themes which have hitherto received little attention.


Recent work on Lamb‐shift polarized sources which obtain H↘− and D↘− ions from metastable H0(2S) or D0(2S) atoms is reviewed. The new sources completed at Munich and Kyushu during the last two years have improved beam intensities to ∼2 μA. Analysis of the factors leading to this improvement is attempted. Two years ago there was hope that electron‐cyclotron‐resonance sources of H+ or D+ could be applied to Lamb‐shift sources to yield substantial increases in current. Considerable experimental effort now shows that large increases will be difficult to achieve, although some intensity improvement may still be possible. Laser schemes for polarizing and ionizing the metastable beam are discussed briefly.


Thank you for downloading clinical anatomy and management of cervical spine pain. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have search numerous times for their favorite novels like this clinical anatomy and management of cervical spine pain, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they are facing with some infectious bugs inside their computer.


While organisational policies and practices may have opened the door to diverse individuals, exclusion due to the tendency of people to form subgroups based on perceived interpersonal similarities and dissimilarities still prevents many individuals and teams from reaching their full potential. Cultural diversity is a salient characteristic upon which these subgroups are often formed. Using research from the social psychology and organisational behaviour literature a model is developed that depicts the inclusiveness versus exclusiveness of a team's climate, the responses of culturally similar and dissimilar team members toward their team and team performance as being dependent on the tendency of both culturally similar and dissimilar team members to form subgroups. It is proposed that when individuals engage in group segmentation a team is likely to have an exclusive team climate which will have a negative impact on both team and individual level outcomes. Conversely, when team members do not engage in group segmentation, it is proposed that the team is likely to have an inclusive team environment which will have a positive impact on both team and individual level outcomes. This model is an important development in the literature as it provides some guidelines to management professionals as to considerations for the selection, training and development of culturally diverse work teams.


The Tarahumara Amerindians in Mexico are extremely potent runners on long mountain trails. We have analyzed publications to find causes. Traditionally the Tarahumara live alternating at altitudes between 2400 m and 800 m. Distances from homes to fields and village centers are large and covered on foot since childhood. Men and women take part in running competitions often with kickballs. Investigated runs lasted on average 8:42 h (78 km without ascent) and 6:58 h (63km), respectively. The intensity during the short race amounted to 70% of estimated V˙O2max (ranging between 41 and 70 ml/(kg*min)), energy expenditure reached 21000 kJ. People run barefoot or with thin sandals resulting in increased forefoot impact and storage of elastic energy. This and the slim frame with little subcutaneous fat reduce energy consumption. The vegetarian nutrition contains many carbohydrates and plant proteins, little fat and cholesterol. Hemoglobin concentration tends to increased values. Noncoding beta-chain variants possess no importance for oxygen affinity. The hearts are not enlarged like in endurance athletes. Genes show little European admixture. Gene enrichment in musclerelated pathways suggests a contribution to physical resistance. Conclusions: Explanations for the extreme endurance are favorable biomechanical conditions and physical training beginning during childhood. Running on slopes and changing living sites between 800 and 2400 m play an additional role. Standard exercise tests and genetic investigations are necessary in future. Key Words: Altitude, Hypoxia, Long Distance Running, Genetics


School connectedness is an important feature to consider within the school environment because it likely accounts for why some youth thrive and others struggle with internalizing problems. Furthermore, internalizing problems typically do not occur in isolation of each other, but rather anxiety and depressive symptoms frequently co-occur and increase subsequent risk for each other. As such, the primary study objectives were to (a) evaluate the bidirectional relationships between school connectedness and internalizing symptoms and (b) examine whether being at high risk of an anxiety disorder or major depression moderated these relationships. Adolescents attending public middle schools (N = 1,344; 11-14 years; 51% female; 52% White) completed surveys in school at baseline and at a 6-month follow-up. Baseline anxiety disorder risk status moderated the relationships between school connectedness and internalizing symptoms. Among adolescents at low risk of an anxiety disorder, higher baseline school connectedness predicted improvements in depressive symptoms and, conversely, higher baseline depressive symptoms predicted lower school connectedness. School connectedness and depressive symptoms were unrelated among adolescents at high risk of an anxiety disorder. There were no significant associations between school connectedness and anxiety symptoms, regardless of baseline risk for major depression. Implications for school-based intervention strategies are discussed, such as fostering school connectedness and screening for internalizing problems.


Introduction: This study explores the practices adopted by Private Practitioners for diagnosis and management of Drug Resistant Tuberculosis patients in Surat city of Western India. Methodology: In this descriptive cross sectional study of Private Physicians of Surat city were selected randomly from IMA Surat member list. A pre-test questionnaire including Profile of the doctor, Profile of patients suspected for MDR TB, Diagnostic & Treatment practices and Follow up issues was used to collect data. Data Analysis was done using Epi-info software calculating descriptive statistics. Results: Most common investigative methods used by private physicians to diagnose MDR TB were sputum microscopy, x-ray chest and sputum culture. Commonly used second line drugs for MDR TB patients were Fluoroquinolones, Aminoglycosides and Ethionamide. Nearly three forth physicians preferred 4 or more drug combination for MDR TB treatment. Most of them preferred 2 or 3 second line drugs in their prescriptions. Common investigations preffered by them during follow up were Sputum AFB, Culture and Chest X-Ray. Conclusion: Compliance to recommended standards of MDR TB management was common among the private physicians but quite a few were unacceptable in context of WHO recommendations. There is need to streamline these protocols according to the general guideline for MDR TB management.


Damage evolution in polymer matrix, textile composite, double-cantilever beam (DCB) specimens was simulated. The focus of the study was to examine the effects of tow nesting on the performance of DCB specimens with a single textile layer per adherend. Two plainweave textile DCB specimens were examined; one with realistic, but perfectly aligned-warp and aligned-weft tows and one with aligned-warp and nested-weft tows. Damage representations consisted of delamination between tows and matrix and delamination between tows and tows. Additionally, damage in resin-rich regions was modeled either using an XFEM crack plane or a continuum damage mechanics approach. In each type of specimen, realistic tow morphologies were obtained through a digital-chain simulation of the textile processing.


What makes the early years special if it is not the leadership? It could be the cuteness of the age group but experienced early childhood educators and leaders note the impressionability and life-lasting opportunity for formation. Formation for students, formation as a model for leaders.


AIM
The fact that a great majority of undergraduate nursing students do not prefer to work in the field of community health after graduation is an important issue in terms of community care. This study evaluated the validity and reliability of Turkish adaptation of the Scale on Community Care Perception (SCOPE) for nursing students.

DESIGN
This study is a methodological study.

METHODS
The study was conducted in two phases. The sample of the study was composed of 601 undergraduate nursing students studying in a university located in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. The data were collected using the Descriptive Information Form and "Scale on Community Care Perception for Nursing Students."

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The content validity index of the Turkish version of the scale was 0.91. The scale consisted of 28 items and 6 subscales and these 6 subscales accounted for 60.297% of the total variance. The Turkish adaptation of the SCOPE is demonstrated validity and reliability and can be used in measuring the community care perception of Turkish nursing students.


Methods that use multiplier blocks to evaluate the coefficients of an FIR filter are shown to be far superior, in terms of the number of adders required, to the use of binary or CSD representation. Results from two new algorithms, one of which is highly likely to be optimal under certain known conditions, are discussed.<<ETX>>


The Association of Japanese Geographers held a field symposium on "Geomorphic development of the drainage basins of the Kiso and the Yahagi Rivers" in October, 1963. Discussions at the symposium and the outline of the previous works on the geomorphic development of this area are summarized in this article. The drainage basins of the Kiso and the Yahagi Rivers and the Nobi Plain which is situated along the lower course of the Kiso River show various landforms molded in different geologic ages; erosional surfaces being in mountains, depositional surfaces of the Pliocene Seto Group in the middle course of these rivers, fluvial and marine terraces of the Pleistocene along the rivers and the inner margin of the plain, and fault scarps in mountains and even on terrace surfaces. Accordingly, this area has been considered as one of the standard regions in reserch of the geomorphic history of Japan. Although problems on correlation and process of the formation of the fluvial and marine terraces are discussed in this paper, a greater emphasis was put on the following subjects m the correlation of gravel beds of the Seto Group scattered in the whole region, the palaeogeography of the time when the Seto Group was deposited, the recognition and correlation of erosional surfaces and the process of the growth of fault scarps.


Goal: The main purpose of this research is to present the benefits reached with the use of airpower resources during humanitarian operations, in order to verify how the main airpower's characteristics influenced the response stage of a natural disaster in Brazil.
Design / Methodology / Approach: A qualitative case study was conducted to evaluate benefits reached with the use of airpower during humanitarian operations. Primary and secondary data were gathered from operational reports provided by the Brazilian Air Force, from media coverage about the flood and waterlogging events happened in November 2008, in Itajai Valley, Santa Catarina State, Brazil. Interviews with three informants involved in crisis response were also conducted. Data analysis processes were conducted to search codes about airpower engagement during humanitarian operations. Data coding followed an inductive approach and the codes emerged from data.
Results: The research concludes that the use of airpower can leverage crisis response capabilities during humanitarian operations, as airpower's characteristics of speed, mobility, flexibility, penetration, range, and readiness meet the needs of humanitarian operations to respond to a natural disaster. The case study demonstrates an increase of operational capabilities after airpower engagement.
Limitations of the investigation: Only one crisis situation was studied, because the access to operational data provided by the Brazilian Air Force is restricted. Besides, it was not possible to analyze values and budgetary costs derived from airpower engagement.
Practical implications: The results of this research demonstrate that it is highly important to involve airpower during humanitarian operations, as it can leverage crisis response capabilities. In this way, humanitarian organizations can stablish new forms of relationship to national and local governments in order to quickly engage airpower resources on the response phase of natural disasters.
Originality/Value: This research presents an original contribution to the field of humanitarian operations as it presents real data in terms of the engagement of airpower resources during humanitarian operations.


This paper presents an overview of the types of evacuation systems that have been used or proposed for use on offshore structures in ice-covered waters. Various ice considerations are highlighted in relation to the use of these systems, and some of the key issue areas that are associated with different in-ice evacuation approaches identified. Past experience from the Beaufort Sea is used for illustrative purposes. Brief recommendations about key initiatives that may lead to improvements in evacuation technologies for use in ice-covered waters are also provided.


Rotating machine are the most common part of all types of industry. Phase analysis is very important to fully understand the force presents and how destructive the vibration truly is. There are several methods used to detect machinery faults such as time-frequency techniques like Wavelet Techniques (WT), Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD), Hilbert-Haung Transform (HHT). There are different order tracking techniques like Re-sampling, Gabor Expansion order tracking (GEOT), Computed Order Tracking (COT), Vold-kalman filter order tracking (VKFOT). Vold-Kalman Order Tracking Filter extract time-domain waveform of dominant orders. By using this time-domain order waveform we can find absolute phase of each order waveform very accurately. The proposed work shows a novel approach of absolute phase calculation based on Vold-Kalman order tracking algorithm. This method can be used for any fault identification process in vibration conditioning monitoring.


Objective To determine the concentrations of sevoflurane where 50%(EC50) and 95%(EC95) of the attempts to remove the laryngeal mask airway(LMA) would be successful in children.MethodsTwenty-five nonpremedicated children,aged 3-6 years,ASA physical status I,scheduled for inguinal herniorrhaphy were enrolled in this study.General anesthesia was induced and maintained with sevoflurane and 50%nitrous oxide in oxygen.After the surgery,the target concentration was maintained for at least 15 min,and then the LMA was removed.Each target concentration was predetermined by the Dixon's up-and-down method(with 0.1% as a step size) starting at 1.70% concentration of sevoflurane.A removal accomplished without coughing,teeth clenching,gross purposeful movement,breath holding or laryngospasm,during or within 1 min after removal was considered to be successful.ResultsThe concentration of sevoflurane to achieve successful LMA removal in 50% of children was 1.49%(95%CL,1.37%-1.59%) and in 95% of children was 1.70%(95%CL,1.59%-2.84%).ConclusionThe EC50 and EC95 values of sevoflurane for LMA smooth extubation in children aged 3~6 years were 1.49% and 1.70%,respectively.


The Indicence of Cystic Periventricular Leukomalacia and Severe Intracranial Hemorrhage Has Not Changed in Very Low Birth-Weight, Conventionally-Ventilated Premature Infants (1982-1997)


An apparatus is described which allows the study of adsorption on single‐crystal surfaces to be carried out by Reflection–Absorption Infrared Spectroscopy, Low Energy Electron Diffraction, Changes in Work Function, and Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy in situ. The apparatus also has facilities for sample cleaning by ion bombardment, sample characterization by Auger Electron Spectroscopy, and Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy. The infrared and work function measurements can be carried out with gas atmospheres anywhere in the range between UHV and atmospheric pressure. Infrared radiation in the range 4000–400 cm−1 can be used.


Excision of liver metastases in gastric cancer. Preliminary experience Introduction: The benefits of liver metastasis excision in gastric cancer are not clearly demonstrated. Aim: To communicate preliminary experience concerning excision of hepatic metastasis and simultaneously performing gastrectomy in patients with gastric cancer. Material and Methods: In a prospective study, 3 of 397 patients treated for gastric cancer that met certain criteria, underwent hepatic metastasis excision. Results: Three patients with gastric cancer and liver metastases. A 58 years old male in whom one liver metastasis was excised and two were treated with radiofrequency ablation, who is alive after 40 months of follow up. A 26 years old female subjected to the excision of one liver metastasis. Eight months later, the lesion relapsed and a right hepatectomy was carried out. The patient died after 19 months of follow up. A 56 years old female subjected to the excision of one liver metastasis, who died 9 months later.


The results of application of the apical meristem method for the selection of regenerant plants free of pathogens are presented. The study was carried out in laboratory and field conditions of Kemerovo region (2016–2019). The objects of research were a new variety of Pamyati Anoshkinoi and promising hybrids 6-14-11, 22103-10. The experiment on the health improvement of potatoes was carried out by the following methods: 1) the use of chemotherapy with the addition of virus inhibitors to the nutrient medium on the samples containing a viral infection in a latent form; 2) study of vegetative plants of different ages healthy from pathogens using apical and axillary buds as explants. Antiviral drugs and their concentrations were identified: virazole 0.01% + chitosan 0.05% + interferon 0.05% (a combination of drugs) and cycloferon 0.05%, completely suppressing viral infection SBK and MBK in the Pamyati Anoshkinoi variety and 22103-10 hybrid, and YBK in 6-14-11 hybrid. The use of these drugs makes it possible to obtain from 10 to 50% of viable meristems free from viral infections. Research into the improvement of vegetative plants of potato variety Pamyati Anoshkinoi and 22103-10 hybrid revealed phases of growth and development with less accumulation of viral and fungal infections – a period of plant regrowth of 15–20 cm and a phase of flowering. Isolation of the apical meristem from the apical and axillary buds of healthy vegetative plants in these phases of development has a positive effect on the survival of the meristems (3050%), and makes it possible to obtain from 30.0 to 43.3% of regenerant plants free from infections, which ensures a reliable yield in vitro material and reduces the period for obtaining healthy lines by 6.9 times.


The adenylate cyclase-cAMP system and related phosphorylating and dephosphorylating enzymes have been studied in islets of Langerhans from pregnant and nonpregnant Wistar rats to ascertain if changes in these enzymes might be related to the increase in insulin secretion observed late in pregnancy. Islets of Langerhans were isolated by collagenase digestion from 20-day-pregnant rats and age-matched female controls. Islets of each group were perifused to measure rates and patterns of insulin release when they were exposed to 2.8 mM, and subsequently 16.7 mM, Dglucose. The remaining islets were sonicated and assayed for adenylate cyclase, phosphodiesterase, phosphoprotein phosphatase, and protein kinase activities. Basal insulin secretion under perifusion conditions (2.8 mM glucose) was the same in both groups of islets (9.2 ± 2.4 pg insulin released-islet-1 min-1 from pregnant rats compared with 10.2 ± 1.8 for controls). In response to 16.7 mM glucose, both phases of insulin release were increased in islets...


In this research, we develop and suggest branch and bound algorithms for a two-machine permutation flowshop scheduling problem with the objective of minimizing makespan. In this scheduling problem, after each job is operated on the machine 1 (first machine), the job has to start its second operation on machine 2 (second machine) within its corresponding limited waiting time. In addition, each job has its corresponding ready time at the machine 1. For this scheduling problem, we develop various dominance properties and three lower bounding schemes, which are used for the suggested branch and bound algorithm. In the results of computational tests, the branch and bound algorithms with dominance properties and lower bounding schemes, which are suggested in this paper, can give optimal solution within shorter CPU times than the branch and bound algorithms without those. Therefore, we can say that the suggested dominance properties and lower bounding schemes are efficient.


A new synthetic interferometric distance-measuring (SIDM) system is described using two-wavelength simultaneous (synthetic) interferometry with a CO2 laser. The measuring procedure of the SIDM system is based on phase measurement such as with conventional light-modulation distance-measuring instruments. The SIDM system is excellent in length resolution since it uses the synthetic wavelengths of 5.5 mm and 300 μm and a regular single wavelength, interferometrically. It is applicable to the measurement of distances up to 100 m with an accuracy of 1 × 10−7. Its performance is confirmed by comparing it with an HP laser interferometer using a 50-m movable carriage in the NRLM 300-m optical tunnel.


The use of virtual learning environment for teaching and learning provision is one of the concepts that are changing the frontier of knowledge acquisition in today's educational arena. The flexibility of online learning space can offer developing countries great opportunities in supporting varied learning methodologies. However, it appears that most virtual learning environment framework/models already in use today are not always easily accessible by the students and lecturers who are supposed to use them due to some constrained factors. In such a constrained resource setting, access and use of some of these software platforms for the development of education are limited. This is due primarily to the intractable problem of infrastructural, technological (including internet), educational policy formation, environmental and economic factors limiting progress. In this paper, we examine virtual learning environment framework/models that are already in use by various tertiary institutions across the globe. As we do this, we have come up with amalgamated framework from two existing frameworks, and then developed a model called NDA Customised VLE System Model (CVLESM) for a customised VLE platform in Nigeria. The proposed model has a four level platform: the teacher, student, institution admin and the customised application software. Users will have the option of interacting with the institution's network systems through the university portal, but also with proposed 'Mobile App', which might be downloaded onto any internet connected device including mobile phones. This is novel in this study.


Abstract We investigate the dynamical properties of the two-boson quantum walk in systems with different degrees of coherence, and where the effect of the coherence on the two-boson quantum walk can be naturally introduced. A general analytical expression for the two-boson correlation function, for both pure states and mixed states, is given.We propose a possible two-photon quantum-walk scheme with a mixed initial state, and find that the twophoton correlation function and the average distance between two photons can be influenced by the initial photon distribution, the relative phase, or the degree of coherence. The propagation features of our numerical results can be explained by our analytical two-photon correlation function.


An 18-month-year old mixed breed bitch was referred to the Animal Hospital of Adnan Menderes University suffering from recurrent serous vaginal discharge for two months. Her temperature, pulsation, appetite and also hematologic parameters were normal. Transabdominal ultrasound scan revealed fullness in bifurcation uteri and bright echoes suggestive of bone caudally. During hysterotomy, retained foetal bones were observed in corpus uteri but not removed as they had become embedded in the uterine wall. Therapy of this case was com - pleted with ovariohysterectomy operation. No aerobic bacteria were isolated from both samples taken from the vaginal discharge and retained foetal bones in the uterine cavity. Although rare, veterinary clinicians should be aware of this problem also in young bitches with no general symptoms and are well advised to use genital ultra- sonography in examinations.


Neither science nor technology drives future change as profoundly as human emotions - how people feel and what they want for themselves and their loved ones. So argues futurist Patrick Dixon in this snappy guide to near-future trends. He analogizes the future as a great, spinning cube, with six faces spelling out the word "FUTURE": "Fast, Urban, Tribal, Universal, Radical" and "Ethical." Skipping from rapid change in politics and conflict to the ethics of radical biotech to the rise of "personal spirituality," Dixon hurtles the reader up to 2030 and beyond, depicting a time of burgeoning diversity, promise and risk. Both conservative and speculative, Dixon offers a thought-provoking ride. I recommend his predictions to leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, students and all those who are thinking ahead.


This paper will evaluate the new processor ADSP-21535 Blackfin from Analog Devices in terms of speech coding. Three speech coding algorithms has been studied, G.723.1, 6.3 kbit/s and 5.3 kbit/s and G.729 8 kbit/s. All these three algorithms are proposed by the H.323 standard together with G.711 64 kbit/s and G.728 16 kbit/s. I will discuss some important issues of these speech coding algoriths and compare them with the capabilities of Blackfin. The work has been done by thoroughly examining the fixed point source code from ITU, International Telecommunication Unions [1], [2] and by the instruction reference manual [3] and the hardware reference guide [4].


Although the Turkish and Greek peoples have lived together for many years, they have also had to live and share problematic periods as a result of the policies of their governments. The two peoples have fought wars in the past, but have always come to each other's aid in difficult times. Due to unresolved problems and harsh rhetoric from politicians, two geographically very close neighbors had sometimes drifted apart. In the survey conducted simultaneously in Turkey and Greece, the two communities explained in detail the issues on which they agree or disagree in Turkish-Greek relations and their suggestions for solutions to existing problems. The results of this research, which reveals the perspectives of the peoples of the two neighboring countries on Turkish-Greek relations with a scientific approach and an objective point of view, will present a different vision to both societies and the governments of both countries.  Article visualizations:


WHEN ALTERNATING CURRENT flows in the coil turns of a typical induction heating load, such as shown in Fig. 1, three components of magnetic flux are established, i.e. (1) in the workpiece, (2) in the air gap, and (3) in the copper of the coil turns. This is characteristic of any induction heating load regardless of shape, size, or frequency, and a general equation can be written for total flux linking the coil turns in terms of the magnetizing force H<inf>∗∗∗0</inf> established at the surface of the work. The rate of change of total flux determines the voltage E<inf>c</inf> which must be applied to oppose the counter electromotive force and establish the field intensity H<inf>∗∗∗0</inf>. The current which flows in the coil consists of two components: the one proportional to and in phase with H<inf>∗∗∗0</inf>, and the other proportional to and in phase with the product of total flux Φ<inf>∗∗∗0</inf> and the reluctance of the external flux path. The first is the current which would flow if the external reluctance were negligible (long coil), and its ampere-turns are reflected exactly in the induced current in the workpiece. The second simply supplies the external magnetic drop and its ampere-turns are not reflected in the workpiece.


Abstract

Low voltage electrical power distribution networks represent an attractive medium for digital communications. In this thesis we introduce and implement a power line communication system by Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). We implement the power line modem by TI TMS320C6211 DSP. The transceiver runs at the bandwidth 192 kHz, and provides a data rate up to 96 kbps.


In the condition of reactor scale plasma,the influence of incident wave power density on electron cyclotron current drive and power deposition is studied with the relativistic Fokker-Planck equation incorporated into a beam-tracing code.The results show that current drive efficiency is reduced slightly,power deposition profile is broaden and move towards the edge plasma a little,due to the high power density wave beam.


The central question this paper explores is "Do people keep their promise to avoid expectation-based guilt?" Using a novel design wherein we endogenously vary the promisor's expectation of what the promisee expects from him, we find that promisors are heterogeneous in their reasons for keeping their promise. Though we find that behavior of some subjects are consistent with guilt-aversion hypothesis, a larger group of subjects keep their promise regardless of what the promisee expects.


Network space puts profound impact on college students' ideological and political quality,and should be lifted to the level of class of Ideological and Political Education. Due to various reasons,educators' role in network space has not been fully played and the condition leads to a series of negative consequences. The teachers should actively get involved in network space and play as a thoughts competitor,which is co-determined by the assignment of ideological work and educators' responsibility under the network environment. Network space proposes new requirements both for the capability of ideological and political educators and the construction of related supporting mechanism.


The final formulation that includes Sangre de grado watery extract, excipients and preservants; Pasta Terapeutica Anti-A (PTA) was denominated, that profit later to take place the tests of accelerated stability, every 30 days by space of three months, that consisted of conserving the bottles containing the formulation of a same lot of manufacture to room temperature and 4 o C of refrigeration and to evaluate the consistency, aspect, color, scent and bactericidal activity. This last one was made by means of the method of diffusion in agar and the technique of excavation plate culture, in front of positive bacteria negative Gram and Gram. The results were satisfactory for Gram positive, like Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Staphylococcus epidermides ATCC 12228 and Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, in the case of single Gram negative I am observed antimicrobial activity forehead a Escherichia coli ATCC 8739. but not thus for Pseudomona aeruginosa.


based on the research on the existing SAR image compression technologies, this paper proposes a wavelet-based SAR image compression algorithm. The algorithm reduces the speckle noise impact on SAR images, improves the SAR image compression performance to some extent, so is an effective SAR image compression algorithm, and has some practical value.


THE OPENING OF THE FIRST UNDERGROUND RAILWAY LINE IN LYON IN 1978 WILL RESULT IN MODIFICATIONS TO THE EXISTING URBAN TRANSPORT NETWORK. TO MEET THIS EVENTUALITY, A COMPUTER PROGRAM DEALING WITH PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICES WAS DESIGNED. THE PROGRAM TERESE CAN BE USED IN STUDIES OF SURFACE PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICES AS WELL AS THOSE OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY NETWORK. IT GIVES TWO TYPES OF INFORMATION: ASSIGNMENT OF USERS (SUPPOSED KNOWN) IN A NETWORK AND CALCULATION OF THE ACCESSIBILITY OF EACH URBAN ZONE TO PLACES OF WORK.


PURPOSE:To provide a voice conversion method capable of outputting a voice with the little discontinuity of a waveform and with the little omission of data and rich in a natural property by adding them after multiplying a first signal and a second signal by a window function. CONSTITUTION:The first signal with a time length T is inputted from an input pointer. The second signal with the time length T is inputted succeeding to that. The correlative function between the first signal and the second signal is calculated, and a time delay Tc when the value of the correlative function is maximum is retrieved. The first signal is multiplied by the window function gradually increasing an amplitude according to the obtained time delay Tc. The second signal is multiplied by the window function gradually decreasing the amplitude according the time delay Tc. After the first signal multiplied by the window function and the second signal multiplied by the window function are shifted to the position of the time delay Tc where the correlative function becomes a maximum, they are added. Then, the obtained signal and a third signal succeeding to the first signal are outputted only for a interval alpha(T-Tc)/(alpha-1) (where alpha is a time base transformation ratio).


In these days finance problem is being common for everyone and starting of small business leads to solution of the problem but there is no doubt to say that either business is on large scale or small scale everyone needs to correlate with marketing and its strategies. It's being assumed that spending on marketing seems to wasteful expenses but best marketing strategies helps in changing the scenario of business and helps in achieving best results.


Running characteristic school,expanding characteristic school and booming characterisctic school has become general consensus in the process of the popularization of higher education.However,many current university which are committed to build characteristic university are lack of characteristic.The important reason is that many univercities ignore cultural factors in the development.The paper elaborates the characteristic construction in university from the persperctive of cultural consciousness.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a measure method of the uncertainty for rough fuzzy set based on general binary relation. Design/methodology/approach – Rough set and fuzzy set are two different but complementary theories for expressing uncertainty information, and based on the combination of these two uncertainty theories of expressing and handling uncertainty information, the rough fuzzy set model and uncertainty measure based on general relation are discussed. Findings – This paper reveals the intrinsic of the uncertainty for rough fuzzy set based on general relation and presents a new measure method by introducing the Shannon entropy to generalized approximation space. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the discussion on the research of rough set and fuzzy set. The conclusions are useful in information processing with uncertainty.


Widespread forest loss and fragmentation dramatically increases the proportion of forest areas located close to edges. Although detrimental, the precise extent and mechanisms by which edge proximity impacts remnant forests remain to be ascertained. By combining unmanned aerial vehicle laser scanning (UAV‐LS) with field data from 46 plots distributed at varying distances from the edge to the forest interior in a fragmented forest of New‐Caledonia, we investigated edge influence on forest structure, composition, function, above‐ground biomass (AGB) and microclimate. Using simple linear regressions, structural equation modelling and variance partitioning, we analysed the direct and indirect relationships between distance to edge, UAV‐LS‐derived canopy structural metrics, understorey microclimate, AGB, taxonomic and functional composition while accounting for the potential influence of fine‐scale variation in topography. We found that the distance to the closest forest edge was strongly correlated with canopy structure and that canopy structure was better correlated to forest composition, function, biomass and microclimate than distance to the closest forest edge. This suggests that the influence of edge is mediated by changes in canopy structure. Plots located near the edge exhibited a lower canopy with more gaps, higher microclimate extremes, lower biomass, lower taxonomic and functional diversity as well as denser wood and lower specific leaf area. UAV‐LS‐derived canopy structural metrics were relevant predictors of understorey microclimate, biomass and taxonomic and functional composition. Overall, the influence of topography was marginal compared to edge effects. Synthesis. Accounting for fine‐scale variation in canopy structure captured by UAV‐LS provides insights on the multiple edge impacts on key forest properties related to structure, diversity, function, biomass and microenvironmental conditions. Integrating UAV‐LS‐derived data can foster our understanding of cascading and interacting impacts of anthropogenic influence on tropical forest ecosystems and should help to improve conservation strategies and landscape management policies.


This paper take the SWOT analysis on the internal advantages and disadvantages of the developed and utilized mineral resources in Inner Mongolia,such as the resources endowment conditions、mineral resources reserves and development and utilization status,and the Influence of external opportunities and challenges for economic development of mineral resources industry.The author deems that the development of industrial economic of coal resources in Inner Mongolia should be adopted S-O strategy for the achievement of scale intensive exploitation;For metallic mineral resources,using W-O strategy,with the industrial policy opportunities,promote conservation and comprehensive utilization of resources,improve the metal industrial chain;In order to improve self-sufficiency and ensure the ability of mineral resources,S-T strategy should be taken to play the favorable conditions for mineralization geological for mining the resource potential and promoting the breakthrough of prospecting;For many small mining,W-T strategy should be taken to promote the integration of resources actively.


Region of interest (ROI) image and video compression techniques have been widely used in visual communication applications in an effort to deliver good quality images and videos at limited bandwidths. Foveated imaging exploits the fact that the spatial resolution of the human visual system (HVS) is highest around the point of fixation (foveation point) and decreases dramatically with increasing eccentricity. Exploiting this fact, the authors have developed an appropriate metric for the assessment of ROI coded images, adapted to foveation image coding based on psycho-visual quality optimization tools, which objectively enable us to assess the visual quality measurement with respect to the region of interest (ROI) of the human observer. The proposed metric yields a quality factor called foveation probability score (FPS) that correlates well with visual error perception and demonstrating very good perceptual quality evaluation.


This research will contend with the ever-present endeavor in many models of contemporary dance practices to 'be yourself' – to seek out an illusive core of your being, and engage with your essential self. Through a survey of cultural studies and social identity that includes the contributions of Judith Butler, Friedrich Nietzsche, Michel Foucault, Todd Reeser, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, the idea of an essential self will be challenged, throwing into question the dominant conception of self used in contemporary dance practices. Through a brief review of two historical conceptions of self in dance, that of Isadora Duncan and the post-modern dance movement, the fields of cultural and dance studies will be in dialogue. Our challenge in contemporary dance is to review the way that we are working, as the voices against a notion of an essentialized self speak boldly in the fields of cultural studies. What happens to our practices of 'finding' ourself if ultimately there is no singular, stable, true, self to find? As a response, this thesis explores the notion of "becoming self," building on the work of Kimerer LaMothe and Beau Taplin. My performance piece Sonder and the resulting analysis contribute to the larger dialogue between the fields of cultural and dance studies.


This paper addresses the issue of perceptual image quality assessment in image restoration systems. Firstly, experiments are conducted to evaluate perceived quality in images degraded only by frequency distortion. Based on the resulting experimental data, a distortion quality measure (DQM) is proposed. Then another experiment, whose test images present frequency distortion and noise injection, is achieved. From this latter experiment, a composed quality measure (CQM) is developed to assess perceived quality of images degraded by combined effects of frequency distortion and noise injection. The CQM is derived from DQM and NQM (noise quality measure), this latter has been recently proposed, and it can be used as a tool for evaluation and optimization of image restoration systems according to human visual perception.


If G is non-nilpotent with no abelian direct factor and 2-closed, we get some characters of G, which satisfies the equation │Aut(G)│=2~3P~2.


An upper bound solution for tube extrusion is developed in this paper. The dead zone is assumed to have the sine profile and a kinematically admissible velocity field is proposed. From the proposed velocity field, the upper bound solution on relative punch pressure and extrusion load is determined with respect to chosen process parameters. The results are compared with theoretical and experimental results from a reference to illustrate the validity of the proposed velocity field. This indicates that the analysis presented here renders better upper bound solution than that given by Ebrahimi et al.. [An upper‐bound analysis of the tube extrusion process (2008) J. Mater. Process. Technol. 99:214–220].


Allergies affect not only people, but also animals, including dogs. There are many factors and substances in our environment that can cause allergic reactions. An allergy is the body's immune response to foreign substances, i.e. allergens. It is a hypersensitivity based on immune mechanisms (16, 22-26). A clinical inflammatory response then occurs, which is correlated with an elevated concentration of class E antibodies (6). If allergies caused by environmental factors are suspected, it is necessary to perform provocation tests (exposure to the suspected allergen on the skin or in food) or in vitro tests (determination of total IgE concentration or of IgE subclasses against specific allergens) (2). It should be noted, however, that this type of testing should take place after other etiological agents of dermatosis have been eliminated (e.g. skin parasites or fungal infections). Many asymptomatic dogs test positive in both types of allergy tests (19). However, these tests are very useful in animals diagnosed with atopic dermatitis, because they make it possible to detect and control environmental factors (allergic reactions to mites, fleas, pollen, food products, etc.) that aggravate the clinical condition (2). With the increase in veterinary care standards in the mid-19th century, skin allergy tests were routinely introduced in small animal veterinary diagnostics (3, 13). The tendency for allergy is related to breed. Therefore a genetic (breed) database of susceptibility to specific allergens in dogs has been created, and has recently been confirmed by genomic microarray analysis (17, 21, 27). In dog allergology, house dust mites (Dermatophagoides farinae and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus) are considered the most important allergens. The clinical significance of these microorganisms is further documented by a number of studies confirming the presence of mites and their antigens in the living environment of dogs and on their skin and fur, as well as by clinical symptoms and T-cell responses after exposure to dust mite antigens in sensitized dogs (2, 11). However, skin reactivity, as well as a serum concentration of IgE specific to dust mites, has been shown to occur in a large number of non-symptomatic dogs, which indicates that sensitization is not always associated with clinical symptoms. In some geographic areas, including the United Kingdom, D. pteronyssinus is the dominant mite in the environment, while in other areas D. farinae is more common (8, 17). Another group of microorganisms causing allergies in dogs are storage mites (Tyrophagus putrescentiae, LepidoglyIgE-dependent reactivity of canine sera from three regions of Poland


By William N. Massaquoi B.Sc. in Economics University of Liberia Monrovia, Liberia (1994) Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in City Planning at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY June 2007 C 2007 William N. Massaquoi. All Rights Reserved The author here by grants to MIT the permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of the thesis document in whole or in part.


Partial and generalized tonic-clonic reflex seizures related to hot water bathing have been described as temperature-related. We describe three cases of bathing epilepsy: a 28 year-old white male and a 30 year-old white female with spells triggered either by warm or hot water, and a 32 year-old female with spells triggered by hot water. The later two of the three cases presented localized epilepsy and a familial history of epilepsy. A complex tactile stimuli might play the most relevant role on seizure triggering, as well as water temperature with an additive effect over cutaneous stimulation.


Many federal tax practitioners and many clients occasionally encounter California's tax system, which can be substantively and procedurally daunting. In ''Notes From California's Tax Trenches,'' Wood lists ten things from the left coast he thinks are worth knowing about California's tax system.


Introduction: The Emergency Departments (ED) is a gateway to the health care system for many psychiatric patients. As a consequence of hospital administrative factors and overcrowding, admitted psychiatric patients are often boarded in the ED while waiting for an inpatient bed. There is currently a lack of evidence to quantify the effect that ED boarding has on psychiatric patients. The primary objective of this study is to determine whether a patient's length of stay is related to longer ED boarding time. Methods: This study is a retrospective cohort using data from an administrative source, which was obtained from patient records captured in the Sunrise Clinical Manager EMR used across Calgary, Alberta EDs from 2014-2018. A hierarchical Bayesian regression analysis was used to model the several patient-level and hospital-level factors. The mean and variance was defined by the exposure of interest, namely hours in the Emergency Department after admission to psychiatry unit expressed as a continuous variable. An interaction between this exposure and patient-level confounders was used to model the changing effect of a patient's severity in the ED on their boarding time. Results: The median boarding time for patients in our study was 6.6 hours (standard deviation 17.3), while the average was 13.6 hours. Patients who were boarded for greater than 6 hours more frequently required an antipsychotic (37% vs 11%; SMD 0.651), sedative (52% vs 29%; SMD 0.483) or restraints (18% vs. 14%; SMD 0.102). In crude analysis there was no difference in median length of stay for patients that were boarding more than 6 hours compared to those boarded for less than 6 hours (8 days vs 9 days; SMD 0.012).The rate ratio for length of stay is 1.05 with 95% posterior interval 1.04 - 1.06 for each 24 hour increase in boarding time. This means that for each 1 day worth of boarding time, the length of stay (in days) increases 1.05 times (or 0.05 days/day boarding time). Conclusion: Boarding time is associated with a small but absolute increase in length of stay for psychiatric patients. Decreasing boarding time could have ripple effects for ED efficiency and overall patient outcomes.


Summary Objective: This study investigated whether computerized systems, designed to produce detailed plans for the nursing care of inpatients, were resisted by the nurses who were expected to use them. Methods: Qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews with nurses working in the UK National Health Service. Results and Conclusions: Resistance took the form of 'resistive compliance,' and this resistance is analyzed and explained. Resistance can best be understood in terms of the culture of nursing. This implies that the design and implementation of computerized systems in health care should take these factors into account.


The aim of this present work was to study how a dry calcination treatment (without the presence of water vapor) affects the translocation of aluminum species from framework to non framework positions in some commonly used hydrogen forms of zeolites such as H-Y, H-mordenite and H-ZSM5.


The human race came from one blood (Acts 17: 26). The abilities of the soul and spirit of each person are laid down by the Creator for research. The human spirit reflects and fixes the qualitative properties of the perceived environment. The human mind cognizes and explores the observed reality. Through linguistic interpretation and functional formalization within the framework of a theory built with the help of axioms and concepts, it captures the results of research. The functional law of thinking Dao, Chinese philosophers proposed as a law of formalization and quantitative representation of the material world as follows: Dao generates 1, 1 generates 2, and so on; The Dao gives rise to plus, minus, multiply, divide, and other functions. Linguistic thinking generates an interpretation of what is happening in the observed reality. Functional thinking is formed and developed within the framework of axiomatic theory. A theory is built on the basis of axioms and concepts. The theory describes the phenomena, processes, essence of the material world and provides an opportunity to conduct research based on its facts and results. When a person focuses his attention on the relevant research, this indicates that he has the knowledge and skills to work in this area, perceiving the living information of nature and the noosphere. Complex formalization and interpretation of the surrounding reality have led to artificial intelligence, which develops new practical results for a person. Interdisciplinary research provides a more holistic view of the Universe. Actual research at the current time is the construction of the theory, detection, identification and use of natural technologies.


Real‐time feedback is crucial to improving physician performance. Emerging theory suggests that learner‐initiated feedback may be more effective in changing performance than attending‐initiated feedback, but little is known about how residents perceive resident‐ versus attending‐initiated feedback.


Enterobacter sakazakii, a pathogen that can be found in powdered infant milk formula, can cause adverse health effects on infants. Using Vickrey auction, this study examines parents' willingness to pay (WTP) for a quality assurance label on powdered infant milk formula. The influence of ambiguity with the incidence rate information and provision of safe-handling information on WTP are also evaluated using three experiments/treatments. The mean price premium parents are willing to pay for the safer and quality assurance labelled powdered infant milk formula ranges from 61 to 133 Eurocents per 100 grams depending on the treatment. While no ambiguity effects are generally found, provision of safe-handling information has a significant influence on WTP. When the safe-handling information was given, WTP for the quality assurance label was significantly reduced and ranged from 39 to 69 Eurocents per 100 grams depending on the treatment. The results suggest that parents significantly value a quality assurance label with or without clear incidence rate information. Parents' valuation of the label, however, is reduced with the provision of safe-handling information.


Discovery VH can pvovide not only the fusion images but also partial function of PET. This paper summarizes the systematic performance, the principle of coindence image and the quality control of clinic application of Discovery VH.


Texture is an important spatial feature useful for identifying objects or regions of interest in an image. In this paper a new spatial method of texture model is proposed and a comparison of some of the histogram based texture models is carried out. This paper presents a texture analysis operator based on 'local texture patterns (LTP)'. The global image texture is modeled by 'pattern spectrum' which is an occurrence histogram of LTP over the image. The operator is designed as a gray-scale and rotational invariant texture measure on a local neighborhood. The efficiency of the proposed texture model is tested with classification of images based on log-likelihood similarity measure. The results show that the proposed method provides a very good and robust performance.


. Maize ( Zea mays ) is one of the key crops in the world, taking third place after wheat and rice in terms of cultivated area. This study aimed to demonstrate the potential of non-destructive hyperspectral imaging in the wavelength range of 400-1000 nm to discriminate between and classify maize kernels in three cultivars by using non-destructive hyperspectral imaging in the wavelength range of 400-1000 nm. Three cultivars of maize kernels were exposed to hyperspectral imaging with 20 rep -lications. Predictor variables included 28 intensities of reflection wave for spectral imaging and 4 variables in terms of the weight, length, width, and thickness of a single kernel. The classification was successfully performed through Linear Discriminant Analysis and Artificial Neural Network methods, taking into account 32, 15, and 5 predictor variables. According to the results, Linear Discriminant Analysis with 32 predictor variables is characterized by a high degree of accuracy (95%). The most important predictor variables included the reflection wave intensity of the third peak, the wavelength intensity of 490 nm, the wavelength intensity of 580 nm, and the weight and thickness of a single kernel.


Given the distinct context of the contemporary development of voters' relationships with political parties in consolidated regimes and new democracies, this article aims to advance in the identification of predictors for democracy support in Latin America. We use hierarchical models that incorporate structural and individual level variables for the explanation of the phenomenon, with emphasis on the profiles of voters who consider their cognitive and political sophistication. Therefore, we constructed models that token into account the apartisanship thesis and the relevance of individual cognitive mobilization, as well as the national experience derived from the democratic legacy. Our results allow us to infer, on the one hand, that the cognitive refinement of the voters is more relevant than the partisanship for the support that they manifest about the different dimension of democracy. On the other hand, the quality and the persistence of the regime have impacts only in some dimensions of democracy.


Internet liberated the public voice, and enjoys the opinion privilege that conventional media lacks. But the internet public opinion which is characterized in its grassroot features needs to be promoted and guided by the authority and credibility of the conventional media. Based on the formation and development of the public opinion, internet media and conventional media can interact and cooperate to exert the


Abstract Noni, also known as Morinda citrifolia, is a plant that has been widely used for treating various pathologies due to its allegedly anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating properties. Macrophages and monocytes are critical immune cells that initiate inflammation and generate an immune response against various aggressors, regardless of their causative agent. However, it is not well investigated how noni fruit components affect the behavior or phenotype of these cells. Hence, studies in this direction could potentially demonstrate the therapeutic effects of this fruit, which is consumed worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic properties of noni fruit juice in modulating the behavior and phenotype of human monocytes and macrophage cells in vitro. The results show that noni fruit juice inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO) and inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-4, while stimulating the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in monocytes. In addition, it negatively modulated the expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). In macrophages, noni fruit juice enhanced the secretion of all cytokines and NO, and inhibited the expression of TLR4. The contrasting results observed could be attributed to the joint stimuli of PMA (Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate), which was used to induce macrophage differentiation and noni Juice. Overall, the data indicate that noni may act as an anti-inflammatory agent and may aid in the treatment of uncontrolled inflammatory diseases as a complementary treatment to conventional therapies, under medical supervision. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Synchronization technology is related to the performance of the OFDM system. At present, it is still the central issue of the research. In this paper, based on the 802.16d protocol, we proposed a synchronization algorithm using LS code as a training sequence. We analyze the synchronization performance of two combinations of LS code and compare with that of the training sequence given by 802.16d.


We demonstrate a bendable single substrate polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal (PSBP LC) display using bar coater technique. Blue phase temperature range and electro-optical properties of a single glass or a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate PSBP LC cells were investigated. Moreover, the effect of confinement on the conventional PSBP LC cell was reported.


To ensure that Al alloys are being served as the high-temperature structural components for applications in aerospace and transportation, it is necessary to investigate their high-temperature mechanical behavior and failure mechanism. In this paper, the mechanical behavior of the as-extruded Al-5Zn-2Mg-0.3Cu (in wt.%) alloy was studied and compared under different high-temperature tensile-testing conditions. It was found that the yield strength and the ultimate tensile strength of the alloy gradually decreased with the increase in temperature, but its elongation ratio showed a slightly increasing trend. Failure analysis demonstrated that there were a lot of ductile dimples on the fracture surfaces and that obvious necking occurred for the samples being tensile-tested at different temperatures. Surface observation revealed that the initiation of micro-cracks was mainly attributed to the self-cracking of the brittle phase particles. Moreover, when the testing temperature was between 450 °C and 550 °C, micro-cracks could also occur at the interface between phase particles and the Al matrix.


: Al-based Metal matrix composites (AMMCs) are now gaining their usage in aerospace, automotive and other industries because of their inherent properties like high strength to weight ratio, hardness and wear resistance, good creep behaviour, light weight, design flexibility and low wear rate etc. Aluminium based metal matrix replaces high melting point and high density conventional materials, thus minimizing the usage of energy and supporting the environment. Squeeze casting is the combination of the casting and forging processes that can be done with help of pressure when it is applied during molten metal solidification. Applying pressure on the solidification of melt can modify melting point of alloys which increase the solidification time. In addition it improves the micro and macrostructure. These changes are supportive to decrease the gas and shrinkage porosities of the castings. This paper tries to find the effect of process parameters (squeeze pressure, die temperature, melting temperature and solidification rate) for better mechanical properties. Also the mechanical properties depend on reinforcement particle sizes, porosity presence and agglomeration.


The mathematical modelling of audit fees has emerged in research as one means by which the factors which explain the level and variability of audit fees can be examined. Existing literature shows that auditee size and complexity are major determinants of audit costs incurred by an auditee. Examines the power of these and other variables in explaining the variability of external audit fees for a sample of Australia′s largest listed companies and contributes to the existing literature by examining other potentially important factors which explain audit fees, some of which are unique to the present study. Reports results for the effect of: the presence of particular audit firms (for example, Coopers & Lybrand as opposed to say, Price Waterhouse); the extent of the level of internal audit in the auditee and; industrial classification of the auditee (for example, mining, manufacturing, retail, etc.). Results show that a very high proportion of reported audit fees can be explained by linear regression models, especially for certain auditors (for example, Peat Marwick, where over 93 per cent of the variability in fees can be explained by the model) and for certain industries (for example, the building industry, where over 90 per cent of variability is explained). Notes several limitations, especially those relating to measurement difficulties.


This report provides information regarding pollution from ships and port facilities; discusses some of the measures being implemented and considered by local, state, and federal regulatory agencies; discusses the efforts to ratify and to strengthen Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL); and describes legislation Congress is considering to control emissions from ships by amending the Clean Air Act (CAA).


In supply chains where there is a smaller channel partner with tight budget constraints, flow of materials, products and cash through the channel can suffer significantly, and as a result, all supply chain participants can be hurt. In order to remedy this problem, in recent years, some larger companies have been implementing innovative contracting solutions aimed to ease the financial frictions in the supply chain. In this paper, we present several examples of emerging solutions employed in practice, which involve larger firms providing guarantees in various forms to reduce financing costs for smaller partners, and discuss some recent results from the literature studying these solutions. The main example we discuss is Buyer Intermediated Financing, studied in Tunca and Zhu (2017), where a large buyer can significantly reduce its suppliers' financing costs by guaranteeing the repayment of suppliers' loans. We discuss the insights from our study on why and how such a scheme can reduce wholesale prices, increase order fill rates, and create a win-win for suppliers and retailers. In addition, we discuss future research directions on financial guarantees by large supply chain partners based on newly emerging practices.


The main purpose of this article is the interpretation of the journalist's creative process from the characteristics of art: originality, essentiality and purity. Moreover, this study shows the transfiguration of press messages in the context of postmodernism. For that reason we have examined the meaning of experience, rupture, tradition and realistic spirit in art and contemporary culture and also how the journalistic discourse has taken advantage of that.


Using Astragalus strictus as the material,an optimum extracting technology of swainsonine from A.strictus was investigated through orthogonal experiment under microwave assistance conditions,then the content of swainsonine was analyzed with GC method.The results showed that the optimized extraction conditions were as follows,solid-liquid ratio 1∶10(m∶V,g/mL),microwave power 280 W,extraction time 20 s.Under the above conditions,the extraction percentage of the swainsonine was 0.009 264%.


In 2010 the British Conservative Party more than doubled its women Members of Parliament (MPs), an outcome that on its face suggests a positive move toward greater parity between the sexes. In Sex, Gender and the Conservative Party, Childs and Webb examine the extent to which this result was really significant (the short answer is no) and what gender equality for the Conservative Party might look like. Although they note Prime Minister Cameron's effort to feminize the party, they are less sanguine about the outcome of his stated goals. To start, this dramatic increase in the number of women elected to Parliament must be put into context. The Conservative Party had only 17 women members prior to the 2010 election, and the final tally was 48. There are 147 women in the House of Commons (22 percent overall), which means the 48 Conservative women members are still a significant minority. The increase should not go unnoticed, but the party's commitment to what the authors call "feminization" must be thoroughly explored. Enter their rich and comprehensive study. This sweeping, multimethod analysis examines Cameron's attempts to feminize the party from myriad angles. Not only do the authors look at attempts to increase the numbers of women in office—what they call descriptive representation—they also explore women's roles and influence within party, the gendered attitudes and behaviors of Conservative MPs, and its party members and policy debates on key women's issues. Childs and Webb start with an excellent analytic review of theories of representation and the role of political institutions in realizing efforts to increase women's presence and influence in politics. They also offer an important account of the differences between feminist and conservative women's interests and urge the reader to recognize that conservative women can substantively represent women. Subsequent chapters consider the role of the party's women's organizations, such as the Conservative Women's Organization (CWO), finding that these groups are important for women's representation but that greater lines of communication and formal accountability between them and party leaders would enhance their efforts. Childs and Webb also analyze how Conservative


We present an investigation of rectangular antidot lattices in a CoFeB film. Magnonic band structures are numerically calculated, and band gaps are predicted which shift in frequency by 0.9 GHz when rotating the external field from the long to the short axis of the unit cell. We demonstrate by time-resolved experiments that magnonic dipolar surface modes are split in frequency by 0.6 GHz which agrees well with the theoretical prediction. These findings provide the basis for directional spin-wave filtering with magnonic devices.


Game development is a very complex and multidisciplinary activity and surely the success of games as one of most profitable areas in entertainment domain could not be incidentally. The goal of this paper is to investigate if (and how) principles and practices from Agile Methods have been adopted in game development, mainly gathering evidences through Postmortem Analysis (PMA).
 Then we describe how we have conducted PMA in order to identify the good practices adopted in several game development projects. The results are discussed, comparing similarities and differences on how these practices are taken in account in (traditional) software development and game development.


Most of what may be broadly construed as political science has always proceeded through induction. There are, of course, some aspects of both classical political theory and even modem work that are based on deductive logic, as in the use of economic marketplace principles to explain voting behavior (Downs, 1957), or in the application of game theory to explanation of the Watergate scandal of the Nixon era (Muzzio, 1982; see also Zagare, 1984). Nonetheless, induction, not deduction, has been the rule. Early work on the &dquo;science&dquo; of politics was almost entirely nonquantitative, using inference from examples to construct rich theories of political reality, as in Tocqueville's Democracy in America (1839/1954). The merit of this form of induction depended heavily on the insight, intuition, and personal brilliance of the particular author. With the advent of better forms of data collection and the rise of the discipline of statistics, social scientists shifted from the earlier intuitive approach toward a quantitative form of induction based on empirical measurement and correlation. With the rise of the statistical approach to social science data, a premium was placed on probabilistic explanations. Even research


Neural network models are used to reveal the nonlinear winter atmospheric teleconnection patterns associated with the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and with the Arctic Oscillation (AO) over the N. Hemisphere. The nonlinear teleconnections (for surface air temperature, precipitation, sea level pressure and 500 hPa geopotential height) are found to relate quadratically to the ENSO and AO indices. Relative to linear teleconnections, nonlinear teleconections appear to propagate perturbations farther, into regions where classical linear teleconnections are insignificant.


Remote automatic meter reading system will promote the vigorous promotion of electricity supply companies to enhance the management level.This paper analyses the existing automatic meter reading technology and the development of the advantages and disadvantages of the status quo,Zigbee technology on the characteristics and advantages,on the Zigbee technology in the development of automatic meter reading in the future.


e20598 Background: Despite a lack of high quality clinical data supporting its use,thousands of patients choose to pay for intravenous (IV) ascorbate (vitamin C) in the belief that it synergizes the anti-cancer effects of chemotherapy and reduces its toxicity. Methods: A formal systematic review of human interventional and observational studies of both oral and IV ascorbate treatment and their anti-tumor effects in cancer patients was performed. Two reviewers independently screened all abstracts and full text articles. Data collection and quality assessment of studies was performed using the Jadad and Newcastle-Ottawa scales. Results: Of 677 records initially identified, 58 full text articles were screened and 34 studies included. We identified 5 randomised controlled trials (n= 322), 12 phase I/II trials (n= 283), 6 observational studies (n= 8558) and 11 case reports (n= 264). None of these trials demonstrated any statistically significant validated anti-tumour effect of ascorbate. Evidence presented for...


What would happen if you asked a group of readers' advisory (RA) librarians--ranging from some of the top experts in the field to sharp readers who recently graduated from library school--to handpick a collection of professional tools, including books, articles, websites, blogs, and databases? You would get an eclectic collection of hard-working titles and sites that serve the daily needs of on-the-desk staff, foundational texts that set the standards of the service, and idiosyncratic picks that seem to always provide inspiration. I found this out when I sent an e-mail to more than a dozen RA experts and asked them to work on this column. The only rules imposed to wrangle this process were that no one could pick their own work or work with which they are affiliated, and because of space limitations, once a title in a series was picked, that title would be the only book in the series included (but the selector could add a note to indicate the range of the entire series line). If I had endless space to devote to this topic, the column would consume the entire issue. RA librarians are a prolific and helpful lot and have produced a great deal of insightful writing. Library school professors teaching RA have written many seminal works we should all study. In short, there is far more excellent material available than can be covered in such limited space. In an effort to pack in as much as possible, however, choices in each section were limited, as were annotations. While every book is annotated, only the top five picks for articles, blogs, and websites are annotated in favor of including more choices. Terry Jacobsen selected the articles, winnowing down a huge list to a hard-selected fifteen. Lisa Fraser did the same tough work in selecting the websites, as did Sarah Statz Cords with blogs. Neil Hollands and Jacqueline Sasaki also pitched in with the blogs, both selecting and annotating several of the key selections. Joyce Saricks wrestled with the RA databases, providing a neat overview of the five main products. The books were selected by John Charles, Mary K. Chelton, Gwen Glazer, Cindy Orr, Joyce Saricks, Kaite Mediatore Stover, Barry Trott, Kimberly Wells, and David Wright.--Editor BOOKS Baker, Sharon L. and Karen L. Wallace. The Responsive Public Library: How to Develop and Market a Winning Collection. 2nd ed. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 2002 (ISBN: 978-0-313-00897-9). One of the most useful works on the public library, this book is almost unknown to readers' advisors. It promotes the use of strategic planning techniques to anticipate demand and deliver client-centered service based on an accessible collection. The book is packed with practical information such as what elements affect user selections, research on arrangements of fiction collections, information on promotion and displays, and providing gracious RA service. It includes an impressive bibliography. Hollands, Neil. Read On ... Fantasy Fiction: Reading Lists for Every Taste. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited, 2007 (ISBN: 978-1-59158-330-1). Hollands compiles and annotates more than eight hundred titles in this excellent resource for RA and collection development librarians and the readers they serve. Listed by major appeal, titles are grouped by story, character, mood, setting, and language into quirky sublists. "Armageddon Out of Here: Fantasy's Furious Final Battles" is one example of the many reading lists provided. Hollands not only leads readers to new books (or old forgotten favorites) but gives the stumped librarian a place to find everything from culturally diverse titles to action-packed stories that will appeal to garners. Series Note: Hollands's book is part of the Read On series, which collects hundreds of titles into fun reading lists arranged by five areas of appeal (story, character, setting, mood, and language). Each book focuses on a genre or reading interest--crime fiction, women's fiction, horror, memoir, etc. …


Helium effects on the mechanical properties and microstructure of three low-activation structural materials are summarized based on the current understanding of the experimental data they have yielded. Void swelling of these low activation materials is not seriously enhanced by the presence of helium in their expected operating temperature regions. Degradation of the mechanical properties caused by helium is not considered to be serious up to regions of several tens of displacement per atom (dpa). The issues of material data collection for DEMO reactor design are discussed.


A "political economy effectiveness" model for analyzing the relationships between public agencies and their clients is developed. This model traces the effects of environmental exchange relationships on the goals guiding the behavior of public agency personnel who are responsible for implementing public policy. Empirical data for a preliminary test of the proposed model are presented. The results are used to assess several correlates of the effectiveness of the Employment Service in inducing a portion of their clients (employers) to make use of the agencies' services.


Early results of tests performed with the aim of evaluating different techniques of measuring the uniaxial coefficient are discussed. The work reported here is preliminary in nature and intended to provide information for designing test procedures for cores from actual geopressured geothermal reservoirs. The rocks used in this study do not come from these reservoirs, but cover the permeabilities and porosities likely in the commercial geopressured zones.


This documentation explains the details of our extended version of AES encryption algorithm which uses fixed-length 512-bit block length and three possible key lengths respectively 128, 256 or 512 bits. 1. Motivation The standard AES uses 128-bit message block length (i.e. 16 bytes) and 128-bit key length. 192 and 256-bit key lengths are also supported by AES. For the combination of 128/128 (Block/Key), the AES message block and key can be realized as a 4*4 matrix. Each matrix cell represents a single Byte and 16 (4*4) cells makes then 16 bytes which are equal to 128-bits. Similarly, for the extended AES we use 4*16 matrix (4: row size, 16: column size) for representing the message blocks and the round keys. The extended AES uses some properties and functions of the original AES exactly (e.g. adding round key, column mixing, etc), whereas some properties and functions are specific to the extended AES (e.g. the total round number, row shifting, etc.). In the following sections, the relevant properties and functions used in the original AES and the extended AES are explained in details. have been also implemented for the extended AES.


Anticipation is an essential ability for any system designed for human robot interaction. As human activities are complex, the robot/machine should be capable of processing long time-series observations to understand them. These observations are normally high dimensional, corrupted, noisy, have a high frequency, and have very long temporal relationships. In this paper a new deep learning model architecture is proposed to anticipate maneuvers. The source of the sensory data in this domain could be GPS location, car»s speed, inside and outside cameras as well as other car related sensors. In our proposed model, we use pairs of max-pooling and convolutions to represent spatial dependencies in the video frames and apply dilated convolutions to understand temporal relationships for maneuver anticipation. We also show that the performance of our proposed approach could compete with other well-known machine learning architectures in this domain.


In this issue of the Journal, Kobayashi et al. report on the 6th revision of the diagnostic guidelines for Kawasaki disease (KD). These guidelines were last revised (5th revision) about 15 years ago. The definition of 'guidelines' has changed significantly in this period. However, as the term 'diagnostic guidelines' was used in the 5th edition, published in this journal in 2005, and is familiar to most pediatricians/primary care physicians as well as being is cited as such by international researchers (267 citations until 2018) , I agree with the authors' decision to continue to use the title, 'diagnostic guidelines'. After discussion, the authors' committee decided to revise a number of points of the 5 edition. This was in view of the results of the Japanese Nationwide Surveillance of Kawasaki Disease (JNSKD), which are thought to be the complete count survey statistically. The points that were revised are as follows:


Objective
To identify the spectrum of sleep disorders in the patients diagnosed with limbic encephalitis associated with anti leucine rich glioma inactivated protein 1 (LGI1) antibody.

Methods
Thirteen patients were identified with limbic encephalitis associated with LGI1 antibody in the Department of Neurology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital between December 2012 and August 2017. The characters of the 13 cases were studied from several aspects such as clinical presentation, imaging, polysomnography, cerebrospinal fluid and serum.

Results
Serum test and/or cerebrospinal fluid test showed LGI1 antibody positive in all the 13 patients. Clinical presentation included: cognitive impairment, seizures, neuropsychiatric features. Sleep disorders presented in all patients, including insomnia, dream enactment behaviors, hypersomnia, involuntary movement. Polysomnogram in the 13 patients revealed that sleep efficiency decreased in 10 patients (<80%) , N3 sleep decreased in 10 patients, rapid eye movement sleep decreased in 13 patients; period limb movement disorder was identified in seven patients, period limb movement index was 15.6-224.4/h, four of the seven patients also had frequent irregular motor activity; six patients had frequent faciobrachial dystonic seizures (20-83 times throughout the night); rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) was diagnosed in three patients. Sleep disorder resolved almost completely in 10 of 13 patients who received immunotherapy.

Conclusions
Sleep disorders are cardinal manifestations of limbic encephalitis associated with LGI1 antibody, including insomnia, RBD, hypersomnia, involuntary movement. They may respond favorably to immunotherapy.

Key words:
Limbic encephalitis; Sleep disorders; Polysomnography; Antibodies


Objective To evaluate CT diagnosis of primary retroperitioneal neoplasm (PRN) . Methods The imaging appearances were analyzed in 26 cases of PRN proved by operation and pathology. of the 26 cases, plain and enhanced CT scans were performed on 15 cases, and only plain CT scans on 11 cases. Results 14 masses out of 26 were benign and the rest 12 were malignant. 23 of the masses(88. 5% ) were correctly localized by CT. Correct qualitative diagnosis was made with CT in 9 cases (34. 9% ), among which 6 were benign and the rest 3 were malignant. Radical resection was snccessful in 15 cases out of 26; subtotal resection was performed in 9; and la-parotomy and bropsy were done in 2 cases. Conclusion CT scan is a raluable imaging for localization as well as differential diagnosis of PRN, while provides limited qualitative determination.


OBJECTIVE
Aside from the severity, surgical interventions for the treatment of neurological dysfunctions remain controversial. This study aimed to find factors predicting the benefits of tethered cord syndrome (TCS) surgery.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
80 children with TCS were included and followed up for pre- and post-operative factors along with neurophysiological analysis. Outcomes were assessed by univariate and multivariate analysis.

RESULTS
Surgical treatment not only improved preoperative signs and symptoms in 79% of TCS patients but it showed to be an efficient procedure for the occurrence of future neurological defects. Univariate analysis also revealed that surgical intervention in TCS children (age <1 year) can modulate filar lipoma location and cutaneous abnormalities three months after surgery. Neurophysiological assessment revealed only 5.0% of surgical complications in TCS patients. Two patients had cerebrospinal fluid leakage, and two cases of CNS infection were detected.

CONCLUSIONS
Surgical intervention is highly recommended for the prevention of neurological deficits in children with TCS. Electrophysiological monitoring revealed rare complications following the surgery.