The elderly receive many medications which may have adverse effects. Little evidence is available about the epidemiology of potentially inappropriate medications being prescribed to the elderly in Japan as defined by the Beers criteria, or whether or not these medications result in harm when used in this population.


Within the Skyrme energy density formalism, an analytical formula for the spin density part of the heavy ion interaction potential is obtained for 1s-0d shell nuclei by using the shell model density consistently. Comparisons are made with similar results for the parametrized Fermi density distribution which are useful for their later use in the calculations of fusion cross sections. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}


In her article "Ethics and the physician-nurse relationship" (Can Med Assoc J 1983; 129: 290, 292, 293) Jane Wilson examines the moral dilemma faced by nurses who must carry out ethical decisions made by physicians. As she points out, the issue of resuscitation is a clear example of this dilemma. The publication of guidelines for "Do not resuscitate" orders by Rabkin and colleagues' helped bring the issue into the open. Subsequently an editorial in Supervisor Nurse2 referring to these guidelines provoked a flurry of letters in the August 1979 issue of that journal from nurses whose observations are similar to those of Ms. Wilson. In studying this issue on several medical wards I found that nurses were often not involved in the decision-making process; occasionally they were not even informed that a decision had been reached. In addition, physicians did not evaluate the appropriateness of resuscitation for all critically ill patients. As a result, nurses were required to assess these patients in the physician's absence and make important ethical decisions. Nurses generally dealt with this lack of communication in one of three ways: * Aggressively pursuing the physician until he or she reached a decision. * Resorting to "slow codes" (e.g., "Walk, don't run, to the phone")2 if they believed that resuscitation was not appropriate but they had not received instructions from the attending physician. * Resuscitating all patients unless told otherwise by a physician. I also noted that patients sometimes confide in nurses rather than in physicians. A terminally ill patient may tell his nurse that he wants only palliative care, yet the physician, unaware of the patient's wishes, may continue to treat aggressively. In these situations the nurse can be a valuable source of information to the physician, helping him or her approach the patient about the latter's fears and misunderstandi ngs. The adoption by hospitals of a resuscitation policy can play a useful role in narrowing the gap in communication. First, the requirement that physicians write "Do not resuscitate" orders would help ensure that nurses are at least informed of the decision. More important, guidelines would encourage physicians to discuss the ethical implications of resuscitation with colleagues (including nurses) and with patients and their families. The experience at McMaster University Medical Centre3 indicates that communication among health professionals and discussion of prognosis with patients and their families probably improved after the adoption of a resuscitation policy. Guidelines will not ensure that all doctors will open up on this issue, but their adoption would represent a step in the right direction towards better physician-nurse and physician-patient communication.


Phloem exudate from cotyledons of photoperiodically induced Pharbitis plants induced flowering in apices excised from non-induced seedlings and cultured in vitro. The exudate also stimulated flowering in apices excised from photo-induced seedlings and cultured under long-day conditions. The application of benzoic acid had similar effects. (...)


This paper presents a $1\times 8$ monolithic thick origami antenna array. The proposed design dynamically adjusts its radiation pattern through foldability, without the need of any additional phase shifters in its feeding network. Depending on its folded state, the array can cover different regions in space by switching from a single beam at broadside, to two beams at $\theta=\pm 45^{0}$, and four beams at $\theta=\pm 45^{0}, \pm 135^{0}$. The foldability of the design is implemented using three lamina emergent torsional joint surrogate hinges. These hinges allow the array to physically reconFigure to different folded states and pack itself efficiently to an area that is four times smaller than its deployed area. For demonstration purposes our proposed array is designed to operate at 2.45 GHz using a single 1.55 mm thick FR4 substrate.


ABSTRACT We studied the phoretic relationships between the mites of the genus Trichouropoda Berlese, 1916 (Uropodina) and the longhorn beetle Plagionotus detritus (Linnaeus, 1758) based on large samples of specimens (2050 beetles and 19,216 mites) collected in the Białowieża Primeval Forest in Central Europe. Phoresy was studied over the years 2014, 2015, and 2016, with the emphasis on multi-annual trends in host–phoront associations, seasonal changes in intensity of phoresy, proportion of carriers of mites in the beetle population, and preferences of phoretic deutonymphs for specific parts of the host's body. The high repeatability in all the variables we studied indicates high stability of the phoretic relationships, probably resulting from the synchronization of life cycles of beetle dispersants and phoretic mites. The long-term coevolution of phoronts and carriers in a natural forest ecosystem, as well as the expected close association of mites with specific beetle-generated microhabitats in larval galleries, may be important factors affecting the strength of the phoretic relationship.


It is necessary to utilize coal fly ash in geotechnical engineering field. Coal fly ash is a useful material. In case of using as reclamation material, cement is mixed into coal fly ash to stabilize the ground before reclaiming coal fly ash. Effects of cementation on mechanical properties of coal fly ash should be investigated. Authors focus to utilize coal fly ash as reclamation material in the coastal area. In order to investigate effects of cementation on mechanical properties of sedimented coal fly ash, triaxial compression tests were carried out. From a series of triaxial test results and considerations, the following conclusions were obtained: (1) Coal fly ash sedimented in looser condition with increasing amount of cement. (2) The increase of shear resistance caused by cementation effects appeared in small strain and low confining stress level. (3) Dilatancy property of sedimented coal fly ash-cement mixture depended on confining stress and cementation.


Falling in love may begin with an inescapable, uncontrollable, transformative experience of intense emotions and intrusive thoughts, such as limerence. Romantic love researchers have tended to lump extreme love into pathology. Transpersonal psychology was chosen as the lens to examine an extreme occurrence of falling in love for its transformational and spiritual potential using a phenomenological approach. Twenty-five U.S. born participants, age 30 or older, reported experiencing a highly intense and deeply significant romantic love occurrence. Results revealed a unique experience with limited correlations to limerence. The new phenomenon is called amigeist, characterized by immediate, intense soul-mate bonding, such as secure attachment, with lifepartner potential. The larger themes were dynamic connection, secure attachment, astonishment, and passionate long-term relationships.


Business has certain requirements that must be met if the enterprise is to thrive; some of these requirements are affected by security systems. The relationship of these requirements and supporting business has been well illustrated by the success of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and the initial failure and subsequent transformational impact of tools such as spreadsheets. If designed correctly, an enterprise-wide security infrastructure can, in fact, enable new business. However, the best security in the world will not be adequate if the business itself is not supported. This paper describes a set of minimum requirements that must be met if security systems are to meet their promise of enabling entirely new lines of business, and then describes an instantiation of these requirements in a currently available system.


The invention provides methods and apparatus for analyzing polynucleotide Sequences by asynchronous base extension. Some applications of the invention utilize total internal reflection fluorescence microScopy to image polynucleotide molecules at Single molecule resolution. Patent Application Publication Nov. 7, 2002 Sheet 1 of 15 US 2002/0164629 A1


Oxygen ion diffusion coefficient was measured, for the first time, in oxide films grown by the high temperature oxidation of the AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel. The steel samples were polished and then oxidized in synthetic air in order to grow the chromia oxide (Cr2O3) film. The oxygen diffusion experiments in the oxide films were performed by using the18O isotope as oxygen tracer. The isotope diffusion studies were performed from 750 to 900o C, in Ar +21%18O2 atmosphere and the oxygen ion diffusion profiles were established by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analysis. From the18O diffusion profiles, the bulk, effective and grain boundary diffusivities were determined. Using Wagner´s theory, it is shown that, under the used experimental conditions, the oxygen ion diffusion is large enough to assure the growth rate of the chrome oxide films formed by the oxidation of the AISI 304 stainless steel.


Objective To study the role of high molecular weight keratin(34βE12),CK19 and TPO protein in the differentiated diagnosis between thyroid papillary carcinoma and benign thyroid diseases.Methods The expression of 34βE12,CK19 and TPO protein in 93 cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma and 102 cases of benign thyroid diseases(51 cases of benign thyroid papillary hyperplasia and 51 cases of thyroid follicular adenomas) as well as 50 cases of suspicious thyroid papillary carcinoma in histopathology were detected by inmmunohistochemistrical EnVision method.Results Of the 93 cases of thyroid papillary carcinoma,the positive rates of 34βE12,CK19 and TPO were 90.32%,100% and 8.6%,respectively;while all of the 51 cases of thyroid benign papillary hyperplasia were negative to 34βE12 and positive to TPO,17.6% of them were positive to CK19;of the 51 cases of thyroid follicular adenomas,the positive rates of 34βE12,CK19 and TPO were 1.96%、33.33%、88.24%;respectively;and of the 50 cases of suspicious thyroid papillary carcinoma in histopathology,the positive rates of 34βE12,CK19 and TPO were 12%、56%、98%,respectively.The assessed values of 34βE12,CK19 and TPO in the diagnosis of thyroid papillary carcinoma were below:the sensitivity were 90.32%,100% and 91.4%,the specifity were 99.09%,74.51% and 94.12%,the accuracy were 94.87%,86.67% and 87.69%,respectively.Parallel test showed that when combined with 34βE12 and TPO,the sensitivity was improved to 99.4%,and the specifity was 93.6%.Conclusion 34βE12,CK19 and TPO proteins are useful markers in the differentiated diagnosis between thyroid papillary carcinoma and benign thyroid diseases.


Cynarin (CYN) is the main derivative of caffeoylquinic acid, found in leaves and heads of artichoke. It may have hepatoprotective, antiatherosclerotic, antioxidative, choleretic, and cholesterol-lowering effects. We tested the effects of various doses of CYN on the proliferative potential, survival, morphology, and stress response (SR) markers heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and heat shock protein-70 (HSP70) in normal human skin fibroblasts (FSF-1), telomerase-immortalized mesenchymal stem cells (hTERT-MSC), and cervical cancer cells (HeLa). The effects of CYN on cell proliferation and morphology were dose- and cell type-dependent, with 500 µM CYN as the upper limit for all cell types. While the growth and proliferation of cells decreased after exposure to 75 µM CYN for 3 days, overall survival of FSF-1 and hTERT-MSC was higher than that of HeLa cells. Furthermore, CYN induced the oxidative SR marker HO-1 in both fibroblasts and stem cells in a biphasic manner. A slight induction of HSP70 was observed only in the stem cells. Thus, CYN may be useful for protection against the growth and survival of potentially cancerous cells and may promote longevity of normal cells by inducing SR proteins. Further advanced research related to CYN and artichoke is recommended.


Markov chains are probabilistic models that are useful in different image processing tasks. This paper presents an approach based on Hidden Markov Chain (HMCs) to diagnose COVID-19, that we named HMC-COVID-19. To assess the performance of the proposed solution, we use a public dataset of chest X-RAY images. Our solution has been evaluated using the accuracy of prediction. The preliminary results are promising and can be further enhanced.


Thus, al is a function of the remaining factor loadings, excluding itself, and the correlations which variable i has with the other variables. If an initial estimated factor vector A is assumed, estimates of the 4 values may be obtained by the use of Equations [ 2 ] . This can give rise to a n interative process in which the newly estimated A vector can in turn be substituted in Equations [2] to obtain still another estimate. A n iterative process is of value only if (1) i t converges to an acceptable solution, and ( 2 ) convergence occurs rapidly enough to make the computations reasonable. In extensive applications of this method to date, no difficulry has been encountered i n obtaining satisfactory convergence until after the normal number of factors has been extracted. Convergence does not take place in the typical manner, however. If we substitute an initial trial vector, obtain an iterated vector, substitute the iterated vector to obtain a second iterated vector, and so on, convergence appears to take place about two saddle


This paper discusses an innovative hybrid drive for diesel multiple unit railcars. The new drive aims at reducing fuel consumption as well as enabling an emission-free operation around railway stations and on tunnel sections of non-elec-trified railways. By using an electrical power split transmission structure, the new drive benefits from the high efficiency of mechanical transmissions and offers the possibility of a continuously variable transmission. Furthermore, the new transmission structure can be switched between a pure electrical and a diesel-powered electrical power split mode. The new hybrid drive is compared to a diesel-electric drive. For this purpose, simulation models are developed and drive cycle simulations are performed. The simulation results indicate fuel savings of up to 32 % for the considered route characteristics and show a decrease of the required electric drive power of 50 %.


IL-21, a member of the IL-2 cytokine family, is reported to have an immune-mediated anti-tumor activity against renal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) cell lines in xenograph animal models. Whether IL-21 exhibits direct anti-tumor activity against NHL cell lines and primary tumors is presently unknown. We analyzed seven DLBCL and two Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines for IL-21 receptor (IL-21R) expression. IL-21R was expressed at high levels in the two Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines (RAJI and RAMOS). Out of the seven DLBCL lines, four expressed high levels of the receptor (OCI-LY-3, OCI-LY-7, OCI-LY-19, and RCK-8) while three had low receptor expression levels (OCI-LY-10, SU-DHL-4, and SU-DHL-6). IL-21 stimulation induced tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT-1, -3, and -5 as early as fifteen minutes post treatment in DLBCL lines expressing either high (OCI-LY-3 and RCK-8) or low (SU-DHL-6 and OCI-LY-10) levels of IL-21R. In six of the seven DLBCL lines tested, IL-21 dramatically inhibited or completely abolished cellular proliferation at 25 ng/mL and 100 ng/mL concentrations, respectively. In contrast, one DLBCL cell line (OCI-LY-3) exhibited a threefold increase in cellular proliferation after stimulation with 25 ng/mL IL-21, but proliferation was effectively inhibited by 100 ng/mL IL-21. Marked apoptosis and cell death were observed by flow cytometry at 72 hours post IL-21 exposure in all nine NHL cell lines tested with the exception of OCI-LY-3 which exhibited no significant change in cell viability. The IL-21-induced apoptosis was associated with an activation of caspases 3/7, 8, and 9, detected as early as 12 hours post IL-21 exposure. IL-21 also induced an increase in the levels of the pro-apoptotic protein Bim in all the cell lines exhibiting marked apoptosis. In contrast, Bim protein levels decreased in response to the IL-21 stimulation in the resistant OCI-LY-3 DLBCL cell line. IL-21 treatment led to a decrease in the protein levels of Bcl-2 in all the analyzed cell lines except OCI-LY-3. An increase in expression of Bcl-6 protein in three of the four tested DLBCL cell lines was observed in response to IL-21 exposure. In primary tumors, IL-21 induced apoptosis in two of two DLBCLs, two of three follicular lymphomas, and two of six chronic lymphocytic leukemias. No apoptosis or cell death was induced in normal peripheral B-lymphocytes or in the HeLa or 293T control cells. These results suggest that IL-21 exhibits a direct anti-tumor effect on the DLBCL cell lines and primary tumors and point to a potential applicability of IL-21 in anti-DLBCL therapy. Further work interrogating the molecular mechanism of the IL-21-induced apoptosis of DLBCL cells in vitro and in animal models is in progress.


Role based access control (RBAC) model is naturally suitable to organizations where users are assigned organizational roles with well-defined privileges. Nowadays, many organizations and enterprises such as banks, insurance industry and utility companies, provide online services to their very large number of users. This shows that assigning users to roles is a intolerable task and maintaining user-role assignment up-to-date is costly and error-prone. Also, with the increasing number of users, RBAC may have problems in prohibiting cheat and changing roles of users. To overcome these problems, user-role assignment decision can be made based on how much we trust him/her. In this paper, we propose a model to assign users to roles based on trustworthiness which is fuzzy in nature. The proposed model uses fuzzy relation equations to compute trust values.


Chan Hyeong Kim, Jin Hyung Park, Hee Seo, and Han Rim Lee Citation: Medical Physics 39, 6523 (2012); doi: 10.1118/1.4749930 View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1118/1.4749930 View Table of Contents: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aapm/journal/medphys/39/10?ver=pdfcov Published by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Articles you may be interested in Erratum: "Dynamically accumulated dose and 4D accumulated dose for moving tumors" [Med. Phys.39(12),7359–7367 (2012)] Med. Phys. 40, 047201 (2013); 10.1118/1.4794486 Response to "Comment on 'It is not appropriate to "deform" dose along with deformable image registration inadaptive radiotherapy'" [Med. Phys.39, 6531–6533 (2012)] Med. Phys. 40, 017102 (2013); 10.1118/1.4771963 Erratum: "Relationship between electron density and effective densities of body tissues for stopping, scattering,and nuclear interactions of proton and ion beams" [Med. Phys.39, 1016–1020 (2012)] Med. Phys. 40, 017202 (2013); 10.1118/1.4769415 Reply to "Comment on 'Correspondence factor for Nucletron surface applicators'" [Med. Phys.39, 2947–2948(2012)] Med. Phys. 39, 2310 (2012); 10.1118/1.3694512 Gamma electron vertex imaging and application to beam range verification in proton therapy Med. Phys. 39, 1001 (2012); 10.1118/1.3662890


AIMS
To investigate the association of (changes in) ECG abnormalities with incident major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) without pre-existing cardiovascular disease (CVD).

METHODS
A prospective longitudinal study of 11,993 people with T2D without known CVD from the Hoorn Diabetes Care System cohort. Annually repeated measurements (1998-2018), included cardiovascular risk factors, over 70,000 ECGs, and self-reported cardiovascular events. ECG abnormalities were classified according to the Minnesota Classification as prolonged PR duration, prolonged QRS duration, left QRS-axis, QS pattern, ST-segment/T-wave abnormalities, or tall R-wave. The association of ECG abnormalities with MACEs was assessed using time-dependent Cox-regression models, adjusted for time-varying cardiovascular risk factors and medication use (Hazzard Ratios with 95%CIs).

RESULTS
During a median follow-up of 6.6 (IQR, 3.1-10.7) years, 5445 (45.4%) of the participants had an ECG abnormality (prevalent or incident) at any of the median 6 (IQR, 3-10) annual ECG recordings, and 905 people (7.5%) had a MACE (529 CHD, 250 HF, 126 SCA). After adjustment, most ECG abnormalities were associated with HF: prolonged QRS duration (HR, 4.01 (95%CI, 2.67-6.03)), QS pattern (2.68 (0.85-8.49)), ST-segment/T-wave abnormalities (4.26 (2.67-6.80)), and tall R-wave (2.23 (1.33-3.76)). Only QS pattern (2.69 (1.20-6.03)), and ST-segment/T-wave abnormalities (2.11 (1.48-3.02)) were associated with CHD. These associations were robust across age, sex, hypertension, or estimated CVD risk subgroups.

CONCLUSION
In people with T2D without pre-existing cardiovascular disease, ECG abnormalities related to decelerated conduction, ischemia and hypertrophy are predominantly early signs of emerging HF, while only abnormalities related to ischemic disorders are signs of CHD.


This paper puts forward an intelligent control method on primitive to micro-operation robot. Firstly, the paper presents object-oriented architecture of micro-operation robot. Basing on intelligent robot typical hierarchy model, the concept of primitive control is brought forward, modules are further encapsulated into primitive methods, and a robot task is simply abstracted into a sequence of task primitive. By primitive control, simple machine learning and online task plan of micro-operation robot are implemented. Experiments prove the method could effectively improve intelligence, automation and adaptation of micro-operation robot.


Invariant human TCR Vα24-Jα18+/Vβ11+ NKT cells (iNKT) are restricted by CD1d–α-glycosylceramides. We analyzed crystal structures and binding characteristics for an iNKT TCR plus two CD1d–α-GalCer–specific Vβ11+ TCRs that use different TCR Vα chains. The results were similar to those previously reported for MHC–peptide-specific TCRs, illustrating the versatility of the TCR platform. Docking TCR and CD1d–α-GalCer structures provided plausible insights into their interaction. The model supports a diagonal orientation of TCR on CD1d and suggests that complementarity determining region (CDR)3α, CDR3β, and CDR1β interact with ligands presented by CD1d, whereas CDR2β binds to the CD1d α1 helix. This docking provides an explanation for the dominant usage of Vβ11 and Vβ8.2 chains by human and mouse iNKT cells, respectively, for recognition of CD1d–α-GalCer.


(57) ABSTRACT Enhanced frequency division multiple access (EFDMA) is a multiplexing scheme that sends modulation symbols in the time domain and achieves a lower PAPR than OFDM. An EFDMA symbol occupies multiple subband groups that are spaced apart in a frequency band, with each Subband group containing multiple adjacent Subbands. To generate an EFDMA symbol, multiple modulation symbols are mapped onto a first sequence of symbols. A transform (e.g., a DFT) is performed on the first sequence to obtain a second sequence of values. The values in the second sequence corresponding to the subbands used for the EFDMA symbol are retained, and the remaining values are Zeroed out to obtain a third sequence of values. An inverse transform (e.g., an IDFT) is performed on the third sequence to obtain a fourth sequence of samples. A phase ramp may be applied on the fourth sequence, and a cyclic prefix is appended to form the EFDMA symbol.


Conventional method of inspecting the thickness of pipe due to corrosion is
using Ultrasonic Testing Thickness Measurements (UTTM). This experiment is to study
the corrosion activities in a pipe with using different concentration of acidic.
Hydrochloric acid is used as a medium to create corrosion in internal wall of pipe. The
hydrochloric acid is a strong acid, since it is fully dissociated in water where is a strong
inorganic acid that is used in many industrial processes. The different of concentration
of hydrochloric acid in water, 30%, 50% and 70% are used for this experiment. The
different concentration of acidic used shown distinguishes of corrosion activities on the
internal wall of pipe. The thickness of pipe wall is measured with an Ultrasonic Testing
Thickness Measurement method. The results of corrosion activities are presented in Cscan
presentation resulted from A-scan readings obtained from Ultrasonic Testing
Thickness Measurement method. The C-scan result displays are created using the
MATLAB Programming.


Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a severe disease in humans and other primates caused by viruses in the genus Ebolavirus; the most pathogenic variants of the virus are the members of the species Zaire ebolavirus, with fatality rates as high as 40-90%. The 2014-15 Ebola outbreak is the largest in history, and there is an urgent need to develop effective countermeasures against EVD. Viral proteins such as VP35 block some of the interferon pathways in the host, and these mechanisms contribute to efficient viral replication in dendritic cells, monocytes, and macrophages. EVD is associated with rapid viral dissemination and marked dysregulation of the immune and vascular systems, which leads to hemorrhage and multiple organ failure. ChAd3-EBOV and VSV-EBOV have shown the most promise as vaccine candidates for EVD. Favipiravir, ZMapp, and TKM-Ebola-Guinea are emerging as promising drug candidates. Increasing data on the virus and EVD pathogenesis will accelerate the establishment of vaccines, antiviral drugs, and other novel strategies to counter EVD. This review provides an outline of the history, pathogenesis, and treatment of EVD and summarizes current efforts to develop vaccines against EVD.


Abstract A new kind of magnesium based brazing alloy with a low brazing temperature of ∼450°C was developed for AZ31B. Correlative technological parameters were investigated to refine the structure of the bond region. The microstructure of the joints was observed by SEM equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis system. The result showed that the microstructure of the joints contained the first separate-out phase (α-Mg), which dispersed in the bond region, and the tiny layered eutectic structure (α-Mg + MgZn). Water quenching supported high cooling rate and thus refined the eutectic structure. The typical fracture morphology and the X-ray diffraction fracture analysis showed that many dimples existed in the place of the first separate-out phase, and the fracture zone consisted of MgZn, Mg7Zn3 and Mg. The joints showed high strength in the tensile shear tests.


Background: Oxidative stress has been implicated in pathogenesis of hypertension, a major cardiovascular risk factor. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are primary contributors to systemic reactive oxygen species (ROS). The impact of ROS-products released from PBMCs may contribute to endothelial dysfunction damage in hypertensive subjects. Superoxide Dismutases (SODs) and Catalase comprise first line of defence against ROS. Aim: To analyse activities of SOD and Catalase in PBMCs of freshly diagnosed essential hypertensive patients as compared to normotensive healthy controls. Further, correlate the antioxidant enzyme activities with oxidative stress in terms of 8-iso-Prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α) in both groups. Methods: Forty-eight patients and age, BMI-matched 48 controls were recruited. Catalase and SOD activities were measured in PBMC-lysates using Enzyme-Linked-Immunosorbent-Assay (ELISA). 8-iso-PGF2α levels in serum and urine of all subjects were also measured using ELISA. Results: Significantly lower (5.1-fold, p<0.001) Catalase activity was found in patients as compared to controls. Similar but non-significant trend (1.3-fold) was observed for SOD.8-iso-PGF2α levels were significantly higher in serum (11.3-fold, p<0.001) and urine (4.8-fold, p<0.001) of patients as compared to controls. In patients, activity of SOD showed positive correlation with that of Catalase (rs=0.383, p=0.007) and serum 8-iso-PGF2α levels (rs=0.459, p=0.001). While in controls, Catalase activity correlated negatively with 8-iso-PGF2α (rs=-0.344, p=0.017). Conclusion: This study reports significantly increased oxidative stress in hypertensive patients accompanied by a simultaneous decrease in the antioxidant enzyme activities of Catalase and SOD in their PBMCs. A direct correlation between SOD activity and oxidative stress suggests its defensive position while Catalase seems to adopt a submissive role in defence system in case of essential hypertension.


Abstract:This essay examines the importance of isolation to the self-development of midwestern women in Willa Cather's early novels, O Pioneers! and The Song of the Lark. Cather employs the natural physical isolation of the Great Plains and the Arizona desert to give her protagonists physical space for their work. Unlike some of Cather's other works, such as My Ántonia, which focus more on the negative effects of physical isolation, Cather offers in these novels a more complicated portrait of isolation's value to women who need independence from their communities in order to explore the widely dissimilar fields of agriculture and opera. While Cather does not shy away from the mental toll of isolation on her characters, she demonstrates the vital role that physical isolation plays in their successful careers.


Considering some closed-loop supply chains (CLSC) gives little money to improve its operation system environmentally, an evolutionary game model of the strategy selection of the government supervision and the CLSC's environmental investment is set up. The evolutionary stable strategy (ESS) is explored in six different circumstances, and some numerical simulation experiments are made to discover the impact of the decision parameters' values and the two initial population rates on the ESS. The results show: (1) When there is high income from the investment, CLSCs will invest money to improve its environmental operation ability no matter whether the governments supervise or not. (2) When income from the investment is not very large, the governments need to increase the punishment and reward values, and implement some incentive policies to improve the development of environmental techniques in order to decrease the investment cost for CLSCs. Citation: Wang J, Huang X, Xu L (2019) The Strategy Selection of Government Supervision and Closed-loop Supply Chain's Environmental Investment: An Evolutionary Game Approach. Arts Social Sci J 10: 446.


In order to determine the main controlling parameters of supercritical water oxidation process for municipal sludge treatment,experiment was carried out in batch type supercritical water oxidation reactor.The result shows that under the pressure 26 MPa,temperature 420 ℃,retention time 155 s,and over dosing of oxidant 325%,COD in reactive liquid is less than 10 mg/L;metal salt and silt are deposited in the reactor,and thus achieving a good separation effect.The volume of final residual solid product is only 1.2% of the thickened sludge.


When people attribute human characteristics to nonhuman objects they are amenable to anthropomorphism. For example, human faces or the insertion of personalized labels are found to trigger anthropomorphism. Two studies examine the effects of these features when included in decorative pictures in multimedia learning materials. In a first experiment, 81 university students were randomly assigned to 1 cell of a 2 (human faces vs. no faces in pictures) × 2 (personalized vs. nonpersonalized labels of pictures) between-subjects, factorial design. In addition to learning performance, cognitive, motivational, and emotional impacts of anthropomorphism are examined. Results show that both human faces and anthropomorphic labels were able to increase the learning performance on cognitive assessments. However, only human faces were able to influence motivational and emotional ratings significantly. In a second experiment, 108 secondary school students were randomly assigned to 3 groups (anthropomorphized pictures, nonanthropomorphized pictures, and no pictures) in order to evaluate possible advantages of anthropomorphism in decorative pictures in learning materials. Results show again that anthropomorphized pictures are better for learning than nonanthropomorphized pictures and also better than a control group. Results are discussed in the light of a debate on the inclusion or exclusion of decorative pictures.


1. Studying improvement 2. Research into effectiveness, improvement and literacy 3. The national survey 4. The impact of the local education authority 5. The organisation of literacy in schools and classrooms 6. Teachers' beliefs and classroom practice 7. Teaching reading skills 8. Support from parents, classroom assistants, librarians 9. Case studies of individual classrooms 10. The pupil perspective 11. Pupil case studies 12. Implications for policy and practice Bibliography Index


Stains and discolorations are usually defined as objectionable color or appearance of the lumber. These may occur on the lumber surface or within the wood itself. The discolorations or stains may be in streaks, in patches, or in irregular areas. In some cases, they may occur throughout the wood. Usually stains or discolorations do not significantly impact the major physical, mechanical, or processing properties of the wood. There are, however, exceptions. For example, heavy blue stain may reduce toughness and increase permeability. Some mineral streaks are more prone to hairline checking during drying than the normal wood of that species. Mineral streaks in hard maple and red gum are examples of this situation. Stains and discolorations in lumber are not new. They have always been around to some extent. What is different today is the market demands. The emphasis in today's market is for "bright white" woods, with "clear" or "natural" finishes. May times this makes even the smallest amount of stain objectionable. Complicating these market demands is the changing nature of the timber resource. We are presently using younger, smaller diameter material than in the past. More lumber is being cut from near the pith and within the juvenile wood area. We are cutting timber from poorer sites and have a greater variation in the species mix. All these factors may influence the extent and frequency of stain potential. Finally, climatic factors play a role in the risk of stain and discoloration in lumber. Periods of prolonged wet, humid, and warm weather increase the risk substantially. Mild, warm winters also increase the risk.


– The research objective was to assess the challenges of transition that firms face in adopting a market orientation in China, as the basis for providing a context‐specific explanation of market orientation., – A sample from the He Bei Light Industry Directory was selected by the systematic‐selection‐from‐lists procedure. The survey instrument was adapted from the widely used MARKOR scale., – Although some of the early results are consistent with those obtained in the West, an underlying lacuna needs to be addressed in order for a useful culture‐sensitive interpretation of market orientation to be offered vis‐a‐vis locale‐specific knowledge., – While there can be little doubt that market orientation delivers superior performance in developed western economies, implementations in many transition‐economy contexts reveal a range of paradoxes, which point to some gaps in both the theory and practice of marketing., – A useful explanation of market orientation in transition economies should necessarily embed an approach that accommodates the institutional peculiarities of the environment under study, focusing the temporal, spatial and wider socio‐cultural and historical characteristics of marketing itself.


A person is diagnosed with hypertension if there is an increase in systolic blood 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure 90 mmHg. Treatment of hypertension aims to reduce morbidity and mortality. Hypertensive patients receiving polypharmacy pharmacological therapy are at risk of developing DRPs. The purpose of this study was to identify the incidence of Drug Related Problems (DRPs) in the use of antihypertensives in hypertensive patients at Azzahra Kalirejo General Hospital, Central Lampung in 2021. This study was non-experimental with a retrospective descriptive design, then identified using the classification of DRPs according to Robert J. Cipolle EL. Pharmaceutical Care Practice and Medscape and Drug Interaction Chacker applications to identify drug interactions, and use the Medication Possession Ratio (MPR) formula to identify patient non-compliance. Based on the results of research at Azzahra Kalirejo General Hospital, Central Lampung, of the 135 samples that met the inclusion criteria, 80% of the samples experienced DRPs. Based on gender characteristics, there were 50.37% male and 49.62% female with 0% of patients aged <25 years, age 26-45 years 30.3%, age 46-65 years 57.8% and age > 65 years 11.8%. The most widely prescribed antihypertensive drug was furosemide as much as 42.2%, the most antihypertensive combination was a combination of two drugs as much as 57%. The most use of non antihypertensive drugs is PPI and analgesics as much as 12.8%. Cases of DRPs requiring additional therapy were 1.9%, drug therapy was not necessary 7.4% cases, inappropriate drugs 4.6% cases, doses too low and high in 0% cases, drug interactions were 77.8% with major severity 11.7%, minor 34.5% cases and moderate as many as 53.7%, patient non-compliance with DRPs occurred in 51.9% cases.
 Keywords:  Antihipertensive, DRPs, Furosemide, Hypertension


The purpose in this study is to examine the innovation and adoption of four important steelmaking technologies - the electric arc furnace, continuous casting, pulverised coal injection, and direct reduction processes. The continued development and adoption of these steelmaking technologies will undoubtedly have an important influence on the nature of the world steel economy, as well as the demand for raw inputs to steelmaking. As a major exporter of raw steelmaking materials, such as iron ore and coking coal, Australia's trade performance will be directly affected by the adoption of these technologies.


The Liber Mahameleth is a work on commercial arithmetic written in the mid-twelfth century and based on Arabic material. The quotation of the first two pages in Dominicus Gundissalvi's On the Divis...


The present invention provides a display section capable of displaying a plurality of fundus tomographic image inside the device. Image pick-up device, as an image pickup device for measuring the movement of the eye to be examined, acquires the scanning unit, and a plurality of fundus images in the eye to be examined at different times, that is configured to scan the measuring light to acquire a tomographic image in the subject's eye, the plurality of a fundus image in each of which measures a fundus image acquisition unit, by using the plurality of feature image each of the feature image measuring the respective movements of the movement in the eye to be examined, and the respective movement that is configured to include a plurality of feature image after, the measurement section configured to measure at least one of rotation and magnification in the subject's eye by using the plurality of feature image, wherein the measurement of each motion, and on the basis of at least one of the said measurement the rotation and scale parts of the injection and a control unit configured to control.


When the conflict is managed with an appropriate strategy, the organization is increasing the efficiency of the work and raising the motivation of the employees. Being able to comprehend the inner workings of conflicts and conflicts between groups and to manage these conflicts well is an inevitable role for the manager and the employee. This research aims to examine conflict strategies of Physical Education teachers working in public and private high schools in central districts of Ankara. In addition, it was determined whether there is a difference between the conflict strategies used by the physical education teachers participating in the research and whether they had gender, occupational seniority, age, duration of work at the school, previous seminars on conflict management strategies, educational status and school type variables and conflict strategies. The universe of the research is a total of 412 physical education teachers, 114 of which are private high schools in Ankara and 298 are teachers working in official high schools. Of these, 275 physical education teachers (special 55, official 220) constitute the sample of the research. The teachers who participated in the questionnaire were selected by appropriate / favorable sampling method. As data collection tools; "Personal Information Form" for determining the conflict strategies of physical education teachers and "Conflict Management Strategies Scale" developed by Ozgan (2006) were used. The Reliability study of the scale was performed with SPSS Reliability, and the reliability coefficient of Cronbach Alpha (α) internal consistency method was found to be .90.  In the analysis of the data, frequency, mean and standard deviations were examined, and t-test was used in binary groups. One-way ANOVA (one-way analysis of variance) was used in more than one group. In the tests p <0.05 significance level was taken into consideration. According to the findings obtained at the end of the analyzes; there was no significant difference in conflict strategies according to variables such as age, education level, occupational seniority, duration of duty at school, previous conflict management strategies, and gender and school type variables of physical education teachers. As a result, it is seen that the physical education teachers working in Ankara use the most integration strategy. Avoidance is the least used strategy. Consequently, it is said that physical education teachers' working at official and state schools in Ankara does not affect the conflict management strategies they used.


The traditional tactical network topology display system displays in a virtuallized logical environment. It makes no full utilization of node location information,for some limitations such as existence of single display,unable to analyze the topology and so on. GIS( Geographic Information System) endows the tactical network topology with some new features,and remedies many limitations of the traditional network topology rendering technology. Based on the research of GIS- based tactical internet network topology rendering technology,the common approach to GIS network topology rendering technology is proposed,and it achieves fairly good display results in the application environment of actual network management software.


Are there any experts who successfully predicted how the Ukrainian crisis would unfold after the Euromaidan revolution? On the one hand, the "Russian spring" project obvi-ously failed: Vladimir Putin's call for consolidating "Novorussia" did not catch the hearts of people beyond the limited part of Donbass. For example, after the launch of anti-terrorist operations in spring 2014, even such a Russified eastern city as Dnipropetrovsk turned blue-and-yellow, full with volunteer citizens supporting the government forces, thereby exhibiting the rise of Ukrainian patriotism. However, that was not the end of the story. During the national parliament elections in October, 2014 in the same Dnipropetrovsk Oblast the Opposition Bloc consisting of former Party-of-Regions members that did not endorse the Euromaidan surpassed the president's party, Petro Poroshenko Bloc. Other eastern regions such as Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia mirrored Dnipropetrovsk in their electoral behavior. These snapshot observations speak for them-selves: the social and political dynamics in Ukraine is much more complicated than is routinely described with the popular "east-west divide" discourse. Most them, however, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army as well as the collapse of the USSR and the country's independence. In the ordered logit estimation with these principal component scores, the effect of the regional factor was mediated by historical memory in all eastern regions in -Keywords:


Research in entrepreneurship and life cycle theories of the firm have both suggested that new ventures may outgrow the managerial capabilities of their founding teams, at which point the founders m...


To investigate the effects of Pttkn1 gene on plant morphogenesis and development of vascular tissue,the gene was introduced into Nicotiana tabacum L.using the leaf disc method mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens,and then transgenic plants were analyzed by RT-PCR.A series of novel phenotypes were observed in the transgenic tobacco plants,including wrinkled leaves,lobed leaves,cup-shaped leaves,ectopic stems on the leaves and yellow or green knots on the petioles,leaves and stems.Moreover,the venations of transgenic plants were disordered.The RT-PCR analysis indicated that Pttkn1 gene expressed strongly in transgenic plants resistant to kanamucin,but not in wild-type tobacco and wrinkled leaves of tissue-cultured plants from the wild type.The results showed that Pttkn1 gene had been introduced into tobacco and played a role in the morphogenesis and development of vascular tissue in plant.


Daruwalla is one who is good in presenting what he sees and one who is non-committal and who has a neutral approach. Daruwalla, though outwardly may be ironic and sarcastic in his tone and the manner in which he describes what he sees, has all the sympathy of the society he sees around. He is an individual who has experienced the impact of the post-independence trauma, the formation of India and Pakistan, the formative period of 'India Union'. The vision he had, the reality he saw around were poles apart. The Western education he had, the post he held and the reality that he experienced are reflected in his poems. He gives us a panoramic picture of Indian landscape where there are contradictions galore. This paper is an attempt to probe the sensibility of Daruwalla as a poet who has a deep concern of the Indian society though he has not explicitly expressed his concern of the Indian society his choice of subject and theme and his vivid depiction of the unhealthy practices of the people are nothing but his concern for the society. He is able to express his sympathy of the Indian society in a subtle way in both the poems: "Graft" and "Death by Burial".


The issue of managing obsolescence is becoming more and more topical, this is due to the very nature of the technology that evolves and makes it iteratively obsolescent itself. Obviously, each technical sector becomes obsolete in different way and in the different time, therefore, every technology has its own obsolescence curve. This paper identifies a method to define, measure and manage this risk. The implementation of this method offers the opportunity for a significant improvement in the life span of the systems. The method allows, in the design phase, to correct those elements that statistically most influence, in terms of obsolescence, on the degradation of the life expectancy of the complex system.


With the significant improvement of human civilization there is a spur in the urban, rural and industrial development, which has a profound effect on the surrounding natural environment. Increased utilization of natural resources is often associated with accumulation of waste materials whose management is crucial for sustainable development of life. Availability of different microorganisms in the soil facilitates the degradation of wastes through their potential enzymatic activities. Pectinase seems to be one of the important enzymes produced by a wide variety of microorganisms contained in the soil. It is mainly involved in maceration and rotting of plant extracts and debris by hydrolysis of 1,4-alpha glycosidic bonds of de-esterified pectate of plant call wall. In this paper we report molecular identification of some pectinase producing Aspergillus species selected from soil samples of five different zones of Bhubaneswar city using molecular biology and computational techniques. Among fifteen fungal isolates studied from these five zones Aspergillus parvisclerotigenus was potent for pectinase production next to Aspergillus niger in form of halozone of 0.6 mm. It's 28S rDNA sequence also had some significant identity (>90%) with different subspecies of Aspergillus. We hope that our findings will helpful in genetic manipulation for improvement of fungal strains of isolates. Again large scale use of the improved Aspergillus strains can degrade plant biomass & diverse industrial wastes which will reduce environmental pollution of capital urban like Bhubaneswar.


Excitation of the circularly polarized (CP) aperture-coupled hemispherical dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) using a parasitic patch is studied. The analysis consists of two parts, namely the DRA with a parasitic patch and the microstrip feed line. In this paper, theoretical results on the return loss and radiation field pattern are presented.


While tourist emotions elicited at dark tourism sites are well understood, little is known about residents' experiences at local dark tourism sites. This study explores residents' emotional experiences at dark tourism sites, the cognitive appraisals of their experiences and emotions, and the coping strategies they deploy to address them. In-depth interviews with 37 residents of Christchurch, New Zealand (site of the Canterbury earthquakes), reveal that residents cognitively appraised their experience at local dark tourism sites on important facets such as centrality and controllability. Visits to local dark tourism sites embodied memories of the disaster that elicit more negative (e.g., sadness) than positive emotions (e.g., gratefulness). Residents coped through seeking comfort from others or positive reappraisal of the experience. Furthermore, visits to dark tourism sites are in and of themselves a coping strategy for residents postdisaster. Implications for the development of dark tourism attractions and support for resident well-being are offered.


The aim of the article was to present issues related to the strength analysis of one of the types of assembly joints - welded joints, taking into account the influence of selected factors: technological - welding method, construction - type of joints and material - type of joined material. The MIG/MAG method (135/136), arc welding (111) and gas welding (311) were used as welding methods. Butt joints and lap joints were made of CuZn37 copper alloy (PN-EN 1652), S235JR unalloyed structural steel (EN 10025) and 1.4301 acid-resistant steel (EN 10088). Welded joints samples were made with appropriate parameters, according to the welding methods. Strength tests of welded joints on MTS BIONIX 370.02 testing machine, in accordance with the PN-EN 1465 standard Based on the obtained test results, it can be seen that the value of stresses and deformations is affected by both the welding method and the type of joint structure, while the type of material to be welded should also be taken into account.


This photo-essay is an exploration of some of the decaying facilities of Sarajevo's Winter Olympics, held just a few years before war broke out in the region and the city fell under siege. While some facilities are still in use (although in need of modernisation), others were completely or partially destroyed during the years of the siege, and still others were used actively to assist combat. The lack of governmental and economic functionality in Bosnia and Herzegovina today means that these facilities are effectively left to rot, unable to be maintained or rebuilt, but too significant to the city's history to be removed. As the citizens of Sarajevo fight for the improvement of their situation today, these Olympic structures provide a reminder of what the city can become, as well as what it has lost.


This paper describes a manual method for rapid human decoding of digital data recorded on film. This method provides visual enhancement of tiny digital data for more effective human decision making from image presentations. The Department of Defense has directed the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps to use the common reconnaissance/ mapping data marking system established by MIL-STD-782B(Wep). All existing data marking systems are to be converted to the binary-coded-decimal system described in this standard. This simple manual method provides a means for the photo interpreter to perform relatively rapid, yet accurate decoding and recording of the binary coded decimal (BCD) data. The tiny BCD bits are magnified by a rear projection system, so that they are easily read by eye and provide sufficient spacing for rapid annotation of each character on a specially designed mask. This mask serves a dual purpose: 1. Grouping the data bits functionally for rapid identification and reading under all specified positions of the CMB. 2. Providing a media for recording the data being read which can be reused or kept for record purposes. The compact projection system is designed for maximum light transmission so that it can use existing diffused light sources. It is simply placed over the tactical reconnaissance film being viewed on any direct viewing light table.


Since 1957 which marked the peak in industrial hiring geology major students of the American universities have been experiencing much difficulties in finding professional employment and many trained geologists have registered themselves as unempolyed. To remedy this situation and to find solutions, efforts have been made by the geologists, both on the academic and industrial sides. Industrial-Academic Relations Committee (AAPG), Curriculum and Standard Committee (NAGT), GEO-Study (AGI), etc. are the products of such efforts and they have provided us the real pictures of these problems and the prospects of solutions. In this paper the writers are going to introduce these problems of the American geologists, based mainly on the data provided by these committees, and also on Shenon's presidental address "Economic Geology Today and Tomorrow" delivered at the 1962 Annual Meeting of SEG. They also refer to the present situation of the geology education and employment of geology major students in the Japanese universities as compared to the problems in the United States.


Currently, graphite (Gr) and potassium metal are two typical and widely used anodes for potassium‐ion batteries (PIBs). Unfortunately, the inevitable electrochemical prepotassiation of Gr anode and the unprocessable nature of K metal hinder the advancement of potassium‐ion pouch cells. There is an urgent need to develop alternative anodes for promoting the practical applications of PIBs. Herein, KC8 is proposed as a specialized anode for the research of PIBs. By taking a chemical prepotassiation strategy, a large‐area KC8 foil is successfully fabricated for the first time. Through molecularly tailoring K‐arene complex, the Gibb's free energy of the Gr prepotassiation reaction can be changed, thus enabling accurate preparation of pure‐phase KC8.The size‐controllable KC8 anode exhibits a high areal capacity of 1.49 mAh cm−2 comparable to the commercial Gr anode used in lithium‐ion batteries. Based on this, a stackable pouch cell delivers an unprecedented high capacity of 106 mAh and high energy density >100 Wh kg−1cathode+anode. This work highlights the prospect of scalable KC8 foil anodes to achieve practical PIBs.


Silver-filled polymer coatings are used to ensure the cathodic junction of tantalum capacitors. To polimerize new materials able to resist to the RTSH industrial test, we studied first the physical chemistry of the main commercial coatings used at the present time. Four commercial silver coatings (epoxy, polyester, polyimid, and polyacrylate binders) and one conductive epoxy adhesive were tested. We separated the silver flakes from the polymer binder by centrifugation and filtration. We analyzed the thermal degradation and stability of the two kinds of sample (with the without silver flakes) using DSC and TGA. The influence of fillers mixing is discussed. This article reports, also, the main chemical structures of the binder components, determined using 1H- and 13C-NMR and elemental analysis, after HPLC or GPC fractionation. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


This study evaluated the protective effect of ColdZyme on common cold infections in elite athletes from three different sports (biathlon, ice-hockey and handball), and assessed the level of reduction in corresponding sick days. The biathlon team (n = 11) and the ice-hockey team (n = 29) significantly reduced the average number of sick days by 51% respectively 67% compared to historical data. No historical data on sick days was available for the handball team but 76% of those who experiences a cold during the study period reported little or very little impact on training and competition. Conclusion: Using ColdZyme may be an easy and practical way for elite athletes to protect themselves against the common cold and to prevent corresponding unwanted absence from training and competition.


ABSTRACT The lignin peroxidases of Phanerochaete chrysosporiumare encoded by a minimum of 10 closely related genes. Physical and genetic mapping of a cluster of eight lip genes revealed six genes occurring in pairs and transcriptionally convergent, suggesting that portions of the lip family arose by gene duplication events. The completed sequence of lipG andlipJ, together with previously published sequences, allowed phylogenetic and intron/exon classifications, indicating two main branches within the lip family. Competitive reverse transcription-PCR was used to assess lip transcript levels in both carbon- and nitrogen-limited media. Transcript patterns showed differential regulation of lip genes in response to medium composition. No apparent correlation was observed between genomic organization and transcript levels. Both constitutive and upregulated transcripts, structurally unrelated to peroxidases, were identified within the lip cluster.


Until recently, the rare-earth elements (REEs) were familiar to a relatively small number of people, such as chemists, geologists, specialized materials scientists, and engineers. In the 21st century, the REEs have gained visibility through many media outlets because (1) the public has recognized the critical, specialized properties that REEs contribute to modern technology, as well as (2) China's dominance in production and supply of the REEs and (3) international dependence on China for the majority of the world's REE supply. Since the late 1990s, China has provided 85 – 95 percent of the world's REEs. In 2010, China announced their intention to reduce REE exports. During this timeframe, REE use increased substantially. REEs are used as components in high technology devices, including smart phones, digital cameras, computer hard disks, fluorescent and light-emitting-diode (LED) lights, flat screen televisions, computer monitors, and electronic displays. Large quantities of some REEs are used in clean energy and defense technologies. Because of the many important uses of REEs, nations dependent on new technologies, such as Japan, the United States, and members of the European Union, reacted with great concern to China's intent to reduce its REE exports. Consequently, exploration activities intent on discovering economic deposits of REEs and bringing them into production have increased.


The traditional trash management system follows a daily timetable that is inefficient and costly. People don't recycle their waste properly, so the current recycle bin has to prove its worth to the general public. With the emergence of the internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) (AI). The old waste management system is replaced with good detectors implanted in the system to perform real-time observation and allow for higher waste management the degree of trash filling. To convey data about, the LoRa communication protocol is employed. The goal of this study is to create a smart waste management system using the LoRa communication protocol and a deep learning model based on TensorFlow. TensorFlow performs real-time object identification and classification, while LoRa provides device information.TensorFlow performs real-time object identification and classification, while LoRa provides device information. The bin is divided into several compartments for garbage separation, including metal, plastic, paper, and general waste divisions, all of which are controlled by servo motors. Using the TensorFlow framework and a pre-trained object identification model, object detection and waste classification are completed. As a consequence of the most method unit, this object detection model is trained with images of rubbish to produce a frozen abstract thinking graph that is utilised for object recognition and completed through a camera connected to the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. Each garbage compartment has an unheard detector that monitors the bin's location, real-time status, and filling level.


This JAMA Patient Page summarizes the US Preventive Services Task Force's recommendations on use of hormone therapy for prevention of chronic conditions in postmenopausal individuals.


We present a new method for modeling organ deformations due to successive resections. We use a biomechanical model of the organ, compute its volume-displacement solution based on the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM). The key feature of XFEM is that material discontinuities induced by every new resection can be handled without remeshing or mesh adaptation, as would be required by the conventional Finite Element Method (FEM). We focus on the application of preoperative image updating for image-guided surgery. Proof-of-concept demonstrations are shown for synthetic and real data in the context of neurosurgery.


The acceleration of civilization development imposes new requirements on mathematical education. Its special role is caused by the fact that mathematics is used worldwide in all spheres of life. Secondary general mathematical education in the current environment is becoming increasingly more significant for the educational policy of the society and the state. Measurable educational results, in this case, are the indicators of the personal achievements of students when studying mathematics. The research aims to give the reasons why among the existing terminological variety, the definition of mathematical erudition is selected as the assessment of personal achievements of students of general educational institutions in the subject area of Mathematics, to describe the developed and approved diagnostic tools for assessing mathematical erudition of the students of general educational institutions. The research is based on the qualitative approach to studying scientific-pedagogical literature and the analysis of pedagogical practice, which allowed working out the author's position in identifying the individual educational achievements of students when learning mathematics. The author proposes using the concept of mathematical erudition as a result of learning mathematics treated as a personal achievement. The paper presents the author's interpretation of this concept. The author considers a three-level model of mathematical erudition, which includes elementary mathematical literacy, functional mathematical literacy, and mathematical competence. The author developed a structural-functional model of mathematical erudition, consisting of four components: 1) motivational-axiological; 2) conceptual-regulative; 3) procedural; 4) subject-and-activity-based. The diagnostic toolkit for assessing the mathematical erudition of students of general education institutions has been developed and tested. It is possible to use these tools to assess subject learning results. The author notes that it is possible to improve mathematical erudition at all steps of school mathematical education in the general education institutions through designing mathematical education, which will allow creating the conditions for the students' temptations and needs fulfilment.


The article describes the meanings and features of speech etiquette. Etiquette and speech etiquette have been also analyzed. Etiquette is a set of rules of conduct, ensuring the maintenance of the perceptions of suitable manners and a manner of courtesy and mutual respect in a society provided.


Detection of the spam emails within a set of email files has become challenging task for researchers. Identification of an effective classifier is based not only on high accuracy of detection but also on low false alarm rates, and the need to use as few features as possible. In view of these challenges, this research examines the effects of using features selected by four feature subset selection methods (i.e. Genetic, Greedy Stepwise, Best First, and Rank Search) on popular Machine Learning Classifiers like Bayesian, Naive Bayes, Support Vector Machine, Genetic Algorithm, J48 and Random Forest. Tests were performed on three different publicly available spam email datasets: "Enron", "SpamAssassin" and "LingSpam". Results show that, Greedy Stepwise Search method is a good method for feature subset selection for spam email detection. Among the Machine Learning Classifiers, Support Vector Machine has been found to be the best classifier both in terms of accuracy and False Positive rate. However, results of Random Forest were very close to that of Support Vector Machine. The Genetic classifier was identified as a weak classifier.


Moved my G+ following graph to Twitter more or less..

Wrote a hacky script to grab twitter URLs using the Google People API. Fed that


In this paper we investigated the canopy characteristics of 21 diaspores(belong to 9 families,16 genera)in the lower reaches of Tarim River,analyzed the diaspores morphology,shape(three-dimension varience),size(sum of three-dimension)and weight(100-grain weight)characteristics,etc.The ecological adapting strategies are further probed into.The results show that:(1)There were 13 plants can use canopy to avoid environmental disturbance among the studied 21 desert plants;7 diaspores have hairs,2 diaspores have alulaes,1 diaspore has awn,3 diaspores have pappus.They can use wind power to spread and settle,in addition,they can also use quickly germination property to adapt to the local ecological water supply;5 diaspores shape stands aloof from round sphere(three-dimension variance≥0.126)and 6 diaspores shape close to round sphere(three-dimension variance0.06).(2)In terms of the special shape of diaspores,5 diaspores with quickly germination property(with cylindrical,cone and tadpole-shape)and 8 diaspores with persistent soil seed bank(three-dimension variance≤0.1 and sum of three-dimension ≤2.75 mm)use their complementary ecologic adaptation strategy to reproduce in the lower reaches of Tarim River;13 small and light diaspores(sum of three-dimension≤2.75 mm,single-grain weight 1 mg)mainly have r-type life history strategy and 4 large and heavy diaspores(sum of three-dimension≥4.8 mm,single-grain weight3.3 mg)use the complementary ecologic adaptation strategy to keep local living creature diverse in a level.(3)The period from July to September was the time that annual herb,perennial herb,(semi)shrub and arbor throw seeds to land.Therefore,the water supply should be focused on this period to promote the most germination quantity.


The results of the Russian-language adaptation of the questionnaire «Measuring experiential avoidance» with 32 and 16 questions (Hayes, 2004) and «Acceptance and Action Questionnaire» with 9 and 7 questions (Bond, 2011) are presented. This questionnaire s measures an individual tendency of avoiding experience and action. The sample consisted of 313 respondents, age ranged from 17 to 64 years, with average years 34.25, 70% are female. In 32-question version received Cronbach's Alpha 0.773, but low CFI parameters. In 16-question version Cronbach Alpha is 0.78, also low CFI parameters. In 9-question version received Cronbach Alpha 0.649, which is sufficient for this type of scales, and the required CFI scores. The 7-question version gave Cronbach's Alpha 0.659 and the required CFI parameters. The validity of the scales checked by comparison of clinical groups and the results were satisfactory. The retest reliability was carried out after 3 months, checked by the Pearson correlation method and gave the results r = 0.84, with p <0.001. Variants with 32 and 16 questions gave results comparable to those of the original English language, and the scales with 7 and 9 questions meet all modern statistical requirements and are highly valid.


The effect of spatial resolution on the overall classification error of remotely sensed image data is studied based on simulated images containing two classes of objects. Though containing more detailed ground information, the images of finer spatial resolution do not necessarily achieve higher classification accuracy. This study considered this problem by decomposing the overall classification error into (a) the pure-pixel classification error and (b) the mixed-pixel classification error, for spatial resolution has opposite effects on them. The pixel maximum likelihood classifier was used. Significant parameters considered in this simulation include the ratio of the ground sampling distance to the object field size, and the class variance normalized by class mean difference. Various values of these parameters were used to obtain the relationship between classification errors and spatial resolution. Primary results include: (i) A valley may occur in the relation of the overall classification error versus the ratio of the ground sampling distance to the object field size. (ii) The overall classification error decreases with increasing spatial resolution if the class variance remains constant. (iii) The pure-pixel classification error is a nondecreasing function of spatial resolution.


This paper is designed for the 2nd Freescale Cup National Undergraduate Smart Car Competition. With MC9S12DG128 single chip and smart car model supplied by the committee, a CMOS image sensor is applied to detect the black track on white raceway, which extends the detection range and is helpful to predict the forward path. In this paper, ten-line pixels in an image are analyzed to locate the black track, and the PD algorithm based on PID is employed to control the direction and angle of the steering gear respectively. By repeated testing, the smart car can run stably on the given raceway at a high speed.


The article is devoted to topical issues of economic security of Russia as the most important function of state management. These issues are discussed from the standpoint of the well-known theory of interest, according to which economic security should be seen as protection of its national interests in the economic sphere. The author points out that the main cause of insecurity of the economic of modern Russia is the inprotection of its economic interests from various threats. He also offers ways to protect national economic interests of our country.


As preserved egg is becoming an important branch of egg processing industry, how to detect the crack on preserved eggshell through a fast and nondestructive method is an important segment of improving the quality of the preserved egg. This paper analyzed the different kinds of image processing methods based on the machine vision technology. It was concluded that the morphological image processing method was better to detect cracks on preserved eggshell. according to the characteristic values of parameters, this paper established a model of detecting preserved eggshell crack, and this detection rate was 88% for the cracked eggshells and about 87% for the intact eggshells.


Corruption in public finance erodes the public trust and confidence in the public sector. The macroeconomic costs of corruption in this sector are enormous. Failure to embrace the culture of proper management of public finance is a major obstacle for community development, particularly due to inadequate levels of accountability and transparency in the handling of public finance. The outcome has been that of social and economic instability in the country. Given this environment, in-depth knowledge of financial management is a must for leaders and policymakers in today's economic growth. Enhancing community through competitive and sustainable economy is listed as first thrust area of rural development in Malaysia. The government is seriously concern on this issue in the rural planning towards achieving sustainable village communities. The Rural Development Policy (DPLB) 2030, was formulated to create a prosperous rural community in many aspects of life. The efforts began, giving emphasis on the community rulers in the planning and management of the village economic activities and development program. It is therefore important to understand how concept of financial acumen facilitate the community rulers to create a sustainable, competitive and prosperous communities. A Holistic Financial Acumen Model is highly referred in understanding financial responsibility, yet the inclusion of awareness, knowledge, skill, attitude and behaviour relatively none. Exploratory sequential mixed method research design will be employed, which combined qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (questionnaires) to develop a Holistic Financial Acumen Model, that is expected to serve as a tool for efficient and effective financial planning for the long term economic well being of the communities. Strong financial acumen underpins sustainable decision making, which has a significant impact towards supporting Malaysia to become a developed country by 2025 and high income nation.


CERTAIN data obtainable only from studies of learning are essential in any thorough-going program of curriculum construction. Investigations of curriculum objectives serve only to define the specific goals to be attained by education. The curriculum must also provide for the pupil activities by means of which the objectives may be reached. To determine the types of school experiences which enable pupils to attain the desired objectives is a necessary step before the units of work which the curriculum provides can be put into operation. The necessity for such investigations of learning may, perhaps, best be shown by illustration. Consider the curriculum in handwriting. The determination of objectives sets certain goals in this field relative to legibility, fluency, and speed in forming the letters and words necessary in written expression. These are the objectives of the handwriting curriculum. But the curriculum should also indicate the types of experience by means of which pupils may acquire the desired proficiency in writing. At this point the importance of such studies of learning as those of Gates, Hertzberg, and Taylor in which evidence is obtained of the relative effectiveness of learning to write by copying models or by tracing letters should be apparent. These investigators found that copying from models was the more effective learning activity. This type of evidence is necessary in order to construct a curriculum which provides superior learning activities. To distinguish between these studies of learning which are necessary to curriculum construction and those which are a part of a science of teaching method is difficult. The latter type of studies is to be summarized in a forthcoming issue of this Review and should not be duplicated here. Perhaps it is sufficient to make a rather arbitrary selection so as to include in this chapter the various types of investigations which appear to provide a basis for the selection of units of work for courses of study.


abstract Betty Makoni's autobiography, Never again: Not to any woman or girl again, is a text that works to inform an understanding of the meaning of feminist advocacy against gender violence in Zimbabwe. It documents Makoni's life of activism against the exploitation, oppression and violation of the girl child in Zimbabwe. We argue that activism affords numerous positions for the production of agency. This is demonstrated in the manner in which Makoni uses her life's story, making use of the political tools of writing to advocate for women's rights, showing how she changed from being a victim to being a survivor. Autobiography as a site for the self, inscribes how she moves from the private sphere to engage the public sphere to lead a movement of girls and later establish an empowerment model. Zimbabwean national politics compel Makoni to endure the effects of social silencing at the same time revealing the oppressive character of the nation. Self-reflexivity and conscience catalyse her activism in the public domain. When Makoni's continued advocacy is constrained one of her strategies is to move between online and offline activism - social media, and radio and print – to negotiate the political spaces of lawlessness at a time when the violence against women and the girl child is rife. In her feminist advocacy model we see reconceptualised and reconstructed female subjectivities and identity positions, different from those imposed by patriarchy. Makoni's advocacy for girl child empowerment gains traction in Zimbabwe, mentoring many thousands of girls, engaging communities and through lobbying for policy change it expands across several countries and continents.


In his column, AWWA Executive Director Gary Zimmerman recounts a recent episode of airplane travel delays, missing connecting flights, and lost luggage. He uses this example to illustrate how any one of a multitude of variables has the capacity to disrupt water distribution at any given moment. He provides a brief introduction of the distribution issues presented in this month's JOURNAL.


Urine cytology evaluation is an effective test in the detection of high‐grade urothelial carcinoma (HGUC). While the guideline distinguishes the 2 categories: "positive for HGUC" (PHGUC) and "suspicious for HGUC" (SHGUC), the association between these categories with their subsequent follow‐up biopsies remains unclear. This study aims to determine and compare the positive predictive value (PPV) of the specimens in PHGUC and SHGUC categories with their respective histologic diagnoses.


Various preparational techniques have been used to fabricate graphite- based bodies which have potential resistance to high-velocity, high-temperature air. Materials have been evaluated in a high-intensity arc testing facility. Results are reported. At least ten compositions have been developed which are superior to either AGKSP graphite or to a graphite--silicon carbide body on the bases of tests imposed. (auth)


Introduction We would all wish to live in societies which are so self-policing that coercive policing by the state would not be necessary, but this Utopia has to remain a dream. If we are to have policing arrangements, they must be of the best; which does not mean the most economically expensive. The best policing must begin with its principles. In some countries a citizen may find fundamentals of policing mentioned in written constitutions, in others he may not. Some, as in the United Kingdom, may have to begin their search for principles in the ordinary law of the land. Principled policing should be of such a nature that it applies to all peoples in all societies, since it concerns reconciliation of the maintenance of order with the protection of freedom, both of which are in a permanent state of conflict. Too much of one means less of the other. Striking the balance between these phenomena is the true goal of the best policing. Societies in which principled policing operates, it is contended, would be less likely to suffer from policing injustices, than they would where policing is driven by political opportunism, professional caprice, or just bad law. There has to be a robust moral objectivity in the way in which policing operates if it is to avoid the worst misuses and abuses of power. To seek rationalization of the police mission, and to give it coherence and form in both theory and practice, has always presented a personal challenge. When leading and managing a major police organization by what is commonly called the 'seat of the pants', a good deal of luck or overweening power is required to avoid the worst results of such professional sin. On the other hand consistency demands that command of policing and formation of policies be based on some coherent formula or framework. Such a formula provides not only consistency and objectivity, but is also available to others far their understanding of the rationale of behaviour behind policy making. My own tried and tested formula was as follows:


Reflecting the commitment to build on the creativity across the borough, Maldens and Coombe Neighbourhood is currently developing a New Malden Town Centre Strategy.


Plant growth characters of sunflower were significantly enhanced with the application of aqueous and acetone extracts of effective concentrations of leaves and roots of Calotropis procera, Solanum surattense, Datura stramonium and Parthenium hysterophorus. Growth of sunflower including shoot, root length, dry weights of shoot and root were significantly high in aqueous extracts of Calotropis leaf and root as against Parthenium, Solanum and Daturaleaf and root extracts. All the treatments of acetone extracts, Calotropis and Parthenium root were effective in enhancing growth parameters of sunflower. The population of R. reniformis in soil and root, 100 days after inoculation showed significant reduction of nematode population in both extracts of Calotropis leaf and root.


Los Glaciares Argentina National Park is located in Andes Patagonicos and it belongs to Santa Cruz province and it limits with Chile country. It was declared Natural Patrimony of Mankind by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1981. An important part of this Park is covered by glaciers and the ice rivers give form to the landscape with abrupt hillsides mountains and wide valleys. Nowadays, the ice occupies approximately an area of 2.600 km2, with 47 major glaciers. The study area of this work is the Glacier Perito Moreno located over Brazo Sur that belongs to the Lago Argentino and the Glaciar Upsala located over Brazo Norte of the same lake. Besides, the environment surrenders of both glaciers are taken into account to carry out a complete study of this important area. Satellite data has proved to be very important for monitoring and evaluating natural resources. The objective of this paper is to carry out a thematic map of the natural resources of this area. In this way the different environment can be identified, characterized and the physiognomic natural forest unities described so a thematic cartography of the different identified unities are obtained. Polarimetric RADARSAT-2 and optical Landsat 5 TM images were used to generate this cartography. Digital processing, supervised classification, polarimetric analysis techniques are applied to integrate radar and optical data, taking into account both technologies at the same time. All the thematic cartography will be added to a GIS.Revista Ciencias Espaciales, Volumen 8, Numero 1 Primavera, 2015; 327-343


Blazars are usually classified following their synchrotron peak frequency ($\nu F(\nu)$ scale) as high, intermediate, low frequency peaked BL Lacs (HBLs, IBLs, LBLs), and flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs), or, according to their radio morphology at large scale, FR~I or FR~II. However, the diversity of blazars is such that these classes seem insufficient to chart the specific properties of each source. We propose to classify a wide sample of blazars following the kinematic features of their radio jets seen in very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). For this purpose we use public data from the MOJAVE collaboration in which we select a sample of blazars with known redshift and sufficient monitoring to constrain apparent velocities. We selected 161 blazars from a sample of 200 sources. We identify three distinct classes of VLBI jets depending on radio knot kinematics: class I with quasi-stationary knots, class II with knots in relativistic motion from the radio core, and class I/II, intermediate, showing quasi-stationary knots at the jet base and relativistic motions downstream. A notable result is the good overlap of this kinematic classification with the usual spectral classification; class I corresponds to HBLs, class II to FSRQs, and class I/II to IBLs/LBLs. We deepen this study by characterizing the physical parameters of jets from VLBI radio data. Hence we focus on the singular case of the class I/II by the study of the blazar BL Lac itself. Finally we show how the interpretation that radio knots are recollimation shocks is fully appropriate to describe the characteristics of these three classes.


Organoids are self-organizing 3D aggregations of cells that represent the structure and function of organs. Kidney organoids have the potential to advance the field of nephrology by providing a tool for the study of human kidney development and disease, by providing a tool for in vitro drug screening, and ultimately, for regenerative therapy. They can be derived from embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells. We aimed to explore for the first time, the potentiality of human adult renal progenitor cells (ARPCs), isolated from urine of healthy subjects and patients, to generate spheroids and organoids for regenerative purpose.

 ARPCs were isolated from urine by immunolabeling. Optical microscopy, immunofluorescence experiments and cytofluorimetric analysis were used to characterize spheroids and organoids. CD133, NANOG, SSA4, OCT 3-4 and GATA-3, SOX2 stemness marker antibodies were used to study spheroids and CD13, Lotus tetragonolobus lectin, ZO-1, uromodulin, and aminopeptidase antibodies were used to investigate renal tubular markers. PKH26 was used to study cell migration from organoids to tubules. Real-time PCR was used to generate gene expression data of aquaporin profile in renal tubules. Chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assays were used as in vivo model for angiogenesis.

 We isolated ARPCs from urine of healthy subjects or CKD patients. Usually, organoids were generated using complicate induction protocols with several chemical factors. However, for the first time we generated renal spheroids and organoids under 3D culture conditions without any stimulation, such as chemokines or growth factors, starting from ARPCs isolated from subject urine. We showed that the spheroids express high levels of stem cell markers as CD133 and NANOG, functional and constitutional marker of ARPCs, and high levels of stem cell markers that normally are low or not at all expressed in ARPCs and are typical of embryonic stem cells: GATA-3, SSEA4, and Sox2. Moreover, the spheroids were able to induce angiogenesis when implanted in chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane. The urine-derived CD133+ organoids can spontaneously generate long renal tubules in 6–12 days, as showed by PKH26 tagging. The renal tubules were positive for the proximal tubule cell markers CD13 (aminopeptidase N), Lotus tetragonolobus lectin and ZO-1. Moreover, renal tubules expressed the aminopeptidase A (CD249) that is normally present in proximal tubules and glomeruli of the kidneys and that catalyzed the conversion of the Angiotensin II in Angiotensin III witch is important in the local regulation of blood pressure. Also uromodulin was expressed by tubules. It is normally present in epithelial cells of the thick ascending limb of Henle's loop, and after proteolytical cleavage, is secreted into urine. In addition, the renal tubules express several genes typical of renal tubules as AQP1 channel protein that facilitates the flow of water molecules into the cells of the proximal tubule and descending limb of the loop of Henle; γGlut enzyme used for the transport of amino acids across cell membranes; Na/H exchanger 1 (SLC9A1), transporter involved in the regulation of pH homeostasis, cell migration and cell volume; Na/Gluc-1 co-transporter SGLUT1, which promotes the passage of glucose across the membrane in renal tubular cells. In some cases, tubule structures were similar to that found in nephrons, including proximal convoluted tubule, Loop of Henle, Distal Convoluted tubule and collecting duct, as shown by optical microscopy.

 For the first time we demonstrated that kidney organoids can be generated starting by urine-derived human adult renal progenitor cells from patients and for the first time we showed that these organoids can generate, spontaneously, without specific stimulation, long portions of renal tubules. These results open new perspectives in the field of the regenerative medicine as ARPCs can be isolated from urine of patients and used to generate spheroids for the study of human kidney development and disease, for in vitro drug screening, and ultimately, for regenerative therapy.


The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the relationship between physical work environment and worker's productivity of selected small and medium scale enterprises in Oyo, state. Two objectives and hypotheses each were formulated for the study. Data was acquired through the administration of a structured questionnaire that highlighted some of the factors related to influence of the workplace on employee productivity. This was administered to one hundred and twenty (120) workers randomly selected from a population of One Hundred (100) SMEs in Oyo state. One hundred and sixteen (116) workers responded. Respondents were from various categories ranging from frontline production, marketing, sales and administrative personnel. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics The results of the study reveal that there was a statistically significant correlation between physical environment/ ergonomics of the workplace and productivity of small- scale enterprises with the value equal to r (116) =.296, p<.0.05.. Similarly, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between social interaction in the workplace and productivity with the value equal to r (116) =.663, p<.05. Based on the findings, it was concluded from the study that the two variables tested have relative noteworthy impacts on the productivity of workers in Oyo State. The study recommends that i. If at all possible, changes should be included into the design and layout to adjust the location to suit different types of personnel.


The Italian State Railways (F.S.) have in service 150 two-and three-axle diesel shunting locomotives equipped with hydrostatic transmission, powered at rates from 150 to 450 hp.In these locomotives some operating characteristics give better performance than locomotives equipped with hydrodynamic transmissions, specifically: easy running reversibility; high flexibility factor which allows elimination of the slow-fast running gears and simplicity of installation.Other theoretical advantages of hydrostatic transmission were found to be unimportant in practice, for example: initial loss of power due to the transmission increases remarkably with service and the braking action is limited by the overrunning of the diesel engine.Disadvantages of the hydrostatic transmissions in service are: the 'rigid' connection between the engine and the axles and the absence of 'coasting'; the maintenance costs of the transmission increase more than linearly with power ratio.In conclusion, the experience of the F.S. with hydro...


Transient pancytopenia preceding acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pre-ALL) is a rare event usually affecting children and adolescents. The aplastic episode may last for only some days or a few weeks and is generally followed by temporary normalization of peripheral blood counts prior to the subsequent development of overt ALL. ALL, usually of B-cell common type and infrequently of T-cell type, occurs in most of such cases within 6 months from the onset of the marrow aplasia. To the best of our knowledge, pre-ALL with a hybrid acute leukemia (HAL) immunophenotype has not been reported. The mechanism of pre-ALL remains obscure. Parvovirus B19, which exhibits a marked tropism to human BM and replicates only in erythroid progenitor cells causing anemia, thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, or a combination of all three in immunocompromised patients, may be one of possible explanations. We present the first case of B19-associated pre-ALL characterized by a HAL (T lymphocyte and myelocyte) immunophenotype. An 11-year-old boy presented with fever and rhinorrhagia. On physical examination, he had no lymphadenopathy or hepatosplenomegaly. A complete blood cell count revealed severe pancytopenia with haemoglobin 3.5g/L, white blood cells (WBC) 0.65×10 9 /L and platelet count 3×10 9 /L. Iliac bone marrow aspiration (BMA) showed hypoplasia with an absence of lymphoblasts. A diagnosis of acute aplastic anaemia was suspected, and he was treated with supportive treatment (antibiotics, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, transfusion of blood and platelets). During a follow-up visit, 2 weeks after presentation, peripheral blood parameters and BMA became normal, and traditional Chinese drug was administered. At 8 weeks after presentation, he presented with leukocytosis. Physical examination Revealed extensive superficial lymphadenopathy, with no hepatosplenomegaly. Parvovirus B19 IgG and IgM antibodies were positive by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay, whereas B19- specific DNA was negative. Hepatitis virus A, B and C, HIV, EBV, and CMV serology were negative. The peripheral blood counts revealed WBC of 24×10 9 /L with 5% blast cells and a BMA showed hyperplasia with 95% blast cells. Analysed by flow cytometry, the blast cells were divided into 2 groups: the major one (68% of all cells), being positive for the CD38, CD10, CD7, CD4, m/C CD3 antigens; another minor one (23%), being positive for the MPO, CD33, CD11, CD13, CD15, CD38, CD10, CD4, CD7, m/C CD3 antigens. Positive expression of membrane antigens supported a diagnosis of HAL (T lymphocyte and myelocyte). Conventional cytogenetic analysis revealed normal karyotype and T-cell receptor γ gene rearrangement was noted. The patient achieved complete remission after one cycle of VDCAD regimen (vincristin, daunorubicin, cyclophosphamide, cytarabine and dexamethasone). However, 1 months after complete remission, the patient relapsed. He achieved the second complete remission after reinduction regimen and gived up further chemotherapy. In this report, we document that pre-ALL may precede HAL (T lymphocyte and myelocyte) for the first time. B19 is possibly one of several factors capable of triggering the onset of pre-ALL.


The study presents an in-depth investigation of one focus family—mother, father, one biological child and twins (adopted children)—within an experimental Kitezh Children's Community in Russia. In drawing upon cultural–historical concepts of everyday crises, perezhivanie and the social situation of development, this study examined how two focus children self-regulated during 'dramatic' moments of their interactions with others as they participate in their family practice, school and the community. The concept of dramatic moments was used as an analytical tool to gain insight into the children's intentions and motive development to explore how the children learn to self-regulate. The thesis offers the Kitezh model, which opens a new perspective for understanding conditions that contribute to development of self-regulation from a cultural–historical perspective


Accra has been experiencing periodic flooding that affect properties and lives. The government seeing the dangers involved, commissioned institutions such as Ministry of Works and Housing, Town and Country Planning and City Engineers to identify such areas and adapt measures that will help reduce the effect of the periodic event. These institutions identify flood risk zones using conventional methods such as watermarks on buildings and reported cases in the news media. Works carried out by these agencies were not able to give details about potential areas that are likely to experience this extreme event. Hence there was the need to find a new method of identifying and mapping of potential flood risk zones. To determine flood risk zones in Accra and its environs a hydrological model (modified rational model) was integrated into the GIS platform, by the arithmetic overlay operation method, using operators such as addition and division. The results show that the delineated areas however experience same rainfall intensity of 140.2 mm yet the flood intensities of these areas differ. For instance, the high flood risk zone covers 35.66 percent of the study area, whiles the low risk zone covers 26.85 percent. And the potential areas likely to experience periodic floods with a given input of rainfall are mostly below the 350-meter contour.


Polarized fluorescence spectra produced by site-selective excitation, and conventional polarized absorption spectra were obtained for Tm3+ and Er3+ ions individually incorporated into single crystals of strontium fluorapatite, Sr5(PO4)3F, also known as SFAP. Substitution of the trivalent rare earth ion for divalent strontium was achieved by passive charge compensation during Czochralski growth of the fluorapatite crystals. Spectra were obtained between 1780 and 345 nm at temperatures from 4 K to room temperature on crystals having the hexagonal structure [P63/m(C6h2)]. The polarized fluorescence spectra due to transitions from multiplet manifolds of Tm3+(4f12), including 1D2, 1G4, and 3H4 to manifolds 3H6 (the ground-state manifold), 3F4, 3H5, 3H4, and 3F3 were analyzed for the details of the crystal-field splitting of the manifolds. Fluorescence lifetimes were measured for Tm3+ transitions from 1D2, 1G4, and 3H4 at room temperature and from 1G4 at 16 K. Results of the analysis indicate that the majority ...