The invention relates to a contactor means (10) for a motor vehicle, said contactor means (10) comprises a housing (18) and in the housing (18) is arranged coil (12), an armature (14a) and the armature (14a) coupled first contact element (18), wherein the coil (12) for moving the armature (14a) can be charged with electricity, wherein the contactor device (10), two second contact elements (16a, 16b) and is arranged such that the second contact elements ( 16a, 16b) are electrically connected in a closed state of the contactor device (10) via the first contact member (18) and (in an opened state of the protective device 10) are not connected. Furthermore, the contactor (10) in the housing (18) arranged diagnostic device (20) which is adapted to detect a non-operating contemporary open state and / or a non-operational proper closed state of the contactor device (10).


Three-dimensional (3D) printing has gained significance for human health-care applications in recent years. Some of these applications include obtaining models which mimic anatomical parts. One other parallel development in the biological research area is the development of 3D cell cultures. Such cultures are now becoming the material of choice for in vitro experiments, fast replacing the traditional adherent/monolayer 2D culture approaches. We present here, a method to obtain 3D prints of 3D aggregates of three human cancer cell lines. Such 3D prints can be useful models to understand solid tumor morphologies and also as effective teaching models.

Photomicrographs of the 3D aggregates of the human cancer cell lines SiHa, MCF-7, and A549 (human cervical cancer, breast cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer cell lines, respectively) were obtained using inverted phase contrast microscopy. Conversion of normal jpeg images into 3D files was performed using the lithophane method and CAD files obtained. The CAD files thus generated were used to print the objects using the Stratasys Polyjet J750 3D Printer.

We could obtain 3D prints of SiHa, MCF-7, and A549 (human cervical cancer, breast cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer cell lines, respectively) 3D aggregates/spheroids.

It is hoped that this approach will be useful for studying solid tumor morphologies in finer details. Furthermore, other benefits of such 3D prints would be in them being excellent models for teaching purposes.


The article deals with issues related to the mechanization of methods existing in Russian practice that allow assessing the level of influence on favorable conditions for the development of small innovative enterprises based on military institutions, and a new comprehensive indicator, which, when creating this database, is a general index of innovation. Based on two factors illustrating only opportunities for development and favorable conditions, and the true results of this activity, methods are proposed for predicting the importance of each element in terms of its impact on the level of innovative development, and, based on this, innovators are usually offered approaches to assigning weight modules to factors used in various methods of calculating the indicator. In the conditions of the current financial crisis, the reason for the success of small enterprises is the impact of their new development system and getting more opportunities for their functioning, to ensure a high level of planning of production processes in small companies. The author examines the Pleiades Correlation Graphs, which is formed based on the method of compiling a list of conditions that affect the development of small enterprises for small businesses based on military companies, to see how small enterprises are in transition. Thus, a methodology for the influence of favorable conditions on the development of small innovative enterprises based on military institutions is proposed, the choice of factors and the principle of assigning weight coefficients for them are substantiated, and a variant of the development of this methodology is shown. Further research is needed to obtain a more complete picture of the relationship between enabling environments and the development of small innovative enterprises based in military institutions.


4182 Background: Weekly GEM infused over 30 min is considered the standard of care for advanced PDAC and has activity in advanced BTC. However, a fixed dose-rate infusion at the rate of 10 mg/m2/min has theoretical pharmacokinetic advantages and may result in improved therapeutic efficacy. Methods: From April 2002 to September 2003, 40 advanced PDAC (n = 27) or BTC (n = 13) pts (median age: 63 yrs, range 45–77; M/F: 21/19; PDAC/BTC: 27/13; LA/Met: 9/31; PS 0/1/2: 18/15/7) were treated with GEM 1000 mg/m2 at the fixed dose-rate of 10 mg/m2/min for 7 consecutive wks and weekly x 3 q4 wks thereafter (FDR-GEM). All 40 patients and 427 treatment weeks were evaluable for toxicity, 38 patients had measurable/evaluable disease according to WHO criteria and were evaluable for response, 32 patients were evaluable for clinical benefit response (CBR) according to Burris criteria, and 25 patients had elevated CA19.9 serum levels at entry. Results: Median number of treatment wks delivered was 6 (range 2–22); toxicity w...


Background: Cancerisoneof thecommondiseasesinchildhood,thediagnosisof whichshocksparents,especiallymothers. Mean-while, parents' adaptation to the disease reduces complications and problems. Objectives: Therefore,thisstudywasaimedatexploringtheimpactof Royadaptationmodeloncareburdeninmothersof children under chemotherapy. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 36 mothers of children under chemotherapy who had referred to the oncologywardof TaleghaniHospital,Gorgan,in2018. Randomsamplingwascarriedoutforbothcontrolandexperimentalgroups. TheexperimentalgroupreceivedatrainingprogrambasedonRoyadaptationmodelduringsevensessionsoverafour-weekperiod. Data were collected using the Caregiver's Burden Scale (CBS) devised by Elmstahl. The results were analyzed in SPSS-18 using independent and paired t tests as well as covariance test at the significance level of P < 0.05. Results: The means of care burden before the intervention in the experimental and control groups were respectively 70.44 ± 7.04 and67.11 ± 6.54. Theindependent t testdidnotrevealanysignificantdifferenceinthisregard(P=0.15). However,aftertheinterven-tion, the mean of care burden significantly differed between the experimental (50.94 ± 4.58) and control (70.88 ± 5.13) groups, as confirmed by independent t test (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Based on the results, deploying the care program based on Roy adaptation model is an effective, low-cost, and non-invasive nursing intervention for mothers of children with cancer.


The well-known RSA public key cryptosystem is nowadays used in a wide variety of applications ranging from web browsers to smart cards. Since its initial publication in 1977, many researchers have tried to look for vulnerabilities in the system. Some clever attacks have been found. However, none of the known attacks is devastating and the RSA system is still considered secure. In this lecture we present one such attack, originally due to H åstad and then greatly refined by Coppersmith. This attack can be mounted when RSA is used with a low public exponent. The attack is based on an algorithm for finding small solutions to low degree polynomials, which is in turn based on the LLL algorithm. This root finding algorithm is interesting on its own and is also used in other attacks on the RSA system. Let us describe a simple version of the RSA cryptosystem. Let N = p · q be the product of two large primes of roughly the same size. Let r, s be two integers satisfying r · s = 1 (mod φ(N)), where φ(N) = (p − 1)(q − 1) is the order of the multiplicative group ZN . We callN the RSAmodulus, r the public exponent , ands theprivate exponent . The pair(N, r) is thepublic key. As its name suggests, it is public and is used to encrypt messages. The pair (N, s) is called thesecret keyor private key, and is known only to the recipient of encrypted messages. The secret key enables decryption of ciphertexts. A message is an integerM ∈ ZN . To encryptM , one computesC = M r (mod N). To decrypt the ciphertext, the legitimate receiver computes Cs (mod N). Indeed,Cs = M r·s = M (mod N), where the last equality follows by Euler's theorem.


Summary High‐resolution imaging techniques can demonstrate anatomic alterations in most patients identified as candidates for surgical treatment of their partial epilepsy. The demonstration of an anatomic lesion is only one step in the presurgical diagnostic procedure, which includes video‐EEG and, when necessary, video‐stereo‐EEG recordings of seizures. A review of the literature shows that the simple removal of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)‐evident lesion ("lesionectomy") reduces but does not completely suppress seizures in a large percentage of patients, especially those with neuronal migration disorders. This phenomenon could, at least in part, be explained by preliminary data (in 33 patients) showing that less than 20% of seizures correspond to a well‐localized, intra‐lesional discharge in about 40% of stereo‐EEG‐investigated patients with at least one intralesional electrode. The authors illustrate some anatomo‐electroclinical examples of intra‐individual variability of the ictal symptomatology, raising the problem of the decision about the extent of the surgical removal. Recent histologic and immunohistochemical studies have demonstrated several kinds of structural alterations in the stereo‐EEG‐defined epileptogenic zone, not always overlapping with the MRI‐visible lesion. This aspect can further explain some failures of MRI‐guided lesionectomies. That relationships between "lesions" and epileptogenic zones may be variable is also suggested by reports of patients who present with multiple lesions (i.e., cavernous angiomas, Bourneville syndrome) and are cured by removal of only one of them.


Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L., 2n=2x=22) is a dicot climber belonging to the cucurbitaceae family. Present investigation was carried out at Vegetable Research Farm of Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India during the kharif season of 2014. The present experiment was under taken with 20 genotypes in Randomized Complete Block Design (RBD)in three replications. The yield of the crop is a complex character and is the ultimate product of action and interaction of various component characters. Taking the phenotypic correlation coefficient into consideration in the present investigation, characters namely node number of first staminate flower appearance (0.321), node number of first pistillate flower appearance (0.472), vine length (0.338), fruit circumference (0.613), fruits per plant (0.467), average fruit weight (0.641), fruit diametre (0.491) and internodal length (0.225) are positively and significantly correlated with yield per plant while on the other hand, days to anthesis of first staminate flower (− 0.302) and days to first harvest (− 0.294) are negatively and significantly correlated with yield per plant.


We consider a model of a nancial corporation which has to nd an optimal policy balancing its risk and expected proots. The example treated in this paper is related to an insurance company with the risk control method known in the industry as excess-of-loss reinsurance. Under this scheme the insurance company divert part of its premium stream to another company in exchange of an obligation to pick up that amount of each claim which exceeds a certain level a, This reduces the risk but it also reduces the potential proot. The objective is to make a dynamic choice of a and nd the dividend distribution policy, which maximizes the cumulative expected discounted dividend pay-outs. We use diiusion approximation for this optimal control problem. Mathematical it becomes a mixed singular-regular control problem for diiusion processes. Its analytical part is related to a free boundary (Stephan) problem for a linear second order diierential equation.


A. V. Shestakov came from the Pomory of Arkhangel'sk Gubernia, who were peasants and fishermen. His father was a seaman in his youth and then a worker in an Arkhangelsk sawmill. It was there, in a working class suburb — the village of Solombalo — that A. V. Shestakov was born on October 24, 1877. There were nine children in the family, and from the age of seven Andrei had to work during the hours when he was not busy at school: as a boiler-cleaner on steamers and as a grain tamper in loading. Upon completing the five-year school in the city, he went to work in the sawmill, where he was first an apprentice and then a worker-mechanic and sawyer.


1. Ergotamine acts on only innervated melanophores by inducing them to disperse their pigment. It is without effect on denervated melanophores either with dispersed or with concentrated pigment.2. It acts on innervated melanophores only indirectly, that is, through their nerves. These are excited by ergotamine centrally to produce at their melanophore terminals acetylcholine which causes the color cells to disperse their pigment.3. Ergotamine is a good example of an indirect excitant of melanophores as contrasted with direct excitants such as intermedine, acetylcholine, and adrenaline, all of which act directly on these color cells.


The paper describes the turbulence scheme implemented in the Meso‐NH community research model, and reports on some validation studies. Since the model is intended to perform both large‐eddy and mesoscale simulations, we have developed a full three‐dimensional scheme, based on the original method of Redelsperger and Sommeria. A prognostic equation for the turbulent kinetic energy is used, together with conservative variables for moist non‐precipitating processes. A particularity of the scheme is the use of variable turbulent Prandtl and Schmidt numbers, consistently derived from the complete set of second‐order turbulent‐moment equations. The results of three idealized boundary‐layer simulations allowing detailed comparisons with other large‐eddy simulation (LES) models are discussed, and lead to the conclusion that the model is performing satisfactorily.


It is generally accepted that steroid therapy is effective for minimal change nephrotic syndrome. The prognosis of this disease is generally good, although the decrease of blood plasma volume caused by hypoproteinemia and renal blood flow may cause reversible acute renal failure. Herein we report a case of nephrotic syndrome that was diagnosed as minimal change nephrotic syndrome by renal biopsy one year ago. The patient visited the outpatient clinic routinely for steroid treatment, but after an infection and excessive exercise his nephrotic syndrome recurred and he developed acute renal failure. He recovered after steroid pulse therapy and hemocatharsis treatment. It appears to be important to diagnose minimal change nephrotic syndrome early and not to miss the timing of hemocatharsis for the maintenance of renal function because of the good prognosis of this disease.


This paper investigates transition pathways using an example from the bioeconomy: salmon farming and feed development in Norway. With a Multi-Level Perspective (MLP), the analysis show how a crucial biological input factor, feed, was gradually developed and innovated through interactions among technologies, institutions, and interpretations of landscape (external) pressures, with the industry's ambitions of becoming more sustainable. The case history presents salmon farming as an example of an incremental transformation with gradual reorientations. Aquaculture developed from a niche innovation in the agricultural sector in the 1960s into a sociotechnical regime of its own. The shift from wet feed to dry, extruded feed was a crucial technological enabler. At the start of the 1990s, strong exogenous changes, including an economic crisis of overproduction and declines in salmon prices, led to extensive institutional changes. Shifts in ownership and the introduction of feed quotas brought a substitution pathway, whereby salmon farming became a national economic project. As production recovered, however, overfishing for feed became a concern. From the late 1990s on, the sociotechnical regime followed a reconfiguration pathway with the innovation of soy as a feed input. Over time, using vegetarian salmon feed has had unintended consequences, particularly environmental and social problems related to soy production. This case exhibits a shift in transition pathways and in interpretations of sustainability. Neither technologies nor transitions in themselves are sustainable; institutions and actors are unable to create sustainable alternatives. Together, however, they have managed to make the fish farming industry take heed to different sustainability concerns over time. Yet, the transition to soy-based salmon feed demonstrates only a weak sustainability and with a main focus on economic sustainability. This finding is line with the critique of the bioeconomy agenda for paying insufficient attention to environmental sustainability and for failing to challenge predominant structures in society.


Farmer communities in Pasuruan regency, East Java, still rely on the agriculture sector to generate their income. Tuberose farmers, in particular, find difficulty in dealing with land ownership. They, who are skilful and expert, are lack of capital ownership, especially the land. The majority of tuberose farmers depend on "mertelu" profit-sharing as their daily income alternative. This study aims to analyse "mertelu" profit-sharing as an attempt to increase the tuberose farmers' incomes in Pasuruan regency, East Java. The research is done by a purposive sampling in Bangil, Rembang sub-districts, Pasuruan regency. This study uses a qualitative descriptive approach with the instrument of microeconomic theory. Data are collected by interviews with land owners and the tuberose farmers. The research finding shows that "mertelu" profit-sharing becomes one of the alternatives to increase the tuberose farmers' income. Nevertheless, the tuberose farmers in Pasuruan regency, East Java, feel that "mertelu" profit-sharing has not been able to improve their income significantly.


No amount of pre-court processes will ever do away with the need for the court process. Although it is proposed that agreements reached in mediation or collaborative divorce proceedings and subsequently endorsed by the office of the family advocate should automatically be made orders of the court without judicial oversight, difficult and dysfunctional families will continue to need the attention and protection of our courts. However, as was demonstrated above, the current court process does not comply with the peremptory provisions of section 6(2)(a) of the Children's Act − it does not protect, promote and fulfil children's rights, the best interests of the child and the principles set for child-related proceedings. Consequently, a new process specific to family law matters, especially those where children are involved, needs to be established. The new process must be conducive to conciliation and problem-solving and less confrontational – it specifically needs to address the heightened risk factors and the other problems inherent in the current court process and incorporate the voice of the child in a child-friendly manner. In this regard, there have been calls for a significantly simplified, briefer, and low-cost process for making decisions in difficult and high-conflict family cases which cannot be resolved through pre-court processes.


Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar, created the term global village. In early 1960's, McLuhan explains that just as the human nervous system connects and communicates, there is a global communication network that extends and connects people despite geographic distance. Such network, he calls "electronic interdependence," will replace visual, individualistic print culture to aural/oral culture through electronic media. He went on to predict the creation of the World Wide Web 30 years before it appeared. The connectivity of our world through the internet has been the leading force in globalization. Moreover, although the United States has been called the nation of immigrants, there continues to be increased numbers of foreign-born population in our country: 19.8 million or 7.9% in 1980 and 38.5 million or 12.5% of the total population in 2009. As more immigrants live and stay in the United States, health-related issues including the unforeseen consequences of having premature infants from many different cultures and backgrounds cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit became the reality. Although the immigrants come from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, nurses are there to provide care not only for the infants but also for the whole family, helping the family to one day be able to care for their own child. Cultural competencies are essential to excellent nursing care in today's diverse patient population.


This paper researches on algebraic immunity of concatenated function,uses concatenation construction method to construct Boolean function with good cryptographic properties.It discusses the algebraic immunity of Boolean function and.The upper bounds and the lower bounds of their algebraic immune degree are gotten.Meanwhile,a sufficient condition under which their upper bounds are obtained is presented respectively.Compared with other researches,the sufficient condition is easily satisfied and is effectively determined.


The usage of solar power is far less damaging to the environment than burning fossil fuels to generate electric power. In comparison to other renewable energy resources, solar has unmatched portability and thus flexibility. These characteristics make solar power a key energy source as we move toward more sustainable and clean ways to meet our energy needs.One of the ways of improving solar based power system efficiency was by incorporating sun tracking control mechanism, availability of a representative solar power systems models is important for the controller design. In the paper,an approximate linear model of a laboratory photovoltaic power system was developed. First the system output voltage at fixed step input of 7.05V to a light source was collected and plotted in time, from the plot time indices are read and translated into natural frequency and damping constant, with these a second order transfer function model was developed. Simulation of the model produces time response result showssome acceptable level of closeness with that of the data plot of the physical system.


Summary Cascade theories appropriate to the various schemes of plural production of mesons suggested by Heitler and Janossy (and one by us) are developed. A set of master diffusion equations are set up which contain the various schemes as special cases. Their exact solution is given and detailed numerical results are presented for one of the schemes. These are presented in a form suitable for direct comparison with those obtained experimentally using photographic plate techniques. It is suggested, now that the detailed numerical results are available, that a recomparison be made between theory and experimental results previously obtained, in order to see whether the scheme considered does or does not agree with experimental observations. Results are presented in tabular form both for light and heavy elements and for mesons as well as protons.


The general purpose of this inquiry was to investigate the role of biofortified dry land arrowroots in mitigating food security among rural women farmers' households in Muranga County. The study sought to establish economic value of biofortified dry land arrowroots in Murang'a County. The Study was founded on feminist theory. The study methodology included the use of semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and interviewing key informants. The study sampled 120 respondents. The qualitative and quantitative data was analyzed and a report prepared. The study achieved 83% response rate. The Study findings indicated that biofortified dry land arrowroots crops are economically beneficial as women farmers sell surplus crops. Conclusion of the study was that dry land arrowroots have significant economic value among women farmers in Muranga County. The findings however did not generalize in Kenya. The study recommended that the government needed to adopt biofortified dry land arrowroots farming production to address food insecurity in arid and semi-arid lands. The study further recommended studies in other Counties on dry land arrowroots to allow generalization. Key Words: Biofortified Dry Arrowroots Farming, Economic Value CITATION: Chege, J. N. (2020). Economic value of biofortified dry land arrowroots in Muranga County. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 7 (4), 775 – 782.


Objective: to identify the profile of microorganisms isolated from biological samples of patients admitted to a hospital in Paraná. Method: descriptive and retrospective research, with data collection from a secondary source, developed in a hospital in Paraná (Brazil), referring to 2018. The study population consisted of biological samples from 226 patients admitted during the period from January 1st to December 31st, 2018. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics. Result: the mean age of the patients was 60.41 years old and the majority were women. Of the biological samples, 70 had positive results for bacterial identification. The tracheal aspirate showed greater positivity to microorganisms, with 30%. The most frequent microorganisms were Escherichia coli, coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter sp. and Proteus sp. Conclusion: the study contributes to hospital care, as it produces knowledge of the microbiological profile and its resistance to antibiotics. DESCRIPTORS: Epidemiological Profile; Microbiota; Hospital Infection; Bacterial Infections; Microbial Drug Resistance. HOW TO REFERENCE THIS ARTICLE: Santo ARE, Moreira RC, Matsumoto LS, Furtado E da L, Hirai CQ. Profile of microorganisms isolated from inpatients in a hospital in Paraná. Cogitare enferm. [Internet]. 2020 [accessed "insert day, monh and year"]; 25. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.5380/ce.v25i0.71077. 1Nursing student. State University of North Paraná. Bandeirantes, PR, Brazil. 2Nurse. PhD in Nursing. Nursing Professor of the State University of North Paraná. Bandeirantes, PR, Brazil. 3Bilogist. PhD in Microbiology. Professor of the State University of North Paraná. Bandeirantes, PR, Brazil. 4Nurse. Specialist in Nosocomial Infection Control. Santa Casa de Bandeirantes. Bandeirantes, PR, Brazil. 5Physician. MS student in Health Sciences. Santa Casa de Bandeirantes. Bandeirantes, PR, Brazil. dx.doi.org/10.5380/ce.v25i0.71077 Cogitare enferm. 25: e71077, 2020 Amanda Ribeiro Espírito Santo1, Ricardo Castanho Moreira2, Leopoldo Sussumu Matsumoto3, Eliane da Luz Furtado4, Cláudio Queniti Hirai5 PERFIL DE MICRORGANISMOS ISOLADOS DE PACIENTES INTERNADOS EM UM HOSPITAL DO PARANÁ RESUMO Objetivo: identificar o perfil de microrganismos isolados de amostras biológicas de pacientes internados em um Hospital do Paraná. Método: pesquisa descritiva e retrospectiva, com coleta de dados de fonte secundária, desenvolvida em um hospital do Paraná (Brasil), referente a 2018. A população do estudo foi composta por amostras biológicas de 226 pacientes admitidos durante o período de 01 de janeiro a 31 de dezembro de 2018. A análise dos dados foi realizada pela estatística descritiva. Resultado: a idade média dos pacientes foi de 60,41 anos e maioria mulheres. Das amostras biológicas, 70 tiveram resultados positivos para identificação bacteriana. O aspirado traqueal apresentou maior positividade a microrganismos, com 30%. Os microrganismos mais frequentes foram Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus coagulase negativa, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter sp. e Proteus sp. Conclusão: o estudo contribui para a assistência hospitalar, por produzir conhecimento do perfil microbiológico e sua resistência a antibióticos. DESCRITORES: Perfil Epidemiológico; Microbiota; Infecção Hospitalar; Infecções Bacterianas; Resistência Microbiana a Medicamentos. Amanda Ribeiro Espírito Santo | Ricardo Castanho Moreira | Leopoldo Sussumu Matsumoto | Eliane da Luz Furtado | Cláudio Queniti Hirai ARTIGO ORIGINAL / ARTÍCULO ORIGINAL PERFIL DE MICROORGANISMOS AISLADOS DE PACIENTES INTERNADOS EN UN HOSPITAL DE PARANÁ RESUMEN: Objetivo: identificar el perfil de microorganismos aislados de muestras biológicas de pacientes internados en un hospital de Paraná. Método: investigación descriptiva e retrospectiva, con recolección de datos de una fuente secundaria, desarrollada en un hospital de Paraná (Brasil), con referencia al año 2018. La población del estudio estuvo compuesta por muestras biológicas de 226 pacientes internados durante el período del 1 de enero al 31 de diciembre de 2018. El análisis de los datos se realizó por medio de estadística descriptiva. Resultado: la media de edad de los pacientes fue de 60,41 años y la mayoría eran mujeres. De las muestras biológicas, 70 tuvieron resultados positivos con respecto a la identificación bacteriana. El aspirado traqueal presentó mayor positividad a microorganismos, con 30%. Los microorganismos más frecuentes fueron Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus coagulasa negativa, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter sp. y Proteus sp. Conclusión: el estudio contribuyó a la asistencia hospitalaria, por generar conocimiento del perfil microbiológico y su resistencia a antibióticos. DESCRIPTORES: Perfil epidemiológico; Microbiota; Infección hospitalaria; Infecciones bacterianas; Resistencia microbiana a medicamentos. dx.doi.org/10.5380/ce.v25i0.71077 Cogitare enferm. 25: e71077, 2020 Cogitare enferm. 25: e71077, 2020 Profile of microorganisms isolated from inpatients in a hospital in Paraná INTRODUCTION Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) represent a serious public health problem, as they generate social and financial impacts(1). They are characterized by infections related to health care provided in different settings, such as hospitals, long-term institutions, basic health units, clinics, offices, and home care(2). In the hospital context, these infections are acquired after the patient's admission and manifest themselves during hospitalization or after hospital discharge, related to hospitalization or health procedures. When the incubation period of the microorganism is not known, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, ANVISA) has agreed that Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) are any clinical manifestation of infection that appears after 72 hours of the patient's admission(3). The HAIs terminology started to be used in 2007, with the publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) replacing the term Hospital Infection, due to the inability to determine for sure where the pathogen was acquired, as the patients are seen at different points in the care network, being exposed to several pathogens(2). In the Brazilian health services, there is a high incidence of HAIs, with a consequent increase in the inappropriate and indiscriminate use of different antimicrobials, resulting in the selection of resistant bacteria(4). In a reference university hospital for the northern region of Paraná, in the period from 2009 to 2011, of the 11,117 patients seen, 889 cases of HAIs were recorded, for an occurrence of 8%. Among the patients diagnosed with HAIs, the mortality rate was estimated at 38.4%, with the majority of deaths being related to these infections(5). Microbial resistance is considered a major threat to public health worldwide, as it increases the length of hospital stay, morbidity and mortality, in addition to reducing protection for surgical patients undergoing chemotherapy, and transplanted. Therapeutic options are increasingly scarce and expensive, and sometimes even non-existent(4,6). The bacteria become resistant to antimicrobials due to four mechanisms: destruction or inactivation of the drug by enzymatic function, blocking the bacteria's porins in order to prevent the entry of the antimicrobial, changes in the drug's target site, and an efflux pump that eliminates the antimicrobial from the bacteria(7). A complication of the HAIs is sepsis, a host's unregulated response to infection, which leads to dysfunction of vital organs and is life-threatening, as it has a mortality rate greater than 50%. Another aspect to be highlighted is the severity of sepsis when acquired in the hospital compared to the acquisition of the pathogen in the community. A study carried out between 2010 and 2015 in a hospital of the southern region of Brazil, found a longer hospital stay (23 days versus 8 days) and twice the chance of hospital mortality (30.7% versus 15.6%) of patients with hospital sepsis in relation to community-acquired sepsis(8). To regulate the control and prevention measures for the HAIs, Ordinance No. 2,616, of May 12th, 1998, was drafted and published by the ANVISA, with guidelines and rules that establish the necessary actions for the prevention and control of HAIs, being instituted in public and private organizations that provide health care throughout the national territory(3). The Hospital Infection Control Program (Programa de Controle de Infecções Hospitalares, PCIH) is also included in this Ordinance and aims to reduce the incidence and severity of the HAIs, by means of a set of predetermined actions, guiding that "for the proper execution of the PCIH, the hospitals must constitute the Hospital Infection Control Commission (Comissão de Controle de Infecção Hospitalar, CCIH), the institution's advisory body and for the execution of hospital infection control actions"(3). For specialists in this area, conducting basic, epidemiological and translational research studies, to fill knowledge gaps that respond to emerging threats, represents one Cogitare Enferm. 25: e71077, 2020 Amanda Ribeiro Espírito Santo | Ricardo Castanho Moreira | Leopoldo Sussumu Matsumoto | Eliane da Luz Furtado | Cláudio Queniti Hirai METHOD of the four strategic pillars of actions to eliminate HAIs(9). The objective of the study was to identify the profile of the microorganisms isolated from biological samples of patients admitted to a hospital in northern Pioneer region of Paraná. This is a descriptive and retrospective research study. "Descriptive research aims to describe the distributions of the existing variables, without worrying about chance or other hypotheses"(10:3). The research was carried out in a Philanthropic Hospital, located in the northern Pioneer region of Paraná, which is part of the Regional Health Mast


The Competitive Algorithm of Simulating Natural Tree Growth,a novel optimization algorithm,was applied to antenna design by calling the numerical electromagnetic simulation software based on Finite Element Method(FEM) to implement the automated antenna design,and then a novel microstrip plane tree-shaped antenna with end-fire characteristic was designed.This antenna maintained the end-fire radiation pattern with S11-10 dB in the frequency band from 5.77 GHz to 5.93 GHz,and the end-fire gain is 5.4 dBi at the frequency of 5.8 GHz.According to the simulated result,a prototype of the antenna was fabricated and tested.Good accordance was obtained between simulated and measured results.


Aiming at the traffic jamming problem becoming more and more outstanding and traffic sustainable development,act.In this article,it is summarized foreign cities' successful experiences which develop public traffics,it brings forward concrete developing strategies of public traffics in future.It illustrates priority public traffic is way of continuous development for urban traffic.


In order to respond to the great needs for healthcare providers in the Quinte area the health human resources (HHR) demonstration project created a number of initiatives. Our group focused on two parts: a nursing internship program and human resources planning across our rural communities. Components of this project included developing useful tools as well as a partnership within our communities to build and foster collaboration between multidisciplinary organizations.


Software Product Line Engineering(SPLE) is an effective software Large-scale production method for specific business domains to achieve the systematic reuse of software assets,reducing the cost of software production,shorten the production cycle.However,with the rapid market changes,the method can't meet the requirements.For Applications of SPLE in industries or business domains,the SOA technology is used in Software Product Line Engineering,have proposed the design methods of ser vice-oriented software product line architecture for adaption to changes in business agility.


A mean field Mori-Tanaka model was developed to calculate the effective magneto-electro-elastic moduli of matrix-based three-phase multi-ferroic composites,and the variations of magnetoelectric coefficients of the composites with respect to the micro-structural features have been investigated.The results show a strong influence of volume fraction and shape aspect ratios of constituent phases on the effective magneto-electric coefficients.These numerical results provide guidelines for the experimental design of the multi-ferroic composite.


In actualization of earlier papers we present a statistical analysis of anthropogenic and natural variance or signals, respectively, which can be detected in the observed global mean surface air temperature series 1860-2008 using multiple linear regression (MLR) and non-linear neural networks (NN). The forcing factors considered are greenhouse gases (GHG), tropospheric sulphate aerosols (SUL), solar activity, volcanism and ENSO (El Nino /southern oscillation). Thereby, a maximum total of explained variance of 88 % is reached by NN compared to 80 % by MLR. The related anthropogenic NN signals are 0.9-1.5 K warming due to GHG, 0.2-0.5 K cooling due to SUL and a combined (GHG+SUL) anthropogenic effect of 0.7-0.9 K warming. The natural signals have a magnitude of roughly 0.2 K. Moving MLR analysis shows that within recent decades the solar signal systematically decreased whereas the GHG signal increased to become a dominant factor of climate variability. Some test procedures address the confidence of the results and the sensitivity of the signals.


A new approach is designed for providing a personalized interface between Web visitors and E-commerce sites,so as to convert the visitors into buyers.This personalized approach models customer behaviors based on data mining and makes product recommendations accordingly.Experiments show that the proposed approach is effective.


The philosophy and general principles of incisions in laryngeal excision‐al surgery are discussed. The major types of incisions are named, described and examined in relationship to the blood supply to the skin flaps and its adaptation to carotid artery protection and stomal formation. The importance of the incision as a composite part of the operation is stressed.


Estonia's Reform of Criminal Law: Evolution and Evaluation After Twenty Years Following Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940 and its independency in August 1991, the country enacted its criminal code in June 1992, which was replaced by a new criminal code in 2001. This article discusses the historical path of Estonia's criminal law reforms, outlining the changes of its criminal code, and the assessment of sentencing at supreme jurisdiction level. The article continues with an analysis of Estonia's far- reaching changes in the criminal law in 2015. In conclusion, Estonia's comprehensive and radical criminal law reform of 2001 can be regarded as well established today; there are, however, remaining issues primarily revolving around the country's regulations on administrative offences.


The real estate industry received attention under the background of constructing Hainan international traveling island.The article established the evaluating index system firstly about the development level of real estate industry by correlation analysis method to make comparison between provinces by analysis methods of principal component and comprehensive index,aided by SPSS software.The comparison result was consistently tested by Spearman rank correlation coefficient test.Then by combination evaluation method the article gave out the more scientific comparison result that the real estate industry development level of Hainan placed 22nd.The research method of the article and the result got could provide references both for understanding the developing status of real estate industry of Hainan and for related departments while making policies during the construction of the international traveling island in practice and theory.


The video sequence is a method and device for editing remains compressed form. To obtain a video effect, applies the editing data representing video effects (22), the difference data obtained from the compressed bit stream (100) (40). Difference data, difference error data, converted differential error data, transformed quantized differential error data, or a transformed coded error data. Video effects include fade-in to a certain color or color combination, fade from one color or combination of colors, or fade the color components in the color video frame into color component in the monochrome video frame. Editing operations, multiplication, addition, or a both.


Two suitable approaches are presently used for augmentation of saddle noses: the traditional endonasal approach (utilizing minimal incisions with precise pocket preparation and limited tissue undermining), and the more involved external or open approach (requiring more extensive incisions and undermining, but providing binocular vision, bimanual surgical capabilities, and a direct approach to septal deformities)


Purpose

This paper is a conceptual discussion of the marginalisation of the voices of older lesbians, gay and bisexual (LGB) women, within the collective discourse of "older LGBT* housing". The purpose of this paper is to critically interrogate its (in)equality implications and to consider ways in which they might be overcome.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual discussion that draws on the social justice model of equality developed by Nancy Fraser, specifically the domains of resources, recognition and representation.

Findings

The housing needs, wishes and concerns of older LGB women are often marginalised while at the same time those of older gay men are privileged. Older LGB women's preferences for gender- and/or sexuality- specific housing are silenced within collective homogenising discourse – by researchers and activists alike – which mobilises a "mainstream" or "LGBT*-specific" binary about housing options.

Research limitations/implications

Research findings which do not include the voices of older lesbian, gay and bisexual women are inherently flawed. There is a need to ensure their voices – across the older age spectrum – are included.

Practical implications

The voices of older LGB women in relation to older age housing need to be better heard so that they can be better resourced.

Social implications

The marginalisation of older lesbian, gay and bisexual women's voices in relation to older age housing has profound equality and human rights implications.

Originality/value

Critical discussions about the gendering of older LGBT* housing discourse are long overdue. This paper seeks to open a dialogue about these important issues.


The Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) is an instrument payload that will fly on the Aura spacecraft as part of the Earth Orbiting Satellite (EOS) program to study and measure global ozone distribution. This paper describes the novel approach using Shaped Memory Alloys (SMAs) to relieve stresses in the 100 kg TES optical bench after launch. The SMA passively releases the non-kinematically-mounted optical bench when cooled to its operating temperature of 180K and automatically reclamps the bench to regain full bolt preload when warm. This allows the bench to be unstressed during operation, safely survive launch loads and negates the need for manual intervention at the joint interface after every thermal test cycle. A full series of qualification tests were performed to ensure bolt preloads were regained at warm temperatures and full release occurred at cold temperatures.


In the secondary radio limited access (SR-LA) scheme, the secondary radio (SR) is limited to access parts of the frequency bins in order to obtain a tradeoff between the SR dropped probability and SR blocked probability. In this paper, we present the complete expressions of the balance equation and the blocked probability for the SR-LA scheme. Simulations and numerical analysis are conducted to verify the correctness of the new expressions.


The Nullstellensatz for zeros in a closed polydisk of C n is proved constructively with no appeal to choice axioms.


Lesions of the posterior horn of medial meniscus (PHMM) are very often associated with an ACL rupture (16,32,49). Certain specific lesions of the Medial Meniscus (MM) such as meniscosynovial or meniscocapsular tears and meniscotibial ligament lesions are associated with 9 to 17% of ACL Tears (8,21) and are seldom recognized on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans (8,38). They also often remain undiagnosed when viewing from the standard anterior compartment arthroscopic portals including a probing. They were named in the 1980s by Strobel et al (42) as ''Ramp'' lesions of the meniscus and have drawn a lot of attention over the past few years (3,8,21,38,42). The aim of this article will be to write a narrative review of this Ramp meniscal lesion.


Graffiti have been found in a number of the churches in the medieval town of Paliachora on Aigina and elsewhere on the island. Recently two graffiti of sailing vessels were noted in the church of Agioi Anargyroi in Paliachora and it is suggested that their presence may be related to the maritime activities of the medieval inhabitants, pirate raids on the town, and the beliefs of fishermen and sailors.


Purpose GE EPI is commonly applied for acquiring perfusion MRI with arterial spin labeling (ASL). A key problem is the long echo train that causes problems in image quality due to the susceptibility artifact. This study aimed to focus on the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) region and evaluate the effects of slice angle combined with parallel imaging technique on ASL image quality. Methods FAIR combined with a single‐shot GE EPI was applied with TI = 1400 ms, TR/TE/FA = 3000 ms /20 ms /90°, 5mm slice thickness, 7 slices, NEX = 15, FOV = 220 mm and matrix = 64. The slice tilt was set from −45°, 0 to +40° relative to the AC‐PC direction. Images were obtained both with and without applying the SENSE (factor = 2). Signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) and contrast was calculated from the nonselective (MNS) and the selective inversion image (MNS). Results The SNR became more stable when the parallel imaging was used (Fig.1). On the contrary, the susceptibility gradient caused a greater effect on the SNR without parallel acquisition with a maximum at −15° slice tilt. At two of the slice orientations the resulted images exhibited greater SNR in the OFC region due to reduced susceptibility artifact. The changes of SNR can be appreciated from the spatially normalized images showed in Fig. 2. Figure 3 demonstrated slight varied contrast at different slice orientation measured with parallel imaging. The highest value is about 1.8% at −15° slice tilt. Conclusion For the purpose of reducing signal losses in OFC, this study found the optimal slice tile without parallel imaging. However, parallel imaging may be preferable because it was less subject to slice orientation. Further studies with more subjects and anatomical areas are required to better understand the changes in inflow contrast as the slice tilt.


With 180MJ/{micro}g, antiprotons offer the highest stored energy per unit mass of any known entity. We investigate the use of antiprotons to promote fast ignition in an ICF capsule and seek high gains with only modest compression of the main fuel. Unlike standard fast ignition where the ignition energy is supplied by an energetic, short pulse laser, the energy here is supplied through the ionization energy deposited when antiprotons annihilate at the center of a compressed fuel capsule. In the first of two candidate fast ignition schemes, the antiproton package is delivered by a low energy external ion beam. In the second, ''autocatalytic'' scheme, the antiprotons are pre-emplaced at the center of the capsule prior to compression. In both schemes, we estimate that {approximately}3x10{sup 13} antiprotons are required to initiate fast ignition in a typical ICF capsule and show that incorporation of a thin, heavy metal shell is desirable to enhance energy deposition in the igniter zone. In addition to obviating the need for a second energetic fast laser and vulnerable final optics, this scheme would achieve central without reliance on laser channeling through halo plasma or houlrahm debris. However, in addition to the unknowns involved in the storage andmore » manipulation of antiprotons at low energy, the other large uncertainty for the practicality of such a scheme is the ultimate efficiency of antiproton production in, an external, optimized facility.« less


A commercial one-inch vidicon was exposed to a total radiation dosage of approximately 1015 NVT in the Brookhaven National Laboratories Nuclear Pile Reactor. Quantitative tests were devised for measuring tube aperture response, signal, noise, and photoconductor "dark" current. No measurable degradation of performance occurred, except for decrease in signal output, which was attributed to radiation browning of the vidicon glass faceplate.


A method, called "the discrete variational method", has been recently presented by Furihata and Matsuo for designing finite difference schemes that inherit energy conservation or dissipation property from nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs). In this paper the method is enhanced so that the derived schemes be highly accurate in space by introducing higher order spatial difference operators, including the so-called "spectral differentiation" operator. Applications to the KdV equation, and the cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation are also presented.


This study aims to investigate the determinants of capital expenditure (capex) for Malaysian palm oil companies listed at Bursa Malaysia.  The study uses the dynamic panel data analysis (generalized method of moment) estimation for the sample of 40 palm oil-oriented firms that spanning from year 2000 until 2016. Findings/Originality : The empirical findings revealed that, in the short run and the long run, the capex spending is significantly affected by the cash flow, sale growth, and world crude palm oil price. However, Average Q  significantly influences the capex decision in the long run only. Thus, the policy implication from this study suggests that palm oil-oriented firms should take into account the movement of world crude palm oil (CPO) price in designing their capital expenditure strategy. In addition, proper planning for managing firms' cash flow and sale growth are also important for expanding their capex in future.


The study presents the analysis of the MIRAB economy. This paradigm originally took shape in the MIRAB model of Bertram and Watters – model which was specific for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The MIRAB economy was measured by two indica-tors: development aid and remittances from emigrants. The analysis shows that the MIRAB economy appears also in some Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), especially in Kirgizstan. In this economy development aid and remittances are very high, especially after 2003. This proves that from this time Kirgizstan socio-economic strategy seems to be the MIRAB economy.


To properly use radar refractivity data quantitatively, good knowledge of its errors is required. The data quality of refractivity critically depends on the phase measurements of ground targets that are used for the refractivityestimation.Inthisstudy,theobservationalerrorstructureof refractivityisfirstestimatedbasedon quantifyingtheuncertaintiesofphasemeasurements,dataprocessing,andtherefractivityestimationmethod. New correlations between the time series of phase measurements at different elevation angles and between polarizations are developed to assess the bulk phase variability of individual targets. Then, the observational error of refractivity is obtained by simulating the uncertainties of phase measurements through the original refractivity estimationmethod.Resultingerrorsinrefractivityarefoundtobesmallerthan1N-unitinareasdenselypopulated with reliable point-like stationary ground targets but grow as the target density becomes sparse.


This study investigates the performance analysis of a transmit antenna selection–maximal ratio combining relay system over non-identical channel estimation error. The proposed system selects both relay and user terminal with a maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) using feedback information. The exact closed-form expression of the proposed system for the outage probability and symbol error rate (SER) is derived in the presence of non-identical channel estimation error. Using the approximated probability density function, the authors quantify the diversity order for the SER and outage probability. From the above results, the diversity order of the proposed system is proportional to the number of relay nodes and user terminals. Thus, the diversity order of the proposed system is superior to that of the previous selection systems. The diversity order of the proposed system is independent of the number of receive antennas at the relay and user terminal and the channel correlation coefficient. Furthermore, the SNR gain of the proposed system is in proportion to the sum of the channel correlation coefficients and the number of receive antennas at the relay and user terminal.


Objective To establish an HPLC method for the determination of β,β′-dimethylacrylalkanin in Ganning Pian.Methods A Shimadzu VP-ODS column was used.The mobile phase was acetonitrile-water-formic acid(67∶33∶0.03) with the flow rate of 1.0 mL·min-1,and the detective wavelength was 275 nm.Results The linearity range of β,β′-dimethylacrylalkanin was 0.101 6-1.016 μg(r=0.999 6),and the average recovery was 99.5%(n=6).Conclusion This method is simple,accurate and specific.It can be used for the quality control of Ganning Pian.


In Floer's instanton homology theory for homology 3-spheres, the ChernSimons function (or a suitable perturbation of it) is used as a sort of Morse function on the space of SU(2) connections modulo gauge equivalence. The chain complex for the homology theory is generated by the critical points, namely the equivalence classes of flat connections, of this function (excepting the trivial connection). In this paper we consider .M, the critical set of the Chern-Simons function on the space of SU(2) connections modulo gauge equivalence for arbitrary oriented 3-manifolds with boundary. Generically, M is a smooth manifold of dimension 3g — 3 except for several types of singularities. These singularities arise from connections which either are reducible on Y or are reducible when restricted to dY. We describe the structure of M near these singularities. There is a natural restriction map from the flat moduli space on the 3manifold to the (6g — 6)-dimensional flat moduli space for its boundary M^. Goldman described a symplectic structure on the latter in [G], and with respect to this structure the restriction map is Lagrangian. In fact, there is a Legendrian lift of the restriction to a U(l) bundle with a contact structure over .ME. The main theorem of the paper, roughly stated, is the following.


Abstract Many talk about the profound change religion is undergoing. A good part of this change is due to digitization. With regard to religion, "change" could be perceived as a paradox though. By its very nature, religion has been conceived as unchangeable because related to an ultimate, invariable source. Technology and digitization suggest, by their nature, the exact opposite: rapid change and "total" innovation with few inhibitions. So is the current dawn of a "digitized religion" a contradiction in itself, just a fake, a business model—or more?


14525 Background: Patients with LM from CRC have a poor prognosis with survival rates of 31% at 1 year and 2.6% at 3 years. Surgery is feasible in a minority of patients and most them received syst...


Global environmental problems are receiving increasing attention from academics, policymakers, regulators, activists, and the public. Although economically significant, Indonesian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) are the main contributors to environmental pollution. Environmental Accounting (EA) calculates the cost of the environmental impact of business operations. However, it is unclear whether environmental impact costs have been calculated in traditional accounting. The millennial generation dominates MSME owners in Indonesia. This study analyzes the factors that encourage the intention of millennial MSME owners to apply Environmental Accounting Practices. This study uses the theory of planned behavior and an online survey with 164 respondents. Data analysis using PLS-SEM. The results show that the benefits of environmental accounting, price, complex integration, and subjective norms affect the attitude of millennial MSME owners toward environmental accounting. The price and complexity of integration encourage millennial MSME owners to control their behavior. Organizational environmental regulations and orientation have no significant effect. Subjective norms, attitudes, and behavioral controls affect the behavioral intention of environmental accounting in millennial generation MSMEs. These findings are essential for MSME owners, policymakers, MSME associations, and Indonesian academics.


The purpose of the present invention is to provide a lubricating oil composition that has a low viscosity, very high viscosity index, and excellent shear stability. The lubricating oil composition contains components (A) to (C), wherein (A) is a low-viscosity synthetic oil which is a compound containing ether bonds in the molecules and for which the dynamic viscosity at 40 DEG C is less than 10 mm2/s, the ratio of the number of oxygen atoms and the number of carbon atoms that constitute the compound (O/C ratio) and the dynamic viscosity of the compound (mm2/s) at 40 DEG C satisfying the formula (I) of dynamic viscosity at 40 DEG C<=12-[(O/C ratio)*30]); (B) is one or more high-viscosity synthetic oils which are hydrocarbon-based synthetic oils having a dynamic viscosity at 100 DEG C of 40 mm2/s or higher, and which are selected from alpha-olefin oligomers, hydrides thereof, and ethylene-propylene copolymer oligomers; and (C) is a polymethacrylate having a weight-average molecular weight of 50,000 or lower.


These papers bring out the distinct contribution criminologists and criminological sociologists have to offer in the study of counter-terrorism from theoretical, methodological, and substantive viewpoints. It looks at terrorism in relation to hate crimes, state crimes, civil liberties, punishment, transnation crime and the international court.


This paper examined the effects of different forms of automation invocation, the reconfiguration of the task display when automated, and the influence of the specific modality that warned of the manual/automation transition on operator performance. Thirty-two experienced pilots engaged in a multiple-task situation consisting of tracking, monitoring, and fuel management subtasks, representative of typical aviation demands. Automation of the tracking task could be invoked in four different ways: 1) system-initiated automation (SIA); 2) pilot command by negation (PCN); 3) pilot command by initiation (PCI); and 4) pilot-initiated automation (PIA). Pilots were warned of the mode change between manual and automated controls by either a visual, an aural, or a combined visual and aural cue. The display of the subtask while in automation was reduced in size and placed either in a central or peripheral location. Results indicated that SIA had a differential effect on tracking performance as compared to all other forms of automation invocation. The respective location of the automated display had it effects in the fuel management subtask, whereas monitoring capability remained stable across manipulations. A significant three-way interaction between invocation procedure, display location, and warning modality illustrated the selective disadvantage of the visual warning combined with the central location under the PCI procedure on tracking response. Measures of subjective response suggested that visual warning modality was slightly more taxing than either an auditory or a combined auditory and visual warning. Pilots also experienced elevated fatigue when the system initiated the automation. These results confirm that both performance and subjective perception of multitask demand are greater when the system controls the option to automate. A qualitative model is presented, which provides an approach for the integrated assessment of human performance with adaptive systems.


Respiratory ensures permeation of oxygen into the human body. Respiratory parameters are used for featuring human health state. The parameter of respiration is measured implantable over duration of time. A wireless portable system using sensors is proposed to monitor the respiratory parameters. The monitoring system measures the users respiratory air flow using a thermal flow sensor, body posture using a triaxis accelerometer and a photo electric sensor is used to monitor oxygen saturation. Algorithms are proposed for derivation of respiration parameters and estimation of body posture. Additionally, the monitored parameters are transmitted wirelessly to a PC connected in the hospital through a ZigBee transmitter so that the testing results can be recorded and analyzed or transmitted to a remote center or physicians. Respiratory flow sensor can detect weak respiration. Tri axis accelerometer that detects body posture provides a reference for respiration movement. Respiratory parameters like tidal volume, peak inspiratory flow, minute ventilation and respiration rate are derived from the obtained respiratory flow data. The system can act as both sleep recorder and spirometer making the system capable of monitoring and diagnosing various respiratory diseases like obstructive sleep apnea, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. A laptop or mobile connected to the internet is capable of serving the system as remote monitoring and timely risk alarming if any respiratory distress occurs and makes telemedicine achievable. Index Terms – Respiratory disease, Wireless Monitoring, telemedicine _________________________________________________________________________________________________________


his study investigated the theory of mind developme nt and its relation to social skills in children an d adolescence with Visual impairment. Study population consisted of al l students with visual impairment in Mashhad city. Using purpose- ful sampling, 43 children in four age groups (4, 7, 10 and 13 years old) were selected. To measure the theory of mind, two Tasks of False Beliefs (Task of Belief Prediction, Perner , & Wimmer, 1987; Task of Action Prediction, Wimmer, & Perner, 1983) were used. To assess social skills and behavioral p roblems, Social Skills Scale (teacher form; Gresham , & Elliott, 1990) was used. Research data were analyzed using the Chi squ are test, Pearson correlation coeffcient and logist ic regression analysis. Significant relationships were found between the pe rformance of the Action Prediction Task and the ove rall scores of social skills, and between the performance of both tasks ( the Action Prediction Task and the Belief Predictio n Task) and the overall scores of behavioral problems. The results also sho wed that verbal IQ and age predicted the performanc e of the Action Predi- ction Task.


Aspect ratio of kaolinite was an important parameter in many areas of kaolin application,however,the appropriate instruments and techniques to measure it have not been put forward so far.The principle of resistance method for grain size measurement reflects the relationship of resistance changes with the particle size and morphology,based on that,the aspect ratio of kaolinite can be calculated.Through detailed analysis of the output data and graph of Coulter Counter instrument worked on resistance law,it was found that the output electrical pulse height reflects the volume of a particle,the electrical pulse width reflects particle length through the hole,and by comparing with standard spherical particle pulse data,the aspect ratio calculation formula of kaolinite was established:AR=3/2[n+W-Wn/Wn+1-Wn/L]3.The accuracy of this method was verified by case study.


Earlier this month, a jury convicted West Palm Beach retina surgeon Solomon Melgen, MD, on 67 counts of Medicare fraud. This high-profile case hit very close to home, as myself and another retina specialist from my own community were on opposing sides of the case.


Recently, several attempts have been made to define new models that extend well-known distributions and at the same time provide great flexibility in modelling real data. We propose a new four-parameter model named the Weibull-power function (WPF) distribution which exhibits bathtub-shaped hazard rate. Some of its statistical properties are obtained including ordinary and incomplete moments, quantile and generating functions, Renyi and Shannon entropies, reliability and order statistics. The model parameters are estimated by the method of maximum likelihood. A bivariate extension is also proposed. The new distribution can be implemented easily using statistical software packages. We investigate the potential usefulness of the proposed model by means of two real data sets. In fact, the new model provides a better fit to these data than the additive Weibull, modified Weibull, Sarahan-Zaindin modified Weibull and beta-modified Weibull distributions, suggesting that it is a reasonable candidate for modeling survival data.


Throughout the 1990s, accreditation of prior (experiential) learning (AP(E)L) slowly emerged in Ireland as a mechanism in further and higher education. Universities in Ireland have always been autonomous in terms of the granting of awards although they are expected to cooperate with any agreed national framework for qualifications. Up until this point, the university sector has no formal policies or procedures for AP(E)L. There are signs of a willingness to allow AP(E)L provision within the sector, which the author views as a response to the downward student demographic trajectory and the consequent need to recruit more non-traditional students to keep enrolments up in the future. This article presents micro case studies from Ireland in the 1990s to demonstrate the perception from inside the university sector of the expectations of groups from outside the sector with regard to having their non-formal and informal learning recognised and accredited by the university. The perception from inside the university sector is primarily that of the author due to her involvement with the cases in the initial research and delivery and evaluation stages. The author concludes that the sector is not yet ready to publicly assess and accredit personal learning from outside its boundaries.


With the
development of China's social economy, higher education and the Internet, China
has established a number of regional alliances (RA) of university libraries (UL).
The university library regional alliances (ULRAS) are an important part of university library
alliances (ULAS). The development of ULRAS in China plays an important role in
promoting the construction of ULAS and improving the whole network system of
Chinese university library alliances (CULAS). This paper mainly adopts the
method of case analysis to study the development of ULRAS in China from the
perspectives of development status, characteristics and trend. The purpose is
to study the general model of the development of ULAS in China and provide
reference for the construction of RA in other regions of China and other countries
in the world.


The elliptical vibration cutting is applied to the three-dimensional turning operation in the present research. The direction of plane including the elliptical vibration is optimized, so that the chip is pulled out efficiently and thus the cutting force is minimized. Then, practical effects produced by applying the elliptical vibration are investigated experimentally, and the following remarks are obtained: (1) generation of burr is restrained almost completely, (2) machining accuracy is improved significantly, (3) regenerative chatter is suppressed, and (4) adhesion of the workpiece material to the rake face is reduced considerably. It is shown that the former three effects are caused by the extraordinary reduction of cutting force, and these effects are increased with the increase of velocity ratio, i.e. ratio of maximum vibration speed to nominal cutting speed.


2D wavelet transform has been used for texture and signal analysis. An algorithm based on wavelet transform has been developed for detecting ECG characteristic points. This work derives a 2Dimensional spectrum estimator from some recentresults on the statistical properties of wavelet packet coefficients of random processes. Textures are complex visual patterns composed of entities, or subpatterns that have characteristic brightness,color,slope, size etc.Thus texture can be regarded as a similarity grouping in an image .Wavelet transforms have become appealing alternatives to the Fourier transform for image analysis and processing. The electrocardiogram (ECG) is widely used for diagnosis of heart diseases. Generally, the recorded ECG signal is often contaminated by noise. In order to extract useful information from the noisy ECG signals, the raw ECG signals has to be processed. The baseline wandering is significant and can strongly affect ECG signal analysis. The detection of QRS complexes in an ECG signal provides information about the heart rate, the conduction velocity, the condition of tissues within the heart as well as various abnormalities. It supplies evidence for the diagnosis of cardiac diseases. TheQRS complex can be distinguished from high P or T waves, noise, baseline drift, and artifacts. By using this method, the detection rate of QRS complexes is above 99.8% for the MIT/BIH database and the P and T waves can also be detected, even with serious base line drift and noise. KeywordsWavelet transform, Spectral analysis, Electrocardiogram, QRS Complex,P and T waves, Filters.


Non-autoregressive neural machine translation (NAT) models suffer from the multi-modality problem that there may exist multiple possible translations of a source sentence, so the reference sentence may be inappropriate for the training when the NAT output is closer to other translations. In response to this problem, we introduce a rephraser to provide a better training target for NAT by rephrasing the reference sentence according to the NAT output. As we train NAT based on the rephraser output rather than the reference sentence, the rephraser output should fit well with the NAT output and not deviate too far from the reference, which can be quantified as reward functions and optimized by reinforcement learning. Experiments on major WMT benchmarks and NAT baselines show that our approach consistently improves the translation quality of NAT. Specifically, our best variant achieves comparable performance to the autoregressive Transformer, while being 14.7 times more efficient in inference.


Kaempferia sisaketensis (Zingiberaceae), a new species from Northeastern Thailand, is described and illustrated. This new taxon can be easily recognized by its 2-4 elliptic and glabrous leaves, pink to violet flowers with the deeplybilobed labella, and the absence of the staminodes. Relationship with its closely related taxa, K. spoliata Sirirugsa and K. chayanii Koonterm, is also discussed.


This paper describes a powerful inexact matching algorithm that has been applied with success to high-level 3D-object representations in a 3D object recognition system. In a promising way, the algorithm combines several approaches proposed in the last couple of years: an extension to the backtrack strategies for inexact matching of attributed relational subgraphs, error-correction isomorphism, determination of local attribute similarity and global transformation fitting, features which are efficiently used for search-tree pruning. The algorithm was tested successfully in a series of experiments involving scenes with single and multiple objects.


Objective: Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (4S) is not common, but has been increasingly recognized. We investigated the clinical features of 4S for the last 10 years. Methods: This retrospective study was performed on 68 children who were admitted with 4S during 2001 to 2011. The patients were divided into 3 age groups: < 12 months, 12 to 47 months, and ≥ 48 months. We evaluated the clinical findings and the differences among the 3 age groups. Results: The mean age was 32 months with a peak incidence at age 12 to 47 months. The peak incidence was observed in 2007 with a seasonal occurrence, mainly from July to October. Except 2007, there was no obvious seasonal pattern in incidence. Atopic dermatitis was combined in 10 patients (14.7%). By clinical types, 4 patients (5.9%) were in generalized type, 17 patients (25%) in intermediate type, and 47 patients (69.1%) in abortive type. The patients with generalized type were all neonates, and intermediate type was more frequent in children younger than 12 months. In contrast, abortive type was a most frequent form after 12 months of age. Of 44 patients performed skin culture, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 25 cases. All affected patients recovered completely with semi-synthetic penicillin or 3rd generation cephalosporins. Four neonates were treated with vancomycin or teicoplanin. Conclusion: The peak incidence of 4S was at age 12 to 47 months. The severity of 4S was most severe in children younger than 12 months, showing a difference in clinical types according to the age groups.


The present study has been conducted in the year 2010 in district Peshawar to assess the impact of inflow of remittances on household's welfare. The concept welfare was measured in terms of consumption expenditures of the household. A sample of 60 household was interviewed using snowball sampling combined with the convenient sampling technique. A regression model which was a mixture of direct elasticity and semi-elasticity was used to quantify the relationships. Apart from inflow of remittances (lnremt), three control variables (i.e. years of schooling of the household's head – edu, age of household's head – age & family size – fz) were employed to standardize the impact. Controlling for edu, age & edu, this paper conclude that inflow of remittances enhance household's welfare. All control variables have theoretically correct positive signs. These results were statistically significant and results showed no major econometric problems that can influence statistical inference derived from the model. So it is highly recommended, in light of the present study, that govt. of Pakistan should take all possible steps to export labors abroad. It has dual positive impacts, one enhancing household's prosperity (welfare) and other reducing unemployment at local level.


The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued for the Oak Ridge Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12 Complex) which became effective May 1, 2006, continued a requirement for a Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program (BMAP). The BMAP was originally developed in 1985 to demonstrate that the effluent limitations established for the Y-12 Complex protected the classified uses of the receiving stream (East Fork Poplar Creek: EFPC), in particular, the growth and propagation of aquatic life (Loar et al. 1989). The objectives of the current BMAP are similar, specifically to assess stream ecological conditions relative to regulatory limits and criteria, to assess ecological impacts as well as recovery in response to Y-12 operations, and to investigate the causes of continuing impacts. The BMAP consists of three tasks that reflect complementary approaches to evaluating the effects of the Y-12 Complex discharges on the biotic integrity of EFPC. These tasks include: (1) bioaccumulation monitoring, (2) benthic macroinvertebrate community monitoring, and (3) fish community monitoring. As required by the NPDES permit, the BMAP benthic macroinvertebrate community monitoring task includes studies to annually evaluate the receiving stream's biological integrity in comparison to TN Water Quality Criteria. BMAP monitoring is currently being conducted at fivemore » primary EFPC sites, although sites may be excluded or added depending upon the specific objectives of the various tasks. Criteria used in selecting the sites include: (1) location of sampling sites used in other studies, (2) known or suspected sources of downstream impacts, (3) proximity to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) boundaries, (4) appropriate habitat distribution, and (5) access. The primary sampling sites include upper EFPC at kilometers (EFKs) 24.4 and 23.4 [upstream and downstream of Lake Reality (LR) respectively]; EFK 18.7 (also EFK 18.2 and 19), located off the ORR and below an area of intensive commercial and light industrial development; EFK 13.8, located upstream from the Oak Ridge Wastewater Treatment Facility (ORWTF); and EFK 6.3 located approximately 1.4 km below the ORR boundary (Fig. 1.1). Actual sampling locations on EFPC may differ slightly by task according to specific requirements of the task. Brushy Fork (BF) at kilometer (BFK) 7.6 and Hinds Creek at kilometer (HCK) 20.6 are the most commonly used reference sites for the Y-12 BMAP. Additional sites off the ORR are also occasionally used for reference, including Beaver Creek, Bull Run, Cox Creek, and Paint Rock Creek (Fig. 1.2). Summaries of the sampling designs for the three primary tasks of the Y-12 Complex BMAP for EFPC are presented in Tables 1.1-1.3. This report covers the 2008 period, although data collected outside this time period are included as appropriate. To address the biological monitoring requirements for Bear Creek and McCoy Branch, CERLCA-funded programs, data are summarized in Appendix A and Appendix B respectively. Data for these two watersheds are provided herein to address Section IX of the NPDES Permit for Y-12, where 'Results of these CERCLA programs can be used to meet the biological monitoring requirements of this permit...'. A summary of the toxicity testing results for Y-12 outfalls into upper EFPC is provided in Appendix C (these results have been previously reported) to provide a more thorough perspective of conditions in the stream. Data summarized in this report are available from the Oak Ridge Environmental Information system (OREIS) in an Arc-GIS usable format (http://www-oreis.bechteljacobs.org/oreis/help/oreishome.html). Per requirements specified in the NPDES permit, data collected following TDEC monitoring protocols (TDEC 2006) is also submitted directly to TDEC in Excel format.« less


The fabrication of large-scale unidirectionally aligned organic crystalline ribbons is a great challenge. Here, we developed a limited solvent vapor-assisted crystallization (LSVC) method. By adopting an up-side-down funnel, single crystalline microribbons of C8-BTBT with uniform alignment were easily prepared on different substrates, indicating the feasibility of the LSVC method.


The classic Coupon-Collector Problem (CCP) is generalized to the extent that each coupons serves certain "purposes". Only basic probability theory is used. Centerpiece rather is an algorithm that efficiently counts all $k$-element transversals of a set system.


Over the past two decades, attention to and demand for early childhood programs has grown worldwide as a result of: (a) an increasing number of parents employed outside the home in environments where the presence of young children is neither desirable nor practical; (b) a steady improvement in children's survival, so that the society can begin to look at broader issues of quality of life; and (c) a recognition that early childhood experience can have significant effects on subsequent development, especially schooling. This report summarizes why investment in human capital formation through early child development is worthwhile. It reviews lessons learned from programs and projects in operation, and examines how such projects can be designed under various conditions. It summarizes the rationale for investment in early child care and development and examines program options and programming experiences with projects both inside and outside the Bank. The essential minimum inputs and approaches to packaging such projects is reviewed and suggestions are made as to how the Bank can strengthen its role in this area.


Asian options paying the excess over strike, of either the arithmetic or geometric average of the asset price over either discrete or continuous time, are valued using analytical and simulation methodologies. Expressions are developed for the double Laplace transform of the continuous arithmetic Asian option in both its strike and maturity. Analytical option prices for the continuous arithmetic case are obtained by inverting the Geman and Yor (1993) Laplace transform in maturity using implementations of the Eu-ler and Post-Widder methods developed by Abate and Whitt (1995). Our results show that for continuous-time, path-dependent options, naive simulation can be expensive, in-eecient and inaccurate with 16% pricing errors. In addition to improving the precision of the simulation estimates by the judicious device of control variates, our experiments indicate that a reduction in bias requires the use of independently seeded replications and random number generators with much longer periods. Lastly, we observe that for pricing continuous-time contracts, there is an advantage to using suitably biased control variates that correct for the discretization bias inherent in simulation.


The twin topics of this article-proof of purchases and proof of damages-provide subject matter ranging from the mundane to the ephemeral. There is probably no more mundane, boring, wearisome task in legal practice than assembling and examining evidence of purchases in a massive price-fixing case. On the other hand, proof of damages-estimating how much lower prices would have been if there had been no conspiracy-is a task described by one cynical defense lawyer as an exercise in pure imagination in which the wildest flight of fancy is entered as a judgment, trebled, and supplemented by generous attorney's fees to compensate the creator of the theory for the breadth of his vision,"


Abstract : This final technical report summarizes advances to push the limits of ultralow threshold microlaser VCSEL design implementation, and performance. The main results are summarized: (1) Values of spontaneous emission coupling factor B(beta) in the range between 10(exp -2) and 10(exp -1) lead to comparatively low turn-on delay for both on-on and on-off modulation. Spontaneous emission factors lying between 10(exp -2) and 10(exp -1) are more attractive than devices with B approx. 1. (2) With reduction of aperture size to less than 5x5 sq micrometers. the internal quantum efficiency decreases owing to carrier losses resulting from current spreading and carrier out-diffusion, the round-trip loss increases due to excess diffraction and scattering losses. (3) Modal noise and speckle visibility in Gb/s multimode waveguide interconnect systems depends on a complex interplay of carrier dynamics, spontaneous emission factor, gain compression, and device dimensions. Scaled low-power microlasers exhibit modal noise comparable to large incoherent multimode devices. (4) The series resistance of microlasers has been explored by fabricating low resistance, low-threshold current, and intracavity-contacted devices.


This paper addresses the two-person game with the cognitive frameworks and expresses the process of diplomatic negotiation. The feature of the game in this paper is that players presume their partner' s payoff matrix according to information received from the latter and the result of previous games. Each player has a simple cognitive framework (filter) and interprets received information. In this paper, we consider the process of diplomatic negotiation which does not have enough information about the partner and analysis the nature of agreements. The result of simulation shows that even if information is imperfect, there is a possibility of establishing agreements and those agreements include a kind of special agreement, 'mutual misunderstanding.'


Changes in tensile strength and water-absorption rate of lignin/EVA complex films after being exposed to ultraviolet were investigated.The molecular structure shifting was measured using infrared analysis and the biodegradability was tested under the controllable compost condition.The water-absorp- tion rate of the complex films containing 10 wt%、20 wt%,and 35 wt% increased by 2.21%,1.89% and-0.85%,respectively,after ultraviolet treatment.The tensile strength for complex films contain- ing 10 wt% lignin decreased more seriously than that based on 35 wt% lignin-content,however,the amount of carbon dioxide released by the latter was 7.5% more than the former.The biodegradability of lignin-based complex films was better than that of polyethylene ones.


High regeneration efficiency system of sprawling Dendranthema morifolium new cultivar"pink carpet" bred recently by Beijing Agro-Biotechnology Research Center was set up with leaf discs as explants.Six different medium were tried to investigate the effects of 6-BA on the Dendranthema regeneration frequency.Proper concentration of 6-BA was determined.Shoots regenernated from 91% of the total explants in the medium MS+6-BA(0.5 mg/L)+NAA(0.1 mg/L).Roots were induced in the medium 1/2 MS+ NAA(0.1 mg/L).After the acquirement of high regeneration frequency system with leaf discs,effects of two commonly used selecting agents in plant genetic transformation,kanamycin(Km)and phosphinothricin(PPT),on the differentiation of adventitious shoots from in vitro leaf discs of Dendranthema morifolium were investigated.The results indicated both Km and PPT completely inhibited shoot induction when Km concentration was higher than 8 mg/L or PPT concentration was higher than 0.4 mg/L.In this paper proper concentration of Km and PPT for selection pressure of genetic transformation was determined as 5 mg/L and 0.2 mg/L individually.This research established a foundation for genetic engineering of sprawling Dendranthema morifolium.


This essay illustrates the teaching methods of Integrations by Parts by using vertical form and pithy formula in teaching Integration by parts,and introduces some example.It can receive good teaching effect,and decrease teaching hours.Students not only easy to learn and handle but also never make mistakes.


Objective:To examine the use of fluoxetine and moclobemide within the Royal Hobart Hospital, a 500-bed general teaching hospital. Study procedure: A drug utilisation review of fluoxetine and moclobemide was retrospectively performed. The medical records of 97 patients who had received therapy with these agents during the period January 1992 to April 1993 were studied, principally to determine whether these were being used as the first-line treatment of depression or as a second-line option when patients could not tolerate or did not respond to the tricyclic antidepressants. Results: The mean age (±SD) of the patients in the sample was 47.2 ± 17.3 years, and 62 (63.9%) were females. Of the patients studied, 46 had received moclobemide, 40 fluoxetine, and 11 both agents at different times. Most patients had a diagnosis of major depression (46.4%), schizophrenia with suicidal ideation (15.5%) or adjustment disorder with depressed mood ('reactive depression', 12.4%). The median duration of therapy for each agent was 9 months (range: 1-17 months). Most of the patients (over 80%) commenced on either agent had remained on it until the time of the review. Less than half of all the patients had previously received therapy with either a tricyclic antidepressant (41.7%) or traditional monoamine oxidase inhibitor (6.3%). The tricyclics were generally ceased because of ineffectiveness (42.5%), the risk of suicide (20%) or adverse effects (5%). Eighteen patients (18.6%) had evidence of ischaemic heart disease, which could justify the use of newer antidepressants. Conclusions: Overall, the results of the review suggest overuse of the newer antidepressants, when treatment with older and less expensive, but equally effective, agents may be indicated.


In this paper, effects of BOX layer on the capacitance of SiGe Heterojunction Photo-Transistor (HPT), including the collector-substrate capacitance, the base-collector capacitance and the base-emitter capacitance, are studied when using a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate as compared to the devices on native Si substrates. By introducing the BOX layer into Si-based SiGe HPT, the maximum photo-characteristic frequency f t,opt of SOI-based SiGe HPT reaches up to 24.51 GHz, which is 1.5 times higher than the value obtained from Si-based SiGe HPT. In addition, the maximum optical cut-off frequency f β.opt, namely its 3dB bandwidth, reaches up to 1.13 GHz, improved by 1.18 times. However, with increasing the optical power or collector current, this improvement on the frequency characteristic from BOX layer becomes less dominant, as confirmed by the decrease in the 3dB bandwidth of SOI-based SiGe HPT which approaches to the 3dB bandwidth of Si-based SiGe HPT at higher injection conditions.


AbstractA new boundary integral method (BIM) is employed in this paper to study the two-dimensional (2D) and the three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear sloshing problems. Applying the subtracting and add...


The reconstructed surface for 3D imaging laser radar data is always unsmooth and uncontinuous due to the noise in the data.Therefore it is essential to filter the data and remove the noises.An improved Laplacian method is presented.And a low pass filter containing an un-shrinking scale factor is introduced in this method,and smoothing without shrinkage is realized.Such filter keeps the low frequency parts and discards the high frequency parts.Experimental results show that the algorithm preserves the priorities of Laplacian method,such as sampleness and high speed,moreover it is non-shrinking which guarantees the perfect preservation of the mesh feature.The algorithm is qualified for surface reconstruction,and can be broadly used in 3D imaging laser radar′s data processing and surface reconstruction.


We investigate experimentally various aspects of the crack propagation phenomena in elastomers by means of "dc/ dt" method. Propagation speed ( v ), shape of crack tip, and local strain distribution near the crack tip are examined as a function of imposed tearing energy ( G ). In particular, we focus on a discontinuous transition of v at a characteristic value of G ( G c ) between slow and fast modes. We correlate the G dependence of v and crack-tip shape with macroscopic nonlinear viscoelasticity of the elastomers. The change in the crack-tip shape accompanying the velocity transition is explained by weakly nonlinear fracture mechanics with the ratio of the first- and second order elastic moduli. The power law exponent for the G dependence of v ( G ~ v a ) in fast mode has a close correlation with the exponent for the viscoelastic spectrum in glass-rubber transition regime ( G ( t )~ t -k ). We find G c is governed by the product of the fracture toughness and the ratio of the first- and second order elastic moduli for the elastomers. We also show that the local strain distribution near the crack tip in dynamic crack revealed by DIC technique involves the strong effect of nonlinear elasticity.


Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Recent genome-scale molecular analyses have uncovered several potential therapeutic targets for this disease, including BRAF mutation, ERBB2 amplification, and neurotropic tropomyosin receptor kinase fusion gene. Gene rearrangements involving anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene have been identified as oncogenic drivers in lung adenocarcinomas, and to be highly sensitive to selective kinase inhibitors. To the best of our knowledge, CRC harboring the ALK fusion gene has rarely been reported. Herein, we report a patient with right colon cancer harboring an ALK gene rearrangement and review the clinicopathologic features as well as potential therapeutic targeting of ALK-rearranged CRC in the literature.


Low-frequency noise (LFN) in double-gate (DG) In-Ga-Zn-O (IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) is studied to investigate the origin of performance improvement. We found that thinning down the IGZO film enhances such improvements. With 7-nm IGZO, the mobility is raised by a factor of 3.77, and the subthreshold slope is reduced to 0.17 V/decade from single-gate to DG mode. Device simulations show that bulk transport inside IGZO film emerges as the two gates field effects get coupled. The LFN results reveal a transport transition from surface to bulk and disclose the superior bulk transport that experiences slight phonon scattering with a small Hooge parameter αH = 4.44 × 10-3 whereas the surface transport undergoes serious charge trapping with surface trap densities about 2 × 1011 eV-1cm-2.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the sensitivity and specificity of entoptic perimetry as a noninvasive test for detecting retinal damage due to peripheral cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis.

DESIGN
A masked study comparing entoptic perimetry with fundus photography under 4 experimental conditions (determined by increasing pixel sizes) on 2 separate testing sessions.

SETTING
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome Ocular Research Unit at the University of California, San Diego.

PATIENTS
Twenty-four human immunodeficiency virus-positive and 8 human immunodeficiency virus-negative subjects; 21 eyes with documented CMV retinitis, and 26 eyes that were retinitis free.

MEASUREMENTS
For each testing session, screening method, and condition, the presence of CMV retinitis was determined for each meridian (i.e., clock hour), each quadrant (consisting of 3 meridians), and each eye (consisting of all meridians); the amount of retinitis was defined as the percentage of meridians or quadrants with CMV retinitis.

RESULTS
Entoptic perimetry was as sensitive and specific as fundus photography in determining the presence of CMV retinitis. Determination of the amount of CMV retinitis tended to be underestimated by perimetry for larger pixel sizes.

CONCLUSION
Entoptic perimetry may be an effective and inexpensive alternative to fundus photography for CMV retinitis in hospitals and community clinics.


List of Maps, Figures, and Photographs Website Contents Preface Entry Introduction: In Search of Surprise Part I: 1980-82 Chapter 1. Friends in the Forest Chapter 2. Rhythms of Survival Chapter 3. Lives of Death Chapter 4. Getting along with Kin and Killers Chapter 5. Spirits, Sex, and Celebration Chapter 6. Ultimate Splendor Part II: 1998 Chapter 7. Reentry Chapter 8. Yuway's Sacred Decision Chapter 9. Pennies and Peanuts, Rugby and Radios Chapter 10. Mysterious Romance, Marital Choice Chapter 11. Sayu's Dance and After Chapter 12. Toward the End Conclusions: Sixteen Years and a World of Change Farewell Notes List of Persons Topical guide for Instructors References Index


This study interviewed six preservice teachers in early childhood education at an Australian university concerning their knowledge about and attitudes toward young gifted learning disabled children. Information was sought concerning the subjects' understanding of the term "gifted learning disabled" as well as their ability to identify such children. The preservice teachers were also asked the types of strategies they would use in identifying, planning, and programming for such a child. Excerpts are provided from the interviews showing that students generally had a high level of confidence about defining the term "gifted learning disabled," felt that identification during the preschool years was difficult but possible, had already encountered children they regarded as gifted learning disabled, and stressed the importance of collaboration with colleagues and parents in program planning. Contains 20 references. (DB) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ********************************************************************************


A process for treating heavy oils under conditions which normally results in excessive coking deactivation of the catalyst has been developed by Shell. The process consists, in part, of passing the oil mixture over a stacked bed of hydrotreating catalysts. Through the use of two catalysts in portions of the reactor where each performs best, a synergystic effect is obtained. Catalyst cycle lives of the order of 1.5 to 3 times that of the individual catalyst in the same service have been observed. The better performance of the stacked bed system can be used to increase run length, the extent of the upgrading and/or the heaviness of the oil processed. The process has been demonstrated in several commercial applications.