Blood cockle Anadara granosa is an important food source and one of the most commonly cultured species in the Mekong delta. But, cockle is a filter feeder, it can accumulate toxic metals from the water environment. This study aims conducted to evaluate the soaking effects of acetic acid in different concentrations at different times on the levels of Cd and Pb and proximate nutritional composition in the soft tissues. The levels of Pb in cockle tissue collected from Binh Dai district, Ben Tre province were over the permissible limits set by the European Commission (EC) and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MOH) (1.5 mg/kg). Concentrations of Cd in tissue were higher than the EC guideline of 1.0 mg/kg but lower than the MOH guideline of 2.0 mg/kg. The results showed that the removal efficiencies of two metals in cockle tissues with acetic acid were increased with increasing a range of acid concentration and soaking time. The highest removal efficiency of Cd and Pb was achieved with an acetic acid concentration of 5% and soaking in 15 minutes with minimum loss in the nutritive value of cockle tissue. After the soaking process, the levels of Cd and Pb in the tissue of the cockle were below the permissible limits recommended by the EC and the MOH.


THE FEATURES OF STRUCTURE OF NANOMETRIC GRAPHITE SURFACE LAYERS V.G. Kirichenko, E.S. Melnikova Kharkov National Karazin University, High Technology Institute 31 Kurchatov St., Kharkov, 61108, Ukraine The results of research of graphite surface by scanning tunneling electron microscopy and by computer simulation of cell structure of monoatomic surface layers are presented. Simulation was carried on the base of created sectioning technique of experimental values of surface electron density. Th structure features in graphite surface cells which connected with influence of second and third neighbors carbon atoms was found.


The invention relates to a transparent pane (1) with an electrically heatable coating, said coating having at least one collecting conductor (5) is electrically connected. According to the invention it is provided that the coating is divided into several independent, in particular electrically isolated regions (3) which are electrically interconnected by means of at least one bus bar (5). The invention further relates to a method for producing a transparent pane (1) with an electrically heatable coating in which, on an element of the disc (1), in particular on a first glass member, is applied, the coating and on that at least one further element is arranged.


Objective
To review the clinical features of a Chinese family with glutaric acidemia type Ⅰ and analyze the glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase(GCDH) gene mutation.

Methods
The patient's clinical data were collected from glutaric acidemia type Ⅰ family, including data of brain computer tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination, urine organic acid and blood carnitine tandem mass analysis.The family members' genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes.The 11 exons and their flanking sequences of GCDH gene were amplified with PCR and subjected to direct DNA sequencing.

Results
The proband's head circumference and visible exte-rior were normal.The Glasgow Coma Scale(GCS) score of the patient was 15.The four limbs activities and muscular tension were normal.The muscle strength was grade V. The Babinski sign, Brinell syndrome and Klinefelter syndrome were negative.CT findings revealed widened bilateral frontotemporal subdural interval, mild hydrocephalus, equidensite arc shadow at the right frontal parietal.MRI findings demonstrated bilateral frontotemporal atrophy, broadened cerebral sulci, fissures, sylvian fissure and subarachnoid space in the front temporal lobe.The T1, T2 and diffusion weighted image showed abnormal signals in the bilateral globus pallidus and the central white matter of the frontal lobe.The density of cerebral hemisphere white matte was attenuated.In the temporal parietal subdural, equal T1, moderate T2 and high intensity fluid-attenuated inversion recovery signals were detected.The inherited metabolic diseases screening showed high urinary glutaric acid excretion.The blood glutarylcarnitine was 0.34 μmol/L (0-0.20 μmol/L as normal reference) which was detected by tandem mass spectrometry.GCDH gene sequencing analysis confirmed that the proband was compound heterozygous mutations with c. 1205G>A and IVS10-2A>C.The pedigree analysis revealed that the proband's monozygotic twin little sister was also an glutaric acidemia type Ⅰ patient.The genotype of the little sister was completely consistent with proband.The clinical symptoms and disease severity were similar between the monozygotic twins.

Conclusions
The monozygotic twins who shared the same mutation and genetic background can have similar phenotypes and clinical symptoms.IVS10-2A>C is the prevalent GCHD gene mutation type in Chinese glutaric acidemia type I patients.

Key words:
Glutaric acidemia type Ⅰ; Glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase; Monozygotic twins; Inborn errors metabolism; Compound heterozygous


Spirituality's relevance to the field of social work has grown through its expansion in literature, research, and practice over the past two decades. While studies in spirituality of diverse human groups abound in social work literature and research, there is a dearth of reported investigations on spirituality in the Deaf community. In this article, results of a mixed method research study that explored the spiritual director's spiritual and technological experiences, coupled with an examination of the spiritual directees' experiences, are presented and discussed. Based on findings from thematic analyses of the study, language, and culture were two relational features of spirituality that was congruent with the literature review in Deaf studies. Implications for the social work profession with its holistic approach and emphasis on cultural competency with clients are discussed. While the spiritual and technological experiences of the spiritual director and spiritual directees provided insight that may impact professional practices in the helping professions in the field of deafness, it is suggested that research in social work continue to study spirituality in the Deaf community in order to better understand their spiritual needs and develop culturally appropriate and spiritually sensitive practices.


from the Table of Contents: Introduction; Accession of Austria to the EU; Sectoral Structure and Forecasts of the Economy; Bilateral Relations between Austria and Thailand; Recommendations; Tables; Figures;


Ti-22.4Nb-0.73Ta-2.0Zr-1.34O (at. %) alloy after cold compression to similar to 5.2% strain was investigated. The alloy exhibited multiple plastic deformation mechanisms, including the stress-induced alpha(') martensitic (SIM alpha(')) and omega phase transformations, 1/2 dislocations slipping on the {112}beta planes as well as {332} beta and {112} beta twinning, which have not previously been reported to coexist in a titanium alloy. It was also found that beta phase with the {200} planes vertical to the compression direction was almost completely consumed away by a beta -> SIM alpha(') transformation, and a (100) texture of SIM alpha(') formed.


The utility model discloses a built-in anti-contamination injector and aims to provide an injector which is labor-saving and convenient in use. The key technical points include: the built-in anti-contamination injector comprises a needle cylinder, a wing plate arranged at the rear end of the needle cylinder, a piston arranged inside the needle cylinder, and a guide cover board arranged at the rear end part of the needle cylinder, wherein a column push rod passes through the middle part of the guide cover board and is connected with the piston, the rear part of the needle cylinder is connected with a molecular film air filter communicated with an inner cavity of the needle cylinder, wherein the periphery of the column push rod between the guide cover board and the piston is provided with an elastic soft film sleeve, and the natural length of the elastic soft film sleeve is less than that of the stroke of the piston inside the needle cylinder. The utility model is used for injection in human body or preparing liquid medicine.


The region of Santos and Sao Vicente, central seacoast of Sao Paulo State, in Brazil, is a really important touristic and economic region (i.e., the port of Santos is the largest one of the country). The work aims to study the variations along the shoreline of the beaches of this area. Many changes were made on the beach region, mainly to implement a better urban infrastructure and this caused a large variation in some parts of the shoreline. The comparison of air photographs from different dates clearly pointed that these changes were especially noticed nearby Urubuquecaba Island and the Outfall of Santos, where the sediment retention presents a reflection in the erosion which occurred in other parts along Santos beach. The artificial closing of the access between Sao Vicente Island and Porchat Island in Sao Vicente caused a deficit of sediments all over the beaches on Sao Vicente Bay. The erosive process caused by this action required some restraint work which worsens the coastal erosion issue. Most of the erosion and/or enlargement processes on these beaches are mainly caused by human intervention, and this makes it difficult to distinguish the influence caused by natural causes such as the increasing of the intensity of frontal systems and the sea level changing.


Based on the multi-conductor transmission lines (MTLs), the three-phase 500 kV busbars and power lines in a 500 kV substation are modeled as the MTLs with branches in order to evaluate the electromagnetic fields radiated from the substation during the switching operation. The iterative formulae are presented to determine the boundary conditions at the node of the branches in this paper. The wave processes of voltage and current distributed along the busbars and the power lines without load in the substation are calculated with the finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD) when the circuit breakers and the disconnect switchers are closed. The numerical results are in agreement on ones calculated by Bergeron's method.


In the globalized garment industry (GGI) most clothing is involved in complex networks that exploit both people and the environment. This system is unsustainable yet supported by Canadian consumers, who have become disconnected from their clothing's production and disposal processes as a result of the development of increasingly complex social and technological systems since the Industrial Revolution. Canadians currently learn about the industry from public portrayals in which the dominant messages are designed by corporations promoting consumption. Nevertheless, growing numbers of consumers are realizing that this system is unsustainable and attempting to take action. This study uses methods based on institutional ethnography to explore the challenges faced by Canadians trying to engage in ethical consumption. Promoting sustainability is seen as requiring broad structural change, which can be supported by individual Canadians seeking to learn about the industry and working with its global stakeholders to build the civil commons.


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A large soft infusion bag conveying device for a production line includes a transmission mechanism (11) and more than four soft bag interface clamps (6) assembled on the transmission mechanism (11); wherein, the soft bag interface clamps (6) are equally divided into more than two successively arranged soft bag interface clamp groups based on quantity, the distance between any two adjacent soft bag interface clamps (6) in each soft bag interface clamp group is the width (b) of the soft bag, and the distance (L) between two adjacent soft bag interface clamp groups is between 0.5 and 5 mm. The conveying device has a simple and compact structure and low cost, and can improve the quality of the product while ensuring the size of the whole machine.


Adults with developmental disabilities are particularly vulnerable to experiencing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the application of evidence-based treatments such as Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) to individuals with comorbid OCD and developmental disabilities is a relatively new and emerging field of study. The present article presents a case study of modified ERP for the treatment of an adult woman with comorbid OCD-like repetitive behavior and developmental disabilities. Target behaviors, including OCD-like repetitive behavior, verbal agitation, and physical aggression, decreased over the course of the 7-month active treatment phase, and reductions in physical aggression and verbal agitation were maintained during follow-up. This case study provides important lessons about the individual-level and systems-level assessment and treatment of comorbid OCD-like repetitive behavior and developmental disabilities.


In present scenario, with the unprecedented development of electronics and tremendous growth of the Internet, World Wide Web (WWW) has become common and popular source of information for varied category of users. Web search engines provide interface between users and web to extract the desired information from WWW. The user possess query to search engine and in response the search engine return useful information. It is observed that typical search engines return the same result for the query submitted by different users irrespective of specific user need. Generally, each user has specific information requirement. It is always desirable that search result should satisfy the exact user requirement. We have proposed approaches to make the search adapting to satisfy the user need. The approaches discussed here are based on ontology and dynamic user profile.


Introduction: Cobalt – Chromium alloys have been used for the fabrication of cast frameworks which withstand the dental prostheses, failures that happen during the process of casting, polishing and finishing the framework generate surface quality defects which affect the mechanical properties of dentures. Objective: To characterize the surface quality defects in cast frameworks for Cobalt – Chrome dental prostheses by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Materials and Methods: An experimental study was conducted, where 19 cast frameworks made out of Cobalt – Chrome alloy were conveniently selected. The following variables were taken into account during the casting process: presentation of the alloy, type of centrifugal casting, way of polishing, shining and sanding the framework. Results: The main characteristics observed, by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, in the cast frameworks for Cobalt – Chrome dental prostheses were: irregularities, superficial heterogeneity, presence of carbon and cracks. There was also found a statistically significant association between the presentation of the alloy and the polishing with shinning and without shinning, with a value of p (0,04). Conclusions: Characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) allows us to detect surface quality defects which generate mechanical failures and damages within medium and long term use, affecting the quality of dental prostheses.


Background and Objective: There is a direct relationship between high intake of salt and increased risk of many non-communicable diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the self-efficacy and readiness of women to reduce discretionary salt consumption. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 using a self-administered questionnaire on 561 women attended to the women care centers of Tehran. The questionnaire contained questions about awareness of the relationship between salt and diseases, disposure to decreasing consumption due to family disease, discretionary salt consumption, stages of change, self-efficacy and demographic status of women. Data was analyzed by chi-square, ANOVA and logistic regression tests. Results: The mean age of women was 36.21±10.1 and 39.8% of them were exposed with reducing salt intake. Over 80% of women always or often add salt to their food during preparation. A third of women were in pre-contemplation stage and 41.2% were ready to reduce salt consumption. Stages of change increased with increasing self-efficacy (r=0.42, p<0.001). Self-efficacy and exposure to salt intake limitation were the most important determinants of women's readiness to change discretionary salt consumption (OR= 1.1, 95% CI=1.06-1.14, p<0.001 and OR= 1.58, 95% CI=1.03-2.42, p<0.038, respectively). Conclusion: The results showed that salt is used for cooking food by a large number of women and less than half of them are ready to behavior change. In general, stages of change increased with increasing self-efficacy. Because the self-efficacy is important for initiating and maintaining behavior change, for empowering women increasing self-efficacy and replacement of salt with healthy flavors should be emphasized.


The long-term outcome of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is difficult to determine for several reasons. First, the initial bout of acute HCV infection is rarely recognized because of the paucity or complete absence of symptoms (1). Second, even persons who have established chronic hepatitis are rarely symptomatic. Third, end-stage liver disease, when it occurs, can often take more than three decades to develop (2, 3). To address these issues, investigators have studied HCV infection in settings that allow accurate determination of onset, such as transfusion-transmitted HCV (4-8) or outbreaks of HCV infection that can be attributed to receipt of contaminated immunoglobulin (9, 10). Several studies (9-12) have shown that major sequelae of chronic HCV infection, decompensated cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, are relatively uncommon. In contrast, clinical observations in tertiary care and liver transplantation centers suggest that chronic HCV infection is highly likely to have serious or fatal outcomes (2, 3, 13, 14). Some researchers believe that prospective studies have been too short to accurately establish outcomes or, in the case of transfusion-related studies, have been limited by premature deaths due to the underlying illness. These concerns could be addressed by studying young, healthy persons with laboratory-confirmed HCV infection for more extended periods. Through access to frozen serum specimens obtained during the late 1940s and early 1950s from more than 9000 healthy young persons, we were able to implement a retrospective cohort study spanning 45 years to determine liver-related morbidity and mortality in HCV-positive and HCV-negative persons. Methods The Repository Between 1948 and 1955, epidemiologic and clinical studies were conducted at Fort Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, to investigate the problem of group A streptococcal infection and acute rheumatic fever among military recruits (15, 16). At the conclusion of the study, remaining serum specimens that had been collected from recruits were frozen in rubber-capped glass vials at 20 C. The specimens and the study records were archived by the original investigators. After the subsequent discovery of HCV (17) and the development of sensitive serologic assays, it became apparent that this unique collection of serum samples could be a valuable tool for determining the long-term outcome of HCV-positive persons. The serum samples had been stored frozen and unthawed for at least two decades. When we examined the collection in preparation for this study, we found that vials had been broken and specimens lost for only 0.5% of the 9451 identified persons. The previously frozen samples were separated into 1-mL aliquots and were refrozen at 20 C. One aliquot was used for all subsequent tests, and a computerized database was generated. Serologic Assays Initial anti-HCV assays were performed in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Samples from 9427 persons were assayed in duplicate for antibodies to HCV by third-generation enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA 3.0) (Ortho Diagnostics, Raritan, New Jersey) (18). Repeatedly reactive samples were analyzed by using supplemental recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA 3.0, Ortho Diagnostics); these tests were performed by the manufacturer. Samples were then tested for HCV RNA by polymerase chain reaction (19) and by genotyping in the hepatitis research laboratory of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C. (20). Persons were classified as having HCV infection if their serum samples demonstrated antibodies to HCV on both EIA 3.0 and RIBA 3.0. If an EIA-positive result yielded an indeterminate or negative result on RIBA 3.0, the EIA 3.0 result was considered false-positive (21). Serum aminotransferase levels were not measured because activity was probably lost through prolonged storage and because freeze-thaw cycles may have occurred after the original phlebotomy (22). Construction of the Study Cohort The criteria for selection of recruits, the periods of observation, and the objectives of the original studies were defined in the original published reports (15, 16). During these studies, only names and military service numbers were recorded. We used this information to obtain additional data, such as Social Security numbers and demographic variables (including age, ethnicity, and sex), from records of the Department of Defense, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Our analysis was restricted to persons with identifiable Social Security numbers because this information was essential for documenting data on morbidity and mortality. Death certificate information was obtained from the Department of Veterans Affairs and through the National Death Index. Outcomes Morbidity Morbidity diagnoses were obtained from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA). Veterans Affairs data came from Patient Treatment Files, which code patients' diagnoses at discharge from Veterans Affairs medical centers, and from documentation of disabilities in Compensation and Pension files. The HCFA data came from three files: the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review file, which includes information on diagnoses and procedures for each hospital discharge in the United States; the Health Information Skeletonized Eligibility Write-off file, which records dates of birth and death that are abstracted from Social Security records; and the Standard Analytical File, which provides data on outpatients. Mortality We collected data on all-cause and cause-specific mortality from death certificates in Veterans Affairs claims files. The Department of Veterans Affairs maintains a computer file of beneficiaries, including recipients of veterans' death benefits, and also records deaths that occur during hospitalizations in Veterans Affairs medical centers. Investigation of the extent of reporting has shown that the file is almost complete (23). In some instances, we obtained evidence of death from HCFA files, which are derived from Social Security records. The National Death Index Plus service of the National Center for Health Statistics provided additional coded, cause-specific death certificate information from national mortality data. A qualified nosologist coded the underlying causes of death according to the rules that existed at the time of death and recoded them by using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification. Some death certificates and Veterans Affairs claims may be incomplete or inaccurate, but the frequency of these events should not differ between the HCV-positive and HCV-negative groups. Statistical Analysis Relative risks and CIs (Cornfield and exact) (24) and results of chi-square tests and the Fisher exact test were calculated by using Epi-Info, version 6.04 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia) (25). A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis curve (26) was calculated by using SAS, version 6.12 (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, North Carolina) (27). A P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Completeness of Identifier and Demographic Data Of 9427 persons, 8568 (91%) were included in our analysis because they had a Social Security number with which we could obtain information on morbidity and mortality. Most participants were white men who were younger than 25 years of age at the original phlebotomy. Of 6805 persons whose sex was known, 6742 (99%) were men. Among 6611 persons whose ethnicity was known, 89.3% were white, 10.3% were African American, and 0.4% were Asian. The mean age of surviving cohort members as of 31 December 1996 was 64.8 years, and 95% were between 60 and 69 years of age. Serologic Data Among the 8568 persons tested, 34 (0.4%) were repeatedly positive for anti-HCV. Seventeen of these 34 participants (50%) had positive results on RIBA 3.0, 9 had indeterminate results, and 8 had negative results. Therefore, the prevalence of RIBA-confirmed anti-HCV reactivity was 0.2% (17 of 8568). At original phlebotomy, the mean age of the HCV-positive group was 21.5 years (range, 19 to 28 years; median, 20.5 years) and the mean age of the HCV-negative group was 20.7 years (range, 18 to 46 years; median, 20.0 years). A significant difference was seen between the number of African-American persons with confirmed HCV infection (12 of 684 [1.8%]) and the number of white persons with confirmed HCV infection (4 of 5902 [0.07%]) (relative risk, 25.9 [CI, 8.4 to 80.0]). Polymerase chain reaction detected HCV RNA in 11 (65%) of the 17 persons who had positive results on EIA 3.0 and RIBA 3.0 but in no persons who had positive results on EIA 3.0 and indeterminate or negative results on RIBA 3.0. Ten of the 11 persons who were positive for HCV RNA were classified as having genotype 1b. One person could not be classified. Morbidity Eight HCV-positive participants (47%) and 3566 HCV-negative participants (42%) had had at least one hospitalization, outpatient visit, or disease-related compensation award (relative risk, 1.24 [CI, 0.5 to 3.2]). One HCV-positive person had a liver-related diagnosis and was recorded as having chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (Table 1). Most of the 115 persons who were originally negative for HCV and had liver-related diagnoses were recorded as having chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. No HCV-positive persons had received a diagnosis of liver cancer or had been treated for liver cancer. One HCV-negative person had received outpatient treatment for liver cancer that was described on one occasion as primary and on another as not specified as primary or secondary. Table 1. Liver-Related Hospitalizations, Outpatient Visits, and Compensation Awards among Persons with (n=17) and Those without (n=8551) Hepatitis C Virus Infection Mortality Through Dece


We present a live gigapixel virtual reality system employing a 360° camera, a superzoom camera with a pan-tilt robotic head, and a head-mounted display (HMD). The system is capable of showing on-demand gigapixel-level subregions of 360° videos. Similar systems could be used to have live feed for foveated rendering HMDs.


26RFa, the endogenous QRFPR ligand, is implicated in several physiological and pathological conditions such as the regulation of glucose homeostasis and bone mineralization; hence, QRFPR ligands display therapeutic potential. At the molecular level, functional interaction occurs between residues Arg25 of 26RFa and Gln125 of QRFPR. We have designed 26RFa(20-26) analogues incorporating arginine derivatives modified by alkylated substituents. We found that the Arg25 side chain length was necessary to retain the activity of 26RFa(20-26) and that N-monoalkylation of arginine was accommodated by the QRFPR active site. In particular, [(Me)ωArg25]26RFa(20-26) (5b, LV-2186) appeared to be 25-fold more potent than 26RFa(20-26) and displayed a position in a QRFPR homology model slightly different to that of the unmodified heptapeptide. Other peptides were less potent than 26RFa(20-26), exhibited partial agonistic activity, or were totally inactive in accordance to different ligand-bound structures. In vivo, [(Me)ωArg25]26RFa(20-26) exerted a delayed 26RFa-like hypoglycemic effect. Finally, N-methyl substituted arginine-containing peptides represent lead compounds for further development of QRFPR agonists.


COVID-19 disease caused by SARS-CoV2 was first reported in Wuhan, Hubei province, China in December 2019 and within a few months the virus has widespread globally affecting 210 countries and causing severe pandemic [1]. In January 2020, the SARS-CoV2 has been isolated and found to be closely associated with the betacoronavirus family [1]. The sequence of SARS CoV-2 has been found to be similar to bat SARS-CoV-like coronaviruses [2], followed by pangolin coronaviruses, these data explain the strong likelihood of bats and pangolin as a primary animal reservoir from where the virus might have crossed the species barrier to infect and cause disease in humans [3]. The data from hospitalized patients have shown that the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 range from no symptoms (asymptomatic), symptoms associated with viral pneumonia most commonly seen as fever, sore throat, cough, fatigue and myalgia, and severe pneumonia (tachypnoea) that can lead to death [4]. Reports from around the world indicate that illness associated with COVID-19 disease also varies in demographic groups between male, female, children, and old people [4]. The severity of disease and mortality rate is higher in aged people (> 60 years), immunocompromised patients, and people with underlying other disease conditions.


Background: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are not only harmful by-products of the cellular metabolism but also essential components of cell signaling, contributing to various physiologic features including cytokine and growth factor signaling. Here, we examined the role of ROS in the cytotoxic effects of tumor necrosis factor-⍺ (TNF-⍺) in MCF-7 cells and their drug-resistant counterparts, MCF-7/MX cells. Materials and Methods: ROS levels were evaluated following TNF-⍺ exposure using 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCF-DA) as fluorescent probe, and the TNF-⍺ cytotoxic effects were examined using the dimethylthiazolyl-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results: TNF-⍺ led to ROS accumulation only in MCF-7/MX and not in MCF-7 cells. The role of ROS in the cytotoxic effects of TNF-⍺ was further evaluated by inhibition of ROS accumulation in MCF-7/MX cells and by induction of ROS generation in MCF-7 cells along with TNF-⍺ treatment. ROS accumulation sensitized the MCF-7 cells to the cytotoxic effects of TNF-⍺ while inhibition of ROS accumulation attenuated the cytotoxic effects of TNF-⍺ in MCF-7/MX cells. Following TNF-⍺ treatment, the activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and catalase) were evaluated in both cell lines. The results of the enzyme assays revealed that superoxide dismutase activity was enhanced in MCF-7 but not in MCF-7/MX cells. Conclusions: ROS accumulation in MCF-7/MX cells may be involved in the higher cytotoxic effects of TNF-⍺ in the MCF-7/MX cell line.


MnZn ferrites have been produced via the high-energy ball milling of binary oxide precursors. The milled ferrites have a nonequilibrium cation site distribution, with an unusually high population of Zn cations on the octahedral sites. The particle size distribution drops precipitously with milling time from 60±1 to ∼14±1 nm at 10 h, but increases to 18.5±1 nm after long durations (20–40 h) concurrent with the formation of nearly pure ferrite. A 1 h anneal at 673 K facilitates a redistribution of cations to their near equilibrium sites. This processing approach circumvents the need for deleterious high-temperature heat treatments that often lead to nonstoichiometries in the resulting ferrites.


There is provided a medical cutting device comprising a housing, a cutting tool, a tool receiving device, and a load detecting device. The case refers to the tool-holding device and the load detecting device. The tool-holding device takes on the cutting tool. The load detecting device detects a load applied to the cutting tool load.


The invention discloses a Zener diode and a manufacturing method thereof, belonging to the technical field of design and manufacture of Zener diode device structures. The traditional Zener diode has the defects of large discreteness of stabilized voltage, large output noise voltage, large dependence on the process procedure, and the like. The Zener diode comprises a semiconductor, wherein two doped regions which are overlapped up and down are formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the transverse area of the upper doped region is greater than that of the lower doped region, the impurity concentration of the upper doped region is higher than that of the lower doped region, and PN junctions are formed on the combination part of the two doped regions. The Zener diode disclosed by the invention has the advantages of low output noise voltage, small discreteness of the stabilized voltage and high stability; and on the manufacturing process, uniform and stable production is easier to realize.


The purpose of this study is to discuss Joseon dynastyis first perspective on the Western-style Court Costume which was newly introduced to Joseon through the problems receiving the credential that Japan had sent in new style. For this study, the records of Joseon and Japan at that period have been analyzed. The followings are the results of this research; First, a critical argument on the Western-style Court Costume occurred just before the Port Opening because whether wearing a western costume was the key factor in Joseon dynastyis receiving the credential that Japan had send in new style. Second, Japan received western costume as its domestic courtesy system by establishing the Court Costume of Civil servants in 1872 and consequently Japan established new ceremony procedure of western-style bow in 1875. Third, Joseon dynasty officially opposed to the Western-style Court Costume when Japan sent the credential, because the western costume selected by Japan had beenregarded as that of western barbarian at that time in Joseon. Accordingly, it seems reasonable that before the introduction of western costume into Joseon dynasty, an open-door policy for the West had been a prior settlement for Joseon dynasty regardless of the details of Western-style Court Costume. And also, the pride of civilization of Joseon dynasty, which has been used to express Joseon dynastyis identity as Joseon-centrism, had to be converted before the open-door policy. Ultimately, it could be inferred that the reception of the Western-style Court Costume had been raised as the political and diplomatic problems in the circumstances when the submissive relationship in the traditional Eastern- Asia had been forced to be converted to modern sovereign international relationship.


In type 2 diabetes, there is a defect in the regulation of functional β‐cell mass to overcome high‐fat (HF) diet–induced insulin resistance. Many signals and pathways have been implicated in β‐cell function, proliferation and apoptosis. The co‐ordinated regulation of functional β‐cell mass by insulin signalling and glucose metabolism under HF diet–induced insulin‐resistant conditions is discussed in this article. Insulin receptor substrate (IRS)‐2 is one of the two major substrates for the insulin signalling. Interestingly, IRS‐2 is involved in the regulation of β‐cell proliferation, as has been demonstrated using knockout mice models. On the other hand, in an animal model for human type 2 diabetes with impaired insulin secretion because of insufficiency of glucose metabolism, decreased β‐cell proliferation was observed in mice with β‐cell–specific glucokinase haploinsufficiency (Gck+/−) fed a HF diet without upregulation of IRS‐2 in β‐cells, which was reversed by overexpression of IRS‐2 in β‐cells. As to the mechanism underlying the upregulation of IRS‐2 in β‐cells, glucose metabolism plays an important role independently of insulin, and phosphorylation of cAMP response element‐binding protein triggered by calcium‐dependent signalling is the critical pathway. Downstream from insulin signalling via IRS‐2 in β‐cells, a reduction in FoxO1 nuclear exclusion contributes to the insufficient proliferative response of β‐cells to insulin resistance. These findings suggest that IRS‐2 is critical for β‐cell hyperplasia in response to HF diet–induced insulin resistance.


The molecular structure of the compound Cu2F2(DMPZ)2(MPZ)4(BF4)2 (DPZ = 3,5-dimethylpyrazole; MPZ = 5-methylpyrazole), determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis, is described. The compound was obtained via partial substitution of DMPZ ligands in Cu2F2-(DMPZ)6(BF4)2.

The compound crystallizes in space group P1, with a = 9.578(2) A, b = 9.893(1) A, c = 10.994(2) A, α = 104.27(1)°, β = 109.04(2)°, γ = 99.12(1)° and Z = 1. Reflection data were collected using an Enraf-Nonius CAD-4 single-crystal diffractometer and graphite-monochromated Mo-Kα radiation. The structure was solved using conventional Patterson, Fourier and least-squares refinement techniques. The final conventional discrepancy index (R) was 4.1%, based on 4442 independent reflections.

The compound is dimeric, having asymmetric fluoro bridges (CuF: 1.904(2) and 2.258(2) A) with a CuFCu angle of 97.19(8)° and a Cu–Cu distance of 3.131(1) A. The copper atom is in a square-based pyramidal coordination geometry with one fluoride ion in apical position. Strong HF interactions were observed between the NH protons of the substituted pyrazole ligands and the bridging fluoride ion as well as with one or two of the fluorides of the BF4− anion. The BF4− anion is present in two different orientations having one BF bond in common, i.e. they are related by a rotation around this BF bond.

Magnetic susceptibility measurements down to 2 K and EPR spectroscopy showed the existence of weak super-exchange interactions (|J| < 0.4 cm−1). These results are discussed in relation to the available structural information.


This Final Thesis examines the legal status of legal apprentices. In the first part, the relevant terms of labour law are being explained (such as the labour relationship, relations at workplace in general, rights and obligations that derive from workplace relations, labour contract and some of its components). After becoming familiar with those terms mentioned above, the review of the regulations about legal apprentices follows, also giving a picture of how that relationship between a lawyer (an employer) and his apprentice is structured. This Thesis also presents what is important for future legal apprentices to successfully finish their traineeship. It is mentioned what are the rights that those regulations are guaranteeing to the apprentices. At the end, the Bar Exam is being examined. Also, there is a short review of the movement of lawyers in the European Union and their possibilities to get a job abroad.


The present trial was conducted to evaluate whether Biotronic® Top Liquid (BTL) supplementation would benefit during the nursing of Nile tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ) fry in terms of survival, growth, and disease resistance. Isonitrogenous (22.9±0.2% CP) diets were prepared by supplementing 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 to 2.5 L/ton of BTL diet i.e. T1 to T6, respectively. Each of the 18 aquaria (100 L) was stocked with 45 fish (16.17±0.40g, Mean±SE) having three replicates per treatment. During the trial, fish biomass increased linearly with the increase in BTL dose i


This paper describes the nature of children's solutions to Cartesian product problems according to their implied levels of combinatory reasoning in order to identify the learning process going on therein, and the nature of teaching intervention. Five nine-year-old students enrolled at the 3rd grade of a state elementary school were the participants. Data were collected during two individual sessions of problem solving. The researcher's teaching intervention was on the clinical-critical format. The qualitative analysis of videotape data resulted in the identification of the following solution levels: contextualized answer without signs of combination, the first approaches to combinatory solutions, the arising of some combinations, and the presence of combinatory solutions. The identified forms of teaching interventions were: orienting, re-orienting, questioning, and instigating. The discussion underlies the relevance of the described teaching interventions to the punctual progress of each child towards solutions with combinatory marks.


Fat blends consisting of High Oleic Sunflower Oil (HOSO), Palm Kernel Oil (PKO), Palm Stearin (PS) or Fully Hydrogenated Shea Olein (FHSO) were prepared for shortening production. Each ternary fat blend was prepared to have a content of 50% both body temperature TAGs (25oC 50oC). In the meantime, the temperatures for isothermal crystallization were selected at 35% solid fat content (SFC) for each fat blend.
During isothermal crystallization at 35% SFC, the ternary blend containing PS had one broad exothermic peak that reached its peak maximum after 21.3 min. Meanwhile, the ternary blend containing FHSO showed two exothermic peaks of which the first peak emerged during the cooling stage at 30.9oC and the second peak appeared within 1.6 min isothermal time. Both PS and FHSO influenced the crystallization kinetics of the blends differently. The parameters of crystallization kinetics as calculated by the Foubert model were a (55 and 20 Jg-1), t-ind (0.351 and 0.003 h), K (2.89 and 42.61 h-1) and n (6.2 and 6.0), for blends containing PS and FHSO respectively. In addition, it was observed by stop and return DSC measurements that ternary blends containing PS experienced stronger recrystallization compared to those containing FHSO. It was also shown that the ratio of trisaturates (SSS) TAGs in the blends significantly influenced both the exothermic peaks and recyrstallization.


Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) has been used for detecting pulmonary embolism, but the role of lung perfusion DECT as a predictor of prognosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has not been defined yet. The aim of our study was to explore whether the enhancement pattern in COVID-19+ patients relates to the disease outcome. A secondary aim was to compare the lung volumes in two subgroups of patients. In this observational study, we considered all consecutive COVID-19+ patients who presented to the emergency room between January 2021 and December 2021 with respiratory symptoms (with mild to absent lung consolidation) and were studied by chest contrast-enhanced DECT to be eligible. Two experienced radiologists post-processed the images using the "lung-analysis" software (SyngoVia). Absolute and relative enhancement lung volumes were assessed. Patients were stratified in two subgroups depending on clinical outcome at 30 days: (i) good outcome (i.e., discharge, absence of clinical or imaging signs of disease); (ii) bad outcome (i.e., hospitalization, death). Patient sub-groups were compared using chi-square test or Fisher test for qualitative parameters, chi-square test or Spearman's Rho test for quantitative parameters, Students' t-test for parametric variables and Wilcoxon test for non-parametric variables. We enrolled 78 patients (45M), of whom, 16.7% had good outcomes. We did not observe any significant differences between the two groups, both in terms of the total enhancement evaluation (p = 0.679) and of the relative enhancement (p = 0.918). In contrast, the average lung volume of good outcome patients (mean value of 4262 mL) was significantly larger than that of bad outcome patients (mean value of 3577.8 mL), p = 0.0116. All COVID-19+ patients, with either good or bad outcomes, presented similar enhancement parameters and relative enhancements, underlining no differences in lung perfusion. Conversely, a significant drop in lung volume was identified in the bad outcome subgroup eligible compared to the good outcome subgroup.


Mail Address ABSTRACT This trial was conducted to evaluate the utilization of low-protein diets formulated based on the ideal protein concept for broiler chickens from 7 to 21 days of age reared at different environmental temperatures. Nine hundred male Cobb-500 fi chickens were used. At day seven chicks were distributed according to a completely randomized design in a 3 x 3 factorial with four replications of 25 birds each. It was used three crude protein levels in the diet (21.5; 20.0 and 18.5%) and three environmental temperatures (low, thermoneutral and high). The performance, carcass characteristics (yield and chemical composition), and nitrogen ingestion and excretion were assessed. There was no significant interaction among the factors for the evaluated variables. Environmental temperatures affected differently chicken performance. High environmental temperature resulted in lower weight gain and higher wing fat percentage, whereas cold temperature resulted in higher feed conversion. On the other hand, low-protein diets decreased weight gain, breast yield, nitrogen excretion and influenced breast and wings chemical composition. Birds reared at high environmental temperature showed lower nitrogen intake and excretion. The results showed that the decrease in protein levels from 7 to 21 days of age contributed to lower nitrogen excretion in broiler chickens, but impaired performance and carcass characteristics independent of rearing temperature.


This article argues that there is a discrepancy between Jürgen Habermas's initial plea for critical and rational identities and his more recent glorification of the European model. Initially, Constitutional Patriotism could be apprehended as a critical standard for existing political practices. However, Habermas's recent political texts tend to lose all kind of reflexive distance in their apprehension of the European identity — which is presented as distinct and even superior to its counter-model, the US. Such a `Europatriotic' temptation should be resisted. The `thick' European identity advocated by Habermas has no truly federative dimension and could undermine the unique normative potential of a political entity composed of distinct identities. Consequently, the article suggests an elucidation of liberal postnationalism with a view to explaining its refusal to tie Europe's legitimacy to an identification logic.


Background: Adrenal insufficiency following initial treatment of active tuberculosis (TB) is a rare phenomenon. It is also one of the most important causes of mortality within the first few days of TB treatment. The present study evaluated this adverse effect of anti-tuberculous treatment. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was performed on TB patients hospitalized in Masih Daneshvari Hospital between 2004 and 2005. All patients had received standard anti-TB drug regimen. We evaluated pseudo-adrenal insufficiency in these patients. Results: The study group included 429 patients out of which 6(1.4%) developed adrenal insufficiency following anti-TB treatment. In all 6 patients, basal serum cortisol levels were measured which were below the normal range after treatment. No patient had clinical findings of adrenal insufficiency before initiation of anti-TB therapy. After treatment with dexamethasone, the general condition of patients improved. (The average response to treatment was 3.1±1.7 days). No mortality was reported during the treatment course or follow-up period. Conclusion: In TB patients, the adrenal reserve/ serum cortisol reserve level is low. Standard anti-TB drug regimen including rifampicin causes rapid catabolism of cortisol in tissues specially in the liver and lungs; therefore, serum cortisol level will be more decreased and consequently the patient develops adrenal insufficiency. As a whole, despite of the low incidence rate of this adverse effect, early diagnosis and treatment is essential to save the patient's life. (Tanaffos 2007; 6(1): 67-70)


The purpose of this research is to improve the writing skill of fourth grade students of  SD 24 Air Saleh. This study was conducted in two cycles. The data obtained from the observation of teacher and student activities while learning, while to measure the success of writing ability pantun evaluation test in each cycle. In the first cycle the average value of the students 'activity is 57.90%, in the second cycle, it reaches 85.23%, meaning that the students' activity is increased by 27.33%. Furthermore, the value of students' ability in writing pantun in the first cycle reached 62.33, after the action taken on the second cycle reached 76.83. So there is an increase of 14.4. Based on these values, it can be concluded that the Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) learning approach can improve the writing ability of fourth grade pupil of 24 Air Saleh State High School. Keywords: Contextual Teaching and Learning


The role of targets in delivering meaningful performance improvements for designing new buildings and retrofitting existing building stocks is important. A piecemeal approach of incomprehensive assessments around insignificant changes falls short of achieving deep cuts in impacts. Most of the current assessments are not based on well-defined performance targets. The chapter is centered around exploring the utility of the concept of planetary boundaries for setting well-grounded benchmarking systems in guiding the transformation of the built environment that significantly contributes to the overall environmental impact of the economy. It discusses the role of life cycle assessment, environmental product declarations and product category rules, and how these and relevant standards and guides can be used in tandem with tools and processes used in design offices such as building information modeling. It concludes by charting the need for research on taking concepts such as planetary boundaries to building level benchmarking systems that support better design practices.


We conducted a proteomic comparison between thermo-sensitive genic male sterility (TGMS) SP2S and its near-isogenic line SP2F grown at 22°C. The proteomes at microsporocyte meiosis and uninucleate microspore stages were profiled using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Twenty-five well-reproducible spots (10 spots at microsporocyte meiosis stage and 15 spots at uninucleate microspore stage) containing 28 proteins were successfully identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. An elongation factor EF-2 at microsporocyte stage and 4 proteins (aconitate hydratase, triosephosphate isomerase, serine/arginine-rich mRNA splicing factor and glutathione S-transferase) at uninucleate microspore stage accumulated in SP2S, but more proteins were lost or reduced, including those associated with amino acid metabolism, photosynthesis, synthesis and degradation of protein, lipid metabolism, cytoskeleton, RNA modification, oxidoreductase and defence response. The dramatic decrease of tubulin, actin and Translationally controlled tumour protein (TCTP) crucial for microtubule and cell division and three enzymes for amino acid metabolite at early stage indicated a serious defect on the cytokinesis. They were important clues for us to search the TGMS genes and its interacting genes.


Whereas the quality of the program depends on promptness, full coverage, vaccination schedule abidance. Taking new Moscow regions as an example there have been studied factors influencing vaccination against Pneumococcal infection (PI). Insufficient provision of the vaccine to reach the desired level of coverage has been detected: in 2014 only 67.57% of liable children could receive double vaccination; the available quantity of vaccine in 2015 was able to provide 33. 84% of children up to 12 months old with double vaccination.However, the actual number of children vaccinated turned to be much lower (0.23% in 2014 and 20.85% in 2015).The survey of the doctors with the purpose of defining the level of knowledge and commitment to the vaccination against PI has shown a modest level of epidemiology, clinical implications, PIimmunoprophylaxis method awareness. Parental attitude towards PI vaccination has been estimated as positive. Parental interest to opportunities of immunoprophylaxis against PI is worthwhile noting despite the insufficient level of knowledgeability of its effects. Hence 74.5% of parents whose children are not vaccinated against PI would like to start vaccination, however a part of them look into receiving more information (29.41% parents).


Th e white gypsum dune ecosystem in the Tularosa Basin in south central New Mexico is the largest gypsum dune fi eld on earth, covering 712.25 km2. White Sands National Monument in Otero County, New Mexico, protects approximately 40 %, 297.85 km2, of this dune fi eld. In 2006 the US National Park Service initiated a long term study of the Lepidoptera at White Sands National Monument, resulting in the discovery of two new species, Euxoa lafontainei Metzler & Forbes, sp. n. and Protogygia whitesandsensis Metzler & Forbes, sp. n. described herein. Adult moths and male and female genitalia are illustrated for Euxoa lafontainei, and adults and male genitalia are illustrated for Protogygia whitesandsensis and its


In the process of road pavement health and safety assessment, crack detection plays a pivotal role in a preventive maintenance strategy. Recently, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have been applied to automatically identify the cracks on concrete pavements. The effectiveness of a CNN-based road crack detection and measurement method depends on several factors, including the image segmentation of cracks with complex topology, the inference of noises with similar texture to the distress, and the sensitivity to thin cracks. The presence of shadows, strong light reflections, and road markings can also severely affect the accuracy in detection and measurement. In this study, a review of the state-of-the-art CNN methods for crack identification is presented, paying attention to existing limitations. Then, a novel deep residual convolutional neural network (Parallel ResNet) is proposed with the aim of creating a high-performance pavement crack detection and measurement system. The challenge and special feature of Parallel ResNet is to remove the noise inference, identifying even thin and complex cracks correctly. The performance of Parallel ResNet has been investigated on two publicly available datasets (CrackTree200 and CFD), comparing it with that of competing methods suggested in the literature. Parallel ResNet reached the maximum scores in Precision (94.27%), Recall (92.52%), and F1 (93.08%) using the CrackTree200 dataset. Similarly, for the CFD dataset the novel method achieved high values in Precision (96.21%), Recall (95.12%), and F1 (95.63%). Based on the crack detection and image recognition results, mathematical morphology was then used to further minimize noise and accurately segment the road diseases, obtaining the outer contours of the connected domain in crack images. Therefore, crack skeletons have been extracted to measure the distress length, width, and area on images of rigid pavements. The experimental results show that Parallel ResNet can effectively minimize noise to obtain the geometry of cracks. The results of crack characteristic measurements are accurate and Parallel ResNet can be assumed as a reliable method in pavement crack image analysis, in order to plan the best road maintenance strategy.


The influence of fixation, air‐drying and liquid‐imaging on the morphology as well as on the viscoelasticity of malignant mesothelioma cells was studied by atomic force microscopy. In this study, dehydrated cells were more easily scanned and offered faster data recording than hydrated cells. However, the influence of fixation strength was more noticeable. Strong fixation induced flattening of the cytoplasm and loss of nuclear structure, resulting in a clearly visible cytoskeleton which could be easily seen as fibres orientated in the direction of the cell growth. By contrast, the morphology of hydrated cells was influenced to a lesser degree on fixation and showed an overall 'rounding' of the surface with vague, ill‐defined structures. Nuclear areas of these samples were difficult to image.


A NEW INSTRUMENT, CALLED THE ELECTROTASSOMETER, WHICH MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO MEASURE THE VARIATION IN THICKNESS OF A FILL LAYER AS ITS COMPACTING PROCEEDS, IS DESCRIBED. THE INSTRUMENT WORKS ON AN ELECTRICAL PRINCIPLE AND COMPRISES THREE WINDINGS: ONE LOCATED IN THE SOIL AT THE BASE OF THE LAYER BEING COMPACTED, A SECOND ON THE SURFACE OF THE SOIL, AND A THIRD MOBILE WINDING VERTICALLY IN LINE WITH THE TWO OTHERS. CURRENTS IN PHASE PASS THROUGH THE TWO COILS AT THE EXTREMITIES, AND THE MEASUREMENT CONSISTS OF ANNULLING THE VOLTAGE INDUCED IN THE CENTRAL RECEPTOR COIL BY DISPLACING THE UPPER COIL. BY SYMMETRY, THE DEPTH OF THE BURIED COIL IS KNOWN. THE INSTRUMENT IS NON-RECOVERABLE, BUT IS VERY SIMPLE AND EXTREMELY LOW-COST. THE APPARATUS CAN MEASURE LAYERS UP TO 1.20 METRES THICK. ITS ACCURACY IS 1 MM. AT A DEPTH OF 1 METER. THE ELECTROTASSOMETER PROVIDES A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF EVALUATING THE EFFICACITY OF COMPACTING IN THE CASE OF MATERIALS INCORPORATING A HIGH PROPORTION OF LARGE ELEMENTS, AND IN THE CASE OF MATERIALS LAID IN THICK LAYERS. /LCPC/A/RRL/


A 43-year-old Japanese male developed acute corneal hydrops after laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). A persistently fluid-filled interface between the corneal flap and stroma (without flap dehiscence or wound leakage) did not respond to conservative treatment. To avoid keratoplasty, the sub-flap fluid was drained by air injection into the anterior chamber; the surgery also included suturing of the corneal flap and stroma. The best-corrected visual acuity improved rapidly following resolution of the fluid-filled interface and corneal stromal edema, and no leakage was observed. Thus, minimally invasive surgery to drain sub-flap fluid via air injection was effective for treating a persistently fluid-filled interface in a case of acute corneal hydrops after LASIK.


This article describes the development of automatic control system on the basis of Festo "Compact Workstation" training stand. Such control systems are used in different branches of industry and infrastructure including oil industry, chemical industry, water treatment, canalization and others. The stand allows realizing level, flow, pressure and temperature control systems, using pump, valves, discrete and analog sensors. Level control system is described in this work. PID (proportional integral derivative) controllers are used in these systems. Control is switched on and off and the parameters of control systems are changed by means of SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system. During real technological processes, these actions are performed by the operator. The algorithm of the control system is realized using PLC (programmable logic controller). At the end of the article conclusions about the research are drawn.


In this work have integrated the Hamburg matrix with the structure of linear space and the number theory. As a consequence we can present a method based on the algebraic geometry to resolve certain type of cubic equations.


T use disorders devastate lives and financial well-being, and constitute one of the largest public health problems the world faces today. A main cause of avoidable illness and death, tobacco-related mortality rates lead to more than 435,000 deaths per year, in the United States alone1–3 with millions more affected by tobacco-related illnesses. Annually, nearly 96 billion dollars are lost to medical costs directly related to smoking.4 While smoking is the most prevalent form of tobacco use, all forms of tobacco use pose dangers to health. The well-being of entire communities, particularly underserved communities, is affected, making tobacco use one of the largest public challenges facing the health care system today. Tobacco use, like any addiction, is complex, affecting individuals, families, and communities in many ways. It is critical that tobacco use disorders be addressed in both micro (individual) interventions and macro (community-wide) initiatives with the challenges of working with underserved populations considered. Evidence suggests interventions which have been proven effective with the general population will work with underserved populations, if those interventions are made available. The key components of evidence-based tobacco use interventions center on dynamic system changes incorporating policy support and performance feedback mechanisms. Incorporating current developments in national standards surrounding the creation of medical homes and meaningful use of electronic health records, and reinforced with a trans-disciplinary approach, evidence-based smoking cessation practices can have an effect on tobacco use in underserved communities. One of the new ways to increase the effectiveness of tobacco interventions being explored is the utilization of trans-disciplinary teams, now being developed in health care organizations around the country. An evolution from inter-disciplinary care, transdisciplinary care is a multi-disciplinary team in which all members have expanded knowledge and training in the disciplines of other team members. In a transdisciplinary team model, all members of the team address tobacco use and reinforce goals, regardless of the main purpose of the visit. This shared reinforcement, along with the transmission


Objective To study the measures of the surgical management in primary retroperitoneal neoplasms.Methods The clinical data of 17 cases with primary retroperitoneal neoplasms were analyzed retrospectively in preoperative evaluation, operative and postoperative treatment. Results The tumors in all patients were successfully resected and there was no perioperative death.Conclution There is no case hardened ways in the operation of the primary retroperitoneal neoplasms. The multi organ excision and major vascular reconstruction are often involved in the surgical treatment of them. So surgeon should lay stress in the perioperative management of retroperitoneal neoplasms.\;


A structural method for online recognition of Chinese characters is proposed which is stroke-order free and allows variations in stroke type and stroke number. Both input characters and the model characters are represented with complete attributed relational graphs (ARGs). An optimal matching measure between two ARGs is defined. Classification of an input character can be implemented by inexactly matching its ARG against every ARG of the model base. The matching procedure is formulated as a search problem of finding the minimum-cost path in a state space tree using the A* algorithm. To speed up the search of the A*, in addition to a heuristic estimate, a novel strategy that utilises the geometric position information of strokes of Chinese characters to prune the tree is employed. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated by the promising experimental results.


Static var compensators installed in the electric power supply systems of electric arc furnaces of metallurgical enterprises are described. The SVC 330 Mvar for the EAF-250 of the metallurgical plant CJSC "MMK Metalurji" in Iskenderun, Turkey, was taken as an example to show the feasibility of the compensator application to reduce voltage drops in the 34.5 kV network.


Alloying is critical for regulating the electron states of layered two-dimensional (2D) materials, which has a significant influence on the physical and chemical properties of 2D materials, such as electrochemical catalysis, magnetism, and the bandgap of semiconductors. Here, we report the alloy of Fe-doped VSe2 with good homogeneity at the atomic level by using a one-step synthesis method. Fe-doped VSe2 presents enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. It is found that Fe-doped VSe2 shows improved catalytic activity compared to the virgin VSe2, including a lower overpotential and a smaller Tafel slope. The enhanced HER performance indicates a lower Gibbs free energy of the HER process, resulting from the doping-induced regulation of the electron states. Our work presents a facile method to prepare transition metal-doped 2D materials and offers a general way to regulate the catalytic properties of 2D materials for energy conversion applications.


Introduction Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the world. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of current tobacco use and identify associated factors among Rwandans aged 15-34 years. Methods This cross-sectional analytical study analysed secondary data collected during the nationally representative Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factors Surveillance survey conducted in 2013 to explore the prevalence of tobacco use in Rwanda and identify factors associated with tobacco use. This study analysed data collected from 3,900 youth participants (15-34 years old), selected using multistage cluster sampling technique. The overall proportion of current smokers, as well as demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the sample were determined and multivariable logistic regression employed to identify factors independently associated with current tobacco use. Results The prevalence (weighted) of current tobacco use (all forms) was 8% (95%CI: 7.08-9.01). Prevalence statistically significant was found in the following group: higher prevalence was found among males, young adults aged 24-34, youth with primary school education or less, those from Southern province, people with income (work in public, private organizations and self-employed) and young married adults. There was no statistically significant difference in prevalence of tobacco use between participants from urban or rural areas (7.8% vs. 8.0%). Factors that were found to be associated with current tobacco use through the multivariate analysis included being a male, aged 25 years and above, having an income, and residing in Eastern, Kigali City and Southern Province compared to Western province. Conclusion The association between smoking and sociodemographic characteristics among Rwandan youth identified in this study provides an opportunity for policy makers to tailor future policies, and implement coordinated, high-impact interventions to prevent initiation of tobacco use among the youth.


Typographic printing has been regarded as the "mother of modern civilization." Its inventor was Bi Sheng, a Chinese scientist in the Song Dynasty(960-1368). This paper illustrates the spread and use of metal types in the Song Dynasty with ample samples. The recent discoveries of the Xixia and Uyghur letterpress printing materials demonstrate the route of western dissemination of the Chinese typographic printing technique.


S. Saha, USDA, ARS Crop Science Research Laboratory, PO Box 5367, Mississippi State, MS 39762; D.A. Raska* and D.M. Stelly**, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2474; S. Manchali, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2474, Current address: Department of Biotechnology and Crop Improvement, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, GKVK Campus, Bengaluru-560 065 India; and O.A. Gutiérrez, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, Current address: USDA, ARS, 13601 Old Cutler Rd., Miami, FL 33158 *Credited equally as first author **Corresponding author: email@example.com ABSTRACT


The objective of this research was to determine the root growth effect of E. exserta, E. pellita and E. urograndis planted in two types of containers (C1: with square tubets of 83.25 cm3 and C2: with round tubets of 182.5 m3) and three substrates (S11: with square tubets of 83.25 cm3 and C2: with round tubets of 182.5 m3) and three substrates (S11: with square tubets of 83.25 cm3 and C2: with round tubets of 182.5 m3) and three substrates (S11) : peat, perlite, black earth; S2: black earth, pine bark, rice husk; and S3: pine bark, peat, perlite). To do this, the combination of the different factors under study was established, resulting in six treatments (C1S1, C1S2, C1S3, C2S1, C2S2 and C2S3) for each of the species in a Completely Random Block Design with two repetitions. The measurement record in the variables number of secondary roots, main root length, root neck diameter and root volume were performed on days 26, 52 and 78. After obtaining the measurement data, Tukey variation analysis and comparison of Tukey means at 5% was performed using InfoStat statistical software. As a result, container 2 (round tubets of 182.5 m3) had a higher incidence in the root growth of each of the evaluated variables. As for the substrates, the substrate 1 obtained greater volume of roots, the substrate 2 generated greater length at the main root and the substrate 3 had better result in the diameter of the root neck; the control substrate was the most rooted substrate. The highest average effectiveness valuation was obtained by substrate 1 with a value of 3 out of 5 which is equivalent to the highest average effectiveness in this study.
Keywords: Containers, substrates, root growth.


We present optimizations to improve communication performance by reducing on-node data movement for a class of distributed memory applications. The primary concept is to eliminate the data movement associated with packing and unpacking subsets of the data during communication. With the rapid rise in network injection bandwidth reducing off-node data movement cost, on-node data movement can be significantly more expensive than computation and network communication. This data movement is especially costly for small domains - as in memory-intensive multi-physics codes or when strong scaling to reduce time-to-solution. The optimizations presented include (1) optimizing data layout through indirection to enable pack-free communication; (2) creating contiguous views of memory using memory mapping thus minimizing the number of messages; and (3) applying these techniques to intra-node data movement including CPU-GPU data movement. The benefits of these optimizations are demonstrated in stencil benchmarks against a highly-optimized baseline, reducing communication time by up to 14.4×.


Objective: To determine the risk factors and to find out the obstetric and perinatal outcome in patients with placental abruptio. Study Design: Retrospective observational study. Materials and Methods: In present study 124 patients with abruptio placentae in third trimester were included. A detailed obstetrics history was obtained and maternal high risk factors were noted. Examination, investigation and detail of intrapartum, postpartum period and associated complications were recorded. Results: Incidence of abruptio placentae was 4.81%.Majority (58.87%) were primi with commonest age group being 26-30 years. Risk factors associated were anaemia(57.26%), pregnancy induced hypertension(31.45%), eclampsia(13.7%) Chronic hypertension(8.87%),Gestational diabetes mellitus(12.09%) and Prematute rupture of membrane(16.94%). 44% patients came in labour,out of which (35.48%) delivered vaginally and (45.97%) needed caesarean section. Maternal complications were postpartum hemorrhage in (22.59%),disseminated intravascular coagulation in (20.16 %),puerperal sepsis in (17.5%),Hemorrhagic shock in(12.90%), Acute renal failure in (10.48%) were noted and 2 patients needed mechanical ventilation.No maternal mortality was noted. (47.58%) women delivered live babies while (52.42%) were stillborn. Out of these 59 live born babies 7 died in early neonatal period due to prematurity. Therefore overall perinatal mortality was 58.07%


Ti-5322 is a low cost titanium alloy with high strengthening effect.The microstructure and properties of Ti-5322 alloy sheet by rolling in alpha and beta region after blooming in beta region were investigated.The analysis of microstructure show that,when the rolling deformation was controlled at 50%,the sheet of alloy exhibits the basketwave structure with continuous grainboundary alpha;while the deformation was 75%,the sheet exhibit bimodal structure with spherical or calvate alpha,and the grain boundary become discontinuous.The testing results of tensile properties of the sheet after heat treatment show that the relatively high deformation is beneficial for improving the match of strength and ductility.


These proceedings contain the technical papers selected for presentation at the Seventh International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks (IC3N 98) held in Lafayette, Louisiana, October 12 October 15, 1995. The IC3N 98 conference, sponsored by IEEE Communications Society, Army Research Lab and Bellsouth is an annual, international forum for the dissemination of original ideas in computer communications and networks. One of the major themes of IC3N 98 is to foster close collaboration between the computer communications, telecommunications and computer networks communities. Such collaboration is necessitated by the current needs of computer communications and networks technologies, if new horizons of research and development are to be achieved in the next millennium.


(ABSTRACT) Analogcircuit/IC design for high speed optical fiber communication is a fairly new research area in Dr. Ha's group. In the first project sponsored by ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute) we started to design the building blocks of receiver for next generation 400 Gb/s optical fiber communication. In this thesis research a transceiver architecture based on 4x100 Gb/s parallel communication is proposed. As part of the receiver, a transimpedance amplifier for 100 Gb/s optical communication is designed, analyzed and simulated. Simulation results demonstrate the excellent feasibility of proposed architecture. always dominated the high speed optical transceiver design because of their inherent properties of high mobility and low noise. But they are power hungry and bulky in size which made them less attractive for highly integrated circuit design. On the contrary, CMOS technology always drew attraction because of low cost, low power dissipation and high level of integration facility. But their notorious parasitic characteristic and inferior noise performance makes high speed transceiver design very challenging. The emergence of nano-scale CMOS offer highly scaled feature sized transistors with transition frequencies exceeding 200 GHz and can improve optical receiver performance significantly. Increasing bandwidth to meet the target data rate is the most challenging task of TIA design especially in CMOS technology. Several CMOS TIA architectures have been published recently [6]-[11] for 40 Gb/s data rate having bandwidth no more than 40 GHz. In contrast to existing works, the goal of this research is to step further and design a single channel stand-alone iii TIA compatible in serial 100 Gb/s data rate with enhanced bandwidth and optimized transimpedance gain, input referred noise and group delay variation. A 100 Gb/s transimpedance amplifier (TIA) for optical receiver front end is designed in this work. To achieve wide bandwidth and low group delay variation a differential TIA with active feedback network is proposed. Proposed design also combines regulated cascode front end, peaking inductors and capacitive degeneration to have wide band response. Simulation results show 70 GHz bandwidth, 42 dBΩ transimpedance gain and 2.8 ps of group delay variation for proposed architecture. Input referred noise current density is 26 pA/√ while the total power dissipation from 1.2V supply is 24mW. Performance of the proposed TIA is compared with other existing TIAs, and the proposed TIA shows significant improvement in bandwidth and group delay variation compared to other existing TIA architectures. iv To my parents v Acknowledgements First …


On the 16th and 17th January 2012 OA East conducted an archaeological evaluation at a proposed housing development site (3.09ha) within the former Express Plastics Site, Beccles Road, Loddon (TM 365982). The evaluation comprised ten evaluation trenches spread across the northern and western parts of the proposed development area and located away from standing buildings. The results of the evaluation demonstrate that the site had been heavily truncated on the northern (and presumably eastern sides) and had been partly truncated and then landscaped along the western side, with more than 1.76m of made ground recorded in some places. No pre-modern archaeological features or artefacts were uncovered.


Qaidam basin is one of the large Mesozoic and Cenozoic basins in the Northwestern China. The Jurassic system mainly occurs in the northern area of Qaidam basin. The basin developed on the pre-Jurassic cratonic basement. Based on the Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectonic setting of the Northwestern China, the Qaidam basin evolved twice from extension to compression during Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras with more and more weaker in extention and more and more intensively in compression. The prototype basin in Jurassic was a weakly extending depression; Begining Oligocene epoch,the basin was becoming intensively compressed and the structure distribution framework today was formed. The Jurassic petroleum system of the Northern Qaidam basin was influenced by the tectonic evolution on the formation and distribution of the petroleum, and resulted in the better potential exploration in the Eocene strata and poor in the Jurassic strata.


Background The second-line chemotherapy using paclitaxel, carboplatin, and bevacizumab for treating platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian, fallopian or primary peritoneal cancer frequently cause chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), which is significantly associated with deterioration of quality of life. Despite the potential of some agents to prevent and treat CIPN, and there is still a lack of evidence of the effect. Although selenium has been suggested as an antioxidant candidate to prevent CIPN, there are insufficient data regarding its effect due to its low dose by oral administration. Thus, we hypothesized intravenous administration of high-dose selenium (2,000 µg/day) at each cycle of the second-line chemotherapy would prevent and reduce CIPN in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian, fallopian or primary peritoneal cancer. Method This trial is an investigator-initiated, phase III, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous administration of high-dose selenium (2,000 µg/day) for preventing CIPN in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian, fallopian or primary peritoneal cancer who receive paclitaxel, carboplatin, and bevacizumab. A total of 68 patients will be randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups at a 1:1 ratio. As the primary endpoint, the incidence rate of CIPN three months after six cycles of chemotherapy will be compared between the two groups according to the combined criteria of neuropathy using the World Health Organization-CIPN criteria and Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0. As secondary endpoints, we will compare adverse events, patient-reported quality of life, and requirement of concomitant drugs for reducing CIPN between the two groups. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04201561


Introduction. The advertising of food supplements on various media channels or in specialty stores with natural products and other places, as well as the lack of informative and educational programs for the population upon side effects and the interaction of food supplements with food and drugs, have led to the development of uncontrolled marketing of these products. Material and methods. PubMed, ResearchGate and EUR-Lex databases were analyzed during 2015-2021, based on search criteria based on: adverse reactions, ingredient new food, food supplements, algorithms. Results. Certain dietary supplements can cause multiple side effects, such as: impaired platelet function by decreased platelet aggregation, gastrointestinal side effects (diarrhea, vomiting), decreased wound healing/epithelialization, bacterial or fungal sepsis, most common in patients older. Herbal resources such as Aloe vera, Matricaria recutita, Taraxacum officinale and others, can cause dermatological side effects and inhibit the elimination of dermatological drugs metabolised by cytochrome P-450 (e.g. terbinafine). Matricaria recutita, Allium sativum, Mentha piperita L. and others, inhibit the enzyme CYP2C9. Another enzyme with a role in the metabolism of dermatological drugs and which is inhibited by plant resources is CYP3A4. Conclusions. It is imperative to legislate the reporting of adverse reactions caused by food supplements, including their interaction with food or drugs.


In a recent stimulating discussion of temperature adaptations of amphibian embryos, Bachmann (1969) suggests that salamanders are genetically restricted by a lack of adaptability to any but moderately low temperatures. He states that this supposed lack of adaptability corresponds to the "very restricted" distribution of salamanders and is accordingly "striking." Bachmann is quite aware of the limits of his salamander data, from only seven species of the exclusively north temperate families Proteidae, Ambystomatidae, and Salamandridae, and I do not wish to criticize that aspect of his paper. Rather, I will examine some of his premises, explicit and implicit, concerning salamander abundance and diversity. One of the most persistent myths in the biological literature is the view that salamanders are strictly a north temperate group, which has few or no tropical representatives (e.g., Bentley 1966). The basis for this view is the fact that eight of the nine families, including all of the most familiar species, are restricted to extratropical regions in the Northern Hemisphere. Ambystomatids on the Mexican Plateau and salamandrids in the mountains of Formosa and North Vietnam live like more northern relatives and are generally considered to be members of the temperate fauna. There are no tropical species in the Old World. The ninth family, Plethodontidae, has north temperate representatives in both the Old and New Worlds, but, in addition, one subdivision, the tribe Bolitoglossini, has undergone an extensive neotropical radiation. The neotropical representatives comprise over 40% of all living species of salamanders! Recent estimates (based on Brame 1967 and unpublished data) find 316 species of salamanders, including 194 plethodontids of which 132 are residents of the neotropics. The tropical species are concentrated in two major areas, southern Mexico to Guatemala, and Costa Rica to northern South America :(table 1), but the ranges extend to about 20?S latitude (Wake 1966). Available information indicates that a major adaptive radiation has occurred in the neotropics, but this must be viewed relative to the diversification seen in all salamanders. The range of diversity within tropical salamanders is great, and ways of life not seen elsewhere have evolved (Wake 1966). Species live in a wide variety of habitats, but the more primitive ones live in upland, terrestrial situations. Numerous lowland invasions have occurred, and many species successfully occupy the tropical lowland forests from Veracruz to the mouth of the Amazon. Lowland in-


Sir James Drake (1907–1989) was the creator of the British motorway system. As Borough Surveyor of Blackpool in 1936, he apparently designed it on a sheet of paper. His 1949 Roads Plan for Lancashire was a blueprint for a regional motorway system which he essentially completed over the next quarter-century. In this paper, read to the ICE in late 1956, he calls for completion of a national motorways plan over 25 years, at an estimated cost of £175 million a year. His map is remarkably close to the system that was actually completed by the 1980s.


Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) was originally proposed for simulating atmospheric flows in the 1960s and has become one of the most promising and successful methodology for simulating turbulent flows with the improvement of computational power. It is now feasible to simulate complex engineering flows using LES. However, apart from the computing power, significant challenges still remain for LES to reach a level of maturity that brings this approach to the mainstream of engineering and industrial


The processes of preparing conductive fillers,shielding materials and electronic components via electroless silver plating were introduced. The factors influencing deposition rate and deposit quality were analyzed,such as surface pretreatment,plating formulation,process conditions for operation and so on. The existing problems of process were pointed out and the development prospect was presented.


Uses health education,diet care,TCM nursing,therapy care,nursing and psychological care,exercise therapy and other methods,implemented in 28 cases DM patients in combination therapy with nursing experience.


Reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change requires the adoption of costly policies with often uncertain efficacy and distributional consequences. Because these emissions occur across sectors of the economy—electricity, transportation, and agriculture—and the built environment, and they require action at all levels of government—global, national, regional, and local—there is no single "silver-bullet" solution.


This paper studies to what extent gender differences in commuting patterns explain the observed disparities between husband and wife in relation to earnings and wages. It is argued that the cost of commuting is higher for women because they bear a disproportionate share of housework and child-rearing responsibilities. Therefore, female workers tend to work relatively close to home. A `job location wage gap' emerges because jobs located away from the central business district offer lower wages. Using pooled data from the American Community Survey, the results indicate that 10% of the gender pay gap among childless workers and more than 23% of the wage decline attributed to being a mother ("child pay penalty") are explained by sex differences in commuting patterns. A conditional Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition indicates that short commutes are strongly associated with working in low-paying occupations and industries.


Disclosed is a position sensor device for measuring the position of a pen. The position sensor device according to the present invention includes: a first sub-loop unit which includes at least one loop applying currents or measuring electromagnetic changes; a second sub-loop unit which includes at least a loop measuring the electromagnetic changes; and a control unit which determines at least one loop among the first sub loop unit as a transmission loop of a transmission signal and applies currents, and measures the position of the pen based on the electromagnetic changes respectively measured by the loops of the first and second loop units. [Reference numerals] (AA) Start; (BB) Yes; (CC) No; (DD) End; (S710) Apply currents to a first sub-loop unit and use a second sub-loop unit as a sensing loop; (S720) Apply currents to the first sub-loop unit and use the first sub-loop unit as a sensing loop; (S730) Electromagnetism change?


ABSTRACT Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the temporal trends in vaccination coverage (VC) during the first year of life of children in Brazil. Methods: Data on VC for the first year of life from 2011 to 2020 for Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), hepatitis B, polio, pentavalent, and triple viral vaccines at the national, regional, and state levels were obtained from the Information System of the National Immunization Program. Trends were analyzed using Prais-Winsten generalized linear regression models and average annual percent change (APC) estimates. Results: Decreasing trends were observed for the BCG (APC −3.58%; p<0.05), pentavalent (APC −4.10%; p<0.05), polio (APC −2.76%; p<0.05), and triple viral (APC −2.56%; p<0.05) vaccines in the country. Hepatitis B vaccine was the only vaccine that displayed stationary behavior (APC −4.22%; p>0.05). During the study period, no increasing trends were observed in any territory or vaccine. Conclusions: This study shows a recent significant reduction and decreasing trends in VC during the first year of life of children in Brazil, indicating the need for interventions to curb this ongoing phenomenon and to recover acceptable VC rates in the country.


Most of the available modeling and simulation tools for performance analysis do not support model optimization sufficiently. One reason for this unsatisfactory situation is the lack of universally applicable and adaptive optimization strategies. Another reason is that modeling and simulation tools usually have a monolithic software design, which is difficult to extend with experimentation functionality. Such functionality has gained on importance in recent years due to the capability of an automatic extraction of valuable information and knowledge out of complex models. One of the most important experimentation goals is to find model parameter settings, which produce optimal model behavior. In this paper, we elaborate on the design of a powerful optimization component and its integration into existing modeling and simulation tools. For that purpose, we propose a hybrid integration approach being a combination of loose document-based and tight invocation-based integration concepts. Beside the integration concept for the optimization component, we also give a detailed insight into the applied optimization strategies.


Objective To observe the effect of implantation of bone marrow derived mesenchymal cells (BMSCs) combined with polyglycolic-acid-hydroxyapatites (PGA-HA) composites in repairing articular cartilage defects. Methods Culture-expanded rabbits' BMSCs were seeded onto porous PGA and HA scaffolds respectively. The cell-adhered PGA and HA were joined together to form a composite that was then implanted into articular cartilage defects. The rabbits were then sacrificed at 20 and 32 weeks respectively. The obtained specimens were examined histologically and stained immunohistochemically for type Ⅱ collagen. Results Specimens harvested from BMSCs-PGA-HA composite implantation demonstrated hyaline cartilage and a complete subchondral bone formation. The newly formed tissue with subchondral bone had perfect fusion with surrounding normal cartilage. A relative long-term follow up showed no progressive degeneration sign of newly formed tissues at the 32nd week. Conclusions BMSCs-PGA-HA composites facilitate the formation of hyaline-like cartilage and the integration between subchondral bone and surrounding cartilage. Therefore, BMSCs-PGA-HA composites can repair articular cartilage defects and have a better long-term result.


Last week, the U.S. Senate voted to require the use of expert panels to evaluate the engineering analyses, economic and environmental assumptions, and other aspects of projects in the Army Corps of Engineers9 $2-billion-a-year construction portfolio. (Read more.)


4-Trimethoxyphenyl-6, 7-dimethoxy-1-tetralone 6, 4-trimethoxy phenyl-6,7-dimethyl-1-tetralone 7 ana 4-trimethoxy phenyl-6-thiomethyl-1-tetralone 8, intermediates for the synthesis of analogues 3,4, and 5 respectively of beta-apopicropodophyllin 2 have been synthesized.


The Author observed the clinical findings of tinnitus caused by tubal stenosis on 676 cases or 900 ears. Tinnitus was complained in 44.8 per cent of patients with tubal stenosis. Tinnitus associated with the tubal stenosis develops in the majority in the unilateral ear as soon as stenosis of the tube begins.In approximately forty per cent tubal tinnitus disappeared by the local treatment including tubal catheterization, massage or puncture of the tympanic membrane in a short period.The characteristic clinical findings of tubal stenosis suggests that the pathogenesis of tubal tinnitus is not the result of an organic but a functional change of conductive system in the tympanum. Therefore, the author has postulated that in tubal tinnitus a negative pressure in the tympanum could alter the specific frequency of the ear drum or that of the tympanic cavity, and this alteration of frequency could intensify the noise of the blood vessels or hair movement of the tubal epithelium to an extent loud enough to be noticed as a subjectively audible noise.


Summary: There is evidence that responses mediated via α adrenoceptors are dependent on calcium fluxes and it has been suggested that the α2 adrenoceptor is particularly associated with the increased entry of extracellular calcium ions, which is preferentially antagonised by calcium channel blocking drugs. This study investigates in normotensive men the effects of calcium antagonism with verapamil and the dihydropyridine nisoldipine on the pressor responses to adrenergic and nonadrenergic vasoconstriction. Phenylephrine and alphamethylnoradrenaline were intravenously infused to assess respectively α1, and α2 adrenoceptor-mediated peripheral vascular responsiveness and angiotensin II was used to assess nonadrenergic responsiveness. After 4 days oral treatment, both verapamil and nisoldipine significantly attenuated the responses to angiotensin II with three- to fivefold rightward shifts of the mean pressor dose–response curves. Rightward shifts of comparable magnitude were obtained for phenylephrine but with alphamethylnoradrenaline, although the overall trend was similar, only nisoldipine caused a significant twofold rightward shift. These data demonstrate, in humans, that peripheral vascular adrenergic responses mediated via both α1 and α2 adrenoceptors are affected by calcium channel blocking drugs. There was no evidence that this effect was specifically linked to the α2 adrenoceptor.


Disclosed herein is a thermally conductive composition, comprising 20wt% to 80wt% of a thermoplastic polymer or thermosetting polymer; 10wt% to 70wt% of a metal hydroxide; 0.5wt% to 40wt% silicone char-forming agent, and 0.05wt% to 5wt% of an anti-dripping burning agent; wherein the thermally conductive composition for an interlayer having a thermal conductivity of at least 0.5W / mK and a thermal conductivity; and when tested according to UL-94 standard test, in 1.2mm or at least a thickness less flame retardancy of V-0.


Summary form only given. A repetitive plasma focus device has been successfully used to deposit FeCo thin films using two different methods. Firstly, the conventional central hollow copper anode is fitted with a solid FeCo rod with a 4 mm hole. The hot and dense plasma, produced during collapse phase, ablates the FeCo rod and the ablated material is deposited on silicon substrate placed at 25 cm from anode top. Second method uses energetic electrons produced in focus device. The energetic electrons are extracted through the anode hole in a lower chamber to ablate the FeCo target disc to deposit thin films. In both the methods, different numbers of focus deposition shots were fired at 1 Hz repetition rate and at 12 kV charging voltage with 12 mbar hydrogen. The SEM images of 30 shots deposition, by first method, show that the film surface is covered with 100 nm agglomerates which are composed of smaller grains of the size approximately about 20-30 nm. For 100 shots deposition, a different surface morphology is observed with complex distribution of nano-wire like network on the top of a carpet like background. When the number of the shots is increased further, much denser network structure is observed. The EDX of the samples show that the deposited films are stoichiometric. The XRD patterns show that the as-deposited films are crystalline. The films deposited using energetic electrons (second method) also show the nano-phase morphology but the nano-wire kind of the network is not observed on these films. The average size of particle agglomerate is found to vary from 30 to 100 nm. The size of the particles which form these agglomerates, however, is much smaller, less than 30 nm. The paper thus report the first ever use of repetitive plasma focus device as the energetic electron source for thin film deposition


It is argued that thirder resolution of the Lewis - Elga controversy about Sleeping Beauty is more clear when the coin toss is replaced by a quantum measurement and the analysis is performed in the framework of the Many-Worlds Interpretation.


From image-based virtual tours of apartments to digital museum exhibits, transforming photographs of real-world scenes into visually faithful virtual environments has many applications. In this paper, we present our development of a toolkit that places recent advances in the field of image-based rendering (IBR) into the hands of virtual reality (VR) researchers and content creators. We map out how these advances can improve the way we usually render virtual scenes from photographs. We then provide insight into the toolkit's design as a package for the Unity game engine and share details on core elements of our implementation.


The IR spectra of gaseous CF3Cl and CF3Br with natural isotopic abundances have been investigated in the region 1830-1900 cm-1 with a resolution of 0.01 cm-1 or better using a Q-switched spin-flip Raman laser (SFRL). Both J and K structure of the parallel band (v1 + v2) have been resolved partly for both isotopomers of CF3Cl and CF3Br, respectively. The analysis has been performed by the usual least squares method. Additionally the J clusters of some hot bands have been observed and analyzed.


We present a method for obtaining quantum transport properties in graphene that uniquely combines three crucial features: microscopic treatment of charge disorder, fully quantum-mechanical analysis of transport, and the ability to model experimentally relevant system sizes. As a pertinent application we study the disorder dependence of Klein tunneling dominated transport in p-n-p junctions. Both the resistance and the Fano factor show broad resonance peaks due to the presence of quasi-bound-states. This feature is washed out by the disorder when the mean free path becomes of the order of the distance between the two p-n interfaces.