Background: Globally, there is an increasing unmet need for safe and effective family planning services. Most women in Africa, just like in many parts around the world, desire to control both the number and timing of births but lack an effective contraceptive method. The uptake of family planning (FP) services is low in Baringo North District. The overall objective of the study was to describe factors influencing use of modern FP methods. Specific objectives were (i) To investigate the role of knowledge, attitude and practice on the utilization of modern FP methods; (ii) To assess the influence of socio-cultural factors on uptake; and (iii) To associate and correlate the various factors with use of these methods. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The district was stratified according to the four administrative divisions. Total sample size was proportionately allocated to each of the four strata then to the two health facilities that were purposively selected per strata. Women in the reproductive age group that met inclusion criteria attending outpatient service at the selected health facilities were consecutively recruited into the study. Data was collected through interviewer administered questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were generated and results considered significant at 95% confidence level. Results: Of all the 344 respondents, 80.8 percent were aware of Modern FP methods. Pills and injection were most commonly known and used methods, mentioned by 66.2 percent and 64.4 percent of study subjects respectively. Sixty two percent of the respondents approved use of modern contraception while the current use rate was 32.3 percent. The significant predictors of use these methods were the respondents' age, marital status, knowledge on the methods and their side effects, and method approval by self and partner (p< 0.05). Conclusion: The low uptake of modern FP methods by women reveals their lack of knowledge on the various methods available, fear of harmful effects, and method approval by self and partner. There is need for reproductive health programs to intensify efforts in improving women's knowledge on modern contraceptive options including their side effects; and encourage constructive partner involvement.


Downsizing the number of operators controlling complex systems can increase the decision-making demands on remaining operators, particularly in crisis situations. An answer to this problem is to offload decision-making tasks from people to computational processes, and to use these processes to focus and expedite human decision making. In this paper, we describe a system comprised of multiple computational agents that has demonstrated an ability to help operators prioritize their tasks better, process their tasks faster, and enlist the aid of other operators more transparently. In developing this system, we have of course encountered challenges, particularly in devising content languages that adequately convey the right information (to be interpreted correctly) across the heterogeneous agents. We here summarize our work that addresses this challenge, and illustrate how our system improves performance for operators in naval situations.


The paper analyzes autobiographical accounts of the experience of chronic illness and its treatment to develop a sociological theory of the self. It is suggested that 'self' is not a biologistic or psychologistic thing. Rather self is autobiographical narrative – hence the narrative self. It is argued that four elements constitute such narrative selves in autobiographical discourse: evaluative relationships between events in time; cosmology; power relationships; and conceptualisation of self as object.


Fifteen different flax cultivars and breeding lines (E-68, Baltuciai, Belinka, Vega 2, Ilona, Elise, Kastyciai, Evelin, 1963-3, Ariane, Hermes, 01057-12, 1698-13a, 2017-3, 1864-24) were cultivated, harvested, water-retted, scutched and resulting fibres passed through pin frames to produce representative samples for each variety. The aim of this investigation was to develop rapid techniques for assessing quality of fibre obtained from a comparative agronomical trial. The fibres produced were then assessed using visible and near infrared spectroscopy (Vis-NIRS), thermal analysis, scanning electron microscopy and airflow method for measuring fibre fineness. The relationships between agronomical characteristics, fibre fineness, thermal and spectral results were assessed using principal component analysis and partial least squares regression methods. The micrographs of the samples revealed the presence of residual pectic and cuticular tissues on all fibres, and significant differences between the 15 fibre samples were not observed. A significant relationship of the differences in fibre fineness of the test samples as measured by airflow method and Vis-NIR spectra was observed with an R 2 of 0.97 and standard error of calibration (SEC) of 1.69 dtex, and the former parameter also correlated with the measured thermal combustion parameters showing an R 2 of 0.91 and SEC of 2.86 dtex, indicating that the two rapid techniques could be used for the assessment of fibre quality of selected plants from the breeding programme. The advantages of using the two instrumental techniques compared with the existing airflow method are briefly discussed.


In this paper, we present a study on the development of the manufacturing process of thrust washers for an automobile. The thrust washers are manufactured using the progressive cold forging method. The proposed progressive cold forging method requires less manufacturing cost and processing time comp...


Field experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of three plant growth regulator on leaves of New Tea Shoots' chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics.Results showed that compared with those in control group,electron photosynthetic transfer rate(ETR),effective PSⅡquantum yield(EQY),photochemical quenching coefficient(qP),potential activities of PSⅡ(Fv/F0)and conversion efficiency of primary light energy of PSⅡ(Fv/Fm) were distinctly enhanced in leaves with using of plant growth regulators as spring brassinolide(BR),cytokinins(CTK) and gibberellic acid(GA3),and the GA3 maintained the best lasting effect,while the non-photochemical quenching(NPQ) were decreased with the above growth regulators.The data presented in the paper suggested that the three plant growth regulators can add the open proportion of PSⅡ reaction center,promote photosynthetic electron transport,and enhance the function of photosynthesis in leaves on tea shoots.


As a new conceptual reactor,traveling wave reactor(TWR)is under fundamental research phase.The physical and mathematical models of the main parts of the primary circuit of TP-1 sodium cooled TWR designed by TerrraPower Co.were established,and the transient and safety analysis code TAST for sodium cooled TWR was preliminarily developed with Fortran program.Steady state analysis proves that the stability and dependability of TAST code for TWR are preserved.The variations of main parameters for loss of flow and reactivity insertion accidents were calculates,the results show that TWR is safe under such two transients.


Introduction. In recent years, the number of diabetic patients requiring
 cataract surgery has been on the rise. The aim of this study was to examine
 the effects of cataract surgery on visual acuity and changes in the central
 retinal thickness in diabetic patients with and without retinopathy, in
 relation to the duration of the disease, type of therapy, and the level of
 glycated hemoglobin and serum lipids. Material and Methods. The prospective
 study included 51 eyes of 34 patients divided into three groups.
 Preoperatively, all patients underwent best-corrected visual acuity
 evaluation with Snellen chart, cataract grading using lens opacities
 classification system III, as well as fundus examination and optical
 coherence tomography. Postoperative follow-up visits were scheduled after
 the first, fourth, sixth, eighth, and twelfth weeks after which the patients
 underwent best-corrected visual acuity evaluation and optical coherence
 tomography. The obtained values were statistically processed and analyzed in
 relation to the duration of the disease, the type of therapy, and the level
 of glycated hemoglobin and serum lipids. Results. Of 51 eyes, 5.9% developed
 macular edema during the fourth postoperative week with central retinal
 thickness > 310 ?m. Subclinical central retinal thickness changes were
 registered in all groups with the highest values in group I (diabetics with
 retinopathy) in the sixth postoperative week. The average value of central
 retinal thickness in group I was 256 ? 11 ?m at baseline and 273 ? 11 ?m in
 week 6. The best-corrected visual acuity improved in all groups, without
 changes in central retinal thickness. Conclusion. Good visual acuity and
 absence of significant changes in macular thickness are helpful when making
 the decision to perform cataract surgery in patients with diabetes.
 Postoperative follow-up visits should include optical coherence tomography
 in addition to standard procedures.


Learning management systems can play an important role in fostering rich teaching and learning experiences for students and instructors in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions. The levels of sophistication of these platforms vary from one institution to another. Decisions regarding the use of the applications available on the learning management systems ought to be linked to their possible pedagogical benefits. In this regard, this study collected data from lecturers offering online courses in an ODL institution in order to explore their views regarding which applications available in their learning management systems stimulated constructivist and observational learning amongst their students. Using Baviskar, Hartle& Whitney's (2009:543-544) guidelines for constructivist learning and Bandura's (2001:265-299) observational learning, I employed a phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences of lecturers regarding online applications for constructivist and observational learning. The findings revealed that Discussion forums and Weblogs proved the most suitable online applications for fostering learning in ODL institutions. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n13p513


Heat and mass transfer between air and product, fried in a specially designed forced convection oven were analyzed. Minced meat loaves of an industrial recipe were fried for 1 hr at different temperatures, humidities, and velocities of the air. It was shown that the moisture loss rate was larger in the beginning of the frying than at the end. The heat transfer coefficients varied between 20 and 90 W/m2°C. These values are low compared with other frying methods. The mass transfer coefficients varied between 0.04 and 0.115 m/s. The coefficients decreased markedly in going from the constant rate period to the falling rate period.


A promising candidate for the THz wave generation technique is the photomixing of two lightwaves. Thus, a lightwave interferometric system using a pilot lightwave is invented for phase stabilization of that THz wave generation system. We experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of the phase stabilization system.


Abstract
 This chapter discusses the importance of social tourism programmes for low-income families and presents an analysis of the Portuguese situation. Concretely, the chapter presents an analysis of the visions of a sample of Portuguese families regarding this kind of offer and ends with a discussion regarding guidelines that social tourism programmes for families should follow in order to combine the maximization of its benefits and its attractiveness as a tourism product.


With the popularity of social networks, privacy issues regarding publishing social network data have attracted an great deal of attention from academia. We proposed a randomized perturbation method to alleviate the privacy-disclosure problem. Our method is based on a randomized perturbation matrix, which is flexible and easy to extend. We solved the problem of calculating the privacy risk of the proposed model. We used three real data sets to evaluate the privacy-preserving method. The experimental results show that our method is better in terms of data utility than the method of addition/deletion of edges.


We have shown that at grazing incident angle the self sputtering of negative Si beam can produce perpendicular mode ripples on the Si without pre-roughening the surface. The energy of mass analyzed Si beam was 26 keV obtained from a low energy negative ion implanter. The threshold fluence for ripple formation is comparatively low for Si than for Ar or O ions. The reason might be due to efficient energy transfer from the projectile to the lattice atoms. Formation of ripples at lower incidence angles by Si ion sputtering is also studied. The wavelengths of the ripples are measured as a function of fluence. The results are compared with those obtained by numerical simulations of Kuramoto-Sivashinsky (KS) equation.


A considerable amount of research has addressed the methods and objectives of model combination. Very little attention has been given to the question of how to obtain a good collection of models for combination. Here a rationale for inducive inference of multiple models of time series is developed in terms of algorithmic information theory. A model-based Kolmogorov sufficient statistic is described and is utilized in a recursive scheme for ranking models in a population. Ranks are assigned in such a way that the n top-ranked models are considered to be the best subset of n models to use in combination. The ranking scheme is appropriate for use in the selection operation of an evolutionary computation. The treatment is primarily theoretical, but several practical issues in ranking and model combination are addressed.


Abstract : The possible value of monocular motion parallax for improving distance perception under water was investigated. Submerged subjects either kept their heads stationary or rotated their heads about a vertical axis while judging the distance of objects placed 4-15 feet away. Before and after training with feedback to increase judgment accuracy, head movement was related to performance.


The blind equalization is a method which estimates the inverse system of the channel by using the only received signals, and the transmitted signals are regenerated by using the inverse system and the received signals. In the conventional method, it is assumed that the input signals of the equalization system don't include noise. In the actual blind equalization, however, the equalization performance of the conventional methods are lower because of the equalization system's input signals include noise. To solve the problem, in the prior study, several persons in the members of our study propose the blind identification algorithm using the total least squares (TLS) based on over-sampling method to use blind equalization.Then, in this paper, we considerate the blind equalization method using the blind identification algorithm based on prior study with higher estimation performance when received signals include noise. As the result, the proposed method is higher equalization performance than the conventional method in the received signals including noise, by computer simulation.


This paper presents a crashworthiness design of thin walled spot-welded columns made from mild steels. Systematic parametric studies are carried out to study the effect of geometrical parameters. It is also shown that the crash response could be controlled by varying the location and the geometry of the trigger. The numerical analysis was carried out by Abaqus software. Subsequently, the collapse behavior of spot-weld structures was experimen-tally characterized


. The random mapping construction of strong stationary times is applied here to finite Heisenberg random walks over Z M , for odd M ¥ 3. When they correspond to 3 (cid:2) 3 matrices, the strong stationary times are of order M 6 , estimate which can be improved to M 4 if we are only interested in the convergence to equilibrium of the last column. Simulations by Chhaibi suggest that the proposed strong stationary time is of the right M 2 order. These results are extended to N (cid:2) N matrices, with N ¥ 3. All the obtained bounds are thought to be non-optimal, nevertheless this original approach is promising, as it relates the investigation of the previously elusive strong stationary times of such random walks to new absorbing Markov chains with a statistical physics flavor and whose quantitative study is to be pushed further. In addition, for N (cid:16) 3, a strong equilibrium time is proposed in the same spirit for the non-Markovian coordinate in the upper right corner. This result would extend to separation discrepancy the corresponding fast convergence for this coordinate in total variation and open a new method for the investigation of this phenomenon in higher dimension.


The objective of the present invention is to provide a method of decontaminating radioactive concrete waste including polymers. The method includes: (a) a step of heating radioactive concrete waste at a temperature of 400-600°C; (b) a step of crushing the heated radioactive concrete waste; and (c) a step of cleaning the crushed radioactive concrete waste with water and a nitric acidic solution, in order. According to the present invention, by heating, crushing, and successively cleaning the radioactive concrete waste with water and the nitric acidic solution, the method of decontaminating radioactive concrete waste including polymers can remove polymers from the surface of the radioactive concrete and decontaminate the radioactive concrete waste effectively and can reduce the amount of radioactive concrete waste. Therefore, the present invention can prevent environmental pollution and reduce treatment costs for waste generated when a radioactive facility is torn down, thereby improving economic feasibility.


In this paper we present the interests of the hardware implementation of control algorithms for wind emulator based on DC-Machine. This work focus on modeling a horizontal axis wind turbine, a DC-Machine with independent excitation and its control via PI controllers and a fourth quadrant chopper by exploiting mathematical equations. Moreover, simulation results are analyzed and discussed using Simulink and XSG (Xilinx System Generator) showing the performance of our application. Through the tool XSG, algorithms are implemented on FPGA (Virtex-5 LX50T).


The anions derived from dithio esters 1 react with alkyl alkanethiosulfonates in 1,2-dimethoxyethane to give the S-sulfenylated products 3. Nucleophilic reagents like potassium tert-butoxide, dithio ester anions or - in some cases - even (liquid) ammonia catalyse the rearrangement of 3 into the C-sulfenylated compounds 4. The latter compounds can be isolated directly, if the dithio ester anions 2 are allowed to react with thiosulfonates in liquid ammonia or with thiocyanates in dimethoxyethane or liquid ammonia.


The higher performance of older people in prospective memory (PM) tasks in a naturalistic setting rather than in a laboratory setting is well known in cognitive aging research and is called the "age prospective memory paradox". The mechanism of the paradox is poorly understood. To clarify this complex phenomenon, testing of the contribution of candidate variables that may influence PM performance in older adults is needed. To identify possible variables, this study used the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ; Smith, Della Sala, Logie, & Maylor, 2000) which was developed to evaluate PM and retrospective memory (RM) failure in daily life. In this large-sample survey study (n = 2610) we verified the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the PRMQ in young (n = 459), young-old (n = 1291) and old-old (n = 860) people. First, we found high reliability for both the PM and RM dimensions of the PRMQ in all age groups. Second, the validity was confirmed not by the simple score on PM items but with a subtraction score (PM score minus RM score). In addition, our results also provide knowledge of how personality and lifestyle relate to self-rated memory failures.


English Abstract: In the book explored the processes of formation, development and smoothing system contradictions in social systems. Using the methodology of general systems theory and the theory of self-organization, the author analyzes based on actual and theoretical generalization of the material manifestations of systemic patterns of interests, needs and contradictions in the Russian Federation.


Objective: To study the effect of methanol extract of Ipomoea batatas root on neutrophils phagocytic function. Methods: Different concentrations (10, 20,50,100,1000 μg/ml) of methanol extract of Ipomoea batatas root was subjected to study its effect on different in vitro methods of phagocytosis such as neutrophils locomotion and chemotaxis test, in vitro immunostimulant activity by slide method and qualitative nitro blue tetrazolium test using human neutrophils. Result: The methanolic extract of Ipomoea batatas roots had stimulated chemotactic, phagocytic and intracellular killing potency of human neutrophils at the concentration range of 10-100μg/ml. Conclusions: The methanolic extract of Ipomoea batatas roots stimulates cell mediated immune system by increasing neutrophil phagocytic function.


Face Recognition assumes much significance in the context of security based application. Normally, high resolution images offer more details about the image and recognizing a face from a reasonably high resolution image would be easier when compared to recognizing images from very low resolution images. This paper addresses the problem of recognizing faces from a very low resolution image whose size is as low as 8× 8. With the use of CCTV(Closed Circuit Television) and with other surveillance camera-based application for security purposes, the need to overcome the shortcomings with very low resolution images has been on the rise. The present day face recognition algorithms could not provide adequate performance when employed to recognize images from VLR images. Existing methods use super-resolution (SR) methods and Relation Based Super Resolution methods to construct from very low resolution images. This paper uses a learning based super resolution method to extract and construct images from very low resolution images. Experimental results show that the proposed SR algorithm based on relationship learning outperforms the existing algorithms in public face databases.


Celebrity endorsement is the largest market in the world today. In the commercial, advertisers endorsed celebrities with their products to improve their profits and shift the viewer's opinion of their brand, which has a positive effect on their purchasing actions. And in this study, the focus is on the endorsement of celebrities and its effect on the buying behaviour of customers and their view of the company's brand or products.


The invention discloses a computer system and a control method thereof. The computer system comprises a containing body and a display unit, wherein the containing body is provided with an opening which enables an entity object to enter the containing body; the display unit is used for displaying a picture. The control method of the computer system comprises the following steps: recognizing a first virtual role corresponding to the entity object; detecting the spatial parameter of the entity object, which corresponds to the containing body; according to the first virtual role and the spatial parameter, obtaining the first display parameter of the entity object, which corresponds to the picture; and according to the first display parameter, drawing a first virtual object on the picture.


In the 1930s, as industrialization gathered pace, great hopes were laid on the centralized management of town planning as opposed to the assertiveness of large industrial institutions. In that period, the All-Union Council of Utility Services of the USSR Central Executive Committee had the highest status. Studying new materials deposited in the RF State Archives, the author revealed that even the all-union management structure regularly experienced difficulties which paralyzed its urban planning and reconstruction activities.


A new formulation is presented for the analysis of contact in degenerate shell elements. This formulation accounts for the transverse stress and strain through the shell thickness and can accommodate double-sided shell contact. The kinematic contact conditions are expressed accurately in terms of the physical shell contacting surfaces, and the problem is formulated in terms of Variational Inequalities (VI). Large deformations and rotations are accounted for by invoking the appropriate stress and strain measures. The solution of the variational inequality is obtained using Lagrange multipliers. This guarantees that the kinematic contact constraints are accurately satisfied and that the solution is free from user-defined parameters. Two examples involving three beams in contact and ring compression are simulated to establish the validity of the developed formulations and the solution technique. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Chromosome numbers were determined for the platyrrhine genera Callithrix (2n=46), Leontocebus (2n=46), and Callimico (2n=48). The karyotypes of the two marmoset genera are virtually identical. It is suggested that the marmosets are specialized for their mode of existence, rather than truly primitive.


Abstract If T is a model complete theory with the strict order property, then the theory of the models of T with an automorphism has no model companion.


CELSUS is a high pressure laminate that eliminates the visibility of fingerprints.High pressure laminates consists of high-strength finishing materials used in household furnishings and wall surfaces.It has a clean,fresh look and feel. CELSUS provides living spaces where anyone can spend their time enjoyably.


We present the results of the Joint Task Force on Rational Management of Life Threatening Haemorrhage (LTH) at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital. A standardised treatment algorithm for LTH due to trauma, surgery, or birth is presented. The key feature is balanced transfusion therapy with an "emergency transfusion package" (5 units of red blood cells plus 5 units of fresh-frozen plasma plus 2 units of platelets). The Blood Bank services, guides, monitors and delivers the emergency transfusion packages in accordance with the algorithm.


New research from California confirms the safety of pasteurized mother's milk for HIV-exposed babies (Israel-Ballard, 2005). Two methods of heat-treatment, known as Flash-Heating and Pretoria Pasteurization, were compared to assess their impact on HIV and antimicrobial properties of breast milk, as well as on nutrient content.Milk samples were spiked with clade C HIV-1 (the sub-type found in areas of sub-Saharan Africa experiencing the highest prevalence of infection) and innoculated with common pathogens found in milk which may affect storage safety. 50 mL milk samples were then heat-treated by either method, using common household containers found in an ordinary home – a 1 Litre aluminium cooking pot containing 450 ml of water, and a 450 ml glass jar with a lid.


In recent years, the Internet has developed rapidly and Internet use has become a prominent communication and social phenomenon. People have concerned with the effects of the Internet on people and society. A plethora of research conducted from the UGT perspective has indicated that individual dispositional factors and motivation are important antecedents affecting Internet uses and effects. This study was predicated on the UGT assumption that the impact of the antecedent factors on Internet uses and effects may be mediated by other factors such Mental and Emotional Involvement. Therefore we focused on the affect of dispositional and mediating factors such Internet Self-efficacy, Internet Anxiety, Motivation, Media Involvement and Interaction Involvement on Internet Use. We used purposive sample and the participants were schoolteachers in primary education. The results of this study suggest that important predictors of Internet Use are not demographics, individual difference variables or Internet Exposure. Rather Motivation and Involvement were significant predictors on Internet Use and they have not received enough attention on previous media use research. The results also suggest that the predispositional factors such Internet Self-efficacy and Internet Anxiety is more important predictors on Internet Use than are Motivation and Involvement. Therefore, to improve people's Internet use, policymakers, technology trainers and facilitators should focus on how to increase Internet Self-efficacy and decrease their Internet Anxiety.


This review summarizes efforts in developing proton exchange membranes (PEMs) with excellent electrochemical fuel cell performance prepared by SPAEK in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) applications. Over the past few decades, much polyelectrolyte has been extensively studied to improve the properties as alternatives with lower cost and considerable performances for PEMFC. Sulfonated poly(aryl ether ketone) (SPAEK), fell into this category, which offers the attribute of adjustable proton conductivity, excellent mechanical and thermal stability. The discussion will cover crosslinking, organic-inorganic nanocomposite, layer-by-layer approaches.


Summary form only given, as follows. In a low-pressure arc discharge a dense low-temperature plasma is effectively generated. This plasma finds an application, both in scientific examinations, and in technological purposes. One of the essential disadvantages restricting technological application of an arc discharge with a cathode spot is the presence of a considerable part of a micro-droplet fraction in a plasma flow. In the report the construction, operating principle and main characteristics of an arc plasma source for producing a homogeneous gas-discharge plasma with microdroplet fraction in big vacuum volumes is given. The plasma source is based on an arc discharge with a cathode spot.


Purpose — This paper aims to examine the relationship between the shadow economy and income inequality in Nigeria.Method — The paper employed Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL), Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS), and Granger causality. This methodology is used to avoid endogeneity and heterogeneity in the model. This paper gauged income inequality using two diverse indicators of the Gini coefficient: the Gini index in proportion to household disposable income and the Gini index in proportion to household market income. In accordance with the literature, our empirical analysis draws on data from the Standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIID), the World Bank, World Development Indicators, and the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) for Nigeria from 1991 to 2018.Result — The findings of ARDL and FMOLS suggested a positive relationship between income inequality and the shadow economy, based on both measures of income inequality. In the short term, however, the shadow economy and income inequality are negatively correlated. Furthermore, we discovered a one-way causal relationship exists in Nigeria between the shadow economy, household disposable income, institutional democracy, household market income, and corruption control (CCI).Recommendation — Shadow economy has been regarded as an avenue to create job opportunities and raise poverty-income levels. It is critical that, for the shadow economy to reduce income inequality in Nigeria, policymakers should develop much better policies aimed at addressing income inequality.Contribution — In order to understand the relationship between income inequality and shadow economy activities in Nigeria, this study employed three methodologies, namely: Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL), Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), and Granger Causality. The result offers reliable recommendations for pro-poor interventions that aim to limit the growth of informality via redistributing incomes.


The propagation of finite amplitude sound in a homogeneous fluid layer that is bounded below by a rigid surface and above by a free surface is investigated theoretically. Solutions are derived for the second‐harmonic pressure generated by a tone that propagates in a single mode. It is shown that dispersion causes the modal structure of the second‐harmonic component to vary with range. A nonlinear Schrodinger equation [Zabolotskaya and Shvartsburg, Sov.‐Phys. Acoust. 33, 221–222 (1987)] is used to investigate the propagation of narrow‐band pulses, and analytical results are obtained. Pulse propagation is found to be stable in a liquid layer, as is the case for narrow‐band pulses in nonplanar modes of rigid circular ducts filled with air [A. H. Nayfeh, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 57, 803–809 (1975)]. The case of a gaseous layer is also considered. Near cutoff, pulse propagation in a gaseous layer is found to be unstable, and pulses eventually separate into envelope solitons. [Work supported by the Texas Advanced Re...


The design of a wideband digital radar system is presented. The system operates at S-band and uses a unique stretch-processing based architecture. The two fully digital receiver channels enhance the system dynamic range and enable the application of DSP algorithms. Experimental results verify that the system can achieve an in-band dynamic range of 60 dB across 600 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth.


Objective To investigate the feasibility of intrahepatic transit time got by contrast-enhanced ultrasonography(CEUS) in the evaluation of liver fibrosis.Methods According to the scheuer scoring system for staging liver fibrosis,83 patients infected with hepatic B virus were divided into no fibrosis group(S0),mild fibrosis group(S1~S2),moderate fibrosis group(S3) and severe fibrosis group(S4).All patients were examined with CEUS.Intrahepatic transit time was calculated as the difference in arrival time between hepatic artery(HA) and HV(HA-HVTT),between PV and HV(PV-HVTT),and between PA and HV(PA-HVTT).The orrelation between intrahepatic transit time and the severity of liver fibrosis was analysed.Results Except for the no fibrosis group,there were significant differences between another group and control group(P0.05~0.01) of the intrahepatic transit time(HA-HVTT,PV-HVTT,PA-HVTT).There were significant differences between every two group in the result of PV-HVTT(P0.05),while in HA-HVTT and PA-HVTT,only between no fibrosis and mild fibrosis group,mild fibrosis and severe fibrosis group there were significant differences(P0.05).Intrahepatic transit time(HA-HVTT,PV-HVTT and PA-HVTT) correlated negatively with the degree of fibrosis(r=-0.53,r=-0.71,r=-0.48,P0.01).Conclusion Intrahepatic transit time got by CEUS is an important parameter in in evaluating liver fibrosis non-invasively.


Background: The Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas (NHL) in childhood are usually high grade and diffuse histology. They require intensified short duration chemotherapy in contrast to adult NHL. The aim of our study was to observe the result of aggressive short duration chemotherapy in paediatric NHL. Materials & Methods: We included consecutive 160 paediatric NHL patients in paediatric haemato-oncology department of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Cancer Research Institute during period from June 1996 to December 2007. The inclusion criteria were patients less than 25 yrs of age with a diagnosis of NHL and Patients are clinically staged according to the St. Jude's (Murphy's) classification. Patients with > 25% blasts in the bone marrow were treated as leukemia and excluded from the study. Each patient received 3 cycles A and 3 cycles B of MCP842 protocol of INCTR. Response was assessed at the completion of 2cycles of chemotherapy (1 each of A and B). Result: A total of 160 previously untreated patients were entered in this study. The age range was 1 to 25 yrs (median 13.5). Fourty Eight (48) patients had Lymphoblastic Lymphoma (LL), 64 patients (40%) had Burkitt Lymphoma, 40 (25%) diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLCL) and 8 (5%) had Anaplastic Large Cell. The abdomen was the most common site (56%) of involvement followed by the mediastinum (15.62%). One hundred and Thirty four (134)(83.75%) patients achieved complete response after 2 cycles of therapy, 14 patients (8.75%) achieved partial response and 6 (3.75%) had no response, 6 (3.75%) were not evaluable. With median follow up of 4 & 1/2 yaers (range 7 months – 10 years) a total of 38 (23.75%)patients (19 LL, 13 Burkitt Lymphoma, 5 DLCL and 1 ALCL) have died. The causes of death were progressive disease in 26 (16.25%), infection in 6 (3.75%), tumour lysis in 4 (2.5%), hepatitis in 1 (0.63%), and unknown 1 (0.63%). One hundred and twenty two (122) patients (76.25%) are alive and in complete remission. The patients tolerated chemotherapy well. Grade IV febrile Neutropenia was seen in 34 patients (21.25%). Conclusion: Result of MCP 842 was promising and we will continue the protocol in future.


Purpose

Assistive living technologies provide support for specific activities, transforming a home into a smart home. The purpose of this paper is to present how to design, implement, deploy and install a personalized ambient support system for the elderly suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD) and nighttime wandering.

Design/methodology/approach

The intervention presented in this paper proceeds in two phases. During the monitoring phase, the system determines the profile of the person with AD, based on nighttime routines. Data are gathered from sensors dispatched in the smart home, coupled with physiological data obtained from sensors worn by the person. Data are then classified to determine engine rules that will provide assistance to the resident to satisfy their needs. During the second phase, smart assistance is provided to the person via environmental cues by triggering rules based on the person's habits and the activities occurring during night.

Findings

The paper develops the architecture of a non-intrusive system that integrates heterogeneous technologies to provide a calm environment during night and limit wandering periods.

Practical implications

The goal is to help people age well at home as long as possible and recover a regular circadian cycle while providing more comfort to the caregiver.

Originality/value

The system presented in this paper offers a calm and personalized environment with music and visual icons to soothe persons with AD and encourage them to go back to bed. It is installed at the patient's home using wireless technologies.


Epilepsy is the oldest nervous system disorder known to mankind and one of the most common diseases in human population. Despite extensive studies, multiple aspects of the disease and the nature of the disorder are still unclear. Currently 30-40% of the epileptic patients show resistance to all of the conventional therapeutic agents. In Iranian traditional medicine, various types of plants have been used to treat this disorder, one of them being Foeniculum vulgare (FV). This study aimed at evaluating the effects of FV extract and essential oil on seizures induced by Maximal ElectroShock (MES) and Pentylentetrazol (PTZ) in male mice. The first method involved inducing seizures in male mice using Pentylentrazol (1 mg/kg), administered intraperitionally (i.p.), and the second method involved inducing seizures by Electroshock (60 mA, 60 Hz, 0.10 sec.). Then, the seizures were tried to be stopped or brought under control using FV extract and essential oil. Our results indicated that although the fatal doses of PTZ leads to 100% fatality rate in the animals, the essential oil protects the mice against tonic convulsion induced by MES (TD50=0.3 ml/kg), and PTZ (LD50=0.28 ml/kg). At anti-seizure doses, the FV essential oil causes sedation and impairment of motor functions. Also the result of the study shows that the oil has greater anti-seizure effect compared to the extract.


【Objective】To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of the combination of xeloda and oxaliplatin as the first-line treatment of elderly patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma.【Methods】A total of 23 elderly(≥70 years) patients received oxaliplatin 130 mg/m2 on day 1 followed by oral xeloda 1000mg/m2 twice daily on day 1~14,every 3 weeks as a cycle for at least 2 cycles.【Results】Of the twenty-three patients enrolled,the overall response rate was 43% with complete and partial response rate of 4% and 39%,respectively.The median time to tumor progress was 8.1 months,and the median overall survival time was 13.9 months.The common adverse reactions were grade 1 or 2 peripheral neuropathy,neutropenia,anaemia,diarrhoea,nausea,and Hand-foot syndrome.【Conclusion】The combination of xeloda and oxaliplatin shows significant antitumor activity and a favorable toxicity profile in patients with metastatic carcinoma of the colorectum.


Human genetic variation has a high discriminatory power, so the prediction of phenotypes through genotype has been a topic of growing interest for study, and there is anticipation for its use in personalized medicine and in the area of forensic genetics, the latter having a greater interest in predicting externally visible traits. One of the areas of human genetic variation with more variants is the pigmentation, and for its multifactorial nature is of great interest to study the effect of pharmaceutical drugs on this characteristic, even more considering that drugs that have already been identified as related to induced pigmentation, are present in the environment and for that reason we are exposed to them even without knowledge. Drug influence in pigmentation is an area with almost no studies, having only a few that mention pigmentation but do not explore this any further mainly because the ones who focus on drugs effects on organisms normally are more related to pathologies being the pigmentation a characteristic that is easily discarded.


We establish the existence of positive solutions for singular boundary value problems of coupled systems  The proof relies on Schauder's fixed point theorem. Some recent results in the literature are generalized and improved.


The invention belongs to the field of a fertilizer, in particular to a potassium humate compound fertilizer and a preparation method thereof. The potassium humate compound fertilizer is prepared by mixing urea, potassium humate, monoammonium phosphate, ammonium chloride, calcium powder and bentonite with magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate and medium/trace elements. The potassium humate compound fertilizer granulated by using a steam drum physical agglomeration method and the preparation method of the compound fertilizer have the advantages that the prepared potassium humate compound fertilizer has large particle size and high strength and does not agglomerate; the capabilities of water and fertility retention, heat preservation and ventilation of the soil are enhanced; the soil structure is improved; the soil fertility is increased; the problems of reduced soil fertility, environmental pollution, soil hardening, nutrition unbalance and stress resistance of crops are solved; the utilization rate of the fertilizer is improved; the defects of low fertilizer efficiency, insufficient nutrition utilization, overproof pesticide residue, severe nitrate accumulation and heavy metal pollution are overcome; the sustained-release effect against pesticide is realized; the agroecological environment is protected; and the efficiency, yield and crop quality are improved.


his article characterizes the state of science and technology (S&T) development for communications and distributed information systems (referred to henceforth simply as distributed systems) at the Laboratory as determined by a review of related efforts described by several APL staff members during presentations to the Senior Leadership Team. A context for the discussion is provided by considering the nature of current and future communications and distributed systems supporting the exercise of command and control for the DoD. In addition, examples of signifi cant, ongoing APL communications and distributed systems programs are discussed. Finally, those communications and distributed systems S&T initiatives presented to the Senior Leadership Team are summarized, and conclusions and recommendations regarding the state of such S&T efforts at the Laboratory are offered.


: Based on the concept of "student development as the center" and the purpose of cultivating high-tech and skilled talents, this paper discusses the establishment of a relatively independent quality assurance mechanism in five horizontal levels, such as school, major, curriculum, teachers and students. Combined with the application of artificial intelligence technology, the "student-teacher-supervisor PDCA feedback communication system" based on the real-time feedback and interaction between teachers and students was developed. It has achieved obvious results in improving the school teaching quality and promoting the individual development of students.


From the Publisher:
The earlier editions of Real World FreeHand won international acclaim and awards for their friendly, approachable style and clear descriptions of the workings of FreeHand, covering topics from the most basic (how to draw a line) to the most advanced (how to add new tools and options to the program itself). Real World FreeHand 8 has the same goals: to provide clear, solid explanations of the basics; to make the most advanced techniques accessible to even the least experienced Macromedia FreeHand users; and to explain every tool and procedure from the point of view of the graphic arts professional. This new cross-platform edition also covers in depth FreeHand's new transparent lenses and its Web graphics creation features. And as with the earlier editions, Kvern's humor and engaging style make, as one reviewer put it, "learning this complex program almost as much fun as using it."


Urban management of rainfall periods is evolving at present towards solutions that are closer to a territorial approach. To achieve this, an evolution must be made on traditional logics concerning drainage systems, whose objective is to drain water away from urban areas as quickly as possible, by using essentially technical skills and know-how. Territorial proximity, created by abandoning the existing model for urban network development, proposes to make rainwater management a vector for creating relationships and renewing the city, which involves transformations in urban planning. The three examples presented in this document have been selected because they are indicative of a territorial water management project, which transforms the normal urban framework at the same time. These examples correspond to three different types of territory subjected to different types of risk and they offer individual solutions that go beyond a simple technical reply. The central position given to urban rainwater management is in line with re-centring urban theories and practices in a territorial context. By managing rainwater, different cases endeavour to establish a new relationship between the user and the town or city. For sustainable water resource management raises challenges in the sense of an increase in cooperation between players in urban projects and an increase in knowledge on users' and local residents' relationship with water.


In this paper we study the effect of microwave absorption on the quantum relaxation rate of ${\mathrm{Mn}}_{12}$ molecular clusters. We have determined first the resonant frequencies of a microwave resonator containing a single crystal of ${\mathrm{Mn}}_{12}$-Acetate and measured initial isothermal magnetization curves while microwave power was put into the resonator. We have found that the tunneling rate changes one order of magnitude for certain frequencies. This suggests that the microwave shaking of the nuclear spin and molecular vibrational degrees of freedom is responsible for the huge increasing of the tunneling rate.


.......................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................1 1.0 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................1 1.1 Background of the Study ............................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problem Statement ......................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Purpose of the Study ...................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Research Questions ........................................................................................................ 6 1.5 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................... 7 1.6 Scope of the Study ......................................................................................................... 8 1.7 Definition of Terms........................................................................................................ 8 1.8 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER TWO .............................................................................................................10 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................................................10 2.


Background: Empowerment of children and adolescents in terms of social skills is critical for promoting their social health. Objectives: This study attempts to explore a framework of influential factors on empowering primary school students by means of peer mediation from the stakeholders' point of view, as a qualitative content analysis design. Patients and Methods: This study was a qualitative content analysis (conventional method). Seven focused group discussions and six in-depth interviews were conducted with schoolchildren, parents and education authorities. Following each interview, recordings were entered to an open code software and analyzed. Data collection was continued up to data saturation. Results: Within the provided framework, the participants' views and comments were classified into two major categories "educational empowerment" and "social empowerment", and into two themes; "program" and "advocacy". The "program" theme included factors such as design and implementation, development, maintenance and improvement, and individual and social impact. The "advocacy" theme included factors such as social, emotional and physical support. Conclusions: The explained framework components regarding peer mediation are useful to design peace education programs and to empower school-age children in peer mediation.


Foundation of building on concrete piles is often used when it is necessary to carry the load into larger depth as by common foundation. Bearing capacity of piles or piled raft foundation is wide area to research. This paper deals with experimental load test of concrete pile and with their numerical modelling. Several types of foundation construction were tested and two kinds will be presented and compared in this paper - reinforced concrete foundation slab and raft foundation (made of reinforced concrete foundation slab supported by drilled reinforced concrete pilot). These types of foundation constructions were constructed as models, in a reduced scale, approx. 1:10. The size had to be adjusted due to limited capacity of the testing equipment and financial reasons. Except measuring of the foundation behaviour, there was also carried out measurement of the adjacent terrain.The aim of this paper is to compare the behaviour of rigid slab and the piled raft. The measurement results will be then compared with the results of numerical modelling.


Evidence based decisions in R&D require the availability of the right data from multiple disparate sources, the right tools from an arsenal of tools and systems, the right approaches and processes from a variety of new and legacy organizations, and the right skills and expertise, including scientists who can work across multiple disciplines, all coming together at the right time and in a coordinated fashion. This presentation will describe new approaches to addressing old and new questions and how to leverage disparate data and skills to create valuable new knowledge.


This paper seeks to relate rheological changes occurring in sardine mince homogenized with NaCl (1.5% and 2.5%) during gelation to the formation of different types of chemical bonding and to identify the involvement of myofibrillar proteins in these bonds. Setting and modori occur in sardine muscle to a marked degree. In setting there is heavy involvement of the myosin heavy chain (MHC), which is polymerized chiefly by means of stronger bonds than hydrophobic interactions. In modori, on the other hand, hydrophobic interactions prevail. In the gel made at 90 °C, MHC was the main protein implicated, through disulfide bonds or other covalent bonds. In gelation of sardine muscle, in general there is little involvement of other myofibrillar proteins such as actin, tropomyosin, and troponins and other low MW proteins.


The idea of difference sequence spaces was introduced by Kızmaz [5] and the concept was generalized by Et and Çolak [3]. Let p = (pk) be a bounded sequence of positive real numbers and v = (vk) be any fixed sequence of non-zero complex numbers. If x = (xk) is any sequence of complex numbers we write ∆v x for the sequence of the m -th order differences of x and∆v (X) = {x = (xk) : ∆v x ∈ X} for any setX of sequences. In this paper we determine theα -, β andγ duals of the sets∆v (X) which are defined by Et et al. [2] for X = `∞(p), c(p) andc0(p). This study generalizes results of Malkowsky [9] in special cases.


PART 1 MAN AND SUPERMAN - Early Reception - Comments by Shaw on the Play - Max Beerbohm's Review - Further Reviews by E.A.Baughan, A.B.Walkley and William Archer (1905) - Critical Studies 1947-84 including Eric Bentley, Louis Crompton, Alfred Turco, A.M.Gibbs & Nicholas Grene - PART 2 SAINT JOAN - Comments by Shaw and Early Reception - Critical Studies 1949-83 including Thomas Mann, Louis Martz, Margery Morgan, J.L.Wisenthal, M.A.Cohen and John Bertolini


Phytochelatins( PCs) and glutathione( GSH) have been proposed as biomarkers for the assessment of metal toxicity. However, most studies have generally been confined to one metal exposure in hydroponics. In the present study, pot experiment was conducted to investigate the synthesis of PCs and GSH in roots of whea(t Triticum aestivum L.) under combined pollution of Cd and Zn. The results showed that higher concentrations of Cd added( 3 ̄27 mg·kg-1) in soils showed toxicity and inhibited the growth of wheat, whereas single Zn treatments( 80 ̄720 mg·kg-1) in soils had no effects on it. Zn addition under the single Cd-treated soils partly alleviated Cd toxicity, accompanied by the gradual increase of shoot biomass. High performance liquid chromatography fluorescence analysis clearly showed that GSH rather than PCs was de- tected in roots under the single Zn- treated soils, and yet did not increase with the increase of Zn concentrations added in soils. By contrast, PCs and GSH were significantly induced in roots under the single Cd- treated soils( ≥1 mg·kg-1) and increased with the increase of Cd con- centrations added in soils. Zn addition under the single Cd- treated soils decreased the levels ofPCs and GSH in roots. There existed positive- ly linear relationships between PCs concentrations, GSH concentrations in roots and inhibition rate of shoot biomass under both single Cd and combined treatments ofCd and Zn. This work further confirmed that PCs and GSH were highly sensitive to Cd exposure, and could be used as biomarkers for an evaluation ofthe toxicity of Cd or Cd and Zn combined pollution in soils.


Aim. The purpose of the research was to study awareness and opinion of clients of private ophtalmologic clinic about patient's rights and their observance during the process of medical care. Material and methods. By the method of anonymous survey, we interviewed 108 patients who were seeking medical care. Results and discussion. In most cases, patients received information about their rights in health care sphere from their doctor, but only in a half of cases, the information has been provided in an accessible and understandable form. Even less patients were informed about the responsibility of health workers for damage to the patient's health during medical intervention. Private clinics clients signed consent often didn't read it because of the small font of the document, a large amount of the text and lack of time to study its contents, which are quite avoidable causes. Not all interviewed respondents recognize the need of abidance of medical confidentiality in ophtalmic practice and the patient's consent to disclose information about his health to third parties. Conclusion. Significant proportion of patients (45,4%) are not ready to relationship model between physician and patient based on the principle of cooperation, preferring to trust implicity in the knowledge and experience of the doctor.


The 2nd Attosecond Physics conference was hosted by the J.R. Macdonald Laboratory group from July 28 to August 1, 2009, at Kansas State University,Manhattan, Kansas about 215 participants from all over the world attended this meeting. DOE provided support for U.S. graduate students and post doctoral fellows attending this meeting. No papers/proceedings were published from this conference.


The electric model represents the simplest variant of the cell taking into account the effects of electrode polarization. It is possible to modify the model taking into account the more complex structure of the electrode fractal surface. To describe electrode polarization data the well-known Cole-Cole empirical formula has been used. The dependence of complex impedance vs. frequency has also been described by the Cole-Davidson formula. In order to understand these empirical expressions as a preliminary step, we can formulate the following problem: to construct an equivalent electric circuit which can model the electrode polarization phenomenon and give the complex impedances of Cole-Cole, Cole-Davidson and the more general Havriliyak-Negami formula.


This work provides an axiomatic construction of the noise power estimators which are not perturbed by the presence of nonrandom or random signals. In the latter case, the normalized second-order moments of the signal should be known.


The quality and types of windows used for shielding and viewing in hot cells are discussed. Types of windows used for various radiations are listed. Window terminology is graphically illustrated. (P.C.H.)


The high vertical index contrast and the small thickness of IMOS allow the realization of very small devices. Since photonic integrated circuits consist of both passive and active components, a successful active-passive integration is an essential step towards complete PICs. In this paper we will present our results on the analysis of submicron active-passive integration for IMOS platform. A trap model based on rate equations is built up to evaluate degradation of InGaAsP QWs due to the clean room processing, especially from the dry etching. The results show that the model fits quite well with the experimental data and that defect densities increase strongly for smaller active regions.


As of 2018, adult leukemia ranks the 5th among common cancers in Saudi Arabia in both genders with the incidence of 6.69 % and estimated mortality of 9.5% [1]. In one retrospective analysis of AML morphology of 153 patients at a tertiary referral center in Saudi Arabia, M6 comprised 1% among the FAB subtypes classification. [2]. in a more recent retrospective study of 91 adult patients diagnosed with AML at Tertiary center in Riyadh, between 2006 and 2013. M1 subtype predominated the subtypes of AML as per FAB classification. Secondary AML accounted for 23% of all patients, and the majority of cases of secondary AML are transformed from MDS [3,4]. Unfortunately, there is scarcity in data regarding the risk factors and occurrence of secondary malignancy among post autologous stem cell transplant for multiple myeloma patients in our Saudi population. The Increased risk of secondary primary malignancy has been well established with lenalidomide maintenance following high-dose melphalan. Ultimately, the mortality rate from MM is significantly higher than the mortality from secondary primary malignancies with lenalidomide which has a survival benefit [5]. In almost 50% of the cases, AML-M6 occurs secondary to alkylating agents or occupational exposure to mutagenic agents. Other cases may develop as a blast crisis of myeloproliferative disease or evolve from myelodysplastic syndrome [6,7].


The Author's reply: The new data presented in Dr Zorzi's letter1 2 are a valuable contribution to the evolving evidence that colorectal cancer screening programmes that use an immunochemical faecal occult blood test (iFOBT) should expect a difference in clinical effectiveness between periods …


The increasing of health awareness and the concern of long-term effect from artificial seasoning, healthy food's trend has continuously increased in demand, along with the trend of a healthy lifestyle in recent years. The change in healthy food perception from time to time also helps with the healthy food demand in Indonesia. There are around 52.2% of the population in West Java who has carried out a healthy lifestyle. This research has the main objective to analyze Foresty Cookery's (healthy food restaurant) in Bekasi by using financial feasibility as main analysis and industry feasibility as secondary. The financial use feasibility of investment such as Net Present Value (NPV), Payback Period (PP), and ratio analysis that consists of Return of Asset (ROA), and Return of Investment (ROI). The financial analysis shows Net Present Value is Rp1,489,209,200 (NPV> 0), Payback Period less than 3 years, and the following result of Ratio Analysis for the first year of business, where ROA is 10%, and ROI is 33%. Then for industry feasibility using Porter's Five Forces and SWOT analysis, that resulted in low competitive rivalry, yet high risk of substitution. From both analysis on finance and industry feasibility, the analysis results indicated that the business has a profitable prospect and financially feasible. Keywords: feasibility study, business plan, entrepreneurship, healthy food restaurant


The ingestion of the gummifera Atractylis plant or glue thistle , common in the Mediterranean area, causing an intoxication which is characterized by the diversity of its affections mainly by a liver damage often lethal. Renal damages remain less frequent. We report the case of a suicide attempt by glue thistle with an acute kidney failure requiring dialysis and hepatic impairment with good evolution. The toxicity of Atractylis gummifera resides in atractyloside and carboxyatractyloside, capable of inhibiting mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and responsible of cellular toxicity of various organs, especially renal impairement, the acute tubular necrosis remains the most likely etiology. The diagnosis is carried by the toxins research in the gastric fluid or the urine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date of Submission: 10-07-2018 Date of acceptance: 27-07-2018 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Water is and has always been the "life stream" of rural livelihoods in Andean communities. Access to water has for centuries been guaranteed through various forms of collective action and autonomous governance structures (Boelens, 2015). Until now, collective action has assured individual water access and is mostly based on local, inter- and intra-community water rights systems that shape, and are shaped by, water flows and infrastructure, local water-related practices, authorities and territory, and particular world views on how societies relate to water and nature (see Beccar et al., 2002; Hoogesteger et al., 2016).


Earning Preannouncement(EP) is a new type of mandatorily-disclosed information in China.It is also a new kind of accounting behavior.In the process,Earning Preannouncement Management(EPM) is implemented.EPM has its own,behavior-motivation and contains two main behavior-contents(time-management and accuracy-management).Behaviors in EPM are revealed comprehensively by reviewing literatures home and abroad.And the illumination is summarized that it is necessary to improve mandatory disclosure-institutions and perfect internal-governance mechanism simultaneously in order to realize EP decision-usefulness in practice.


re present a model for a 455 nm thulium-doped ZBLAN fiber laser co-pumped at 645, 684 and 1064 nm. This model
calculates the blue laser output power using a rate equation analysis and takes into account the cross-relaxation and
cooperative upconversion processes. We calculate the optimal pump wavelength for the case of a single visible pump
wavelength, and then show the benefits of adding the second visible pump wavelength at 684 nm for a low 1064 nm pump
power (120 mW). At high infrared pump powers (≥600 mW), we then show that adding the second pump does not increase
the efficiency of the laser. These results are explained by studying the population densities of the energy levels of the
thulium ions for each pumping configuration.


In the modern turn of the Chinese literature,associations and schools played an outstanding role.As a nationally influential literature association and school,the South Association had a special position and function which stretched two stages of that turn.Nevertherless,it should be positioned in the history of literature in accordance with its radical national revolution attitude towards the Qing dynasty and its tradition orientated ideas of literature.By probing the purpose of the founding of the association,the practice of writing,the ways of its function and organization and its relation with the media,this thesis finds new elements of modernity hidden by the phenomenon of the traditional literature and digs out its importance in the process of the development of the associations and schools and the turn towards moderntiy,which is academically of much significance.


Background Platinum-based chemotherapy is commonly used for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), yet clinical outcomes and survival rates remain very poor and continues to be a cancer of unmet need. Recent evidence points to cellular senescence, a response to oncogenic- and therapy-induced genotoxic stress, and its associated proinflammatroy secretory phenotype (SASP) as an emerging hallmark of cancer. Hence, targeting senescence and its associated tumor-promoting activities is emerging as a novel and promising therapeutic strategy but largely unexplored in lung cancer.
 Experimental Procedures Our study includes a variety of methodologies, including: - Functional in vitro analyses: proliferation, colony formation, tumor spheres, migration assays. High throughput unbiased analyses: RNAseq, proteomics and microenvironment microarrays (MEMA). - In vivo models of lung cancer: xenografts, orthotopic and genetically engineered mouse models. Longitudinal tumor burden by IVIS and microCT and mouse survival. - Clinical samples: Histological and in silico analyses.
 Results Here we show that cisplatin-derived SASP enhances the malignant phenotype of lung cancer cells. Using xenograft, orthotopic and KrasG12V-driven murine NSCLC models, we demonstrate that cisplatin-induced senescent cells strongly promote tumor progression. Mechanistically, we find that a TGF-β-enriched SASP drives pro-proliferative effects through TGFβR1 and Akt/mTOR pathway activation. We validate the translational relevance of chemotherapy-induced SASP using clinical NSCLC samples from a trial with patients who received neoadjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy. Importantly, TGFβR1 inhibition with galunisertib or senolytic treatment significantly reduces tumor promotion driven by cisplatin-induced senescence. Finally, we demonstrate, using distinct murine NSCLC models, that addition of TGFBR1 inhibitors to platinum-based chemotherapy reduces tumor burden and improves survival, providing pre-clinical proof-of-concept for future trial designs on combination therapies.
 Conclusions and Impact We regard this work as a major conceptual dissection of tumor-promoting activities of therapy-induced senescence, and a preclinical advance in the management of lung cancer with potential wide therapeutic applications in precision medicine. Of note, we expect our findings to have implications for multiple cancer types, including ovarian, breast, mesothelioma, oesophageal, head and neck, bladder and brain cancers, where platinum-based therapies remain important standard-of-care treatments.
 Citation Format: Estela González-Gualda, David Macias, Samir Morsli, José Ezequiel Martín, Hui-Ling Ou, Mary Denholm, Ioana Olan, Reuben Hoffmann, Mark Dane, Dimitris Veroutis, Guillermo Medrano, Francisca Mulero, Carla P. Martins, Mariano Barbacid, Vassilis Gorgoulis, James E. Korkola, Doris M. Rassl, Gary J. Doherty, Robert C. Rintoul, Masashi Narita, Daniel Muñoz-Espín. A tumor-promoting senescent secretome triggered by platinum chemotherapy exploits a targetable TGFβR1/Akt-mTOR axis in lung cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 5504.


The study is devoted to the problem of stabilization measures in the fi nancial sector of Spain, including the implementation of the IMF and the ECB's new approach for toxic asset management and restoring the profi tability and solvency of fi nancial institutions. With the development of the global fi nancial crisis, growth in the number of insolvent borrowers led to the increase of «toxic» bank assets. The fi rst anti-crisis programs of the Spanish Government, aimed at reducing unemployment and insolvent bank recapitalizing by providing direct fi nancial assistance, could not stop further development of the crisis, and Spain came close to default. Anti-crisis measures aimed at restructuring the banking assets held both at the national level and with the support of the European Stability Mechanism, enabled the restoration of the high capacity of the Spanish fi nancial sector. The experience of Spain and the ECB in prudential regulation of the fi nancial sector is extremely important for Russia as for the sustainability of the national fi nancial system and for determining the foreign policy priorities for participation in the integration processes.


Studying the weakness in the application of native plants in urban greening to find the species to be developed urgently was very important for facilitating the construction of an urban green space dominated by native plants. The species composition and utilizing frequency of woody plants in 61 sampling sites and 150 road sections in Nanjing were surveyed by quadrat and standard section methods respectively. The native attribution, utilizing frequency, and ornamental characteristics of these plants were analyzed. In non-road green space surveyed, there are 167 species in arbor layer, including 15 native flowering species, 9 native fruiting species and 13 native color-leaf species; there are 156 species in shrub layer, including 22 native flowering species, 4 native fruiting species, and 5 native color-leaf species. Meanwhile, in road green space surveyed, there are only 45 species in arbor layer, including only 2 native flowering species, 5 native fruiting species and 5 native color-leaf species; there are 46 woody species in shrub layer, including 7 native flowering species, 2 native fruiting species, and no native color-leaf species was recorded. So, in non-road green space, the development and popularization rank of native woody plant is native fruiting arbor shrub native color-leaf arbor shrub native flowering arbor other. Meanwhile, in road green space, the development and popularization rank of native woody plant is native colorleaf shrub native fruiting shrub and native flowering arbor other. Based on the results, a list of native woody plant for developing and popularizing is suggested.


Polarity items must, by definition, lie inside the scope of their licenser; items like any N, in addition, appear to require a c-commanding and overt licenser. It is argued that the relevant restriction refers to precedence, not c-command, and that it is morphological, not syntactic. This implies a morphological dimension of dependence, in addition to the semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic ones. The analysis relies on the separation between syntax and a postsyntactic morphological component: the exponents of the relevant polarity items require an [operator] features that never appears in the corresponding feature bundle at the output of syntax. This mismatch is resolved by copying the feature from the licensing operator, provided it is present at morphological structure (overt) and linearly preceding.


The propagation and damping of low-frequency waves are studied in an infinite uniform, partially ionized medium in a longitudinal magnetic field. Two longitudinal modes and two transversal uncoupled modes are obtained. One of the transversal modes corresponds to the acoustic wave, and the other is rapidly damped. The two transversal modes have speeqs which are very close to the speed of Alfven waves (obtained in the case of a fully ionized medium). These waves are damped by collision between particles and the cogfficient is proportional to the square of the frequency. (auth)


It is well known that massage therapists often develop a number of health problems relatively early on in their career. A preliminary study showed that grounding massage therapists during their work may alleviate some of the health problems they encounter. A doubled-blind randomized controlled trial was designed to examine the effects of working and sleeping grounded for 4 weeks on massage therapists' blood viscosity, stress (through HRV), inflammation (IFN-γ, IL-6, TNF-α, and hsCRP) and oxidative stress (MPO and MDA) biomarkers. The results show stress reduction as measured by heart rate, respir-atory rate and hear rate variability (HRV) and a lowering effect on blood viscosity that lasted for at least one week after ungrounding, with systolic blood viscosity becoming significantly lower at the end of the study. Inflammation markers (IFN-γ, TNF-α, and hsCRP) increased rapidly, within one week, after ungrounding. The findings suggest that grounding is beneficial for massage therapists in multiple domains relevant to health and wellbeing.


Improving throughput in the B. Tech. Nursing Sciences programme is a complex issue as not only the theoretical but also the practical component and undefined inner strengths of the student influence success. The purpose of this article is to report factors in the prospective students' social background, their perceptions of nursing and nurses and their motivation that could influence their academic success in the first year of study. The research design was contextual, qualitative and exploratory. Triangulation of data gathering methods was obtained by using two instruments, a targeted selection interview and a written instrument. Data analysis was done through Tesch's approach. The results indicate that prospective students perceive a nurse to be functioning from the affective domain, and that they judge themselves to be strong in the affective domain. The cognitive domain was rarely mentioned (7%). Due to the myths regarding the nursing profession, the profession continue to attract students who are interested in the myth and not the reality.


Elections to the European Parliament have since they were introduced in 1979 been, as scholars define it, a "second-order" election. They are typically as such characterized through the losses for national government parties, surge of smaller parties, low interest from the public in general and most of all low levels of voter participation. Expectations were therefore for once higher that the European Parliament elections in 2014 would prove to be different from previous experiences. One very important reason was the past years collective top-down experience in the European Union of going through and dealing with the European sovereign debt crisis. The aim for this thesis therefore became to perform an individual-level analysis using logistic regression to determine what impact the crisis had on voter participation in a group of EU member states (Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain) that were particularly affected by the crisis. The overall conclusion is that the crisis seems only to have had at best marginal positive effects on voter participation in these countries and that national political circumstances still determine much of the contents of these elections and the context under which they are held and conducted. (Less)


INTRODUCTION
Relatives are profoundly affected by an adult family member's severe and enduring mental health problem (MHP). The burdens of caring impact on adult relatives' emotional, physical and social wellbeing. How relatives make meaning and communicate about the MHP is thought to affect family talk about mental health and this can impact family coping and wellbeing.

AIM
No review has yet drawn together research about how adult relatives of people with severe and enduring MHP make meaning and communicate about their relatives' difficulties. We aimed to address this gap.

METHOD
We conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed primary research. SCOPUS, Pubmed, Psychnet, SCIE, Cochrane and CINAHL+ databases were searched.

RESULTS
Nineteen papers qualified for inclusion. Findings are organised under four themes: making meaning about the MHP and affected individual; conceptualising the self in the presence of the MHP; meaning making processes underlying relatives' wellbeing outcomes; and relatives' perspectives on family talk about the MHP.

DISCUSSION
Historical relationships, caregiver identity and mental health literacy moderate relatives' understanding and talk about the MHP.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
Psychoeducation and communication support for relatives should be provided by mental health practitioners. Future research should address familial communication about MHP , including with children.


The area discussed in this paper consists of approx imately 165 square miles on the northwestern flank of the Bighorn Mountains. All of the periods of geologic time from pre-Cambrian through the Triassic are represented, with the exception of the Silurian. The formations are generally typical of a foreland type depositional environment. Exposures of crystalline rocks are limited to the central part of the mapped area. The predominant rock type in the pre-Cambrian complex is a pink granite that is extensively jointed by several sets of vertical and trans verse joint systems. Gneissic rocks containing abundant hornblende are found near the eastern side of the Deer Creek fault associated with an amphibolite body. Chlorite schists occur near the eastern side of the Cookstove Basin fault, and are associated with granite. Cambrian rocks are roughly divisible into three lithoogic units, a basal arkose and sandstone unit with some shales (Flathead, 255 feet), a middle green shale unit with some limestones and flat-pebble conglomerates (Gros Ventre, 295 feet), and an upper limestone unit with some flat-pebble conglomerates (Gallatin, 309 feet). The Bighorn dolomite in this area is divided into two units, a lower massive dolomite unit 300 feet thick, and an upper thin- to thick-bedded dolomite and dolomitic limestone unit approximately 250 feet thick. The lower unit forms a vertical cliff that is a prominent topographic feature. The upper portion of the formation, perhaps equivalent to the Leigh member defined by Blackwelder, weathers to form a break in slope. There is no basal sandstone in the mapped area, and the upper unit is con siderably thicker than the type Leigh member.


Climate change is causing rapid changes of Arctic ecosystems. Yet, data needed to unravel complex subsurface processes are very rare. Using geophysical and in situ sensing, this study closes an observational gap associated with thermohydrological dynamics in discontinuous permafrost systems. It highlights the impact of vegetation and snow thickness distribution on subsurface thermohydrological properties and processes. Large snow accumulation near tall shrubs insulates the ground and allows for rapid and downward heat flow. Thinner snow pack above graminoid results in surficial freezing and prevents water from infiltrating into the subsurface. Analyzing short‐term disturbances, we found that lateral flow could be a driving factor in talik formation. Interannual measurements show that deep permafrost temperatures increased by about 0.2°C over 2 years. The results, which suggest that snow‐vegetation‐subsurface processes are tightly coupled, will be useful for improving predictions of Arctic feedback to climate change, including how subsurface thermohydrology influences CO2 and CH4 fluxes.


Although sanction threats promote fear, among committed offenders, that fear can become a resource with which to sculpt emerging crime preferences. In such cases, criminality is not deterred but channeled. We explore the channeling process here as it relates to auto theft and carjacking. Our qualitative findings reveal that auto thieves are reluctant to embrace the violence of carjacking due to concerns over sanction threat severity they attributed to carjacking—both formal (higher sentences) and informal (victim resistance and retaliation). Meanwhile, the carjackers are reticent to enact auto theft because of the more uncertain and putatively greater risk of being surprised by victims, a fear that appears to overcome the enhanced long-term formal penalty of taking a vehicle by force. We examine the implications of offenders' decision-making for the analytic intersection of rational choice and deterrence, offering the notion of projective risk sensitivity to encapsulate the process.


This experiment was carried out to study the embryogenic response of cashew ( Anacardium occidentale L.) cotyledon explants cultured in different concentrations of BAP under in vitro conditions. Sterilized cotyledon segments (10 mm long, 5 mm width) were cultured on full strength MS basal medium containing various concentrations (0-10 mg/L) of BAP. The result revealed the medium without BAP exhibited profuse root organogenesis which decreased with the increase in the concentration of BAP. Greenish or yellowish white nodular structures appeared on the edge of the surface concentrated towards the convex side of the explants. Consequently, these structures gave rise to somatic embryoids and the degree of embryoid formation increased with the increasing concentration of BAP. MS medium with 8 mg/L BAP was the most optimal concentration for the induction of somatic embryos among the tested. Cytological study confirmed the development of somatic embryoids directly from cultured cotyledon explants. Journal of Food and Agriculture 2010 Vol. 03, No. 1 & 2, Page 7-13 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/jfa.v3i1-2.5165


Self-organising Logic of Structures (SLS), a semantic representation language of high expressive power, seems attractive from a theoretical point of view. To check its usefulness for natural language understanding systems, an implementation is required. This article presents our efforts aimed at computational verification of SLS. We discuss some computational problems and propose a solution based on Constraint Logic Programming. An experimental implementation of a modelchecker for dynamic formulae is presented. It verifies the satisfaction of formulae representing simple sentences with multiple quantifiers.


ABSTRACT This article explores home dissatisfaction using methods modelled on those used to understand negative body image and its causes. We found that a substantial proportion of UK participants (13–39%) expressed dissatisfaction with their homes. Although the strongest association was between home dissatisfaction and reported physical problems, there was evidence that dissatisfaction is also predicted by experiencing pressure from the media and your family to improve your home, as well as reporting a greater tendency to compare your home to others'. The results of the study provide initial evidence for a sociocultural explanation of home dissatisfaction, analogous to sociocultural explanations of body dissatisfaction.


In order for organizations achieve a satisfactory financial income, it is pertinent to managers. To adopt strategies and actions aimed at maximizing the gross revenue. One of the strategies is to increa the investment in selling expenses. Thus, the relation between the impact of selling expenses in the gross income of the company is a relevant information relevant to decision-makers, however, few studies have explored this issue. Thus, the objective of this research article is to analyze the impact of expenditure on gross sales revenues of companies listed on the BM & FBOVESPA. To do so, a quantitative and descriptive research based on secondary data obtained from the database of the BM & FBOVESPA was taken considering a period of three years: 2010, 2011 and 2012. Through simple linear regression analysis, the studiys indicated that there was influence in selling expenses in gross revenue in 44.23% of the 52 companies evaluated, and this influence was of 62.20%. There was also a similar relationship both in the trade business, industry or service, being more intense in the trade sector. On the other hand, in public utility companies, selling expenses have little influence on gross revenues.


Intense sharp lines corresponding to the librational modes were found in the low-frequency Raman scattering spectra of the glycine, lysine, asparagine and tyrosine aminoacids as well as in the dry DNA crystal lattices. According to the group-theoretical analysis such modes were assigned to the pseudoscalar type of symmetry.


This article outlines the genealogy of 'Italian cultural studies' both as a field of research and as a set of ideas around culture as a way of introducing the journal special issue.


Fokker has given a multitime action principle yielding the equations of motion for a relativistic two‐body system in which the first particle responds to the retarded Lienard–Wiechert field of the second, while the second responds to the advanced field of the first. The present paper exhibits a single time parameter Lagrangian which avoids the no‐interaction theorems and leads to a manifestly covariuent and canonical description of this system via Dirac's generalized dynamics. Within this formulation the system possesses a manifestly covariant and canonical center of mass and a separate manifestly covariant but noncanonical ''center of motion'' which moves with the constant 4‐velocity corresponding to the conserved total 4‐momentum. In the one‐dimensional case the two centers coincide, and the differential equation fo the internal motion reduces to the classical Kepler problem. In the general case the motion lies in a plane, and the center of mass moves in a circle about the center of motion.


Fifteen 3α and β-substituted

benzamido-6β-hydroxy, acetoxy and benzoyloxy-tropanes were

synthesized according to Scheme 1 and Scheme 2. The dey intermediates

3α-amino and3β-amino tropane derivatives 3 and 8 were prepared by

reductive amination of tropinone 2 withammonium acetate and sodium

cyanoborohydride, and reduction of oxime 7 with sodium

respectively.Condensation of 3 and 8 with substituted benzoic acids

using 2-bromo-N-methyl-pyridinium iodide ascondensing reagent yielded

the corresponding amides 4a~d and 9a~d. Basic hydrolysis of 4a~

dfurnished alcohols 5a ~ d. Acid hydrolysis of 9a~d gave alcohols

10a~d.Treatment of 10a withacetic anhydride yielded acetate 11a.

Reaction of 10c,d with benzoyl chloride gave the

correspondingbenzoates 11c,d. Compounds 5d,12c and 12d exhibited

definite affinities to both D-1 and D- 2receptors。


This study aims to examine the effect of spatial literacy and financial planning by using household behavior as a mediator. The testing uses a mediation process using Smart PLS 3.0. Respondents were collected using an online survey using a simple random sampling technique. The number of respondents used in this study was 102 respondents. Based on the results of data processing, financial literacy on financial resilience is not supported. Meanwhile, the effect of financial literacy on financial resilience by mediating household behavior is accepted. The hypothesis of financial planning on financial resilience is not supported. However, the effect of financial planning on financial resilience with household behavior as mediation is supported. This research provides theoretical and practical contributions which will also be discussed further in this paper.


We examined the relationship between carbon mineralization (Cmin), moisture and temperature in a Mediterranean forest soil under controlled and field conditions. We studied the following.


Photon is a 2D soccer simulation team which is going to participate in international competitions for the first time. This paper gives a brief overview of current and future efforts of Photon. We have used Genetic Algorithm (GA) to optimise our fitness functions. Using this method we optimised two tasks: ball-possession and passing, and through-pass interception. The results of our simulations show promising and we are aiming to further our method to other tasks such as marking.


Poesia Espanhola, a manuscript of sixty-seven folio pages, which forms part of the Gayangos Collection in the National Library at Madrid, was, as its title implies, compiled by a Portuguese. Further evidence of the nationality of the collector is furnished by two poems in Portuguese as well as the Portuguese captions added to several other compositions. From the authors included in it, it may be assumed that the manuscript belongs to the first quarter of the seventeenth century. It has come down to us virtually intact except for a single folio page (45r) containing one complete sonnet and the initial five verses of another. However, some notion of the contents of the missing poem may be gained from the caption at the bottom of folio 44v-Soneto de Diego de Mendoca a la muerte de su muger, while the last nine verses of the other composition (given on folio 45v fortunately make it possible for us to retrace them and the missing lines that go with them to a sonnet by Góngora beginning "Mientras por competir con tu cabello," Obras Poeticas, I (New York, 1921), p. 30.


Abstract Hydrothermal, autoclave-type experiments were conducted on water saturated, soft montmorillonite gels. The temperature was 105–200°C and the water pressure 15–30 MPa for 0.5-1 year, the confined samples being cooled and left to rest before XRD tests, compression experiments, and electron microscopy were made. All the samples showed a significant, temperature-dependent strength increase which was attributed primarily to a permanent change in microstructure. It had the form of heat-induced regrouping of expanded montmorillonite stacks at temperatures in the range of 100–150°C as concluded from electron microscopy, which also revealed the formation of amorphous silica and cristobalite at 200°C. This suggests that silica precipitation contributes to the strength increase at high temperatures. The actual mechanism of silica release and migration may be explained by considering Forslind's and Jacobsson's montmorillonite lattice forms for 'low' and 'high' temperature. If there actually is a transition b...


Abstract When studying English or through the medium of English, some mainland Chinese students adopt non-heritage names. This phenomenon has arisen as a result of language contact in an increasingly interconnected world. Our paper investigates reasons for the adoption of non-heritage names among Chinese students and the kinds of functions that these names are seen to fulfill. We surveyed 156 English linguistics majors. Our findings indicate that most of those surveyed use non-heritage names. These appear to serve interrelated roles and can also be associated with Chinese nick-naming. In addition, the names in our sample seem to reflect aspects of students' lives that are relevant in specific contexts, and these contexts both shape and are shaped by participants' use of given and non-heritage names.


A multi-layer circuit board assembly for packaging a semiconductor device comprising a flexible trace routing circuit (2) including a first dielectric substrate (4) having a first conductive layer (8) thereon and at least one solder ball receiving passage (6) formed through the first dielectric substrate. The first conductive layer includes a plurality of conductive traces (10) having a solder ball pad (12) adjacent to a respective solder ball receiving passage (6) for forming a closed end. A first adhesive layer (22) is affixed to the first conductive layer. A flexible reference plane circuit (16) includes a second dielectric substrate (18) having at least one reference voltage plane (20). The reference voltage plane is attached to the first adhesive layer and is electrically connected through the first adhesive layer to the first conductive layer. A semiconductor device receiving passage extends through the trace routing circuit, the first adhesive layer and the reference voltage plane circuit. A stiffening member (32) is attached to the second dielectric substrate.


Dielectric properties of HTR-3 and PAAC-16 polyimide thin films with thickness ranging from 0.95 to 2.4 /spl mu/m have been measured in the frequency range from 50 kHz to 14 MHz by using a small electrode in MPM system. The frequency dependence of ac conductivity for polyimide HTR-3 and PAAC-16 with thickness of polyimide film about 1.4 /spl mu/m was measured at room temperature. The curves exhibit two dispersive regions in which they had different slope. The dielectric loss and dissipation factor (tan /spl delta/) decrease in the frequency range <400 kHz and increase in the frequency range >400 kHz. With decreasing polyimide film thickness, the dielectric constant decreased.


10534 Background: It has been reported that application of the RT-PCR test for human mammaglobin (hMAM) may provide diagnostic information to evaluate the neoplastic origin of pleural effusion (PE). Our main goal was to assess the value of hMAM RT-PCR as an adjunctive test to thoracoscopic biopsy which represents the conventional gold standard in PE diagnosis.

METHODS
This study included 288 patients who underwent thoracoscopy. Histological analysis of pleural biopsies showed malignant diseases (MT) in 155/288 (53.8%) patients and non-malignant diseases (NMT) in 133/288 (46.2%) patients. The cells obtained from PE were analyzed by a nested RT-PCR protocol for hMAM mRNA gene detection. We evaluated the association between hMAM expression and MT vs NMT status by the diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). The diagnostic performance parameters of sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), accuracy (Ac), predictive positive value (PPV), predictive negative value (PNV) were also analysed. In addition, the relative risk of cancer in negative thoracoscopy patients showing hMAM expression in PE was evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS
hMAM transcript was found in 68/288 (23.6%) of the total PE. Among them, 51/155 (Se=32.9%) positive cases were from MT and 17/133 (1-Sp=12.8) were from NMT. Statistical analysis showed significant correlation between hMAM expression and MT (DOR value of 3.04). The diagnostic performance parameters of hMAM detection were as follows: Sp=87.2.%, Ac=58.0%, PPV=75.0% and NPV=52.7%. The 18 month follow up of negative thoracoscopy patients showed that 5/17 (29,4%) of hMAM positive PE had a tumour in contrast to 10/126 (7.9%) of hMAM negative PE with a relative risk of 4.6 for developing malignancy (p=0.023).

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest a prognostic value of PE hMAM in non-specific pleuritis and may point out a false-negative thoracoscopy.