Luting materials are a central component of indirect dentistry, with the most recently introduced types being resin-based materials. These may be classified into conventional resin luting materials...


Purpose: This study was to identify factors influencing burden among family caregivers of elderly cancer patients. Methods: The participants were 217 family caregivers who visited inpatient & outpatient clinics for elderly cancer patients at two general hospitals. Data were collected utilizing the Perceived Health Status Scale, Herth Hope Index Scale, Medical Outcome Study-Social Support Scale, and Caregiver Reaction Assessment Scale. Results: The level of burden in the participants was moderate to high. There were significant correlations among perceived health status, hope, social support and burden. In multiple regression analyses, the most powerful predictor of burden in family caregivers was hope (36.0%). Overall, other caregivers, perceived economic status, caring time, gender, patients' confusion, tangible support, and perceived health status explained 61.0% of the variance of burden among the participants. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of hope on burden in family caregivers. Thereby, integrative interventions are needed to enhance hope and social support and to promote caregivers' health status for alleviating-burden among family caregivers.


The present paper approaches the notion of public and private pension in Romania. Pension can be seen in terms of a replacement income to individuals whose age no longer affords to operate in the labour market. Pension reform in Romania has allowed besides the public pension system, called Pillar I, which is a distributive system based on solidarity between generations also a private pension system that records the contributions of participants in individual accounts, based on capitalization, investment and accumulation of these contributions.


This device was designed as a fluorescence analyzer for the detection of toxic substances due to (bio)chemical reaction that changes fluorescence emission after light excitation. Fluorescence substance is applied to the end of an optical fibre which is connected to the device. Optical method is also used for their noise tolerance and the ability to transfer signals over long distances with only minimal losses of signal. It predestines the device to be used for measurements in deep wells with drinking water.


The invention discloses a novel method for preparing an important medical farm chemical intermediate, i.e., S-3-hydroxytetrahydrofuran. The method comprises the following steps of: performing hydroxy group protection on S-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutyrate serving as a raw material; and undergoing a reduction reaction, a cyclization reaction and a deprotection reaction to obtain a target product. A synthesis method disclosed by the invention has the advantages of high optical purity and high yield of the target product, easiness and convenience for reaction operation, environmentally-friendly process and suitability for industrial production.


Chronic itch (CI) is defined as itch occurring for 6 weeks and longer (1). Both the frequency and the causes of CI depend on age, predisposition like atopy, underlying diseases, ethnicity, climate/humidity, and especially access to the regional healthcare system (2–5). Different living conditions and rituals in human beings as well as migration also contribute to acute and chronic itch (5, 6). The prevalence of itch appears to differ worldwide (2, 3, 5). Direct comparisons between continents or countries are unusual and rare. There are only a few epidemiological studies on itch outside Europe and North America (2, 3, 5). This may be mainly caused by the facts that there is a lack of dermatological care in many countries, no direct access to a dermatologist in most countries, and several countries do not allow access to health care without any insurance certificate or cash payment. Comparing studies from different countries all over the world is difficult because of different and/or unclear, especially non-standardized definitions of itch, lacking to differentiate acute and chronic itch and especially of a lack of defining prevalence estimates. A very recent meta-analysis in atopic dermatitis (AD) and its clinical characteristics stated itch to be almost universally reported and the most common feature in AD (7). Chronic urticaria affects about 1% of the world population, presents with severe itch, and constitutes a global burden (8). Dermatological diseases (frequently accompanied by itch) have a worldwide distribution, but their prevalence is related to the geographical location. For example, otomycoses is muchmore frequent in subtropical and tropical climate (9) and does hardly contribute to the differential diagnoses of CI in countries with Western lifestyle. Scabies is considered to be the most frequent cause of acute itch but rather rare in CI. Scabies was recently added to the World Health Organization's list of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), and its occurrence has been increasing in poor countries, countries with low standard of living, and especially in times of wars, migration, and in reception centers for asylum seekers (10). As infections and infestations are more prevalent in subtropical and tropical countries, scabies is a major cause of acute itch in these countries but is considered to be a less frequent cause in Western countries that are more affected by CI. All this may explain why itch is mentioned as a global burden of skin diseases, also in the elderly (11, 12). A large-scale implementation of a mass drug administration campaign of scabies in Ethiopia was called "stop the itch" (13). Itch, especially CI, strongly reduces health-related quality of life (HRQOL) (2, 3, 5, 14–16). CI can be an additional burden in chronically ill patients leading to an additional reduction in QOL and affecting mortality in patients (14–16). CI can be a symptom or precursor of another (frequently) severe disease (17), but diagnostics are limited and not accessible in most countries; for example, radiological diagnostics and allergy testing are not reimbursed in many countries or excluded in insurance policy (18, 19). Common treatments like antihistamines do not relive itch, even in combination (19, 20). All this makes the topic of itch so important.


Numerous questions in Amazonian archaeology place great emphasis on the relationships between human groups and their environments, traditionally drawing inferences from ethnographic analogies. This analytical expedient is justified by the supposedly weak preservation potential of plant remains in the Amazonian environment; however, it is also rooted in a lack of collecting and systematic research of such botanical remains. This paper presents results of archaeobotanical studies undertaken at the Hatahara site, located in Central Amazonia. Analysis of macro and microbotanical remains produced direct evidence of relationships between humans and plants in pre-colonial Central Amazonia. Observation of microbotanical assemblages extracted from artifacts demonstrated a great diversity of dietary resources in the past, including the existence of cultivated and managed varieties of plants. These studies also pointed to a multifunctional use of certain artifacts, such as ceramic griddles. Anthracological analysis showed positive correlations between charcoal peaks and layers of anthropic soils (Amazonian Dark Earths), as well as a great floristic diversity in these charcoal assemblages, pointing to a complex scenario for the use of fire, as well as to the possibility of charcoal increases in the formation of these soils.


Background:Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common tachyarrhythmia in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The maintenance of sinus rhythm (SR) is sometimes challenging. This study evaluated the clinical outcome of patients with HCM and AF treated with radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA).Methods and Results:17 patients (7 female and aged 61±12 years, mean LAD of 49 mm) with paroxysmal (n=12; 71%) or persistent (n=5; 29%) were enrolled. The pulmonary vein isolation was performed in all patients, cavo-tricuspid isthmus ablation in 6, and CFAE ablation in 3. During follow-up of 16±11 months, 10 patients had AF recurrence. After the second procedure in 4 of 10 recurrent patients, 8 in 17 patients (47.1%) were in stable sinus rhythm (SR) with concomitant use of anti-arrhythmic drugs in 13 of 17 patients. In the patients with restoring SR, left atrial diameter (LAD) was significantly smaller compared to those with AF (46±6 vs 52±4; P<0.05). In the patients with LAD <50 mm, 7 in 9 patients (88.9%) remained in SR compared with 1 in 8 patients (12.5%) with LAD ≥50 mm (P<0.01).Conclusion:The recurrence of AF was highly observed after RFCA in patients with HCM. The promising clinical result may be provided after RFCA in HCM with smaller LAD (<50 mm).


MPSoC (Multi-Processor System-on-Chip) designs are widely adopted in embedded system designs. As more components are integrated into a single chip, conventional shared bus communication architectures no longer meet the performance requirement. In this paper, we propose a novel hybrid bus topology which is capable of selectively providing both shared bus communications and crossbar switch accesses. This topology is very effective in providing ample bandwidth for memory accesses which is often a performance bottleneck in MPSoC designs. We designed the proposed bus architecture and performance evaluation shows that our proposed bus provides much improved bandwidths with little area and power overheads compared with conventional shared bus interconnection structures.


We studied experimentally the local partial density of electronic states (LPDOS) in the conduction band (CB) and in the valence band (VB) of CuGaO2 and CuInO2 by means of X‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X‐ray emission spectroscopy (XES). The edges of both the CB and VB are found to be the copper s‐ and/or d‐states. Therefore, direct transitions between the band edges in these materials should be forbidden by symmetry selection rules. The crystal phases in the samples were identified as having delafossite structure, determined by X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD). (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Objective To determine the status of false-positive report of congenital syphilis (CS),to analyze the possible causes of mis-diagnosis.Methods Basic information on CS in Shanghai in the past five years was collected.We identified infants diagnosed with CS and followed up the sero- logical reactivity of those patients and their mothers.The serological reactivity[rapid plasmin reagin (RPR)and treponema palidum hemagglutination assay(TPPA)]of infants was followed-up for up to 24 months,or until both antibodies turned to negative.The medical history of the mothers was col- lected,and their sera were examined for syphilitic antibodies.Results Total 99 infants diagnosed with CS were recruited. The major diagnostic method was treponemal antibody detection.Only 31.3% of the 99 infants exhibited clinical symptoms or syphilis-like symptoms at delivery.The cumu- lative RPR loss rates of the infants were 44.2%,64.0%,72.7%,83.9% and 87.1% at 1-3,3-6,6- 12,12-18 and 18-24 months after birth,respectively.The cumulative TPPA loss rates were 1.1%, 18.6%,44.6%,66.7% and 74.4% for 1-3,3-6,6-12,12-18 and 18-24 months after birth,respec- tively.TPPA remained positive in all mothers with syphilis.Conclusion The diagnosis of congenital syphilis determined solely by the positive tests of RPR and TPPA is unreliable and can be misdiagno- sis.The diagnosis and management of congenital syphilis should be urgently improved,and that the profes- sional health institutions should perform and closely monitor the quality controls in the diagnosis of CS and standardize the intervention strategy of maternal syphilis.


The use of a relational time in quantum mechanics is a framework in which one promotes to quantum operators all variables in a system, and later chooses one of the variables to operate like a 'clock'. Conditional probabilities are computed for variables of the system to take certain values when the 'clock' specifies a certain time. This framework is attractive in contexts where the assumption of usual quantum mechanics of the existence of an external, perfectly classical clock, appears unnatural, as in quantum cosmology. Until recently, there were problems with such constructions in ordinary quantum mechanics with additional difficulties in the context of constrained theories like general relativity. A scheme we recently introduced to consistently discretize general relativity removed such obstacles. Since the clock is now an object subject to quantum fluctuations, the resulting evolution in time is not exactly unitary and pure states decohere into mixed states. Here we work out in detail the type of decoherence generated, and we find it to be of Lindblad type. This is attractive since it implies that one can have loss of coherence without violating the conservation of energy. We apply the framework to a simple cosmological model to illustrate how a quantitative estimate of the effect could be computed. For most quantum systems it appears to be too small to be observed, although certain macroscopic quantum systems could in the future provide a testing ground for experimental observation.


This article aims to demonstrate how the researcher can utilize the principle of temporality in phenomenology as a method to explore and to reveal the human experience through its application in sex research. Although phenomenological studies have been increasingly adopted for qualitative inquiry in the field of social science, the idea of the horizon of temporality and its practical utilization is rarely demonstrated explicitly. In this study, the researcher has investigated the interpretation of marital experience of Chinese spouses in Hong Kong who have been assessed with sexual dysfunctions with attention to the couples' perspectives. Having adopted a synthetic qualitative research orientation in line with an interpretive research paradigm and with an emphasis on phenomenological principles, this article elicits the research paradigm, its philosophical orientation and the related research principles for a framework of utilizing temporality and its application for research. Keywords: Temporality, Phenomenology, Lived Experience, Chinese Marriage, Sexual Dysfunctions When diagnosis is making towards sexual dysfunctions, physiological or biomedical models are usually adopted in the views that explain its etiology, such as the categorization in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Biological aspect dominates our understanding of sexuality that has developed to conceal our views of the individual, relational and psychosocial dimensions of sexual expression that may eventually prove stultifying to sex therapy in the professional field. In general, critiques of the physiological definition of sexual dysfunctions refer to its overemphasis on the penile-vaginal intercourse, reproduction, orgasm and sexual performance imperatives. In other words, it promotes genital function as the centerpiece of sexuality with a biological reductionist approach and a mind-body split, stripping the phenomena of context (Birke, 1999; Good, 1994; Grace, 1998, 2000; Nicolson, 1993; Tiefer, 1996, 2010). Hence, the physiological model of sexual dysfunction has to be re-examined and expanded that pave the way for the background of this study about sexual dysfunctions (Kwan, 2014). With the concern focused on sexual functioning, sex therapy has been adopting an approach of clinical expert making diagnosis and advocating treatment. Besides, clinical practitioners may also apply a client-driven approach in addressing comprehensive and genuine needs of the clients, who are situated in their own contexts. Hence, the human experience is prime concern for understanding the meanings of sexual dysfunctions prior to deliberating the treatments. This research attempted to investigate the marital experiences of Chinese spouses in Hong Kong who had been assessed with sexual dysfunctions, whereas the significance of sexual dysfunctions was investigated at the dyadic level. The interpretation of the spousal experiences in the present study was specific to clinical social work in a wider socio-cultural context. It had been working towards a bio-psycho-socio-cultural model of understanding that was articulated by the principles of descriptive phenomenology and philosophical hermeneutics, and the results of the study were published with an overview (Kwan, 2015). However, the most striking part of the study, "temporality of sexual dysfunctions" in marriage had not been fully elaborated, and I would like to seize the following part of this article in focus of this original idea for the experience and meaning of sexual dysfunctions in alignment. Interpretivism is adopted as the research paradigm for this study with the objectives of understanding a complex world of lived experience from the view of the persons who live it (Schwandt, 1994). Phenomenology Phenomenology is usually considered as part of the interpretive research paradigm (Clark, 1998; Guba & Lincoln, 1994; Monti & Tingen, 1999). …


Drug induced valvular heart disease is a forgotten entity of valvular disease, sometimes underdiagnosed or even misdiagnosed. The majority of drugs found to induce this kind of disease have a common pharmacological action on a specific serotonin receptor-the 5HT2B receptor. The typical echocardiographic features in these cases are mild to moderate thickening and restriction of the valve with no commissural fusion nor calcification which is the main cause of valvular regurgitation. These findings are not coherent with rheumatic valvular disease We described a case of a 36years old female with a past medical history of hyperprolactinemia treated with low dose of cabergoline for 9 months, presenting for dyspnea on minimal exertion and palpitation. She consulted a cardiologist that discovered a systodiastolic loud murmur on apical area. A cardiac ultrasound was done revealing a mitral valve disease with moderate leaflet thickening and restriction with no commissural fusion nor calcification with a severe eccentric mitral regurgitation grade 3+ due to tenting and malcoaptation of the valve during diastole. Rheumatic and degenerative valve disease were ruled out. The final diagnosis was a drug induced valvular heart disease and more specifically a cabergoline induced mitral valve disease acting on the serotonin receptors 5HT2B. Patient was sent for surgery. Early diagnosis with a good physical examination and current echocardiographic follow up in patient with hyperprolactinemia with even low dose of cabergoline and short term treatment is suggested.


In the 1930s the United States were caught in the Great Depression, but for the Slovene community in America these were also the years of a great cultural productivity partially fueled by the women writers and poets of the SNPJ (Slovene National Benefit Society). Katka Zupancic, Anna Pracek Krasna and Mary Jugg were the major contributors of the SNPJ youth magazine Mladinski list-Juvenile. These women were also active as teachers of the Slovene language, lecturers, youth clubs organizers and advocates for women's rights. This study demonstrates a substantial difference in understanding the woman's role inside the community. Anna Pracek Krasna did not dare to challenge woman's traditional role in society and she accepted her role as a mother and wife rather than an independent worker. Mary Jugg eventually challenged these assumptions held not only by the immigrant community but also by the larger American society.


Concurrent systems are hard to develop and are even harder to analyse. The usual way to analyse concurrent systems is to give them interleaving semantics and exploit automata-based methods to investigate the resultant interleaved model. Such an approach is often hard to scale without additional tools to curb the interleaving-induced state space explosion. In this work we make an alternate case: for directly capturing the behaviour of concurrent systems using true concurrency. We show how to build composable, truly concurrent models for real-world programs written using one of the most widely adopted paradigms for developing massively parallel systems, the Message Passing Interface Standard (MPI). Our method employs general event structures to symbolically capture executions of MPI programs and uses this truly concurrent model, combined with our novel deadlock characterisation, to formulate a precise, scalable decision procedure that finds communication deadlocks in large MPI programs. We show that our analysis scales to systems with hundreds of processes and strongly outperforms state of the art interleaving semantics based approaches.


This paper gives an error condition for reconstructing the minimal polynomial of an algebraic number from its approximation,and then present a newly complete algorithm to obtain the exact minimal polynomial from an approximate value by simultaneous integer relations detection.This work extends the applicable area of"obtaining exact value by approximate computations"from the rational to algebraic numbers.


In this paper,the technologies for bio-oil separation are introduced,and the latest research about effects of various conditions on the bio-oil composition,such as different biomass types,solvents,catalysts,ect.,in the high pressure liquefaction process are summarized.Finally,the industrial progress in liquefaction of biomass to bio-oil by the high-pressure hydrothermal treatment of wood biomass is introduced.


BACKGROUND
From March 2020, the support and care systems for caregivers and people with dementia (PWD) were suspended or dramatically changed due to the lockdown during the world pandemic of COVID-19. Thus, these changes in living conditions have had deleterious consequences on the behavior of PWD and subsequently on their caregivers' mental health, the two being linked.

OBJECTIVE
Our study aimed to examine changes in behavior among PWD and to look for associations between the evolution of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) and caregivers' mental health in the context of COVID-19.

METHODS
The study was conducted among caregivers of PWD living at home in France. Caregivers were interviewed via an anonymous cross-sectional online survey during the first lockdown between April 15 and June 15, 2020.

RESULTS
Three hundred and eighty-nine caregivers accompanying a relative living at home participated in the study; 43.3%of the PWD presented a worsening of BPSD during the lockdown. With multivariate logistic regressions, a significant association was observed between "more BPSD" and burden, anxiety and depression, between "BPSD equivalent" and anxiety and depression, and between "emerging BPSD" and only depression.

CONCLUSION
The lockdown seems to have an impact on behavioral disorders in PWD and these disorders are associated with poorer mental health of caregivers. Our findings suggest attention should be given to caregivers of PWD who have BPSD before lockdown and the need for continued consultations and professional help in case of new lockdowns.


This paper investigates the design and implementation of a multimedia telemedicine application being undertaken by the Imaging Science and Information Systems Center of the Department of Radiology and the Division of Nephrology of the Department of Medicine at the Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC). The Renal Dialysis Patient Monitoring network links GUMC, a remote outpatient dialysis clinic, and a nephrologist's home. The primary functions of the network are to provide telemedicine services to renal dialysis patients, to create, manage, transfer and use electronic health data, and to provide decision support and information services for physicians, nurses and health care workers. The technical parameters for designing and implementing such a network are discussed.


In this reply to Martin and Sugarman (2009), I challenge two of their core assertions: (a) that on my view acts of interpretation (which contain linguistic, discursive, or conceptual elements) can in principle yield only subjective psychological knowledge; and (b) that because humans are socioculturally situated beings, we cannot make claims about human psychological existence that are objective in the conventional sense that I and others use the term "objective." I reject both of these assertions. In Psychology's Interpretive Turn (Held, 2007), I instead argue that (a) interpretive acts can in principle help us attain objective psychological knowledge, and (b) because humans are not "simply" "what they interpret themselves as being, within their historical and sociocultural contexts" (Martin & Sugarman, 2009, p. 116), an objectivist ontology and epistemology of human social/ psychological kinds can obtain.


Purpose
Drawing on the related insights from the upper echelon perspective, modern cognitive theory and path dependence theory, this paper aims to first integrate top management teams (TMTs) overseas experiences, research and development (R&D) strategic decision-making and innovation performance into a uniform theoretical framework and try to understand TMTs' overseas experiences accounting for both the direct and indirect mechanisms of the variables involved within the transition economy of China.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts research sample from the listed companies on the Growth Enterprises Market Board (GEMB) of Shenzhen Stock Exchange of China due to their stronger innovation consciousness. The research data are mainly from the WIND database of China, as the data issued in this database must be checked and approved by China's legal institutions including China Securities Regulatory Commission and its authorized agencies. The samples cover different types of ownership and the vast majority of industries of China, which makes the objects a wide range of coverage and representativeness. In addition, according to suggestions of Podsakoff et al. (2003), the authors design the controlling measures from two aspects of data collection and statistical analysis to reduce the homologous error as much as possible.

Findings
Empirical results show that innovation performance is positively affected by the centrality overseas functional experience and industrial experience but negatively affected by the heterogeneity of overseas functional experience of TMT. Meanwhile, R&D intensity and modes play partially mediating effect in the relationship between TMTs' overseas functional experience centrality and industrial experience heterogeneity and innovation performance, but for the relationship between overseas functional experience heterogeneity and innovation performance, R&D intensity leads to fully mediating effect.

Originality/value
This study contributes toward filling the gaps by elucidating the effect of TMTs' overseas experiences on the innovation performance, identifying the mediating role of R&D strategic decision-makings in this relationship and empirically examining the acting mechanisms and paths of the variables involved in the Chinese context. In addition, practitioners could use these findings to improve their selection and training processes regarding both the top management members and the designing of the R&D strategies.


Federal and state transportation agencies across the world face a multitude of challenges to effectively maintain cost-effective core maintenance programs for managing a safe, yet sustainable transportation assets' program. The decision-making process involves several risk factors, and the prioritization of these factors could considerably affect both the level of utilization of these assets, as well as short- and long-term management protocols and plans for these agencies. The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act requires each state Department of Transportation in the United States to have a risk-based asset management plan in place to preserve the condition of their assets and improve the performance of the National Highway System. Many transportation agencies lack the financial and human resources to achieve their targets, and therefore they may opt to make trade-offs, lower targets, and perhaps drop some important objectives. Trade-off decisions can become clearer when objectives and targets are viewed through the lens of which options reduce the top-priority risks, such as reduced risk to safety, asset performance, or future costs. This chapter primarily focuses on emphasizing the importance of risk management in transportation networks and demonstrating the relationship between environmentally influenced risk management and sustainable management of state-controlled transportation assets in the United States. Several key parameters including risk assessment, financial risk and organizational behavior are addressed. Successful examples demonstrating how transportation agencies have identified how to best address a given risk, and in turn impact the resource allocation process are provided.


With the science and technology drastical development,people demand more and more confortable living environment.The paper introduces a real-time monitor method which uses an intelligent mobile phone as the remote control device,the PC as the control center,and uses the second generation Internet to control all kinds of the household intelligent appliances and security equipments.So it achieves the intelligent and fast real-time monitoring purpose.


The results obtained in the field of biological and medical research regarding the human assisted procreation has raised a series of legal controversies related to traditional institutions in Romanian Family Law, such as the Family, Filiation and Adoption. "Mater semper certa est" is not, from now on, a general truth. The medical assisted procreation is accomplished trough medical reproduction techniques like: artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization. In the case of artificial insemination, the problem raised is to determine the moment from which a person exists and fatherhood. For the in vitro fertilization, the legal problem is establishing motherhood. According to article 47 from the Romanian Family Law, the motherhood results from birth, no mater if the egg belongs to the receiving mother or not. A delicate problem rises in case of borrowed uterus; when between the husband, wife and the surrogate mother cannot be made any conventions establishing motherhood. In Romania, the lawgiver is conscious about innovations in medicine and their implications in the social and legal aspects of human life. Once part of the EU, Romania must align to all European regulations: implicitly to the Convention for the protection of human rights and dignity of the human being with regard to the application of biology and medicine from 1997. Therefore, the New Romanian Civil Code includes in Title II "About marriage" a series of norms regarding the human assisted procreation with a third donor. In Romania there are several legal regulations that establish the human assisted procreation procedures but not a coherent legal frame in order to prevent experiments. There should be several public policies in the field of infertility that should be included in national health programs in order to insure infertile couples' access to the medical techniques.


Objectives: To understand factors that influence success of home- and community-based services in keeping older adults in community settings, we examined the causal relationships among older adults' personal factors, older adults' home- and community-based services use, and older adults' remaining in communities. Methods: Structural equation modeling was employed to test a home- and community-based services model based on Andersen's Health Behavioral Model. Data from 5,294 elders in a nationally representative dataset, the Second Longitudinal Study of Aging, were included for analysis. Results: Two significant supportive factors for older adults to remain in communities were use of paid instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) personal care services and awareness of unmet needs. Discussion: Our findings suggest the importance of encouraging older adults to acknowledge their unmet needs and to seek community-based support services early, rather than wait until they have developed more serious needs, such as difficulties in activities of daily living (ADL).


This bachelor thesis deals with a motivation and a remuneration of workers in Winpro Ltd. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the present system of remuneration and motivation in a company and to suggest the managers of the company the steps and suggestions which can help to better motivation and remuneration of workers. This thesis is diparted in two parts. First part is only theory and leads with some variations of motivation and remuneration. In the other part is described Winpro Ltd and his position on the market, competition and also aims and plans of the company. The end of the thesis consider a suggestion for the company.


The detection of a drug having a weak basic dissociation constant (pKa) in bio-fluids requires a complex organic framework, time-consuming assay, and costly characterization techniques. To overcome this, a novel metallic photonic bandgap-inspired probe that as a sensor device is proposed for the microwave spectroscopy of gold nanoparticles. Minoxidil drug with dissociation constant 4.61 was detected using gold nanoparticles as a colorimetric probe and the sensor device as a microwave signal detection probe. In this method, the aggregation of gold nanoparticles is induced with the drug and then shift in the probe resonant frequency through in situ analysis was calibrated. The induced aggregation between gold nanoparticles and the drug was confirmed by dynamic light scattering and Fourier transform infrared measurements. This method was tested and validated in human urine samples, which provided an acceptable linear relationship between the resonant frequencies over 100–500 and 0.1– $10~\mu \text{M}$  concentration of the drug. The present analytical technique can be effectively used for detecting drugs having low pKa value in the real biological samples.


Over the course of the life-cycle of a woman, she suffers from the effects of the menopause. Hormone replacement therapy is recommended as a treatment for post-menopausal symptoms. Recently, some studies have indicated that hormone replacement therapy could modify aging-related changes in cognitive decline. The aim of this essay was to investigate the effects of hormone replacement therapy on cognitive performance. Multiple studies indicate that estrogen has positive effects on cognition. However, these data are not sufficient to recommend the use of hormone replacement therapy to prevent aging-related cognitive decline. Further research will be necessary to elucidate the benefits of hormone replacement therapy, hormone contributions and other factors related to menopause and hormone replacement therapy that might influence cognitive performance.


Having been engaged in an experiment which was hampered by the high death rate among thyroparathyroidectomized rats, the authors have developed an exceedingly simple and convenient method for reducing this mortality. This method was suggested by the work of Luckhardt, Waud, and Brannon 1 on the effects of magnesium chloride given per os to dogs. The method consists in the intraperitoneal injection of magnesium sulphate. For a rat weighing 150 grams the injection consists of 5 cc. of a 1 per cent solution of the crystalline salt. Experience has shown that asepsis is unnecessary here, so that the dosage can be given to any number of rats with greater speed and accuracy than would be possible by oral administration. A normal rat can easily tolerate as many as 5 hourly injections of this quantity. After each injection one sees the manifestations of the well-known anesthetic and curare-like actions of magnesium. The rat becomes unable to raise its body off the floor of the cage, and may cease to right itself when laid on its back. If, instead of the divided doses, one gives a single dose of 25 cc., the above symptoms are followed by death. Parathyroidectomized rats should be watched closely beginning, say, with the tenth or twelfth hour after operation. When the tetany has become sufficiently marked to prove the completeness of parathyroid extirpation, the injection is given. No signs of pain or irritation follow; inactivity, be it due to apathy or myasthenia, sometimes appears within 2 minutes. The signs of tetany, however, seem to persist a few minutes longer; carpopedal spasms, or the characteristic fibrillary activity of the vibrissae, may continue for a time after the rat has become unable to walk.


In order to collect input parameters for modelling faulted rock volumes, and to evaluate the hydraulic properties and scaling relationships of fault zones in the southwestern part of the Gulf of Corinth, we carried out quantitative structural analysis in the field on major Quaternary fault zones. The preliminary results of this analysis allow us to: evaluate the geometry, size, thickness and kinematics of the main active fault zones. Across the Heliki fault zone, the fault core is 3.5 m thick and is characterised by four different structural and textural domains. The highly damaged zone is 10 m thick, and is characterised by the presence of travertinous deposits. The total width of the damaged zone has been estimated at about 30 m, even if it is possible to recognise fault-related shear bands up to 50 m from the main Heliki fault plane; define the fault rock fabrics, also by means of micro-structural analysis, and the spatial distribution, geometry and kinematics of fault sets. It was possible to identify some fracture and minor fault sets which were geometrically related to the main fault planes, and other sets showing a random background distribution. In particular, within some main fault zones, the minor fault planes within the breccia show a general strike which is clearly related to the slip vector on the main fault plane; constrain the scaling properties of some of the attributes (i.e. length, spacing, fracture density, etc.) of both fault-related and regional fracture sets. The main attributes of the studied fault zones show a power law, fractal relationship, and may be considered as scaleinvariant over two or three orders of magnitude; estimate the fractal dimension (D), characterising the geometrical complexity of different fault and fracture patterns. The value of D in the studied area is quite high (1.4 1.5). This value can be used as a measure of the maturity, suggesting that normal faults developed in an already highly deformed series; assess the appropriate parameters defining the overall architecture, anisotropy and the behaviour of the mapped fault zones as a conduit/barrier to fluid flow. Since the porosity of the protolith is low (about 1%), fault zones play a major role on the fluid-rock interaction. In particular, the degree of fracture connectivity is quite high, and is controlled by both the lithology and the distance from main fault zones; define fault displacement profiles for some major active fault zones, in order to evaluate the fault growth modes and the interaction between neighbouring faults. The Heliki fault displays an offset of about 700-800 m, and the symmetry of topographic length/displacement profile suggests that it behaves as a single fault. The preliminary


Ventricular outflow is a common site for idiopathic PVCs and repetitive ventricular arrhythmias. Sites of origin of these arrhythmias may vary from the sites of earliest activation mapped. Better definition of the site of origin can help avoid unnecessary large volume ablation to suppress these arrhythmia. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


When agricultural lands in formerly dry forest are abandoned, chronic disturbance by livestock grazing and wood extraction may set back successional processes precluding older dry forest structure from be reached. We compare cacti density, richness, diversity and evenness in twelve 50 × 50 m plots: six plots in secondary dry forest and six plots in older conserved dry forest at Sierra de Huautla, Central Mexico. Cacti were identifi ed, the life-form of each species was recorded and size was measured to assign individuals into four life-stage classes. Nine cacti species were registered across both forest types. In this dry forest, richness, diversity and evenness of cacti community increased in sites under chronic disturbance, whereas density was not significantly affected. Size structure at community level in the conserved forest showed an increase of individuals with size, whereas in the secondary forest, size structure showed an uneven distribution of individuals, as in populations that regenerate by pulses. In the secondary forest, there was a lower proportion of adults and they were in average, smaller than those in the conserved forest. Chronic disturbance may eventually change cacti community structure, affecting animals that depend on large arboreal cacti for food, perches and/or refuge; therefore, maintenance of biodiversity will be at stake.


A field experiment was conducted on a sandy loam soil during rabi (maize) and summer (spinach) seasons of 2009-10 with a view to study the effect of organic manures, inorganic fertilizers and their integration on soil dehydrogenase activity and yield of maize-spinach cropping system. Among the different combinations application of 75% RDF+25% through vermicompost recorded significantly highest grain and stover yield (52.38 and 60.77 q/ha) at harvest but on par with 75% RDF+25% through poultry manure and 75% RDF+25% through FYM. The spinach crop grown during summer responded favourably to the residual and cumulative treatments and the highest fresh leaf yield (14.68 and 12.37 t/ha) was recorded in cumulative and residual treatments. The soil dehydrogenase enzyme activity at different growth stages of maize and at final harvest of spinach revealed that there was increase in enzyme activities up to active growth stages of crops and later showed a decrease. Significantly highest dehydrogenase activity was found in treatment T4 (100% VC) with a value (163.7), tasseling (180.3) and harvesting stage (136.9) μg of TPF produced/g soil/day at vegetative, tasseling and at harvesting stages of maize, which was on par with T8 and T11 and was significantly different from other treatments in maize crop. The cumulative and residual effects of spinach revealed that the dehydrogenase activity was higher in cumulative treatments than residual treatments.


Justice Lewis Powell wrote a concurrence in Branzburg v. Hayes that, despite a majority opinion to the contrary, eventually provided room for journalists to claim a privilege against testifying in grand jury proceedings. For decades, scholars and judges have questioned what Justice Powell meant by his concurrence and whether he, in fact, supported a reporter's right to refuse to reveal confidential information. Justice Powell's personal papers and case files, as well as those of his fellow justices, observations of one of his former law clerks, and oral arguments shed light on the reasoning behind Justice Powell's enigmatic concurrence. This article concludes that Justice Powell supported a qualified reporter's privilege, applied on a case-by-case basis.


Background: Glucocorticoid could induce injury and apoptosis of bone microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) in the femoral head and the application of icariin showed a protective effect. However, the impact of autocrine exosomes during these processes is still to be confirmed.Methods: Exosomes were extracted from BMECs treated with hydrocortisone or hydrocortisone plus icariin by super-speed centrifugation; exosome-carried proteins were evaluated via BCA assay, Western blotting, protein array assay and Elisa test, while miRNA expression profile was assessed via high-throughput sequencing and confirmed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to screen candidate molecules responsible for BMEC-Exo function. BMECs were incubated with and without exosomes before glucocorticoid intervention and then the impact of BMECs-derived exosomes on BMECs viability, apoptosis, migration, angiogenesis, and protein expression was further assessed by a series of functional assays. Results: Exosomes secreted by BMECs could ameliorate glucocorticoid-induced endothelial cellular injury, improve cell viability, decrease cell apoptosis, and promote cell migration and angiogenesis compared with the blank control. These effects of secreted exosomes could be reinforced by icariin intervention. Meanwhile, mechanism studies showed that expression level of eNOS, COX-2, and pERK were significantly increased while the cleaved caspase-3 level was decreased in BMECs after coculture with exosomes. Although icariin treatment would not significantly change the size and total protein content of BMECs-derived exosomes, expression of exosome-carried vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) was enhanced and numerous miRNAs involved in cell proliferation and apoptosis were up-regulated (e.g., hsa-miR-1469 and hsa-miR-133a-5p) or down-regulated (e.g., hsa-miR-10b-5p) (p < 0.05). 29 differentially expressed inflammatory factors were detected between the exosomes secreted by the Icariin-treated and the Model groups.Conclusion: To sum up, the present study indicates that autocrine exosomes could significantly improve glucocorticoid-induced injury of BMECs, partially mediated by activation of MAPK/ERK pathway and regulation of several inflammation/apoptosis/proliferation-associated proteins. Icariin intervention could reinforce these effects and may act as a promising drug for improving glucocorticoid-induced injury of BMECs. In vivo or animal studies are still required to better understand the function of BMEC-derived exosomes.


Abstract The investigation of thermal transport in the nanofluid over a curved Riga surface is significant and extensively used in many industries as well as in engineering. Therefore, the study is conducted to analyze the thermal transport rate in H2O composed of nanomaterial, namely, carbon nanotubes (CNTs). To improve the thermal conductance, a thermal conductivity correlation based on the length and radius of CNTs is plugged in the energy equation. After that, the flow model was reduced into a self-similar form via feasible transformations and tackled numerically. From the plotted results, it is experienced that the nanofluid velocity drops against a more curved surface. The momentum boundary layer intensifies against larger curvature. An enhanced temperature is experienced in the nanofluid due to varying the parameters. Further, thermal conductivity of the nanofluids rises due to the high volume fraction factor, which plays a significant role in thermal transport. Moreover, the local thermal performance rises linearly against M.


Pattern matching is a fundamental operation in finding knowledge from large amount of biosequence data. Finding patterns help in analyzing the property of a sequence. This paper focuses on the problem of maximal pattern matching with flexible wildcard gaps and length constraints under the one-off condition. The problem is to find the maximum number of occurrences of a pattern P with user specified wildcard gap between every two consecutive letters of P in a biological sequence S under the one-off condition and constraint on the overall length of the matching occurrence. To obtain the optimal solution for this problem is difficult. We propose a heuristic algorithm, MOGO, based on the Nettree data structure to solve this problem. Theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate that MOGO performs better than the existing algorithms in most of the cases when tested on real world biological sequences.


In his Policy Forum "Regulation of 'nutraceuticals'" ( Science 's Compass, 17 Sept., p. [1853][1]), Steven H. Zeisel discusses the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) and proposes additional regulations for dietary supplements, or "nutraceuticals" as he defines them. The intent of the DSHEA, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1994, was to establish a framework for the regulation of dietary supplements and to facilitate consumers' access to these products. As vice president of Nutritional and Regulatory Science for the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), I want to comment on several items discussed by Zeisel that warrant clarification.

In the first paragraph, Zeisel uses the phrase "presumed health-enhancing benefits" in defining dietary supplements, implying that no solid evidence supports such health benefits. This is not the case; for example, in 1992, the U.S. Public Health Service recommended that women of child-bearing age consume 400 micrograms of synthetic folic acid every day to prevent neural tube birth defects. Well-established evidence also supports the beneficial use of calcium, vitamin E, chromium, and selenium supplements.

Zeisel later comments, "It is often difficult to distinguish among nutrients, food additives, and drugs"; however, the definitions outlined in the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act offer adequate criteria to differentiate these products. Definitions depend on the intended use of the substance; for example, a "drug" is defined as a substance that is used to "treat, cure, mitigate and diagnose" disease. If calcium carbonate is used as an antacid, it is a drug; if used as a neutralizing agent in a conventional food, it is a food additive; and if added as a source of calcium, it is a nutrient. According to Zeisel, product potency should serve as the distinction between a drug and a nutrient; however, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act prohibits such classification, and multiple exceptions would invalidate the generality of such a scheme. For example, vitamin C has a number of biological activities, with thresholds for effect ranging from 10 milligrams for the prevention of scurvy to more than 1000 milligrams for complete inhibition of carcinogenic nitrosamine production in stomach contents. This range, and the fact that unfortified and unsupplemented diets easily can provide about 1000 milligrams of vitamin C per day, depending on food selection, make any "physiological" versus "pharmacological" distinction related to intake level meaningless.

Zeisel also says that "DSHEA modifies the regulatory environment so that it becomes possible, even likely, that products will be marketed that inadvertently harm people." But prescription and over-the-counter drugs also have an obvious record of harming people.

The CRN agrees with Zeisel that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should develop good manufacturing practices (GMPs) for dietary supplements. In fact, CRN petitioned the FDA to do so and provided a set of prototype GMPs that would be appropriate.

# {#article-title-2}

Although Zeisel's proposal for the FDA to increase its oversight of dietary supplements is well intentioned, an added layer of regulation would restrict public access to dietary supplements. In terms of public safety, the DSHEA has encouraged dozens of supplement companies to pursue and promote evidence-based product development and marketing efforts. Indeed, the supplement industry has itself taken important steps in the last couple of years to establish stringent GMPs, standardized production methods, and dosage recommendations to encourage safe use of their products.

The increasing competition from larger companies will most likely accelerate the ongoing quality improvements within the industry and increase the financial and human resources that supplement companies devote to research. Overly restrictive government intervention will only serve to delay product development, increase consumer prices, and discourage investment in research—with the end result of denying consumers the access to supplements made accessible by the DSHEA.

# Response {#article-title-3}

Hathcock speaks for the CRN, a lobbying group formed to represent the interests of the diet supplement industry. In my Policy Forum, I did not advocate standards to assure efficacy of dietary supplements, I focused on safety standards. Some supplements are efficacious (such as folate) and others may not be, but all should be demonstrated to be safe before they are sold to the public.

I continue to assert that the boundary between foods, herbs, and drugs is difficult to distinguish. Hathcock says that there is adequate language in the existing Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act code to make this differentiation. However, many dietary supplements are being used at pharmacologic doses to achieve pharmacologic effects and only avoid being classified as drugs because the claim made on their label is such that they fall into the legal category of dietary supplement.

My suggestion to use consumption level that is above the population norm as a threshold for invoking safety regulation was based on the relative risk associated with exposure. If the population is usually exposed, through diet, to a substance, the change in risk associated with exposure to that same dose is relatively small. If, on the other hand, people are exposed to a new substance, or to a large amount of a familiar substance, the potential for risk is likely to be higher. Although this approach will not provide complete protection, it is a start. As Hathcock points out, even with stringent safety regulations, once in a while prescription drugs do harm people. But imagine how much more damage might occur if there were no safety regulations at all.

Regarding the letter from Talbott, I suggested that the FDA should set standards for production methods for dietary supplements and that studies in humans that demonstrate safety should be completed before supplements are offered to the public. Under current law, neither practice is required.

As Talbott indicates, an added layer of safety regulation would restrict public access to dietary supplements, but primarily to those found to be harmful. The oversight that I proposed in my Policy Forum was minimal, and products from companies that have their own stringent GMPs and that test their supplements to assure themselves that they are safe for consumption would easily meet these standards. Standards assure that an under-financed or unethical company does not take shortcuts that could harm the public. Setting minimum safety standards would not deny consumers access to safe dietary supplements.

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.285.5435.1853


PURPOSE: To constitute various decoders by changing over a switch. CONSTITUTION: A wide band extension circuit 44 is provided with a signal path having an LPF 48, (L-R) demodulator 52, LPF 10 and voltage controlled amplifier 18. The gain of amplifier 18 is controlled by a control signal 58 received from a demodulation difference signal under the operation of BPF 20 and an integration peak detector 26. The output of amplifier 18 is supplied to a de-emphasis circuit 24, supplied to a stereo matrix circuit 38 later and synthesized with a stereo signal (L+R) of sum and source signals L and R are reproduced. When a DBX extension circuit 60 is connected and used in place of de-emphasis circuit 24, the control signal 58 of amplifier 18 to perform wide band extension is canceled by a predetermined voltage, the BPF 20 disables operation, the input is switched and the LPF 48 is bypassed. COPYRIGHT: (C)1994,JPO


Provided are a highly pure copper anode for electrolytic copper plating, a method for manufacturing the same, and an electrolytic copper plating method using the highly pure copper anode. The highly pure copper anode obtains a crystal grain boundary structure having a special grain boundary ratio LsN/LN of 0.35 or more. LN is a unit total special grain boundary length. LsN is a unit total special boundary length. By having the configuration described above, plating defect can be reduced by suppressing the occurrence of the particles, such as the slime or the like, which are generated on the anode side in the plating bath.


Thank you very much for reading oscillation theory for difference and functional differential equations. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look hundreds times for their chosen readings like this oscillation theory for difference and functional differential equations, but end up in harmful downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some malicious bugs inside their computer.


The Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics is an increasingly popular alternative to the
traditional Copenhagen interpretation, but there are a few major issues that prevent the widespread
adoption. One of these issues is the origin of probabilities in the Everett interpretation, which this
thesis will attempt to survey. The most successful resolution of the probability problem thus far is the
decision-theoretic program, which attempts to frame probabilities as outcomes of rational decision
making. This marks a departure from orthodox interpretations of probabilities in the physical
sciences, where probabilities are thought to be objective, stemming from symmetry considerations.
This thesis will attempt to offer evaluations on the decision-theoretic program.


Background Objectives Implications for Practice As a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic, many teachers found themselves making a rapid and often challenging shift from in‐person classroom teaching to teaching in an online environment. As teachers continue to learn about working in this new environment, research in cognitive and learning sciences, specifically findings from cognitive load theory and related areas, can provide meaningful strategies for teaching in this 'new normal'.This paper describes 12 tips derived from contemporary research in educational psychology, focusing particularly on empirically supported strategies that teachers may apply in their online classroom to ensure that learning is optimized.These strategies are generalizable across age groups and learning areas, and are categorized into one of two themes: approaches to optimize the design of online learning materials, and instructional strategies to support student learning. A discussion follows, outlining how teachers may apply these strategies in different contexts, with a brief overview of emerging efforts that aim to bridge cognitive load theory and self‐regulated learning research. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Computer Assisted Learning is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)


Analysis of unrefined substance in highway roadbed with mutation theory is made and the observation data of speedway are calculated. The results prove consistent with the practical conclusion and theoretically meaningful for proper control of sedimentation speed.


The inevitability of adopting phonetic loan characters in Chinese decides the inevitability of their sound-shifts, which consist of 4 patterns, namely, the "phonetically identical while semantically analogical" characters, the "phonetically identical while semantically metaphorical" ones, the "phonetically similar while semantically interchangeable" ones and the "phonetically varied while semantically different" ones. The sound-shift of phonetic loan characters is not only attributed to phonetic similarity, but also closely related to the semantic and formal evolution of characters.


CMS has performed a wide range of jet measurements in heavy-ion collisions. A selection of newest results in this field is presented. New results of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\mathrm{AA}}$ from XeXe collisions are compared to the previous results from PbPb collisions to study system size dependence of the energy loss. Energy loss in PbPb collisions is studied more differentially by measuring radial momentum distributions with inclusive jets. The dependence of parton flavor to energy loss is studied with photon-tagged jet shapes and by correlating tracks from reconstructed $D^{0}$ particles to the jet axis. Finally groomed jet substructure results for shared momentum fraction $z_{g}$ and jet mass $M_{g}$ are presented to go deeper into the details of energy loss mechanisms.


Efforts to increase the growth and production of local eggplant (Solanum melongena L) through chicken manure bokashi fertilizer. Local eggplant or kiku/index eggplant is a type of vegetable plant that can be eaten raw as fresh vegetables and processed with various foods with high nutritional value. The purpose of this study was to study the response of the local eggplant (index finger eggplant) to the different doses and to obtain the optimum dose of chicken manure bokashi fertilizer on the growth and yield of the index finger eggplant. In the study, a randomized block design (RBD) was used with a single factor pattern consisting of 6 treatments of Bokashi Chicken Manure, namely: BA0 = 0 tons/ha, BA1 = 10 tons/ha or 8.4 kg/plot, BA2 = 20 tons/ha ha or 16.8 kg/plot, BA3 = 30 tons/ha or 25.2 kg/plot, BA4 = 40 tones/ha or 33.6 kg/plot, BA5= 50 tons/ha or 42 kg/plot and BA6 = 60 tons/ha or 50.4 kg/plot. Observed variables; plant height (cm), number of leaves leaf area (cm2), fruit diameter (cm), fruit weight per plant (g), and fruit weight per hectare (tons). Dosage of chicken manure bokashi fertilizer 60 tons/ha or 50, 4 kg/plot produced an average plant height of 18.61 cm; the number of leaves 11.09 leaves; leaf area of 791.78 cm²; fruit Diameter of 2.52 cm; The weight of the fruit planted is 0.27 g and the fruit per hectare is 6.48 tons. Applying chicken manure bokashi fertilizer can increase local eggplant growth and yield with an average increase, in plant height by 0.32%, number of leaves by 0.45%, leaf area by 0.11%, fruit diameter by 0.024%, fruit weight per hectare by 0.21 %.


This retrospective study aimed to evaluate a possible correlation between the characteristics of the mandibular ramus and lower third molar impaction by comparing a group of subjects with an impacted lower third molar and a second group with normal eruption for an early prediction of this pathology. This comparison was made using linear and angular measurements, which were taken on digital panoramic radiographs. Materials and methods: A total of 726 orthopantomographs (OPT) were examined, and 81 were considered suitable for the present study. The results were divided into two groups: a control group and an experimental group. The control group comprised 38 cases in which patients had at least one lower third molar that had erupted, and the experimental group comprised 43 cases in which patients had at least one lower third molar that was impacted or partially impacted. In total, 16 variables (11 linear, 4 angular, and 1 ratio) were determined and measured by an experienced observer. Results: The control group had a larger retromolar space, a larger impaction angle and a higher ratio of retromolar area to the third molar, compared to the experimental group. In contrast, the experimental group showed a deeper sigmoid notch depth than the control group did. In the control group, moderate positive correlations were found between both the length of the coronoid and the width of the third molar, and the retromolar space. Furthermore, in the experimental group, moderate positive correlations were found between both the angular condyle–coronoid process and the inclination of the lower posterior teeth, and the retromolar space. Conclusion: this study showed that the angle of a lower third molar, in relation to mandibular pain, can be an index for predicting tooth inclusion.


This report presents a technical and economic evaluation of AFBC power plants with recycle systems, and a comparison of these plants with AFBC power plants with carbon burnup beds (CBB) and with pulverized coal-fired (PCF) power plants with flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. The analysis considers 1000 MWe plants burning both eastern and western coals. The capital and operating cost estimates are based on boiler designs developed by Babcock and Wilcox, Inc., and on sorbent requirements estimated by Burns and Roe, Inc. The economic analyses are based on a plant located in the East Central region of the United States with a 30-year life and a 70 percent capacity factor. The eastern coal-fired plants are designed to burn Illinois bituminous coal with a higher heating value of 10,100 Btu/lb and a sulfur content of 4%. The required calcium to sulfur mole ratios for the eastern plants are 3.8:1 and 2.5:1 for the AFBC/CBB and AFBC/recycle plants, respectively. The western coal-fired plants are designed to burn Wyoming subbituminous coal with a higher heating value of 8,020 Btu/lb and a sulfur content of 0.48%. The required calcium to sulfur mole ratios for the western plants are 0.7:1 and 0.4:1 for the AFBC/CBBmore » and AFBC/recycle plants, respectively. These Ca/S mole ratios allow for 30 percent utilization of the alkaline coal ash to reduce sorbent requirements to the fluidized bed combustor. The analyses indicate that the AFBC/recycle plants have an economic advantage over the AFBC/CBB plants and over the PCF/FGD plants for both eastern and western coal.« less


To study the dynamic load on the highway coming from tractor-semitrailer,a dynamic vehicle mode was developed.And the influences of the road roughness,the vehicle speed,the axle load and the tire pressure on the dynamic load coefficient were studied.It is found that the load coefficient increases with the increase of the road roughness,the vehicle speed and the tire pressure,yet it decreases with the increase of the axle load.Combination the influences of the road roughness,the vehicle speed,the axle load and the tire pressure,the load coefficient is 1.14 for the level A road,and the load coefficient is 1.19 for the level B road,and the load coefficient is 1.27 for the level C road,and the load coefficient is 1.36 for the level D road.


Human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based developmental toxicity models can help to reduce animal testing and mitigate inter-species variability. However, current hESC models do not fully recapitulate embryonic developmental structural changes, which are underpinned by spatio-temporally controlled differentiation and migration events. We show that mechanical polarization imposed by cell micropatterning could spatially pattern hESC differentiation and migration, and in turn reconstituted a rudimentary structural motif. Features of this structural motif were disrupted by paradigm developmental toxins but not a negative control drug. This novel micropatterned hESC model can potentially be scaled- up into an array format for high throughput developmental toxicity screening.


Since the beginning of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan all Central Asian republics, even such small as Kyrgyzstan, have been frequently mentioned in the international media and regularly visited by the heads of the world powers. The questions arise: why are they so important? What makes them so different from other former Soviet republics or from the Middle East? Will they be politically stable in the future or will they be the next countries with collapsing state institutions that will come under control of radical religious regimes? The Historical Dictionary of Kyrgyzstan is designed to give answer to these and many other questions and to serve as an introduction to domestic and international politics Kyrgyzstan and broader Central Asia. In a single volume the author presents a contemporary history of Kyrgyzstan in a concise form within context of Central Asian history. The book also provides useful reference materials, statistical data and extensive bibliography thus taking this book beyond a simple reference source and making it helpful in understanding most important regional issues in the 20 and the beginning of the 21 centuries.


A single‐center, open‐label, three‐way crossover study was conducted in 24 healthy subjects to assess (1) the bioequivalence of a combined lamivudine 150 mg/zidovudine 300 mg tablet relative to the separate brand‐name components administered concurrently and (2) the effect of food on the bioavailability of the drugs from the combination tablet. The subjects were randomly assigned to receive each of the following three treatments, separated by a 5‐ to 7‐day washout period: one lamivudine/zidovudine combination tablet after an overnight fast, one lamivudine 150 mg tablet and one zidovudine 300 mg tablet simultaneously after an overnight fast, or one lamivudine/zidovudine combination tablet 5 minutes after completing a standardized high‐fat breakfast (67 g fat, 58 g carbohydrate, and 33 g protein). Serial blood samples were collected up to 24 hours postdose for the determination of lamivudine and zidovudine plasma concentrations. Standard pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated. Treatments were considered bioequivalent if 90% confidence intervals for the ratio of least squares (LS) means for the lamivudine and zidovudine area under the plasma concentration‐time curve (AUC∞) and maximum observed plasma concentration (Cmax) fell entirely within 0.80 to 1.25 for log‐transformed parameters. The combined lamivudine/zidovudine tablet was bioequivalent in the extent (AUC∞) and rate of absorption (Cmax and time of Cmax [tmax]) to the individual brand‐name drug components administered concurrently under fasted conditions. Geometric LS mean ratios and 90% confidence intervals for AUC∞ and Cmax were 0.97 (0.92, 1.03) and 0.94 (0.84, 1.06), respectively, for lamivudine and 0.99 (0.91, 1.07) and 0.97 (0.82, 1.15), respectively, for zidovudine. The extent of absorption of lamivudine and zidovudine from the combination tablet was not altered by administration with meals, indicating that this formulation may be administered with or without food. However, food slowed the rate of absorption, delayed the tmax, and reduced the Cmax of lamivudine and zidovudine. These changes were not considered clinically important. All formulations were well tolerated under fasted and fed conditions.


This paper describes the Transportation Expansion (T-REX) project in Denver, which is a multi-modal, Light Rail Transit (LRT) and highway expansion project. The LRT part of the project consists of 19 miles of double-track, fully grade-separated alignment (including a new grade-separated LRT junction), a 125,000 square feet maintenance facility, a new control center and communications system and 34 new Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs). The highway part consists of reconstruction and widening, operational and safety improvements and Intelligent Transportation Systems on both the highway and LRT. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Regional Transportation District (RTD) are jointly managing the project, with the assistance of Carter & Burgess, Inc. The total project budget is $1.7 billion, of which LRT consists of $879 million. The major part of T-REX is being implemented through a $1.2 billion design-build contract. The project is within budget and ahead of schedule with revenue service planned to start on November 17, 2006. As the project nears completion, there is an excellent opportunity to provide lessons learned on a major capital program. This paper focuses on the financial aspects of the project, specifically the change order experience for the design-build contract. The process receiving or requesting change orders, negotiations with the contractor and the change order approval process are also discussed. Change orders from T-REX are summarized into specific categories including improvements requested and paid by third parties; transit oriented development; environmental clean-up; contractual issues between T-REX and the contractor; project enhancements; and value-engineering or scope reduction changes. Each category is addressed and specific examples are provided of changes in the respective categories. A relatively small percentage (1/2 of one percent) of the RTD budget for the design-build project was for changes that resulted from contractual issues or disputes. In addition, there are no outstanding or pending claims from the contractor. The largest portion of changes related to those requested and paid for by third parties to improve the project for their jurisdiction.


The presence of fluoride in the groundwater in the Thirukkazhukundram Block in south India is now becoming an increasingly alarming issue. With the semi-arid climatic conditions, charnockite and gneiss rocks form the basement, contributing to the geology of the study area. The pre-monsoon (August 2016) and post-monsoon (February 2017) fluoride concentrations have an average output of 1.3 mg.L-1 and 0.72 mg.L-1 respectively. As of date, only in Neikuppi, the fluoride contamination is found to be 2 mg.L-1 in pre-monsoon which is beyond the accepted limit as per the WHO standards. Other 29 locations taken up for study have fluoride value fluctuation from 1 mg.L-1 to 2 mg.L-1 in the pre-monsoon and from 0 to 1.5 mg.L-1 in the post-monsoon. The main factor responsible for this fluoride contamination lies in the study area's hydro-geological condition which must be attended to immediately to prevent a public health problem in the future.


NeXtRAD is a fully polarimetric, X/L Band radar network. It is a development of the older NetRAD system and builds on the experience gained with extensive deployments of NetRAD for sea clutter and target measurements. In this paper we will report on the first measurements with NeXtRAD, looking primarily at sea clutter and some targets, as well as early attempts at calibration using corner reflectors, and an assessment of the polarimetric response of the system. We also highlight innovations allowing for efficient data manipulation post measurement campaigns, as well as the plans for the coming years with this system.


Eight recording sessions were performed with a Ca20 hydrophone of a school of false killer whales, Pseudorca crassidens, circling Chañaral Island, Chile, at 8.1 knots of average speed during almost 16 hours. From a total of 153 whistles, 148 were selected by their quality and analyzed with Linux-based Baudline DSP software. General whistles and new whistles were recorded at rates of 5.3 and 2.4 per minute, respectively. Four recording sessions, at three sites, resulted in a whistle repertoire composed of 69 distinct spectrograms with 6.9 kHz of average frequency (3.8 - 13.6 kHz) and 0.09 to 2.86 seconds of duration. Whistle abundance and diversity were correlated at all recording sites (Pearson corr.: 1, P-value: 0.008). Despite the less than four hours between sessions, only 11.6 % of the individual spectra were shared by two sites. Sessions at the same site presented a different vocal composition. On an intra-vocalization level, the number of inflection points (less than four) is slightly related to whistle duration (Pearson corr.: 0.207, P-value: 0.012), and whistle structure is determined by variations on frequency, duration and, also, energy. With distance, the lower intensity sections of six of the vocalizations faded-out, resembling different individual whistles. Therefore, vocal repertoires may be overestimated if this effect is not considered. Only 4.3 % of the assessed whistle repertoire was represented at all recording sites. These results suggest that neither the vocal repertoire nor its conservative section is likely to be able to be assessed by a single recording event.


Tsunami‐induced coastal currents are spectacular examples of nonlinear and chaotic phenomena. Due to their long periods, tsunamis transport substantial energy into coastal waters, and as this energy interacts with the ubiquitous irregularity of bathymetry, shear and turbulent features appear. The oscillatory character of a tsunami wave train leads to flow reversals, which in principle can spawn persistent turbulent coherent structures (e.g., large vortices or "whirlpools") that can dominate damage and transport potential. However, no quantitative measurements exist to provide physical insight into this kind of turbulent variability, and no motion recordings are available to help elucidate how these vortical structures evolve and terminate. We report our measurements of currents in Ventura Harbor, California, generated by the 2015 Chilean M8.3 earthquake. We measured surface velocities using GPS drifters and image sequences of surface tracers deployed at a channel bifurcation, as the event unfolded. From the maps of the flow field, we find that a tsunami with a near‐shore amplitude of 30 cm at 6 m depth produced unexpectedly large currents up to 1.5 m/s, which is a fourfold increase over what simple linear scaling would suggest. Coherent turbulent structures appear throughout the event, across a wide range of scales, often generating the greatest local currents.


Suppose that (R,mR) is a Noetherian local domain, with quotient field K, and ν is a valuation of K which dominates R. Let Γν be the value group of ν. We consider the problem of determining the valuation semigroup S(R) = {ν(f) | f ∈ R \mR}. We give some general results and examples, and give a complete discription in the case of regular local rings of dimension 2. This generalizes the classification of valuation semigroups of regular local rings of dimension two with algebraically closed residue fields obtained by Spivakovsky in S [46]. This article presents recent results of the author, in joint work with Bernard Teissier, Kia Dalili, Olga Kashcheyeva and Vinh An Pham. It is a write up of a lecture given at the second international valuation theory conference.


The design, fabrication, and installation of a fuel-element guide assembly for the Sodium Reactcr Experiment are described. Improvements in this assembly over other models are outlined, and recommendations for the testing of SRE core elements are presented. (T.F.H.)


The article argues for the participation and involvement of students in developing learning spaces within higher education. In early childhood education there is a strong emphasis upon rights, democracy and planning learning through listening to young children. Taking inspiration from this, the study explores the use of participatory approaches in developing an Early Childhood Resource and Research room within a higher education institution. The article draws from the principles and practices of participatory research, where participants are considered as researchers, and from the distributed leadership approach that encourages shared decision-making. Applications of these principles are analysed by adopting various participatory methods with an aim to create a democratic, social and politically 'safe space' for the students to work in. The example of methods used in this article can serve as a basis for adopting alternative approaches to traditional leadership and management, highlighting the use of more democratic practices in creating learning environments.


Sprague-Dawley male rats (150 g) were chronically treated with 5 v/v % ethanol admixed with nutritionally complete liquid diet and fed ad libitum for 3 weeks. Controls were pair fed with the isocaloric sucrose liquid diet. One half of each group was exposed to cold stress at either for 24 h (for determination of mRNA by in situ hybridization) or for 48 h (for determination of enzyme activity). Chronic ethanol treatment (ethanol) did not affect tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) mRNA level in locus coeruleus (LC) of brain and adrenal medulla (AM) compared to controls. Cold stress showed strong increase of TH mRNA level in LC and AM compared to controls. Pretreated ethanol reduced the increased TH mRNA level by cold stress in LC and AM. Ethanol did not affect TH activity in LC and adrenal glands (adrenals). Cold stress increased TH activity in LC but not in adrenals. Pretreated ethanol did not reduce the increased TH activity by cold stress in LC but this result was not shown in adrenals. It is suggested that ethanol does not affect the message level and enzyme protein level for TH in LC and AM in normal rat. It is also hypothesized that pretreated ethanol reduces the magnitude of acute cold stress response, that is induction of TH mRNA in LC and AM, and does not reduce the increased TH enzyme protein that is also acute cold stress response in LC.


Suppose A is a presumably if intransitive commutative Banach algebra in its second dual A **. The paper studied several weaker definitions on amenability, Connes amenability including quotient pointwise amenability and approximate Connes amenability. Furthermore, the relations between them were discussed.


The aggregation of poly(1,3-cyclohexadiene) (PCHD), obtained by anionic polymerization with alkyllithium/amine systems, was examined using size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and size exclusion chromatography coupled with a multiangle laser light scattering photometer (SEC-MALS). The PCHD polymer chain has a structure consisting of a main chain formed by 1,2-addition (the 1,2-CHD unit) and 1,4-addition (the 1,4-CHD unit). Mild stirring with relatively low temperature in the polymerization reaction forms an aggregation of PCHD. The molecular weight and molar ratio of 1,2-CHD/1,4-CHD units in the polymer chain strongly influence the aggregation of PCHD. In a high molecular weight PCHD, containing ∼50% 1,2-CHD units, an aggregation of the polymer was observed in tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution at room temperature. This aggregation of PCHD was soluble in 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene (TCBz) and could be separated into each polymer molecule. In contrast, a polymer chain with a high content of 1,4-CHD units having a relatively low cis-stereospecificity was easily soluble in THF and TCBz without aggregating. A long polymer chain structure with a high content of 1,2-CHD units is considered to be the reason for the generation of strong intermolecular forces contributing to the aggregation of PCHD with the solvophobic interactions. The degree of aggregation could be controlled by the conditions of the PCHD polymer solution. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1442–1452, 2006


The structural and magnetic properties of amorphous Cox(Al80Zr20)1-x multilayers with varying thicknesses of the magnetic bilayers have been investigated. The reduction of the thickness causes a re ...


Objective 1. To investigate the effects of the selective beta‐3 adrenoreceptor agonist, BRL 37344, on human pregnant myometrial contractility in vitro. 2. to compare these effects with those of the beta‐2 adrenoreceptor agonist, ritodrine.


The Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 allows U.S. banks to adopt the Subchapter S status. We investigate if the Subchapter S banks use tax benefits for the intended purposes of "protecting jobs," "creating opportunities" and "increasing take home pay of workers." We find that the tax benefits: (a) are not used in expenses related to protection of jobs, (b) do not lead to greater employment opportunities within the Subchapter S banks, and (c) do not benefit the employees in the form of increased salaries and benefits. Our results indicate that bank owners are sole beneficiaries of the tax exemption benefits.


The PEO-b-PDMS-b-PEO copolymer was synthesized via hydrosilylation reaction between the Si-H double terminated polysiloxane and allyl terminated polyether in a condition of solvent-free.The effects of the type and dosage of amine doping in H2PtCl6,reaction time and reaction temperature on Si-H's conversion rate of reaction system were discussed separately.Experimental results showed that the system's conversion rate had a max value which was 82.9% when the H2PtCl6 was doped with Bu3N according to n(N)/n(Pt)=1,the reaction temperature was 90℃ and the reaction time was 6.5h.At last the production's structure and self-assembly micelle morphology were characterized by FT-IR,DLS and TEM.


Active sensing provides a way to assess whether a thin film of gecko-inspired adhesive has made good contact with a surface. This knowledge is useful for applications like gripping objects in space where a failed grasp could lead to loss of the object. Our active sensing approach uses Lamb waves in thin bilayers, excited, and detected by piezoelectric strips. From the theory, we describe how attenuation increases with contact boundary condition changes. We validated the theory using frustrated total internal reflection imaging, showing that attenuation increases as the contact area grows. Pull tests on different textures of acrylic plate show that the slope change of the signal can predict the maximum adhesion limit with a 10 N window and predict impending failure with a detection rate <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$>$</tex-math></inline-formula>80%. Lifting a cylindrical object shows that the sensor can signal different types of failures with a detection rate <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$>$</tex-math></inline-formula>85%, associated with unstable grasping.


Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of Financial Reporting Standards (FRS)139 adoption on value relevance of financial reporting for non-financial public listed companies in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach - – Multiple regressions were applied in this study to explore the value relevance of financial reporting upon FRS139 adoption. Findings - – The finding indicates that book value of equity and net income after tax are significant in jointly explaining the variations associated with market value for both the pre- and post-FRS139 period. However, the role of the book value of equity and the balance sheet in stock market valuation is becoming increasingly important compared with the role of net income after tax and income statement upon mandatory adoption of FRS139. Originality/value - – This study provides relevant insights into the potential consequences of FRS139 adoption in Malaysia. This is a significant event in the history of financial reporting in Malaysia. Given the importance and complexity of applying IAS39 in more developed countries, the results of this study add to current literature by providing a comprehensive empirical analysis on the effects of FRS139 adoption on financial reporting in Malaysia, a developing country where the economy is smaller, the financial market less efficient, and institutional settings different from developed countries.


Oil spills are disasters occurring because of human activities. Due to harmful effects of oil spill to environment similarly as marine life, it becomes essential to search out suitable solution both for oil spill prevention and oil spill response. However, preventing oil spill is certainly better option. Nevertheless, when a spill occurs, the simplest approach for controlling the spill is to require action quickly and in a very wellorganized and efficient manner. This paper discusses about oil spill and related factors. It will also present potential solutions for prevention of oil spill.


The demand to see a physiotherapist is of crucial importance in pregnancy. Evidence has shown that a rising level of relaxin, progesterone and estrogen increase joint laxity in pregnancy resulting in Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP). Studies suggest that pregnancy causes an irreversible widening and relaxation of the pelvis that result in instability and laxity of the joint(s). Physiotherapists have been overwhelmed with multiple referrals for management of PGP which clinicians can manage. Back pain prior to pregnancy also worsens the risk of PGP.


Omalizumab has been approved for chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU)/chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) in children 12 years and older. Two treatment doses of omalizumab are available: 150 mg or 300 mg every 4 weeks. While 150 mg has been shown to be effective, most patients with CIU/CSU require 300 mg every 4 weeks to achieve symptom improvement. 1,2 . Although the cost of anti-IgE treatment can be high, there are reports of successful remission in CIU/CSU for difficult-to-treat cases, with 70.4% of patients treated with omalizumab reporting resolution of symptoms (versus 4.5% of placebo-treated patients)2,3 . This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Financing Agreement (Post-Conflict Assistance Project) between the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire and the International Development Association (with schedules, appendix and International Development Association General Conditions for Credits and Grants, dated 1 July 2005, as amended through 15 October 2006). Washington, 18 July 2007


Previous literature on open source software (OSS) mostly analyzes organizational issues within communities of developers and users. This paper focuses on profit-oriented organizations that release software products under OSS licenses, and argues that variations in their endowments of intellectual property rights, namely patents and trademarks, help to determine which firms will tend to incorporate OSS into commercial products. We develop a theory to explain whether and under what conditions preexisting stocks of intellectual property rights can be useful complementary assets that allow firms to benefit directly or indirectly from commercializing OSS products, and test this theory on a novel dataset built on firms' announcements of OSS product releases in the specialized press during the period 1995-2003. We find that (a) firms with large stocks of software patents are more likely to release OSS products; (b) firms with large stocks of software trademarks are less likely to release OSS products; (c) firms with large stocks of hardware trademarks are more likely to release OSS products.


The proliferation of visual information promoted in part by the Internet of Things is increasing demand for high-quality imaging, which in turn imposes more stringent physical requirements on photodetectors. Given that dark current is a significant figure of merit for photodetectors, we report herein a vertical ferroelectric semiconductor junction based on two-dimensional α-In2Se3 that suppresses the dark current and, thereby, enhances photodetection sensitivity. By utilizing the tight coupling between the ferroelectric and semiconductor properties of α-In2Se3, the two-terminal graphene-ferroelectric semiconductor–graphene crossbar structure demonstrates typical memristive behavior. The conductance, reflecting the dark current, is effectively regulated by modulating the height of the out-of-plane ferroelectric polarization-induced Schottky barrier height modulation between α-In2Se3 and graphene. As a result, the dark current is suppressed to 14 nA when α-In2Se3 is polarized down, which is a 50-fold decrease from 660 nA of dark current when α-In2Se3 is polarized up. Furthermore, α-In2Se3 exhibits excellent optoelectronic properties, demonstrating a high responsivity of 4.3 × 104 A/W, a fast response speed of 43 μs, and a broadband response spectrum from the visible to 980 nm. The combination of semiconductor and ferroelectric properties means that such devices may be used in self-powered, broadband, and highly integrated optoelectronic platforms.


Salen and substituted salen schiff base complexes of cobalt(ll) have been synthesized. These complexes have been encapsulated in the supercages of Na-Y zeolit e e mployin g fle xibl e ligand method. The neat as well as the zeolite encapsulated complexes have been characteri~ed by XRD, FTIR and UV-vis spectroscopy. Aerial oxidation of p-cresol using th ese catalysts in presence of a base affords p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (PHBA) in good yield . Among th e catalysts studied, cobalt-chlorosalen-Y g ives a lmost 100% conve rsion of p-cre sol with 97% selectivity towards PHBA with a turnover frequency of I 049/h. The spent encapsulated catalysts retai n their identity afte r the oxidati on reacti ons as seen from th eir IR spectra . p-Hydroxybenzaldehyde (PHBA) is obtained as a by-product from the Reim er-Ti emann reaction of sa licylaldehyde with phenol. PHBA is an important intermediate in agric ulture and pharmaceuti cal indu stry. It is also used as an additive for metal plating brightners and in perfumes. Cobalt salts are frequently used as catalysts in oxidation reaction s' ) . The liquid phase aerial oxidati on of p-cresol was reported by Sharma et ctl' . usin g coba lt ous ch lor id e as cata lys t in presence of excess sod iulll hydro xid e to give an overa ll p-creso l conv ersio n of 90% with 60 % se lec ti vity to PHBA. Other by-products incl ud ed j1hydroxybenzyl alcoh ol, p-hydroxybenzoic ac id , p hydroxybenzyl methyl ether and min or quantities of tarry material s. An inc reased yield of PHBA has been ach ie ve d using heterogene ous catalysts such as CoAPO-S and CoAPO-1 1'1 . Recentl y, compounds like hydrotalcite also have been used as catalysts to get a hi gh p-uesol conversion ' . In this paper we report aerial oxi dati on of p-cresol under a lka lin e conditions usin g catalysts consi stin g of neat sa len complexes of coba lt(lI) as well as th ese complexes heterogenized by encapsul atio n in the voids of Y -type zeo l ites for the fir st time with a view to obtaining an increased se lectivit y towards PHBA.


Background: Researchers have extensively used metabolic simulators as a fast, inexpensive, and safe way of testing novel treatment strategies. This work aims to bring this technology to people with T1D to enable unique patient/data interactions. Methods: A 5-week pilot study was carried out in 15 adults with T1D using Control-IQ technology (age 36±13 years, HbA1c 6.5±0.7%) to evaluate acceptance of the proposed Web-Based Simulation Tool (WST). The study consisted of 1 week of observation (Phase 1) and 4 weeks of interaction with WST (Phase 2). Data were automatically collected via Tandem Diabetes Care t:connect web application, and used to generate personalized models of the participants' glucose metabolism. Results: Success rate in generating models was 86.4%, achieving an average MARD of 7.4±3.2%. Interaction time was 15.8±10.7 min per week. Comparing Phases 1 and 2, no variation was detected in time in range 70-180 mg/dl (80.1 [70.4,89.6]% vs. 80 [69.7,87.9]%). Time in 70-250 mg/dl increased slightly (94.2 [90.3,95.7]% vs. 96.2 [92.1,97.9]%), especially overnight (92.8 [88.3,98.2]% vs. 97.2 [91.8,99.6]%), and for participants who modified their pump settings based on WST simulations (90 [88.7,92.4]% vs. 94.5 [87.1,99.6]%). One subject tested COVID positive during the study and was excluded from this analysis due to abnormal hyperglycemia. Analysis of Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS)-17 pre and post-system use shows a reduction in diabetes-related distress (2.2 [1.7,3.4] vs. 2 [1.7,2.4]). Trust, ease of use, and usefulness scores were 80 [60,80]%, 60 [60,80]%, and 80 [60,80]%, respectively. During the follow up interviews, 10 participants reported they enjoyed using WST and would implement it into their diabetes management;2 did not like the system but see the potential of it for other people;3 participants did not like the system at all. Conclusions: Evidence from this study suggests that simulation technologies may empower people with T1D, making them more confident in their diabetes self-management.


By introduction to structure analysis and design calculation of middle pressure tubular waste heat boiler with expansion joint,the author thinks rational selection to the standard and code of the boiler and vessel is the key to assure the product design and manufacture quality and guarantee personal safety without the special national standard "Tubular Waste Heat Boiler"now.


In this paper, the authors present a numerical approach to study Defect detection through Stochastic Wave Finite Element Method. The uncertain material properties are modeled as a set of random fields. The structure is presented considering two waveguides connected through a stochastic coupling element, simulated as the defect (crack). Diffusion matrix for uncertain media through stochastic wave finite element method is studied in this paper. The forced response following a vibratory excitation is computed to investigate the defect detection. The computational efficiency of the method is demonstrated by comparison with MC simulation. MEDYNA 2013 23-25 Apr 2013, Marrakech (Morocco)


Introduction: This study aims to evaluate the results of plate augmentation and bone grafting without removing the nail in the treatment of nonunited, nailed femoral shaft fractures. Methods: Twenty patients with atrophic nonunion femoral shaft fractures initially fixed by intramedullary nail were treated by augmentation plating and iliac bone graft with retention of the nail. Patients were evaluated at regular intervals using an X-ray and Wu scoring system, which assesses clinical and radiological signs of healing. Results: All 20 patients achieved bony union at a mean time of 4.9 months (3–8 months). According to Wu's score, 12 cases showed excellent results, and 8 cases obtained good results with no complications recorded. Conclusion: augmentation plating and iliac bone graft provide a good and safe method of treatment of previously nailed and non-united femoral shaft fractures. Level of evidence: Level 4; Case Series.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of the food dyes sunset yellow, bordeaux red, and tartrazine yellow on the cellular cycle of Allium cepa L. Each dye was evaluated at the doses of 0.4 and 4.0 mL, at the exposure times of 24 and 48 hours in root tip cells of Allium cepa L. Slides were prepared and cells were analyzed during the whole cell cycle for cellular aberrations totaling 5,000 total cells for each dose evaluated. The mitotic index was calculated, and statistical analysis was performed using the Chi-squared test (p < 0.05). The results showed that the three dyes used under the evaluated doses and exposure times were cytotoxic to the cells of the system-test used. Further cytotoxicity studies should be conducted for additional results and a proper evaluation of the effect of these three dyes on a cellular level.


Based on the feature of short preservation period and easily going bad of fresh agricultural product,it was necessary to optimize the location of distribution center to shorten the circulation time and increase the freshness rate.The optimization model for distribution center location was established with the objective of the shortest distribution cost and the algorithm was applied to solve this problem.Simulation result showed that the model and the method were feasible.