Three-stage contact oxidation/external membrane filtration process was used for treatment of sewage from a college dormitory.On the premise of ensuring the effluent quality,through optimizing and controlling the operation parameters,the hydraulic retention time(HRT) was greatly shortened compared with the traditional contact oxidation process,which significantly improved the operation efficiency.The operation results showed that when the HRT was 3.7 h,the removal rates of COD,ammonia nitrogen and SS were 95%,93% and 100% respectively.The electricity consumption of the system was 0.6 kW·h/m3.The final effluent quality could meet the requirements of using urban miscellaneous water for greening.This project provides a practical process mode for distributed sewage treatment.


In this study, the authors investigated the effects of demographic, medical, and vocational rehabilitation service variables on employment outcomes of persons living with HIV/AIDS. Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine predictors of employment outcomes using two groups drawn from Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA-911) data. Only service variables were found to be significantly related to employment outcomes in both groups. Job placement assistance and on-the-job supports were found to be significant predictors of a successful employment outcome at closure. Whereas higher case service expenditures increased the likelihood of achieving employment at closure, longer length of time in rehabilitation decreased the likelihood of employment at closure.


The so called dense pairings were studied mainly by D. Radford in his work on coreflexive coalegbras over fields. They were generalized in a joint paper with J. Gómez-Torricillas and J. Lobillo to the so called rational pairings over a commutative ground ring R to study the interplay between the comodules of an R-coalgebra C and the modules of an R-algebra A that admits an R-algebra morphism κ : A → C∗. Such pairings, satisfying the so called α-condition, were called in the author's dissertation measuring α-pairings and can be considered as the corner stone in his study of duality theorems for Hopf algebras over commutative rings. In this paper we lay the basis of the theory of rational modules of corings extending results on rational modules for coalgebras to the case of arbitrary ground rings. We apply these results mainly to categories of entwined modules (e.g. Doi-Koppinen modules, alternative Doi-Koppinen modules) generalizing results of Y. Doi , M. Koppinen and C. Menini et al.


In response to the worldwide competition that they face today, multinational manufacturers are employing more and more advanced technology in their manufacturing operations. To successfully apply this advanced technology, manufacturers must provide adequate support for the equipment - support built around a well–trained workforce. The types of training required to prepare today's workforce for tomorrow's technology will require approaches to training that are new and innovative. This paper discusses the problems related to supporting this advanced technology and proposes an alternative approach to training and equipping the workforce with the kind of innovation that is needed. An approach using artificial intelligence–based expert systems to train personnel in the support of the new technology and then to provide them with a tool to assist them in their support efforts.


This study was a preliminary study on flame spray coating with hydroxyapatite (HAp). Coating is one of the technique to improve metal resistance to corrosion. In this study, flame spray coating using HAp was performed on stainless steel 316 L as a material for medical devices. This synthetic compound contains elements which are biocompatible and bioactive in human body where they can stick to body tissues or muscles.HAp has been extensively used as a bone substitute because of its crystal structure, biocompatibility and osteoconductive nature. In this study, 316L SS was coated by HAp using flame spray method with varied oxygen flowrate and air pressure. The result of this study showed that the air pressure of 1 bar and oxygen flowrate of 25 l/min had the thickest coating which was 123.5μm and the lowest corrosion rate which was 0.0261 mm/year. The air pressureof 3 bar and oxygen flowrate of 35 l/min produced the lowest thickness which was 32.5μm and the highest corrosion rate which was 0.0761 mm/year. The use of high air pressure and oxygen flowrate decreased the coating thickness and the corrosion rate. The result revealed that flame spray method was effective to be used to coat HAp on 316L SS.


Let D be a bounded strict pseudoconvex non-smooth domain in Cn. In this paper we prove that the estimates in Lp and Lipschitz classes for the solutions of the ?-equation with Lp-data in regular strictly pseudoconvex domains (see [2]) are also valid for D. We also give estimates of the same type for the ?b in the regular part of the boundary of these domains.


The article presents glass items discovered over time during archaeological excavations performed on the Dacian site of Buridava and preserved in the collection of the "Aurelian Sacerdoţeanu" Vâlcea County Museum. The analyzed fragments were once part of glass vessels created in diff erent techniques: sagging, mold-blown, free-blown, cut-faceted, and splashed glass. Most identified shapes are ribbed bowls, but one could also mention one cylindrical beaker with inscription, a beaker with cut-faceted decoration, one "carchesium" fragment, two fragments from bottles handles, one skyphos (?) handle, and one fragment from a rython(?). Though the analyzed lot includes a relatively small number of items, it draws attention due to the variety of production techniques employed and the variety of identified shapes. Taking all these into consideration, one may say that the lot represents a group of glass items typical to the chronological interval between the end of the 1st century B.C. and the beginning of the 2nd century A.D.


Redshift z = 9–10 object selection is the effective limit of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging capability, even when confirmed with Spitzer. If only a few photometry data points are available, it becomes attractive to add criteria based on their morphology in these J- and H-band images. One could do so through visual inspection, a size criterion, or alternate morphometrics. We explore a vetted sample of Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG) z ∼ 9 and z ∼ 10 candidate galaxies and the object rejected by Morishita+ to explore the utility of a size criterion in z = 9–10 candidate selection. A stringent, point-spread function (PSF)-corrected effective radius criterion ( ) would result in the rejection of 65%–70% of the interlopers visually rejected by Morishita et al. It may also remove up to ∼20% of bona fide brightest ( ) z = 9 or 10 candidates from a BoRG selected sample based on the Mason et al. luminosity functions, assuming the Holwerda et al. size–luminosity relation. We argue that including a size constraint in lieu of a visual inspection may serve in wide-field searches for these objects in, e.g., Euclid or HST archival imaging with the understanding that some brightest ( ) candidates may be missed. The sizes of the candidates found by Morishita et al. follow the expected size distribution of z ∼ 9 for bright galaxies, consistent with the log normal in Shibuya et al. and single objects. Two candidates show high star formation surface density ( ) and all merit further investigation and follow-up observations.


e19200 Background: While multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) are considered the "gold standard" of care for cancer patients, their performance varies widely. This study aimed to develop a user friendly, reliable and valid self-assessment tool for MDTs to evaluate their performance and monitor improvement over time. Methods: Using maturity modelling methodology, key themes from the literature were developed into a 2-dimensional matrix comprising 17 indicators (within 6 components) across 5 levels of performance. A modified Delphi methodology (where 38 MDT members each assigned the contents to components and performance levels using card sorting software) was used to establish face and content validity. A 10 minute on-line version of the matrix was piloted across 11 MDTs. Each participant estimated where they thought the MDT performed for each indicator. Correlation and factor analyses examining convergent and discriminant validity were conducted using SPSS. Cronbach alpha was used to measure internal consistency and evaluate reliability. Ease of use and usefulness were also examined. Results: A total of 109 members completed the matrix, with representation from medical, nursing and allied health professionals. The mean results for each indicator are shown below (maximum 5). Overall results for the different teams varied from 1.2 to 4.2, with standard deviations ranging from 0.4 to 0.8. Conclusions: This matrix has the potential to be a simple, valid and reliable tool for MDTs to measure their performance and monitor improvement over time. The tool will now be refined and then disseminated to a wider audience for further validation and feedback. [Table: see text]


1) Earlier diagnosis in primary bronchial malignant disease is necessary if operation is to provide increasingly satisfactory results. 2) Too frequently delay is occasioned by insisting on microscopic evidence of tumor and not accepting well known clinical findings that are at least equally trustworthy in diagnosis. 3) Chronic persistent cough frequently results from irritation due to smoking but persons who smoke should have careful examination of the lungs at fairly frequent intervals if malignant disease of the bronchi is to be detected early enough for surgical resection. 4) A chronic cough that becomes more persistent, and especially if it is associated with wheezing or expectoration of streaks of blood, demands careful study. 5) Roentgenoscopic demonstration of a single mass in the parenchyma of the lung even without pulmonary signs or symptoms, particularly if there is evidence of osteo-arthropathy, is sufficient to justify surgery and removal of the affected lobe of the lung or the entire lung, depending upon the findings at operation. 6) Any infiltrative, unilateral lesion in the hilar area of the lung, associated with diminished or absent breath sounds over the corresponding area of the lung without appreciable change in percussion note, is sufficient for diagnosis of bronchial carcinoma.


A high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) method for fast qualitative analysis and accurately quantitative determination of artificial sweetener neotame in wine was developed.Neotame was qualitatively analyzed on a Waters Nova-Pak C18 column with an ultraviolet detector at 218 nm using acetonitrile: ion-pair reagent = 40:60(V/V) as the mobile phase,and the retention time of neotame was approximately 13.4 min.The contents of neotame in the suspected samples were determined under gradient elution condition,and the retention time of neotame was approximately 15.9 min.The detection limit of the developed method was 0.37 μg/mL,and the mean recovery rate for neotame in blank wine samples with spiked standard was 99%–101% with a relative standard deviation less than 1.0%(n = 5).This method is simple,accurate and practical,and can save 50% time during the analysis of large number of samples.


: WC- η ( i.e. Co 6 W 6 C, Co 3 W 3 C, etc) composite powder was synthesized by in situ reduction and carboniza-tion reactions using tungsten oxide, cobalt oxide and carbon black as raw materials. Mean particle size of the as-synthesized composite powder is about 155 nm. Thermal spraying powder with a high density and an excellent flowability was prepared using WC- η composite powder by agglomeration and heat-treatment. Cemented carbide coatings were then fabricated by high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying technique using nanostructured and commercially available low-carbon WC-12Co thermal spraying powders as feedstock. The results show that equiaxed W 2 C particles form at certain amount in the nanostructured coating while cracks propagate mainly along grain boundaries and phase interfaces. However, the micron-structured coating still contains W besides W 2 C, which mainly distribute in outer surface of WC grains. The micron-structured coating has stronger tendency to get transgranular fracture. As a result, the cracks go forward along a relatively straight path. Due to higher density, finer grain size and much larger in-第 terface area, the nanostructured coating has simultaneously higher hardness and fracture toughness as compared to the micron-structured coating. After immersion into molten zinc for 200 h, the micron-structured coating suffers from more serious cracking along the directions perpendicular and parallel to the interface between coating and substrate, which causes the large-scale exfoliation of coating material and the corrosion of substrate. In contrast, zinc diffusion is not observed in the nanostructured coating and only a few cracks perpendicular to the coating/substrate interface are locally produced. Moreover, the inner surfaces of the crack are covered with tungsten and cobalt oxides, which inhibit corrosion of the nanostructured coating in molten zinc. Therefore, the nanostructured coating has a promising corrosion resistance against molten zinc.


Anxiety and depression are considered coping mechanisms organisms adopt in response to external stressors. We employed Lévy statistics to investigate the movement patterns of rodent models subjected to stress and compared them to non-stressed controls. Our analysis revealed that stressed mice exhibited heavy-tailed distributions in open fields, consistent with the Lévy flights utilized by animal predators in search of scarce food sources. In contrast, non-stressed mice demonstrated a normal distribution of speed. We used the two-dimensional Kolmogorov-Smirnov test to identify significant differences in the γ and μ parameters derived from Lévy flight between anxiety, depression, and control mice. Additionally, we employed the support vector machine algorithm to determine the optimal separation of each group. Furthermore, our mathematical model demonstrated the therapeutic effects of fluoxetine. These findings have the potential to contribute to the development of more precise definitions of anxiety and depression, as well as facilitate the evaluation of pharmaceutical developments.


A web portal presents information from diverse sources, e.g., different applications, in a unified way. Providing fast response is one of its critical issues. Portal-based web sites need to handle huge amount of requests simultaneously. Existing solutions only rely on page caching, which is not effective. The performance bottleneck may be a slow response from a single application, or too many responses from several applications in one page, although they are fast respectively. In this paper we address this issue through caching strategies and parallel portlet rendering. An approach based on collaboration between caching and parallel portlet rendering is proposed. In our approach, the browser caches the static content while the server caches dynamic content. Meanwhile, parallel page rendering reduces the latency of slow responses. Experiment results show that our approach improve performance.


Examination is made of a suggestion that data from two earthquakes recorded at Tucson lower the probability of the existence of the seismic phase PKJKP. The conclusion is that the data in question can be better explained in other ways and that they do not affect the question of the existence of PKJKP.


Background: Unwanted pregnancy is one of the major fertility as well as social issues of all times. Ever since mankind has prevailed, man has turned towards nature to solve a number of problems he came across, and nature has served him well. Unwanted and unexpected pregnancies are often gotten rid of by painful, costly and embarrassing surgical operations. What if, there was another way to do this without being going through all that pain and embarrassment? What if, nature has a cure for this problem as well? Yes, indeed it has! Certain natural herbs possess abortifacient properties that may help one to get rid of their undesired pregnancy without any sort of surgery. Objective: The aim of our study is to make people familiar with the natural abortifacients and their potent benefits over surgical abortion to give people an alternate way to end their undesired or unexpected pregnancy instead of going towards the infamous surgical abortion. Methodology: A survey was conducted that was based on 200 (n=200) people including common public, medical student , healthcare practitioners and different professionals just to know their general opinion about herbal abortion and to aware people regarding the beneficial aspects of natural herbs used in abortion in term of safety, cost and privacy issues. Result: The study showed that 97.5% of people know about abortion. Among those people, 46% were aware with the fact that the natural herbs can be used for abortion, while 54% of the people had absolutely no idea at all. Whereas, 41.5% think that these herbs can be harmful for our health, 45.5% considered these herbs as a better option, and 13% of the people had absolutely no idea about it. Conclusion: Natural herbs possess miraculous powers to compete with surgical abortion. Herbal abortion may prove to be a better option as compared to surgical abortion. The results we got from our study reveal people's lack of knowledge regarding herbal drugs for abortion, which makes people hesitant to use them. It's the job of our medicinal researchers and healthcare professionals to come forward and promote herbal method of abortion, which can prove to bring revolution in the life of people.


Public pressure to decrease the number of consecutive and total hours worked by housestaff increased after a young woman named Libby Zion died shortly after admission to a New York teaching hospital [1]. Although the grand jury investigating the incident returned no criminal indictments against the hospital or residents, it blamed a system of training and staffing that could allow such a death to occur. Subsequently, an Ad Hoc Advisory Committee chaired by Bertrand Bell recommended limits on consecutive working hours, which were implemented by New York State [2]. Many housestaff training programs have begun to adopt work shifts [3, 4] despite the lack of data showing beneficial effects of such schedule changes. In fact, Laine and colleagues [5] found in a retrospective cohort study that in-hospital complications and diagnostic test delays were more frequent after New York State enacted work-hour limitation regulations. One possible explanation for these findings is that such reforms increase the amount of time patients are covered by physicians who are not primarily responsible for their care (cross-coverage). We studied the relation between housestaff coverage and potentially preventable adverse events in hospitalized patients using previously tested self-report methods [6]. Methods Patients All 3146 patients admitted to the medical service of Brigham and Women's Hospital, a 720-bed tertiary care urban teaching hospital, from 13 November 1990 to 14 March 1991 were eligible for the study. During this period, the medical service was staffed by 8 general medical teams, 2 cardiology teams, and 3 intensive care unit teams. Medical and cardiology teams consisted of 1 junior or senior resident, 2 interns, 1 or 2 medical students, and 1 attending physician. Each intensive care unit team consisted of 2 or 3 interns, 1 or 2 residents, and 1 attending physician. Housestaff Call Rotations Each day, 4 members of the general medical teams were on call for admissions for the next 24 hours. After approximately 6 p.m., 2 of the 8 medical residents and 4 of the 16 medical interns on the general medical service remained in the hospital, representing 4 teams. After midnight, 2 additional junior or senior residents acted as night floats on the general medical service. The night floats cared for patients of interns from teams not on call and for all patients and new admissions after 2 a.m. All newly admitted patients cared for by the night floats were transferred to the team that was on call the following day. The cardiology and intensive care unit services had no night floats, and those teams were covered all night by the on-call interns. Interns and residents were on call every fourth night on the general medical and cardiology services and every third night in the intensive care units. Because there were only two cardiology team residents, a rotating resident on call for the cardiac intensive care unit supervised the cardiology interns who were on call 2 of the 4 call nights. Identifying Case-Patients and Controls During the study period, the junior or senior resident physicians on each clinical team received daily electronic mail computer messages reminding them to report adverse events. An adverse event was defined as an injury caused by medical therapy that prolonged hospital stay or produced disability at discharge. This disability was not related to the underlying disease process and was not an intended consequence of medical therapy. The adverse event was the outcome measure used and tested in the Medical Practice Study in New York State [7], a large study of medical injury. The investigator trained residents in defining the outcome measure and reporting methods every 2 weeks when resident rotations changed. Reporting adverse events was voluntary. Residents could report events by sending electronic computer mail, placing an anonymous card in a study box with the patient's name and location, or reporting the event in person to the housestaff working on the study. Preventability was not a criterion for reporting events. After the name and location of the patient was transmitted to the study team, a resident working on the study completed a standardized adverse event data form and an Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) [8] data form for the potential case-patient and two controls. Data were collected prospectively before preventability was determined. The two controls were the patients in the beds on either side of the case-patient at the time of the event. We selected the controls to reflect the population at risk at the time of the event. Because a hospitalized patient could be in the risk group for more than one case-patient, our sampling design and analysis allowed some persons to be selected as controls for more than one case-patient or for a selected control to later be identified as a case-patient [9]. Only patients cared for on the medical service (that is, the general medical, intensive care unit, or cardiology service) were eligible to serve as controls. If no such patients were hospitalized on the same floor as the case-patient, the corresponding beds on the floor below the case-patient were used to identify controls, except for patients in the intensive care unit. These patients served as controls for each other but never served as controls for other services, and vice-versa. Patients were assigned to resident teams in a rotating manner and were distributed to hospital floors according to the availability of beds. Private patients were not delegated to separate wards or services. Coverage and admission routines were the same for all patients. Assessment of Preventability Because we sought to identify risk factors for potentially preventable adverse events, event summaries were reviewed by a panel of three physicians to assess preventability. This panel also ensured that the study criteria were met and classified adverse events as being related to medications, procedures, or other therapies. Summaries did not contain coverage data or insurance data. The reviewers first independently assessed the events and then met to develop consensus. The preventability of each event was rated on a 6-point scale. A score of 1 indicated little or no evidence for preventability, and a score of 6 indicated nearly certain evidence for preventability. Events that scored 4 or higher on this scale were judged potentially preventable. A majority rules criterion was usedat least two of three physicians on a panel had to agree on a preventability score ranging from 1 to 6, with the third panel member scoring the event within 1 point. Disagreements were resolved by discussion and further chart review. As an example of a preventability rating, a patient with a new pleural effusion had thoracentesis by standard technique and suffered a pneumothorax that prolonged hospital stay. No evidence from the housestaff report or chart suggested any abnormality in procedure or technique. Preventability rating was 1 on a 6-point scale, and the event was classified as procedure-related. In another instance, a young woman with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome was admitted for fever. The chest radiograph done at admission was read by the housestaff as normal, but later review indicated a pneumonia. Because of the error, antibiotic therapy was initiated after progressive pneumonia resulted in hypotension and admission to the intensive care unit. The misreading of the chest radiograph was classified as preventable by the panel, with a rating of 5. The panel believed that a system to ensure rapid review of radiographs on admission by a radiologist and transmission of the results could prevent such an occurrence. The event was classified as one caused by other therapy. In 68% of events, consensus of preventability was achieved by initial independent assessments. For the remainder, consensus was easily achieved by discussion and further review. Reproducibility of panel judgements of preventability was tested on a random sample of 45 adverse events, including 17 events initially classified as potentially preventable. These events were evaluated twice by the three reviewers at a 7-month interval. Analysis of agreement between the two sets of ratings by the panel yielded a statistic of 0.60, which is similar to the inter-rater reliability statistics reported in other studies of appropriateness and quality of care [10-15]. Further examples of adverse events, preventability ratings, and possible system changes to prevent some events are given in Appendix 1. Data Collection We collected demographic, socioeconomic, severity of illness, comorbidity, and procedure utilization data for case-patients and controls by reviewing the patients' charts and the hospital fiscal database. Sociodemographic information included age, sex, race, and type of insurance. The clinical variables recorded for each case-patient and two controls included resuscitation status, comorbid medical conditions (including the conditions listed in the Charlson comorbidity index [16]), and procedures and major therapies (for example, cardiac catheterization) that were done before the event. To measure severity of illness and to calculate a severity of illness score, we used APACHE II [8] (which is based on laboratory data, physiologic data, chronic health data, age, and the Glasgow Coma Scale [17]). We calculated the APACHE II score for both case-patients and controls from data collected immediately before the event. We classified housestaff coverage data in two separate ways. First, the physician responsible at the time of event was identified from chart notes or time of day as 1) the primary intern, 2) another intern from the same team, 3) an intern from a different team, or 4) the night-float resident. Coverage during the adverse event was assigned by determining who was responsible for the patient when the incident that led to the event occurred. For example, if a p


An efficient technique for early detection of undecodable blocks during LDPC decoding is introduced. The proposed method avoids unnecessary decoding iterations by predicting decoding failure and therefore results in significant improvement in power and latency in low SNR values. The proposed method which has a low hardware overhead compares the parity checksum against predefined threshold values for three iterations and terminates decoding if a condition is met. A 5.25 mm2 10GBASE-T Split-Row Threshold decoder is implemented using the proposed technique in 65 nm CMOS. The postlayout results show that at low SNR value of 3.0 dB, the decoder requires 2.3 times fewer decoding iterations which results in 23 pJ/bit energy dissipation. This is 2.4 times lower than the energy dissipation of Split-Row Threshold decoder without the proposed early stopping technique.


When a high voltage direct current(HVDC) transmission system operates in ground-return mode, large currents will flow through the neutral earthed transformers near the HVDC grounding electrode, which may lead to a series of harmful results such as DC biases of transformers. Based on specified model, the influence of soil structure configuration on direct current flowing through transformer's neutral point is analyzed. Complex soil structure with horizontal and vertical combined-layer model is taken into account. The results show that soil structure has notable effect on the direct current flowing through transformer's neutral point. So when accurately calculating the direct current, the complexity of soil structure should be considered. The results also provide a theoretical reference for selection of substations near the HVDC ground electrode.


Introduction Intervertebral disk (IVD) disorders resulting in pain and disability are extremely prevalent and current treatment options do not restore tissue integrity or function. Mechanisms of IVD degeneration are not fully understood. As such, in vitro culture models are being used to investigate these mechanisms. Models using cells deprived of extracellular matrix (ECM) result in loss of differentiation and viability (Haschtmann 2006) and limit the use of important outcome measures, such as biomechanics. While tissue culture of IVD explants allows for maintenance of cell morphology, preservation of ECM, and biomechanical testing, the biologic and biomechanical influences of endplate cartilage and bone are lost (Ariga 2003). For these reasons, our goal is to develop and validate a whole organ culture model. Ideally, this model will provide long-term maintenance of cell and tissue integrity, architecture, composition, viability, allow for clinically relevant assessment of IVD health, and disease. To our knowledge, few studies on whole organ culture for the study of IVD disorders have been published and none have established a validated model addressing the optimal criteria outlined above. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate a novel methodology for IVD whole organ culture using biological and biomechanical assessments. Materials and Methods Under ACUC approval, tails were collected from mature Sprague Dawley rats (n = 12) euthanatized for reasons unrelated to this study. Soft tissues were aseptically removed from the caudal vertebrae. Bone-disc-bone explants were prepared by sawing the proximal and distal vertebral bodies in half. Explants were randomly assigned to either the injured group (n = 20) in which the posterolateral annulus fibrosus (AF) was penetrated with a 20G needle to enter the nucleus pulposus (NP), which was aspirated with a 1 mL syringe to 0.5 mL, or the uninjured group (n = 22), which received no insult. Explants were cultured in a rotating bioreactor (Synthecon) at 50 rpm for 14 days in supplemented DMEM + ITS media. Culture media were changed on days 1 and 7. Cell viability in each IVD was determined using calcein-AM and ethidium homodimer-1 at day 0, 1, 7, and 14. IVDs were fixed and processed for histology and stained with hematoxylin eosin (HE), Safranin-O and Trichrome, and assessed by a pathologist, blinded to treatment, for cell and tissue morphology and architecture. Biomechanical testing of explants was performed at days 0 (after injury) and 14 by loading in axial compression at 0.001 mm/s. Stiffness was determined from the linear regions of the force-displacement curves. Results Uninjured AF and NP cells maintained high viability through day 14. Injured AF and NP cells showed high viability at day 1, but viability in injured AF and NP cells was notably lower at days 7 and 14. Histologically, uninjured IVDs maintained normal characteristics of cells and ECM through day 14. Uninjured IVDs retained more collagen in AF and proteoglycan in NP. Injured IVDs show histologic evidence of cell death corresponding to areas of loss of cell viability and loss of proteoglycan staining in NP and loss of collagen staining in AF. Stiffness for uninjured IVDs was similar at days 0 (80.8 ± 34.8 N/mm) and 14 (89.2 ± 23.1 N/mm), while stiffness of injured IVDs was lower than the uninjured group at day 0 immediately after injury (52.9 ± 1.7 N/mm) and then increased approximately 2.5 times by day 14 (130.8 ± 37.0 N/mm) Conclusion The results of this study suggest that whole organ (bone-disc-bone) IVD explants can be cultured in a rotating bioreactor such that cell viability and tissue architecture in AF and NP are maintained for at least 14 days. The injury used in this model produced pathologic changes in AF and NP similar to those seen in human IVD degeneration, including cell death, abnormal ECM, and increased stiffness over time. In light of previous studies that reported significant loss of cell viability using other culture models (Gawri 2011), we suggest that the use of the rotating bioreactor is critical for providing nutrient supply to IVD explants, thus preserving biologic and biomechanical properties. We were able to perform multiple outcome measures on explants to assess IVD physiology and pathology. Ongoing research in our laboratories is aimed at further optimizing this model to investigate mechanisms of disease and test therapeutic interventions. I confirm having declared any potential conflict of interest for all authors listed on this abstract Yes Disclosure of Interest None declared


The subject matter of the article is the analysis of the certain motives of the group juvenile crimes while committing robberies and extortions at the Republic of Angola. Special attention is focused on the interpretation of the research results analyzing the self-interest violent crimes. It should be noted that there are some ideas about conditions of illegal social activity of the youth.


Some textbooks quickly come to be established as the 'gold standard' for their particular area of enquiry, and this is often indicated by the speed with which new editions appear, presumably in response to a buoyant market. Such is the case for the behavioral ecology of non-human primates, as this third edition follows hard on the heels of its predecessors in 2000 and 2003. (Contrast this with its equally worthy counterpart in primate ecology, Primates in Nature, by Alison F. Richard, which appeared in 1985, but was never revised. What a pairing it would make with this volume!) Karen Strier is a distinguished primate behavioural ecologist at the University of Wisconsin, best known for her exemplary long-term studies of the muriqui (Brachyteles) in Brazil.


A 2i-year-old man with Fallot's tetralogy was found to have rib notching on the right side due to collaterals from the systemic circulation to the right pulmonary artery. An attempt is made to explain this systemic-pulmonary communication based on the embryological development of the pulmonary arteries. The patient's exercise tolerance increased during adolescence presumably due to improvement in pulmonary circulation.


Human T and natural‐killer (NK) cells, that are thought to be the major cytotoxic effector‐cell populations in the defence against neoplastic cells, were isolated from blood and decidua in order to analyze their expression of carcinoembronic‐antigen‐(CEA)‐family‐member proteins. Biliary glycoprotein (BGP, CD66a) was the only member of the carcinoembryonic antigen family detected. While freshly isolated T‐cells expressed low amounts of BGP, freshly isolated NK cells were negative. After in vitro stimulation for 3 days,T cells up‐regulated their BGP expression and a sub‐group of NK cells (CD16− CD56+), known to predominate in decidua, revealed de novo expression of BGP. In contrast, stimulated CD16+ CD56+ NK cells, which occur exclusively in the blood, remained negative. The expression of BGP could be shown on the protein level by using a panel of 12 well‐defined MAbs and on the transcription level in rt‐PCR and subsequent oligonucleotide hybridization. Interestingly, rIL‐2‐stimulated T cells expressed 3‐fold higher levels of BGP compared with those seen after stimulation with phytohemaglutinine (PHA). PHA, on the other hand, induced a higher expression of HLA‐DR, an activation marker of T cells. The differential regulation implies a distinct function of BGP and HLA‐DR. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This paper examines the performance of M-ary PSK systems with pilot-aided coherent detection and transmission through a fading channel, as the one encountered in land-mobile satellite communications. Realistic fading models, based on measurements available in the literature, are considered. The choice of the pilot-extraction filter bandwidth is carefully examined, as a tradeoff between reducing the noise which is added to the recovered carrier and faithfully reproducing the fading process. Different spectral shapes for this process are contemplated and the effect of Doppler shift is also analyzed. >


Abstract Background: According to WHO stroke is the second leading cause of death in the world. Ischemic stroke is the type of stroke with the highest population reaching (80%). Data at RSUP Dr. Kariadi in 2015 showed that the most common complication in stroke was infection (37.9%). The most common cause of infection was bacteria with antibiotics as the main therapy. It is necessary to monitor the use of antibiotics due to increased cases of antibiotic resistance.Objective: To determine the rationality of antibiotic use in ischemic stroke patients with infections in RSUP Dr. Kariadi Semarang Period 2018..Method: This research is a descriptive observational study. The sample consisted of 41 medical records of inpatient male ischemic stroke patients at RSUP Dr. Kariadi Semarang in 2018. The use of antibiotics was evaluated using the Gyssens method.Results: The results of evaluation of antibiotics by the Gyssens method showed antibiotic rationality (53%). The most widely used antibiotics are ampicillin sulbactam (30.4%) and levofloxacin (27.5%). Giving empirical therapy (57.5%), and diagnosis of infection in patients including pneumonia (50,8%), sepsis (19.3%), UTI (17.5%), pressure sores (5.3%), abscesses mandible (3.5%), ulcerative colitis (1.7%), cellulitis (1.7%), gasteroeneritis (1.75%).Conclusion: The use of antibiotics in ischemic stroke patients hospitalized in RSUP. Dr. Kariadi Semarang in 2018 is rational. Its users have the right antibiotics, indications, dosage, administration, route, time, interval and patient.


Territorial three-spined sticklebacks moved 5·3 times as far as non-territorial males in 2 min (P < 0·001) and spent 11·1 times longer in aggression in the pools (P< 0·001). Territorial males had slightly higher condition factors than non-territorial males. Condition factor was correlated positively with the gonad mass (P< 0·006), carotenoid concentration (P< 0·006) and the activity of CS in the axial muscle (P< 0·05) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in pectoral muscle (P < 0·003). The male traits best correlated positively with female mate choice were courtship effort (P< 0·001), coloration (P< 0·003) and initial condition (P< 0·025). Courtship behaviour was related to intestine mass (P< 0·018), axial (P< 0·028) and pectoral muscle citrate synthase (CS) activity (P< 0·047); coloration was related to gonad mass (P< 0·037). These muscle enzymes may be involved in ATP generation for sustained activities or in recuperation between bouts of burst activity. Females that choose to mate with assiduously courting males which bear higher CS levels may be choosing individuals that show honestly their good condition and capacity to accomplish reproductive tasks.


In this paper, a new compound distribution named Rayleigh-Rayleigh (Ra-Ra) is presented. Several structural statistical properties of new distribution containing explicit expressions for the r-th moments, characteristic function, quantile function, order statistics, Shannon and relative entropies, besides stress strength reliability were considered and studied. The unknown parameters of Ra-Ra distribution have been estimated under the maximum likelihood estimation method. Moreover, the Ra-Ra distribution is applied upon a simulation study and real data set in order to evaluate its utility and flexibility.


This paper presents a retrospective critique of my own survey research conducted more than three decades ago in Tehran, Iran. The main finding of the research was that the managers of small companies in Iran had failed to implement the principles of western scientific management in their companies. A summary of the research and its results are presented. A social constructionist critique of the research and its approach is made as a cautionary note to those who continue to advance western theories of management and organizations as universal, "culture-free" and objective facts in non-western countries.


In recent years,more advances have been made in the research on error process for Strapdown Inertial Navigation(SINS),accompanied with new ideas, algorithms and technology.This paper in the first place summarizes the present situation of the research on error models for SINS.Then,it summrizes and analyzes attitude algorithms and error process technology for SINS,especially introduces several new technologies presented recently.At last,the future research direction toward error process technology for SINS is submitted in this paper.


ABSTRACT:
A professional Accountant is an expert accounting personnel of the organization as well as in public practice. Ethics of a professional accountant means following of some fundamental principles of accounting system in the organization. Ethics in accounting system helps a professional accountant to be useful for the society in the long run. Integrity, objectivity, attainment of professional competency and professional behaviour are some of the fundamental principles of accounting ethics which should be taken care by a professional accountant. It is the general phenomena that a professional accountant may come across different threats in the course of his profession either in organizational level or in public practice. The threats may be of self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity etc. which needs to be resolved very carefully by a professional accountant. In order to resolve the threats the professional accountant should be well versed with the techniques of relevant facts, issues on ethics, fundamental principles, internal procedure, and alternative course of action. Ethics in accounting related to the fact of observation of an accountant while maintaining the accounts or while finalizing the accounts. In both the cases the professional accountant should be more careful for protection of the credibility of accounting profession. This article aims at how a professional accountant can able to protect the ethics of accounting profession and utilize various techniques to resolve the ethical conflict of the organization.


ABSTRACTIt is often taken more or less for granted that perpetrators of mass killings and other acts of violent atrocity dehumanise their victims in order to justify killing them. Drawing on the past decade of developments in psychological theories of dehumanisation, and on representations and explanations of killing provided by Islamic State, this paper argues for a more complex understanding of the role of notions about humanity and inhumanity in the legitimation of violence.


The cerebrospinal fluid in tuberculous meningitis has been studied since Quincke1introduced the method of lumbar puncture in 1891. Deniges and Sabrazes,2in 1896, compared the results of chemical analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid in 2 cases of tuberculous meningitis with the values in a case of rabies and suggested that further study would reveal a formula of the chemical changes in the cerebrospinal fluid characteristic of each infection of the central nervous system. Mestrezat and Gaujoux,3in 1909, reported findings in 2 cases of tuberculous meningitis confirming the formula of Deniges and Sabrazes.2Mestrezat,4in 1912, reported cerebrospinal fluid syndromes in a large number of diseases. With rare exceptions his observations have been confirmed. Mestrezat5further elaborated these cerebrospinal fluid syndromes on the basis of the physical and chemical characteristics of the fluid. In 1925, Fremont-Smith and Dailey6stated: "It should again


Intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) are a biologic product originally developed to treat immunocompromised patients. In the past decades, there has been increased utilization of IVIG in autoimmune conditions. The objectives were to evaluate the clinical use of IVIG in the largest tertiary medical center in Israel and to determine top uses, estimate off‐label usage, and assess consumption of this blood product.


During the course of the construction on information resources,the reference rooms of local college should pay full attention to the reality and be directed by the need of consumers.In order to improve the disposal of information resources,referencerooms should base themselves upon the cooperation,proceed from the sense of development and opening and start with the training of the staff.


A part of K4(1984—1985)Fe emulsion chambers exposed at Mt.Kanbala(5500m,atmospheric depth 520g/cm~2)by China-Japan Emulsion Chamber Collaboration has been analyzed with systematic scanning and measurement.The distribution of the starting point depths of the observed showers is given.The zenith angle distribution,vertical intensity,energy spectrum and attenuation length of hadrons in air and in iron are presented.Our results are compared with the recent data given by other experiments,and they are consistent with each other approximately.


To elucidate the cold tolerance of a new cultivar Longjiao 2(Zizania latifolia),the contents of malondialdehyde(MDA) and the relative conductivity were determined under low temperature stress.Index of low temperature stress was also calculated by dry matter of leave and stems.Zhejiao 911 was used as a control cultivar,which was an elite cultivar in Zhejiang Province of China.The results showed that malondialdehyde(MDA) and relative conductivity of Longjiao 2 rose less especially within persistent low temperature while compared with Zhejiao 911.Significance difference in index of low temperature stress of both cultivats only was observed at the recovery phase of 5℃.Furthermore,the indices of low temperature stress of both leave and stem in Longjiao 2 were lower,and the accumulation of dry matter was affected less in Longjiao 2.All these results demonstrated that Longjiao 2 is more adaptable to chilling stress than Zhejiao 911.


The effects of the positive ion scavengers NH3 and n‐C4H9OH, on the organic product yields in the radiolysis of liquid CHCl3 at 25°C were investigated. As the solute concentrations increase, the values for G(CH2Cl2), G(C2HCl5), and G(C2Cl6) increase, G(sym‐C2H2Cl4) and G(C2Cl4) remain unchanged, and G(CCl4) decreases. These results are consistent with a free radical mechanism for all the radiolysis products except CCl4. The decrease in G(CCl4) indicates that CCl4 is formed by a secondary positive ion reaction. The concentration dependence of this decrease can be described by the expression G(CCl4)O−G(CCl4)S=G(CCl4)O((α[S])1/2/{1+(α[S])1/2}), where G(CCl4)O is the 100‐eV yield in the absence of a scavenger, and α is an empirical parameter proportional to the reactivity of the solutes, and [S] is the concentration of the scavenger in moles per liter. Values of α were determined for each solute and compared to published values determined in cyclohexane. In chloroform, values for α were 4–19 times larger than...


The article examines the modeling of transient processes in transmission lines of electrical power supply system's considering the influence of the transformer. It has been shown that the transformation ratio significantly influences the character of current and voltage oscillations. The modeling was carried out by numerical methods in math software MathCad. The suggested method allows to choose the optimal combination of parameters that ensure the required electrical energy quality.


We propose new metrics to integrate Earned Value Management (EVM) and Project Risk Management methodologies in project control and monitoring. We compare EVM cost and schedule variances with the deviation the project should have under the risk analysis expected conditions. Therefore, we are able to distinguish whether the project over-runs are within expected variability or there are structural and systemic changes over the project life cycle. To this aim, we propose new monitoring indexes, as the Cost Control Index and the Schedule Control Index.


The reasons of wire clip heating in neutral point loop and the hazard of neutral point direct earth are analyzed.The suggestions are presented.


On this research has three purposes. (1) Examine the effect mathematics learning outcomes toward implementation Group Investigation (GI) and Think Pair Share (TPS), (2) Examine the effect mathematics learning outcomes toward the student's motivation level, (3) Examine interaction between learning strategies and student's motivation level toward mathematics learning outcomes. This research is quantitative quasi. The population in this research is all students of VIII SMP N 3 Sawit on academic year 2016/2017. Sample consisted of two classes, experiment class treated GI and control class treated TPS. Technique use Cluster Random Sampling. Methods of data collection used documentation, questionnaire and test. Techniques of analyzed used analysis of variance two path different cell. Before the test analysis is start, the sample must be tested prerequisites test normality and homogeneity test. The result of this research can conclude that: (1) there is a effect between Group Investigation and Think Pair Share toward mathematics learning outcomes student in SMP N 3 Sawit with significance 5%, (2) there is a effect between student's motivation level with mathematics learning outcomes student in SMP N 3 Sawit with significance 5%, (3) there is no interaction between learning strategies and student's motivation level toward mathematics learning outcomes with significance 5%.


In this paper I examine the policies of leading multiple retailers in the UK with regards to property development, ownership, and investment. The discussion is set in the context of recent work by Clark and Wrigley in which they seek to relate locational decisions and other elements of corporate strategy to the economic concept of sunk costs. This concept is shown to be relevant to the recent experience of some British retailers which have incurred irrecoverable costs through overpayment for 'premium' sites for grocery store development. More generally, property development and ownership have in recent years become important activities for leading retail firms. Policies to separate property ownership and management from the mainstream retail trading function appear to have been successful, but some companies have lost money through overambitious programmes of property development. The conclusion is that, though retail development inevitably incurs sunk costs both at entry and exit, these are for most companies outweighed by the long-term growth of land and property values in the United Kingdom. Sunk costs may therefore be of less significance than in other types of private enterprise.


College counselors are the front-line workers of ideological and political education and they frequently confront some complicated and awkward problems in concrete student work.As the changing of situation,developing of educational notion,lacking of family education and demanding of concrete works,it is necessary to take some measures to attract parents' participation and support.


In 2006,Mukhopadhyay and Sarkar introduced a new time memory data trade-off algorithm,the TMTO curve was T3M7D8=N7,which was called MS curve.In this paper,based on MS method,a new table structure is obtained by changing the using order of one-way functions.By using the new table structure,a time memory data trade-off algorithm was designed,and the TMTO curve is DTM2=N2.For DN1/14,our trade-off method is better than the MS method.


PF 1022A, a 24-membered cyclooctadepsipeptide and a potent anthelmintic drug, is active against nematodes but not against arthropods. Muscle cells of Ascaris suum generate autorhythmic spikes in electrophysiological control experiments. Exposure of the worm to PF 1022A leads to flaccid paralysis and in parallel to the disappearance of these spike events. Results of such experiments in vitro were compared with those from experiments using planar lipid bilayer membranes incorporating PF 1022A, a related linear octadepsipeptide and other cyclodepsipeptides.

Whereas PF 1022A acts both as an ionophore in lipid bilayers, similar to other cyclodepsipeptides like valinomycin and enniatin A, and as a paralysing drug in worms, some of the series of depsipeptides examined have only an ion carrier function, while others exhibit only nematocidal activity. It is concluded that the ion carrier property of PF 1022A is not responsible for its paralyzing effect on nematodes and that there is a specific binding site for PF 1022A in nematodes. Binding may trigger the lethal reaction cascade, which is responsible for anthelmintic activity.


To protect themselves against competition; companies must steadily improve their performance. Improving performance, on the other hand, can be realized through employing qualified personnel. Companies should have a systematic personnel planning and selecting process in order to employ the qualified personnel. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of the personnel planning and selecting process on the business performance level. The research is conducted on the textile firms in Gaziantep. Cluster and chi-square analyses were used in order to test our research hypotheses. As a result of analyses, it is found that the firms with high cognition level for personnel planning and selecting process have high performance level.


Service level agreement (SLA) violations do happen in the real world. In this paper, a vectorization method is constructed to cloud service instance data for cloud compliance. The factors that may lead to SLA violations are extracted from fragmented data of discrete cloud service and SLA. According to factor, the factor-metric vector sample sequences which are used as the vectorized trace data for suspected violation are constructed. Finally, a semi-supervised model is determined the compliance of cloud service. With a low false rate (1.42%), the accuracy rate achieves 98.58%. The experimental results demonstrate the satisfiability of the vector and the effectiveness of the vectorization method. Besides, the vectorization method not only be used for in-depth neural network determined (but not limited to violations) of event violations, such as entity state or entity connections, but also be used for intrusion detection, event investigation, and traceability based on deep learning.


This paper explores the application strategies and processes that BTO must have based on case investigation. The research results include: (1) the ultimate directions for BTO to implement and upgrade is to expand the customization degree and scope, and reduce the order-to-delivery time continually on the base of building standard products to order; (2) setting up order analysis process and adaptability development process as well as enlarging their functions are important supportive instruments for BTO to succeed; (3) customer participation will benefit the operation of BTO and satisfy the customers; (4) in current market environment, the sales strategy of BTO needs to combine the direct sales mode and distribution; (5) IT system is the basic platform for BTO to work. The survey results and conclusions are helpful to the decisions on operations paradigm transformation and order fulfillment strategy selecting for enterprises.


This study consists of three topics: the unity of knowledge in Islamiccivilization, Islamic rationality as a mechanism of Ijtihad, tolerance andopenness for the new culture. The study confirms that Islam is a God devinethat makes Muslims that passes specific position, guidance, and control uponthe world, and commitment with the principles that direct them to be a leaderin this world. Muslim's position will be right if it is based on respectablefreedom, high spirit, and free thinking, adopted from the suitable environmentsurrounded with the west. Islam has reliable standard and flexibility ininteraction with the West, Islam can accept or reject, depending on its benefitand its danger, and its suitability with the concept of Islamic Tauhid as theimportant basis of Islamic view. The Study refers to the Quranic texts andHadis texts, as well as it refers to both classical and contemporary books.


Interlaminar fracture zone and faults are the most important ore-controlling factors for the Mushroom Hill mining area,directly controlling the formation and spatial distribution of the ore deposits(body).The faults with different levels,different properties,and different scales have obvious differences in controlling the ore deposits.The ore-controlling structure characteristics of the faults are studied to reveal structural ore-controlling rules,which have great signification to evaluate the prospect for deep deposit prospecting.


β⋅In2 S3 and β⋅In2S3 :Co2+ single crystals were grown by the chemical transport reaction method. The optical absorption and photoconductivity measurements carried out at the temperature region 20–300 K and the photoacoustic spectrum was done at 292 K. The results showed that the structural defects of the β⋅In2 S3 single crystal decreased as cobalt was introduced into the samples and that the cobalt atoms were located at the Td symmetry site of the β⋅In2 S3 host lattice as Co2+ ion.


The main objective of this article is to analyse the institutional framework of labour market function. Theoretical literature has created a set of institutional aspects such as employment protection legislation, structure of wage bargaining, taxation of labour, active labour market policies, the system of unemployment benefits. On the basis of these institutional aspects and their setting we can judge general labour market setting or we can determine the dimension of labour market flexibility. Attention is also paid to influence of these institutional aspects on employment or unemployment.


The provision of equipment and adaptations is a major part of the social services occupational therapist's role and is, therefore, an area that needs investigation to ensure that assessed needs are being met effectively and cost-efficiently. This study was an audit that investigated the longer-term usefulness of equipment and adaptations, provided by social services occupational therapists, in enabling service users to perform daily living tasks. The focus of the audit was whether the service users were still using the equipment and/or adaptations provided, and how useful they were finding them, 18 months to 2 years after provision. This was a retrospective audit of a random sample of 100 service users during a specified time scale, using a telephone survey for data collection. Fifty-seven telephone questionnaires were completed. The clearest finding was that the majority (83%) of the equipment and adaptations issued between 18 months and 2 years previously were still being used at the time of this audit, with 69% being used on a daily basis. This suggested that the equipment and adaptations provided were being used as an integral part of daily life and that they had been prescribed appropriately. It was also interesting to note that the satisfaction with the equipment and adaptations being used independently was higher than the satisfaction with the equipment and adaptations used with help from others. Conclusion The audit found that 83% of the equipment and adaptations were still being used 18 months after provision, which suggests accurate and appropriate prescription by the occupational therapy service. Small low-cost items, such as grab rails, were seen by the service users to be very useful in helping them to perform activities of daily living, frequently on their own. The audit suggests that people rate equipment or an adaptation as more useful if they are able to use it alone. This link between independent use and satisfaction is an area for further study, because it suggests that equipment can be very important to a person's sense of independence and wellbeing in the community. The reasons for non-use of equipment were mainly changes in functional ability or personal circumstances, not poor instruction or fitting. This suggests a more appropriate assessment process or more suitable equipment being issued than in the studies reviewed by Mountain (2000). There was a very high proportion of respondents who would recommend the occupational therapy service to others with similar difficulties; however, most needed prompting to remember that it was occupational therapy staff who had provided the equipment and/or adaptations. Even when prompted, they could remember the staff member but not the name of the service; publicity and clearer information provided to service users at the point of contact may resolve this issue. Recommendations Further study is needed to provide more evidence that the provision of equipment and/or adaptations can be effective in enabling independent living in the community. The expertise of community occupational therapists in enabling people to perform daily living tasks is not widely recognised because there has been little or no research in this specialist field. The process of issuing equipment follows a holistic assessment and a practical step-by-step analysis of the problems identified by users and carers. It continues with training and support to use the equipment, with constant re-evaluation of the whole process. It is interesting to note that although there was a high level of satisfaction with the service provided, there was a lack of clarity over who had provided it. This suggests that more signposting is needed to help service users and the general public to identify occupational therapy as a profession working within social services. Following on from this audit, there will be a review of systems to ensure that service users and carers are competent in using the equipment issued to them and are aware of how to contact the service if reassessment, repair or return of equipment is needed. This will complement the standard equipment review systems and ensure that as much unused equipment as possible is recovered for recycling. More investigation is also needed to find out how service users are using the equipment and adaptations: are they following the instructions and using them safely? There is some anecdotal evidence that whilst a service user may be using a piece of equipment to perform daily living tasks, this might not be in the manner intended by the manufacturer or demonstrated by occupational therapy staff. It would be invaluable to introduce a standardised outcome measure for social services occupational therapy staff to use with all service users. Heaton and Bamford (2001) stated that outcomes are increasingly important in the current policy context, with emphasis on quality, national standards, best value and evidence-based practice. If information could be routinely collected and analysed, it would provide continual statistical data to ensure a strong evidence base to the service. The appraisal of existing outcome measures and their suitability to be used as a tool for community occupational therapy will be a continuing task for the service. A future audit using the same methodology would enable performance to be measured and reviewed again, ensuring that standards are maintained, and would ascertain whether improvements in service provision have been achieved. The results of this and subsequent audits are vital to ensure that the occupational therapy service meets the challenge of using evidence to underpin practice.


Evaluation of: Pizzatti L, Panis C, Lemos G et al. Label-free MS(E) proteomic analysis of chronic myeloid leukemia bone marrow plasma: disclosing new insights from therapy resistance. Proteomics 12(17), 2618–2631 (2012). In spite of the effective chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) therapy, a small percentage will fail on therapy and develop acute myeloid leukemia-like blast crisis. Understanding the underlying biology of therapy resistance is probably needed to develop better blood cancer therapy, and CML may be an ideal disease model for future therapy that targets resistance mechanisms. Cell-stromal interactions and dissection of the interstitial tissue fluid is a relatively new source for understanding the resistance mechanisms. Abdelhay's team have compared the proteome of bone marrow plasma in CML imatinib (Gleevec) responders and nonresponders. We discuss their findings of dysregulated redox and Wnt signaling in imatinib resistance, illustrating how powerful proteomics may be in the discovery of new therapeutic mechanisms.


Industrial engineering is a discipline that has grown parallel to that of the industrial revolutions. However, what are the next steps for the industrial engineer of the future? In the wake of constant change and technological developments, there is a call for industrial engineers to reflect on the past and to plan for what may await. Amidst a global pandemic, the need for reflection and planning may be of greater importance now more than ever before. This paper serves as a recollection of the key steps taken to develop industrial engineering in history and explores what the future may hold for the field. The ideas of the discipline's pioneers are presented in the study, and the visions of up-and-coming key players are consolidated in order to predict the future of industrial engineering.


From palynological analysis and 14C dating of a 22.40 m deep core taken from coastal French Guiana, the evolution of the mangrove ecosystem has been rccomucted as follows: -from c.a 9,OOO to c.a. 5,000 years BP from the base of the core up to 8 m). the sea-level rising corresponding to the Holocene transgression L chacterized by the dominance of Rhizophora pollen in the palynological assemblages; the site is located within the mangrove forest; -at c.a 5,000 years BP. there is a drastic change in the palynological diagram, the mangrove forest being replaced by a swamp savanna (Gramineae, Cyperaceae, Typha: ...). This stage is the result of the stabilization of the sea-kvr' which permits a progradation of the sediments and a seawards shifting of the shore-line; in the upper samples, the pollen spectra are correlative of the present swamp vegetation and of the back-mangrove which hnr been established Oper the filling of the lagoon. A decrease in forest representation in the recent times may be due to human irJluence. Our results are in accordance with those obtained on other coastal sediments in British Guimra and S u r h . Institut Français, BP 33. PONDICHERRY 60.5001 (Inde). LIPI Institut de Gblogie. I rue Blasig. 67084 STRASBOURG CEDEX (France). 0 R S " O W Institut de GLologie, I rue Blessig, 67084 STRASBOURG CEDEX (France). 126 Colute "BOT, M.R. DNWANSAH et C3aude MARIUS


The presence of homosexuals in mainstream media is widespread in the Philippines. Case in point are the images of homosexuals depicted in a popular Philippine noontime variety show. As an observer, it gives an outright impression that there seems to be an acceptance of homosexuality among the Filipinos as manifested by how they are being patronized through these sketches. The aim of the paper is to investigate how Filipinos seem to have a culture of silence in terms of accepting same sex marriage despite the presence and seemingly acceptance of homosexuals in mainstream media. Through qualitative audience analysis, audience reactions were observed while watching segments of the noontime shows which depict homosexual roles. This paper argues that Filipinos seem to lose acceptance of homosexuality on the matter of basic human right such as the right to marriage and legal union due to being considered as a predominant Catholic country with its long colonial history with the Spaniards. Furthermore, the paper argues that colonial and postcolonial perspectives play a bigger role on same-sex marriage discourses. The researchers posited that there seems to be a culture of silence in Philippine society in terms of same-sex marriage because of this colonial and postcolonial ideologies. This implies a continuiung cycle of cultural and ideological reproduction on matters concerning homosexuality. The kind of mindset passed through culture and social institutions, like the church, sustains this culture of silence. Likewise, the culture of silence reinforces the colonial and postcolonial perspectives on same-sex marriage and homosexuality. Keywords: Colonialism, culture of silence, homosexuality, mainstream media, postcolonialism .


In this paper we present two theorems that rely on the Zadeh's extension principle. These two theorems can be used to define a crisp function on a given fuzzy real number. And this will produce a new fuzzy real number. Using this, we can define some special fuzzy numbers such as: square root, natural logarithm, logarithm,...etc. Mathematics Subject Classification: 26E50; 46S40


The following subject areas are covered: the search for extended far IR emission; the search for extended emission in galaxy groups; a brief review of the flattening algorithm; the target groups; extended emission from groups and intergalactic HI clouds; and morphological image processing.


The objective of this research study was to determine whether the Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) can effectively be used to assist in the quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) process during pavement construction. This report shows that the FWD data are of reasonable quality and certainly of sufficient quantity to be used with confidence to estimate material properties--mainly stiffnesses or moduli--and their variations at each layer interface during new or reconstructed pavement construction. The traditional test results, although not as extensive as FWD data, were also reasonable and appeared to cover most of the wide variety of pavement designs and construction locations represented by the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Specific Pavement Studies (SPS) database. Following an introductory chapter, Chapter 2 presents the use of specific pavement test parameters from DataPave and the National Information Management System database that can be used to characterize pavement construction quality. These include both the FWD deflection data, and analyses thereof, and traditional construction quality data categories. Chapter 3 covers the relationships between FWD-associated data and conventional QC/QA data types. Relationships between all of these data are developed, discussed and plotted. Chapter 4 consists of the conclusions and research recommendations.


An etching process and indium tin oxide (ITO) nanospheres were used to fabricate nanotexturing on a GaN surface in InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to improve the light output power. ITO nanospheres can be easily obtained by a simple wet etching process owing to the relatively weak binding energy at the grain boundary and at the interface between the ITO layer and the GaN surface. Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) treatment is carried out with the help of ITO nanospheres, used as a patterning mask, to nanotexture the GaN surface. A simple process is proposed for GaN-texturing on all possible sides, including the sidewall. The light extraction efficiency of InGaN/GaN LEDs is significantly improved owing to the possibility of a high level of light scattering at the textured surface. Thus, the light output power of the nanotextured LEDs was increased by 33% compared with that of conventional LEDs at an injection current of 20 mA.


ABSTRACT Design of tunable Gunn diode—based active antenna module including a new type of planar dielectric resonator (PDR) tuned by a ferroelectric (FE) varactor is presented. The module is designed in such a way that the PDR acts both as a stabilizing resonator and as a radiator. MW properties of FE elements used for VCO tuning are considered. The module operates at frequency around of 17 GHz and demonstrates the radiated power of 8.8 ± 0.1 dBm over the 130 MHz tuning range and a phase-noise level of −95 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset. 65° width of the radiation pattern in both the E and H planes corresponding to a gain of 5.1 dBi was measured. The maximal VCO power limited by the dielectric nonlinearity of a FE film in the microwave electric field and by the FE film overheating is estimated for FE film-based varactors of the planar and parallel structures.


Evergreen Oak forest in Croatia grow in an ue-Mediterranean region in zone of ecological-managerial forest type III-L-10 over an area of approximately 80 000 ha. Three sub-zones can be differentiated in this zone due to the diversity of ecological criteria: north, central and southern.
A few centuries ago Evergreen Oak in this region formed coherent forests, the remains of which can be found here today in rare old specimens of significant dimensions. Due to felling for shipbuilding activities, clearing, forest fires etc., today it is extremely difficult to find larger areas of Evergreen Oak seedling forests (high forests) on the Karst.
They are mainly low degraded forms with a little participation of Evergreen oak. Furthermore, global changes have not spared these ecosystems, some of which are situated in the centres of the most polluted macro-regions in Croatia - the areas of Rijeka and Kastela, which contributed to further worsening of conditions for Evergreen Oak forests.
Over the last 50 years there has been marked small consumption of Evergreen Oak acorns for the needs of biological reproduction of forests on the eu-Mediteranian Karst.


Nystatin is a polyene macrolide antifungal active which is used for the treatment of candidiasis and obtained from some species of Streptomycesbacteria. The present work describes the statistical suitability analysis for regular monitoring of the agar diffusion bioassay in a simple, inexpensive and time-saving process before potency determination. A balanced (symmetrical) two-dose parallel line assay model was applied using the agar well diffusion method for quantification of Nystatin in raw material and finished medicinal dosage form. The routine inspection methodology yielded good results and included calculations by the linear parallel model and by means of regression analysis and verified using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The assay is based on the inhibitory effect of Nystatin upon a standard strain as described in the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). The results of the post validation regular assays were treated statistically by ANOVA and the deviations (expressed as average ± standard deviation) from both raw and column totals were 0.702 ± 0.476 and 0.865 ± 0.468, respectively. The mean value of the variance ratio for regression and parallelism squares were 534.349 ± 212.546 and 0.596 ± 0.345, respectively. The study of Nystatin's ongoing analysis showed that the microbiological assay design is satisfactory with respect to the limiting values for the determination of the potency. The established balanced parallel line assay is reasonably stable and suitable and can be used for the regular drug analysis in routine quality control testing and the quantitation of Nystatin in pharmaceutical dosage form and raw material. Doi: 10.28991/SciMedJ-2021-0304-2 Full Text: PDF


An analytical method has been developed to quantitate fenamiphos phenol sulfone, phenol sulfoxide, and phenol sulfonic acid in soil. Both control and analyte-fortified soil samples from Fresno, CA, were extracted with methanol-water (2 + 1) and partitioned with ethyl acetate. Fenamiphos phenol sulfone and phenol sulfoxide were determined by reversed-phase liquid chromatography (LC) with UV detection at 240 nm after cleanup by silica solid-phase extraction. Fenamiphos phenol sulfonic acid was determined by reversed-phase ion-pairing LC with UV detection at 240 nm after cleanup by amino solid-phase extraction. Recoveries of fenamiphos phenol sulfoxide ranged from 88.2 to 111.0%, with an average of 97.4%. Recoveries of fenamiphos phenol sulfone ranged from 101.6 to 107.0%, with an average of 104.6%. Recoveries of fenamiphos phenol sulfonic acid ranged from 76.0 to 99.9%, with an average of 86.0%. Responses for analysis of analytes in both solvent and soil matrix were linear over the tested range of 10 to 500 ppb. Limits of determination of each analyte in soil were less than 10 ppb.


s: This paper explored the relationship between the abuse of drug and youth violence in Nigeria. The petroleum hawkers who were almost exclusively males, within the age bracket 15-35 years and with a penchant for violence in the city of Minna, Nigeria , had their activities examined as a reference point for youth violence. The antisocial activities of petroleum hawkers during fuel procurement often threaten peace which has also earned them an identity A multi-stage random sampling procedure was used to select four wards out of eleven that constitute Minna metropolis. A sample of two hundred (200) respondents was selected, however, only 165 were found to be good for analysis after data cleaning, representing 83% of the response rate. Using Pearson Product Moment Correlation, the study found that violence activities among petroleum hawkers were attributable to drug abuse as a result of significant correlation at P≥0.05. The result of regression analysis indicates that poverty (r=8.4) could adequately explain drug abuse and violent activities among petroleum hawkers in the area of this study ,but age(r=0.5) could not. In fact, other factors that propelled hawkers to violence were peer group influence, learning (.456) and gangstarism (.217) which correlated at P≥ 0.01 level of significant.


Rare elements, including rare earth metals (REM), germanium and gallium are widely used in various fields of science and technology. Germanium and gallium are used in the semiconductor industry, and rare-earth metals are used in structural materials for aviation and space, as well as in nuclear energy. The sufficiency with own raw materials is a strategic issue for producers of rare metal raw materials. Despite the vast reserves of rare metal deposits in Russia, they are far from developed infrastructures and are characterized by a complex enrichment technology.


Various rodent models have long been employed to study treatments for chronic pain. However, these studies have resulted in unsuccessful phase-I and II human trials that have failed to result in viable options for patients. Though limitations of animal models are no doubt one issue, lack of objective markers corresponding with pain relief play a role. Our lab has shown significant pain relief in a common peroneal nerve injury (CPNI) rat model following administration of external pulsed low-intensity focused ultrasound (liFUS), thus, establishing external liFUS as a promising technique for treatment of neuropathic pain. Current knowledge of liFUS effects are limited to observable behavioral changes, and little is known of the mechanism of action. To successfully translate this device into the clinic, we examine molecular changes in the inflammatory cascade.

 Male rats underwent CPNI to induce neuropathic pain. External liFUS treatment was performed on the L5 dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in the neuropathic model, which was determined from responses to Von Frey fibers (VFF). 24 h post liFUS treatment, L5 DRGs were obtained from 4 distinct cohorts: rats that underwent CPNI with liFUS, CPNI with sham liFUS, sham CPNI with liFUS, and sham CPNI sham liFUS (n = 4 for each group). Using a membrane-based sandwich immunoassay (Proteome Profiler Rat Cytokine Array Kit from R&D System), we assessed relative abundances of 6 anti-inflammatory cytokines and 16 pro-inflammatory cytokines.

 CPNI resulted in an 82.5% decrease of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa) and a 61.8% increase of macrophage inflammatory protein 1-alpha (MIP-1a). liFUS led to a 60% decrease in MIP-1a and a 40% increase in TNFa. Other changes in cytokines were not affected by CPNI or liFUS.

 liFUS resulted in similar changes in TNFa and MIP-1a, as compared to spinal cord stimulation and other medical treatments for pain syndromes. Further work will examine inflammatory responses over time and in female rats.


Electric field gradients at the nuclei of gallim and indium are determined by finite field calculations of the atomic energies as functions of the nuclear quadrupole moments. The four-component Dir...


If and when interplanetary and interstellar trade develop, it will be novel in two respects. First, the distances and time spans involved will reduce all or nearly all trade to the exchange of intangible goods. That threatens the possibility of conducting business in a genuinely common currency and of enforcing debt agreements incurred by governments. Second, interstellar trade suggests trade between humans and aliens. Cultural distance is a probable obstacle to initiating and sustaining such trade. Such exchange also threatens the release of new and dangerous memes.


Metasheet structures together with bulk composite dielectric layers can be used for antenna radomes, absorbers, and band gap structures. Transmission (T ) and reflection (Γ) coefficients for a plane wave incident at any angle upon a metasheet embedded in a dielectric layer are considered. These metasheets are either patch-type or an aperture-type, and they can be either singlelayered or multi-layered. To calculate T and Γ for a patch-type metasheet, a concise unified matrix approach is derived using the Generalized Sheet Transition Conditions (GSTC). The Babinet duality principle is utilized to get T and Γ for single-layered aperture-type metasheets (as complementary to the patch-type ones) at an arbitrary angle of incidence. The T-matrix approach is applied to calculate characteristics of multilayered metasheet structures containing a cascade of metasheets and dielectric slabs. In this paper, the minimum distance for neglecting higher-order evanescent mode interactions between the metasheets has been determined. Computed results based on the proposed analytical approach are compared with the full-wave numerical simulations. The analytical results are verified for satisfying the energy balance condition. Received 9 July 2012, Accepted 11 September 2012, Scheduled 18 September 2012 * Corresponding author: Marina Y. Koledintseva (email@example.com). 90 Koledintseva et al.


Three kinds of Si3N4 powders, DW, TX and E10, with and without sintering additives were ball-milled using ethanol as medium. Oxygen and carbon contents in the mixed powders increased due to the mechanochemical reaction between the powders and ethanol. The increases of oxygen and carbon were almost the same for the three powders. After heat treatment at 800-1200°C in vacuum or nitrogen gas, most of the carbon was desorbed. On the other hand, the increment of oxygen remained in the ceramic body even after sintering at 1750°C.


We demonstrate optical continuous wave parametric oscillations in crystalline whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonators fabricated with LiNb03. The required phase matching is achieved by geometrical confinement of the WGMs.


1 Introduction 2 Asian-values and Japan 3 Measuring Social Networks 4 Determinants of Social Networking 5 Social Networks, Participation and Vote Similarity 6 Social Sources of Political Knowledge in Japan 7 Social Influence on Policy Preferences 8 Tolerance and Network Diversity 9 Creating Social Networks 10 Conclusion


Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) is a common household aromatic and medicinal plant belonging to the Labiatae family and sage (Salvia officinalis) Lamiaceae family is aromatic, rather woody perennial low shrub. This study aimed some antifungal effects of plant essential oils were investigated against fungal disease agent Fusarium oxysporum on mycilial growth inhibition in vitro and disease development reserve in vivo conditions. The tissue pieces were aseptically transferred to petridishes containing a potato dextrose agar medium supplemented with streptomycin sulfate at the rate of three to five pieces per plate. Fusarium oxysporum was grown for 7-10 days on PDA at 27°C. The concentrations were tested at 20, 40, 60 and 80 μl. The same quantity of PDA Fusarium oxysporum also established in control. F. oxysporum was cut with a sterile cork borer from the edge of actively growing cultures on PDA plates. At 20 μl, 40 μl, 60 μl and 80 μl concentration, lemon grass (100%) growth inhibition was confirmed against Fusarium wilt followed by spearmint (85.00%) and minimum inhibition recorded 25.00% at Eucalyptus. As conclusion lemon grass and spear mint essential oils demonstrated the maximum antagonistic effect against the Fusarium wilt, whereas Eucalyptus inhibit the list amount of growth pathogen.


In this paper, we investigate the task of Multilingual Viewpoint Detection (MVD) on multilingual news reader comments. To tackle the MVD task, we propose a new probabilistic graphical model called VDMC to discover latent common viewpoints from multilingual news reader comments. Our VDMC model can cope with the language gap and detect common multilingual viewpoints. To learn the model parameters, we incorporate bilingual constraints into the variational Expectation-Maximization (EM) method. Experimental results show that our VDMC model can resolve the MVD task effectively and outperform the state-of-the-art method.


In 1951 and 1952 I researched some physical characters of two populations (X and Y group) which married whithin limited groups in Osaka.The special features of these groups are as follows.1) On the A. B. O blood groups, X group has more O type than gernral Japanese and Y group has many B type for the Japanese. (Table 1 and 4)2) On the finger prints, there is a tendency that both groups have many whorl type and few ulnar loop type.(Table 2 and 5)3) On the some measures, both groups have lower cephalic indices.(Table 3, 6, 7 and Fig. 1-7)


This study addresses a floor identification method for small humanoid robots that work in such daily environments as homes. The fundamental difficulty lays in a method to understand the physical properties of floors. To achieve floor identification with small humanoid robots, we used inertial sensors that can be easily installed on such robots, and dynamically selected a full-body motion that physically senses floors to achieve accurate floor identification. We collected a training data-set over 10 different kinds of common floors in home environments. We achieved 85.7% precision with our proposed method. We also demonstrate that our robot could appropriately change its locomotion behaviours depending on the floor identification results.


For two planar undirected graphs $G$ and $H$, the {\it subgraphs recognition problem} (SRP) is to find and list all subgraphs of $G$ which are isomorphic to $H$. In this paper, we introduce the idea of layer-decomposition with degree and present an algorithm based on this idea for SRP. Since subgraphs isomorphic to each other contain their spanning trees with the same decomposition, the SRP can be decomposed into two subproblems: First, find subtrees of $G$ which have the same layer-decomposition as that of $H$. Then, test whether the induced subgraphs generated by these subtrees are isomorphic to $H$. By this scheme, we greatly decrease the complexity to $O(n(\Delta-1)^{k-1}k^2)$, where $\Delta$ is the degree of $G$ and $n, k$ are the orders of $G, H$ respectively.


In using plasma ignition system to solve the problem of pulverized coal sources was proposed.Introduced the datang circle mountain air cooling power plant furnace pulverizing mill system with steam heaters,inlet air through research and experiment,accounting,and proved in coal pulverizer entrance duct mounted and rational selection of steam heating steam source,reasonable design,fully discussed the parameters could be achieved under the condition of cold mill start-up of the furnace,could realize smoothly,plasma ignition energy saving.


As in any ordinary checklist the principal emphasis is on nomenclature. We can get nowhere until that is straightened out. Dr. Deignan handles the matter with his usual extreme competence. But one cannot help regretting that only Latin names are used throughout. This is carrying scholarship to absurdity—especially as a large number of the birds dealt with are migrants with names commonly known to ornithologists all over the world. There is an effective numbered map and a good cross-reference system for localities in the text. The status of each species is summarised distribution-wise. Owing to the poverty of field observation, it is probably impossible to supply much information on the relative abundance or rarity of the resident species. But perhaps it was a pity not even to indicate which are the very common forms— my own Thai list based on sporadic visits over the last fifteen years, is of well over eighty species that anyone can see. More important, in the present context, no indication is given where species are rare or in any sort of difficulty, present or potential. But it would be ungrateful to look a gift horse in the mouth. Dr. Deignan has set a foundation on the basis of which others can tackle these sorts of problem. With the population explosion of South-east Asia going hand in hand with huge new political ideas of development, land use, jungle felling, etc., etc., the need to translate scientific facts into simple intelligible ideas becomes daily more acute. With Dr. Dillon Ripley as the new secretary of the great institution which published this 265-page Checklist, we may hope for some new thinking in that direction—all the more so since Dr. Ripley himself is another of the few true naturalists of South-east Asia.


Generative retrieval is a promising new paradigm in text retrieval that generates identifier strings of relevant passages as the retrieval target. This paradigm leverages powerful generation models and represents a new paradigm distinct from traditional learning-to-rank methods. However, despite its rapid development, current generative retrieval methods are still limited. They typically rely on a heuristic function to transform predicted identifiers into a passage rank list, which creates a gap between the learning objective of generative retrieval and the desired passage ranking target. Moreover, the inherent exposure bias problem of text generation also persists in generative retrieval. To address these issues, we propose a novel framework, called LTRGR, that combines generative retrieval with the classical learning-to-rank paradigm. Our approach involves training an autoregressive model using a passage rank loss, which directly optimizes the autoregressive model toward the optimal passage ranking. This framework only requires an additional training step to enhance current generative retrieval systems and does not add any burden to the inference stage. We conducted experiments on three public datasets, and our results demonstrate that LTRGR achieves state-of-the-art performance among generative retrieval methods, indicating its effectiveness and robustness.


Bessie Head's first novel, When Rain Clouds Gather, is perhaps one of her most ethico-political narratives to examine the introduction of modern capitalism and patriarchal science against the haunting spectral of traditional tribal systems in pre-Independence Botswana. Set in Golema Mmidi, which ironically translates to "grow crops," Head provides a detailed historical trajectory of how the imposition of agribusiness development projects onto traditional pastoral livelihoods devoured traditional tribal structures and ecosystems. In this essay, I examine how the implementation of modernized agricultural technology supplanted the collective relationship of subsistence farming, kinship systems, and cattle herding. I argue that When Rain Clouds Gather offers an interdisciplinary space for probing ecologies of pain in which scientific agribusiness projects have violently separated humanity from nature and rendered 63 percent of the Botswana's population food insecure. Keywords— Bessie Head, Botswana, modern capitalism, ecological apartheid, ecological genocide, rural marginalization, sustainable agriculture, food insecurity, ecofeminism, agribusiness, postcolonial literature, African literature, When Rain Clouds Gather.


The 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is conferred on three organic chemists, Jean- Pierre Sauvage, J. F. Stoddart and Ben Feringa, who share the Prize for spear heading a new area of chemistry that converges the ideas of molecular synthesis with the principles operating in materials and biology. The trio has contributed immensely in the past 2-3 decades to establish a new direction that relies on exploiting the forces, in the form of chemical energy, in order to conduct a work at the expense of the energy, and the work being conducted at the molecular level, the tiniest possible machine measuring few nanometers in a length scale.


To the characteristic of water area in SAR image,a two pattern combined method based on morphology and entropy algorithm is proposed to detect water area from SAR image.The first step is to detect outline of water area and reduce speckle noise by using mathematical morphology method.Then the water area is detected exactly combining improved entropy algorithm.The result of experiments show that,this method can detect water area from SAR image effectually,also can improve process speed effectively than entropy method.


Study selection and assessment: randomised or quasirandomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared any anticonvulsant drug with placebo or another anticonvulsant drug in patients with premonitory, early stage, established, or refractory SE. Quality assessment of individual studies was based on randomisation method, baseline comparability of groups, blinding, and intention to treat analysis. 11 RCTs (n = 2017) met the selection criteria. Patients had premonitory (5 RCTs), established (1 RCT), refractory (1 RCT), and mixed SE (2 RCTs); 2 RCTs did not define the status.


In this paper, indoor environment classification and interpretation algorithm is proposed. Proposed algorithm needs low computation power and low payload thus enabling micro air vehicle (MAV) to quickly react and navigate. Here indoor environment is classified into corridor, staircase, and open space by using image edge gist descriptors and a neural network classifier. Use of some predetermined thresholds further increases the confidence of the classification and interpretation algorithm. Detection of horizontal lines cluster and vanishing point is used for the navigation in staircase and corridor environment respectively. Results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can interpret the indoor environment effectively with > 90% accuracy.


Two new cell surface antigens expressed on mouse alveolar macrophages were defined by rat monoclonal antibodies. One marker, AVM‐1, was detected on mouse alveolar macrophages, but it was undetectable on resident peritoneal cells, thioglycollate medium‐induced peritoneal cells, and splenic macrophages. Splenic lymphocytes, thymocytes and bone marrow cells were also AVM‐1 negative. Anti‐AVM‐1 monoclonal antibody immunoprecipitated a single polypeptide with a molecular weight of 200,000. Of particular interest was the finding that the anti‐AVM‐1 antibody could inhibit the formation of EA and EAC rosette on macrophage line cells. A second antigen (AVM‐2) was also present on alveolar macrophages. and its molecular weight was 38,000.


Objective To evaluate the clinical effect of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for renal tumor. Methods From January 2004 to April 2005,15 patients (11 men and 4 women) with renal tumors underwent transperitoneal or retroperitoneal laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.The mean patient age was 52 years (range,29-70 years).Among the 15 cases,12 had renal clear cell carcinoma with a mean diameter of 3.0 cm (range,2.0-4.0 cm),and 3 had renal angiomyolipoma with a mean diameter of 4.5 cm (range, 3.5-6.0 cm).The operative time, estimated blood loss,postoperative hospital stay,complications and the time of complete convalescence were recorded. Results The operation was successfully performed in all the 15 patients.The mean operative time was 120 min (range,80-150 min).The mean estimated blood loss was 150 ml (range,100-220 ml),and no blood transfusion or conversion to an open procedure was required.The mean hospital stay was 8 d (range,7-9 d) and no complication occurred.During a follow-up of 2-16 months,no tumor recurrence was found. Conclusions Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for small renal tumors can be performed safely and effectively.Extended follow-up period is required to determine its long-term effect.


ii Acknowledgements iv List of Figures vii List of Tables viii List of Appendices ix List of Abbreviations x Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Statement of the research problem, rationale, and objectives 1 1.2 Definition of dementia and subtypes of dementia 3 1.3 Overview of neuropsychiatric symptoms 7 1.4 Measurement of neuropsychiatric symptoms 17 Chapter 2: Methods 39 2.1 Study sites 39 2.2 Participant recruitment and eligibility 39 2.3 Measures .40 2.4 Data analysis 54 Chapter 3:Results 59 3.1 Demographic, cognitive, and neuropsychiatric symptom characteristics of the total sample 59 3.2 Actigraphic characteristics of the total sample 66 3.3 Feasibility of actigraphy as a measure of agitation 69 3.4 Correlations between actigraphy and neuropsychiatric symptom measures 70 3.5 Comparison of demographic, cognitive, and neuropsychiatric symptom characteristics of participants in low and high agitation subgroups 75 3.6 Actigraphic profiles in low and high agitation subgroups 78 Chapter 4:Discussion 83 4.1 Thesis summary 83 4.2 Main findings 83 4.3 Synthesis of findings with previous research 88