A control system of an LED chip mounter applies a modular design method and comprises a sensor module, a master controller module, a DSP (digital signal processor) motion control module and a servo motor control module, wherein the sensor module serves as a signal acquisition end of the control system to be connected with an output shaft of a servo motor of the chip mounter, a signal output end of the sensor module is connected with a status signal input end of the master controller module through the DSP motion control module, a control signal output end of a master controller is connected with a control signal input end of the servo motor control module through the DSP motion control module, and the servo motor of the chip mounter is driven to operate by the servo motor control module. Interference of the system is lowered by the design method, and operating efficiency of the system is improved, so that control precision of a motion control system of the chip mounter is enhanced, and surface mounting speed of the motion control system of the chip mounter is increased.


Abstract The aim of the study was to determine the impact of diet and sex on the hematological and blood plasma biochemical profiles and the liver histology of pikeperch, Sander lucioperca (L.) reared in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) (initial mean body weight (BW) 1.35 kg). The proximate composition of the two commercial feeds used were (protein/lipid/nitrogen-free extracts) (P/L/NFE)) P505/L118/NFE294 g kg−1 (group I) and P471/L141/NFE290 g kg−1 (group II). Neither diet nor sex had a significant impact on final fish body weight (≈ 2.0 kg). Sex was noted to significantly impact glucose content (Glu – higher in males) and cholesterol (Chol – higher in females) in the blood plasma. Diet was confirmed to have a significant impact on levels of hematocrit (Ht), hemoglobin (Hb), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and the values of these indicators were higher in group I. Sex had a significant impact on Ht, Hb, MCH, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), with higher values in male pikeperch. Diet and sex had significant impacts on the values of the pikeperch hepatosomatic index (HSI), hepatocyte size and that of their nuclei, and the values of the nucleocytoplasmic index (NCI).


The effects of intermediate charmed mesons on charmonium transitions with the emission of one pion or eta meson are studied systematically. Based on a non-relativistic effective field theory we show that charmed meson loops are enhanced compared to the corresponding tree-level contributions for transitions between two S-wave charmonia as well as for transitions between two P-wave charmonia. On the contrary, for the transitions between one S-wave and one P-wave charmonium state, the loops need to be analyzed case by case and often appear to be suppressed. Extending these considerations to the b-quark sector, we propose a new method to extract the light quark mass ratio mu/md using the ϒ(4S) → hbπ0(η) bottomonia transitions.


Ž . 4 ABSTRACT: A random mapping T ; q of a finite set V, Vs 1, 2, . . . , n into itself assigns independently to each igV its unique image jgV with probability q if is j and with Ž . Ž . probability Ps 1yq r ny1 if i/ j. The number of predecessors of elements from a given subset of V is studied. Exact results and limit theorems for the distribution of this random variable, the quasi-binomial distribution, are given. The results are applied to an Ž . inverse epidemic process on a random digraph G representing T ; q . Q 1998 John Wiley & T Sons, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 13, 501]519, 1998


We study a family of surfaces of general type with pg=q=2 and K2=7 , originally constructed by Cancian and Frapporti by using the Computer Algebra System MAGMA. We provide an alternative, computer‐free construction of these surfaces, that allows us to describe their Albanese map and their moduli space.


Using Wong's technique asymptotic expansion for the wavelet transform is derived and thereby asymptotic expansions for Morlet wavelet transform, Mexican Hat wavelet transform and Haar wavelet transform are obtained. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. 44A05,41A60.


Assessment of treatment integrity, such as therapists' adherence and competence, is essential for the development and evaluation of evidence-based therapeutic interventions, but in most intervention studies proof of treatment integrity has not been considered on a regular basis. One reason is that there is a lack of appropriate assessment instruments. For dementia caregiver trials treatment adherence and competence scales do not exist. To evaluate treatment integrity in a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) telephone intervention with dementia caregivers, we developed a new adherence scale and adapted the Cognitive Therapy Scale (CTS) for CBT with dementia caregivers. We also analyzed whether CBT can be delivered with treatment integrity for interventions with dementia caregivers and by telephone. Eighty-six entire sessions with 45 caregivers in a randomized-controlled intervention study were judged by four independent raters. Inter-rater reliability was high for overall score on the adherence scale (intraclass correlation [ICC] = .85) and the CTS (ICC = .82). Overall adherence was moderate and competence was high. Both scales proved to be reliable; thus they can be used for assessing treatment integrity in other research fields with dementia caregivers, including measuring the impact of treatment on outcome criteria. The results also reveal that CBT can be delivered with adherence to the manual and competently to dementia caregivers and by telephone, opening up new options for future research and practice.


Fjerdingstad, E. J. Chemical transfer of alternation training in the Skinner box. Scand. J. Psychol., 1969,10, 220–224.—In six individual experiments one group of recipient mice was injected with brain extract from rat donors trained to alternate between bars in a Skinner box; another group was injected with extract from donors reinforced for pressing either bar irrespective of choice. During testing the recipients of 'alternation extract' showed a significantly higher tendency to alternate.


(57) Abstract: composite material includes a base fiber, on the substrate fibers, and activated organic coating. Activated organic coating is formed at low temperature, at most it is possible to use a base fiber having a softening or decomposition temperature of 500 ° C..


The present invention relates to a power converter. In particular, the present invention relates to compensate for voltage variations in the power converter. It describes a drive circuit for a solid state light source (309) (300). A driving circuit (300) comprises a switching power converter (200), the switching power converter comprises a switch (202); wherein the switching power converter (200) for the input voltage to the input terminal of the switching power converter (200) (230) into an output voltage at the output terminal of the switching power converter (200) (231). In addition, the driving circuit (300) comprising: a current sensing device (203), which represents a current sensing means for determining the current flowing through the switch (202) of an induced current signal (233); and a voltage sensing means (208,9) the voltage sensing means for determining indicates that the input voltage (230) of the induced voltage signal (234). In addition, the driving circuit (300) comprises a control unit (205,206,306), a control unit for determining a gate control signal (232), a gate signal according to the induced current signal (233) and the induced voltage signal (234) so that the switch (202) enters the off state.


In this paper, we report the design and evaluation of a compact 108-element base station antenna array for massive multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system using a 3-port multimode antenna as a unit element. Of these three ports, port 1 and port 2 have orthogonally polarized broadside radiation pattern with measured peak gain of 6.5 dBi and impedance bandwidth of 254 MHz (2.268 GHz- 2.522 GHz) and 238 MHz (2.248 GHz-2.486 GHz), respectively, while port 3 has monopole-like radiation pattern having measured peak gain of 1.21 dBi and impedance bandwidth of 102 MHz (2.376 GHz- 2.478 GHz). Mutual coupling among all the ports is kept as less than �14 dB. Design of 108-element massive MIMO antenna array is evaluated as a base station antenna for multiuser urban street grid scenario in MIMO-OFDM downlink system, which is further modeled using Wireless World Initiative New Radio II (WINNER II) Channel models in MATLAB. Parameters like Singular value spread and Dirty Paper Coding (DPC) sum capacity was calculated and compared with i.i.d channel model. For 4 users case using same frequency and time resource, singular value spread and DPC sum capacity for presented antenna array converges to 7 dB and 11.6 bps/Hz at 10 dB SNR respectively.


Our second article in this issue concerned with climate change. One key to predicting future changes is to learn from the past using, for example, lake sediments. This article summarises some work done at Umea University to help answer these questions


The Bahamas are an archipelago of islands north of Cuba and east of Florida, home to around 400,000 people. The Bahamas was hit by Hurricane Dorian which made severe landfall at the end of 2019 and consequently by COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. This paper provides an overview of Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19 in the Bahamas and a review of the impacts and consequences caused by the disasters on the livelihood, vulnerable population and economy of the Bahamas. Crippled by the double burden of a natural and a biological disaster that happened consecutively, the small island country needs to strengthen its strategic framework to build its preparedness and economy for future events.


The relationship between a child and his/her primary caregiver (individual who reared the child) can have a positive or negative correlation with the behavior emitted. A study of 100 students from McKendree University was conducted to see if the attachment style an individual has with their primary care giver as a child influences their aggression level as an adult. The results indicated that a negative relationship existed; if a person had a secure attachment, then he/she had less aggressive behavior. This study represents a step towards predicting troublesome behavior patterns through the assessment of the types of attachment patterns in childhood.


"If you can't produce a 'green card,' don't bother to come hack to work on Monday." Thousands of immigrant workers across the land are being told this in the first few weeks after the new immigration law went into effect. The facts are just beginning to come in. Whether or not the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) truly intends to deport millions of workers, or whether they have the personnel to do so, one thing is already clear: thousands of breadwinners have already lost their jobs, thousands of families are suffering, thousands more face an uncertain future. If INS cannot deport millions, INS can starve tens of thousands of families. E F F E C T S O F N E W I M M I G R A T I O N L A W


A new aerophytic species of the xanthophycean genus Excentrochloris - Excentrochloris fraunhoferiana Hofbauer, Gartner, Rennebarth, Sedlbauer, Mayer et Breuer from a building surface is described. Light microscopically investigation and sequence analyses showed a clear relationship of the new alga to Botrydiopsis constricta Broady. Cytomorphology and reproduction of the new species was investigated on cultures. E. fraunhoferiana differs from the type species E. gigas by bigger size of adult vegetative cells with obligate thickening of wall, and none amoeboid zoospores with one chloroplast. Adult zoospores are peripherically arranged in the sporangia. The relation to Botrydiopsis constricta is discussed in comparison with characters of E. fraunhoferiana.


OBJECTIVES
The main objective was to explore which are the dimensions of perfectionism that are linked to disordered eating behaviour (EB) in a large non-clinical sample of both genders.

METHOD
One thousand one hundred and sixty-three undergraduate students of the University of Coimbra completed the Portuguese versions of the multidimensional perfectionism scale (MPS) and the eating attitudes test (EAT-40).

RESULTS
In both genders, the MPS total score was associated with the EAT total score and all EAT dimensions (except for socially prescribed perfectionism in females). Self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) were associated with EAT total score, diet concerns (DC) and bulimic behaviour (BB) in females while in males the social prescribed perfectionism (SPP) was the useful predictor of EAT total score, BB and social pressure to eat (SPE).

CONCLUSION
These results confirm that in general high levels of perfectionism are associated with abnormal EB. This was the case for both genders for SPP but for SOP for females only. The association for other oriented perfectionism (OOP) was greater for males than for females.


Samples from 37 populations of spined loach (Cobitis) pure species and their hybrid complexes - were examined using gel electrophoresis for the interspecific variability in 27 protein coding loci. Up to now, species-specific and species distinguishing variants in different protein/enzyme loci were found in Cobitis bilineata, C. elongata, C. elongatoides, C. cf. fahirae, C. strumicae, C. taenia, C. tanaitica, and C. turcica. The species-specific differences in the occurrence of such variants were found in 11 loci for these Cobitis species. This allowed us both identification of species and recognition of interspecific hybrids in many complexes. Besides this we were able in many cases of polyploid hybrids to estimate their genomic composition.


• VM – alternative to mass marketing. Direct marketing (DM) – mines available market data to determine customers worth targeting. In contrast, VM considers the following. – customer's value — instrinsic value vs. network value. – it's possible: IV < marketing cost, but IV + NV >> MC. A DM perspective of customer value might lead to the conclusion that certain customers are not worth targeting since their IV > marketing cost. – ignoring NV of customers misses out on a huge opportunity. • hotmail and ICQ instant messenger largely benefited from VM (i.e., network effect). Also see this Nature article [1] reporting on experiments on a real large scale dataset from the time of 2010 US congressional elections. • VM thesis: customer's buying decision – driven by desirability of product (for customer) + effect of "neighbors". • Question: Do we have evidence supporting such a belief? • Answer: movie/song recommendation systems provide indirect evidence [2]. See [1] for evidence based on real large scale data. • our plan: initially, consider models based on Markov random fields, proposed by Domingos and Richardson [2]; then consider various optimization problems based on a more tractable probabilistic model of influence and of influence propagation [4]. • Problem is NP-complete in general. Under many circumstances, exhibits a nice property called sub-modularity (in addition to monotonicity). We are able to exploit this to devise simple greedy approximations.


Gout is a metabolic disease which occurs as a result of pathological reaction of the joint or periarticular tissues due to the presence of Monosodium Urate (MSU) and Monohydrate crystals in the body. MSU crystals mostly deposited in connective tissues in and around joints or in soft tissues like cartilages at various parts of the body. Hyperuricemia is the cardinal abnormality leading to Gout. These days its prevalence is increasing due to changes in life style and therefore it has a noteworthy impact on the working population, their work, productivity and physical function. Gouty arthritis is conventionally managed by analgesics, anti-inflammatory drugs, Glucocorticoids, Uric Acid lowering therapy, Xanthine oxidase inhibitor and Uricosurics drugs. These drugs may be poorly tolerated and dangerous in the elderly and in the presence of renal insufficiency and gastrointestinal disorders. Based on the symptomatology, Gouty Arthritis can be well correlated to Vata-Pitthadhika Vatarakta. Vata and Rakta are the main factors involved in this disease and sandhi or joints are the main site of manifestation. The patient was treated with Snehana (oleation), Mridu Swedana (mild sudation) followed by Ksheera Vasthi (enema with medicated milk) in 7 days schedule. Upanaha Sweda (poultice) for 7days and Samana Aushadhi (oral Ayurvedic drugs) for one month. Substantial clinical improvement was reported in quality of life after 30 days of the treatment. This case report provides guidelines that Gouty arthritis with a very high serum uric acid can be treated as per Vataraktha Chikitsa Siddhanta in Ayurveda.


In this paper, we present a big data software architecture that uses an ontology, based on the Experience API specification, to semantically represent the data streams generated by the learners when they undertake the learning activities of a course, e.g., in a course. These data are stored in a RDF database to provide a high performance access so learning analytics services can process the large amount of data generated in a virtual learning environment. These services provide valuable information to teachers and instructors such as predict the learner's performance, discover the real learning paths, extract the learner's behavior patterns and so on. The proposed architecture has been validated in the Educational Technology undergraduate course of the Degree in Pedagogy at the Faculty of Education of the University of Santiago de Compostela.


The system has a cylinder with an entry area (3) for supplying exhaust gases and a housing covering a main channel (5) such that a chamber is formed between the housing and the main channel. An additional channel (8) runs transverse to flow direction and tangential to the main channel, so that the gases supplied by the additional channel flows via the main channel in a spiral form to mix with the gases supplied by the main channel.


This study examines the volatility of Treasury bills in five African countries using the Component GARCH model so as to develop a greater understanding of these instruments. All securities were identified to exhibit highly persistent (non-stationary) volatility, which predominantly comprised of the long-run persistence of historical shocks, as the influence of shocks on the transitory component of volatility reverts to the long-run rate within one to four weeks. In only two of the countries was the response of volatility to innovations asymmetric, whilst volatility risk was identified to be a priced factor in only South African and Kenyan Treasury bill returns.


A stability analysis is presented of model separated flow bubbles, typical of those found in the boundary layer under the footprint of a solitary wave moving slowly over a fiat surface. The velocity profiles in the separated region are modeled using a perturbed family of Falkner-Skan profiles. These profiles are examined for their stability properties with special regard given to the conditions leading to the appearance of local absolute instability and the onset of a global instability. It is shown that global instability can be expected in separation bubbles of moderate size (e.g., containing a peak backflow velocity of approximately thirty percent of the free stream). It is conjectured that a global instability provides a cc^ herent dynamic state that is efficient in resuspending sedimentary particles even though the nominal stress in a separated region is much lower than that for an attached boundary layer.


Thermodynamic properties of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg ferromagnet are calculated by using Handscomb's Monte Carlo method. Several methods of analyses are used to determine critical properties of the model. For a square lattice we find that the susceptibility diverges exponentially at zero temperature. That is, \ensuremath{\chi}\ensuremath{\sim}exp[b(J/${\mathit{k}}_{\mathit{B}}$T)] with the constant b=4.5\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5, which is lower than the prediction (b=2\ensuremath{\pi}) of a modified spin-wave theory. For the simple-cubic lattice, we find that the critical temperature ${\mathit{k}}_{\mathit{B}}$${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$/J=1.68\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.01, and the ratio of the exponents \ensuremath{\gamma}/\ensuremath{\nu}=2.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05, which are in good agreement with the estimates of the high-temperature series-expansion method.


Infrared spectral data of three different groups of heterocumulenes are reported. A linear dependence of integrated absorption intensities of the r a s (X = Y = Z ) bands on Hammett substituent constants with a positive slope has been found. On the basis of wavenumbers, half-band widths as well as integrated absorption intensities of the r a a ( X = Y = Z ) bands the structure of the cumulative system of X = Y = Z bonds is discussed.


In cloud environment, business intelligence data warehouse is used for decision making and enterprise policy. But if new system is added in cloud environment, much cost and time is needed due to heterogenous characteristics in data integration. This paper suggests a data cleaning system for business intelligence in cloud environment. The proposed system minimizes the effect of local system when it integrates distributed system using XMDR-DAI. And this system provides standardized information to generate information of data warehouse in real time. Also the proposed system saves cost and time by integrating the data without a change of existed system. And it can improve quality of information by generating coherent information through data extraction and cleaning work in real time.


The purpose of this study was to produce teaching materials for infrensial statistics in the Guidance and Counseling study program. The collection of teaching material assessment data from experts uses a closed (direct) questionnaire, while student response data uses a questionnaire through the "google form" application and exam questions via "whatsapp". The research data were analyzed descriptively, namely the addition technique, calculating the average, categorization, and the use of assessment guidelines. The results of the development of teaching materials include: (1) the initial section consists of: cover, cover page, validation page, foreword, table of contents, list of tables, and list of attachments, (2) teaching materials of infrensial statistics are divided into 12 parts (main material) , (3) each section contains: description, material description, summary, exercises and questions, feedback, bibliography and practice answer key (attached). The results of the assessment of the developed teaching materials show that the teaching materials are good, the presentation of the teaching materials is good, the design of the teaching materials is good, the language of teaching materials declared suitable for use is very good, the practicality of the teaching materials is good. The effectiveness of the use of teaching materials, aspects of learning motivation are effective, aspects of student learning activity are effective, and aspects of student success/graduation using teaching materials are effective.


Cellular DNA is constantly exposed to damaging insults that threaten cellular control and replication. The most devastating damage is a DNA double strand break (DNA-dsb) which can be caused by exogenous agents such as ionizing radiation or occur as intermediates in normal metabolic processes including DNA replication, immune system development and meiotic recombination. Damage response mechanisms have evolved to maintain genomic stability including processes that recognize and repair the damage, cell cycle checkpoints that prevent cell cycle progression in the presence of damage, and mechanisms, such as apoptosis, that remove damaged cells. In contrast, effective immune responses require the generation of some 10 16 genetically diverse cells bearing a unique receptor capable of recognizing a unique antigen/MHC combination. In higher organisms these genetically diverse cells are created by breaking, randomly re-sorting and then joining the DNA sequences coding for antigen receptors (V(D)J recombination) by adapting the DNA repair mechanisms normally utilized to maintain genome stability. During V(D)J recombination, recombination activating gene (RAG1 and 2) endonucleases initiate the DNA-dsb, whilst the repair is performed principally by nonhomologueous end joining (NHEJ). Refinement of the antibody response involves changing from IgM isotype to other Ig isotypes (IgA, IgE, IgG) during class switch recombination (CSR), also thought to employ a DNA-dsb as an intermediate [reviewed in 1,2]. A number of genetic defects in the DNA repair machinery have now been identified in humans, providing insight into clinical consequences of genomic instability on the immune system [1,3,4]. Increasingly, immunodeficiency is recognized as a feature of these syndromes, although in many of them, the immunodeficiency is clinically variable, ranging from normal to severely impaired. Antibody deficiency is the most common manifestation, often involving defective antipolysaccharide antigen responses.


The utility of routine preoperative electrocardiography (ECG) for assessing perioperative cardiovascular risk in patients undergoing noncardiac, nonvascular surgery (NCNVS) is unclear.


The pancreas is rare site of metastasis from malignant tumours. Pancreatic metastasis accounts for less than 5% of all pancreatic malignancies. The most common malignancies metastasizing to pancreas are the renal cell carcinoma, non-small cell lung carcinoma, and colon carcinoma. Pancreatic metastases from breast cancer is rare clinical entity, and is associated with dismal prognosis. Here-in we present a rare case of solitary pancreatic metastasis from ductal breast carcinoma.


Abstract How do people know how – very practically speaking – to be violent? This article explores that question through a Science and Technology Studies perspective. It does so in order to go beyond the usual location of global political violence at a structural level that attributes its emergence principally to hierarchical orders, formal training, or deep cultural, political, or ideological factors. The alternative explanation offered here draws on Bruno Latour's concept of 'plasma' to sketch a theory of how practices of violence are embedded at a distributed ontological level through the historical accumulation of (popular) cultural, textual, technological, and other epistemic objects. In making that claim, I seek to stress how violent knowledge circulates outside the formal domains associated with it (the military, police) and is instead preconsciously accessible to each and every person. To support this argument, the article draws on empirical examples of the use of torture, including interviews conducted with Syrian perpetrators of torture, as well as by tracing the paradoxical entanglements between scientific practice and the practice of torture. I conclude by engaging the field of preventive medicine to speculate on the need to develop modes of violence prevention that appreciate political violence as a population-level sociopolitical problem.


The DBH locus controls plasma dopamine β‐hydroxylase activity (pDβH). A 5′‐upstream single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at DBH (−1021C → T) explains ∼45% of the variance in pDβH, and a non‐synonymous SNP in exon 11 (+ 1603C → T) an additional 2%. However, that regression result underestimates the effect of + 1603C → T because of its low minor allele frequency. We estimated the biological effect of + 1603C → T on pDβH by comparing subjects of identical −1021CγT genotype, in a diagnostically heterogeneous group of subjects of European origin (N = 367). + 1603C → T genotype associated with pDβH within groups of identical genotype at −1021 C → T, accounting for 5%–16% of the variance. There was no significant linkage disequilibrium between −1021C → T and + 1603C → T (D = 0.0058, D′ = 0.4774, d2 = 0.0011, P > 0.05), confirming the validity of assessing the two polymorphisms independently. These results suggest that altered homospecific activity of the enzyme can contribute to variation in pDβH. This conclusion informs how associations between DBH and psychiatric disorders should be approached. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


ABSTRACT Reinforcement of silica in tire tread compounds is known to reduce hysteresis or energy loss, which leads to a production of energy-saving tires. Even though silica–silane technology has b...


We have magnetically driven a tapered-thickness spherical aluminum shell implosion with a 12.5 MA axial discharge. The initially 4 cm radius, 0.1 to 0.2 cm thick, [plus minus]45[sup [degree]] latitude shell was imploded along conical electrodes. The implosion time was approximately 15 [mu]sec. Radiography indicated substantial agreement with 2D-MHD calculations. Such [ital calculations] for this experiment [ital predict] final inner-surface implosion velocity of 2.5 to 3 cm/[mu]sec, peak pressure of 56 Mbar, and peak density of 16.8 g/cm[sup 3] ([gt]6 times solid density). The principal experimental result is a demonstration of the feasibility of electromagnetic-driven spherical liner implosions in the cm/[mu]sec regime.


Gonatodes albogularis is a small diurnal gecko that lives in Central and northern South America and whose behaviour has been rarely analysed. This study describes the behaviour patterns occurring during agonistic encounters between male geckos, assesses the effect of morphological and behavioural traits on aggressive intensity and contest outcome, and tests predictions of the sequential assessment and self-assessment models of animal contests. We staged encounters between randomly paired wild-caught males in a neutral arena. The behaviour of both males was recorded and a winner was determined for most encounters. Aggressive patterns exhibited during the contests included 'throat depression', 'push-ups', three types of 'tail display', 'whole body waving' and 'bites'. Contest winners did not differ from losers in any of the morphological variables examined. However, winners performed longer or more frequent aggressive behaviours than losers, and frequency of 'throat depression' and duration of 'whole body waving' significantly predicted final status of geckos. These results show that some behaviours are good predictors of the outcome of aggressive encounters in G. albogularis. Moreover, winner SVL significantly predicted the aggressive intensity of the contest. Early theoretical models hypothesized that there should be mutual assessment between contestants, but our results for G. albogularis agree more with a recent model of 'self-assessment only' of intrasexual competition.


The hybridizations between Ancherythroculter nigrocauda(♂)and Culter alburnus(♀)were carried out in July,2010,and the embryonic and postembryonic development of the hybrid were observed and described.The results showed that:the fertilized eggs had a light yellow surface,a sphere-like form and a diameter of 0.86-0.95 mm.The progress of embryonic development is composed of 7 stages:one cell stage,cleavage stage,blastula stage,neumla stage,gastrula stage,apparatus-forming stage and Hatching-out stage,and each of them can be divided further into 29 periods.At water temperature of 24-25 ℃,the first cleavage occurred at 40 min after fertilization(af);most of larvae hatched out at 26 h af,when the total length of the new-hatched larvae ranged from 4.50 to 5.05 mm and the accumulative temperature reached 647.7 ℃·h.Postembryonic development of hybrid is consisted of larvae phase and juvenile phase.The larvae developed into juveniles at 288 h after hatching with ventral fin differentiated.Juvenile phase sustained 240 h during which scales emerged and covered the fish surface.The new-hatched larvae can not swim until a one-chambered gas bladder appeared at 104 h after hatching,meanwhile larvae began to feed exogenously.


Acalabrutinib targets activated BTK in macrophages and was associated with reduced inflammation and clinical improvement in COVID-19. Taming cytokine storm Hyperactivation of immune cells leading to "cytokine storm" contributes to acute lung injury in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Host signaling proteins and effector molecules contributing to cytokine storm are potential targets for pharmacotherapy of COVID-19. Roschewski et al. conducted an observational study evaluating off-label use of acalabrutinib, an inhibitor of the Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) enzyme, in 19 hospitalized COVID-19 patients requiring oxygen supplementation. Biomarkers of inflammation reverted toward normal in most treated patients. Correlative studies of blood monocytes from patients with severe COVID-19 showed increases in BTK activation and production of interleukin-6, a key driver of cytokine storm, compared with healthy control monocytes. These findings helped inform the design of a randomized controlled clinical trial to further test the therapeutic potential of acalabrutinib in COVID-19. Patients with severe COVID-19 have a hyperinflammatory immune response suggestive of macrophage activation. Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) regulates macrophage signaling and activation. Acalabrutinib, a selective BTK inhibitor, was administered off label to 19 patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 (11 on supplemental oxygen and 8 on mechanical ventilation), 18 of whom had increasing oxygen requirements at baseline. Over a 10- to 14-day treatment course, initiation of acalabrutinib treatment was associated with improved oxygenation in a majority of patients, often within 1 to 3 days, and had no discernable toxicity. Measures of inflammation—C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 (IL-6)—normalized quickly in most patients, as did lymphopenia, in correlation with improved oxygenation. At the end of acalabrutinib treatment, 8 of 11 (72.7%) patients in the supplemental oxygen cohort had been discharged on room air, and 4 of 8 (50%) patients in the mechanical ventilation cohort had been successfully extubated, with 2 of 8 (25%) discharged on room air. Ex vivo analysis revealed significantly elevated BTK activity, as evidenced by autophosphorylation, and increased IL-6 production in blood monocytes from patients with severe COVID-19 compared with blood monocytes from healthy volunteers. These results suggest that targeting excessive host inflammation with a BTK inhibitor is a therapeutic strategy in severe COVID-19 and has led to a confirmatory international prospective randomized controlled clinical trial.


For the Africa in the World (AiW) project, we have developed four long-term, global futures depending on the degree to which the international community prioritises sustainability and the extent of political fracturing. We then forecast and discuss global shifts in power and influence using different indices within the International Futures (IFs) forecasting platform, hosted and developed at the Fredrick S Pardee Center for International Futures at the University of Denver.


The transformer-based encoder-decoder framework has shown remarkable performance in image captioning. However, most transformer-based captioning methods ever overlook two kinds of elusive confounders: the visual confounder and the linguistic confounder, which generally lead to harmful bias, induce the spurious correlations during training, and degrade the model generalization. In this paper, we first use Structural Causal Models (SCMs) to show how two confounders damage the image captioning. Then we apply the backdoor adjustment to propose a novel causal inference based image captioning (CIIC) framework, which consists of an interventional object detector (IOD) and an interventional transformer decoder (ITD) to jointly confront both confounders. In the encoding stage, the IOD is able to disentangle the region-based visual features by deconfounding the visual confounder. In the decoding stage, the ITD introduces causal intervention into the transformer decoder and deconfounds the visual and linguistic confounders simultaneously. Two modules collaborate with each other to alleviate the spurious correlations caused by the unobserved confounders. When tested on MSCOCO, our proposal significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art encoder-decoder models on Karpathy split and online test split. Code is published in https://github.com/CUMTGG/CIIC.


When seeking to answer the question as to how the articles in this special issue contribute to understanding educational leadership, there is much to say, not least from their international scope (including studies in English, Maltese and Trinidadian contexts) and range of participants (from pupils, teachers, curriculum leaders, school principals, policy makers and academics working to support school leadership). Together, the articles provide a glance into a range of innovative and fascinating methods of collecting data for a range of educational leadership focused research projects. What is notable is the range of ways complexity is handled and the manner in which theory and method has been applied across the articles. As such, this special issue reengages the reader with an interesting, yet challenging, conversation as to the way in which educational leadership research could be conducted. The articles move us away from the perhaps more traditional approaches to educational leadership research to slightly riskier alternatives. With this comes a need to pay attention to the ethical considerations, which we also reflect on in this editorial. Moriah's article is perhaps the most traditional in its use of a mixed method approach with a sample of 16 school principals, but makes its methodological contribution by powerfully applying an interpretive phenomenological analytical approach to examining principal perspectives. The thrust of the article gives voice to school principals' views of what is crucial for inclusive practice to take place in their individual schools. The framework evolves around interconnecting questions about what a leader felt they were good at, what they loved doing, what needs they felt they could serve and what they considered they should be doing. Using such philosophical questions is a good way to introducing the following five special issue articles. Outhwaite's article provides the reader with the opportunity to see the development of the methodological approach that took place when examining the process for the expansion of the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme in England. This article shows the author's sheer resilience and determination to continue with the research to ensure that the voices of curriculum leaders were heard. This article allows insights the reader into what it is like to be a researcher when things do not work out as intended. This is an exciting article, which makes you think and reflect on your own research journey. Reid and Koglbauer's and Hidson's articles are arguably the most creative and innovative approaches methodologically in this special issue. Both articles alert the reader to possible approaches to collecting data to further understanding of (a) leadership curriculum and (b) leadership practice. Reid and Koglbauer's article untangles any myth surrounding curriculum development and offers a different lens of visual methodology into the way in which the curriculum can be used to develop head teachers. Hidson's presents the use of video observation as a powerful way to stimulate and then analyse responses to recorded practice, as a resource to support teaching and learning for future leaders. Poultney and Fordham's article offers a time-efficient self-reporting tool; well suited for use by school leaders with hectic and busy schedules to analyse their research leadership. The methodology is illustrated through a pilot by a primary principal and university academic who took the opportunity, through critical discussion of the data generated, to examine their evolving school – university partnership relationship. Introducing the reader to the conscious quotient inventory could inspire others to review how such a tool could gather initial data and then look at a wider range of research instruments to offer further data. At first glance the final article in this issue, by Pulis, might not appear to be of relevance to researching educational leadership until one appreciates its purpose. Valuing the voice of pupils as a contribution to educational leadership is often omitted. The article uses a mixed method approach, which offers not only methods for gathering the views of pupils about what constitutes quality in schools, but also methods for gaining insights about how school leaders and policymakers view giving voice to pupils in the role of assessors. This design could have been extended by developing pupils as researchers to take on the further work of integrating pupils' voices into educational leadership (Kim et al., in press; Thomson and Gunter, 2006). As noted earlier, ethicality is an important part of both research methodology and professional practice, yet is not always highlighted in research articles. The articles are discussed in the light of four key dimensions to ethical appraisal of a study (Stutchbury and Fox, 2009): consequential, ecological, relational and deontological. Starting with a consideration of a researcher's aspirations for their study to be of value, consequential ethical thinking looks to its anticipated consequences – positive and negative. All the articles in this special issue spell out their aspirations to make contributions to academia and, ultimately, to the profession (as educational research is surely meant to do):


Complexity of object movement and lack of object information due to occlusion have been the bottleneck which restricts the progress of object detection research. Whereas laser point cloud makes up the above deficiencies due to its 3D information. This paper analyzes the characteristics of laser data which is interpreted according to the data format and mathematical model of scanning equipment. Through extracting 3D object information and excavating object features of laser point cloud, various feature information of object is defined. Based on integrated learning method, train the object detector of laser point cloud and then achieve object detection in complex scenes. Experimental results show that object detection method based on 3D information extraction of laser point cloud improves the detection performance. Research results provide new research ideas and theoretical basis for the improvement of object detection performance.


A real‐coded clonal selection algorithm (RCSA), which is a global search method based on the artificial immune systems paradigm, is applied for optimizing microwave devices. We couple RCSA with varying high‐order finite elements (FEs) to control the balance between the global and local search efforts in the algorithm. In this scheme, low‐order FEs are used in the global search, whereas varying high‐order FEs are used in the local search. The proposed technique is investigated in the designs of an E‐plane miter bend and a rectangular waveguide impedance transformer. The results illustrate the accuracy and computational savings of this method. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 50: 1392–1397, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.23387


This article examines the two drug gangs in Ciudad Juaarez that were significantly connected to local and state politics between 1928 and 1936. It sheds light on the border drug trade and the gangs themselves, shows how the gangs influenced local and state politics, and it illustrates how politics played an important role in shaping the gangs. In doing so, it clarifies the drug and political histories of Ciudad Juaarez and the state of Chihuahua during the 1920s and 1930s.


Based on the theory of lexical memes,this paper depicts the internal and external semantic structure of the group system of suppletives,and reveals the co-existence of morphological isomorphism and non-morphological isomorphism in the internal structures of suppletives groups,which helps to standardize,teach and apply suppletives.


A67-year-oldmansufferedacerebrovascularstrokeleadingtohemiparesisanddysarthriain1987.Duringthepast2years, he had developed a tumoral lesion on the rightauricleandperiauricularulceration,forwhichnopreviousmedical therapy had been performed. He was seen onconsultationin theemergencyroom complainingofa 7-dayhistoryofedema,erythema,andseverelefthemifacialpain. On physical examination, he disclosed a grayishmembrane covering the ulcerated area, which, uponremoval,revealedapproximately100livelarvae(Fig.1).


We investigated the influence of neighborhood built form on sense of community in Perth, Western Australia. It was hypothesized that sense of community would be stronger in individuals living in pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods. Multivariate linear regression models explored associations between walking and sense of community, with progressive adjustment for objective and perceived neighborhood characteristics. Sense of community was positively associated with walking for transport and positive perceptions of neighborhood quality, and negatively associated with residential density. The findings highlight the influence of local area perceptions on sense of community that appeared to be more important than objective environment characteristics. However, the latter may influence perceptions, and this requires investigation.


In the world of service-oriented software engineering(SOSE),service resources can be aggregated from the semantic interoperability level in the aspect of users′ common needs of the same domain,and this can form the aggregation of core service assets to meet the user′s needs.This paper proposes a partly semantic interoperability clustering method which relates to domain-oriented core service-software customization.From two aspects of semantic interoperability ability of sufficient and necessary,this method makes use of the semantic reasoning relationship between ontology concepts to do the matching calculation on the basis of the implementation of service package.In contrast to the meaning interoperability clustering approach,this method can enhance the recall ratio of service finding to satisfy the user′s personal and diverse needs through experiments.


Determination on aluminum in food by ion selective electrode was established.Fluoride ion selective electrode is an indicator electrode and saturated Calmel electrode is a reference electrode,the potential versus the logarithm of the aluminum concentration is in a good linear relationship.The liner range of aluminum ion concentration was 010μg/mL,liner correlation coefficient was 0.9926,and recovery rate of aluminum is 101.19%97.62%.This method is a simple,rapid,reproductive and high sensitive.The method can be used for determining the aluminum content in food with satisfactory results.


Bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax is a rare clinical event, comprising approximately 1% of all cases of spontaneous pneumothorax (1,2). Early diagnosis and immediate chest drainage are mandatory to avoid life-threatening respiratory failure (2). The multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach for bilateral tension pneumothorax may be helpful to provide more reasonable approaches, which from experts will improve patient prognosis (3).


A highly sensitive, fairly selective, direct spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of ultratrace levels of manganese is described. The method is based on the selective oxidation of the very weakly fluorescent 2-(α-pyridyl)thioquinaldinamide by manganese(VII) to give an intensely fluorescent oxidation product (λex.= 360 nm; λem.= 500 nm). Constant and maximum fluorescence intensities were observed over a wide range of acidity, viz., 0.03–0.83 M H3PO4, for periods of between 5 min and 72 h. A linear fluorescence-concentration dependence was observed between 10–5 and 0.7 p.p.m. of manganese. More than 60 cations and anions, present in a large excess, did not interfere. The method was applied successfully to a number of standard samples (alloys, steels, sludges and sediments), environmental waters (inland and surface) and complex synthetic mixtures. The method is very simple and requires no solvent extraction or pre-concentration steps.


Git is one of the most popular version control systems used by software developers to work collaboratively. Using Git in an educational context allows students to gain skills for real-life projects but they also face challenges when interacting with Git. In this paper, we present a list of errors and poor practices obtained through a focus group study with teaching staff. This list can be used to improve the learning experience and to help teach Git in a more efficient way. The list includes many more items, and has a wider coverage of the elements of collaborative software development, than other studies in this field.


Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a rare neoplasia, the approach to which was largely palliative until recently. A 27-year-old nulliparous patient with a presumed dermoid cyst and pelvic pain related to pregnancy was incidentally found to have disseminated PMP during cesarean section at term for a breech presentation. The patient underwent surgical cytoreduction, operative heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy and early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy, a novel approach known as "the Sugarbaker technique". A literature review of this rare clinical scenario and a discussion of diagnosis and management are presented. J Clin Gynecol Obstet. 2016;5(1):32-36 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jcgo332w


Recorded maximum bottom-hole temperatures may vary significantly from true formation temperatures because of the effects of drilling fluid circulation. A theoretical temperature correction techniqu...


The main source of germanium sequestration in Ukraine is coal. According to modern requirements, the content of germanium in coal should be more than 10 g/t (air-dry weight), in coking - 3 g/t. Germanium can be obtained from mine water and coal rocks, as well. In Ukraine, germanium carbonate rocks are distributed in the sediments of the Lviv-Volyn and Donetsk basins. The distribution of germanium in the rocks of coal basins is different and rarely obeys laws. All coal layers tested are more or less germanium. Tectonic disturbances had no controlling effect on the accumulation and spread of germanium in the coal basin. The highest content of germanium is found in the central and western parts of the Donetsk coal basin district. The search and reconnaissance work on germanium has been widely disseminated since 1954. The work was carried out at various mineral deposits in order to identify raw materials for the related extraction of germanium. The degree of study and industrial development of these areas are different. The content of germanium in the coal of different layers varies in a wide range. Germanium is used in many industries and demand for it is constantly increasing. The scope of the metal is quite wide; it is used for the manufacture of transistors and circuits, for engineering and electronics. Radar installations use thin germanium films that are pre-applied to the glass substrate. The subsequent withdrawal of germanium is one way to improve the economic performance of the coal industry. Concomitant extraction of germanium from coal, products of its processing and mine waters of Donbass is now quite realistic and can help to increase the profitability of coal enterprises.


Natalya Derbyshire - Analyst at the Center of Social and Economic School Development, Institute of Education, National Research University Higher School of Economics. E-mail: email@example.com Marina Pinskaya - Candidate of Sciences in Pedagogy, Leading Research Fellow at the Center of Social and Economic School Development, Institute of Education, National Research University Higher School of Economics. E-mail: email@example.com. Address: 20 Myasnitskaya str., 101000 Moscow, Russian Federation. The article evaluates the effectiveness of schools with regard to their contextual characteristics. We use the data from the 2012/2013 Monitoring of Education Markets and Organizations, namely the results of a survey among the principals of 979 schools. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to reveal the factors promoting differentiation of the average USE (Unified State Exam) score across the schools. The analysis results were used to develop an academic achievement contextualization model allowing the evaluation of school performance in the context of individual characteristics. We identified a group of schools that may be regarded as high-performing, i. e. showing ultimate performance under the existing conditions, and analyzed the management strategies of the school principals. These strategies turned out to be mostly based on attracting human resources: teachers, students and their parents. High-performing schools implement a consistent selection policy. They enroll children from families with a higher socioeconomic status, which gives them a head start in terms of academic attainment. Such schools also attract committed parents who will encourage their children towards higher achievements.


An observation about the height and weight of 374 college women and their parents was made. The weights are expressed as percent deviation from the standard weight. Results obtained are as follows.1. There was statistically significant correlation for weight between father and mother, although no significant correlation for height was found. This finding strongly suggests the importance of environmental factors in the occurrence of obesity.2. There were highly significant correlations for height between both parents and daughter, while a slightly significant correlation for weight was found only between mother and daughter.3. In the families engaged in selling foods, there were significant more obese daughters.4. On the basis of these findings, it is concluded that height is strongly influenced by genetic predisposition, while the adult weight is considerably in fluenced by acquired environmental factors.


Spontaneous crossing over was studied by means of combined cytological and genetic methods in F, Drosophila vir& X D. texana females (series I) and in D. uirilis females carrying a D. texana fifth chromosome in heterozygous condition (series 11). The main criterion utilized to distinguish the oogonial crossovers from the meiotic ones is the identity of cytological positions of genetic exchange in crossovers constituting a cluster. Five clusters of crossovers with identical positions of exchange were found in the first series of experiments. In the second series of experiments not a single cluster of crossovers resulting from oogonial crossing over was found. HE molecular mechanism of crossing over in eukaryotic organisms is still Tquite obscure. There is not even a generally accepted view concerning the exact stage of meiosis where crossing over occurs. In addition, from many experiments it becomes clear that the frequency od crossing over is under complex genetic control and may be influenced by various external factors. In Drosophila several mutations have been discovered which may increase or decrease the crossing over frequency (LINDSLEY et ~ 2 . 1968; HINTON $970; CHINNICI 1971). The absence of crossing over in Drosopkila melanogaster males is a familiar fact of genetics. The suppression of crossing over in males is a characteristic feature of all studied groups of Drosophila though several exceptions exist (PHILIP 1944; KALE 1969; HIRAIZUMI 1971). It is well known that crossing over in Drosophila males is absent both in meiosis and premeiotic stages. Having all these facts in mind it becomes interesting to investigate whether there is oogonial crossing over in Drosophila females or is in this case the appearance of rkcozhbinants due to only meiotic exchange. If crossing over in females takes place in oogonia and oocytes as well, it may be concluded that germ line cells of Drosophila males lack a nonspecific factor necessary for genetic exchange. As far as is known there is no direct evidence for the occurrence of spontaneous oogonial crossing over in Drosophila in genetic literature. It is necessary to mention, however, that WHITTINGHILL and DAVIS ( 1961 ) reported induced oogonial crossing over in Drosophila melanogaster. In the present work spontaneous oogonial crossing over in interspecific hybrids was studied by combined genetic and cytological methods. Genetics 83 : 355-360 June, 1976.


Objective To explore the clinical effects of long-term home noninvasive ventilation on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)patients at stable age.Methods 90 cases of COPD patients with acute exacerbations in our hospital were selected and divided into two groups,45 cases in the control group received general treatment at stable stage after discharge,45 cases in the test groupreceived long-term home noninvasive ventilation on the basis of control group treatment.The patients were followed up for 1 year and regular telephone interviews were done,the two groups were observed and compared at discharge and 1 year referral,including the aspects of respiratory function,blood gas analysis and quality of sleep.Results The FEV1 and FVC of the patients of the two groups at discharged time and 1 year later had no significant differences,the difference between the two groups was not significant either(P0.05).The PaCO2 of the test group and control group 1 year after discharge from hospital were(55.23±3.65)mm Hg and(58.32±3.98)mm Hg,the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant(P0.05).The PO2 and pH of the two groups before and after treatment and between-group difference were not statistically significant(P0.05).The sleep quality(PSQI)score of the test group and control group 1 year after discharge was(7.20±2.08)points and(9.78±3.01)points respectively,the difference was statistically significant(P0.05).Conclusion Long-term home noninvasive positive pressure ventilation based on home oxygen therapy does not have obvious effect on the lung function improvement of COPD patients at stable stage,but can significantly improve hypercapnia and sleep quality,which is of great significance for reducing acute onset number and improve patients' quality of life.


The present study focuses on the components of Chinese corporate apologies by adopting both quantitative and qualitative methods. The investigation is based on 25 corporate apology statements posted on Weibo, one of the most popular social media platforms in China. The results indicate that two apology components, namely explicit apology and offer of repair, are more salient than others, and more than half of the apology statements contain the components of explanation and taking on responsibility, while the use of another two components which include promise for forbearance and expression of sorrow depends on the severity of the offensive act. In addition, apologies made by Chinese companies via Weibo are realized through various linguistic means, such as IFIDs, intensifiers, commissives, appraisal resources, presupposition and metadiscourse (attitude markers, boosters and code glosses). Hopefully, this study might provide insight into future research on corporate apologies and how to restore corporate images in crisis communication.


Investigating characteristics of users and their pattern to access networks are parts of important points in traffic engineering. In this paper, those problems, specifically in wireless LAN, were observed and some related theories were explored. The observation was done in UMY, a campus located in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In this term, we examined the traffic in an Wireless Action Point. Resuming the content of this paper, we found that the traffic had unique characteristics. For instance, during the day of measurement, the peaks of traffic were in the morning and in the afternoon. Average connected clients in all action points in UMY was between 2500 and 3000 users. When we selected an AP, the characteristic of the AP was examined, the number data size are 62.99 MB and 129.22 MB for mean and standard deviation respectively. We found that hourly trend of the usage of APs resembled self-similar model.


The title of this book is very promising. And what it promises a history of sexual moralities in France over the last two hundred years would indeed be most welcome. The death of Michel Foucault cut short his project to write L'Histoire de la sexualit6, leaving us, our appetites whetted, with (so far) no more than two volumes on the ancient world and a tantalizing preface which begins the work of problematizing the myth of 'Victorianism'.' Not only is there obviously far more ground yet to be covered, but also his writing is generating a multiplicity of responses concerning the areas he did discuss since it constantly challenges some of our cherished preconceptions concerning sexuality and concerning the nature of oppression.2 Ethical codes and legislation which relate to sexuality (and the moral and the legal are often far from in tandem) are an extremely important and interesting area of research. Yet some of the features which make such research important also make it 'taboo', that is to say dangerously fascinating. Those who embark on research


Received: Revised: Accepted: 2014–06–08 2014–06–24 2014–06–25 Metagenomics is the biotechnological tool which helps to know the genetic makeup of the wide variety of uncultivable microorganisms. This helps us to understand the diversity of the ecosystem. This genomic analysis tool provides information about the unknown biocatalysts and biomolecules produced by the microorganisms which may be helpful in various biotechnological approaches. This review also highlights various screening methods in metagenomics to unravel the genetic makeup of the uncultivable microorganisms. This will later help in the engineering of these newly reported biocatalysts and biomolecules for specific processes. The expansion of metagenomic techniques with the development of various sophisticated methods will offer the way to find out even more valuable information about the microbial world. All copyrights reserved to Nexus® academic publishers


Background: Diabetes is characterized by chronic hyperglycemia and disturbances of carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism. We aimed to research association between serum lipid profile and blood glucose, hypothesizing that early detection and treatment of lipid abnormalities can minimize the risk for atherogenic cardiovascular disorder and cerebrovascular accident in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the lipid profile levels in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics in the Department of General Medicine in Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Bihar, India from March 2019 to February 2020. A total of 200 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics were enrolled in our study.
Results: In our study, 96 (48.0%) participants had normal serum triglycerides levels which is <150 mg/dl whereas 104 (52.0%) participants had an abnormal level of serum triglycerides. Among the 104 (52.0%) participants with abnormal triglycerides, 30.5% had borderline high levels (150-199mg/dl), 19.5% had high levels (200-499 mg/dl) and 2% participants had very high triglycerides (≥500 mg/dl. In our study, among the 200 participants, 142 (71%) participants   had   desirable total   Cholesterol levels of <200mg/dl, 51 (25.5%) had borderline high levels of 200- 239mg/dl and 7 (3.5%) had high total cholesterol levels of ≥240mg/dl and 31% of participants had near optimal levels of LDL, 35.5% had borderline high levels of LDL, 12% had high levels of LDL and 1% had very high levels of LDL.
Conclusions: Deranged lipid profiles are quite prevalent in type 2 diabetics with females having higher triglyceride levels. Recognition of such elevated triglyceride levels in even newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics will help in better prevention of associated cardiovascular disease.
Keywords: Cardiovascular disease, Hypertriglyceridemia, Type 2 diabetes, Lipid profile


In ultrasonic testing of welding flaws,the qualitative analysis for flaws is a key content,hot and difficult point of ultrasonic NDT and NDE.Aimed at the characteristics of ultrasonic echo-signals of weld flaws,wavelet packet transform was applied to extracting flaw features,and flaws were recognised by using probabilistic neural network (PNN).Then,its recognition result was compared with that of BP and RBF neural network.The experimental results for actual welding flaws show that the recognition accuracy of PNN is high,its training and testing speed is fast,moreover,the reliability is also high.


The exploration of brain tumours usually requires non- invasive techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or Mag- netic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS). While radiologists are used to inter- preting MRI, many of them are not used to the biochemical information provided by MRS. In this situation, radiologists may benefit from the use of computer-based support for their decisions. As part of the development of a medical Decision Support System (DSS), MRS data corresponding to various tumour pathologies are used to assist expert diagnosis. The high dimensionality of the data might obscure peculiarities and anomalies that would jeopardize automated DSS diagnostic assistance. We illustrate how visualization, combined with expert opinion, can be used to explore data in a process that should improve computer-based tumour classification.


There is an old ginkoo thee called 'Apgaksu'(鴨脚樹) in Jungang Park in Cheongju city in Chungbuk Province. This tree is closely related to...


entertaining and yet utterly authentic account of what transpires at most international symposia in the novel by REVIEW Pricing and Investment in Public Enterprises, edited by V V Rama- nadham, Oxford and I B H, Delhi, 1974; pp xi + 342; Rs 35.


The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine: Research on Paradigm, Practice and Policy, edited by Marc S. Micozzi, quarterly, $89 (individual), $120 (institutional), New York, Mary Ann Liebert, January 1995-. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine is edited by Larry Dossey, MD. Coeditors include Jeanne Achterberg, PhD, from the Saybrook Institute, David Riley, MD, of the University of New Mexico, David Reilly, MB, ChB, from the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital, and Cathie Guzzetta, RN, PhD, of Parkland Memorial Hospital. The editorial board of this peer-reviewed journal consists primarily of US-based practitioners, with a large advisory board and an international advisory board. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine is published bimonthly with its first issue released in March 1995. The purpose and scope are presented in an essay by the executive editor in the first issue. As he states, alternative medicine has always existed and should be carefully examined in an unbiased


Cotton cellulose samples graft-copolymerized with vinyl phosphonate oligomers (FYR) and/or N-methylolacrylamide (NMA) were subjected to pyrolysis gas chromatography and pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with a Curie point pyrolyzer at 590°C for 4 seconds for pyrolysis and with a packed column of Porapak Q for chromatographic separation. Thirty eight volatile pyrolysis products were identified which included previously unreported butadiene and ethylene glycol as pyrolysis products of cellulose. Characteristic pyrolysis products from all the phosphorus-containing samples include 3-penten-1-yne and those from all the nitrogen-containing samples were hydrogen cyanide, acetonitrile, and acrylonitrile. Other products formed from the cellulose samples treated only with NMA included acrylamide, propionamide, and 3-methylsuccinimide. The succinimide was found only from the samples with nitrogen contents higher than 1.0wt/wt%.


Arterial pressure, cardiac output, stroke volume, heart rate, and peripheral resistance have been recorded daily in eight trained, healthy dogs with implanted aortic flow probes and aortic catheters. After suitable control periods angiotensin II was infused for periods of from 2 to 29 days. The effects observed were considered under four categories: 1) The immediate effects consisted of rise of arterial pressure, decrease of cardiac output and heart rate, rise of peripheral resistance and increased pulse pressure. Within five days all values tended to return to control levels unless the infusion rate of angiotensin was increased. 2) A chronic phase followed and, during this period, cardiac output was normal while arterial pressure and peripheral resistance were elevated. 3) After infusions were stopped pressure and peripheral resistance rapidly declined to be low normal, while cardiac output and heart rate rose to above normal. 4) A transient "malignant" phase was elicited by very large increases in the rate of angiotensin infusion, during which cardiac output and stroke volume were diminished while arterial pressure and peripheral resistance were increased greatly. The hemodynamic changes resulting from prolonged angiotensin infusion were similar in some respects to those found by us during the onset of hypertension due to renal artery constriction in dogs. They differed, however, in that doses of angiotensin, which were great enough to induce arterial pressure elevations similar to those of chronic experimental renal hypertension, reduced stroke volume, and these higher pressures could not be maintained for more than a few days. Hypertension did not persist after discontinuing angiotensin even after 28 days of almost continuous infusion. There was a distinct tendency for the pressor response to diminish with passage of time; more angiotensin was required to maintain similar elevations of arterial pressure.


Silence in the workplace has important consequences in the decision-making pro-cess because it can interfere with the solution of problems that can affect levels of efficiency and productivity in companies. This article aims to analyze the perspec-tives of different authors who have address ed the issueo for ganizational silence to elucidate the different variables and indicators that will allow studies on the factors that determine thesame.


The color properties of liquid-crystal displays are usually classified on the basis of color representations, contrast ratios, and brightness, which primarily depend on the properties of pigments. Among these classifications, the contrast ratio can be improved by minimizing the light scattering of the pigment particles, which is directly related to the degree of dispersion. Therefore, synergists are usually applied to increase the contrast ratio by augmenting the efficiency of the dispersion. In this study, synergists containing anthraquinone as a backbone were synthesized and then their performance in improving the contrast ratio was examined.


41 42 Data from hyperspectral infrared sounders are routinely ingested worldwide by National Weather Centers 43 (NWCs). The cloud-free fraction of this data is used for initializing forecasts which include profiles of 44 temperature, water vapor, water cloud and ice cloud profiles on a global grid. Although the data from 45 these sounders are sensitive to the vertical distribution of ice and liquid water in clouds, this information 46 is not fully utilized. In the future, this information could be used for validating clouds in NWC models 47 and for initializing forecasts. We evaluate how well the calculated radiances from hyperspectral Radiative 48 Transfer Models (RTMs) compare to cloudy radiances observed by AIRS and to one another. Vertical 49 profiles of the clouds, temperature and water vapor from ECMWF (European Center for Medium-range 50 Weather Forecasting) were used as input for the RTMs. For non-frozen ocean day and night data, the 51 histograms derived from the calculations by several RTMs at 900 cm have a better than 0.95 correlation 52 with the histogram derived from the AIRS observations, with a bias relative to AIRS of typically less than 53 2 K. Differences in the cloud physics and cloud overlap assumptions result in little bias between the 54 RTMs, but the standard deviation of the differences ranges from 6 to 12 K. Results at 2616 cm at night 55 are reasonably consistent with results at 900 cm. Except for RTMs which use full scattering calculations, 56 the bias and histogram correlations at 2616 cm are inferior to those at 900 cm for daytime calculations. 57 58 59 60 Confidential manuscript submitted to JGR Atmospheres 61


Biology Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John's, Newfoundland AlB 3X9, Canada Abstract. In the summers of 1982, 1983, and 1985, almost 5000 commercial lobsters were transplanted from an area on the northeast coast of Newfoundland to St. Michael's Bay in southern Labrador, about 200km beyond their reported northern limit of distribution, in an attempt to establish a self-sustaining population. Biological sampling of these lobsters was carried out each summer from 1986 to 1991. A continuous shift to larger sizes and a generally high incidence of new-shell animals indicated molting was a common occurrence in these lobsters. All nonovigerous females had ovaries developing for extrusion that summer, and their seminal receptacles were full. In contrast, percentages of ovigerous females were low and most of these had extruded recently. Many ripe females apparently failed to extrude, and many that did extrude lost the entire clutch before the following summer. Exposure to temperatures near or below ooe from mid-November to mid-May, and to near-continuous darkness below a layer of ice during most of this period, may cause a high incidence of resorption of ripe ovaries. The incidence of ovigerous females with recently-extruded eggs increased substantially in the later years of the study, indicating a degree of physiological adjustment to the adverse environmental conditions. However, loss of the entire clutch of eggs continued to be prevalent. Prolonged low temperature certainly retarded embryonic development for the females that extruded and retained their eggs. Six of 17 ovigerous females with old, eyed eggs had less than half the yolk remaining. Only one brood would have hatched by early August, long enough in advance of autumn cooling for development to Stage IV and settlement in the area to be possible. Lobsters transplanted to St. Michael's Bay will not likely become a self-sustaining population. Any recruitment that might occur would certainly be too little and too irregular to support a fishery.


Remote and sparsely settled Tibet is a most unlikely region for demographic analysis. In view of the complete absence of current population statistics from China, however, the recent publication of a few figures for Tibet make it unique among Chinese provinces. Nonetheless, the figures themselves are only of secondary importance. Their primary significance is in the indirect commentary on the general handling of population statistics by the Chinese Communists.


The study on food habits of Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus) was conducted in Huai Tab Saloa and Huai Song Tang water basin in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary,Thailand.A total of 50 peafowl droppings were analyzed to determine their dietary composition. Green Peafowl consumed a variety of animal and plants. The peafowl dropping was largely consisted of plant materials; 96.42%, while animal material amounted to 3.17%. Among five categories of plants, most common diet was grass seeds which constituted as much as 30.54% followed by dicotyledon plant and fruits respectively. Animals made up a second largest in Green Peafowl consumption. Isoptera were the largest matters ingested followed by Hymenoptera and Arachnida respectively. There was no evidence of consumption on vertebrate in this studied.Green Peafowl also swallow some gravel in order to improve their digestion system. This studied found that 31.54% of peafowl dropping consisted of many gravel, suggested that Green Peafowl also ingested non-food item e.g. gravel or sand between foraging.


Current failures in the healthcare industry emphasize the need for a more fundamental understanding of how these contracts incentivize doctors. To aid this understanding, we treat the established physician-client-employer relationship as a multiple principal agent problem. We use a laboratory experiment, with a real-effort task, to test the relative performance of common payment mechanisms employed in this dual-principal agent relationship (Piece Rate, Flat Rate, Salary, Bonus, and Socialization). This study suggests, contrary to standard contract theory, that relying on extrinsic incentives to motivate physicians may be detrimental and costly for the healthcare industry.


The invention relates to a high frequency generator (12) for connection to a probe (10) for insertion into the body media. The to be connected probe (10) has an elongated shaft (16) having a proximal and a distal end (16.2, 16.1) and extending one along the shaft (16) electrical conductors (42, 44) having an inductive and a capacitive line covering, the a respective local characteristic impedance of the electrical conductor (42, 44) determined. The high frequency generator (12) has a connection for a respective one of the high frequency generator (12) to be connected probe (10), which is formed together with a terminal of a respective probe (10) to an electrical signal in the electrical conductor of the probe (10 feed), and reflected signal components of the electrical signal from the electrical conductor (42 to decouple 44). In addition, the high-frequency generator (12) comprises a measuring signal generator (24) and an evaluation unit (28), of which the measurement signal generator (24) is formed, one of a to the high frequency generator in operation connected (12) probe (10) to generate be supplied to electrical measurement signal and the evaluation unit (28) is formed by the connected to the high frequency generator in operation (12) probe (10) reflected evaluate signal components of the electrical measurement signal and to deliver a distance signal indicative of the location on the shaft of the high-frequency generator in operation (12) connected probe (10) identified at which the permittivity close along the shaft as a result of a transition between the surrounding media the shaft changes.


A novel copper electroplating and CMP process was developed to effectively modulate the within-wafer and within-die nanoscale topography. The feasibility of this new metallization is demonstrated on a 64nm pitch product with an equivalent defect level, lower and tighter distribution in resistance and trench height. It's believed to be extendable to other advanced nodes for a sizable reduction in copper overburden which saves CMP polish cycle time from the plan-of-record time.


A new species, Sphaeropthalma nocticaro, is described from Oaxaca, Mexico and Peten, Guatemala. This species is placed into the S. pensylvanica species-group, with which it shares many morphological characters. This species-group is found predominately in the Southeastern USA ranging into eastern Texas, and addition of this new species greatly extends the geographic range of this group.


The world at large is rightly fearful of Taliban-like fanatics getting hold of Pakistan's nuclear assets. The same analysts, however, have not paid heed to the possibility of a nuclear nightmare…


A one-dimensional elastic visco-plastic equivalent time model was used to describe both the primary consolidation and the secondary consolidation. The formula of consolidation degree recommended by the ground improvement specification was utilized. The relationships between the duration of stage constructed surcharge preloading and the consolidation degree and the surcharge preloading were established. Then the unloading time for a specific surcharge loading can be determined. The theoretical results show that the surcharge preloading duration not only relates to the consolidation degree,the surcharge pressure ratio and the constructed plan,but also relates to the original effective stress and the visco-plastic index. Examples show that the shortest duration of stage constructed surcharge preloading exists for a specific constructed plan because the surcharge loading is restricted by the increase of soft clay's strength. Since the soft clay has obvious creep,the preloading duration determined by the pure primary consolidation is too short to satisfy the post-construction settlement and the consolidation degree determined by the effective stress area ratio is sometimes bigger than 1.0,which is obvious wrong. A suitable surcharge preloading duration must be determined by both the primary consolidation deformation and the secondary consolidation deformation.


Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation, one of which regulates labor rights. Labor rights are the company's obligation to workers which must be protected by the State through law, therefore the state must be present to ensure that its citizens get their rights in working in order to meet the basic needs of citizens' lives so that the welfare of the Indonesian people can be achieved. This is in accordance with the 1945 Constitution, namely the state creates welfare and progress of the nation. The method in this study uses normative law, namely doctrinaire legal research methods or library research by analyzing the law as a primary source of law and literary literacy.  Theproblem caused by the enactment of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation is the reduction of labor rights, such as there are several articles that are deleted and added that are considered impartial to workers, for example in article 79 of the Job Creation Law, it is stated that overtime is carried out 4 hours in 1 day and 18 hours a week. The extended overtime time from the provisions of the Manpower Law 32/2003 states that overtime work time can only be done at most 3 (three) hours in 1 (one) day and 14 (fourteen) hours in 1 (one) week. In addition, the calculation of wages changes according to the company's ability and worker productivity, so it has the potential to be unsuitable for wages received by workers, to the threat of female workers because they do not get a salary when on menstrual and maternity leave.


A numerical study is conducted to compare the current most popular flow field configurations, porous, biporous, porous with baffles, Toyota 3D fine-mesh, and traditional rectangular flow field. Operation at high current densities is considered to elucidate the effect of the flow field designs on the overall heat transfer and liquid water removal. A comprehensive 3D, multiphase, nonisothermal computational fluid dynamics model is developed based on up-to-date heat and mass transfer sub-models, incorporating the complete formulation of the Forchheimer inertial effect and the permeability ratio of the biporous layers. The porous and baffled flow field improves the cell performance by minimizing mass transport losses, enhancing the water removal from the diffusion layers. The baffled flow field is chosen for optimization owing to the simple design and low manufacturing cost. A total of 49 configurations were mutually compared in the design of experiments to show the quantitative effect of each parameter on the performance of the baffled flow field. The results elucidate the significant influence of small geometry modifications on the overall heat and mass transfer. The results of different cases have shown that water saturation can be decreased by up to 33.59% and maximal temperature by 7.91 °C when compared to the reference case which is already characterized by very high performance. The most influencing geometry parameters of the baffles on the cell performance are revealed. The best case of the 49 studied cases is further optimized by introducing a linear scaling factor. Additional geometry modifications demonstrate that the gain in performance can be increased, but at a cost of higher pressure drop and increased design complexity. The conclusions of this work aids in the development of compact and high-performance proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks.


In the realisation of a colour design, or of a colour plan, every designer should have the availability of a set of basic tools to prevent him or her from performing prejudicial operations in the territory, in the landscape, in the city, in the neighbourhood, and in the individual building. The same designer should then know some rules in the colour choice that will enhance the built environment. The approach to colour selection depends on many factors, for example the building size and function, the combination of spaces, the urban form, the dimensions of streets, alleys, plazas, squares and so on, but especially the specificity of the place. By this we mean the history, traditions, culture, geographical location, the qualities and weaknesses, the range of possible design/conservation options and all those characteristics that distinguish one place from another. So it should be clear to the designer who faces a chromatic project, that he or she primarily needs a dedicated strategy, different from case to case, specific to each place. The diversity of the places establishes the richness of traditions and customs that should be preserved and/or possibly updated.


The Doctrine of the Magnet and Magnetical Motions is yet so obscure, that what hitherto hath been discoursed and written upon that Subject, proves very unsatisfactory to Men, that confider the various phænomena and effects of that Body.


For analyze of the bearing capacity, skin friction and settlements of pile on axial compressive loading, both Load transfer tests of pile and pile loading test in field have application to commonly before pile installing. A bearing capacity of pile was affected by the characteristics of surrounding ground of pile. Especially, that is very different because of evaluation of settlement due to each soil conditions of ground depths. The ground characteristics using evaluation of bearing capacity of pile through load transfer analysis depends on N values of SPT, and then a bearing capacity of pile installed soft ground and refilled area may be difficult to rational evaluation. An evaluation of bearing capacity on pile applied axial compressive loading was effected by strength of ground installed pile, unconfined compressive strength at pile tip, pile diameter, rough of excavated surface, confining pressure and deformation modules of rock etc and these are commonly including the unreliability due to slime occurred excavation works. Load transfer characteristics considered ground conditions take charge of load transfer of large diameter pile was investigated through case study applied load transfer tests. To these, matrix analytical technique of load transfer using finite differential equation developed and compared with the results of pile load test.


The paper aims at analyzing the vine plants in Shandong Province based on collecting and investigating in the wild field,the results indicates that there are 109 species,52 genera and 24 families,of which dicotyledon accounts for 102 species,49 genera and 22 families,and monocotyledon 7 species,3 genera and 2 families.The result of the geographical component analysis of vine plants in Shandong Province indicates the vine flora in Shandong Province is rich in species,complexity in geographical components;Equivalence in tropical elements and temperate elements;to whole seed-plant flora,the vine plants have more relative in tropical component.


Here is a song in a picture book, Heigh ho! says Rowley, tSo open it up and have a good look. With a rowley, powley, gammon and spinach, Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley. When a young frog decides to go and court Mistress Mousey, the fun is only just beginning! William Stobbs once again lends his unique style of illustration and dazzling array of colors to bring new dimensions to a classic children's rhyme. There is lots to look at in the detailed yet uncluttered drawings and children will love to chant the repetitive refrain in each verse.


Objective - In the twenty-first century, financial competencies are an essential tool in understanding the connection between financial behaviour and knowledge of individual financial problems. High financial knowledge may encourage young adults to carry less debt, increase their wealth and have a better financial retirement plan. According to Wolla (2017), less than one-third of youths have basic financial knowledge. This will have an impact to their lifelong financial well-being. Hence, this research intends to explore the personal financial literacy of young adults in Malaysian accounting firms.
Methodology/Technique – The study examines 150 young working adults between the ages of 18-35 years old, working in accounting firms in Malacca, Malaysia. Stratified sampling and convenience sampling techniques were used to distribute questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analyses were also employed.
Findings - The empirical findings show that geographical locations and family characteristics are significantly related to the personal financial literacy of young adults in accounting firms in Malacca. However, financial education and financial experience do not influence young adults in their financial decision making.
Novelty – The results of this study suggest that the relevant authority should take an appropriate action to improve the financial well-being of young adults in Malacca, Malaysia.
Type of Paper: Empirical.
JEL Classification: M40, M41, M49

Keywords: Financial Literacy; Financial Education; Financial Experience; Family Characteristics; Geographical Location.


High volume acquisition rates are imperative for medical ultrasound imaging applications, such as 3D elastography and 3D vector flow imaging. Unfortunately, despite recent algorithmic improvements, high-volume-rate imaging remains computationally infeasible on known platforms.In this paper, we propose TETRIS, a novel hardware accelerator for ultrasound beamforming that enables volume acquisition rates up to the physics limits of acoustic propagation delay. Through algorithmic and hardware optimizations, we enable a streaming system design outclassing previously proposed accelerators in performance while lowering hardware complexity and storage requirements. For a representative imaging task, our proposed system generates physics-limited 13,020 volumes per second in a 2. 5W power budget.CCS CONCEPTS• Hardware → Emerging architectures; 3D integrated circuits.;


A research is underway aimed at quantifying movement structures in alpine sking by means of kinematic video, kinetic and electromyographic (EMG) data. Signal acquisition is followed by processing including basic signal similarity algorithms applied to quantify the level of locomotor skill displayed by a skier. The comparisons of skiing techniques as well as of types of skies are thus enabled. Time domain processing of EMG and force data confirms, in general, that carving skies impose less demand to the neuromuscular system. This may have implications both to sports training and to minimization of chronic trauma in an average skier.


Underwater digital communication and sonars rely on basic signal detection. The problem with underwater signal detection is that of the extremely expensive equipments. In this paper we propose both a low cost solution for signal detection, which practically consists in integrating and adapting the already existing equipments and methods for underwater noise analysis.


Although many articles have discussed proper control valve and damper selection for linear response, the attention has focused on selecting control components to reduce the inherent nonlinear behavior rather than using direct digital controls (DDC) for linearizing the behavior. This article addresses a method for achieving predictable linear response for supply duct pressure control, economizer damper control and steam heat exchanger leaving water temperature control using PID (proportional plus integral plus derivative) control loops. Using this technique normalizes PID loops, which prevents the need for tuning many common HVAC PID loops.


(57) ABSTRACT A method and system are provided. The method includes synchronously reconnecting a microgrid to a main grid after islanding of the microgrid. The synchronously reconnecting step includes calculating a phase angle difference between synchrophasor measurements collected from a common coupling on the main grid and synchrophasor measurements collected from a common coupling on the microgrid. The synchronously reconnecting step further includes calculat ing, by a controller, a frequency reference deviation based on the phase angle difference. The synchronously reconnect ing step also includes adjusting a frequency of the diesel generator based on the frequency reference deviation.


A class of immigration superprocess with dependent spatial motion is constructed by a passage to the limit from a sequence of superprocesses with positive jumps. A non-critical branching is then obtained by using a Girsanov transform of Dawson's type, which also gives a state-dependent spatial drift.


SUBTITLE: THE DIVERSE ISLAND NATIONS OF THE PACIFIC EACH HAVE TO SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS, BUT LIMITED PASSENGER NUMBERS HAVE LED MANY INTO FINANCIAL DIFFICULTY: GILLES TEFAATAU, AIRPORT DIRECTOR AT TAHITI-FAA'A INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, AND ACI-PACIFIC REGIONAL BOARD MEMBER BELIEVES THAT A 'UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL' PHILOSOPHY IS THE ROUTE TO FUTURE PROSPERITY.


The aim of this study was to compare elderly practitioners (GP) and non-practitioners (GNP) of physical activities in relation to probability of falls, imbalances and difficulties in performing activities of daily living. This is a cross-sectional study with 40 elderly of both genders. The participants were divided in two groups: the practitioners (PG, n = 20) and non-practitioners (NPG, n = 20) groups. The instruments for evaluation were: Tinetti Gate and Balance Assessment Scale (TGBA scale), Basic Activities of Daily Living Scale (BADL scale) and Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (LIADL). Age did not differ between PG and NPG (69.4 ± 7.5 yrsvs 71.9 ± 6.7 yrs, respectively). There was a significant difference between PG and NPG in the balance and gate scores, and total score as well (16 vs 14; 12 vs 11, 28vs 24.5, respectively). In relation to BADL scale, no difference was observed between groups because all samples, PG and NPG, presented maximal punctuation, which means independent performance of basic activities of daily living. Despite no significant difference in LIADL scores between PG and NPG (27 vs 27.5, respectively), we observed that 70% of elderly in the PG were independent to perform activities of daily living and only 50% in the NPG, which presented highest number of elderly needing help to perform activities. We concluded that PG showed better balance and gate as compared to NPG, with higher proportion of independent elderly performing instrumental and basic actiivites activities of daily living with less probability of falls.


The present invention further improve the face of technical issues to ensure the safety and quality of medical devices from the injection of drugs, which is economical manner and does not require additional space in medical devices. The technical problem is solved by an apparatus, the apparatus comprises a locking member (2600), which is configured to implement into the medical device, in particular a dispensing interface (200), which can be attached to the second medical device, in particular a body ( 14), wherein said locking member is configured to prevent the second medical apparatus attached to the second medical device, wherein said locking member having at least a first region (304) having a first cross-sectional area, wherein said locking member having at least a second region (300), a second region having a first cross-sectional area smaller than the second cross-sectional area, so that the resistance defined between the opposite ends of the locking member and wherein the locking member, at least in the second region, made of a conductive material.


In this paper, we present a quick and easy technique to present user profiles graphically. The technique is believed to be specially suitable for communicating user data in multidisciplinary design teams. It was invented in a explorative design project focusing on future telecommunications services in department store contexts.


Inadvertent consumption of latent microplastics is a lethal challenge for developing creatures in aquatic environments. There are compelling needs to classify which kinds of plastics are most likely to be encountered by sea creatures and to develop mitigation strategies to reduce exposure. We analyzed an ensemble of microplastic particle fragments isolated from sea turtle post-hatchlings to identify their composition and other features and attributes. These microplastic particles were likely consumed by post-hatchlings because of the adsorbed biofilm formation mimicking normal food sources. Of the hundreds of particles that were collected, 30 were selected for analysis using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and density assessment to identify them compared with other compositional libraries. These thermophysical measurements were also compared with observational assessments via optical microscopy. Of the particles tested, nearly all were polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene. The melting points of the extracted polymers were typically lower than for product grades of these resins, indicative of some level of degradation. Spectral analysis by FTIR often showed absorption indicative of new chemistries likely from both hydrolysis and biofilm growth observed on the surface that was subsequently investigated through surface abrading. Separate assessments of density of these particles were conducted and tended to reinforce identification via FTIR and DSC. The density results can be misleading if additives, fillers or biofilms that form alter the particle density relative to those of the neat resins. We suggest that since post-hatchlings commonly feed in the neritic or nearshore environment, less dense polymers are more likely to convey, thereby threatening sea turtle hatchlings who consume them inadvertently.