To investigate the effect and the mechanism of amplification of the CD4~+CD25~+ regulatory T cells(CD4~+CD25~+ Tregs)in vitro on pregnant outcome of the abortion-prone mice experiments was performed in two animal models;one of which using female CBA/J male BALB/c matings as the normal pregnancy model and the other using female CBA/J male DBA/ 2J matings as the abortion-prone model.Mouse CD4~+ CD25~+ Tregs were isolated by magnetic cell sorting(MACS)and the purity of CD4~+CD25~+ Tregs was confirmed by flow cytometry(FCM)for analysis.We set up 4 groups in this experiment;(1) the pregnant CBA/J mice mated with DBA/2J males at day 14 of gestation was used as the abortion groups(2)the pregnant CBA/J mice mated with BALB/c males at day 14 of gestation as normal pregnancy group;(3)the purified CD4~+CD25~+ Tregs were obtained from spleens of the virgin CBA/J mice and then injected intravenously into the pregnant CBA/J mice mated with DBA/2J males at day 4 of gestation(time of implantation).This group of mice was used the as control group;(4)the amplification of CD4~+CD25~+ Tregs at 4 days in vitro were obtained from spleens of the virgin CBA/J mice and then injected intravenously into the pregnant CBA/J mice mated with DBA/2J males at day 4 of gestation(time of implantation).This group of mice was used as therapy group.The expressions of cytokines(IFN-γ,TGF-β1,IL-10)in peripheral blood of the recipient mice were analyzed and the embryo resorption rate was counted at day 14 of gestation.Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)was used to examine the expression of Foxp3 mRNA in the spleen cells from these 4 groups of mice.Compared with the control group,the embryo resorption rate of mice under treatment was decreased significantly;while the expressions of TGF-β1/IFN-γand IL-10/IFN-γin peripheral blood increased significantly.Meanwhile,the expression of IFN-γin peripheral blood was significantly decreased but that of IL-10 and TGF-β1 increased lightly.Moreover the expression of Foxp3 mRNA increased significantly.It is evident that the amplification of CD4~+ CD25~+ regulatory T cells at early pregnancy can induce the development of maternal-fetal immune tolerance,thus favoring to the maintenance of the Th2,Th3 and Tr1 cell shifting during pregnancy,in which the transcription factor Foxp3 may play an important role in the regulation of material-fetal immune tolerance.


The article deals with a boundary value problem for a rectangle whose horizontal sides are rigidly clamped, and the ends are free. In the centre of the rectangle, a vertical cut is made on which a discontinuity of the longitudinal displacements is given. An exact solution to the problem is constructed in the form of series in Papkovich–Fadle eigenfunctions. First, the corresponding boundary value problem for an infinite clamped strip is solved, then the solution for a rectangle is superimposed on this solution, with the help of which the boundary conditions at its ends are satisfied. Examples are given in which discontinuities of three types are considered which differ in the smoothness of the discontinuity contour near its ends.


A theoretical analysis of vertical farfield patterns for a coaxial circular array of 24 discrete circular radiators has been performed. The narrowest beamwidth (2°) was obtained at an operating wavelength of 0.5λ. A sharp pattern and decreasing directive indices with an increase in the operating wavelength established the suitability of such array geometry for underwater bathymetric applications.


The effect of altitude on anthropometric variabiltiy has been the object of many investigations. Recently, highlanders in the Peruvian Andes were shown to have different growth and developmental patterns when compared with Peruvian lowlanders of the same language group and with U.S. whites [1-3]. There is considerable uncertainty, however, whether these differences are due to environmental causes-for example, high altitude effects on development-or to genetic heterogeneity of the populations studied. While, in the Andes, high-altitude natives are retarded in growth, the reverse situation seems to exist in genetically homogeneous populations living at different altitudes in the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia [4]. In both the Peruvian [3] and Ethiopian studies [5], individual anthropometric measurements on adult highlanders and lowlanders were compared. Among the traits considered, only chest measurements in general show consistent patterns of variation with altitude. The other measures vary less systematically, and therefore the results of the univariate treatment of them are more difficult to interpret. Conventional significance tests on large numbers of variables (even if uncorrelated) cannot be assigned ordinary levels of significance, because this procedure "capitalizes on chance" and increases the type I error considerably [6]. Moreover, the number of significant tests can be augmented beyond the true level as a consequence of the correlations among measurements. Finally, since causal variables do not act independently, their effects may be underor overestimated by any technique which neglects the correlations among them. The multivariate approaches used in this study are thought to (1) obviate in part the difficulties which arise from the use of univariate statistical procedures, and (2) permit us to examine the relative importance of the contributions of genetic, geographic, and altitude differences to anthropometric variation as a whole. The Aymara-speaking Indians, who live scattered over an area of approximately 8,000 square miles on the western slopes of the Andes in northern Chile (longitude


Intercultural communication is a set of all forms of communication between representatives of different cultures. The goal of intercultural communication is to establish interaction between cultures, with language as a link. The effectiveness of intercultural communication depends on an adequate understanding and interpretation of symbols and markers of social space, as well as on the use of linguistic means to convey their meaning. The article deals with the role of a song in the formation of a national-ethnic consciousness and emphasizes the importance of song exchange between representatives of different cultures in the process of progressive globalization. It is stated that a song, as one of the most important musical genres, is able to accurately and figuratively reflect various aspects of people's lives, as it has verbal lyrics. Songs reflect the most important values, ethical views, social ideas and changes of a certain era, create patterns of behavior, establish cultural norms and and transmits them to the next generations. The study identifies the necessity of translating foreign songs in the context of building strong relationships in intercultural communication. Song lyrics is a special genre of poetry. The need to preserve the rhythm and rhyme on the one hand, and the words as well as the meaning behind them on the other, make the translation of a song so difficult. When translating poems, significant changes to the original text are inevitable. In this regard, many difficulties arise in translation, and to overcome them a translator must have special skills and a certain amount of experience. In this article, three types of song translation are distinguished: word-for-word or "informative" translation, interpretation, and equirhythmic translation. The latter is characterized by the preservation of the melody and the reproduction of the lyrics of the song as accurately as possible. The factors that determine the choice of one particular method have been specified in this article as well. If the goal is simply to understand the meaning of a foreign song, a semantically close prose translation is suitable. But if the song is to be performed in another language, it is necessary to achieve «singability» of the translated text. In addition to the difficulties caused by the need to reflect certain ethnic realities properly, the factors that make the translation of songs so difficult are: the different length of lexical units in the source language and the target language, which makes it difficult to preserve the rhythm of the song; pauses in the melody, which can cause a break in the semantic segment; parallel constructions and multiple repetitions, which can lead to unnatural translation; use of realia and connotative meanings of words that is difficult to reflect in the target language, etc. In order to describe the lexical-grammatical transformations used in the process of translation, the Ukrainian and English songs having a national-cultural component have been analyzed in the article. In the studied material, such translation transformations as modulation, addition, omission, calquing, transcription and complex transformations affecting both the lexical and grammatical levels and completely changing the structure of original sentences have been observed. The analyzed translations have a high quality, and they are good examples of a proper equirhythmic translation.


Service differentiation is one of the key issues in the current Internet. In this paper, we focus on a recent proposal for proportional loss rate differentiation which employs a single FIFO queue, an AQM algorithm for computing the packet drop probability, and a counter-based packet dropping routine for achieving the intended proportional loss rate differentiation among classes. It is first shown that, when the target dropping probability of a class is large, the counter-based packet dropping routine may yield a significant amount of error between the target and measured drop probabilities for the class, and subsequently, fails to maintain the loss rate ratios between classes as intended. To avoid this problem, a new compensatory packet dropping routine is developed in this paper. Then, a series of simulation experiments are conducted using the ns-2 simulator to assess the performances of the two dropping routines under various congestion conditions and quality spacings between classes. The simulation results show that, unlike the counter-based dropping routine, the proposed compensatory dropping routine is effective in keeping the loss rate ratios between classes closely on target regardless of the degree of congestion and quality spacing between classes, while the two dropping routines perform similarly in terms of throughput and queueing delay in the bottleneck link. In addition, such robustness of the proposed routine is achieved without any additional control parameter or computational effort compared to the counter-based routine.


We read the Letter to the Editor regarding our article "Right ventricular function in patients with beta thalassemia: Relation to serum ferritin level," which has been published in Echocardiography 2007;24:795–801. The authors of this "letter to the editor" included an important article on "Prognostic value of Doppler-demonstrated left versus biventricular restrictive filling pattern in thalassemia major." They referred to their previously published interesting work,1 "Survival in thalassemia major patients," where they reported lower 15-year cumulative survival rate in patients with biventricular restrictive filling pattern (RFP) compared to those with only left ventricular RFP, or those without RFP in either ventricle. In this work, none of their patients had isolated right ventricular RFP at baseline. We think these findings might point to the late occurrence of this pattern in the right ventricle (RV) and to the sequence of development of ventricular dysfunction in the two ventricles in beta thalassemia (β-Th) patients. As previously reported,2,3 in β-Th patients, cardiac function may remain normal until late in the disease process. A previous study4 conducted on 27 β-Th patients (mean age 12.3 ± 5.0 years) with normal ejection fraction, and 14 normal subjects has demonstrated reduction of systolic strain in the left ventricular (LV) wall, but no reduction of systolic strain in the RV wall compared to the normal subjects. On the other hand, the RV late diastolic myocardial velocity was increased, and the ratio of early to late myocardial velocity was decreased compared to normal subjects. Thus, this study highlighted the pattern of early changes in βTh patients and concluded that those patients have changes denoting early systolic dysfunction of the LV and early diastolic dysfunction of the RV, and also pointed to the ability of tissue Doppler modalities including strain imaging to detect such early changes of ventricular function before the development of overt heart failure. As mentioned in the letter to the editor, in our study, we did not evaluate the impact of cardiac dysfunction on survival of β-Th patients. Our aim was to evaluate RV function and its relation to serum ferritin level in those patients. The mean age of our study patients was 11.7 ± 5.1 years. We highlighted the early changes in the RV function in those patients as a whole group, reflecting alteration toward relaxation abnormality of diastolic performance. The group with higher serum ferritin level had lower RV systolic myocardial velocity compared to the group with lower serum ferritin level, indicating early changes reflecting alteration of systolic function with the more iron overload. This iron overload is logically progressive with the disease progression and is supposed to lead to the RFP with progression of age of these patients. Of note are two important facts. First, in most cardiac disorders that lead to alteration of diastolic performance, the pattern of dysfunction progresses from relaxation abnormality to RFP with progression of the disease process. Second, RFP is commonly associated with some degree of systolic impairment even if this systolic impairment is not associated with overt heart failure. The RFP is easily detected by tissue Doppler imaging, so follow-up of β-Th patients with this imaging modality to search for progressive reduction of early and late diastolic myocardial velocities, in addition to periodic evaluation of serum ferritin level, would have an important prognostic value in these patients and help decision making about treatment including iron chelating therapy.


In this paper, we consider the multiuser multiple-input single-output (MISO) interference channel where the received signal is divided into two parts for information decoding and energy harvesting (EH), respectively. The transmit beamforming vectors and receive power splitting (PS) ratios are jointly designed in order to minimize the total transmission power subject to both signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and EH constraints. Most joint beamforming and power splitting (JBPS) designs assume that perfect channel state information (CSI) is available; however CSI errors are inevitable in practice. To overcome this limitation, we study the robust JBPS design problem assuming a norm-bounded error (NBE) model for the CSI. Three different solution approaches are proposed for the robust JBPS problem, each one leading to a different computational algorithm. Firstly, an efficient semidefinite relaxation (SDR)-based approach is presented to solve the highly non-convex JBPS problem, where the latter can be formulated as a semidefinite programming (SDP) problem. A rank-one recovery method is provided to recover a robust feasible solution to the original problem. Secondly, based on second order cone programming (SOCP) relaxation, we propose a low complexity approach with the aid of a closed-form robust solution recovery method. Thirdly, a new iterative method is also provided which can achieve near-optimal performance when the SDR-based algorithm results in a higher-rank solution. We prove that this iterative algorithm monotonically converges to a Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) solution of the robust JBPS problem. Finally, simulation results are presented to validate the robustness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms.


Copper(II) and H+ complexes of 3,3,8,8-tetramethyl-4,7-diazadecane-2,9-dione dioxime, 3,3,9,9-tetramethyl-4,8-diazaundecane-2,10-dione dioxime and 3,3,10,10-tetramethyl-4,9-diazadodecane-2,11-dione dioxime have been studied at 25 °C and ionic strength 0.15 mol dm–3 NaCl, using glass-electrode potentiometry. Electronic spectra have been used to postulate structures for the different species in solution. In each case the metal binds to the four nitrogen atoms of the oxime. In the MLH–1 species hydrogen bonding between the terminal oxime groups produces a pseudo-macrocycle. Computer simulation has been used to predict the effect of the ligands on the blood-plasma metal-ion distribution in vivo.


The communication between the cell and its environment is a topic of paramount importance for the understanding of a wide variety of disease processes. Recently there have been a number of breakthroughs in the understanding of the properties of the plasma membrane, the structure and function of plasma membrane proteins, the role of protein micro-domains, and protein–protein interactions. In May 2006, the Journal of Internal Medicine arranged a 3-day symposium on Membrane Transport Proteins in Health and Disease at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The purpose of this symposium was to bring together scientists in the forefront of these fields to generate a comprehensive picture of the complex functions of membrane proteins. The ultimate goal was to obtain new insights into the many diseases associated with dysfunction of plasma membrane proteins.


Based on the three dimensions vacuum error formula of the ARM decoys system, the quantitative analysis is done on battle effect of two kinds of two-decoy project and a three-decoys project. Simulation results show that for two-decoy project, the inveigle effect is good when two decoys are arranged near to each other but far from the protected radar while it is bad when the two decoys are arranged far from each other but equidistance to the protected radar, that the inveigle effect of three-decoy project excels that of two-decoys project when each decoy is arranged near and far from the protected radar.


Linear exciton-polariton propagation in semiconductors is analyzed using a microscopic theory. Numerical results are compared with various approximation schemes based on additional boundary conditions, and with phase-amplitude linear spectroscopy experiments in high-quality GaAs. A simultaneous description of the measured amplitude and phase of the transmitted electric field is only possible with the full model.


Prevailing theories of democracy focus on class conflict. In contrast, we study democratic transition when ethnic tensions are more salient than the poor/rich divide, building a model where (i) ethnic groups negotiate about allocating the economic surplus and (ii) military and political mobilizations rest on the unobserved strength of ethnic attachment. Free and fair elections elicit information and restore inter-ethnic bargaining efficiency. Autocrats can rationally choose democratic transition, even if they risk losing power, as elections reduce the opposition's informational rent. The predictions of our framework are consistent with novel country-level and ethnic group-level panel correlational evidence on democratization in the post-decolonization period.


Associated to the Bergman kernels of a polarized toric \kahler manifold $(M, \omega, L, h)$ are sequences of measures $\{\mu_k^z\}_{k=1}^{\infty}$ parametrized by the points $z \in M$. For each $z$ in the open orbit, we prove a central limit theorem for $\mu_k^z$. The center of mass of $\mu_k^z$ is the image of $z$ under the moment map; after re-centering at $0$ and dilating by $\sqrt{k}$, the re-normalized measure tends to a centered Gaussian whose variance is the Hessian of the \kahler potential at $z$. We further give a remainder estimate of Berry-Esseen type. The sequence $\{\mu_k^z\}$ is generally not a sequence of convolution powers and the proofs only involve \kahler analysis.


In order to assess the influence of nutrient elements on the accumulation of β-N-oxalyl-L-α, β-diaminopropionic acid (β-ODAP; the probable cause of lathyrism) in Lathyrus sativus L. (grass pea), it was first examined under field conditions during the lifespan of a grass pea plant using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). β-ODAP mainly accumulated in young seedlings, in developing and mature seeds and in young leaves, especially in young seedlings. In contrast, all mature leaves, roots, and stems showed a low level of β-ODAP. The β-ODAP accumulation pattern in seedlings grown in a nutrient-deficient solution was highest (3·57 mg/g) in shoots at 7 d growing in the nitrogen-deficient solution and higher compared to the control (2·31 mg/g) in zinc-, calcium-, phosphorus- and molybdenum-deficient shoots (P<0·05). The contents of β-ODAP in seedlings growing in other element-deficient solutions were similar to controls. When the content of β-ODAP in grass pea seedlings fertilized with different forms of organic nitrogen was assayed the results indicated that amino acids such as glutamine and serine, as well as nucleotide nitrogen, all significantly enhanced the accumulation of β-ODAP in young seedlings relative to controls (P<0·05). Taken together, these data suggest that β-ODAP accumulation in grass pea might be related to the level of total free nitrogenous compounds and that nitrogen and phosphate may be the crucial nutrient factors influencing β-ODAP content under field conditions. Thus, the application of appropriate nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers to the soil could decrease the content of β-ODAP in the seeds and leaves of grass pea.


United States Geological Survey, Pacific Science Center. Chief Scientist: Renee Takesue. Turbidity and Wave Sensor Deployment data (opticalbackscattersensor, handsamplegrab) of field activity B-4-07-PS in Poulsbo, WA from 04/18/2007 to 04/18/2007, http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/infobank/b/b407ps/html/b-4-07-ps.meta.html.


In various embedded system applications, the high speed multi-serial communication is necessary. Various embedded systems require DSP (Digital Signal Processing) to process information & FPGA to control the peripheral devices. UART (Universal Asynchronous Receive Transmit) is designed in FPGA & connected to DSP so as to meet the real time capability of system along with compact, stable & reliable data transmission. In this paper we propose a software-implementation technique of an UART to get a platform independent UART-core for high speed serial communication in FPGA. Here the core is written in Verilog & implemented using XILINX ISE.


The Newcomb's problem has been discussed in the philosophical literature for more than fifty years. So far quarrels mainly oppose causalism on the one hand, and evidentialism on the other hand. This paper wants to explain why causalists are right from a certain point of view, and why they should one-box --- instead of keeping two-boxing. The Newcomb's problem can be thought in terms of possible worlds. I assume here that this problem does not happen in our world, but it occurs in a world where causality and rationality obey different rules. But, in any cases, when the predictor is reliable, the player must one-box.


Objective: To quantify the delay in SARS-CoV-2 real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing and test result reporting in Mexico and Colombia, and to assess the relation between margination status and these delays. Methods: We quantified time in days from symptom onset until testing (latency one) and delay in test results report (latency two) using freely available country-wide open data from Mexico and Colombia. Directed acyclic graphs were built to determine which associations were appropriate to assess. Stratification by margination status, state and hospitalization status was used to determine corresponding associations. Results: In almost all the study period latency two was longer than latency one. Median latency one was 3 (IQR 0-6) days and latency two 7 (IQR 4-11) days in Colombia, while in Mexico they were 3 (IQR 1-5) days and 4 (IQR 3-6) days. In Colombia, worse margination status prolonged latency two. In Mexico, a lower number and percentage of point-of-care (POC) tests in areas with worse margination. Conclusion: POC tests must be used as a widespread means to reduce latency two, and until then should be prioritized in areas with longer latency two. An unequal distribution of this resource should be avoided.


The current international economic developing speed is becoming slow, which affects China's domestic economic development indirectly. In recent years, the economy is in the new normal circumstances. Although China's economy is mainly in a upward trend, but the development of the domestic economy growth slows, China needs to find a starting point of national economic development. Innovation and entrepreneurship education has become an important work for China's education, innovation and entrepreneurship education can motivate students to start their own businesses, increasing employment opportunities for the society, promote the rapid development of China's economy. But at present, there are still some problems in the teaching of innovation and entrepreneurship in the system of university education in our country. Therefore, it is necessary to construct the curriculum system, stimulate the students' entrepreneurial thinking and cultivate their entrepreneurial ability. Based on the analysis, this paper puts forward the innovation and entrepreneurship education curriculum system.


Various unique properties have been observed on nanoscale materials, including novel magnetism, optical, melting points, surface chemistry, mechanical and metallic behavior [1]. These properties have ignited the development of nanotechnology in last decade. In metal oxide catalysts, major effort has paid on the investigation of nanometer-sized active sites dispersed on the supports such as Au nanoparticles on TiO2 in oxidation of CO [2] or nanoscale CeO2 for reduction SO2 by CO [3]. Nevertheless, discussion of the morphology effects on catalytic reactions from nanocrystalline and microcrystalline supports is lacking, though it is believed that the interaction between the active phase and support may drive the reaction in different ways [4].


The wide range of gas sensor application, in particular, in a mining industry for detection of outflow of gases, the control of gas emissions over an atmosphere at the industrial enterprises, in housing and communal services, in home appliances makes actual the review. As the systema-tized analysis of gas sensor based on ZnO has not being carried out — this work is of interest for development of chemical sensors based on zinc compound with high sensitivity, selectivity and stability. The resistive type of gas sensor based on thin-film ZnO which possesses a number of advantages: high sensibilities, low cost, the small sizes, simple manufacturing techniques, pro-vide definition practically all gases and vapors at low concentration is in detail considered. In additional, the gas concentration to be analyzed directly transformes to an electric signal, that considerably simplifies the circuit of measurement. In present paper the table of the basic characteristics of existing thin-film ZnO gas sensors is given, which evidently allows to estimate the characteristics of available gas sensor based on oxide zinc film.


This paper presents the group testing for wavelets algorithm (GTM), which is a novel embedded wavelet-based image compression technique based on the concept of group testing. We explain how group testing is a generalization of the zerotree coding technique for wavelet-transformed images. We also show that Golomb coding is equivalent to Hwang's (Du and Hwang, 1993) group testing algorithm. GTW is similar to SPIHT (Said and Pearlman, 1996) but replaces SPIHT's sorting pass with a new group testing based method. Although no arithmetic coding is implemented, GTW performs competitively with SPIHT's arithmetic coding variant in terms of rate-distortion performance.


A simplified analysis method is proposed to obtain eigenfrequencies and modes for yaw-bending and roll-torsional structural vibration of an asymmetric configuration rocket. The author has already proposed a simplified analysis method for axial-pitch coupling vibration of an asymmetric configuration rocket. The present method can analyze the other coupling vibration, that is yaw-roll coupling vibration for an asymmetric configuration rocket by asymmetric beam elements. The purpose of this simplified analysis method using a FORTRAN 77 program is also to prepare an analysis tool for studying on yaw-roll coupling effects in the preliminary design phase and a rough-check tool of detailed analysis. This program can generate yaw-roll coupling stiffness and mass matrices by the offset asymmetric beam element with linearly changing sectional properties using the Timoshenko-type beam theory. A sample structural vibration analysis of a hypothetical rocket with an asymmetric configuration demonstrates the capability of this simplified method. The results obtained agree well with those obtained by MSC/NASTRAN analysis, and this proposed method enables great simplification of model preparation. Based on these findings, the proposed method is judged to be an efficient structural vibration analysis tool of an asymmetric rocket.


The Laplace-Adomian Decomposition Method (LADM) and Homotopy Perturbation Method (HPM) are both utilized in this research in order to obtain an approximate analytical solution to the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with harmonic oscillator. Accordingly, nonlinear Schrödinger equation in both one and two dimensions is provided to illustrate the effects of harmonic oscillator on the behavior of the wave function. The available literature does not provide an exact solution to the problem presented in this paper. Nevertheless, approximate analytical solutions are provided in this paper using LADM and HPM methods, in addition to comparing and analyzing both solutions.


This report is the result of field work performed at the former White Point Nike Missile Site, San Pedro, California. The Hazardous Waste Remedial Actions Program tasked the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Pollutant Assessments Group in Grand Junction, Colo., with this project. The objective was to determine whether or not radioisotopes possibly associated with past Department of Defense (DOD) operations were present and within accepted background levels. The radiation survey was accomplished by performing three independent radiation surveys, both outdoors and indoors, and random soil sampling. Initially, the site was land surveyed to develop a grid block system. A background radiation investigation was performed out in the San Pedro area.


Several years later Arkadii Belinkov explained to me that his book on Tynianov was conceived as a case study of a literary intellectual honestly loyal to the Soviet regime. There were to be two others, a study of Solzhenitsyn, an open foe of the system, and one of Olesha, a non-Communist ready to make whatever concession the Communist rulers demanded. The Solzhenitsyn book will never be written. His health ruined by prolonged confinement in Soviet camps, Belinkov died in America only two years after his escape from the USSR. The study of Olesha, however, was written some years earlier and the manuscript was smuggled out of the USSR. After a delay of several years it has now appeared in the West in the original Russian, thanks to the heroic efforts of Arkadii Belinkov's widow Natalia. lurii Olesha is not, strictly speaking, a book about Envy and its author's other writings, nor is it a systematic biography of Olesha. Rather, it is a portrait of un enfant de son siecle, with most of the attention devoted to the depressing background of Stalin's Russia. As Belinkov put it: "I wrote a book about [Olesha], a wretched human being (as were all men of his social milieu and generation), and not a very good writer (as were all writers of his social milieu and generation). I did it because I believe that the task of a historian of literature is not the analysis of artistic devices and imaginative works, but the study of causes that condition the appearance and the character of a work of art. And these depend strictly on the relationship between the artist and society" (p. 457). Iurii Olesha is, above all, an impassioned tract about the tragic and pitiful fate of a man whom Belinkov considers a typical Soviet intellectual. Conventional accounts of his life maintain that sometime in the 1930s Olesha grew silent and did not write or publish until after Stalin's death and shortly before his own in 1960. Not so, Belinkov demonstrates. Olesha never stopped writing. Quite to the contrary. It is simply that the author of Envy, "stepping on the throat of his own song," dutifully produced ever larger quantities of obsequious political drivel. In contrast to such courageous authors as Bulgakov and Akhmatova, Olesha surrendered to the "social command," and in the process he also destroyed himself both as an artist and as a human being. Belinkov's book, conceived in pain and in anger and surreptitiously written in the USSR, bristles with sarcasm and defiance. Its countless digressions, multitudes of secondary subjects, and bewildering array of references (ranging from Freud to chess manuals and from the Bible to matchbook labels) occasionally disorient the reader. Yet, in the final analysis, what emerges is a massive study of a totalitarian regime brutally crushing anything it cannot fully control. In the short story "The Cherry Pit," Olesha's protagonist expresses the hope that utilitarian society in its wisdom would allow art a minimum of autonomy. Belinkov's thesis is that beasts and bulldozers cannot be swayed to moderation.


This article presents the evaluation of static and dynamic behavior of functionally graded ordinary (FGO) beam and functionally graded sandwich (FGSW) beam for pined–pined end condition. The variation of material properties along the thickness is assumed to follow exponential and power law. A finite element method is used assuming first order shear deformation theory for the analysis. The element chosen is different from the conventional elements as the shape functions of the element are obtained from the exact solution of the static part of governing differential equation derived according to Hamilton's principle. Moreover, the shape functions depend on length, cross-section and material properties which ensure better accuracy of the solution. The effect of power law index on critical buckling load and natural frequencies of FGO beam is investigated. The critical buckling load of FGO beam with steel-rich bottom increases with power law index whereas the trend reverses for beam with Al-rich bottom. The first three natural frequencies of FGO beam are found to decrease to a minimum value and then increase as the power law index increases from one. The dynamic stability of FGO beam with steel-rich bottom is found to be more than that of beam with Al-rich bottom. An FGSW beam with alumina as bottom skin, steel top skin, and mixture of alumina and steel as core is chosen for analysis. The critical buckling load of FGSW beam increases with the increase of core thickness for variation of material properties in core as per power law with index more than one, whereas it decreases with the increase of core thickness for variation of material properties in core as per exponential law. The first three natural frequencies of the FGSW beam increase with the increase of FGM core for both the types of property distributions. The dynamic stability of the FGSW beam is enhanced as the thickness of the FGM core is increased.


Abstract : The Arab Spring revolutions in Egypt and Syria were significant disruptions to the Middle East and North Africa region. Their continually evolving consequences present the United States with immense challenges to regional and international stability. Responses to the Arab Spring demand a nuanced appreciation of the sources of fragility and causes of revolution that toppled the Mubarak regime and continue to embattle the Assad regime. Crucially, the individual histories of Egypt and Syria indicate that repressive authoritarian regimes were unresponsive to and disconnected from the broad mass of their populations and failed to meet the basic expectations of their citizenry. Several stressors amplified the regimes' fragility, namely: increasing radical Islamism, the capacity for social mobilization through Internet and communication technologies, long-term demographic pressures, andcruciallyclimate-driven pressures. The fact that the US military is likely to deepen its response to the Arab Spring and similar instability indicates that studying the origins of these crises is indispensable.


Aim: To survey the use of complementary medicines (CMs) by patients admitted to St Vincent's Hospital Sydney and identify potential interactions between CMs and other prescribed or over-the- counter medications. Method: Patients seen by clinical pharmacists in St Vincent's Hospital Sydney over a 3 week period in May 2000 were surveyed during the routine medication history. Patients taking CMs had their medication history recorded on the data collection form. Potential for interactions between the CM and the prescribed or over- the-counter medications was assessed. Results: Five hundred and eleven patients had their medication history taken, 61 (12%) were taking 156 CMs at the time. Ninety one (58%) agents had been taken by 39 (64%) patients for more than one year. Patients ranged in age from 25 to 100 years with a median of 57 years. There was an even sex distribution, 30 females and 31 males. A high proportion (74, 47%) of the CMs had been self prescribed and 25 (41%) patients took 103 (66%) CMs without the knowledge of their general practitioner. Twenty two (36%) patients continued taking a total of 47 (30%) CMs in hospital. Twenty four (51%) of the continued CMs were not charted. Eleven (18 %) patients were also taking 20 medicines that could potentially interact with the CMs they were taking. Six patients were taking more than one potentially interacting substance. Conclusion: Use of CMs by patients admitted to St Vincent's Hospital Sydney appears significant and warrants routine inclusion in the patient medication histories. Potential drug interactions were found to occur. Pharmacists need to be aware of potential interactions and have access to information about interactions between CMs and other medicines. (author abstract)


Revised! PI-123, a 10-page illustrated guide by Frederick M. Fishel, provides general temperature effects on storage properties of agricultural herbicides. A table is included that lists many of the common agricultural herbicides registered for use in Florida, with storage limitations statements. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Agronomy, October 2009.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of ABO gene α-1,3-D galactosyl transferase mutation on B antigen expression and its molecular mechanism.

METHODS
The proband and their family members were identified by routine serological methods, and ABO genotyping and sequence analysis were performed by polymerase chain reaction-sequence specificity (PCR-SSP) and direct sequencing of PCR products from exon 1-7 of ABO gene. The 3D structural simulation of mutant proteins was performed by bioinformatics software. The effect of gene mutation on protein structural stability was analyzed.

RESULTS
The proband and his family members were subtype B. ABO genotyping indicated that the proband's genotype was Bw12/O. Gene sequencing results confirmed the presence of ABO*BW.12 characteristic variation c.278C>T in the 6th exon of allele B, leading to the replacement of polypeptide chain p.Pro93Leu. The 3D structure simulation analysis of the protein showed that the hydrogen bonds and water molecules connected to the protein changed after amino acid substitution. The family investigation found that the grandfather, father, uncle and brother of the proband all carried the same ABO*BW.12 allele.

CONCLUSION
The mutation of the 6th exon c.278C>T of ABO gene led to the substitution of polypeptide chain amino acids, which affected the stability of α-1,3-D galactosyl transferase protein, resulting in the change of enzyme activity, and the Bw.12 phenotype, which can be stably inherited.


Skeletal remains discovered at a construction site in Georgia display classic "butterfly" fractures on several long bones. Although this fracture pattern is usually associated with perimortem trauma, in this case taphonomic indicators demonstrate that they can also occur on dry defleshed bone. Variations in bone color at the fracture sites indicate recent postmortem trauma. Analysis of the directions of force and points of impact indicates that the bones were most likely disarticulated when the trauma occurred.


Abstract Scholarly and academic commentators have been warning of a "crisis" in American legal education since the beginning of the 2008 recession. This article critically examines what they mean by a "crisis", whether the evidence supports their claims, and the responses they propose.


Background: Infection of central nervous system (CNS) is most common cause of fever associated with signs and symptoms of CNS disease in children. Viral infections of CNS are more common than other infections. Radiology and pathology go together in understanding etiology causing CNS infections which have similar clinical manifestations making specific diagnosis difficult. The present study aims to study the utility of different neuroimaging patterns in diagnosis of acute CNS infection. Aims include: to study utility and pattern of neuroimaging in CNS infection in paediatric age group, and to study socio-demographic and clinical profile of CNS infection in children.Methods: Prospective observational study in children 1 month-12 years who presented with CNS infection.Results: Total 58 cases were suspected to have CNS infection, which was more prevalent in 1 month-1 year (27.58%), followed by 5-8 year (24.13%), 1-3 year (22.41), >8 year (20.68%) and 3-5 year (5.17%). Neuroimaging was done in all suspected case (58) of CNS infection in which 30 (51.7%) had abnormal neuroimaging where 3(10%) showed pyogenic meningitis, 7 (23.23%) tubercular meningitis (TBM), 4 (13.13%) tuberculoma, 3 (10%) TBM and tuberculoma, 4 (13.3%) viral meningitis, 1 (3.3%) herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE), 1 (3.3%) COVID encephalitis, 4 (13.3%) acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) while 2 (6.66%) brain abscess. Correlation between final diagnosis and neuroimaging was 100% in ADEM, brain abscess, tuberculoma, TB spine, HSV followed by TBM (77.77%), pyogenic meningitis (27.27%) and viral encephalitis (26.66%). Clinically diagnosed acute CNS infection was confirmed in 51.72% and wrong in 48.27%.Conclusions: CNS infections were more common in less than 5 years age. Approximately 50% patients had abnormal neuroimaging finding. It was found that neuroimaging was more accurate in early diagnosis, categorization of CNS infection and detection of complications with high sensitivity.


On 30 March 1998 a new piece of legislation, the Integrated Planning Act 1997 commenced operation. The Act seeks to integrate planning and development assessment so that development and its effects are managed in a way that is ecologically sustainable. A cornerstone of the legislation is the integrated development assessment system which will integrate State and local government assessment and approval processes for development resulting in a single application and assessment system for a variety of planning and environmental approvals. The Act provides the framework for integrating the current merited system of land use and environmental management in Queensland.


Renal metastasis from primary colon cancer is so rare that, from USA, Nelson's associates reported "a unique case of a 51-year-old female with extra luminal colonic adenocarcinoma which directly invaded into the kidney." Therefore, the author describes two such cases among 50-year-old females who belong to the Igbo ethnic group [1,2]. This was facilitated by the advice of a Birmingham (UK) group [3]. As they had put it, the establishment of a histopathology data pool is fruitful epidemiologically. Concerning the present cases, being the pioneer pathologist at the Regional Pathology Laboratory established at Enugu by the Government, I was in the position to observe such obscure relationships in cancer metastasis [4].


We report a case of trichilemmal carcinoma with infiltration of the facial nerve in a 77-year-old man. Since the tumor was accompanied by invasion of the facial nerve, a parotidectomy with tumor resection was performed. Histological examination showed frequent trichilemmal keratinization in the central portion of the nests and revealed perineural invasion. Based on these findings, we suspected a malignant proliferating trichilemmal cyst (MPTC), rather than a malignant trichilemmoma (MT). We discuss briefly the histopathological differences between MPTC and MT.


Mr Green worked in a factory in atown. Hewasa 1 .Hedid well in his work. And his boss(老板)liked him very much. But he was a very 2 man.


A seemingly non-stop series of disasters has shown that societies worldwide seem unprepared for the threats posed by natural hazards. The tragic impacts of these events drew short-term attention from policy makers, the media and the general public, but their response was too late to prevent serious harm. Societies need to measure their vulnerabilities in advance, and make adequate provisions. This publication presents a broad range of current approaches to measuring vulnerability and contains concrete experiences and examples from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe to illustrate the theoretical analyses.--Publisher's description.


In order to understand how grammatical and thematic roles cues influence the anaphora resolution processes of Korean EFL learners and how they differ from those of native speakers of English and Korean respectively, an experiment employing a self-paced reading task was performed with native speakers of English (NSE), higher-level learners (HLL), lower-level learners (LLL) and native speakers of Korean (NSK). The results suggest that, in general, grammatical and thematic role cues seem to influence anaphora resolution processes by Korean EFL learners. It was faster for them to read sentences starting with the subject reference than the object-of-PP reference. It also took shorter time for them to read sentences with Goal reference than those with Source reference. In addition, it took longer for the learners, especially lower-level learners, to read sentences with pronouns than those with proper nouns. When comparing the data of target language and native language speakers, surprising similarities were found in both native speaker groups and higher-level learners, confirming the existence of a universal nature of language processing. The lower-level learners' anaphora resolution processes, on the other hand, showed an independent pattern, possibly because of their limited proficiency and their dependency on semantic cues.


Today's global world changes encourage schools to start making organizational changes. School leaders are expected to be able to develop competitive strategies and create organizational changes in schools. This study aims to determine the effect of transformational leadership on organizational change in elementary schools. This study uses a quantitative approach using simple linear regression test data analysis techniques. The independent variable in this study is the principal's transformational leadership while the dependent variable is organizational change. The sample was 396 respondents with simple random sampling method. The results of the study indicate that transformational leadership has an effect on organizational change in elementary schools. Organizational changes in elementary schools by 60% are influenced by the principal transformational leadership.


This In-vitro study has been done to evaluate and compare the tensile bond strength of two different resin cements used to bond base metal alloy to human enamel. The two test resin cement systems were Panavia F.2 and Rely X Unicem. A total of 40 natural teeth were taken in this study. The labial surfaces were ground at slow speed and were visually examined to ensure that enamel was continuous and the dentin was not exposed. Forty alloy discs of 5 mm diameter with 1mm thickness were randomly divided into four groups of ten samples each. Group 1 and Group 2 alloy discs were surface treated with 50μm and 250μm aluminum oxide respectively and then bonded to enamel of the corresponding natural tooth test specimen with Panavia F2.0, according to the manufacturer's instructions. Group 3 and Group 4 alloy discs were surface treated with with 50μm and 250μm aluminum oxide respectively and then bonded to enamel of the corresponding natural tooth test specimen with Rely X Unicem according to the manufacturer's instructions.
The samples were thermocycled and they were loaded in Instron testing machine for tensile testing. The debonded alloy surfaces were examined under scanning electron microscope. The results were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis.
The results of this study showed the comparative mean tensile bond strengths of two resin cements were not statistically significant. The effect of surface treatment with 50 μm aluminum oxide of air abrasion of the base metal alloy surface yielded significantly higher values of tensile bond strength compared to that obtained with 250 μm aluminum oxide of air abrasion in this study. SEM examination of the metal interface revealed adhesive type of failure with 250μm aluminum oxide air abrasion whereas, cracks were found in the cement layer with 50 μm aluminum oxide air abrasion irrespective of the cement employed.


Summary form only given, as follows. Capacitive rectifiers are among the worst loads in terms of harmonic pollution, with a typical total harmonic distortion (THD) of 160-170%. Due to their simplicity and low cost, these rectifiers are widely used in low power electronic appliances such as personal computers, TVs, office appliances, audio consumer appliances and more. Therefore they constitute a considerable load in office and residential buildings, despite the low power of the individual rectifiers. At the AC mains, these loads draw a narrow pulse of current near the AC voltage peak. Therefore a detrimental synchronization effect takes place among all rectifiers that are fed by the same phase. On the other hand, a kind of harmonics self compensation occurs, due to the electricity distribution coupling network which reduces the overall harmonic content. In this work these effects are being theoretically analyzed and tested via simulation tools. Also an experimental setup of up to ten, nearly identical rectifiers has been assembled in the power quality laboratory through which the assumed behavior of these non linear group of loads has been validated. The results of this work might lead, later on, to some design guidelines, of the electricity network in office buildings.


A high triplet energy hole transport material with pyrroloacridine core was synthesized and the device performances of green and blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes were studied. The pyrroloacridine type hole transport material showed high triplet energy of 2.90 eV for triplet exciton blocking in phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes. Green and blue PHOLEDs fabricated using the pyrroloacridine core based hole transport layer showed high quantum efficiency of 17.2% and 20.3%, respectively.


The aim of this investigation was to study the role of dilation in delaying shrinkage cracking of concrete and the possibility of producing shrinkage crack-free concrete. The experimental programme consisted of two parts. In the first part, end-restrained concrete beams were water-cured for one and three days before drying under controlled temperature (35 °C) and relative humidity (25%) conditions. In the second part, concrete beams were water-cured for one and three days before drying in outdoor summer conditions in Baghdad, Iraq. For all specimens, various parameters were measured, including free-shrinkage strain, tensile strain capacity, elastic tensile strain capacity, creep in tension and cracking time. The experimental results show that none of the concrete specimens dried under natural outdoor conditions cracked in spite of high temperatures (up to 60 °C) and low relative humidity (less than 15%). This is due to dilation in the form of increased creep in tension with variations in temperature and relative humidity. Increasing water-curing duration usually delays shrinkage and always delays or prevents cracking; it increases tensile strain capacity, which reduces the probability of cracking for all specimens dried in natural or controlled conditions.


Big data generation in power companies is particularly prominent in financial accounting, which is particularly prominent in financial accounting. According to the traditional financial accounting process and system, it is impossible to accurately analyze large amounts of financial data. In the era of big data and cloud computing, it provides very convenient conditions for the Engineer of financial processing processes of power companies. Through cloud computing technology, the characteristics of power big data are analyzed, and the decision-making process of traditional financial system is reconstructed, which highlights the application of big data and cloud computing in smart grid. Taking the operation and maintenance cost analysis of actual substation as an example, the use of big data ideas for objective analysis enables China's power companies to seize this period and quickly complete the financial system process Engineer to adapt to the development of the times.


A novel and distinctive column is an important approach to the improvement of journal quality.In the column designing of a college liberal arts journal,stress should be laid on quality,feature and stimulation,which are the source of vigor and vitality of the journal.


This paper attempts to quantify the difference in performance, of "treated" (program participant) and "non-treated" (non-participant) firms in SBA's Scale-Up initiative. I combine data from the SBA with administrative data housed at Census using a combination of numeric and name and address matching techniques. My results show that after controlling for available observable characteristics, a positive correlation exists between participation in the Scale-Up initiative and firm growth. However, publicly available survey results have shown that entrepreneurs have a variety of goals in-mind when they start their businesses. Two prominent, and potentially contradictory ones are work-life balance and greater income. That means that not all firms may want to grow and I am unable to completely control for owner motivations. Finally, I do not find a statistically significant relationship between participation in Scale-Up and firm survival once other business characteristics are accounted for.


The Web-based Traditional Game is developed in Java programming language. The purpose of this project is to allow traditional games to be played online. Besides, users can play easily without the need to develop the game on their own or to buy it if they what to play them. The web-based traditional game also allows Internet users throughout the world to play against each other. This project can be an alternative to promote our traditional games to the world and to prevent them from being obsolete. The traditional game selected is Dam Haji. The Web Development Methodology is used as the methodology to develop this project and socket programming is used as the methods of data transmission


We consider objective essential elements of offence associated with malicious evasion from satisfaction of accounts payable. We emphasize that at the present time there is a polemic among scientists regarding the di-rect object of this crime and its subject, and there are also evaluative elements that characterize the objective side of this crime. Therefore, based on the analysis of Article 177 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and doctrinal points of view, we conclude that it should highlight the main direct object – economic relations associated with lending and an additional direct object – social relations associated with the sphere of justice. The subject of this crime will be money and securities, but not accounts payable. Thus in relation to the funds, the debtor is indebted in an amount exceeding two million two hundred fifty thousand rubles, while in relation to the securities the debt by the legislator in Article 177 of the Criminal Code is not specified. Regarding the elements of the objective side of the crime composition under consideration, we note that it is characterized as malicious evasion from satisfaction of accounts payable on a large scale or from redemption of securities after the entry into force of the relevant judicial act. Taking into account judicial practice and doctrinal points of view, we conclude that in order to uniformly interpret and apply Article 177 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to replace the word "maliciousness" with "intentional non-payment", or give an official interpretation of the category of "maliciousness", but without emphasizing the practice that follows certain (individual) court sentences. For example, maliciousness can be understood as "deliberate non-payment by a person of a debt, when he can fulfill his financial obligations, after one warning from the bailiff-executor about criminal liability under Article 177 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation".


Abstract: This paper explains and defends three basic propositions: (1) that our attitudes (particularly American attitudes) toward organizational ethics are conflicted at a fairly deep level; (2) that in response to this conflict in our attitudes, we often default to various counterfeits of conscience (non-moral systems that serve as surrogates for the role of conscience in organizational settings); and (3) that a better response (than relying on counterfeits) would be for leaders to foster a culture of ethical awareness in their organizations. Some practical suggestions are made about fostering such a culture, and a comparison is made between this late-20th-century response to the problem of counterfeits and the classic "naturalistic fallacy" identified in early-20th-century ethics by G. E. Moore.


The transition phase of healthcare sector in India is moving towards a culture of corporate sector. It requires a great transformation in terms of improvement and development of this sector. Patients' needs high attention and services; therefore , there should be increase in manpower and infrastructure facility. The conversion is impossible without education, use of technology, appropriate information and expert refining of information to convert into knowledge. In reference of use of technology these days' use of IT in health sector is giving ways to high storage, accurate, obtainable and timely information which help in decision making and quality treatment. The computerization of medical patient records, e-telemedicine, pathological reports, inventory maintenance, diagnosis, treatment and other decisions. The irresistible need requires resources for meeting shortage and makes India to reach world standards in medical sector. The stored data if evaluated properly will significantly enhance knowledge by discovering diseases patterns and fast decision for further treatment. The hospitals are moving towards more and more implementation of recent trends services, facilities, technology and equipment. The working of hospitals and other medical sector is seeing a transaction from manual to IT driven. The remote hospitals and primary health centers are connected and controlled through use of IT. Planning for implementing intelligent and smart hospitals in both public and private sectors is in pipe line. The study identifies emerging recent trends in health care sector in India.


Abstract A simple model for interactions is studied in detail to produce a teaching tool that covers a wide range of techniques and methods. It is shown that, in this simple case, powerful methods such as maximum likelihood, iterative solution of equations and optimisation can be discussed without the problem becoming so complicated that the ideas are no longer clear. Various applications are suggested.


The natural history of neoplastic diseases resembles in essential aspects the interactions of host and microbial parasite in chronic infectious diseases. In both instances, the outcome of the relationship between the host and a population of pathogenic living cells is determined by complex interactions governed by the genetic potentials of both partners and influenced by internal and extrinsic environmental factors. Indeed, neoplastic cells, growing beyond the architectural configurations and spatial patterns of normal tissues, unresponsive to the stimuli that govern normal rates of cellular growth, death, and differentiation, often distinguished by new physiological or morphological characteristics, and causing pathological changes in their host, must be considered as essentially independent parasitic organisms even though they represent variants that originated in one way or another from among the normal cellular constituents of the host. There may be appreciable advantage to considering neoplasia as properly falling within the category of host-parasite relationships. In recent years, the focus of emphasis in the study of host-microbial-parasite relationships has turned sharply away from the parasite as the only really significant factor in such associations, determining largely by itself their duration and manifestations. It has come to be recognized, instead, that host and environment play equally significant roles and that the outcome of'many infectious diseases, and the very nature of the characteristic pathologic changes that mark them, can be understood only in terms of the specific responses of individual hosts within an ecological framework in which relatively minor environmental changes can have large consequences. Such a perspective is still very new in the analysis of neoplastic disease, and is far from adopted by the majority of investigators. Only a few years ago, the keynote paper at a symposium on host-neoplastic-cell interactions still had to pose the underlying question: "Does the host react against his own cancer cells?" The clinical approach to cancer is similarly still centered on the neoplastic cells alone, therapeutic procedures being directed at their removal or selective destruction from outside. It is unlikely, however, that this approach to human malignancy will lead to general solutions. There are obvious limitations to attempts aimed at physical removal of primary and metastatic neoplastic foci, and the hopes of finding categorically effective chemotherapeutic agents are remote. Even in the case of infectious diseases, where the disease-causing organisms are phylogenetically far distant from the host, only a handful from among the very many antibiotic and chemotherapeutic agents that are active in vitro have proven to be sufficiently selective in their toxic action to be employed safely in therapeutic quantities. In


Environmental Context. Many pesticides are difficult to remove from the soil, and remain as persistent pollutants. Some plant species can extract these pollutants from the soil and thereby degrade them, leading to a potential plant-based soil remediation technology. This study examines how plants extract an enduring organic pollutant (chlordane) and heavy metals (zinc, cadmium) from the soil, where they are processed in the plant, and what end-products are generated. Abstract. Two Cucurbitaceae, Cucurbita pepo L. and Cucumis sativus L., were grown in rhizotrons containing soil contaminated with heavy metals and highly weathered chlordane residues. This experimental scheme allowed in situ access to several portions of the soil/plant system. In the root exudates, concentrations of low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs) collected from both genera were detected consistently in the order malic > citric > succinic. Xylem sap was collected from severed plant stems over recorded time segments. Chlordane components and elemental analytes in the sap showed distinct, consistent differences between C. pepo L. and C. sativus L. with regard to chlordane flux, enantiomeric fractions of chlordane components, and heavy metal content. This is the first detailed report of patterns of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the contiguous compartments of soil, whole root tissue, xylem sap, and aerial tissue.


By using the Dreyfus Affair as an example, this study examines dynamics of the European press at the turn of the century and seeks to establish the intellectual climate of the times. Based on the newspapers of France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Italy, it traces the conflict in each country and shows their inter-relations.


Computer program for analysis of experimental interfacial tension to evaluate excess charge density, relative surface excess of the organic sorbate and differential capacitance are briefed. Orthogonal moving polynomial fitting, least square method of smoothing the experimental data and the statistical evalua- tion of method of fitting are reported. The developed program is tested for the reported results. lectrosorption of organic substances on the properties of the electrode- solution interface is studied widely in important fields of elec- trochemistry as electrosynthesis, electrocatalysis, fuel cells, and corrosion inhibition. To underatand the mechanism of electrosorption, cxperimen- tal measurements with electroapillary and differential capacitance set ups are made. Using the basic Gibbs adsorption equation, the thermodynamic relation between the variables at an electrified interface is evaluated. The charge density (q) is found from the first derivative of the electrocapillary curve and the capacity (c) of the double layer can be obtained from the second derivative of the electrocapillary curve. Surface excess of organic adsorbate is determined from the firsi derivative of surface tension with respect to logarithm of concentration of added organic substance. Frac- tional surface coverage, the fitting of isotherm, calculation of standard free energies of adsorption and polarizability of the molecule are carried out from the above analysed data. THERMODYNAMIC EQUATIQNS The electrocapillary equation used in the analysis is given by equation (1)


Abstract : The delivery of health care in the United States is undergoing dramatic change. This is especially true for the nation's academic health centers (AHCs) The proliferation of managed care, coupled with the decline of federal subsidies is forcing AHCs to develop new avenues in which to generate revenues. International patients represent one such opportunity because they are not typically affected by the constraints of managed care. These patients represent an opportunity for hospitals to receive full reimbursement for medical care rendered. The purpose of this research was to determine the impact of international patients on the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (SoM) . This was accomplished by performing a financial analysis of the Johns Hopkins Hospital International Services Department. Specifically, four areas were examined; profitability, revenues, collection rates, and the aging of accounts receivables. The results were overwhelming. The research showed that significant financial benefits are derived from international patients. In addition, the study provides recommendations concerning how the Johns Hopkins Hospital International Services Department can further improve its management of accounts receivables.


The invention provides a formula of a chondroitin sulfate disaccharide containing food for a patient suffering from myocarditis. The food is prepared by compounding chondroitin sulfate disaccharide, Chinese herbal extracts, chitosan oligosaccharide, chondrigen peptides, water-soluble dietary fiber, vitamins and mineral substances. According to the formula, the formation of thrombus can be delayed and resisted, and the state of an illness can be relieved.


We read with great interest the article by Nashef et al .[ 1] regarding the construction and validation of the EuroSCORE II risk model. This manuscript is an outstanding contribution in the creation of a risk stratification model that is robust enough for use in cardiac surgery worldwide. However, we would like to know which statistical procedure should be used to determine calibration of the EuroSCORE II? The Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test has been the most popular test to validate calibration [2, 3], measuring the differences between expected and observed outcomes (mortality) over deciles (test results are acceptable with cohort divided in at least terciles) of risk. A well-calibrated model gives a corresponding P value >0.05. Recently, it has been claimed that a nonsignificant Hosmer–Lemeshow test meant that there was no evidence of bad calibration, but that this result did not mean that there was good calibration [4]. In our opinion, statistical results are either significant or nonsignificant, black or white; there are no grey results in statistics. However, if that is true, how has it come to pass that we needed more than 10 years (during which Hosmer–Lemeshow statistics was used in more than 95% of manuscripts to test the calibration of additive and logistic EuroSCORE in cardiac surgery) to find out that Hosmer– Lemeshow test is no longer valid to determine calibration, and that it should be replaced with the risk-adjusted mortality ratio, [RAMR = observed/predicted (expected) – O/E mortality], as it is now suggested by Nashef et al [1]. An O/E ratio of 1.0 means that the score predicts mortality perfectly. An O/E ratio > 1.0 means that the model underpredicts mortality [in EuroSCORE II, for a validation data set of 5553 patients, the O/E ratio was 1.058 (4.18%/3.95%)], while an O/E ratio < 1.0 means that the model overpredicts mortality. However, how are we going to check the statistical significance of the RAMR value? Conceptually, if the observed number of deaths is equal to the expected number of deaths (as predicted by the scoring system), the RAMR would have a value of 1.0. Thus, the statistical test for the significance of the RAMR is whether it is different from 1.0. To gauge the statistical significance of the RAMR, we must first calculate the 95% confidence interval for the RAMR. If the 95% confidence interval excludes the value '1.0', it may be considered statistically significant (no matter whether it overpredicts or underpredicts mortality). On the contrary, Bhatti et al .[ 5] suggested χ 2 statistics


Much of the short-run movement in energy demand in the United Kingdom is seasonal, and the contribution of long- run factors to short-run forecasts is slight. Nevertheless, using a variety of techniques, including a recently developed estimation procedure that is applicable irrespective of the orders of integration of the data, the authors obtain a long-run income elasticity of demand of about one third, and they are unable to reject a zero price elasticity. An econometric model is shown to provide superior short-run forecasts to well-known seasonal time series models ex post, but is inferior to Box-Jenkins SARMA models when the determinants themselves have to be forecast. However, the relatively short data sample and small number of forecasts suggest caution in generalizing these results. Copyright 1999 by Scottish Economic Society.


pyraflufen-ethyl as a cereal herbicide. Pyrafiufen-ethyl showed excellent se]ectivity between cereal crops (wheat and barley) and a.broad range of important broad-leaved weeds in post-emergence application, Its herbicidal ctivity was significantly higher than that of the existing cereal herbicides such as bifenox, ioxynil and mecoprop-p and comparable or even superior to carfentrazon-ethyl and metsulfuron-methyl, which are known as low use-rate herbicides. Pyraflufen-ethyl was also charactcrized by the fast herbicidal action and excellent activity against Galium aparine, one ofthe most troublesome broad-leaved weeds infested in winter cereal fields in West Europe. Field trials conducted in U.K. and France in 1990/1991 proved that pyraflufen-ethyl possessed high potentiality as a post-emergence cereal herbicide for contro]-


Using Lang's equation for the dynamics of injection locking of a laser diode, we show that the hysteresis property of the excess carrier density has direct influence on the mode-shift characteristics, which makes the shift of the slave laser mode to be different from the frequency detune of the external master laser signal within the locking range of the slave laser. The theoretical prediction is experimentally confirmed by the measurement of the mode-shift of an injection locked Fabry-Perot laser diode.


Reflections from the walls, ceilings and floors of loud speaker test rooms are likely to be much greater than would be judged from listening tests. Simple calculations will show whether the errors resulting from these reflections are likely to be serious, and will also indicate how they may be most easily reduced.


The article reviews the evolution of financial reporting in the EU and considers how this is likely to affect auditing in the future. The analysis shows how the European Commission has recently concentrated its harmonization focus on the consolidated accounts of listed companies and the use of International Accounting Standards. The move towards internationally harmonized reporting seems likely to require auditing to be harmonized throughout Europe, which seems to impact recent national auditing standards. It is probable that this trend will continue and in the short term will cause changes in the arrangements for external overview of the audit and in national auditor independence rules.


Based on the mending method,an efficient evolutionary design algorithm for combinational logic circuits is proposed.The evolutionary designing of circuits is now facing the problem,which means that during the evolutionary process,the fitness value increases rapidly at the initial stage,however,when it reaehes a certain percentage of maximum fitness value,the fitness value will inerease very slowly.Based on the this phenomenon,the proposed algorithm switches to the mending stage after the initial stage.If the output is incorrect,the algorithmwill mend the circuit to get the correct result.In order to mend the circuit obtained from evolutionary proeess,a simple regular method for designing the additional mending circuit is proposed.The mending circuit is combined with the cireuit that has some errors to form a 100% functionaly correct circuit.It can reduce evolutionary generations and time greatly.


fese implements a fixed-effects regression using areg and saves the estimated fixed effects and their standard errors as new variables on the data. Note that areg produces identical results to {help xtreg} with the fe option except when the cluster-robust VCE is requested, in which case areg uses a different degrees of freedom adjustment, which is more appropriate for the present case. areg is always equivalent to running regress with an exhaustive set of indicator variables for panels.


The invention discloses an infusion drop monitoring system on the basis of a sound wave vibration signal, which comprises a terminal controller, a ZigBee router, a ZigBee coordinator and a PC (Personal Computer) upper computer. The terminal controller comprises a sound wave signal acquisition device (8), a control main board (7) and a precision stepping clamping motor (9); a diaphragm (3) is arranged on the close contact surface of the sound wave signal acquisition device (8) and a Murphy dropper (2); a diaphragm cavity (4) and a cavity duct (5) are arranged in the sound wave signal acquisition device (8); a pick-up device (6) is arranged at one end of the cavity duct (5); the pick-up device (6) is connected with the control main board (7); and the control main board (7) is connected with the precision stepping clamping motor (9) by a wire. The infusion drop monitoring system has simple and practical structure and low using cost; the infusion speed and the infusion volume are controlled by processing the drop sound wave vibrating signal; and the infusion drop monitoring system has no any radiation influence on liquid medicine.


The embodiment of the invention provides a method and system for having intelligent control over a granary ventilation system. The method comprises the steps that sensor detection modules acquire temperature and humidity data inside and outside ventilation windows, ventilation control modules send the temperature and humidity data inside and outside the ventilation windows to a mobile terminal through a wireless communication network, a master control server judges whether one ventilation window needs to be opened to carry out ventilation operation or not according to the average temperature and the average humidity, which are calculated by the mobile terminal, inside and outside the ventilation window on the basis of a set ventilation control strategy, and if yes, a ventilation instruction is sent to the ventilation control module corresponding to the ventilation window. According to the method and system for having intelligent control over the granary ventilation system, the information of the temperature and humidity inside and outside a granary and the status information of ventilation portions can be acquired in real time, and the ventilation portions can be automatically opened and closed in a wireless communication mode through the master control server and the mobile terminal so that automatic ventilation operation can be carried out.


Crude ethanolic extract and fractions of Euphorbia Thymifolia linn.(family: Euphorbiaceae) was investigated for diuretic and laxative activity in albino rats that was compared with standard drugs Furosemide (10mg/kg, p.o.) and Agar agar (300mg/kg, p.o.), respectively. The extract was found to produce significant diuretic as well as laxative activity in dose dependant manner. Fractions of the extract potentiated the observed activities. The activities may be contributed to the phytoconstituents present.


The recent development and two methods of near-rapid solidification are introduced.The cooling rate of near-rapid solidification is between that of rapid solidification and near equilibrium solidification,in the range of 10~0-10~3 K/s,the near-rapid solidification process is quite complicated.Compared with the product cooled by conventional process,the microstructure and performance of near-rapid cooled product are better,with the advantages both of rapid solidified and near equilibrium solidified products.Although the theoretical research for near-rapid solidification just started,this technique is a promising technology especially with the development of strip casting in metallurgical industry.


One of the research projects of Multi-Beam Klystrons (MBKs) is to extend its bandwidth. The bandwidth of the MBKs strongly depends on its peak power and the cathode loading. In some applications, an S-band MBK with peak power of 30~50kW, bandwidth of 10%, efficiency of more than 25%, and the lifetime of more than 3000 hours is needed. In order to realize wide bandwidth at low peak power, the S band broadband MBKs with 7 beams are described in this paper. By using seven bunching cavities and a double-gap coupling cavity with π mode RF field structure, this S-band MBK can get bandwidth of ~10% and efficiency of more than 30%. The cathode loading is chosen at about 10A/cm2 for getting the lifetime of more than 3000 hours.


We conduct a vulnerability assessment of an IP camera to investigate its susceptibility to common malicious attacks and their eventual consequences. We use the UK government 'Code of Practice'-goal ...


The fracture and creep of high speed aero-plane structures or turbine blades, the residual stress of thermally treated materials and the plastic workability of metals etc. require us to solve the thermal elasto-plastic problems in which we must, strictly speaking, take account of the temperature dependence of plastic properties of metals and alloys. In this paper the author establishes extremum principles of the thermal elasto-plastic problem. These may offer a foundation of the practical analysis and design for such the problems.The type of iso-thermal tension test with a parametre of temperature in considering ranges, namely, the work-hardening, perfect plasticity or creep gives the type of the theorems. A simple truss is taken as an example of the theorems.


During COVID-19 pandemia, orthopedic ward of Shariati Hospital continued its work as the refferral ward for trauma patients. As an educational center with undergrad and postgrad medical students, we were forced to acutely change our policies and the ward workflow in a way to limit the danger of disease transmission and continue education and giving medical service at the same time. Here we reported our strategies that were adopted in our center to continue educational process as efficient as possible.


In a recent study, Olds (1968) showed that 7-11-year-old children have difficulty in responding with appropriate behavior to commands incorporating certain "logical connectors." Of the 11 connectors studied, "before" was the only time expression for which a significant difference in performance was obtained. It also appears to be the only time connective presented in two linguistic orders illustrating both temporal and nontemporal order. Clark and Clark (1968) tested recall of the paradigm given in table 1. Adult Ss recalled sentences most easily if they were presented in order of temporal occurrence (1, 2, and 3 versus 4, 5, and 6). Linguistic order of the clauses was not an important variable. The purpose of this study was to investigate difficulty of the Clark and Clark paradigm for young children and to identify the variables which might account for any differences obtained. Twenty kindergarten and 20 second-grade Ss from a local middleclass school district were tested individually in 10-minute sessions. The children were white monolinguals; equal numbers of boys and girls participated. Subjects were directed to move markers on a four-column bent abacus in response to commands recorded on Language Master tape cards. The colors of the movable markers (red, yellow, green, and black) were randomly ordered on the rods of the abacus, with the restriction that four different colors be in each row. All Ss were pretested on color identification.


New Aurivillius phases in the Bi–Ag–Ti–O system were investigated by means of a solid-state reaction and X-ray diffraction. We found that the oxygen partial pressure has a significant influence on the synthesis of the Aurivillius phases. The mixed-layer Aurivillius phase Ag0.5Bi8.5Ti7O27 was observed after firing in an O2 flow, but a single-phase material is difficult to obtain. A single-phase compound of the four-layer Aurivillius phase Ag0.5Bi4.5Ti4O15 was obtained on firing in an oxygen partial pressure of 10 bar (1 × 106 Pa). The dielectric properties (at 1 MHz) of the Ag0.5Bi4.5Ti4O15 compound were as follows: Tmax=687°C, ɛr=166 (∼20°C), and tan δ=0.004 (∼20°C).


an in-depth study of 20 homes in 10 local authority areas from all regions of England and is written from a social point of view; while regard is paid to mental infirmity only a small part of the report is directly concerned with this. However, the report is not narrowly descriptive; it compares short and long-stay admissions and day care, giving a wealth of informa tion ranging from the qualifications and attitudes of welfare home staff to a thorough account of the difficulties of careers, and makes a number of recommendations. It is written in an imaginative way and will be useful to anyone interested in the problems of the elderly.


A noncontact method has been devised for mapping or imaging spatial variations in the thickness and microstructure of a layer of a dielectric material. The method involves (1) placement of the dielectric material on a metal substrate, (2) through-the-thickness pulse-echo measurements by use of electromagnetic waves in the terahertz frequency range with a raster scan in a plane parallel to the substrate surface that do not require coupling of any kind, and (3) appropriate processing of the digitized measurement data.


The Internet as a considerable medium for communication will gain in importance in science. Media, like books, journals and so on are the base for the dissemination of scientific results, but in future there will be an increase in the use of the World Wide Web as well. In this article we want to describe the possibilities and risks of the dissemination of Public Use Files on the Internet.


The health insurance in Indonesia is something new for most Indonesians because the term health insurance itself, until now after the pandemic, has not become a word that is commonly understood. The understanding of what is called health insurance is still very varied so it is not surprising, for example, in the past, many people said that the Community Health Maintenance Guarantee (JPKM) in Indonesia was not health insurance but only the name was used without using the word insurance. The Indonesian population is generally a risk taker in terms of health and death. The economic condition of the Indonesian population from independence until now has been able to have a per capita income per year, which has not allowed the Indonesian population to set aside funds to buy health insurance or life insurance. Meanwhile, from the supply side, not many insurance companies offer health insurance products. The Indonesian government has been relatively slow in introducing the concept of insurance to the public through ease of licensing and legal certainty in the insurance business ordeveloping social health insurance for the wider community. This study uses a qualitative method that aims to analyze the relationship between the development of knowledge about the basic history of health insurance related to the basic principles of health insurance in Indonesia which is expected to increase knowledge about the history of health insurance and the basic principles of health insurance. The goal of this research is to find out things that can provide compensation for losses originating from ignorance of health insurance knowledge.


The infrared spectra of six isotopic forms of cadmium monohydride, [116CdH (7.6%), 114CdH (28.9%), 113CdH (12.3%), 112CdH (24.1%), 111CdH (12.7%), and 110CdH (12.4%)] and four isotopic forms of zinc hydride [68ZnH (18.6%), 67ZnH (4.1%), 66ZnH (27.8%), and 64ZnH (48.9%)] have been observed in natural abundance in their ground electronic state (2∑+) in the gas phase using a diode laser spectrometer. A number of transitions of 108CdH (0.9%) and 106CdH (1.2%) and 70ZnH (0.6%) were also observed, but too little data was accumulated to allow a good analysis. The hydrides were produced by reaction of hydrogen with metal vapor at elevated temperature in an electric discharge. The analysis of the experimental data was carried out in two ways. (a) A complete set of Dunham parameters and spin–rotation parameters (γ parameters) was determined for each isotopic species of the two radicals and (b) a set of mass‐independent parameters were calculated for both ZnH and CdH. Since only information over the isotopic species...


Abstract Ultrasonic welding of pure aluminium sheets was observed with a high speed video camera. The dynamic vibration behaviours of a welding tip and aluminium sheets were analysed using the digital image correlation method. The welding process consisted of the following three stages. First, the upper specimen in contact with the weld tip vibrated. The formation of partially welded regions was confirmed at this stage. Second, the vibration amplitude of the upper specimen decreased, while friction between the weld tip and the upper specimen increased. Growth of the partially bonded region was confirmed in the second stage. Third, the welding part began to plastically deform owing to the clamping force. The joint strength reached its maximum value at the third stage. The analysis demonstrated that the relative motion between the weld tip and the upper specimen predominantly affected the increase in joint strength.


Does using a small amount of water-soluble lubricant on the speculum reduce the adequacy of Pap tests?

Four RCTs address this question. Conventional cervical cytology smears (glass slides) were used in all studies.[1][1]–[4][2]

A small amount of water-soluble lubricant on the speculum does


We appreciate Dr Roudier's interest and comment on our recent article. 2 The aim of our study was to analyse the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)DRassociated peptidome of synovial tissue (ST) and of dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with synovial fluid (SF) or ST, to identify epitopes that trigger T cell responses in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Dr Roudier is indeed correct when he asserts that our study is biased toward the synovium. However, we consider that ours is not a 'conception bias' but a deliberate effort to focus our attention on a particular tissue as a source of autoantigens, incidentally the main target of the inflammatory response in RA. It is far from our intention to claim that only synovial antigens are relevant in driving RA autoimmune responses. Our hypothesis assumes, instead, that some RA autoantigens derive from the synovium, as has been widely shown in the literature, and our goal is to find out which synovial proteins give rise to T cell epitopes. As a matter of fact, we did find six novel T cell epitopes, including two citrullinated epitopes, but most importantly, we confirmed the suitability of this approach to uncover previously overlooked RA autoantigens, such as myeloperoxidase. Given the extensive list of peptides retrieved from HLADR molecules, we had to introduce a second bias in the selection of the peptides to be tested for their capacity to trigger T cell responses, giving preference to parental proteins that had been described as RA autoantigens or abundantly found in ST, including citrullinated proteins, as a proof of principle. We are now undertaking the task of screening for T cell epitopes among the comprehensive set of peptides identified in our study in the search of novel autoantigens. We acknowledge Dr Roudier's observation on the particular processing properties of HLADRB1*0401 molecules, that will be taken in consideration in further studies. Moreover, there are a number of technical biases in our approach, two of them pointed out by Dr Roudier. First, the depletion of immunoglobulin G (IgG) from SF prior to pulsing DCs, eliminating any antigen contained in immune complexes. Indeed, we took the decision to deplete IgG and albumin as two of the most abundant proteins in SF, in order to privilege the identification of antigens that otherwise would have been masked. This may cause some antigens contained in immune complexes disappear of the sample, but the abundance of those proteins in the SF required their deletion from the pulsing samples. Second, we discarded skin proteins as potential contaminants derived from sample handling, which is a common practice in proteomic approaches, at the cost of not considering filaggrin in our final analyses. However, no filaggrin peptide was found in the peptidome even before discarding the abundant potential skinderived peptides, most of which corresponded to keratin. In our experimental design decisions were made for the sake of prioritising resources and narrowing down the object of the study. These decisions certainly imply biases. The key point is, however, to be aware of these biases and the limitations that they generate when it comes to draw conclusions from a set of results, which we believe are clearly reflected in our manuscript. 'Where RA starts, which antigens, citrullinated or not, trigger the initial events by activating T cells?', are relevant questions that remain unanswered (and probably will for some time). We did not aspire to solve these questions altogether in a single study. Much more modestly, we expected to provide useful information about the immunopeptidome of synovialloaded HLADR molecules and the suitability of this method to identify autoantigenic T cell epitopes that may (or may not) have an impact in RA initiation or progression. As for table 1 in our manuscript, Dr Roudier's interpretation of the genotyping information is correct.


This paper tried to make comparative study on education concept, teaching model and management mechanism in college physical education between China and Germany, analyzed the exi-sting problems of our current teaching ideas and running mechanism. The main problems are paying great attention to physical education teaching and neglecting the cultivation of self-exercise ability; paying attention to the large-scale gymnasium and neglecting the multi-function usage and maintenance. The author put forwarded to learn from foreign college's management model and use it for reference, establish the concept of rational and effective college physical education running mechanism from national and college condition. It has positive influence on constructing the harmonious and healthy college physical education developing blueprint.


The merits of expressing the results obtained following an acid extraction (EPA leaching method 3051) of environmental particles as the metal concentration within the leachable fraction only were examined for samples collected in a small agricultural watershed (southern Quebec, Canada). The concentration of Fe, Al, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb in sediments, suspended solids, and soil was calculated using the leached mass instead of the total mass of the starting material to eliminate bias introduced by the variable amount of nonreactive residual material. A mass balance calculation was performed on a sediment sample, and four different applications are given to illustrate the advantages of this method compared to the conventional way of reporting leach data. Acid leaching methods will be used more extensively as leach information data for reference materials are published because they fulfill an important need, in particular for environmental monitoring programs. However, we believe that the approach report...


We present a conceptual framework specifying the hypothesized influences of situational constraints on work outcomes and individual difference to work outcome associations. In addition to reviewing the relevant literature and discussing the implications for researchers and practitioners, we suggest a systematic program of needed research.


Based in Lusaka, Zambia, the clinic mainly visits areas around the capital. But the outreach programme ventures further into rural areas.

The mobile clinic is publicised in advance and people from the surrounding area congregate to be screened. Suitable patients (usually mature cataracts) are then transported to the eye camp. These are local hospitals, where a visiting ophthalmologist and a team will stay for a few days. The operations are then performed and the patients transported home free of charge.

Zambia has unique geographical problems. It has one of the lowest population densities worldwide. Thus it is hard to justify building extensive ophthalmic services across the country.

The mobility of the outreach programme aims to solve these problems. Free transport is provided, thus minimising costs to US $5 per patient. If they cannot afford this, the cost can be reduced to US $3.50 and even US $ 1.70!

Following the team through 4 villages, 126 patients were interviewed and examined.

The following were investigated:

Demographics of presenting patients

Ophthalmic conditions encountered

Patients' visual acuities

Barriers that prevented patients from seeking eye services earlier.

Hypermature cataracts

Photo: Boateng Wiafe


A CBC (complete blood count) is an essential component of a thorough medical evaluation. The practice of medicine has had a significant impact on popular methodologies, such as manual counting and automated analyzers. The shape of blood cells and other cellular characteristics are highly sensitive to contamination levels in the human body. Tiny blood cell images are studied to spot disease and deviations from the norm that may indicate internal contamination. Correct cell segmentation enables more precise and powerful disease detection. Examining blood cells under a microscope is an important part of any pathological investigation. It emphasizes the examination of the correct malady after pinpointing its precise location and then ranking its anomalies, which plays a crucial role in determining the nature of a patient's condition, planning treatment, and evaluating the outcome of that treatment. Initially the complete blood count (CBC) test of patient is carried out if the report suggested that there is abnormality in the blood than that blood is poured on strip and blood is stained out through addition of coagulant. Expert hematologists are in short supply, particularly in underdeveloped nations, and are frequently overwhelmed. To help them with their burden, we provide a unique method for the automated assessment of family disease using artificial intelligence on blood smear images in this paper. For object detection to be useful in real life, it needs to be quick and good at finding different things in an image. There have been many improvements made to object detection, such as Convolutional Neural Network and the family of R-CNN. In our research, we employ Faster R-CNN to look for RBCs, WBCs, and Platelets in the Blood Cell Count (CBC) and Detection dataset. The number, shape, and other meta-information, or any abnormalities in the different parts of blood, could help find problems and/or diseases like leukemia, anemia, lymphoma, sickle cell disease, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia etc., early on. Our model is accurate enough to find a bounding box on the blood parts. A box is drawn along with their name around the various components of the blood smear slide.