A 29‐year‐old male patient attended the Department of Dermatology of Government Medical College, Kozhikode with diffuse hyperpigmentation and intractable pruritus (that did not respond to antihistamines, emollients and topical steroids) of 2 years' duration and significant weight loss for 6 months. No exacerbating factors or diurnal variation were observed for pruritus which involved his entire body. He was not on any medication prior to the onset of hyperpigmentation.


BACKGROUND The use of multiple drugs is a growing problem in elderly patients: it increases the risk of drug-drug interactions and reduces the compliance to cures. The magnitude and the clinical implications of this phenomenon in patients hospitalized in Internal Medicine departments (IM) remain largely unknown. AIM OF THE STUDY To evaluate how frequently polypharmacotherapy occurs in IM patients, to what extent the hospitalization affects it, and to what extent potential drug-drug interactions have to do with the treated conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this observational study, the clinical records of 232 consecutive patients (median age 80 years) were reviewed, and the medical prescriptions on admission to and at discharge from the hospital were analysed, with special regard to potential drugdrug interactions, using the Micromedex® Healthcare Series system (www.thomsonhc.com); the interactions were classified in terms of severity and type (clinical relevance). RESULTS The total number of prescribed drugs per-patient on admission and at discharge were 4.73 ± 2.88 vs 5.69 ± 2.78 (p < 0.01); the number of potentially harmful interactions were 0.91 ± 1.17 vs 1.39 ± 1.59 (p < 0.01); the percentage of patients at risk for any interactions (mostly moderate or severe, as a matter of fact) were 53% vs 66% (p < 0.01). As for clinical relevance, most interactions were of the pharmacodymanic type (67 vs 93, p n.s.), and very few patients (5 vs 5) had interactions potentially interfering with their disease status. The risk of interactions progressively increased with the number of prescribed drugs, reaching a plateau of 60% with the combination of 4 drugs. CONCLUSIONS Our data confirm that drug-drug interactions due to polypharmacotherapy are a relevant problem in patients hospitalized in IM, and that hospitalization per se adds to its magnitude. Although few patients seem to be directly threatened in their disease status, most of them are exposed to the risk of multiple adverse effects, the reduction of which needs to be aimed at by the prescribing physicians.


SIR, It is sensible and customary to retest ELISA HIV antibody-positive donors by independent methods, and for the last 5 years the virus lysate-derived Western blots (WB) have been mostly used for this purpose. However, the interpretation of these results, especially in the presence of indeterminate bands, continues to be a problem; there seems to be no easy solution as reflected by the complex flow-chart devised by the French group (Noel et af. , 1988) to interpret such WBbands. There are two possible strategies to circumvent the problem: firstly, there is a case for introducing modern ELISA tests for confirmatory purpose, as pleaded recently by Mortimer (1991); or secondly, for using less complex but refined WB recombinant/ synthetic antigens as has been recently described by an American group (Busch et af. , 1991). Similar recombinant/synthetically derived immuno blot assays (RIBA) are commercially available in Europe, that can not only validate ELISA-positive reactions with high specificity but are also capable of differentiating between HIV-I and HIV-2 antibody reactivities. Over a period of 6 months we have had experience with a RIBA assay called LiaTek (Organon, The Netherlands). The assay was performed according to the manufacturer's instructions. Briefly, recombinant proteins/peptides of HIV-I and HIV-2 were coated as discrete antigen lines on nylon strip with plastic backings provided in the kit. For HIV-I, four antigens (p24, p17, gp41, gp31) and for HIV-2, one antigen (gp36) was applied. In addition, each strip had four reference lines, representing two cut-off points: one strong positive and a sample application control. True blot positives have activity against a t least two gene products of the virus (em, gag or pol ) . Sera with ELISA positivity but showing only one band were considered to be indeterminate reactions. Using the conventional WB (Dupont, U.S.A.) we investigated samples in parallel with LiaTek. Table 1 summarizes our experience with the two types of blot, showing 100% concordance in four HIV-I positive donor sera (found during 1989 screening and kept frozen). The two French/African sera (gifts from Dr L. Nod, CTS, Versailles), were clearly identified as HIV-2 in LiaTek. Eight repeatably ELISA (Wellcome) reactive sera recently obtained in our centre showed no reaction by LiaTek while 4/8 showed indeterminate bands by the conventional WB; the latter seems to be due to non-specific reactivity because all four sera were negative by two additional tests including a sensitive gelatin particle agglutination (Serodia, Fujirebio) assay (Barbara et af . , 1989) and Abbott ELISA. Furthermore, all four donors showing non-specific single bands were followed-up for between 5 and 15 months. During this period they remained healthy and second samples were tested, when 2/4 were completely negative in WB, while two donors had maintained


− In this paper, the notions of IΛg-closed sets and IΛg-open sets are introduced. Characterizations and properties of such notions are obtained. Suitable examples are given to substantiateeach established notions


This paper deals with the switching planning of distribution feeders, both restorative switchings and maintenance switchings. The aim of switching planning is to minimize the outage costs using an interactive switching planning model. Switching planning is one of the tasks of the support system for distribution network operation.


For me, the eons it took to produce the Grand Canyon is a metaphor for the biosimilar market. We are now five years removed from the enactment of the Biologics Price Competit ion and Innovation Act [7] of 2009 (BPCI). Since that t ime, the U.S. Food and Drug Administrat ion (FDA) has successfully approved only one biosimilar and it is embroiled in lit igation. While it feels like it may take tectonic forces to fully establish the biosimilar market on a grand scale, one that delivers meaningful savings to health systems and the patients they serve, some progress is being made.


The pathology of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is reviewed using post-mortem material and observations at operation. Different patterns of dysplasia, found macroscopically and microscopically, are related to the different stages of foetal maldevelopment. We believe that an understanding of the morbid anatomy and histology is the cornerstone from which a rational treatment protocol can be developed.


Several recent defaults on sovereign debt were accompanied by major banking crises in the defaulting countries. I argue that the banking crises, triggered by the defaults, were due to inadequate prudential regulations, which did not recognize the riskiness of the government debt. I use a simple model of prudential regulation to illustrate this point. I further investigate whether these "inadequate regulations†can be part of a constrained optimal arrangement which increases the cost of default and permits the government to borrow more ex-ante


ALTHOUGH scattered observations on the life span of many vertebrates and invertebrates are legion, the accurately Collected mortality. data necessary for the construction of a life table are, apart from mnan, few indeed. For the insect group, life tables in complete or abridged form have been published for representatives of four orders: the Orthoptera (Blatta orientalis), the Lepidoptera (Telea polyphtemis and Acrobasis caryae), the Diptera (Drosophtila melanogaster and various of its mutants), and the Coleoptera (Tribolit am1 coonfusumt). Reference to the first three orders will be found in the papers of Pearl and AMiner (1935 and 1936); to the last order in Pearl, Park alcd Mliner (1941). The present paper reports a life table for another, and hitherto little studied, flour beetle, Tribolimi qnadens. The details of life table construction, the significance of the life table for many pleases of population biology and a review of the literature dealing with mortality in infra-human populations are not considered pertinent for this short paper. If interested, the reader can find further information in Bodeniheinier (1938), Dublin. and Lotka (1936) and Pearl (1940). The flour beetles (Tribooliulml cojifusutm and Triboliamn;^ castaneum) are proving to be appropriate organisms for experimental populations studies (see Ford, 1937, and Park, 1941). It is hoped that, as more backg-round data 1 I wish to express my sincere thanks to Dr. Alfred J; Lotka, of the Metropolitail Life Insurance Compally, whose advice has been inv-aluable. I am also greatly iiidebted to Mr. Albert W. Buzicky, of The University of Miimesota, for furnishilgg me with a culture of Triboltm macdens as well as for a ilnunber of suggestions. This investigation has beeni aided by a grailt from the Dr. Wallace C. adll Clara A. Abbott Meioriml Funid of the University of Chicago.


Plans for disposal of the low-level fraction of selected double-shell tank wastes at Hanford include grouting. Grout disposal is the process of mixing low-level liquid waste with cementitious powders and pumping the slurry to near-surface, underground concrete vaults; hydration results in the formation of a solid product that binds/encapsulates the radioactive/hazardous constituents. In this durability program, previous studies have indicated a strong impact from curing temperature/time on strength and leach resistance of DSSF grouts. The current studies were expanded to determine whether these impacts could be attributed to other factors, such as dry blend composition and waste concentration. Major conclusions: grouts from dry blends with 40 wt% limestone had lower strengths; compressive strengths and leach resistance decreased with increased curing temperature/time; leach resistance increased for grouts prepared with dilute DSSF; nitrate leach resistance increased with high slag/cement ratios, dilute DSSF, and low curing temperatures; amount of drainable liquids for grouts using diluted DSSF was lowest when slag content was high; the 2 most significant factors affecting grout properties were the slag/cement ratio and waste dilution (slag-waste reactions appear to dominate the properties of DSSF grouts).


The total flavonoids content in Hemerocallia Fulva is determined by 95 percent alcohol extraction and column chromatography colorimetric. It is demonstrated that the total flavonoid in Hemerocallia Fulva is 6.85 %. The extraction of flavonoids from Hemerocallia Fulva was studied and the antioxidant activity of the extracts towards free radical scavenging was evaluated, such as the superoxide aninon radicals and hydroxyl radicals. The results showed that the dosage of flavones was in direct proportion to the antioxidation. Meanwhile, when ascorbic acid was used together with flavonoids, ascorbic acid shows stronger synergistic antioxidant ability with flavonoids.


The interference caused by weeds is one of the factors that can affect the productivity of the cassava culture. This study aimed at evaluating the interference of different periods of control and coexistence of weeds with the cassava culture, White Starch cultivar, and also observes its effect on the growing of the plant, as well as in its production. The experiment was performed at Unioeste- Marechal Cândido Rondon, Parana, in Eutrophic Oxisol. The culture was conducted during a vegetative cycle of 12 months, the planting occurred on October 3, 2001 and the harvest on October 4, 2002. The experiment was installed as a completely randomized block design with a factorial scheme 2x10, made up by growing periods of coexistence and control of the weed interference. After the harvest, the stand, the number of roots per plant, the amount of starch of the roots and the weight of the root production were determined. Results showed that the losses in the productivity of roots in the culture caused by the competition of weeds, in extreme situations, were quite significative, almost 100%. The period before the interference (PBI) was 60 days and the total period of interference prevention (TPIP) was 90 days, which indicates a critical period of interference (CPI) from 60 to 90 days after the planting.


Background: Prediabetes is a condition that develops before diabetes and can be treated with intensive Lifestyle Modifications (LSM). This study aimed to assess the knowledge, practices, and perceptions of Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) toward prediabetes in Bahrain. Methods: PCPs in the study were surveyed using a cross-sectional questionnaire in all 28 governmentrun Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in Bahrain. We used descriptive statistics to analyse the data, which were then reported as percentages. Results: From 378 PCPs, 263 completed the questionnaire. The physician's knowledge of prediabetes Risk Factors (RFs) and HbA1C laboratory criteria to diagnose prediabetes was inadequate. As an initial step to manage prediabetes, 12.5% of PCPs refer patients to Diabetes Prevention lifestyle change Programs (DPPs). Moreover, 15.6% recommend 7% minimum weight loss, 57.8% recommend 150 minutes per week of physical activity and 67.7% recommend prescribing metformin. Overall, our study revealed that General Practitioners (GPs) had inferior knowledge to Family Physicians (FPs). According to PCPs, diabetes prevention is hindered by both individual and system-level challenges (e.g., Inadequate motivation and resources to lose weight). Furthermore, PCPs consider that improved access to DPPs and coordinated referrals to them could delay diabetes. Conclusion: Risk stratification, appropriate diagnosis, and intervention at the prediabetes stage are of critical importance for preventing diabetes. Increasing awareness of the public regarding prediabetes complications and educating healthcare providers, especially GPs, on screening guidelines, diagnostic criteria, and evidence-based management options for prediabetes can bring us one step closer to slowing the diabetes epidemic in Bahrain.


Abstract : DESCRIPTORS: (*Laminates, Temperature, Stresses, Thermal stresses, *Thermal expansion, Filament wound construction.) Iden ifi rs: Mandrels. OL type rings were prep red on col m drel, maintained at room temperature, and a hot mandrel, maintained at cure temp ratur . A LL RI GS WERE PROCESSED AT TH SAME CURE SCHEDUL : <$ HOURS AT %) F. The results s ow n increase of 12.8% in the flexural streng h of the specimens woun on the hot mandrel over those wound on the cold mandrel. This may be attributed to the difference in coefficient of e p nsion between the man rel and the glass causing undue stress in the glass when the glass is wound on a cold mandrel a d then cured at 50 F. Author


Stochastic character of the proper operation of several machinery prevents the variation with time of the developing mechanical characteristics from being described by a deterministic functional relationship. In this study a stochastic model of the rpm and torque process in a simple mechanical system will be described, assuming cycle periods of the operation process repetitions to be independent random variables of identical distribution function. With the knowledge of the characteristic curves of driving and braking torques, and of the cycle time distribution function, the stationary limit distribution functions of the operation process will be determined.


Milk quality means different things to the different groups. To some it's simply low somatic cell count milk. To others it's a complex subject involving somatic cell counts (SCC), bacteria counts, management programs, premiums, cow health and welfare and more. Farmers are extremely focused on producing quality milk for two reasons. The main reason is consumer confidence and the second reason is economics. Quality control systems aimed the prevention of defects, rather than their detection.


The time period for final acceptance of subsea pipeline system influences directly the involved construction resources and the pipeline official operation time, so completing the pipeline acceptance work in a shorter time is a common aim for client and contractor under the precondition of ensuring pipeline construction quality. As the development of subsea pipeline projects tends to deep water, the pipeline pressure test time in final acceptance work becomes longer, especially for pipe-in-pipe(PIP) system. However the practice proves that PIP system which has the normal pressure drop graph doesn't leak. To shorten the pipeline pressure testing time, this paper, based on the relationship between temperature and pressure of the medium in PIP system and combined with the pressure test cases of some projects in South China Sea, discusses the present "Final Pressure Testing Acceptance Standard" through analysis and comparison of the temperature drop and pressure drop, and suggests a new criterion.


Vibration of ground is the main cause of earthquake damage to building structures. There are many factors responsible for the strength of earthquake shaking at a site including the earthquake's magnitude, the site's proximity to the fault, the local geology, and the soil type. The natural disasters have been fast recurring all over the world causing great concern and damage to man and their properties. Among these disasters Earthquake is an endogenous natural disaster, which occurs suddenly without any warning. The vast devastation of engineering systems and facilities during the past earthquakes has exposed serious deficiencies in the prevalent design and construction. Shear wall is one of the most commonly used lateral load resisting in high rise buildings. Shear wall can be used to simultaneously resist large horizontal load and support gravity load. In the study, one tall RCC building of 13 stories is assumed to be situated in seismic zone V is analysed using two methods (Static and Dynamic Analysis). The share walls are taken at different position of building. The comparison of the different shear wall models is studied in this work against the different parameters like time period, bending moment, shear force, storey drift, displacement


State antitrust enforcement went through several dramatic changes from 1974 to 1982. This article charts its growth and decline during this period by measuring the number of actions filed by state antitrust programs, their funding and staffing. These measures indicate that state antitrust activity rapidly increased from 1974 to 1980 but has declined during the eighties because state antitrust programs lost federal funding and political support. This article also considers the changing focus of state antitrust enforcement by examining the type of defendant and substantive violation prosecuted, client represented, and relief sought in state antitrust actions. This examination shows that state antitrust enforcement shifted from multidistrict, treble damage suits against large, out-of-state enterprises to actions against small, in-state businesses. To explain the political and fiscal forces that have shaped state antitrust enforcement, this article compares antitrust enforcement in states with appointed attorneys general to that in states with elected ones, and among states with different funding sources for their programs. Based on these comparisons, it is argued that state attorneys general can overcome state antitrust's present political and fiscal crisis by bringing more consumer damage (parens patriae) suits and using revolving funds to finance enforcement. It is argued that state antitrust programs will make their greatest contribution to society by maximizing consumer welfare. They can do this by bringing actions against local price-fixers and bid-riggers, policing anticompetitive state regulation, and educating small businessmen and consumers about antitrust. This article offers suggestions for ensuring the long-term fiscal stability of state antitrust, including cooperative efforts designed to increase enforcement efficiency and modifications in revolving funds. The article concludes with the observation that state antitrust programs have provided a unique brand of locally oriented enforcement and this contribution will be lost unless state attorneys general act to achieve political and fiscal stability for these programs.


Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has ended up the most famous technique for imaging brain functions. Currently, there is a giant range of software packages for the analysis of fMRI data, such as AFNI, SPM, Free Surfer, FSL, fMRIPrep and Workbench. In this work, we propose an fMRI preprocessing on SPM applied to ABIDE II database and we evaluate this processing by applying an MLG.


Liberalism and free individual choice We take a wide rather than a narrow view of what liberalism is. As we see it, liberalism is a disputatious family of doctrines, which nevertheless share some core principles. These principles are by now – at least in the West – hardly new. But they constitute a radically different way of understanding and organizing the best scheme of human association from the many other understandings that have been produced in the course of human history in Western and other civilizations. While liberal doctrines and practices are at present well established in the West, it should not be forgotten how recently they were threatened with extinction in their heartlands. They are still constantly under attack and are often not well understood, in part because of the tendency to identify liberalism with one or other member of the family only – a tendency that in America makes liberalism out to be a politically leftist doctrine of state welfare and state intervention, while in contemporary France it has become associated with the supposedly laissez-faire policies of recent Anglo-Saxon governments. Part of what we mean by the liberal project, then, is that from a broad historical perspective liberalism is a fairly new and certainly radically different conception of social and political order from its predecessors and subsequent rivals.


of hypotension at Musgrove Park Hospital. This improvement project looked to implement a framework for recovery and medical staff to use in the management of post-operative hypotension. A retrospective review was undertaken of 22 patients following fractured NOF surgery in November 2018. This found 50% (11/22) of patients had one or more episodes of postoperative hypotension (Systolic < 100 mmHg), two patients had ongoing blood pressure (BP) support in recovery but only one was escalated to HDU. The patient not admitted developed an AKI day 1 post op. We then implemented an algorithm in orthopaedic recovery to guide healthcare workers through initial treatment options for post-operative hypotension and a time frame for referral to HDU. Data was collected prospectively from March 2019 to March 2020 to assess impact on HDU bed capacity, patient outcomes, post-operative AKI, length of hospital stay and time to first mobilisation. 4.8% (24/493) of patients were admitted to HDU with a fractured NOF. 18 were admitted with refractory hypotension for ongoing BP support. The incidence of post-operative hypotension in patients reduced from 14.3% to 4.7% in patients transferred back to the ward and 0/18 patients admitted to HDU had an AKI. 3 patients who were initially transferred to the ward were also admitted and one developed a post-operative AKI. No improvement was found in first mobilisation and length of stay. A review of critical care bed capacity found there was no impact on admissions after elective surgery. Implementation of this pathway has reduced incidence of post-operative hypotension and AKI. Demonstrating that enhanced post-operative care can have a role in fractured NOF management with minimal impact on critical care bed capacity.


Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy is a common disease in both home and abroad,it increases the risks of pregnant women and perinatal fetuses.It is one of the main treatment methods to lower blood pressure.There is consensus that women with severe ypertention should receive antihypertensive treatment in order to decrease the risk of stroke or death,but in cases of mild-to-moderate hypertention,the attitudes of antihypertensive therapy usage are still controversial.


[Abstract]: The emergence of the Internet has made many institutions involved in the delivery of distance education programs re-evaluate the course delivery framework. A variety of models and techniques co-exist in an often uneasy alliance at many such institutions. These range from the traditional
distance learning model, which remains paper-based, to the purely online model. Recently, hybrid models have emerged which apparently attempt to forge elements taken from several models into a unified whole. Many of these hybrid models seek to eliminate paper-based materials from the tuition process. While many arguments are put forward about the efficacy of purely electronic delivery mechanisms, cost containment is often the driving motivation. This study explores student perceptions of the various delivery mechanisms for distance learning materials. In particular,
it seeks to determine what value students place on paper-based delivery mechanisms. The study surveys a group of undergraduate students and a group of graduate students enrolled in the Faculty of Business at a large regional Australian university.


Brachytherapy was employed as curative treatment modality for localized prostate cancer early in the 20 th century. Transperineal implantation of prostatic radioactive seeds is generally safe, however serious complications may occur. Although the half –life of the I 125 is about 60 days, literature review showed that Solitary Rectal Ulcer tends to occur months to years after the initial treatment. We present a case of 72 year-old man, who complained of "seeds" anal discharge 7 years after prostate brachytherapy. Paraclinical investigations showed Solitary Ulcer of the Rectum with extra urethral prostatic-rectal fistula. Laparoscopic Loop colostomy was performed. The 4 months follow-up period was uneventful, and the symptoms had resolved. Currently the patient is awaiting colostomy reversal.


Pulsed magnetic field (0–4.4 T) was used to study the magnetic field dependent resistivity (12–350 K) and thermoelectric power (0–1.5 T) of Na and K-doped La0.7Ca0.7−yAyMnO3 (0.0⩽y⩽0.3, A=Na, K) system showing semiconducting to metallic transitions around temperature Tp. Na/K-doping increases both conductivity and Tp. In La1−xCaxMnO3, an increase of Tp and conductivity with an increase of Ca (for x⩽0.33) are small and the small polaron coupling constant (γ) and hence the electron-lattice (phonon) interaction is strong. But in the Na/K doped system, γ is small and for y⩾0.05, Motts' condition of strong el–ph interaction breaks down in the high temperature (T>Tp) phase. Increase of conductivity in the Na/K doped system is caused by the decrease of γ, binding energy (Wp), hopping energy (WH), and effective mass (mp) of the polarons leading to the melting (we call it) of polarons in the T>Tp phase. This melting results in an increase of exchange coupling constant between spins. Field dependent thermoelectric ...


The main objective of this paper is to describe some political elements that incited the Brazilian government to adopt a strategy that privileged the growth of the economy in 1973, when it took place the first crisis of the oil prices. To reach this objective there will be used a historical analysis of the political evolution of the military regime in Brazil and some of its institutions, showing how that context influenced the decisions of economical politics during the Geisel government. It is verified that the context of political distension, the military rhetoric, and the changes in the international relations scenery were determinative in the conception of an economical plan that privileged the growth of the gross domestic product and the level of income.


Abstract A facile diastereoselective synthesis of panduratin A derivatives using commercially available aluminum(III) bromide is reported. The effect of substituents on the Diels–Alder reaction of various trans-chalcones with (E)-ocimene was investigated. A series of panduratin A derivatives were prepared in moderate to good yields.


Abstract Background Patients with schizophrenia have difficulties in judging their own performance. Patients with no or little practical experience of demands from active performance in society tends to overestimate their ability. Research has also found that patients who overestimate their function also runs a risk to be perceived as better functioning than what they actually are when judged by caregivers. The aim with this study is to examine if patients who overestimate their ability will receive less community support compared to patients who have an accurate perception of their ability? Methods The study population was 184 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder. They were tested with the Swedish version of the UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment–Brief Version (UPSA-B). Before the test they were asked how they thought their functioning were in four different domains covered in the UPSA-B. After the test they were divided into four groups: "Good functioning with realistic perception", "Good functioning but underestimating their function", "Impaired function with realistic perception" and "Impaired function but overestimating their performance". The amount of received community support were investigated and related to patients′ actual performance and self-perception. Results Analyzes showed that patients who had an impaired function and a realistic view of their ability had more support than those who were impaired but overestimated their ability. Also, patients with good functioning but underestimating their performance had more support than those who had a good ability and a realistic perception. Finally, there were no difference in community support to the patients in the two groups "Good function with realistic perception" and "Impaired function but overestimating their performance". Discussion Our results indicate that patients with impaired functioning who overestimate their ability risk an insufficient community support. This in combination with earlier findings, that staff-members in psychiatric out-patient settings are likely to base their judgement on patients′ report consequential leading to false positive conclusions, may have both short- and long-term implications. Not achieving symptomatic remission, as a consequence of inability to follow medical prescriptions, and sub-optimal social functioning with isolation are two possible implications. The findings once again raises the need for the testing of patients′ function instead of only conducting interviews.


The aim of this literature review was to evaluate the many factors surrounding dietary salt and sodium. There is consensus throughout the world, that too much salt is being consumed. In this literature review, the physiological role of salt in the human diet, the source and perception of saltiness are discussed. The problems caused by the chronic overconsumption and its effect on South Africans were addressed as well as the negative attitude consumers have towards reducing their sodium intake. A number of challenges facing the food industry responsible for processed meat products were identified. The various functions of sodium contributing substances were explored with a focus on the effect on meat microbiology. A number of possible substitutes, containing sodium or substitutes free of sodium were discussed in an effort to find the most suitable analogues with the broadest application in current processed meat products. The new area of modifying processing conditions were also discussed in terms of how these technologies may assist in maintaining the quality of sodium reduced products. Finally, advantages and possible opportunities for the meat industry with regard to sodium reduction were highlighted.


Mineral dust aerosols play an important role in the climate system. Coupled climate-aerosol models are an important tool with which to quantify dust fluxes and the associated climate impact. Over the last decade or more, numerous models have been developed, both global and regional, but to date, there have been few attempts to compare the performance of these models. In this paper a comparison of five regional atmospheric models with dust modules is made, in terms of their simulation of meteorology, dust emission and transport. The intercomparison focuses on a 3-day dust event over the Bodele depression in northern Chad, the world's single most important dust source. Simulations are compared to satellite data and in situ observations from the Bodele Dust Experiment (BoDEx 2005). Overall, the models reproduce many of the key features of the meteorology and the large dust plumes that occur over the study domain. However, there is at least an order of magnitude range in model estimates of key quantities including dust concentration, dust burden, dust flux, and aerosol optical thickness. As such, there remains considerable uncertainty in model estimates of the dust cycle and its interaction with climate. This paper discusses the issues associated with partitioning various sources of model uncertainty.


Near infrared reflectance methods were developed for the analysis of polymer pellets and films. Second derivative spectra were used to minimize the effects of scattering and to enhance spectral features. Zero crossover points, places in the derivative spectra where there is negligible response to concentration changes, were employed to minimize interferences at the measuring wavelengths. Two examples illustrate the utility of this technique for industrial quality assurance analyses. The examples include the measurement of three hydrocarbon polymers, directly in transparent pellets, and the determination of 0.1% MEK in an acrylic film. Precision and accuracy were found to be at least equal to that of other methods, and time savings were considerable.


A study was conducted to find out the antigenic similarity of immunoglobulin G (IgG) of sambar deer and chital to that of goats, employing enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Various dilutions of goat, sambar deer, chital and guinea pig sera were reacted against various dilutions of antigoat (AG) horse radish peroxidase (HRP) conjugate and the optical density values (OD) measured. Results of the study indicated that there was cross reactivity between deer and goat immunoglobulins which was evidenced by colour development in ELISA. It was also observed that the AG HRP conjugate detected chital IgG to a greater extent than sambar deer IgG. However, statistically there was significant difference between the optical OD values for the four species. It is concluded that there exists antigenic similarity between deer and goat IgG and that deer IgGs differ among themselves in their capacity to bind with AG HRP conjugate.


The invention discloses a method for repairing a crack of a cement-based material. According to the method, carbonic anhydrase microorganisms are adopted for generating carbonic anhydrase used for catching CO2, CO2 is promoted to be converted into CO3 , and the deposition of calcium carbonate within a surface area of the crack is accelerated; the method has the advantage that the repair speed is faster than that of other methods for repairing the crack through the microorganisms. The method comprises the following steps of: inoculating bacillus mucilaginosus to a culture medium; culturing; preparing bacillus mucilaginosus concentrated bacteria liquid; immobilizing bacteria on carriers; uniformly burying calcium sources into the cement-based material during forming the cement-based material; concentrating the carriers with the bacteria immobilized into a range of 5mm under a surface area of a test part; manufacturing the crack after a part to be tested is cured; transferring into a thermostatic waterbath; continuously charging air for maintaining and repairing. The repair test result shows that the osmotic coefficient is greatly reduced after repairing for 5 days, and the crack is repaired completely after continuously repairing for 30 days.


The article summarizes the development status of oil and gas pipeline and the impact of common geological disasters on oil and gas pipeline across the river. Especially, the article summarizes the current research status of related theory about the impact of earthquake on pipeline. This paper not only summarizes the development of directional drilling technology and the present situation of the theoretical research, also illustrates the advantages and applicability of directional drilling for oil and gas pipelines crossing the river during the construction.


This article synthesizes a cross-disciplinary literature review of 205 articles from Chinese top journals and presents a comprehensive picture of corruption and anti-corruption research in a non-Western setting. By attempting to describe how corruption negatively affects the public administration and how improved public administration can mitigate corruption, this study finds that the Chinese research is gradually shifting from qualitative analysis to quantitative research but that empirical research needs to be developed further. In addition, in the review, human greed, economic transition, institutional omissions, a weak civil society, and social and cultural traditions are found to be the main causes of corruption in China. The effect of corruption on economic development differs on the basis of the institutional situation and social environment, but the influence of corruption on social stability and public satisfaction with the government is often negative in China. In addition, the anti-corruption mechanism has changed from the campaign against corruption (1950s-1980s) to institutionalized anti-corruption (1990s) and finally to anti-corruption through new media platforms (since the 2000s). Evaluations of anti-corruption effects are still lacking in China, especially in empirical studies. The following three aspects deserve further study: (1) the corruption mechanisms, (2) the impact of the establishment of new state institutions on anti-corruption, and (3) the relationship between political factors and anti-corruption efforts in China.


What if the objects in the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin could talk?All the artefacts are there for a reason. But especially in a historic exhibition on another culture those reason can be extrem ...


Introduction: The Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) is a validated tool measuring early ischemic changes on noncontrast CT (NCCT). We hypothesized an ASPECTS using CT angiography-sour...


Qualified pedagogues have been working in our schools for four decades now, and they are most numerous in the category of 'experts without a register book'. In the beginning they dealt predominantly with organisational issues, whereas today they are being more and more directed towards the field of research work, which should represent a basis for improving the overall educational work in school. It is these analytical and research activities of school pedagogues that the work deals with.


Control method for energy conversion enMetodo control for power conversion in which a DC voltage (DC) in which a DC voltage (DC) is converted into a first alternating voltage (AC1) using a inveuna becomes first AC voltage (AC1) via an inverter (1) and a second AC voltage (AC2) mersor (1) and a second AC voltage (AC2) through another inverter (2), and combined in paraleldiante another inverter (2) and combine said parallel alternating voltages (AC1, AC2) obteniendoso said alternating voltage (AC1, AC2) obtaining a resulting AC voltage (AC12). With an alternating voltage resulting mee (AC12). With the method an alternating voltage is generated in addition resultantodo an alternating voltage additional resultant (AC34) is further generated by converting the additional continental land voltage (AC34) converting the DC voltage (DC) in a Medua additional alternating voltage (AC3) (DC) in a additional alternating voltage (AC3) by an additional inverter (3) and other voltage iante an additional inverter (3) and a further AC voltage (AC4) by an additional adialterna inverter (AC4) by a further inverter (4), and combining in parallel said tensiocional (4), and combining in parallel said additional alternating voltages (AC3, AC4) being the additional alternate got (AC3, AC4), the AC voltage resulting additional (AC34) alternating desfasadnsion resulting additional (AC34) being approximately 180 ° out of phase with respect to voltage approximately 180 aa with respect to the AC voltage resulting (AC12). With such a method is elimlterna resulting (AC12). AC12;; With this method the common mode voltages of addition to menoinan the common mode voltages of at least one of the alternating voltages (AC1, AC2 are also eliminated As one of the alternating voltages (AC1, AC2, AC12; AC3, AC4; AC34) C3, AC4;. AC34).


Oxygen permeability as a function of temperature was measured for several ceramic oxides over the range 1200 to 1700{degrees}C. Of the oxides testbed, alumina, beryllia, yttria, lanthanum halfnate, and calcium zironcate exhibited the lowest permeabilities in order of decreasing resistance to oxygen transport. None of the permeability constants were less than the 10{sup {minus}10} to 10{sup {minus}12} g O{sub 2}/cm {center dot} s needed for a useful protective coating system above 1500{degrees}C. In some of the mixed oxide compounds, cation segregation was observed to occur with the more rapidly diffusing species segregating to the side of highest oxygen potential. Thus, segregation must be considered when selecting mixed oxides for high temperature applications.


The dispersion characteristics of broadside-coupled suspended substrate transmission lines are analysed using the spectral domain technique. Numerical data on the normalized guide-wavelength and characteristic impedance of the dominant even-and odd-modes of broadside-coupled suspended substrate transmission lines are presented. The effect of shielding the side and top walls on the dispersion characteristics is studied. The dispersion characteristics of broadside-coupled structures with dielectric substrates suspended in the E-plane of a rectangular waveguide are also computed. In these structures, the dominant mode normalized guide wavelengths and characteristic impedances decrease marginally (within 3%) as the frequency increases up to 60 GHz. The proposed structures should find extensive application in couplers, coupled line filters and transitions from rectangular wave guides to suspended microstrips and inverted microstrips.


Unstable angina is frequently encountered by general practitioners and cardiovascular specialists. In the United States, of the 2.5 million patients admitted to hospital every year with suspected acute coronary syndromes, 1.5 million have unstable angina. The rest have myocardial infarction with or without ST elevation.1

Earlier published literature classified acute ischaemic episodes as unstable angina and either non-Q wave or Q wave infarction. As Q wave and non-Q wave infarctions can only be definitely distinguished by electrocardiography several days after the clinical event, the classification does not help with emergency patients. Moreover, the prognostic value of Q wave versus non-Q wave infarction classification is limited.2 A new nosological scheme has derived from the need to rapidly assess patients at presentation so that powerful new treatments can be appropriately selected. All acute presentations suggesting acute coronary syndromes can be further divided into infarction with ST elevation (possibly including patients with new bundle branch blocks) and infarction without ST elevation and unstable angina combined. The distinction between the last two conditions can be reliably made by measuring serum markers. This classification makes sense because early thrombolytic treatment saves the lives of patients with infarction with ST elevation but has no beneficial, and probably some deleterious, effect in those with infarction without ST elevation or unstable angina. Moreover, the therapeutic approaches in the last two conditions are similar.3 Hence we consider unstable angina and infarction without ST elevation as a single entity, especially regarding treatment. Figure 1 shows a plan for assessment and classification of suspected acute coronary syndrome.

Fig 1
Assessment and classification of suspected acute coronary syndrome

We extracted data from the personal collection of journal articles of the authors and from Medline whenever necessary. We also obtained information from review articles on different subtopics.

Braunwald described unstable angina as …


A wide range of molecular weights (3500 to 240000) of poly(p- vinyl)phenol was studied. Polymer dissolution rate vs. molecular weight followed a simple kinetic equation, with the kinetic order m equals2.0. The photospeed of the resist was not strongly affected by the starting resin molecular weight; however, resolution decreased rapidly with increasing Mw. Also, the higher the starting molecular weight, the greater the tendency for the resist to form microbridges between features. The microbridges could be as long as 1.0micrometers for the highest molecular weight resin, Mw equals240000. The lowest molecular weight resins, Mw <EQ5000, showed no evidence of microbridges even at the resolution limit of the stepper, 0.32micrometers , with 0.14N development. However, higher normality developer, such as 0.26N TMAH, showed microbridges across 0.42micrometers features with Mw equals3500 resin. For comparison, a m,p-cresol novolak, also 3500 molecular weight, showed no evidence of microbridging in the higher normality developer. The reason for this difference is that the novolak does not crosslink as effectively as PVP does. Based on extraction experiments, it has been shown that the molecular weight at a sizing dose is 164000 for PVP and 6500 for the novolak. Thus, the novolak must react with the melamine primarily through an intrachain reaction, whereas the PVP- melamine reaction is an interchain reaction. Finally, a mechanism for microbridge formation is discussed.


Previous reports by the author (1-5) on thie therapeutic activity of the arsphenamines were concerned entirely with neoarsphenamine. These studies demonstrated that two brands of neoarsphenamine varying in trypanocidal activity were remarkably uniform in spirocheticidal activity in experimental syphilis in rabbits (1, 2, 4) and were equally effective in the routine therapy of syphilis in man (3). Evidence was presented also which proved that the 7 American brands of neoarsphenamine (5), 17 different lots, were uniformly active in curing experimental syphilis in rabbits. The results recorded were in agreement with the observation of Voegtlin and Dyer (6) that the sterilizing action of the arsphenamines was identical in terms of the absolute amount of arsenic used, irrespective of the type of the arsphenamine. The progressive increase in the percentage of rabbits cured of the experimental infection which followed the increased dosage also confirmed the Voegtlin-Dyer thesis that there is an essential relation between the dose and the sterilizing effect of the arsphenamines in experimental syphilis. These observations indicate that all sulfarsphenamines, which have approximately the same arsenic content as neoarsphenamine, would be uniformly active and as effective as neoarsphenamine in curing experimental syphilis in rabbits. It was to test the theses of Voegtlin and Dyer, as they applied to the several different American brands of sulfarsphenamine, that the chemotherapeutic activity study was continued. The increased use of the arsenoxide type of arsenical in the therapy of syphilis suiggested that the studv be broadened! to include


Obesity is a chronic disease often associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and metabolic syndrome. Coexistence of diabetes and hypertension have adverse clinical outcomes with micro and macrovascular complications. This study investigates the relationship of oxidative stress markers and antioxidants with occurrence of hypertension in obese type 2 diabetic subjects in Osun State, Nigeria. Four hundred and forty-five participants made up of 138 non-obese diabetics, 107 obese diabetic subjects attending two tertiary Hospitals in Osogbo in addition to 100 obese non-diabetes (positive controls) and 100 non-obese non-diabetes (negative controls) were enrolled in this study. FBS (9.55±0.13 mmol/l) and HbA1c (9.51±0.15 %) showed highest significant increase in obese diabetic subjects compared to other groups. Mean serum MDA was highest among obese diabetics (p<0.05) while least values of superoxide dismutase (121.09±3.10 µ/ml) and catalase (24.97±0.66 pg/ml) were recorded in non-obese diabetics (p<0.05). 21.0% of non-obese diabetics (n=29), 54.2% of obese diabetics (n=58), 45.0% of obese non-diabetic (n=45) and 21% of non-obese non-diabetics (n=21) were hypertensive. Age, sex, marital status, religion and occupation (χ2=9.856, 8.405, 22.701, 12.066 and 14.468) respectively were all significantly associated with occurrence of hypertension among obese diabetics.  Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and area under the curve (AUC) showed MDA having the highest cut off point among obese diabetes subject: 0.529 (0.42-0.64 95% CI) with a steep increase in LDL: 0.505(0.40-0.62 95% CI). This study revealed that increased oxidative stress and reduced antioxidant defense enzymes are strongly associated with dyslipidemia among obese diabetic subject.


The aim of this study is to examine the effect of teaching on open and closed end experimental techniques on the achievements and attitudes of students taking Physics Laboratories III course. In the study, geometrical optics experiments in Physics Laboratories III course were chosen as research area. The research was conducted with 56 students studying in the second class in the Science Teacher Education Program. Experimental and control groups were formed in the research and teaching based on the open-ended experimental technique prepared by the researchers was applied to the experimental group and closed-ended experimental technique was applied to the control group. The following questions were tried to be answered. Is there a meaningful difference between the pre-test and the post-test mean scores of the Optical Achievement Test of the students who have been taught by the openended test technique? Is there a meaningful difference between the pretest and the post-test mean scores of the Optical Achievement Test of students who have been taught by closed-end test technique? Is there a significant difference between the mean scores of the Optical Achievement Tests of the open and closed end experimental groups? Is there a meaningful difference between the mean scores of the Physics Laboratory Attitude Scale of open and closed end experimental groups? Physics Laboratory Attitude Scale and Optical Achievement Test were used as data collection tools in the study. They were applied before and after the application. It was concluded that the test and control group * Öğr. Gör. Dr.,Gazi Üniversitesi Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi, El-mek: email@example.com ** Yüksek Lisans Öğrencisi, Gazi Üniversitesi, El-mek: email@example.com *** Arş. Gör. Dr.,Gazi Üniversitesi Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi Fen Bilgisi Öğretmenliği, El-mek: email@example.com 1990 İbrahim YÜKSEL Hatice KIRÇİÇEK Elvan İNCE AKA Turkish Studies Volume 13/19, Summer 2018 students had a significant difference in the final test scores in favor of the final test scores of the experimental group. There was no significant difference between attitude scores in the post test scores of the experimental and control groups. It was concluded that there was a significant difference in the pre-post test success and attitude scores of both groups in favor of the post test scores.


Presented here is a comparison of partially coherent adaptive optics (AO) beacons simulated with analytical Gaussian-Schell Model (GSM) sources, and extended incoherent AO beacons simulated with more conventional techniques. An analysis of Mutual Coherence Functions (MCFs) is performed with a variety of simulation conditions generated with a single software package developed under the AO Beacon effort. Wavefront sensor and AO beacon performance are compared for both types of beacons under various scenarios, including ground-space and air-air propagations with different types of wavefront sensors in both open-loop and closed-loop operation of the AO system.


Many types of self-assembly can be found in nature. They include crystallization, the formation of micelles, and the folding of proteins. Recently there has been much interest in pursuing nano-to-microscopically engineered materials by way of self-assembly on imprinted or templated surfaces. In all of these diverse cases, wetting plays a critical role in the assembly process. Wetting involves the interactions of the substrate or amphiphilic molecule or macromolecule with a solvent. In many self-assembled systems we find that the critical feature of the system is a substrate! or macromolecule with a both hydrophilic and hydrophobic nature. In this paper we discuss the wetting properties of a striped surface where the stripes represent alternating chemical characteristics. We show how the chemical heterogeneity affects the wetting properties of the surface (e.g. the static contact angle), and discuss the length limitations on the soft lithography approach. In this paper, the wetting of a chemically heterogeneous surface is studied using a nonlocal Density Functional Theory (DFT). The results for the heterogeneous surface model we discuss have immediate implications for soft-lithography by self-assembly. It also lends fundamental insight into the mechanisms controlling self-assembly of macromolecules. We present the results of nonlocal 2D DFT calculations onmore » the wetting properties of chemically heterogeneous surfaces. These calculations showed complex density distributions and phase behavior as a result of the heterogeneity. The location of the wetting transition are found to be strongly dependent on the extent and strength of the heterogeneity, and complete wetting was suppressed altogether if the hydrophobic parts of the surface were large enough. In these cases, the condensed nanophase may crystallize if the hydrophilic surface-fluid interactions are strong enough. By exploring the phase space including strength of hydrophilic interactions and extent of chemical heterogeneity, an operational phase diagram was established that could be used for designing nanoscopically tailored devices and materials.« less


E-business database is extremely helpful in today#39s reality as it continued creating and winning tremendous benefit. Information in a database in e-trade is vital. We should have the complete security. Information is the most important resource in today#39s reality as it takes day ndashto-day life structure as it record everyday exchange. Databases are the most loved focus to the aggressors. Despite the fact that the examination of client enrollment and recovering secret key, the security issue existing as the conventional strategy for recording in e-business. On the premise of symmetric and hilter kilter encryption advances the half breed encryption advances has been sent to consolidate both of the past advances. Mixture encryption innovation has been to enhance the database security of ndashecommerce.


The article discusses the effectiveness of the use of the interest rate to control inflation as compared with the use of the credit volume. Since Brazil's aggregate demand has as its main component the consumption of families, it makes sense to ask whether the interest rate is better to control consumption than the direct control of the credit volume available to consumers. To examine this question, a VAR model was used for the period of the policy of inflation targets. The mains results are that Brazil's inflation does not seem to be one of demand and that a monetary policy based on the interest rate is more effective than credit to explain the behavior of consumers. Key words: monetary policy, credit, inflation, VAR.


Expressions for the contributions of the axial and radial parts of a rectangular loop to the circular component of the generated field with due account of their dimensions and locations with respect to the observation plane have been obtained and analyzed.


The extent to which policy changes at the summit of Chinese political life have any effect on what is done at the basic levels is an enigma which must always e borne in mind by the student of Chinese society. Chinese cadres are adept at "waving the red flag to defeat the red flag" in the words of a Cultural Revolution phrase, in giving fulsome verbal support to official policies while in practice doing the reverse. Thus in studying the dramatic about turn in the central line that has occurred since Mao's death, the question to be asked is the extent to which this change is reflected in what actually happens at the lowest levels. It is with caution therefore that this paper attempts to trace the revival since 1976 of certain policies which were expounded in the heyday of Liu Shaoqi's power in the years 1962-1966. In comparison with Maoism, the Liuist approach aims at a relative de-politicization of economic life. Emphasis is on material incentives, technology and science rather than on political enthusiasm as the motive force of development, on capital investment instead of willpower, on scientific management, working through proper channels and the clear delineation of responsibility, rather than on populist appeals from the supreme leader to the grass roots. A strong emphasis on roles has been an abiding characteristic of Chinese society. The most definitive expression of this comes in the Confucian teaching on the Rectification of Names: "Let the ruler be ruler, the subject, subject; let the father be father, and the son, son". (Analects, Book 12 Chapter II) This has been the dominant strand in Chinese political and social tradition. Pitted against it has been a Taoist leaning towards anarchy. The two traditions in a way have fed on each other. The rigidity of structures upheld by the Confucian ethic has encouraged the anarchic tendencies in the subordinate tradition. The role-specific hierarchial tradition has an innate tendency to come out on top in the long run, just because anarchy is self-destructive.


As cloud service providers leverage server virtualization to host applications in virtual machines (VMs), they must ensure proper allocation of resource capacities in order to satisfy the contracted service level agreements (SLAs) with the application owners. However, the ever-growing number of virtual and physical machines within such infrastructure creates greater challenges in quickly and effectively localizing the system bottlenecks that lead to SLA violations. This paper describes DAPA, a new performance diagnostic framework to help system administrators analyze application performance anomalies and identify potential causes of SLA violations. DAPA incorporates several customized statistical techniques to capture the quantitative relationship between the application performance and virtualized system metrics. We have built a prototype implementation of DAPA on a cluster of virtualized systems to diagnose a set of SLA violations for an enterprise application. Preliminary evaluation results show that DAPA is able to localize the most suspicious attributes of the virtual machines and physical hosts that are related to the SLA violations.


The essay proposes the idea of improving the teaching model based on network teaching system. With effective application of a variety of advanced teaching ideas, it designs OurCourse network teaching system. OurCourse provides teachers with the whole teaching process management in order to know the quality and effect of student learning. The heuristic teaching takes the inspiration of students as the core to motivate students' initiative and enthusiasm. It could improve teaching resource sharing mode, spreading outstanding teaching ideas among universities. The online test and analysis effectively promote students' mastery of knowledge, reduce the workload of teachers in handling papers, and finally improve teaching efficiency.


: Typically, searching for a target among uniformly tilted non-targets is easier when this target is perpendicular, rather than parallel, to the non-targets. V1 Saliency Hypothesis (V1SH) – that V1 creates a saliency map to guide attention exogenously – predicts exactly the opposite in a special case: each target or non-target is a pair of equally-sized disks, a homo-pair of two disks of the same color, black or white, or a hetero-pair of two disks of the opposite color; the inter-disk displacement defines its orientation. This prediction – parallel advantage – was supported by the finding that parallel targets require shorter reaction times (RTs) to report targets' locations. Furthermore, it is stronger for targets further from the center of search images, as predicted by the central-peripheral dichotomy entailing that saliency effects are stronger in peripheral than in central vision. However, the parallel advantage could arise from a shorter time required to recognize – rather than to shift attention to – the parallel target. By gaze tracking, the present study confirms that the parallel advantage is solely due to the RTs for the gaze to reach the target. Furthermore, when the gaze is sufficiently far from the target during search, saccade to a parallel, rather than perpendicular, target is more likely, demonstrating the central-peripheral dichotomy more directly. Parallel advantage is stronger among observers encouraged to let their search be guided by spontaneous gaze shifts, which are presumably guided by bottom-up saliency rather than top-down factors.


In this study investigate the chemical physical properties of an electrolyte containing the salt aluminum bis(trifluoro-methanesulfonyl)imide [Al(TFSI)3] and the solvent acetonitrile (ACN) as well as its use in electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs). We showed that the electrolyte 1M Al(TFSI)3 in ACN displays a good conductivity and viscosity, and it can be successfully used for the realization of EDLCs with operative voltage as high as 3 V. These devices display a good rate performance, and they are able to retain 80% of their initial capacitance after 50,000 cycles carried out at 2 and 5 A g−1. Taking these results into account, the use of these electrolytes appears therefore promising for the realization of high performance energy storage devices.


A highly sensitive ultra-fast LC-MS/MS based bioanalytical method for the measurement of Rabeprazole in human plasma was developed and validated using 13C-D3-Rabeprazole as internal standard. Rabeprazole is a sulfabenzimidazole class of compounds, setting chromatography for these classes of compounds is always a challenge. Rabeprazole was extracted from human plasma samples by liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and separated on a short reverse phase Ascentis® Express C18, 50 mm × 4.6 mm, 2.7 μm column by isocratic elution with 40% 10 mM ammonium acetate solution and 60% acetonitrile at a flow rate of 0.700 mL/min. Rabeprazole and its labeled internal standard were detected by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode using electro spray ionization (ESI). All the validation parameters as per current guidelines like specificity, selectivity, accuracy, precision, recovery, matrix effect, haemolysis effect and stability are assessed in human plasma. Rabeprazole was found to be linear over a range of 0.1 ng/mL to 150 ng/mL in human plasma. LLOQ of 0.1 ng/mL is sensitive enough for application to different clinical studies. The intra- and inter-day precision was less than 10% and accuracy was within -3.33 to 10.00%. Recovery (70%) was consistent across the linear dynamic range of the method.
The validated method is a simple, accurate, precise and robust to measure Rabeprazole in human plasma and could be used for application to any format of clinical studies.


Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common disease in cats, and its prevalence increases with age. CKD is progressive and irreversible and diagnosis often occurs relatively late in the course of the disease. Treatment and monitoring can alleviate clinical signs and slow progression of the disease, but prognosis depends on the severity of the disease at the time of diagnosis. Research aims to improve the diagnosis and management of CKD to benefit the health and welfare of cats with the disease. VetMed Resource contains a wealth of information on feline CKD including studies of the causes, risk factors and prevalence of the disease and developments in diagnosis, monitoring and management.


Scholars from abroad have studied the railway transport industry from various angles and have acquired a lot of academic achievements for our references.Through arranging the former researches results on railway transport industry,it can be found that studies on the administrative monopoly of this industry are rare and the systematic researches close to zero.Therefore,to make an intensive study of Chinese railway transport industry's administrative monopoly has important theoretical value.


The design of contemporary antenna systems encounters multifold challenges, one of which is a limited size. Compact antennas are indispensable for new fields of application such as the Internet of Things or 5G/6G mobile communication. Still, miniaturization generally undermines electrical and field performance. When attempted using numerical optimization, it turns into a constrained problem with costly constraints requiring electromagnetic (EM) simulations. At the same time, due to the parameter redundancy of compact antennas, size reduction poses a multimodal task. In particular, the achievable miniaturization rate heavily depends on the starting point, while identifying a suitable starting point is a challenge on its own. These issues indicate that miniaturization should be addressed using global optimization methods. Unfortunately, the most popular nature-inspired algorithms cannot be applied for solving size reduction tasks because of their inferior computational efficacy and difficulties in handling constraints. This work proposes a novel methodology for the globalized size reduction of antenna structures. Our methodology is a multi-stage knowledge-based procedure, initialized with the detection of the approximate location of the feasible region boundary, followed by the construction of a dimensionality-reduced metamodel and global optimization thereof; the last stage is the miniaturization-oriented local refinement of geometry parameters. For cost reduction, the first stages of the procedure are realized with the use of a low-fidelity EM antenna model. Our approach is verified using four broadband microstrip antennas and benchmarked against multi-start local search as well as nature-inspired methods. Superior size reduction rates are demonstrated for all considered cases while maintaining reasonably low computational costs.


Due to the high refractive index of nitrides, encapsulation is necessary to improve the light extraction efficiency for GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Traditional thermal-curing encapsulant needs to be heated for several minutes to form a dome-shaped lens, which is time-consuming. In this paper, we have developed a novel kind of silicon-based ultraviolet (UV)-curing encapsulant, for which only 20 s of near-UV (NUV) light radiation at room temperature is needed. The composition of the encapsulants is optimized to enhance light extraction ability. For 392-nm NUV LEDs packaged by this UV-curing encapsulant, the light output power is enhanced by 10.0%. Moreover, the LEDs packaged by UV-curing and thermal-curing encapsulant presented similar stability and reliability after 480 h of the aging test under a high driving current of 200 mA. This paper demonstrates the potential of silicon-based UV-curing encapsulants for the package of NUV, blue and white LEDs, which is time- and cost-effective for the LED industry.


Background: Abdominal operations may lead to post-operative bowel dysfunction, while administration of probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics may limit its manifestation. Τhe study aimed to assess the efficacy of probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics in patients who undergone abdominal operation, in terms of bowel function post-operatively. Methods: PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Central), Embase, US Registry of clinical trials, and sources of grey literature were searched. The relative effect sizes were estimated, and we obtained the relative ranking of the interventions using cumulative ranking curves. Results: In total, 30 studies were included in the analysis. For the outcome of post-operative ileus, probiotics was superior to placebo/no intervention (relative risk, RR: 0.38; 95%CI: 0.14–0.98) with the highest SUCRA (surface under the cumulative ranking) value (92.1%). For time to first flatus, probiotics (MD: −0.47; 95%CI: −0.78 to −0.17) and synbiotics (MD: −0.53; 95%CI: −0.96 to −0.09) were superior to placebo/no intervention. For time to first defecation and for post-operative abdominal distension probiotics were superior to placebo/no intervention. For post-operative hospitalization days, synbiotics were superior to placebo/no intervention (MD: −3.07; 95%CI: −4.80 to −1.34). Conclusions: Administration of probiotics in patients who had undergone abdominal surgery reduced the prevalence of post-operative ileus, time to first flatus, time to first defecation, and prevalence of post-operative abdominal distension. Synbiotics reduce time to first flatus and post-operative hospitalization days.


Salton & Home (1951) and McCarty (1952a, b) isolated insoluble material from disintegrated Gram-positive bacterial cells, which was shown by electron-microscopic examination to have retained the form of the cells from which it had been isolated, and both sets of authors concluded that they had isolated the cell walls. The prooedure involved disintegrating the cells by s a thick suspension with fine glass beads, separating the insoluble walls from unbroken cells and soluble cell contents by differential centrifuging and then repeatedly washing the wall material with water or sodium chloride solution. Enzyme preparations which would lyse the living organisms also lysed cell walls (McCarty, 1952a; Salton, 1952, 1956). Subsequently a somewhat different method was described (Cummins & Harris, 1956) for preparing wall material. This method replaced the repeated washing procedure of Salton & Home (1951) by treatment with the enzymes trypsin, ribonuclease and pepsin. Qualitative chemical examination (Salton, 1953; Cummins & Harris, 1956) of acid hydrolysates of wall material isolated by either method showed that it had a rather simple composition. When obtained from most species it yielded four or five amino acids, some in the Dconfiguration (Ikawa & Snell, 1956; Snell, Radin & Ikawa, 1955), one or two hexoses and two hexosamines. It is proposed to call the material mucopeptide. The two hexosamines usually present are glucosamine and its 3-0-x-carboxyethyl derivative. The latter was first recognized as an unknown amino sugar universally present in mucopeptide by Cumri & Harris (1956), and was more exaotly characterized by Strange & Dark (1956); it has since been synthesized by Kent (1958) (see also Strange & Kent, 1959). Although the earlier authors thought the material we propose to call mucopeptide constituted the whole cell wall of the organism, later work has somewhat complicated this picture. For example, Baddiley, Buchanan & Carss (1958) and Armstrong, Baddiley, Buchanan & Carss (1958) have shown that a polyribitol phosphate with combined amino acids in it can be extracted from cell-wall preparations from some species. The exact inter-relationship of the mucopeptide and these other substanees is not clear. It seems likely, however, that the mucopeptide does not represent the whole cell wall in some species. Nevertheless, observations such as those of Park (1958) and Mandelm & Rogers (1959) show that antibiotics such as penicillin and bacitracin inhibit its synthesis, and other strongly suggestive observations (Park & Johnson, 1949; Park, 1952a, b; Park & Strominger, 1957) have pointed to the importance of the inhibition of mucopeptide synthesis as a mech nism of action of some antibiotics. Apart from investigations of the action of antibiotics, the mucopeptides themselves have great intrinsic interest in that they represent examples of substances containing only a limited nuimber of both sugars and amino acids, yet, apparently, bearing considerable immunological specificity (Hundley, Ing & Krauss, 1956). Elucidation of their chemistry may help towards a further understanding of the more complicated mucoproteins. A preliminary account of some of this work has already appeared (Perkins & Rogers, 1958).


Though several wavelet-based compression solutions for wireless sensor network measurements have been proposed, no such technique has yet appreciated the need to couple a wavelet transform tolerant of irregularly sampled data with the data transport protocol governing communications in the network. As power is at a premium in sensor nodes, such a technique is necessary to reduce costly communication overhead. To this end, we present an irregular wavelet transform capable of adapting to an arbitrary, multiscale network routing hierarchy. Inspired by the Haar wavelet in the regular setting, our wavelet basis forms a tight frame adapted to the structure of the network. We demonstrate results highlighting the approximation capabilities of such a transform and the clear reduction in communication cost when transmitting a compressed snapshot of the network to an outside user.


ABSTRACT In this paper, the problem of dynamic stress concentration in the process of anti-plane motion caused by a single circular cavity in a strip medium and the non-circular cavity in a porous strip medium is studied. In the case of only a single circular cavity, a numerical calculating example is presented to solve scattering around a circular cavity with a given SH guided wave and describe dynamic stress distribution at the edge of a circular cavity. Then, the results of the finite element method and analytical method are used to verify each other. Firstly, a compatible guided wave is constructed in the elastic strip, which satisfies stress-free conditions in upper and lower boundaries. Secondly, the scattering of waves around a circular cavity is expressed as series form by the employed wave function expansion method, and compatible scattering guided waves resulting from the reflection of waves off the boundaries of the elastic strip is constructed by repeated image superposition. Lastly, the coefficients of the wave function expansion are determined based on the stress-free condition of circular boundaries with pre-given incident guided waves. In the case of the non-circular cavity in the medium, the scattering of guided waves from the cavity is solved by finite element analysis, the dynamic stress distribution factor around the edge of the cavity is given, and to discuss influences of wave frequency and cavity position. The conclusions of this paper are of great reference value to the selection and ultrasonic non-destructive testing of anti-seismic materials.


Objective To separate each protein band from the nerve regeneration conditioned fluid(NRCF)and to study whether there are some new and unknown neurotrophic factors in the protein bands with a relative molecular mass of 220×103. Methods The silicone nerve regeneration chambers were formed in the sciatic nerve of the 25 New Zealand rabbits (weight,1.8-2.5 kg), and NRCF was taken from it at 1 week after operation. The Native-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (Native-PAGE) was used for separating the proteins from NRCF and detecting the relative molecular mass. The Western blot and ELISA were used to observe whether the protein bands [220×103 (Band a), (20-40)×103(Band c)] of NRCF could combine with the antibody of the known antibody of neurotrophic factor (NTF):nerve growth factor(NGF), glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor(GDNF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF), neurotrophin 3(NT-3), NT-4, ciliang neurotrophic factor(CNTF). Results Separated by Native-PAGE, NRCF mainly contained two protein bands:Band a had a relative molecular mass about 220×103, and Band c had a relative molecular mass about (20-40)×103. Band a could not combine with the antibodies of the NGF, BDNF, CNTF, and NT-3, but could combine with the antibody of NT-4.Band c could combine with the antibodies of NGF, BDNF, CNTF and NT-3, but could not combine with the antibodies of NT-4 and GDNF. Conclusion The protein bands with a relative molecular mass of 220×103 have stronger neurotropic and neurotrophic effects than the protein bands with a relative molecular mass of (20-40)×103, which contains NGF,CNTF, etc. NT-4 just has a weak or no effect on the sympathetic neurone. This indicates that there is a new NTF in the protein bands with a relative molecular mass of 220×103, which only combines with the antibody of NT-4.


The Reeb space of a smooth map whose codimension is minus is the space defined as the space of all connected components of inverse images. For generic maps such as Morse functions and their higher dimensional versions, they are polyhedra whose dimensions are equal to those of the target manifolds and which have simplicial structures compatible with (the canonical) simplicial structures of the source and the target manifolds, and in considerable cases they inherit fundamental and important invariants of source manifolds. In fact, Reeb spaces are fundamentall tools in the algebraic and differential topological theory of generic maps or the global singularity theory. As one of studies of global topological properties of Reeb spaces, Hiratuka and Saeki showed in 2013 that for generic maps or more precisely, maps compatible with simplicial structures of the manifolds, inducing simplicial structures on the Reeb spaces and having connected components of inverse images of regular values being not null-cobordant, the top-dimensional homology groups with appropriate coefficient rings of the Reeb spaces do not vanish. Later the author extended this theorem: the author has introduced cobordism-like groups based on adjacent relations of connected components of inverse images of regular values and shown a similar theorem.


In South Kivu (a Congolese province) the following year, the teachers union met with the parents' association. This meeting was born out of an agreement 1 under which the parents committed to an exceptional payment support (called premium or motivation) of teachers just to allow the resumption of the academic year. This interim measure has not only been kept to date but it has spread throughout the country. It has finally been endorsed by the State which has abandoned all charges related to public education to parents.


Need to improve the groundwater quality and quantity led topresenting many management strategies to protect them. Artificial recharge using flood spreading methodis an appropriate option to achieving this goal. The aim of this study is determining the feasibility of artificial recharge plan using flood spreading method in Tabriz plain. At first, effective criteria in site selection include topography, water table depth, hydraulic gradient, electrical conductivity, unsaturated media, surface conductance, transmissivity, saturated media, land use, subb asin area, distance from the road and distance from the wells were determined. Then, sub criteria of these criteria were determined. Using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and paired comparisons method all criteria and sub criteria were valuatedand weighted with respect to a standard inconsistency ratio.After weighting and valuating of the criteria and sub criteria for spatial analysis, the data were entered to the GIS. Finally, by combining the all of weighted values together, appropriate sites for artificial recharge, including two sites near the center and two small sites near the border of north and northeastern of the plain were detected.


methods for the exact simulation of quantum systems on classical computers presents a limitation of current computational approaches. We report, in detail, how a set of pre-computed molecular integrals can be used to explicitly create a quantum circuit, i.e. a sequence of elementary quantum operations, that, when run on a quantum computer, to obtain the energy of a molecular system with xed nuclear geometry using the quantum phase estimation algorithm. We extend several known results related to this idea and discuss the adia- batic state preparation procedure for preparing the input states used in the algorithm. With current and near future quantum devices in mind, we provide a complete example using the hydrogen molecule, of how a chemical Hamiltonian can be simulated using a quantum computer.


enment, religious pamphlets, almanacs, romances, and popular encyclopedias were produced to "improve" the material and moral lot of the peasantry. Finally, Agnew analyzes the extent to which the Czechs were aware of the other Slavic peoples. Both historical and linguistic research demonstrated the close ties in the early history of the Slavs, and scholars stressed the greatness of the Slavs. Peasant awareness of other Slavs stemmed mainly from the presence of Russian armies during the Napoleonic wars, and popular attitudes seem to have reflected response to war, rather than consciousness of national affinities between Czechs and Russians. Agnew concludes by noting that the ideas about the Czech nation developed by the awakeners were used and built upon by the next generation of political leaders who emerged in the early and mid-nineteenth century. At the risk of recommending a sequel to the volume under review, I would suggest a more thorough analysis of exactly how the ideas of these early scholars were used and modified by later political and intellectual elites. Likewise, by focusing on a small, coherent group of intellectuals, Agnew has skirted the question of the impact of a codified formal language, the new conceptions of Czech history, and new classical and popular literary canons on the broader Czech population. Here again, the evidence may be found only among subsequent generations, but the ways in which elite ideas about the "nation" were accepted, rejected, or transformed is an important and relatively unexamined aspect of Czech nationalism. In addition, comparison with national revivals in neighboring countries would make it possible to distinguish peculiarly "Czech" ideas from those common to other eighteenth-century historical, literary, and cultural endeavors. This well-researched and highly recommended study is certain to stimulate additional research on eighteenthand early nineteenth-century Czech history.


Cognitive dysfunction, the major clinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease (AD), is caused by irreversible progressive neurological dysfunction. With the aging of the population, the incidence of AD is increasing year by year. However, there is neither a simple and accurate early diagnosis method, nor an effective method to alleviate or prevent the occurrence and progression of AD. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a number of heterogeneous membrane structures that arise from the endosome system or shed from the plasma membrane. In the brain, almost every kind of cell may have EVs, which are related to cell-cell communication and regulate cellular function. At present, an increasing body of evidence suggests that EVs play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of AD, and it is of great significance to use them as specific biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets for cognitive impairment in AD. This article reviews the potential role of EVs as diagnostic biomarkers and treatments for cognitive dysfunction in AD.


(BSTETRIC paralysis, a paralysis produced during birth, is vJ due to an injury of greater or less extent to the nerves of the brachial plexus. The resultant paralysis is characteristic; the whole arm hangs vertically, the elbow extended, the forearm pronated, and the whole arm inwardly rotated. The paralysis is a flaccid one. Obstetric paralysis was first described by Smellie' in 1768, who believed the condition due to long pressure on the arm while the child was in the pelvis; but it was first brought prominently to the notice of the medical profession in 1872 by Duchenne, who described four cases in infants and attributed the condition to pressure of forceps or fingers in the axilla on the nerve trunks. Duchenne recognized that the lesion might occur in obstetric operations, such as disengaging the upraised arm in a breech or footling presentation, in delivering after version, or in making traction on the arm of the child after the birth of the head, and quotes cases to support this theory. These procedures result in direct traction on the cords of the plexus, and when force is used probably cause injuries to the nerves. It was not until 1874 that Erb described the same type of paralysis in adults, since which time it has been commonly known as the Erb-Duchenne paralysis. Erb showed that pressure above the shoulder on the junction of the fifth and sixth cervical nerve roots, the so-called Erb's point, caused the characteristic grouping of the paralyzed muscles. He laid the occurrence of the paralysis especially "to the energetic application of the so-called Prague grip in which the fingers are applied like a fork over the back of the child's neck, with an after-coming head, and so endangering the integrity of the brachial plexus by energetic traction and compression". Stranskyl, in a most careful review of the whole literature up


ELSA Conference 2012 : Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences / The Research Council of Norway. Oslo, 4-5 December 2012, 4 december 2012


This paper argues that the surging anti-Americanism in Europe since 2003 has helped strengthen the European identity by shaping a political, economic, social and cultural "Other" — the U.S.—among the Europeans. It first surveys the contemporary European anti-Americanism including its historical roots, and then moves on to analyze its role in the current European identity building through examining two typical cases and empirical data from the Eurobarometer.


An ultrasonic extraction and concentration circulation device comprises an extraction tank, a separator, a liquid medicine tank, a condenser and a liquid storage tank. A liquid outlet pipe on a lower portion of the extraction tank is connected with the separator and the liquid medicine tank, a pipeline arranged on the liquid storage tank is connected with the separator, air outlets of the separator are sequentially connected with the condenser and the liquid storage tank, and another pipeline arranged on the liquid storage tank is connected with the extraction tank. An upper portion of the extraction tank is provided with a feeding port and a press cover, the middle of the extraction tank is provided with ultrasonic rods, ultrasound transducers are evenly disposed on the periphery of the extraction tank, the lower portion of the extraction tank is provided with a stirrer, the bottom of the extraction tank is provided with a filter mesh, and a heating coil is arranged below the filter mesh. The middle of the separator is provided with a steam baffle plate, and the pipeline on the lateral lower portion of the separator is connected with the liquid medicine tank. Vacuum pipes are arranged on the liquid medicine tank and the liquid storage tank. The ultrasonic extraction and concentration circulation device is a circulation device integrated with extraction and concentration functions, can not only save solvent quantity, but also can shorten concentration time when raw medicine materials are extracted and solution is concentrated at controlled temperatures, so the ultrasonic extraction and concentration circulation device greatly improves preparation efficiency, and energy consumption is reduced.


Most cases of cytomegalovirus (CMV) colitis occur in adults with severe immunodeficiency. There have been a few reports involving immunocompetent patients. CMV colitis may occur after colonic mucosal injury in immunocompetent patients. Henoch-Schnlein purpura (HSP) is a common systemic vasculitis in childhood. Diagnostic criteria include palpable purpura with at least one other manifestation; abdominal pain, IgA deposition, arthritis or arthralgia, or renal involvement. To best of our knowledge, we describe the first case of CMV colitis in an immunocompetent patient with preceding HSP. A 38-year-old man presented with a 1-day history of abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting. Two-years previously, he underwent a right hemicolectomy due to intussusception. Over a 1-month period, palpable purpura was evident on both arms and legs. Colonoscopy revealed multiple, linear geographic ulcerations at an anastomosis opening site with huge ulceration at the small bowel, which was covered with white exudates. Colonoscopic biopsy showed CMV inclusion bodies and skin biopsy revealed leukocytoclastic vasculitis. The patient was successfully treated with gancyclovir and prednisolone.


Measurements of the magnetisation, resistivity and magnetoresistivity have been made on polycrystalline Gd2In. The compound orders as a metamagnet below 99.5K but shows ferromagnetic order between 99.5 and 187K. The electrical resistivity reflects both transitions. In the case of the metamagnetic phase it provides indirect evidence for superzones and a spiral magnetic structure.


to the editor: Cooke et al. provided in their recent review a comprehensive insight into the estrogenic regulation of male physiology ([1][1]). This brings us a good opportunity to revisit our current knowledge on serum estradiol (E2) concentrations in aging men and their potential associations with


Bow shape has been recognized as an important factor influencing the seakeeping performance and added resistance of ships. This paper presents a numerical comparative study on added resistance and seakeeping of model ships with 'X-bow' and a wave-piercing monohull in regular head waves using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. Different wave heights, wavelengths and forward speeds are considered in the systematic investigation in order to characterize the added resistance and wave-induced motions, and to explore the local wave patterns. The results show a considerably different hydrodynamic characteristic by different bow shapes.


This account of ways in which computers have interacted with us via our ears is a welcome first, an over-the-transom, unsolicited Timelines contribution.---Jonathan Grudin


This analysis of how the federal EITC could alleviate severe housing cost burdens--where housing consumes at least half of household income--finds that if included as income, the EITC reduces by 18 percent the number of lower-income working households with severe housing cost burdens. Expanding the EITC for childless workers and larger families would eliminate severe housing costs for an additional 153,000 families. The authors' proposal--to tie EITC parameters nationally to median housing costs in most US metropolitan areas--would relieve 510,000 families of severe housing-cost burdens. They conclude that because current housing programs cannot fully close the affordability gap, policymakers should consider expanding support in the tax code for working families to help a greater number meet the high and rising costs of housing.


LBL-12579 Preprint c. Submitted for publication BARYON MAGNETIC MOMENTS FROM TOPOLOGICAL THEORY G.F. Chew and J. Finkelstein April 1981 Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract W-7405-ENG-48


We study the sum-rate maximization approach when applied to design a decentralized beamformer for two-way relay networks. Considering a constraint on the total transmit power consumed in the whole network, we prove that sum-rate maximization is equivalent to an SNR balancing approach where the smallest of the two receive SNRs is maximized subject to the same total power constraint.


This paper summarizes the key elements in the fridge design based on the analysis of the concept and connotation of the user experience design, and the methods to express each kind of elements are put forward. The trend of fridge design in the future is predicted with the help of the classification of various experience elements, which provides a reference to the research on the experience design theory and the fridge design. Moreover, the theory proposed in this paper, which is combining the user experience design theory with the fridge design, is also useful to other design applications such as the household appliance design and so on.


Seeds of Guizotia abyssinica and wild Guizotia were analysed for oil content and fatty acid composition by multisequential and gas chromatographic methods, respectively. The oil content of G abyssinica ranged from 416 to 436 g kg-1 (weight per kg dry matter of seeds) and that of the wild Guizotia taxa from 214 to 328 g kg-1. Two unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic (54·3–72·8, weight percent of total oil) and oleic (5·4–26·8% of oil by wt) and two saturated fatty acids (palmitic (7·8–10%) and stearic (5·5–8·1%)) were about 91–97% of the fatty acids present. Palmitoleic, linolenic, arachidic, eicosenoic, behenic, erucic and lignoceric acids constituted about 2–3%. An unidentified fatty acid, probably an epoxy form of C: 20 or C: 22, has been found in all the materials and it was 1·1–6·6%. Total saturated and unsaturated fatty acids were about 74–84% and 15–20%, respectively. Differentiation in fatty acid composition between the taxa is too small to be of taxonomic use. It is inferred that when gene transfer is desired hybridisation between the wild and cultivated taxa may not affect the oil quality of the latter and the oils of the wild taxa are possibly safe for human consumption. © 1997 SCI.


Children exploit their morphosyntactic knowledge in order to infer the meanings of words. A recent behavioral study has reported developmental changes in word learning from three to five years of age, with respect to a child's native language. To understand the computational basis of this phenomenon, we propose a model based on a hidden Markov model (HMM). The HMM acquires syntactic categories of given words as its hidden states, which are associated with observed features. Then, the model infers the syntactic category of a new word, which facilitates the selection of an appropriate visual feature. We hypothesize that using this model with different numbers of categories can replicate the manner in which children of different ages learn words. We perform simulation experiments in three native language environments (English, Japanese, and Chinese), which demonstrate that the model produces similar performances as the children in each environment. Allowing a larger number of categories means that the model can acquire a sufficient number of obvious categories, which results in the successful inference of visual features for novel words. In addition, cross-linguistic differences originating from the acquisition of language-specific syntactic categories are identified, i.e., the syntactic categories learned from English and Chinese corpora are relatively reliant on word orders, whereas the Japanese-trained model exploits morphological cues to infer the syntactic categories.


This species was described originally by Fabricius (7, p. S11) 4 in 1805 as Tachina analis. It was described as Jurinia amethystina by Macquart (10, pi, 3, p. 199) in 1842, as Tachina apicifera by Walker (21, p. 718) in 1849, and as T. californiae (22, p. 270) by Walker in 1856. During recent years several contributions to the distribution record have been made, most notable of which are those of Brimley (5, p. 21) and Johnson (9, p. 206), and it has several times been recorded as a valuable parasite of the variegated cutworm (Lycophotia margaritosa Haw.) and the army worm (Cirphis unipuncta Haw.). Sherman (14, p. 301) noted that this parasite emerges from the pupa of its host; and Reinhard (IS) found that the adult is strongly attracted to flowers, and he listed the species to which it is attracted in Texas. During the last two years the writer has been making a biological study of the tachinid parasites of Southern crop pests at the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College. Archytas analis has been found to be one of the commonest and most beneficial tachinids in that section. It was discovered that very little concerning the details of its life history had been published, so a considerable part of 1924 was devoted to work with this insect. There are still many points in its biology which have not been definitely established, and others in which the data are rather limited. But considerable new information has been discovered, and since very few contributions to the biology of the group to which this species belongs have been made, the writer wishes to submit his results for publication at this time. Biologically, this species belongs without question to Group IV of Pantel (11, p. 32) to which Baer (3, p. 203) has recently given the name Echinomyia group, and which Townsend has called the Hystriciine series (17, p. 132).


This book is one of a series published under the auspices of the Joint Center for Urban Studies, a cooperative venture of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. The Joint Center was founded in 1959 to organize and encourage research on urban and regional problems. Participants have included scholars from the fields of anthropology, architecture, business, city planning, economies, educatioÿ engineering, history, Law, philosophy, political science, and sociology. The ÿndings and conclusions of this book are, as with all Joint Center publications, solely the responsibility of the contributors. Other books published in the Joint Center series inchide: