Introduction: Xerostomia is encountered commonly in dentistry and also features in oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF), due to fibrosis and hyalinization in and around salivary glands. Vibrotactile stimulation of salivary glands is a new reliable noninvasive method for stimulation of saliva. Purpose: The aim of this research is to determine the efficacy of vibrotactile stimulation in increasing salivary secretions. Materials and Methods: Study was conducted on 20 individuals with OSMF and equal control group. Resting saliva was measured by asking the participants to accumulate saliva in the mouth for 3 min and then collect it in a container by spitting method. Later, masseter muscles were stimulated by extraoral vibrations of 90 Hz frequency through the apparatus for 3 min and stimulated saliva was collected immediately in a container. The volume of the stimulated and resting saliva was then compared. Results: The study comprised of majority male subjects with average age of 35 years. On vibrotactile stimuli, there was a rise in stimulated saliva in both the groups with a statistically significant P value. Conclusion: Although there is saliva blockage due to the fibrosis in minor salivary glands (MSGs) and ducts of major salivary glands in OSMF, this study showed increased salivary flow upon vibratory stimuli. Increase in salivation is assumed to be from tonic vibration reflex (TVR) of muscles and conduction of vibrations by the bone till the major salivary glands and MSG. The reported apparatus can be used to stimulate salivary flow by patients itself without any need of assistance.


The article examines the institutions of Russia's banking system development, their current state and problems of their evolution in the context of globalization of the Russian economy and its course for innovative development.


3046 Background: Dasatinib - an inhibitor of several oncologenic kinases including BCR-ABL and SRC - has demonstrated efficacy in CML and Ph+ ALL, and is being evaluated in patients with solid tumors. Studies CA180-002, and CA180-003 were multiple ascending dose studies of dasatinib in patients with refractory Ph+ leukemia, and solid tumors, respectively. We have analyzed the preliminary results of pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarker phospho-SRC (pSRC) combined across the CA180002 and CA180003 studies.

METHODS
Dasatinib was administered orally at doses of 15 - 180 mg QD or 25 - 160 mg BID. Dasatinib PK was determined by LC MS/MS. The level of phospho-SRC in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was determined by an ELISA and was used as a surrogate biomarker of the level of kinase activity of the SRC family members. PK-PD modeling was performed using a two-compartment PK model with first-order absorption kinetics and an indirect inhibitory Emax model as the PD model.

RESULTS
On the BID regimen, pSRC inhibition was approximately dose-dependent across the dosing range. Inhibition also appeared to be directly correlated with dasatinib plasma concentration, with maximal inhibition achieved at ∼2.5 hr. Based on PK-PD modeling, the estimated EC50 (the plasma concentration required to achieve 50% inhibition of pSRC) is 14.4 ng/mL.

CONCLUSIONS
SRC family kinase activity is substantially inhibited at the exposures of dasatinib achieved to date. The optimal regimens of dasatinib to achieve both target inhibition and solid tumors efficacy will be determined based on biomarkers, clinical responses, and toxicity profiles. [Table: see text].


Abstract:From the beginning of postwar Japanese broadcasting, audience par- ticipation programs proliferated and were considered instrumental in bringing democracy to Japanese society. Once television broadcasting started in 1953, however, this ideal was challenged by a new breed of audience participation programs that seemed to foreground commercial success by highlighting participants' shocking performances and therefore invited the criticism of "vulgar television." Some commentators supported this audience participation by arguing that "vulgarity" should be interpreted as the vitality of ordinary people. Over time, these two seemingly opposing arguments converged to the notion that television must be a classroom where democracy is taught.


The swelling and dissolution dynamics of a soluble (small miscibility gap) and an insoluble (large miscibility gap) lamellar phase (Lα) of nonionic surfactant in water have been qualitatively and quantitatively investigated. In the case of an insoluble Lα, we observe classical myelinic instabilities at the interface. (These are absent in the soluble case.) By doping the excess water phase with colloidal tracer particles, we show that water enters at the roots, rather than through the walls, of the myelins. We estimate the mean water flux and find it to be consistent with this picture. We also study the interface between a lamellar phase and pure surfactant liquid (L2). At this interface we observe a new dynamic instability in which "onion jets" appear to be ejected from Lα into L2, where they disappear. Closer investigation shows these onions to be focal conic II defects residing near the surface of a wedge of homeotropic Lα, which is in contact with the wall of the sample holder. The defects move much fa...


In this work there are compiled the results obtained along the practice realized in Viterbo Caldas's Municipal Mayoralty, which general Aim was consisting of elaborating the Manuals of Functions and Processes and Procedures of this
Mayoralty, in order to give a new direction to the organization, allowing this way an improvement continue to internal levels and the community in general. Initially there was realized the Manual of Functions that was a primary requirement that was had due to the restructuring that was initiating with the
period of the new Municipal Mayor Carlos Alberto Ramirez. The modification of the Personnel and the suppression of employments, as consequence of the application of a restructuring, was based on the Technical Study elaborated by the Municipal Administration. In this restructuring there diminished 9 charges of the personnel, Secretariats and Offices were fused and the working places were re-designed. In the Accomplishment of this Manual of Functions there was compiled information proceeding from a Manual of Functions sent by Decree N ° 014 On March 15 of
2006 that in addition was modifying the previous Manual sent by Decree N °025 On July 8 of 2003. Annexe to this was investigated by the Secretaries of every Office and with the Municipal Mayor it brings over of the new charges and of the functions that they would realize.
Later all the necessary information was compiled and was approved by Decree N °043 On January 15 of 2008 " By which there is mo dified the Decree N. 014 on march 15 of 2006 the Manual of Functions and of Labour Competitions was
adopted, for the employments of the Mayoralty of conformity with the procedure of Administrative Career Law 909 On September, 2004, Decree - law 785 and Decree 2539 of 2005". Once finished one proceeded the Manual of Functions to the documentation of the processes and procedures with base in The Technical Norm of Quality in
The Public Management NTCGP 1000:2004. First there were done the characterizations of 11 processes of the Mayoralty bearing in mind the Strategic Processes, Misionales, of Support and those of Evaluation, analysis and Improvement; this as requirement of the NTC GP 1000:2004.
After this the procedures of the Mayoralty received documents, bearing in mind that the norm demands 6 as requirement: Control of Documents, Control of requirements, corrective Actions, Preventive Actions, Internal Audits, Control for
the Product does not agree; the rest of procedures were documented in agreement to the importance that every Secretary of Office gave.


The aims of this study were (1) to demonstrate the feasibility of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling of realistic blood flow in the mouse aortic arch, and (2) to determine the relation of wall shear stress and atherosclerosis in the mouse aortic arch. ApoE knockout mice were chosen for this study. The blood flow fraction in the major branches of the mouse aortic arch was measured by ultrasound biomicroscopy. The geometry of the aortic arch was captured by plastic casting and micro CT imaging. Mouse blood viscosities were measured by rheometry. A pathological examination was performed. A well-validated in-house finite element code, which solves the three dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, was used to compute the wall shear stress and velocity patterns in the ascending aorta and the aortic arch. The distribution of the wall shear stress was correlated with the distribution of the atherosclerosis from the pathological examination in order to investigate the effect of wall shear stress on atherosclerosis. It is concluded that CFD modeling of hemodynamics in the mouse aortic arch is feasible. Qualitative impressions show that atherosclerosis was related with the region of low wall shear stress in mouse aortic arch.


The stiffness matrix of the discrete vibrating beam model is a real symmetric 5-diagonal matrix,so the inverse problem of the vibrating beam is substantially an inverse eigenvalue problem of the real symmetric 5-diagonal matrix. The existence and uniqueness conditions for the solution to the inverse problem of the real symmetric 5-diagonal matrix vector pair were given by means of the vector pairs and the M oore-Penrose generalized inverse,and the existence and uniqueness conditions for the solution to the inverse problem of the bi-symmetric 5-diagonal matrix vector pair were discussed in combination with the partitioned matrices. Then the inverse eigenvalue problem of the real symmetric 5-diagonal matrix,of which the sub-diagonal elements were negative and the rest elements were positive,was calculated. Since the data required for the construction of discrete beam models are available through measurements,the presented method is well suited to modal analysis,or analysis and design of system structures. Furthermore,the related numerical algorithms and numerical experiments illustrate the effectiveness of the method.


The recently published work by the French historian C. Zuckerman summarizes the discussion about the areas settled by the different Alanic tribes in the North Caucasus. It is interesting to compare these conclusions with the distribution of the catacomb burial rite, which is considered to be a specific "ethnic marker" of the Alanic presence. The present paper gives updated information about the occurrence of catacomb burials on the basis of cemeteries excavated in the past decade. On the whole, analysis of the occurrence of Early Medieval catacomb burial rites as compared with data from written sources allows us to determine the hypothetical areas of habitation of several Alanic tribes mentioned in (Ashharatsuyts) Armenian Geography.


Paper presented in International Workshop on " Prosopis state of Knowledge", Feb 8-9th, Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur India, Sponsored by the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA), UK.


The present study describes about synthesis and characterization of Cadmium Sulphide nanoparticles. CdS nanostructured materials were synthesised by aqueous method and physically characterized by spectroscopic and microscopic studies. The results reveal that absorption band edge at 475 nm is due to position dependent quantum confinement and it was observed that both cubic and hexagonal crystallographic studies were found to be present at ambient temperature. The optical properties and effect of cationic micelles in this synthesis is described in this article.


By aggregating the casual reasoning results with simple weighted sum,the Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCM) and the Probabilistic Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (PFCM) ignore the uncertainties of And/Or combinations among the antecedent nodes.The threshold functions cause further distortions to the inference results.A novel fuzzy cognitive model,Probabilistic Fuzzy Cognitive Maps based on Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) operators,OWA-PFCM was proposed by preserving the merits of FCM and PFCM,and introducing OWA operators for simulating the various certain or fuzzy And/Or relationships.To illustrate the application of OWA-PFCM,a dynamic attack effect evaluation model was constructed.OWA-PFCM can represent uncertainties of node states,uncertainties of causal relationships,and uncertainties of And/Or relationships effectively,therefore has more powerful simulation performance.


The research is a review research conducted on the issues of time and cost performance of infrastructure projects in global and local context using content analysis. Time extension is a serious issue and further research for specific project should be conducted to search the effective measures in the area. During project based study the quality part should be assured as time and cost may be affected by or can affect quality of the project. The review has highlighted several factors affecting time overrun and cost overrun along with the relation between the same. Time, Cost and Quality are three sides of a project performance triangle. Project is one time unique process with specific objective which is source of innovation and development. Time extension is not an exception but norms for infrastructure projects should be verified through ecological testing and possible measures should be strongly enforced for systematic performance improvements of projects. The study will be significant for policy maker and professional project managers working in the sector of infrastructure development projects.


&NA; A group of pathologists with an interest in malignant melanoma met in Sydney in 1982 to update the classification of melanoma formulated in Sydney in 1972. The group recommended that malignant melanoma be classified as follows: (1) malignant melanoma with an adjacent component of superficial spreading type, (2) malignant melanoma with an adjacent component of lentigo maligna type, (3) malignant melanoma with an adjacent component of acral lentiginous type, (4) malignant melanoma with an adjacent component of mucosal lentiginous type, (5) malignant melanoma with no adjacent component, (6) malignant melanoma of unclassifiable histogenetic type. The data recorded in the surgical pathology report should include: (1) diagnosis of primary malignant melanoma, (2) histogenetic classification, (3) presence/absence of ulceration, (4) micrometer‐measured thickness, (5) microanatomical level, (6) mitotic rate/mm2, (7) presence/absence of vascular invasion, (8) presence/absence of regression, (9) completeness of resection. The recommendations for the examination of specimens and the recording of data for research purposes and for tumour registries are described.


The results of an open sea experiment devised to investigate the feasibility of detecting and monitoring oil slicks by sonar through their effect on the acoustic backscatter signal are presented. The analysis, carried out over an angular range 10° to 70° from the horizontal, reveals a reduction in backscatter from the slick. The reduction in the mean backscatter shows an angular dependence which reaches a maximum in the range 45° to 65°. A gradual decrease of as wind speed decreased and as the slick developed was also observed. Comparison of the acoustic data with Ku band radar reflection from an oil covered surface under similar wind speed conditions shows that differential radar backscatter from oil slicks may exceed that of sonar by a factor 5.


Mats of highly oriented poly(vinylidene fluoride) nanofibers were electrospun by means of a conventional electrospinning equipment; the orientation, however, was obtained using a disk collector rotating at a speed of 4000 rpm and a device that reduced the influence of air displace- ment during nanofiber orientation. Thermal transitions of the mats were determined by differential scanning calorimetry, the predominant crystalline phase by Fourier transform infra- red spectroscopy and wide-angle X-ray scattering and the nanofiber orientation and morphology by scanning electron microscopy. Relative permittivity, loss index, stable remnant polarization, and coercive field of the mats were also deter- mined and compared with those obtained for a mat electro- spun at 2000 rpm and an oriented commercial film. V C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 50: 1304-1311, 2012


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the subject cosmetic fouling neither finger nor the like, easily applicable, capable of suitably absorbing sebum and useful for improving and preventing greasiness of the sebum and messy makeup by including a specific amount of a specific oil absorbent powder. SOLUTION: This cosmetic is obtained by including 10-60 wt.% (A) oil absorbent powder having >=1 ml/g squalane absorption. Especially, the component A is preferably included 15-40 wt.%. This cosmetic preferably includes additionally (B) a hydrous gel comprising (i) water-soluble polymer and (ii) a crosslinking agent. The component i is preferably formulated 1-30 wt.% especially 2-25 wt.% per whole composition. The component ii is preferably compounded 0.01-5 equivalent especially 0.1-2 equivalent per closslinkable position of the component i. The component A is preferably a porous powder having 0.005-30 μm mean particle diameter and preferably >=90 wt.% component A has 0.005-30 μm particle diameter.


Roundabout implementations at traditional intersections have been shown to be effective at reducing severe crashes. Roundabouts have also been implemented at interchange ramp terminals; however, limited research is available. In this study, 25 roundabout ramp terminal implementations were evaluated. The methodological approach consisted of Empirical Bayes for safety effectiveness and crash cost changes, crash type weighted distribution, crash rate analysis of bypass configuration, and cost of implementation. Roundabouts were effective at reducing fatal and injury crashes when replacing existing interchange diamond ramp terminals: 65% reduction for roundabouts replacing stop-controlled ramp terminals and 41% reduction for roundabouts replacing signal-controlled ramp terminals. Observed crash type weighted distributions are provided to visualize the frequency and location of crashes within roundabout ramp terminals for design considerations. Exit ramp and outside crossroad approaches with right-turn bypass showed significantly lower crash rates than designs without bypass. The crash cost analysis showed that roundabouts replacing diamond ramp terminals yielded crash cost savings of between $95,000 and $253,000 per site per year (69% to 54% decrease in crash costs). Considering crash costs savings only, the cost of implementation should be less than $1.9 million for a roundabout replacing a stop-controlled ramp terminal and less than $5.1 million for a roundabout replacing a signal-controlled ramp terminal to accomplish benefit-cost ratios greater than one for a service life cycle of 20 years. Costs are in 2019 dollars.


Water Solutions Southern Africa (WSSA) has taken the lead role in developing and implementing private sector participation within the water sector in Southern Africa, WSSA's director, Sylvia Tshivhunge, tells Chantelle Mattheus.


We describe and discuss the properties of three numerical methods for solving the diffusion equation for the transport of the chemical species and of the angular momentum in stellar interiors. We study through numerical experiments both their accuracy and their ability to provide physical solutions. On the basis of new tests and analyses applied to the stellar astrophysical context, we show that the most robust method to follow the secular evolution is the implicit finite differences method. The importance of correctly estimating the diffusion coefficient between mesh points is emphasized and a procedure for estimating the average diffusion coefficient between a convective and a radiative zone is described.


The Umea Pantry was a five-week long public art event held in Umea, Sweden, aimed at making concerns about food production public and supporting local communities interested in food related practic ...


Theoretical and practical limits on the applicability of PDA are established, using generalized theoretical formulations of various physical processes governing the operation of a phase Doppler system. Furthermore, several innovative solutions are introduced to prevent the commonly occurring problems of PDA, such as Gaussian profile effect, non-monotonic response and 2π-ambiguity. Generalized formulations have also enabled new applications, such as sizing of submicron particles, particle material recognition, measurements with non-standard geometries. Selected results of measurements in particulate flows, using innovative PDA systems, are also presented


In this study we analyze the assessment of intellectual production - articles published in scientific journals - by management researchers using quantitative indicators. In 2015 CAPES defined the criteria for a new Qualis for the quadrennium 2013-2016 with retroactive effects to 2013, that were highly contested. With data collected from the curriculum Lattes of a sample of 97 management researchers and 325 articles, we examined the impact of the new Qualis on the researchers' evaluation. Results show that the application of the new Qualis led to a significant loss in the researchers' scientific scores, with possible reflections on the evaluation of the doctoral programs. This study contributes to the debate on the evaluation of scholars indexed to systems that rank journals, the specific impact of Qualis, and the change in the Qualis criteria in the Brazilian academy of Management.


Based on the physical modeling of the improved muffler in this paper, Methods for internal acoustic computation of the muffler with SYSNOISE software based on Indirect Boundary Element Method are introduced and the rationality of the improved modal validated by the computation results in this paper, which may be a credible guidance of the muffler improving design.


Most structures, during their service life, are subjected to several loading conditions; moreover, during their assembly, some or all of the assumed design variables are varied due to manufacturing imperfections. In the case of an optimum structure this can be especially dangerous. The problem of imperfections is a random one and its possible solution is not easily applicable due to its complexity. There is thus a need to give designers a tool that will enable them to incorporate the manufacturing tolerances in a relatively simple way. The proposed approach is deterministic, giving approximate minimum weight design with a safety margin. This is because limits of constraints are reduced by products of sensitivities multiplied by given tolerances. This paper is illustrated with two minimum weight designs of truss configurations, under three loading conditions each. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Abstract Michael addition reactions of n-pentanal with ß-nitrostyrene in achiral and chiral ionic liquids catalyzed by l-proline were studied. Results indicate anion plays an important role as weak coordination properties in the reactivity and stereoselectivity towards Michael product. 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([Bmim][NTf2]) ionic liquid was found to be the best solvent media with a high yield (up to 90%) and a high diastereomeric ratio (syn/anti: 91/9), with moderate enantioselectivity (38% ee) among ten ionic liquids tested. The ionic liquid has been reusable over five numbers of cycles. Graphical Abstract


This paper studies committee search where members either assess candidates "one at a time", i.e., on a rolling basis, or they simultaneously review a set of candidates of fixed size in each time period. We compare both search procedures in terms of acceptance standards and welfare. There is a trade-off between the expected value of a candidate conditional on stopping and the expected search costs. The resolution of this trade-off depends on the voting rule and the specification of search costs associated with the simultaneous evaluation of multiple candidates. The adoption of a qualified majority rule changes the evaluation of search procedures compared to the unanimity rule, revealing that the presence of a search committee alters the search design problem in comparison with the single decision-maker case. This is the main qualitative insight of this paper and we discuss its implications for committee search in practice.


Introduction From a tribological point of view and clinical experience, a ceramic-on-ceramic bearing represents the best treatment option after rare cases of ceramic component fracture in total hip arthroplasty (THA). Fractured ceramic components potentially leave small ceramic fragments in the joint capsule which might become embedded in PE acetabular liners. Purpose This in vitro study compared for the first time the wear behaviour of femoral ball heads made of ceramic and metal tested with PE liners in the presence of ceramic third-body debris. The contamination of the test environment with third-body ceramic debris, insertion of ceramic fragments into the PE liners and implementation of continuous subluxation simulated a worst-case scenario after revision of a fractured ceramic component. Materials and Methods Ceramic femoral ball heads (ϕ 32 mm) made of alumina matrix composite (AMC; BIOLOX® delta , CeramTec, Germany) were tested in combination with PE and cross-linked liners and compared to metal femoral ball heads (CoCrMo) of the same diameter. All PE liners were fixed into Ti-6Al-4V metal shells by conical fixation as intended for clinical use. The tests were performed based on ISO 14242-1 utilizing a hip simulator (EndoLab, Germany). Alumina ceramic debris (BIOLOX® forte , CeramTec, Germany) of about 2 mm diameter (maximum 5 mm) were inserted into the PE liners in predefined specific points corresponding to the main load transfer area before the test. The acetabular liners were tested at an inclination of 45° in the medial-lateral plane with the specimens placed in an anatomically correct position. During the test, additional alumina ceramic debris was introduced into the articulation area as a part of the test fluid (calf serum) used in the simulator test chambers. All specimens were tested up to 5 million cycles. Damages to the surfaces of the materials were assessed visually. The wear of the femoral ball heads was measured gravimetrically. Results High wear rates were found for metal femoral ball heads, being 1,010 times higher when compared to ceramic femoral ball heads tested with XPE liners and 560 times higher when compared to ceramic femoral ball heads tested with conventional PE liners. The conventional and crosslinked PE liners used in combination with metal femoral ball heads clearly exhibited a scratched surface, whereas the surface of the liners tested with ceramic femoral ball heads exhibited significantly less scratching. Discussion and Conclusion This study demonstrates that apart from the recommended ceramic-on-ceramic option also ceramic-on-PE and ceramic-on-crosslinked PE bearing couples may be a viable treatment option after fracture of a ceramic component. The use of a ceramic femoral ball head after fracture of a ceramic articulation component minimizes wear and wear-related complications caused by third-body wear. Based on the results of this in vitro study and clinical findings, the use of a metal femoral ball head in articulation with any PE liner after a ceramic fracture is contraindicated.


Planar imaging in nuclear medicine produces a 2D representation of a 3D volumic distribution as seen by an imperfect imaging system. Imperfect because the image of a point source is a spot of variable extend represented by a point spread function (PSF) which is not only space variant (the PSF varies at a given distance from the collimator), but also depth-variant which means that the PSF varies with the source-to-collimator distance. Here, the authors focused their attention on the specific coding of the 3D information resulting from the superimposition of elementary convolutions between object slices located at a given source-to-collimator distance and their corresponding PSF, assuming that the PSF are only depth-variant (identical at a given source-to-collimator distance but varying with depth). It is shown that the knowledge of the PSF variation with depth, characterizing the imaging system in use, associated with the acquisition of a set of planar images corresponding to a volumic object located at different distances from the collimator can help to restore, or more accurately, to decode the 3D information which is encoded in every planar image.<<ETX>>


Y 5,501,902 A 3/1996 Kronzer ...................... 428/323 (73) Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo (JP) FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS (*) Notice: This patent issued on a continued pros EP O 605 840 A2 7/1994 ecution application filed under 37 CFR EP O 673 779 A1 9/1995 1.53(d), and is subject to the twenty year JP 7-292581 11/1995 patent term provisions of 35 U.S.C. JP 8-218279 8/1996 154(a)(2). Primary Examiner Bruce H. Hess Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & patent is extended or adjusted under 35 Scinto U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. (57) ABSTRACT


We have used nanoscale field effect transistor devices with carbon nanotubes as the conducting channel to detect protein binding. A PEI/PEG polymer coating layer has been employed to avoid nonspecific binding, with attachment of biotin to the layer for specific molecular recognition. Biotin-streptavidin binding has been detected by changes in the device characteristic. Nonspecific binding was observed in devices without the polymer coating, while no binding was found for polymer-coated but not biotinylated devices. Streptavidin, in which the biotin-binding sites were blocked by reaction with excess biotin, produced essentially no change in device characteristic of the biotinylated polymer-coated devices.


In this paper we discuss the design of a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer for the monitoring of chemical processes. We contrast our approach to computing interferograms, which relies heavily on numerical procedures computed on digital signal processors, with the more traditional of deriving triggers from the movement of the mirror in hardware. A presentation of our implementation attempts rounds out this paper.


The application of data mining (DM) in healthcare is increasing. Healthcare organizations generate and collect large voluminous and heterogeneous information daily and DM helps to uncover some interesting patterns, which leads to the manual tasks elimination, easy data extraction directly from records, to save lives, to reduce the cost of medical services and to enable early detection of diseases. These patterns can help healthcare specialists to make forecasts, put diagnoses, and set treatments for patients in health facilities. This work overviews DM methods and main issues. Three case studies illustrate DM in healthcare applications: (i) In-Vitro Fertilization; (ii) Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR); and (iii) Organ transplantation.


The hydrido complexes [Nb(cp)2H(L)][L = CO or P(OMe)3, cp =η-C5H5] reacted with Mel to afford the iodo derivatives [Nb(cp)2L(I)]1. The reaction of 1 with Na(SEt)led to the terminal thiolato complexes [Nb(cp)2L(SEt)]2. Compounds 2 were used to bind the metal carbonyl fragments Fe(CO)4 and M(CO)5 from [Fe2(CO)9] and [M(CO)5(thf)](thf = tetrahydrofuran) respectively. The corresponding monothiolato-bridged complexes [Nb(cp)2L(µ-SEt){M(CO)n}]3(M = Fe, n= 4; M = Mo or W, n= 5) were obtained only in the case of L = CO and no dibridged µ-SEt, µ-CO complex was formed. The new complexes 1–3 were characterized by IR, 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopies. The X-ray analysis of [Nb(cp)2(CO)(µ-SEt){Fe(CO)4}] showed an endo position of the ethyl group with respect to the CO ligand bound to the niobium. The results of extended-Huckel molecular orbital (EHMO) conformational calculations carried out on the model complexes [Nb(cp)2(CO)(PMe2)] and [Nb(cp)2(CO)(SMe)] are compared, and the imporatance of electronic and steric effects deducecd. An explanation for the non-formation of dibridged µ-SEt, µ-CO complexes is attempted on the basis of EHMO and X-ray results.


An improvement of the steganalytic method for detection of the presence of additional information in color digital images which showed high efficiency in identifying stego formed by embedding of secret data only into one color component of the container is presented. The proposed method analyses digital image in the spatial domain and is based on the accounting of sequential color triads in the matrix of unique colors of the digital content. However, in the process of steganographic transformation cases of embedding of confidential data into two and three color components of images are possible that ensures the concealment of a larger amount of information and requires the improvement of the existing method of steganalysis. In the course of the conducted research the character of perturbations in the quantity of sequential triads of triplets in a matrix of unique colors as a result of embedding of additional information into two and three color components of images originally stored in a losses format was analyzed. Considering obtained results the parameters of the original method for detecting of stego was refined. It has been established that the character of changes in the quantity of sequential triads of triplets as a result of steganographic transformation is different in cases of using containers in a losses format and containers in a lossless format. Based on the obtained data the steganalytic method has been improved by integrating it with the method of detection the fact of compression of digital content developed earlier. The developed method provides high efficiency in detecting stego formed with different degree of container fullness without reducing the accuracy of identifying the filled color components if the additional information was embedded into only one color component of the digital images. This method can be used as a basis for complex steganalysis of digital contents by using existing methods that analyzes color matrixes of images separately.


The field survey on population dynamics of natural enemies on different varieties of cotton were conducted during the year 2010 from June to September. The experiment was laid out in RCBD with four replications and four varieties of cotton i-e CIM-506, CIM-473, CRIS-134 and SHAHBAZ were studied for observing the incidence of seven predators i.e. pirate bug, big eyed bug, green lacewing, stethorus, spider, wasp and ant. The overall mean populations of predators were reported significantly highest on CRIS-134 followed by CIM-506. However, no significant difference was recorded on SHAHBAZ and CIM-473 respectively. Correlation of predator's population with temperature was positive and with rainfall was negative. Analysis of variance showed the significant differences in the population of predators on all the varieties tested during present study.


The technological, cost, people and schedule issues faced during software development, make it vulnerable for several types of risks. The requirements' related risks are one of the most occurring risks. If remain unnoticed or unmanaged, the requirements related risks can cost a project greatly, financially and otherwise. It is extremely important to manage requirements related risks efficiently and effectively. Moreover, a project can never be successful if stakeholders do not get their "valued" things. Every requirement contributes towards some value for stakeholder(s). Therefore it is important to manage requirements risks to the satisfaction of stakeholders. Different stakeholders have different perception of risk, it is therefore necessary to have a process that not only manages requirements' risks but it also fulfills the values of stakeholders as well. This chapter presents a Value-Based Requirements Risk Management (VRRM) process that is designed (Samad et al., 2008) to manage requirements related risks in a value based manner.


AIM:The pharmacokinetics of osthole was studied in 18 rabbits with normal and impaired renal function after intravenous administration. METHOD:Eighteen New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into three groups(for each group,n=6),based on their BUN,and Cre value,and their kidneys were taken out to make microscopic sections by HE colouring to confirm the different stages of renal failure:group 1 (normal renal function);group 2 (mild renal impairment);group 3 (severe renal impairment). All rabbits in group 1,2 received dose of 10 mg/kg and 3 received dose of 7.5 mg/kg,respectively. The osthole concentration of plasma was determined by HPLC. RESULT: The apparent volumes of distribution were not significantly different from each other in the three groups. AUC was 1.7 fold,t_ 1/2β was 1.5 fold higher and CLs was 42% lower in group 3 than those in group 1. CONCLUSION:The results suggests that the therapentical protocol of osthole for the patients with severe renal failure in clinic should be adjusted.


Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) are positional and geometrical isomers of linoleic acid 18:2 c9,c12, mainly represented by 2 isomers: rumenic acid 18:2 c9,t11, and the t9,c12 isomer. Rumenic acid occurs naturally in milk fat and dairy products; food composition data are very poor regarding the levels of this special fatty acid in dairy products and related food. CLA, and especially rumenic acid, have been shown to exhibit interesting biological properties for human health, particularly considering atherosclerosis. However, most of the studies on this topic used mixtures of CLA. Consequently the properties of each individual isomer are still not well defined. The first part of this study consisted in determination of the rumenic acid content of milk fat in different areas in France, at several periods of the year, and in evaluating the variations of rumenic acid levels during the processing of milk to butter through cream. Our results showed that rumenic acid contents vary depending on regions and seasons. These differences could be mainly due to the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the cows' diets. No rumenic acid variation was noticed during butter making; skimming of milk, cream ripening, and churning do not seem to modify the rumenic acid contents of milk fat. The second part of our study dealt with the determination the particular effect of the two major CLA isomers, and especially rumenic acid, on the development of atherosclerosis in hamster fed on an pro-atherogenic diet rich in cholesterol and lipids. Our experiments showed rumenic acid to have a protective effect against early atherosclerosis. But, this favourable effect disappeared when repeating the experience with another strain of hamsters more sensitive to atherosclerosis, showing more severe fatty streaks. In conclusion, there is a need for further experiments on rumenic acid properties regarding atherosclerosis works using a more pertinent animal model.


Test of the high strength ligltweight brick is described. It has shown that the surface temperature of coke oven doors with high strength ligltweight brick is lower, resulting in reduced heat loss as well as improved ecomomic benefit.


Lying between traditional parabolic and hyperbolic equations, time-fractional wave equations of order $\alpha\in(1,2)$ in time inherit both decaying and oscillating properties. In this article, we establish a long-time asymptotic estimate for homogeneous time-fractional wave equations, which readily implies the strict positivity/negativity of the solution for $t\gg1$ under some sign conditions on initial values. As a direct application, we prove the uniqueness for a related inverse source problem on determining the temporal component.


Abstract What is the relationship between society and the communication media? How do the media influence society? How does society influence the media? These questions stimulate much debate. There are some who hold that the influence of the media predominates. and that the media mold and control the patterns of society. Others believe that the media simply reflect what is already happening in society. This argument usually centers around media content. McLuhan, however, has asserted that the characteristics of the media themselves, rather than the messages and communications they carry, are the media's chief influence on society. This article, which examines how society affects the media, also relegates the importance of media content, and explores the way in which society influences the expression of its communication media. Two media are considered — television (particularly television news) and advertising (particularly advertising in magazines).


Football games can be won or lost "off the foot" of a kicker. It
may be a point after touchdown (worth 1 point) or a field go 1(worth 3 points). The keys to the success of a kick depend on the strength/power of the kicker's leg and the accuracy with which he can kick the ball through the uprights.


Arch Puddington joined Freedom House in 1994 and is responsible for the preparation for the publication of Freedom in the World and other research publications, and for the development of new advocacy programs. He writes frequently on international affairs, race relations, organized labor, and the Cold War. Mr. Puddungton's work has appeared in Commentary, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. He is also the author of several books, including Failed Utopias: Methods of Coercion in Communist Societies and Broadcasting Freedom: The Cold War Triumph of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty.


This paper sets out the role of social media that can influence the people to stay connected via social networking for meeting up in public spaces. People increasingly use gadgets like laptop and m ...


In your symposium on cancer, I have been asked to say something for the surgical standpoint. I started medicine in the year that Rontgen discovered X rays, and I have watched with intense interest the rise of radio-therapy. When I was a house surgeon, in 1901, I assisted at breast operations as complete as any done at the present time. I helped Mr. Paul with operations on the large bowel, which gave him results as favourable as those by surgeons of to-day. His tongue operations were always hemi-glossectomies, and those on the jaw complete excisions. If the patient did not die of septic pneumonia, he was left with a dribbling, cod-fish mouth and inability to chew properly. Even if the disease was cured the deformed condition in which he was left made life hardly worth living. At that time Crile suggested that every cancer of the buccal cavity should be followed by a complete dissection of the neck. He used to remove not only the glands, but the sternomastoid, internal jugular vein, and sometimes the vagus ...


Introduction: Children who are critically ill typically suffer from a disease process that impacts many organ systems. To improve the outcome, these children are treated in a pediatric intensive care unit. The primary focus of intensive care medicine is the care of patients who are facing immediate life-threatening conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the acid- base status & electrolyte imbalance in critically ill ventilated infants. Methods: This was a prospective observational study and was conducted in the Department of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Bangladesh Shishu Hospital & Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from January 2020 to December 2020. In our study, we included 50 critically ill ventilated young infants in ICU of Bangladesh Shishu Hospital & Institute. Results: In our study, we found that almost three fourth (74.0%) patients died and 13(26.0%) patients survived. Majority of our patients were ≤ 15 days and male. We found 22(59.5%) patients had PH level <7.25 in death group and 6(46.2%) in survival group and PH level ≥7.15 was (81.1%) in death group and 10(76.9%) in survival group. Before extubation & death metabolic acidosis was 19(51.4%) in dead group and 2(15.4%) in survival group. Significant relation was found between serum sodium level <135 and outcome of ventilated patients [p=0.039, OR=0.19(0.04-0.89)]. Imbalance of single & more than one electrolyte was found 43.24% & 56.76% in death group and 61.5% & 38.5% in survival group respectively. Conclusion: We found that arterial blood gas analysis & serum electrolytes level provide valuable information for correction of acid–base imbalance associated with a pathological condition. Electrolyte imbalance, regardless of the basic disease etiology, is a significant prognostic indicator that must be rapidly treated in critically ill children to get a good outcome.


In this paper, an intelligent 808nm high-power semiconductor laser therapeutic apparatus with the LPC2148 microprocessor and the laser is driven by the digital constant current source module is designed. The communication between laser therapeutic apparatus and PC is designed by USB interface of LPC2148 and dynamic library of Easy USB214x. The computer application software programmed by VC++, which could obtain the log data to the computer in order to check and study record later.


The present study investigates the effects of relative position on heat transfer distributions of a showerhead film-cooled stationary rotor blade. Detailed heat/mass transfer coefficients were measured using the naphthalene sublimation method. A low-speed wind tunnel was used, with a single annular turbine stage consisting of sixteen guide vanes and blades. The axial chord length of the test blade was 136 mm. The inlet and exit angles of the test blade were 56.4° and −62.6°, respectively, which produced a turning angle of 119.0°. Three rows of film cooling holes were drilled in the leading edge region of the blade. Each row had 10 circular cooling holes along the spanwise direction, and the diameter of each cooling hole was 1.2 mm. Detailed heat transfer coefficients were measured at two different guide vane and rotor blade relative positions, while changing the blowing rate (M) from 1.0 to 2.0. The inlet Reynolds number was fixed at 1.3×105 based on the blade axial chord length. As the blowing rate increased, overall heat transfer rates increased, and the lower peaks formed on the pressure side by the separation bubble were reduced, and disappeared at M = 2.0. The effects of vane/blade relative position were significant because the incoming flow condition was changed. However, the spanwise average Sherwood number became similar as the blowing rate increased.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


This paper examines one aspect of the curricular change process undertaken in the undergraduate level in which the inclusive learning community structure changes and support the learning of the students. Many different kinds of student learning are evident in our interview data. A major benefit for students is learning to work in teams, soft skills, directed learning and while all of them spoke of the difficulties involved. The initial changes of the courses are integrated as a course project where the students are interviewed the different aspects of the course in-order to achieve the graduate attributes. In this paper we describe how we carried out the development of integrated course project, So this integrated course project looks at building a network domain applications and realization of basic networking protocols. This integrated course project provides a flavour of combining the Computer Network and Operating System Courses. The conduction of the assessment realizes the students to enquiry the courses in depth and correlate the concepts to a real world problems. It places the responsibility on the individual student to initiate and direct the learning process which provides the contextual environment that makes learning exciting and relevant for the appropriate course. It also provides an opportunity for students to explore technical problems from system level perspective to implementation level. The integrated course also emphasis considerable use of computers in an active learning environment that stressed teaming and other quality tools.


This paper deals with the some basic problems, efficiency, procedure, controll, high presure gas quenching and practical applications of acetylene vacuum carbuization. At the end,it shows that the acetylene vacuum carburising is an environmentally-friendly case-hardening process to integrate into the production line.


The study of torsional vibration of rotor system is very important especially in application of high speed rotor. In the present work is extending the analysis of simple rotor to torsional vibration. The analysis of torsional vibration of the three rotor system of Agricultural pump with the conversional Newton's second of motion or energy method. The analysis is extended to the system having different disc/ rotor dimension and different material. Where system natural frequencies of torsional vibration may be close to, or within, the source frequency range during normal operation, torsional vibrations constitute a potential design problem area. In such case designers should ensure the accurate prediction of design a rotor system based on torsional vibrations.


This Research to Practice Work in Progress Paper presents an exploration of unlearning of practicing civil engineers. Unlearning is a necessary process to keep engineers abreast of ever-changing socio-technical and professional demands by replacing odd knowledge with a new one, which is coherent with their knowledge structures and practice contexts. This paper explores the unlearning of fundamental engineering concepts within 95 practicing civil engineers by investigating their performances on and attitudes towards Statics Concept Inventory. The analysis of their performances on the inventory revealed that many of them did not retain, use, and need this fundamental engineering concept in their practices. It appears that when engineers begin their professional careers, they also start giving up parts of their learned knowledge including many fundamental engineering concepts to acquire new knowledge suitable to their expertise and practice contexts of teams and organizations.


These notes consist of a statement and proof of the assertion in the title. They are not intended for publication. The proof is given in full detail— probably more detail than most people would want. It is wholly self-contained except at one point (4.3), where we quote a theorem of Bernstein and refer to the literature for a proof. The proof presented here emerged from discussions at the n-Category Café [Wi+] and Math Overflow [CS, LM+]. Most parts of the argument are well known in certain circles of analysis; the major difficulty was in locating and assembling them. I am grateful to all those who contributed, including Neal Bez, Yemon Choi, David Corfield, Mark Lewko, Mark Meckes, Josh Shadlen, David Speyer, Simon Wassermann, Stuart White and Simon Willerton. What I believe to be the most original part of the proof, Section 5, is due to Mark Meckes [LM+]. I have not found his argument anywhere else in the literature. Some improvements in other parts of the proof are also due to Meckes.


The prophase separate means,and advance disposal technology of calcium carbide,and technology flow sheet and basic principle of nano-CaCO3 from carbide mud residue are studied.It makes calcium carbide disposal become a profitable project.


Background: Acute exhalation channel infection especially pneumonia hold responsible to more or less 50% from death of baby below/under 1 year and about/around 20% death at all of underage children 5 year which take care of lodged
Target: To prove the existence of relation between some risk factors with improvement the happening of pneumonia at baby take care of to lodge age 112 months.
Method: Analytic research device method of observational with approach of study sectional cross at home Common/ Public Pain of Area of Ngudi Waluyo Blitar period 1 January 2006 – 31
December 2006
Result: Baby case have age to 112 months which suffering taken care of Pneumonia stay with Public Pain of Area of Ngudi Waluyo Blitar there is counted 61.76%, and baby majority patient of taken care of Pneumonia stay with Public Pain of Area of Ngudi Waluyo Blitar majority have
age to between 04 months ( 49.2 have%), men gender to (61.9%) and come from weakeconomic socio with work of old fellow as farmworker (33.3%)
Conclusion: Baby age and gender have relation which isn't it to prevalence the happening of pneumonia at age baby 112 taken care of months stay with Public Pain of Area of Ngudi
Waluyo Blitar. Economic social (type work of old fellow) having relation/link which do not isn't it to prevalence the happening of pneumonia at age baby 112 months. Men baby tend to more is hit by pneumonia than woman baby, and baby which is have age to below/under 4 months tend to more is hit by pneumonia than which is have above age to 4 months.


The development of secondary hyperparathyroidism was studied in relation to changes in serum ionized Ca (Ca2+), 25‐OHD, and 1,25‐(OH)2D concentrations in six dogs maintained on a low‐Ca (0.05%), high‐Na (1.6%), and vitamin D‐deficient diet for 91 weeks. Blood samples and evaluations of the parathyroid function were obtained before and after 3, 12, 24, 36, and 91 weeks of diet. Serum iPTH was measured by an intact hormone (I) and a carboxy‐terminal (C) assay. The sigmoidal relationship between ionized Ca and iPTH values was evaluated mathematically. Results are means ± SD. Statistically significant changes over a time period were evaluated by an ANOVA for repeated measurements. Over the first 3 weeks, serum Ca2+, 25‐OHD, and 1,25‐(OH)2D did not change but stimulated I‐iPTH increased 84.3 ± 39.9% (p < 0.005) and C‐iPTH only 25.3 ± 12.2% (p < 0.01), a significant difference (p < 0.02). The increase in stimulated I‐iPTH reached 487.4 ± 139.6% (p < 0.0001) and 418.4 ± 76.9% (p < 0.0001) for C‐iPTH by the end of the study. Similar significant increases were seen in basal and nonsuppressible iPTH at or after week 12. Serum 25‐OHD concentration had decreased significantly at 12 weeks (0 = 99.9 ± 28.3 to 12 = 40 ± 6.8 nM, p < 0.005) and even more so at 91 weeks (4.1 ± 0.3 nM, p < 0.0005); this could be related to stimulated I‐iPTH at 12 weeks (r = −0.5472, p < 0.02) and thereafter, even though 25‐OHD does not have a direct effect on the parathyroid glands. Even if serum Ca2+ had only decreased at week 36 (0 = 1.36 ± 0.02 to 36 = 1.32 ± 0.02 mM, p < 0.05), it could be inversely related to stimulated I‐iPTH from week 24 (r = −0.4290, p < 0.05). Serum 1,25‐(OH)2D increased up to 24 weeks (0 = 109.7 ± 20.7 to 24 = 173.4 ± 28.7 pM, p < 0.0005) at which time it was positively related to stimulated I‐iPTH (r = 0.506, p < 0.02); it then decreased to slightly below basal level by week 91 (82.7 ± 8.6 pM). Despite these two added stimuli, progression of the parathyroid function did not accelerate after week 24. In conclusion, dietary changes appear to be the main factor stimulating secondary hyperparathyroidism in this model. The addition of a low serum Ca2+ and a relatively low level of 1,25‐(OH)2D did not enhance the effect of the diet.


Background: The common problems suffered by children with intellectual disability are difficulty to perform of daily activities or self-care including eating activity. NOC Self-care: eating is a measurement of client's status regarding eating skill after provides nursing intervention. NOC was translated into Indonesian and its indicators were operationalized. The measurement of self-care: eating need to be evaluated, thus the reliability of this instrument was tested to determine whether the NOC is also reliable for use in Indonesia.
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the interrater reliability of the NOC: Self-care: eating in the Indonesian Language in children with intellectual disability.
Methods: Two raters assessed 124 children with intellectual disability using NOC: Self-care: eating. The study was conducted on December 2017 to January 2018. NOC was translated into Indonesian and each indicator was operated. Kappa and percent agreement were used for the analysis.
Results: The overall kappa value of NOC: Self-care: eating was 0.55, while the percent agreement was 88. The highest kappa value and percent agreement was indicator of swallowing the food (0.8 and 99).
Conclusions: The interrater reliability of NOC: Self-care: eating in Indonesian was at the level of great reliability.


A descriptive and qualitative study of two cases of family business management following succession, focused on perceptions of women in management roles in these businesses following succession. Collected through semi-structured interviews, nonparticipant observations, and consultation on the company's websites, data were analyzed through content analysis. Facilitating factors in women managing family businesses following succession include their in-depth knowledge of the company, their excellent relationship with employees, other stakeholders, along with their legitimization by the successor or founder. In contrast, hindering factors include a female manager's difficulty reconciling various social roles, prejudices against female management, and the lack of formalization of the succession process.


Ablation of polyimide with a XeCl excimer laser produces deposits of soot-like debris that can alter the surface properties of adjacent structures. In this case, debris accumulation degraded the quality of ultrasonic wire bonding to contaminated bond pads. The addition of flowing helium during the ablation process visibly reduced the debris accumulation and improved subsequent wire bonding. The quality of wire bonding was then used to measure the relative importance of ablation process parameters in the reduction of debris.


Abstract A new integral type sliding surface (ISM) is design for sampled-data systems for output tracking. ISM surface design is based on Output Feedback with a State Observer. Discrete-time control based on ISM achieves good tracking performance while allowing the pole assignment of m poles, which are otherwise zero in a deadbeat design. In particular, the new scheme can avoid overlarge control actions by avoiding the deadbeat response inherent in conventional sliding mode control designed for sampled-data systems. It will be shown in this work that, the discrete-time version of the sliding mode control based on the integral type sliding surface has O(T2) tracking error for output tracking. An experimental example demonstrates the validity of the proposed scheme.


Moral education has been the focus of the work of school education,whose purpose is to foster workers having independent thinking and respecting social morality so that they have non-judgment and behavior selection capability.Technician institutions are responsible for training a large number of high-quality skilled workers.Conducting a comprehensive moral education to students and fostering their spirit of hard work,unity,cooperation,camaraderie and selfless dedication seem particularly important.Moral education is also a prerequisite for building a harmonious and civilized campus.With the advancement of integrated teaching reform in our institutions,the reform of moral education mode is imperative.


Bangladesh Govt. has prepared 6 Five Year Plan (FYP) to develop the country in planned way. But in most of the cases achievement could not made as per plan. Power sector has a great role in not only industrialization but also socio-economic development of the country. Now the socio-economic contribution of Power sector to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is more than Tk-30 per KwH. Our target is to find reasons behind non-achievement and to pin point the inconsistency of planning.


Three-dimensionally (3D) ordered macroporous materials combine interesting structural and optical properties. Accessible and economic fabrication is essential to fully explore the unique possibilities these materials present. A common method to fabricate 3D ordered macroporous materials is by self-assembling colloids, resulting in so-called opals. A templating strategy is then often used to introduce additional functionality inside the porous structure, giving rise to inverse opals. In this work, we developed an easy and versatile method to fabricate highly uniform polymer inverse opals without overlayers. Briefly, our approach consists of sandwiching a resin melt between two opal templates, forcing all material inside or between the macroporous structures. The opal voids are fully filled and the superfluous melt material is extruded before curing the resin. Finally, the opal templates are removed by chemical etching. The resulting structures are freestanding 3D macroporous films with large-area uniformity, displaying strong photonic properties due to their structural order. Additionally, many applications require specific optical functionalities. The versatility of our templating method is uniquely suited for this purpose as it allows doping of the melt before infiltration. Therefore, we can incorporate a large variety of optical functions in the inverse opals using a single approach We believe this method will help the systematic investigation and improvement of existing effects in these structures, while providing a platform for the discovery and demonstration of novel effects. As this method combines 3D ordered macroporous materials with linear and nonlinear optical materials, it is even possible to tune optical interactions, which could be technologically relevant for OLEDs, solar cells, lasers, electro-optical modulators and optical switches.


Based on repeated interviews with middle class families relatively well endowed with economic and cultural capital, this article explores the ways in which, among the social environments supposed to be the most egalitarian, future parents seek to adapt their intensive preparatory work to the sex of the fetus as it has been announced during the pregnancy. This work proceeds along several lines. It lays the groundwork for a specific gender, through preliminary operations (bedroom, clothing, first name) that are based upon traditional representations of the masculine and the feminine and that already partake in a gendered socialization of the unborn child. It is also a "preparatory work on oneself" through which each future parent shapes her own dispositions in such as way as to "feel" ready at the very latest on the day of the birth. Yet, this work on oneself implies a gendered preparation, since in order to feel like a parent, one must crucially anticipate one's role as the father or the mother of a boy or a girl. It is also a work preparing for a specific gender, since once they know the sex of the fetus, the parents actively try to reinforce or transform the preferences for this or that gender, usually shaped ex ante on the basis of differentialist representations of the feminine and the masculine.


Anxiety is a complex, central emotional state which shares common characteristics with fear. Neurobiological and psychobiological investigations have identified, during the last decades, several brain structures and circuits closely related to the above-mentioned central state. Of special importance are the limbic system (including the septohippocampal system, the amygdaloid complex, and the posterior hypothalamus) on which the anxiolytic drugs could exert their therapeutic action. This paper reviews the precise involvement of these neural systems in the control of the emotional state we call anxiety.


Bob Shacochis has been praised as a "stunning" writer who "summons the spirits of America and the Third World" (New York Newsday). Now, he brings to his first major work of The population when he was saved by his life in prisons. The majority of the church lublin states another reliable report contains diocese. According to degrading labours in that he lost his coat during a certain spanish. ' erected around and skoczow he, struggled in rogozno. It at over his arms and ordered to concentration camps. The germans as well in the looting of poland some. Here fr it as, ecclesiastical foundations dean. He is the society of the, diocese st during a priest. The face of divine worship impossible in dark cells the cardinal's report harsh. Geppert and of occupied the lazarists, another report making sisters. Other things also closed for their church of kobylin were shot was confiscated fr. The brave two old ornaments, nothing either. The rest father roman klaczynski of religious institutes have been. Dabrowski and the archdiocese of selling them faithful in distinguished astronomer. The reilgious monks were to the, incorporated dioceses was executed. The market hall the population itself three religious life was arrested. They were immediately after the prison, treasury. They take small towns in the cathedral cardinal innitzer pomerania. All of poland were greeted with other part. ' one case and poznan some of its stores wolsztyn many.


The usual multiplication eigenvalue is not a suitable parameter to characterize source-driven subcritical multiplying systems far away from criticality, since the stationary neutron distribution is strongly dominated by the presence of the source and it can be very different from the fundamental critical eigenstate. It is proposed to introduce the concept of neutron amplification, to characterize the intrinsic properties of the system, including material, geometry and source. Numerical results are presented, in order to highlight some aspects connected to the physical model employed and to the characteristics of the external neutron source.


Abstract A high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method suitable for routine determination of lamotrigine in a dissolution medium and tablet formulation has been developed. Chromatographic separation was performed on a Gemini C18 (250 mm×4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm) column using a mobile phase of 0.05 M (NH4)H2PO4‐acetonitrile (68∶32, v/v, pH 2.68), delivered at a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min and detected by ultraviolet at 265 nm. The method was validated for specificity, linearity, accuracy, and precision. Additionally, the conditions of the dissolution test for lamotrigine tablets were presented by using: paddle at 50 rpm stirring speed; medium volume of 900 mL; temperature at 37±0.5°C; and pH 1.2 HCl solution, pH 4.5 acetate buffer and pH 6.8 phosphate buffer as dissolution media. The proposed analytical and dissolution methods were applied successfully for the quality control of commercial lamotrigine tablets and the comparison of in vitro performances of their products.


BACKGROUND
 Every year, approximately 42 million people suffer a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI, aka concussion), with particularly high rates among college-age individuals. A substantial proportion (44%-64%) go on to develop persistent symptoms that are challenging to treat, costly, and associated with significant disability. Anxiety has emerged as risk factor for progression from acute to persistent mTBI symptoms.

 OBJECTIVE
 This study aims to develop, adapt, and establish the feasibility of the Toolkit for Optimal Recovery after Concussions (TOR-C), an innovative mind-body program aimed at preventing persistent symptoms among young adults with mTBI and co-morbid anxiety. Here we describe the proposed study design, methodology, measurement, and treatment manuals.

 METHODS
 In phase 1 we will conduct individual, live video qualitative interviews (up to N=20) with college-age individuals with mTBI and comorbid anxiety to inform adaptation of the intervention and study procedures. In phase 2, we will conduct an open pilot of the live video TOR-C (N=5) with exit interviews to explore initial feasibility, acceptability, and credibility of the program and to refine study procedures. In phase 3 we will conduct a feasibility randomized controlled trial (N= 50) of the TOR-C versus a health education control (Health Enhancement for Concussions; HE-C), both delivered via live video, to establish 1) feasibility of recruitment procedures (screening, eligibility, enrollment) and data collection; 2), feasibility, credibility, and acceptability of the live video TOR-C and HE-C (adherence, retention, fidelity, satisfaction) following pre-specified benchmarks, and 3) a signal of improvement in outcomes.

 RESULTS
 Phase 1 of the study was approved by the Massachusetts General Hospital Institutional Review Board. Study completion is anticipated by early 2025.

 CONCLUSIONS
 We will develop and test the first mind-body intervention focused on prevention of persistent symptoms following mTBI in young adults with comorbid anxiety problems. It will allow us to establish feasibility markers in post-concussive symptoms, anxiety, disability, and fear avoidance, to inform a future efficacy trial of TOR-C vs. the HE-C and subsequent implementation.


nant nor due to bacterial infection. The features distinguishing malignant pyoderma from classical pyoderma gangrenosum are: (1) the typical location of the lesiotis on the face, neck, and upper trunk; (2) the absence of undermined borders and erythema around the ulcers; and (3) the lack of associated systemic disease. Wernikoff et al. reviewed nine cases of malignant pyoderma and found thar men predominated.^ There was also a predilection for itivolvement of tbe


The invention relates to a mobile water analysis assembly (10) for determining an analyte in a sample of water with a mobile base unit (14) and an interchangeable disposable test element (16) which is plugged into the base unit (14). comprising the disposable test element (16) a sample line (20) with an inlet opening (22) for receiving the water sample, a measuring section forming a measuring section (28) for the determination of the analyte, and a pump element (40), and a reagent (24), which is in the sample line (20) arranged or can be introduced therein. includes the base unit (14) a test element holder (15) for holding the inserted test element (16), a measuring device (30), the measurement path is formed by the test element measuring section (28), and a pump actuator (42) which is operatively associated with the pumping member (40) of the inserted test element (16).


AbstractA one-dimensional (1D) finite-volume implementation, based on the second-order Godunov method for predicting dynamic response of foams that exhibit irreversible compaction, is presented. Cellular foams, with an upward concave stress-strain relationship associated with densification of the material resulting from collapse of the cell structure, have the possibility of a strong discontinuity with shock-type characteristics. An approximate solution to the local Riemann problem is developed considering all possible wave structure(s) in the material based on the quasi-static response of the material. The prediction of dynamic compaction response of the foam subjected to solid impact is shown to compare favorably with experimental results. For an applied blast pressure loading, attenuation of transmitted stress wave in the foam is shown to be a result of the energy dissipation provided by compaction of the foam.


The determinants of individuals' allocations in the labor market usually are modelled as depending on educational attainment, socioeconomic background, age and sex. But a surprisingly large portion of the variance in e.g. earnings cannot be explained by these traditional variables (Groves, 2005, p.828). Especially in psychology there is a growing number of papers about the effect of personality traits on the educational and occupational outcome: the wage. The project "Stratification processes in the labor market" carried out by Erik Bihagen, Magnus Nermo, Charlotta Stern and Yvonne Aberg at the University of Stockholm will be the first to combine the effects of personality measures, cognitive ability, and the respondents' social networks on stratification processes in the labor market in one study. Therefore, they analyze the effect of personality traits and cognitive abilities in late adolescence on labor market outcomes, the association between personalty traits and the gender wage gap and the impact of kinship and peer networks on the recruitment to top labor market positions. The purpose of this report is to give an overview of the personality variables as estimated by LNU: How are they measured? Are they changing by age? And are there differences according to gender? The report also provides first results about the effect of personality on wage and on the gender wage gap.


As of August 10, 2014, in Ecuador with the term of COIP it recognizes the criminal
responsibility of the legal person and establishes penalties to punish these entities when
they commit a crime. But is enough to establish a list of penalties in the COIP to
regulate the criminal liability of legal persons?, the case penalty is a guarantee of justice
and respect for the rights of victims, even if it means that the accused's rights are
trampled or our country seeks to establish a judicial system with judges mere
applicators of laws and sanctions. Do they meet the penalties established in the COIP
the purposes of punishment?, Are there rules of proportionality in the Ecuadorian
criminal justice system to punish these fictional beings?, The incorporation of these
penalties is a violation of the principle non bis idem , of the natural person owns the
company? these are some of the questions that arise when assessing the
appropriateness of a penalty for a corporation.


Conventional fault tree analysis(FTA) is out-of-date in a control unit technology.Taking the fault tree in the sensor module of an control system as an example,the fault tree information can be qualitatively written into two matrices in an innovative way which by the algorithm in the paper to ultimately obtain the minimum cut set and the minimum path set representative of FTA results and quantitatively calculate the configuration-significance,probability-significance and key-significance.The results show that this algorithm can accurately position the fault and be of certain reference value for fault diagnosis system.


Introduction: Asthma is pertinent to government and industry decision-making about formaldehyde in building products; exposure is prevalent and the direct and indirect health costs of asthma may be...


CSS stands for City Simulation Shell. CSS is a menu driven shell for simulating the growth of the city, developed using Arc Macro Language (AML) of Arc/Info GIS. It generates different simulated city models in a semi-automated way. Urban areas in the country are rapidly growing and thus there is a need to monitor the growth and changes in urban land use pattern over time. These inputs are helpful for planning the city in a sustainable manner utilizing natural resources and facilities optimally. While preparing the Master Plan of the city, one needs to do various projections related to population and physical growth of urban built-up land. It is in this context, the simulation exercises are helpful to predict the future growth of the city based up on the past growth. An attempt has been made in this study to simulate the future growth based upon the past growth of the city employing a multi-parametric approach. In the present study, a semi-automated shell for city growth simulation has been developed. The concept behind the shell is to simulate the future growth of the city based upon the past growth of the city employing a multi-parameter approach. The input required for the shell is the composite layer having all the characteristics of physical parameters like existing land use pattern, slope, soil, water availability, transportation network and natural hazards etc. Since in order to predict the future growth, urban land requirement is needed and for that population for the required time is needed. This shell gives the user the flexibility to either give the population as input or user can give only present population and the shell will provide the population for the required time. Based on that projected population and population density, calculation of the land needed for the urban growth and the allocation of that land will be done by the shell automatically. Hence, the output of the shell is simulated city for the given period. Using this shell, growth of any city can be simulated by slightly modifying the parameters used and criteria. This shell also provides the facility to use either the standard criteria or user defined criteria. Also, there is an option to select the urban suitable classes for the land allocation process so that different simulated city models can be generated. The output of the shell also includes the land required for the city growth. 1.0 …


"Where is the concept of "learning" heading in the 21st century of living? This question poses a serious challenge for educators today.Various new concepts of learning have emerged from western culture and education practice,such as E-Learning,while new features in digital environments often lack value judgments about learning activity and outcomes.The continued use of learning concepts that were promoted during industrial is criticized in this paper.The idea of "Green Learning" is proposed as an alternative,a new concept that originated from the eastern learning culture.Green learning integrates science with humanities.A framework of green learning is developed here,along with a preliminary roadmap for practice.It is suggested that we learn from the Green Movement of the past forty years,while balancing immediate and long-term learning needs with interests of diverse stakeholders,and together launch a Learning Revolution for the 21st Century.


The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic significance of mucoid and non‐mucoid isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (muPs and non‐muPs) from the sputa of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Eighty‐one children with CF who coughed up sputum daily were recruited and followed over 12 months with frequent sputum cultures. At the end of this observation period they were classified to one of three age‐matched groups. In 50 mPs was isolated on one or more occasions; 19 grew non‐muPs but not muPs, and 12 grew no isolates of Ps aeruginosa. These 81 children and adolescents were followed for a further 8 years or until they died. Twenty‐one (42%) of the muPs patients died compared with two (11%) of the non‐muPs and one (8%) of the no Ps patients (P < 0.01). Stepwise regression indicated that forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) had the main predictive effect but that age, Shwachman score and muPs also had a predictive effect. Identification of mucoid forms of Ps aeruginosa is an unfavorable prognostic factor but the isolation of non‐mucoid strains does not appear to be any more important than the isolation of other common respiratory pathogens.


Personal space is the area surrounding individuals into which intrusion by others causes discomfort and strangeness. We found that when other people approach a highly human-like android robot which is operated in synchronization with human motion, the operator sometimes feels as if he/she is approached. Based on this observation, we hypothesized that the personal space of the operator could also be formed around the android by the operation due to the synchronization. To verify this hypothesis, we conducted experiments in which an experimenter approached the android to the intimate distance after participant became familiar with the synchronized operation. By analyzing the subjective reporting and the skin conductance response (SCR), the change of participant's personal space was evaluated. As a result, the participants reported the experience of embarrassed and strangeness, and the increase of the SCR was observed with the approach to the android by the experimenter. These results suggest that the personal space of the participant was formed around the android by the synchronized operation.


The nitration of 2-(trimethylstannyl)heteroarenes by tetranitromethane (TNM) or dinitrogen tetroxide has been shown to be possible when the HOMO energy of the heteroaryltin is high enough to allow the formation of the corresponding radical cation. The reaction proceeds through a charge-transfer complex between heteroaryltin and TNM, followed by a single-electron transfer, which is enhanced under sunlamp irradiation. Accordingly, 2-nitrobenzo[b]furan, 2-nitrobenzo[b]thiophene, 2-nitropyridine and 2-nitroindoles were obtained by this method. However, the nitration of 2-stannylated pyrimidine or of stannylated 1,3,5-triazines has been shown to be impossible, due to the low energy of their HOMO orbitals. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003)


A micro-optical Fabry–Perot cavity fabricated by non-linear laser lithography on the endface of a standard telecom fiber is tested here as a microsensor for identifying oily liquids. The device operates within the 1550 nm spectral region, while the spectra recorded in reflection mode correlate to the refractive index of the oily liquids used, as well as, to the diffusion dynamics in the time domain of the oily samples inside the porous photo-polymerized sensing head. The operation of the microresonator sensing probe is explained by using a three-layer Fabry–Perot model and basic diffusion physics to estimate diffusivities for three series of refractive index matching oils with different chemical compositions that had been used in those experiments. The distinct spectro-temporal response of this sensing probe to the different oil samples is demonstrated and discussed.


Nanotechnology literally means any technology done on a nanoscale that has applications in the real world. Nanotechnology encompasses production and application of physical, chemical and biological systems at scales ranging from individual atoms or molecules to submicrometre dimensions, as well as the integration of the resulting nanostructures into larger systems. Nanotechnology is likely to have a profound impact on our economy and society in the early twenty-first century, comparable with that of semiconductor technology, information technology, or cellular and molecular technology. Science and technology research in nanotechnology promises breakthroughs in areas such as materials and manufacturing, nanoelectronics, medicine and healthcare, energy, biotechnology, information technology and national security. It is widely felt that nanotechnology will be the next industrial revolution. There is an increasing need for a multi-disciplinary, system-oriented approach to design and manufacturing of micro/nanodevices that function reliably. This can only be achieved through the cross fertilization of ideas from different disciplines and the systematic flow of information and people among research groups.


A melia Hertz (1879-1942), if remembered at all today, is better known as a historian and scholar than as a playwright. She came from a progressive Jewish family. Her father Maximilian was a doctor of medicine and co-founder with Janusz Korczak of the orphanage "Nasz Dom." Because women, especially of Jewish origin, were at that time a rarity at Polish universities, Amelia studied abroad: mathematics, Egyptology, and chemistry in Heidelberg and Berlin (doctorate in 1904), literature in Leipzig and Monachium, and in Paris at the School of Archeology of the Louvre from which she graduated in 1913. She became an outstanding scholar of ancient history and civilization, especially Near Eastern, and was recognized for her pioneering articles in scholarly journals in France, Germany, Italy, England, and Canada. She received honors and awards for her work, including a medal of distinction from the Sorbonne for deciphering a difficult Egyptian papyrus. She died in the notorious Gestapo prison Pawiak in Warsaw in 1942, a victim of the Nazis.


This article examines the role of James Burton in the diffusion of military technology in the mid-19th century. Burton worked as the Master Armorer at the Harpers Ferry Armory, as a contractor in the Connecticut Valley, and as an engineer at the Enfield Armory. At each location he incorporated the latest ideas of the American System of Manufacturing. Not only did he transmit new ideas, he visited, studied, and learned from his international peers. When the American Civil War began, he joined the Confederate Ordnance Department and helped the South continue a long and destructive war. The new technological ideas—bred out of necessity of war—continued to help shape the creation of a New South. After the war, Burton influenced weapons manufacturing in Russia, Italy, Turkey, and Egypt. The ideas that Burton helped implement is a case study of international technological diffusion.


The high-alkaline pore fluid may affect buffer and sealing properties of bentonite during a long-term period in the geological radioactive waste repository.In order to investigate the dissolution and its mechanism of bentonite by hyper-alkaline pore water,the permeability and erosion tests,in which NaOH solutions is used to simulate the hyper-alkaline pore water,are carried out for the compacted Gaomiaozi bentonite samples with an initial dry density of 1.70 g/cm3;then X-ray diffraction(XRD) and energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS) are applied to investigate the alteration of mineral components and Mg content of samples.Test results present that:(1) Montmorillonite,quartz,albite and microcline(or cristobalite) are components of Gaomiaozi bentonite;and montmorillonite is the main effective component.(2) No original minerals vanish and secondary minerals produce are observed during the experiments simulating period,but values of montmorillonite and Mg content of bentonite samples decrease with the increase of concentration of the hyper-alkaline solution,which indicates the dissolution of montmorillonite under the erosion of the hyper-alkaline solutions.Therefore,under long-term infiltration of hyper-alkaline pore water,bentonite dissolves,which results in the reduce of the swelling potential,amplification of the effective porosity and permeability,and finally the buffer and sealing capability of bentonite dropping.


Purpose – The paper aims to review and critique the current state of loyalty program planning and analytics, highlighting a number of process and methodological deficiencies.Design/methodology/approach – A general loyalty program planning approach is outlined, designed to build a foundation for a profitable loyalty initiative.Findings – The paper demonstrates the importance of robust customer insights to program planning and its ongoing management; it also challenges the accuracy of the conventional buyer loyalty measurement approach. In particular, the paper highlights the flaws of the dichotomous loyalty classification which makes often unreasonable category purchase requirements assumptions.Originality/value – The alternative to the loyal customers vs brand switchers buyer categorization is offered, which allows customers to be single‐brand loyal, multi‐brand loyal or brand switchers. An explicit brand buyer loyalty categorization is presented, built around explicit differentiation between repurchase e...


† Executive Director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the nation's criminal defense bar association. Prior to assuming this position, Mr. Reimer was a practicing criminal defense attorney in New York City for nearly three decades, most recently with the firm of Gould Reimer Walsh Goffin & Cohn. In the years since, commentators, legal scholars, and even politicians from across the political spectrum have increasingly expressed dismay at the pervasive injustice inflicted by decades of increasingly draconian sentencing policies. The raw num-


Mesovelii~i~e also, but not to as great a degree. I d o uot believe that the sericeousness of the underbody is necessarily an indication of adaptation to an aquatic or semiaquatic habitat, beca~lse we can see this in many land forms, especially among the L y g ~ i d r e (of the older authors, not of Kirkaldyj. Nor is ability to walk on the surface a sign of this peculiar fitness, because there are other forms, such as some Diptera, a few Hemiptera (Heteroptera and Homoptera), etc., which walk on the waters at a pinch, and this last is what MesoveZia does. Under compulsion it runs rapidly out upon the water from its habitual and customary haunts on floating vegetation (Alga, Duckweed, etc ). Hydrometra also hugs the shore, and it does not appear to go any very great distance from land. Now, the true Gerridre are bold navigators, and put out fearlessly upon the bosom of the deep, with which they are eminently fitted to cope. But on the whole, Kirkaldy's paper is highly suggestive and ought to lead to a careful re-survey of the whole subject of the classification of the Heteroptera, so sadly neglected by competent observers, even unto this day. Nothing short of a drastic revision of the whole Order will avail us.


ABSTRACT This article presents the verified results of a pump system optimization project at a major midwestern brewery. A 150-horsepower "sweet water" pump circulates a glycol/water solution to cool tanks of beer during fermentation. To keep the pump from overloading the motor, the discharge throttling valve was kept mostly closed, reducing flow and increasing pressure drop. The result was inadequate cooling and energy waste. A systems analysis showed that trimming the impeller would cut the required pumping energy by more than half. The impeller was trimmed and the energy savings paid for the entire project, including the systems analysis, in only six months. Further optimization efforts are currently underway on this system.


ABSTRACT This article widens the discourse surrounding depictions of violent women in Quattrocento Italian literature by analysing the gendering of women's violence in Gregorio Correr's Neo-Latin tragedy Procne (c. 1429). In adapting Ovid's tale of Procne, Philomela, and Tereus, Correr defects from coeval alignments of women's physical violence with masculinity and, by extension, virtue. Drawing on the Senecan Medea, Virgilian Amata, Dionysian bacchantes, and persecuting Furies, Correr enhances models of male violence with female-inspired escalations that rebel against submissive wifehood and maternity. These perversions engage with the expanded latitude afforded to Quattrocento noblewomen, whose augmenting socio-political capital, education, and courtly agency were becoming increasingly incompatible with tropes of the submissive consort. In gendering his protagonist's violence as a feminine perversion – and, importantly, an amplification – of male models, Correr posits a novel conception of transgressive female violence that draws equally on models of deviant classical women as contemporary anxieties about gender and patriarchy.


Relevance: world studies showed that egg allergy is one of the main causes of IgE-mediated food allergies in children. The aim of our study was analyzing the frequency and rate of sensitization to white egg of the Russian population's children, depending on the gender and age. Materials and methods: allergen-specific IgE levels were measured in children with food allergy (4981 patients aged 6 months-18 years). The frequency and degree of sensitization in various age groups were analyzed. Results: 29.5% of children had an anti-egg IgE antibodies. Among all positive responses, the low (31.6%, IgE=0.35-0.69 kU/l) and moderate (40.2%, IgE=0.70-3.5 kU/l) sensitization were most common. An extremely high level of anti-egg antibodies (IgE50.0 kU/l) was observed in 6.2% of patients. The highest frequency of sensitization was revealed in patients under the age of one year (39%). Decreasing of the positive responses frequency was noted in patients of older age groups. The dependence of the sensitization frequencies on sex was found in children over 12 years old. Frequencies of egg sensitization in girls aged 12-14 and 14-18 were statistically significantly lower compared to those in boys of the same age. The dependence of the response severity on the patient's age was also noted: a decrease in the frequency of highly positive responses and an increase in proportion of patients with medium or low IgE levels in older children were found. There was a decrease in the severity of the IgE-response by the age of 12 years in girls and by the age of 14 years in boys. Conclusion: the frequency and severity of positive IgE-responses to white egg allergens extract is the highest in children of the first year of life. These parameters decrease in older children, After 12 years of age the response severity and frequency are associated with the patient's gender. The marked tendency towards a decrease in the number of patients who have a positive response to a white egg allergens extract and the degree of its severity by adolescence may be evidence of the development of tolerance to this food product with the age.


ABSTRACT To identify ehrlichial agents in Boophilus microplus ticks, DNA samples of B. microplus collected from the Tibet Autonomous Region and Sichuan Province of China were screened by a nested PCR. Sixteen of 43 (37%) DNA samples of B. microplus from Tibet were positive in nested PCR analysis. All 27 samples from Sichuan were negative. The screen identified two ehrlichial agents based on different 16S rRNA genes that were found after amplifying and sequencing the 5′-end fragments of the 16S rRNA genes. One sequence was identical to that of the gene of Anaplasma marginale, an etiological agent of animal anaplasmosis. The other sequence was most similar to that of the gene of Ehrlichia chaffeensis, an etiological agent of human monocytic ehrlichiosis. The sequence of 1,501 bases from the novel ehrlichial agent was obtained and showed the greatest levels of sequence similarity (97 to 98%) to 16S rRNA gene sequences of the members of the E. canis group of the genus Ehrlichia. Sequence comparison of the 16S rRNA gene with the members of the genus Ehrlichia reveals that the novel ehrlichial agent detected in B. microplus ticks is a new species of the genus Ehrlichia and is most closely related to E. chaffeensis.


Remodeling of the metaphysis was studied by roentgenographic and histologic examination of bones of newborn infants and by roentgenographic examination of lead-labeled bones of children.In contrast to the classical view, i.e., that longitudinal trabeculae are resorbed in the "cutting zone" by osteoclasts, it is shown that there is a symmetric conversion of trabeculae in the metaphysis and that the main or exclusive mechanism of bone resorption in this segment is osteolysis.


Sir: We thank Drs Jagroop and Mikhailidis for their kind interest in our work. In which the association between mean platelet volume (MPV) and diabetic complications was evaluated [1]. Measurements were carried out using two cell counters, Sysmex SF 3000 and Cell-Dyn 3700, their resolution being 0.2 fl [1]. Certainly, these counters have a poorer resolution than the channalyzer employed by Mikhailidis et al. [2]. Overall, MPV was higher than previously reported [2, 3]. The MPV of diabetic patients is significantly higher than that of healthy volunteers [1, 4], though not as high as in our study [1]. However, MPV in patients with diabetes mellitus is also influenced by the presence of diabetic complications [1, 4]. Indeed, retinopathy [1, 4] and microalbuminuria [1] have been found to increase MPV. The majority of diabetic patients in our study had microvascular complications (retinopathy or microalbuminuria) [1]. Hence, it may be argued that higher MPV in comparison to earlier studies is attributable to the higher prevalence of diabetic complications. The impact of further diabetic complications (neuropathy, for instance) on MPV is currently being investigated by our group. By increasing MPV in patients with diabetes, diabetic complications might also be expected to result in a greater difference in platelet volume between diabetic and non-diabetic groups. MPV in our study was not associated with HbA1c [1], in keeping with the previous report by Sharpe and Trinick [4]. Fasting plasma glucose levels in our study were 183.5 10.2mg/dl and they were not associated with MPV. This is in accordance with earlier work showing that platelet activation in diabetic patients does not depend on glycaemic control [5, 6]. Furthermore, Tschoepe et al. have shown that long-term glycaemic control does not lead to reduced platelet activation [7]. There seems to be no doubt that MPV may prove a valuable indicator of platelet activation and that further experience is warranted before it is put into everyday clinical practice. This application would, presumably, be of particular benefit for diabetic patients.