Writing a book on classical mechanics is a very daring enterprise. Hundreds of people have done it before you, so you must be ready to face critical remarks from different perspectives. Be sure that roughly half of your readers will say that there is not enough physics in the book, and the other half will complain about a lack of mathematical rigor. I belong to the second half, but let's start with the good news: this is one of the better books, in many respects; it deserves a place in every library which covers the subject and on the list of recommended reading accompanying an undergraduate mechanics course. In his preface, the author says that " a previous course in mechanics is helpful but not essential. " That struck me as interesting, because I personally have found myself for years in a similar position: teaching theoretical mechanics both to students who have had such a preliminary course and others who haven't. The preliminary course is offered to physics students and is typically taken from volume 1 of some series on general physics. In my opinion, there are many excellent books one can take as a guideline for such a purpose. The situation is different, however, when it comes to finding a good book for a first course on theoretical mechanics, which is supposed to start from scratch, but should cover the subject in more generality, should pay particular attention to the fundamentals of the theory, and bring it to a point from which other courses on mathematical physics can take off. I must admit I have never found one that gives me complete satisfaction, and there must be other people, like Douglas Gregory perhaps, who have had the same feeling and come to the conclusion, " Why don't I write my own? " If you do teach an undergraduate course on theoretical mechanics to mathematics and physics students, which nowadays is becoming a privilege, you better take the issues of basic principles and subsequent consistent mathematical developments seriously, because there will be no opportunity to come back to it in greater depth in a later course. Far from wanting to insinuate that Gregory would not take this issue seriously, my feeling is that the book has a number of shortcomings in that respect. I was put somewhat on alert (a warning of bigger disasters to come later) with Definition 1.1 …


Novel β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) dimers with aromatic diamine linkers, 1,3-(aminomethyl)-benzylamine-bridged bis(6-amino-6-deoxy-β-CD) (2), 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethano-bridged bis(6-amino-6-deoxy-β-CD) (3), and 4,4′- ethylenedianiline-bridged bis(6-amino-6-deoxy-β-CD) (4), were synthesized. The inclusion complexation behaviors of these compounds, together with 4,4′-aminophenyl ethyl-bridged bis(6-amino-6-deoxy-β-CD) (5), with substrates such as acridine red (AR), neutral red (NR), ammonium 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonate (ANS), sodium 2-(p-toluidinyl) naphthalenesulfonate (TNS), rhodamine B (RhB), and brilliant green (BG), were investigated by ultraviolet, fluorescence, circular dichroism, and 2D NMR spectroscopy. The results indicated that the two linked CD units cooperatively bound to a guest, and the molecular binding affinity toward substrates, especially curved guest ANS and linear guests such as NR and AR, was increased. The linker length between two CD units played a crucial role in the molecular recognition of the hosts with guest dyes. The binding constants of the hosts for AR, TNS, ANS, and RhB decreased with increasing linker length in hosts 2-4. Moreover, structurally similar hosts 3 and 5 exhibited very different binding behavior for the guests. Host 5 showed much higher Ks values toward positively charged guests and lower Ks toward negatively charged guests than host 3. The 2D NMR spectra of hosts 3 and 5 with RhB were acquired to understand the binding difference between 3 and 5. The molecular binding ability and selectivity of model substrates by these hosts were sufficiently investigated to reveal not only the cooperative contributions of the linker group and CD cavities upon inclusion complexation with dye guest molecules, but also the controlling factors for the molecular selective binding. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Purpose: to evaluate the safety and the advantages of haemotatic sealant in patients post tubeless PNL compared with that patient left without. Between January 2007 and April 2009, 100 patients with kidney stones were treated by tubeless PNL, they were divided in two groups, first group consisted of 51 patients in which the tract of PNL was filled with tissue sealant at the end of the procedure while the second group consisted of 49 patients, no tissue sealant was left. The mean age was 39.52 and 37.93 respectively while stone size was 1.5-6cm (mean 3.5) and 15-7cm (3.6) respectively. PNL was done in prone position in both groups. Operative time was comparable in both group, tissue sealant group was 15-90 minutes (mean 43.33) while no tissue sealant groups was 20-80 minutes mean (41.42) with no significant difference as p value was 0.686 and HB drop post operatively was from 0.3-4 gms mean (1.2) and .03-5 gms (mean 1.7) respectively without significant differences as p value was 0.455. Also hospital stay and complications were comparable. Tissue sealant is safe to be used post PNL but no advantages over if the tract is left without tissue sealant mainly from the points of hospital stay, Hb drop or urine leakage.


The article examines the impact of the Cold War on film censorship in Israel during the first two decades of the state and sheds light on the Israeli Film Censorship Board's collaboration with other government bodies, above all the Foreign Ministry in the censorship of western anti-communist films, and to a lesser extent, Soviet anti-American films. Such Cold War-related film censorship was carried out in response to domestic criticism but also to prevent any possible damage to Israel's diplomatic relations, particularly with the Soviet Bloc, owing to the large number of films imported from the United States. In addition to discussing film censorship policies and practices, the article demonstrates the crucial impact of Cold War culture on the political world in Israel, particularly during the early years of the state. The article's main argument is that the diplomatic impetus for censoring Cold War films attests to Israel's insecurity vis-à-vis its international status prior to the 1967 War as well as to the ultimately unsuccessful attempt by the government to preserve what was left of its deteriorating relations with the Soviet Bloc.


The design of RFID Middleware is very important to the performance of RFID middleware System.So proposes a RFID middleware supporting piority handling to reach the destination which is to handle different important tag data according to priority.


Abstract : The Hypermedia Laboratory began with the incorporation of artificial intelligence into the DTIC Common Command Language System Design project for the DoD Gateway Information System. With the availability of bitmap systems, rapid prototype developments were done making use of these systems' capabilities of icon-drive, multi-windowing and multi-tasking. It was a short step to our expanding exploration of technologies involving integration of artificial intelligence, bitmap systems, networking, and electronic media as means of transmitting and storing information. In hypermedia, artificial intelligence will serve as the interface engine between the user and the information source; the bitmap system will be the platform for viewing information in a manner organized by the viewer; networking gets the user to the diverse and multiple sources of information; media concerns the diverse forms of storing information, including online, optical disc, floppy disc, voice, electronic mail, et al., and stimuli information such as sound, images, and color. Integration of these technologies will give the user the ability to collect and handle information, from any source, in a contextual manner. Context handling is the reason for implementing hypermedia systems. Integration of technologies for context handling is the primary goal of the Hypermedia Laboratory.


that continues uninterruptedly until the end of treatment. It is on this multidimensional and ever-changing blueprint that he bases his long-term strategies as well as his immediate therapeutic interventions. For reasons of brevity I have chosen not to discuss the equally interesting chapters on neurotic and narcissistic conditions dealt with in this book. The last chapter, however, deserves comment. In this chapter, Garza Guerrero uses vitiligo as a model from which to examine a fascinating view of the interaction of stress as it relates to the vicissitudes of internal life. In his work with such patients he consistently finds a compromise character trait he calls "ingratiating depressive perfectionism." An undertaking as ambitious as this work must necessarily repeat certain important points from different perspectives while also touching on a multitude of issues that cannot be covered in a single study. This, ofcourse, simply wets the curiosity of the reader. Those readers, however, who are disinclined to agree with O. F. Kernberg and his colleagues' conceptualizations will be rapidly turned off by this volume which relies so heavily on his views. Perhaps the one criticism one might make of the study in question is that Garza Guerrero expends a little too much effort in sustaining a Kernbergian viewpoint and thus detracts from his very valuable contribution. It seems to me that Garza Guerrero is at his best when he escapes from the burden of his extensive knowledge of the literature and allows his creative and extraordinary clinical capacity to range freely. Written in Spanish, this book will be an even greater contribution for those who are unfamiliar with current psychoanalytic thinking in his country. Dr. Garza Guerrero is to be commended for an enormous effort in bringing together both theoretical and clinical issues with an uncommon sense of harmony that makes reading this work, although not always easy, quite illuminating and thought-provoking.


288 Designing as research has received increased attention in landscape architecture. Recently, Lenzholzer et al. (2013) offered definitions for designing activities that can be research. Generally speaking, all design activities that generate new knowledge can be 'research through designing' (RTD). Different types of RTD can be identified, based on Creswell's widely accepted framework of research methods (2009). To clarify what these approaches can mean for RTD in landscape architecture research methods, they need to be explained through examples. In this paper, we discuss examples for the (post)positivistic type of RTD. This type of RTD is based on the positivistic methods of natural sciences. The new design knowledge to be generated is mainly 'objective' and quantitative and can answer research questions that mostly deal with physical issues, such as climate change, as our examples show. 'research through designing' | (post) positivist research | climate responsive design LENZHOLZER, SANDA Wageningen University, Netherlands BROWN, ROBERT D. University of Guelph, Canada Climate-Responsive Positivistic 'Research Through Designing'


In the second half of the eighteenth century, the « Concert » or « Academie de musique » in Reims was one of the most regular institutions of this kind in the French provinces. Archival sources in the Bibliotheque municipale de Reims show how the Concert worked: a system of subscription and the implication from the city's upper class explain its longevity, as in many other « Academies » around France. The personal support of the directors and the use of a room in the town hall, as well as the presence of Henri Hardouin, composer and director of the choir school, account for its rich activity during fifty years. But the Concert had to fit the changes in the repertoire as opera-comique was growing and concert music was changing. Conflicts occured and led to modifications in programming habits, as Hardouin was becoming less involved. At the time of the Revolution, the city's notability disbanded and the Concert changed its rules, adopting the model of the « concert a benefice », opening its doors to audiences that payed for their seat at the entrance, without asking for a subscription anymore.


Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics,clinical features and laboratory detection results of haemophilus influenzae type b(Hib).meningitis cases.Methods The active surveillance of encephalitis and meningitis was conducted in 6 hospitals in 4 randomly selected counties(district) in Hebei from May 2007 to December 2009.The blood and cerebrospinal fluid(CSF) samples were collected to conduct Hib culture and RT-PCR detection.Results Five cases of Hib meningitis were detected for the first time in Hebei,the incidence was about 0.36/lakh.The cases mainly occurred in Autumn and Winter and all were infants age 6-12 months in rural area,who were without Hib vaccination history and had taken antibiotics 1 week before sample collecting.The interval between initial medical seeking and final medical seeking was long.Their clinical symptoms and laboratory detection results were atypical.The cases were all had good prognosis and without sequela.Conclusion It is suggested to take samples from the children diagnosed as bacterial meningitis to conduct bacterial culture and conduct RT-PCR when it is possible,and it is suggested to conduct intensive surveillance of acute encephalitis and meningitis symptoms in China,and on the basis of the surveillance,nested case-control study should be conducted to evaluate the Hib infection status,risk factors and diseases burden accurately and feasibility of inclusion of Hib vaccine into EPI program.


Representatives of the Sparganium L. genus belong to an ecological group of short grass helophytes which live in the shoreline area of different water bodies. Despite the fact that most representatives of the genus exhibit notable polymorphism (depending on the level regime of a water body, they can form various ecological forms), characteristic of all of them is presence of only one living form – vegetative mobile clear polycentric long-rhizomatous pseudoannual polycarpic plant with racemose root system. The objective of the article was to study the ontogenesis of genets and ramets on the example of representatives of the Xanthosparganium subgenus (S. emersum Rehm., S. glomeratum (Laest. ex Beurl.) Neum., S. gramineum Georgi and S. natans L.). The research was conducted using the ontogenetic approach. In the study, we analyzed ontogenesis of genet (from generative diaspore) and ontogenesis of ramets (from vegetative diaspores – tuber-like structures and axillary buds of vegetative-generative monocarpic and vegetative rosette shoots). We demonstrated that ontogenesis of genets and ramets (on the basis of tuber-like structures) in laboratory conditions is abrupt. It was found that the model species of Sparganium are characteristic in combining of incomplete and special ontogenesis, which is related to the omission of phases of the post-generative period. Such peculiarity is conditioned by increase in tempi of ontogenetic development. On the basis of specific ontogenesis, a variant of shortened ontogenesis is possible, during which the virginile ontogenetic condition is omitted. This feature could be characterized as dynamic polyvariance of ontogenesis, whereas bud initiation and development of shoots throughout the vegetative season, characterized as heterochrony, has been formed over the process of natural selection. Heterochrony (on the basis of iterative branching without periods of rest) includes a property of formation of vegetative-generative shoots which develop on the basis of sylleptic shoots of subsequent orders of branching. The main course of ontogenesis in natural conditions corresponds to D-type which occurs in order of generations of individuals of vegetative origin.


Apathy, defined as a lack of motivation, is a prevalent and persistent behavioural and psychological symptom of dementia. Limited research suggests that apathy is associated with increased carer burden, but there are no studies investigating carers' subjective experiences of apathy. This study aimed to fill this gap and explore the lived experience of apathy in dementia from the perspectives of the people with dementia and their carers. This article reports on the carers' perspectives. Six dyads of people with dementia and carers participated in semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three superordinate themes were identified: (1) achieving a balance of conflicting emotions—the challenges of apathy led to feelings of guilt, acceptance, and frustration; (2) new roles imposed by caring, which involved taking on new responsibilities and promoting remaining interests of person with dementia; and (3) having a life of one's own—coping with apathy by talking to others, and spending time away from the caring role. This study highlighted that carers are caught in a struggle between wanting to involve the person with dementia in decisions and finding that they cannot if they want to overcome the hurdle of apathy. Implications of this study suggest that a wider understanding of apathy at a societal level could lead to the provision of a helpful forum for carers to share their experiences.


In this paper the use of a Neural Network trained using Learning Algorithms is proposed to tackle one of the harder activities within a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game; Jungling.  The aim of the implementation was to find an optimal route around the jungle that can then be used by both players and bot AI whilst fighting in Dota2.  To do this an accurate representation of the Dota2 Jungle was implemented and a Feed Forward Sigmoidal Neural Network used, in combination with various Genetic Algorithm techniques, for all decision making.  Results show that some convergence toward an optimal route has been reached, however more work needs to go into the simulator itself before an accurate representation of a professional player can be achieved.


Exhibiting is a method of sociological practice that has been widely concerned and discussed following the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason for this is that exhibitions have the potential to create "live" public encounters. Creative dialogue and collaboration can provide people with great psychological support, particularly during restricted movement. At the same time, exhibitions are about caring and gently relieving anxious minds, and art has great cultural resilience in times of crisis. From a practical perspective, museum or gallery practitioner all over the world create discourse spaces through online platforms. In addition, new curation methods based on public participation and community cooperation models have increased in the three years since the coronavirus outbreak. Therefore, this paper explores how art museums can innovate after suffering abnormal losses and discusses how art exhibitions in the post-pandemic era can establish "live" public encounters. From the specific perspectives of the innovation of online platforms and the construction of daily space, how exhibitions reflexively construct "live" in curating practice regarding creative cooperation, publicness, and other related issues will be analyzed. The author thinks that combining the flexibility an online platform provides and the sensitivity of physical space to create a creatively engaging exhibition in a limited community can help the public establish "cultural resilience" for navigating through times of uncertainty and rapid change.


Based on the cooperation and competition theory,this paper analyzes the content,nature,relationships,staggered development and port resources integration in Yangtze River Delta,and then analyzes the port cluster and resources of the major ports in this area.It raises the objectives and problems,and uses the principal component analysis and cluster analysis to study the major ports.Finally,from the aspects of freight structure and line routes,it proposes the recommendation of staggered development in Yangtze River Delta.Besides,drawing on domestic and international experience,it puts forward the strategy of integrating resources of ports in the Yangtze River Delta.


Nowadays,with the warm competition in the designing domain,it is been attached importance to improve the overall designing quality and speed up the rate of working process by controlling the designing process.Look back the last decade,a bunch of designing companies had already tried to control the designing process by make full use of computer network and database technology.However,few of them are success or even still insist on this carrying out the program.Link to my institute on the independent research and exploiture of designing control system,I would like to talk about the problems encountered and response measures,and also give my own opinions.


Background Several researchers have tried to improve the results of gingival recession treatment techniques. One of the methods is to use growth factors The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of CAF (coronally advanced flap) + CTG (connective tissue graft) + PRGF (plasma rich in growth factors) in the treatment of Miller Class I buccal gingival recession. Material and Methods Twenty-two teeth with Miller Class I gingival recession in 6 patients 26 ‒ 47 years of age were included in a split-mouth designed randomized controlled trial (RCT). In each patient, one side was treated with CAF + CTG + PRGF (test) and the other side was treated with CAF + CTG (control). The following parameters were measured before surgery and up to 6 months after surgery on the mid-buccal surface of the tooth: keratinized tissue width (KTW), clinical attachment level (CAL), probing depth (PD), vertical recession depth (VRD), recession depth (RD), gingival thickness (GT), root coverage in percentage (RC%) and the distance between the CEJ and mucogingival junction (MGJL). Data were analyzed with paired t-test and repeated measures ANOVA. Results After 6 months noticeable improvements were observed in both groups in all the variables measured except for PD; however, the differences between the two groups were not significant. RC% was 80 ± 25% and 67 ± 28% in the test and control groups, respectively, after 6 months. Conclusions Both CAF + CTG + PRGF and CAF + CTG treatment modalities resulted in favorable root coverage; however, the addition of PRGF added no measurable significant effect. Key words:Connective tissue graft, dental root coverage, gingival recession, growth factors, mucogingival surgery, periodontal plastic surgery.


Spectra of photoneutrons from a ${\mathrm{Bi}}^{209}$ target were obtained in the electric dipole giant-resonance region (12-16 MeV). A $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray energy resolution of 1.5% was attained using a bremsstrahlung monochromator; the neutron energies were measured with a time-of-flight technique with a resolution which varied from 10% at 2 MeV to 15% at 6 MeV. About 88% of the neutrons ejected by 14-MeV $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays are statistical. The inferred level density of ${\mathrm{Bi}}^{208}$ near its ground state is not a simple function of excitation energy, but from 4 to 7 MeV it increases exponentially with energy; in that energy range the temperature is about 1 MeV. The nonstatistical high-energy neutrons leave the ${\mathrm{Bi}}^{208}$ nucleus at the excitation energies at which the states are well represented as single-neutron holes in ${\mathrm{Bi}}^{209}$. These high-energy neutrons are intimately connected with the giant resonance. If the giant resonance is dominated by a single dipole state, the absolute width which characterizes the decay of the dipole state into the compound nucleus must increase by a factor of about 3 between 12 and 16 MeV.


In this paper, we discuss the entropy character of two pairs alleles population, and compare loci diversity D with relative imformation diversity S (G). The reslutes show that loci diversity D and relative information diversity S (G) are uniformity in mesurement genetic variation, and the latter have the information means.


This paper looks at the distribution of disposable income by deciles to indicate how specific mitigating measures have influenced income groups and considers the effectiveness of different combinations of containment measures in the European Union. Simulations using the EUROMOD tax-benefit microsimulation model imply that the mitigating effects of the simulated measures are regressive, with a bigger influence on the bottom part of the income distribution. It is also observed that old democracies benefit from these measures more than new democracies. Surprisingly, our results further reveal that for the two highest decile income groups, the COVID-19 containment measures are stronger in new democracies. Finally, a qualitative comparative analysis of 19 EU countries suggests that each country should apply mixes of containment measures that fit its own context. Although there is no one-size-fits-all policy, old democracies seem more successful at handling the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis than new democracies. This study complements the literature as it shows how COVID-19 measures have influenced household income groups, and second, it adds to earlier studies by clarifying that only specific context-dependent combinations of containment measures are successful at preventing the loss of people's living standards, thereby giving policymakers the necessary leeway to formulate effective policies.


In a double‐blind multi‐centre study, comprising ninety‐five patients with psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, 0.1% halcinonide cream applied once daily was equally as effective as the cream applied three times daily. However, the onset of action was more rapid when the cream was applied three times daily. In a control study once daily application of 0.1% halcinonide cream was found to be superior to the vehicle alone in the treatment of forty patients with the same diseases.


There is a festive,Chinese atmosphere in France.And it will continue until July 2004.The"Year ofChina,"organized by the French and Chinese gov-ernments,is aimed at giving French residents acomprehensive view of Chinese society,dynamismand creativity.Through numerous events to be held throughoutFrance,the project will focus on three themes:"Eternal China,""Traditions of China" and"A Modern,Creative China."


The extrusion nozzles of three low cost desktop 3D printers are characterised using optical fibre Bragg gratings. Temperature profiles show remarkably consistent distributions pointing to operation as good quality micro-furnaces potentially not only for 3D printing but also optical fibre drawing.


A power supply apparatus has a case 94 with a control panel 96 mounted thereon. Plural controllers are disposed on the panel. A cover 98 is mounted to cover and uncover the panel. One of the controllers 66 is so disposed as to be externally operable. A further aspect of the invention relates to a hinge arrangement for the control panel cover (see figures 10, 11). The invention is particularly suitable for power supplies for welding apparatus.


The present invention discloses a fuel alcohol and alcohol consumption common distillation unit, comprising a mash column system, distillation systems, dehydration / methanol recovery column system and / impurities column system. The present invention will produce ethanol transplanted into the azeotropic distillation system of fuel alcohol, substituted molecular sieve system, consisting of a new distillation unit, four towers are multifunctional column, which use the same system, which can produce edible alcohol can also produce fuel alcohol. To achieve a multi-purpose machine, simplifying the production process, low investment, low energy consumption, high product adaptability, easy to operate.


In this study, drainage basin development of the Bayramdere creek discharging into the Sea of Marmara and structural factors that control basin development are discussed on the basis of morphometric analyses and geomorphic indice studies. The three geomorphic indices (SL, Vf and T) showed the effects of tectonics in erosion of the geologic structures of the basin. Especially, the fault, which is evidenced by the distribution of epicenter data, where the creek is dislocated about 1 km towards the southwest, was found to be the principal structural factor. Field data suggest that high-angle normal faults played an important role in both construction and the development of drainage in the basin.


In this paper, an application to sizing of stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) systems design method of an unknown optimal sizing combination is presented. These optimal sizing combinations allow to the users of stand-alone PV systems to determine the number of solar panel modules and storage batteries necessary to satisfy a given consumption, especially in isolated sites where the global solar radiation data is not always available. A developed model combines between multi-layer perceptron (MLP), wavelet and infinite impulse response (UR) filter. The wavenet model has been trained by using 200 known sizing coefficients data corresponding to 200 locations. In this way, the adaptive model was trained to accept and even handle a number of unusual cases. Known sizing coefficients were subsequently used to investigate the accuracy of estimation, the unknown validation sizing coefficients set produced very set accurate estimation with the correlation coefficient between the actual and the wavenet model estimated data of 98% was obtained. This result indicates that the proposed method can be successfully used for estimating of optimal sizing coefficients of stand-alone PV systems for any locations in Algeria, but the methodology can be generalized using different locations in the world.


The authors studied the performance of non-penetrating electron beam irradiated tube made from LLDPE / LDPE / EVA blends, including the depth distribution of gel content and melt characteristics of the outer and the inner layers and the mechanical properties. The results showed that when the gel content of the outer layer was above 60%, the inner layer, which has a distance to the surface longer than electron range, showed less than 0.4% gel content; the compatibility of blending materials was increased by electron irradiation. Tubes made from LLDPE / LDPE / EVA blends and irradiated by non-penetrating electron beam can be used to produce heat shrinkable-hot melt tubular sleeve with an outstanding overall heat shrinkage property and an excellent hot melt performance in the inner wall.


Objective:To investigate the incidence of gastric schwannoma of MSCT diagnosis and treatment.Methods:Analyzing retrospectively 6 cases of gastric schwannoma tract and reviewing the published papers.Results:Gastric schwannoma was no characteristic clinical manifestations,such as upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage.The typical MSCT performance: submucosal mass of soft round,and if the surface ulceration,visible signs of typical "depression".There was a light or moderate enhancing after tumor enhanced,and the enhanced way for continuous enhancing.Chemotherapy is not sensitive to treatment with surgery and prognosis.Conclusion:On the basis of gastric schwannoma is typical CT manifestations,MSCT help gastric schwannoma positioning for clinical diagnosis and surgical treatment,provides the basis.


Background:Measuring retention in HIV primary care is complex, as care includes multiple visits scheduled at varying intervals over time. We evaluated 6 commonly used retention measures in predicting viral load (VL) suppression and the correlation among measures. Methods:Clinic-wide patient-level data from 6 academic HIV clinics were used for 12 months preceding implementation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Health Resources and Services Administration (CDC/HRSA) retention in care intervention. Six retention measures were calculated for each patient based on scheduled primary HIV provider visits: count and dichotomous missed visits, visit adherence, 6-month gap, 4-month visit constancy, and the HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau (HRSA HAB) retention measure. Spearman correlation coefficients and separate unadjusted logistic regression models compared retention measures with one another and with 12-month VL suppression, respectively. The discriminatory capacity of each measure was assessed with the c-statistic. Results:Among 10,053 patients, 8235 (82%) had 12-month VL measures, with 6304 (77%) achieving suppression (VL <400 copies/mL). All 6 retention measures were significantly associated (P < 0.0001) with VL suppression (odds ratio; 95% CI, c-statistic): missed visit count (0.73; 0.71 to 0.75, 0.67), missed visit dichotomous (3.2; 2.8 to 3.6, 0.62), visit adherence (3.9; 3.5 to 4.3,0.69), gap (3.0; 2.6 to 3.3, 0.61), visit constancy (2.8; 2.5 to 3.0, 0.63), and HRSA HAB (3.8; 3.3 to 4.4, 0.59). Measures incorporating "no-show" visits were highly correlated (Spearman coefficient = 0.83–0.85), as were measures based solely on kept visits (Spearman coefficient = 0.72–0.77). Correlation coefficients were lower across these 2 groups of measures (range = 0.16–0.57). Conclusions:Six retention measures displayed a wide range of correlation with one another, yet each measure had significant association and modest discrimination for VL suppression. These data suggest there is no clear gold standard and that selection of a retention measure may be tailored to context.


The clinical course and patho-physiologic features of idiopathic pulmonary hypertension in two female siblings aged 26 and 22 years are reported. The pulmonary vascular lesions were studied in serial histologic sections and a morphometric method was used for the determination of medial hypertrophy in the muscular pulmonary arteries. Microangiographic examination of the pulmonary arterial system was also done in one case. The pulmonary vascular lesions were similar in both cases, with prominent medial hypertrophy in muscular pulmonary arteries, as well as necrotizing arteritis, cellular intimal proliferation with plexiform lesions, and segmental fibrous obliteration. The alveolar capillaries were normal or, in places, dilated, and there was microangiographic and histologic evidence of collateral arterial supply of the alveolar capillary bed peripheral to obliterated segments of the pulmonary artery.

This report includes the first microangiographic description of the plexiform lesions, which could be identified as tortuous vascular channels, some of which did not allow the further transmission of contrast medium.


A novel approach for the reward distribution in multi-agent reinforcement learning is proposed. The agent who gets a reward gives a part of it to the other agents. If an agent gives a part of its own reward to the other ones, they may help the agent to get more reward. There may be some cases in which the agent gets more reward than that it gave to the other ones. In this case, it is better for the agent to give the part of the reward to the other ones. Based on this principle, each agent learns the reward distribution ratio to the other agents autonomously based on the selfish value function. Some simulations have been demonstrated that a rational reward distribution ratio is obtained by each agent depending on the given task.


Ontology is the presently rising research topic in the field of artificial intelligence, semantic web, and natural language processing. Manual ontology development is very complex and time consuming task. This research proposes and implemented a Semi-Automatic Punjabi Domain Ontology graph generation system which creates a framework semi-automatically known as Ontology Graph. It is the first time that this system has been developed for Punjabi language. Punjabi is the official language of Punjab state of India. The proposed system includes process of learning ontology that illustrate the way of learning and creates ontology graphs semi automatically from Punjabi text documents. Ontology learning process includes two phases namely Preprocessing phase and processing phase. Preprocessing phase is a representation of the Punjabi text in structured way. The proposed system starts by Pre-processing phase which includes Term extraction by applying input restrictions, removing special symbols, duplicate terms, stop words, and matching input terms with dictionary and gazetteer lists. Processing phase includes identify relationship between term and class, relationship between different terms in a class. The mapping of relationship between term and class is done according to weighted mapping. Terms that have frequency of occurrence greater than 3 are used to map the relationship between term and class. The relationship between different terms in class finds out the direct relation between terms in a class.


This paper presents a reactive algorithm for mul-tirobot cooperative path planning. The algorithm integrates the real-time collision detection process with linear navigation functions. The collision detection strategy is based on an improved version of the swept volumes method that uses the relative kinematics of the robots in addition to the geometric considerations of the paths. The swept volumes determine the collision conditions, which are written in terms of the relative velocities and orientations. Speed and orientation collision intervals are then derived based on the swept volumes. A collision histogram is then constructed as a collection of the speed and orientation collision intervals. The collision histograms show the free directions and the direction corresponding to collision. The desired orientation and speed are chosen using the collision histograms. The strategy is illustrated using an extensive simulation study.


Potential of mean force for the isomerization of a tertiary peptide bond in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) is determined using a combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) potential in Monte Carlo simulations. Both the anti and syn transformations were considered. The computed free energy of activation in the gas phase is 19.8 kcal/mol for the anti transition state and 20.2 kcal/mol for the syn form. This is in excellent agreement with the gas-phase NMR measurements (19.4±0.1 kcal/mol)


According to Ian Lustick, Israel has built and, in turn, is dominated by an overemphasized Holocaust ethos that he calls ''Holocaustia.'' To be sure, his extensive essay describes three other distinct Holocaust narratives that emerged in the course of Israel's history. But the central focus of the article is on this fourth one, its assumed domination of contemporary Israeli discourse, and its implications for the Israel-Arab conflict. As Lustick argues:


The churches have been, and still are, at those places with the poor where nobody else wants to be. With little difference among the various churches, Christian spirituality teaches, and has taught for a long time, the following moral truths:


A methodology is presented for integrated and automated forecasting of damage assessment, cost estimating, scheduling and of 3D/4D visualizations for post-earthquake building rehabilitation. The proposed methodology is based on the integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Assembly-Based Vulnerability (ABV) techniques. ABV is a framework for evaluating the seismic vulnerability and performance of structures on a building-specific basis, utilizing seismic analysis techniques to determine the structural response of a building. The methodology used accounts for structural and non-structural building components and corresponding fragility curves, and subsequently applies BIM-based techniques to automate the generation of cost estimates, activity schedules as well as 3D/4D visualizations of the associated rehabilitation work. ognize such needs have appeared in recent years, e.g. SAC/FEMA-350/351, FEMA-356 and ATC-40 (SAC 2000a, SAC 2000b, FEMA 2000, ATC 1996). A prominent example is the PEER Center methodology (Cornell and Krawinkler 2000) that has been developed to offer a comprehensive assessment of the building performance at any level of shaking and any desired limit-state by integrating the seismic hazard and the structural analysis results with dam-age and cost estimation to produce realistic estimates of the cost associated with any earthquake. What has been missing is a way to visualize such results on an actual 3D structure using existing professional software as the means to facilitate the communication between client and engineer. Building owners rarely understand the technical language used by engineers and often fail to realize the differences between the design alternatives offered and their actual seismic performance. Improved performance typically means investing a higher initial construction cost that is expected to be more than paid off by the decreased damages experienced in the design life of the building. Thus, proper communication of the implications of any design decision is essential, in order to facilitate the commitment of the necessary funds. Unfortunately, current practice limits the information exchanged between owners and engineers to a handful of numbers, which are usually meaningless to the clients. Even when attempts are made to approximately estimate the actual repair cost and downtime in an earthquake scenario, such numbers carry a high uncertainty that is often in the order of 100% or more. Furthermore, single numbers often fail to communicate an important feature that is a primary target of PBEE, namely the actual level of operability of the structure after any minor or major event. PBEE has been all about integrating structural damage (beams, columns) with non-structural (HVAC, doors, partitions) and building contents' damage. Without the proper visualization capability such numbers become mute. For example, any significant debris on a hospital corridor could easily render a number of rooms useless or inaccessible. Such implications are impossible to decipher from the output of any existing structural analysis program, let alone explaining them to the client. Having PBEE analysis results available on the 3D level simplifies understanding considerably. Clients are now able to identify restricted areas, plan for possible routes for moving material and personnel and in general gain a proper understanding of the post-earthquake capacity of the structure to function as intended. To achieve this goal we propose to couple current PBEE practice together with readily available visualization techniques that can be implemented in any professional design office. 2 INTEGRATED DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND 3D VISUALIZATION 2.1 Real-Time Condition Assessment of Constructed Facilities Typical real-time monitoring systems consist of tens of wireless nodes placed at various locations in the structure being monitored, collecting and transmitting sensor data to a remote base-station. A multiparameter visualization and decision-support system is then responsible for detecting and localizing any abnormalities in the structure and for producing early notifications and suggestions, which are then distributed to field engineers and maintenance technicians for their actions. In the case, though, of constructed facilities (such as buildings) or hard-to-reach infrastructure (such as underground piping networks) the deployment of sensors is both costly and difficult (if not impossible sometimes). In such cases, post-construction sensor placement and data transmission capabilities are achieved by ad-hoc wireless networks (WSN). 2.2 Computational Performance Assessment Sensors are useful when engineers are in need of seeing what really happened or maybe getting a sense, in real-time, of what is going on in a building after a quake without having to physically go and inspect the building (Naeim et al. 2006). On the other hand, using PBEE and in turn Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) (Vamvatsikos and Cornell 2002) and Assembly-Based Vulnerability (ABV) (Porter et al. 2001) methodologies (that fit into the PBEE paradigm) engineers take a predictive approach, where they try to figure out what may happen in certain earthquake scenarios. ABV is a framework for evaluating the seismic vulnerability and performance of structures on a building-specific basis (Porter et el. 2001). The method utilizes seismic analysis techniques to determine the structural response of a building (e.g. IDA), accounts for structural and nonstructural building components and corresponding fragility curves, and subsequently applies FIAPPbased techniques to automate the generation of cost estimates, activity schedules as well as 3D/4D visualizations of the associated rehabilitation work. The ABV method (Porter et al. 2001) and similar methods by Miranda and Aslani (2003) make use of the simulated behavior of each assembly in a building and a corresponding fragility function to determine the probability that the assembly will be damaged and require repair or replacement. The probability is then used to simulate the damage state of each assembly in the building and to approximate the unit cost and duration to repair each such assembly. Assemblies are based on either custom-defined work breakdown structures (WBS) or on industrywide taxonomies such as the Construction Specifications Institute's (CII) Masterformat. The damage state of a particular assembly is considered to depend on the structural response to the load which it is subjected to, and the corresponding total cost for bringing the assembly back on-line is a combination of the repair cost and the loss-of-use cost. A definition of these costs as well as the time to repair each operational unit can be found in Porter et al. (2001). 3 INTEGRATED COST-ESTIMATING AND SCHEDULING FOR POST-EARTHQUAKE BUILDING REHABILITATION The PEER methodology together with the ABV method is merged with BIM to generate a fully integrated and automated platform for visualizing all post-earthquake building rehabilitation functions (damage assessment, cost appraisal, work schedules, 3D visualizations, 4D sequencing). The process is depicted in Fig. 1. At first, a 3D object-based model of a building is constructed in conformance with the BIM and IFC paradigms. The model, which was developed in Graphisoft's ArchiCAD software, contains both structural (beams, columns, slabs, etc.) and nonstructural (walls, ductwork, furnishings, etc) building components and it is used both as a visualization tool and as an information repository. The model (a casestudy three-storey concrete building) is used to generate several item listings for quantity-takeoff and cost-estimating purposes, or for structural-analysis purposes. A relational database management system (RDBMS) is developed concurrently with the 3D model containing the project's WBS and underlying building assemblies, CSI codes, unit cost and production rates. The RDBMS provides links between the BIM objects and the rest of the database tables archived in it, through the primary keys of each database table. For example, each BIM CAD object has a unique ID which is linked, through a mapping table, to a CSI code and through that to a crew code. The mappings can be of type "one-to-many" or "many-toone", allowing the user to assign several BIM objects to one or several CSI codes as needed. For example, a "concrete column" object can be assigned to "formwork", "casting", "insulation" and "painting" CSI codes. The physical properties of an object (mass, surface, length, volume) in conjunction with the production rates from the CSI codes assigned to it dictate the duration of the corresponding damagerehabilitation activity. It should be noted that, since the goal is the creation of damage-assessment cost and time estimates which are as complete as possible, the 3D model also contains building contents (Fig. 2). Figure 1. Flowchart of proposed post-earthquake damage assessment and visualization. Figure 2. 3D BIM of case-study building floor with structural, non-structural components contents in undamaged state. The RDBMS also contains constructionsequencing templates ("fragnets") addressing possible rehabilitation scenarios. The schedule fragnets include the relationships between the construction activities and typically follow the WBS/CSI structure (activities with lower CSI masterformat codes precede activities with higher CSI codes). The duration of each activity in a fragnet is computed based on the BIM objects included in the activity and the production rate of the crew assigned to them is based on the CSI code for each object (Fig. 3). Figure 3. Schematic of BIM/ABV/Cost/Schedule/4D integration. The 3D model and BIM information (object attributes) are used in the structural analysis of the building and in the investigation of the response to earthquake loads, by utilizing predefined assemblybased libraries and fragility curves. Once a structural assessment is mad


Humans use all their senses when they explore and interact with the environment. In human-machine interaction, vision is the dominant sense and interfaces are seldom designed to provide haptic info ...


Since the international financial crisis,there emerges "The Popularity of Marx"in Western Society in the search for a way out of crisis. It is particularly active in academia. Its appearance is in line with the law of development of Marxism,and the need to address the international financial crisis. It results from combined effects of such factors as the full validation of Marxism and the crisis of neo-liberalism. We need rationally analyze the new features of "The Popularity of Marx"in Western Society. It brings a lot of inspiration for the development of Marxism itself and the superiority of socialism,also has great practical significance to our firm confidence of the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics.


Desertification is one of the most serious environmental, social and economic problems in the contemporary world including China that has aroused close concerns of many countries' governments, and China as well. The paper summarized the current status, distribution, dynamic evolvement by remote sensing as monitoring method assisted with field investigation, and forecast the development trend of desertification in Beijing and neighboring areas, analyze reasons mainly accountable for desertification, last put forward proposals concerning action program and principal measures to combat desertification.


A new method for automatic data acquisition from colored topographic maps is presented. Cartographic paper-based maps describe the real landscape in a symbolic and reduced form. The data acquisition from maps provides a spatial reference and a data basis for geographic information systems (GISs). GISs are data processing systems that are used in geographic disciplines, e.g. for environmental planning tasks. In comparison to known algorithms, the development of the interpretation strategy described has included both the modelling and the evaluation of recursive structures, conflicts and identities, and the enormous data amount caused by the high information density of topographic maps.


The invention belongs to the field of heat treatment of a metal material, and in particular relates to an intensified annealing method of nickel (Ni)-free high-nitrogen austenitic stainless steel. In the method, annealing heat treatment is carried out on cold-rolled deformed Ni-free high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel under the process conditions that the temperature ranges from 100 DEG C and 550 DEG C and annealing time is 5-90 minutes. By the adoption of the intensified annealing method, mechanical properties of the novel Ni-free high-nitrogen austenitic stainless steel, such as strength, hardness and the like, are obviously improved.


A scarecrow appears as a humanoid constructed of the same materials as a normal scarecrow. It stands about 6 feet tall. Though each is unique in appearance, all scarecrows share some things in common— their bodies, arms, and legs are constructed of cut wood and bound together with rope. Most scarecrows wear tattered rags for clothes and are stuffed with straw or grass. Its head is usually a gourd with a face carved into it. A fiery light burning in the creature's carved eye sockets. Its joints are hinged and bend both ways, and its head spins freely.


We establish a global existence theorem, and uniqueness and stability of solutions of the Cauchy problem for the Fourier-transformed Fokker-Planck-Boltzmann equation with singular Maxwellian kernel,
which may be viewed as a kinetic model for the stochastic time-evolution of characteristic functions governed by Brownian motion and collision dynamics.


Objective:To investigate the effects of human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line SMMC-7721 transfected with eukaryotic expression vector carrying VEGF shRNA.Methods:The vector was transfected into SMMC-7721 and the expression of VEGF of SMMC-7721 before and after transfection was detected by ELISA.The biological characteristics of SMMC-7721 before and after the transfection were observed.Results:The expression of VEGF of SMMC-7721 was blocked by VEGF shRNA,and the G1 phase cells were increased and the S phase cells were decreased in cell cycle,and the clone formation ability of single cell was decreased after transfection.Conclusion:VEGF shRNA eukaryotic expression vector might have potential role in the gene therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma.


In view of the close combination of the basic theory of digital image processing and practical engineering application, this paper explores a new concept of integrating the thinking of the educated to the teaching knowledge and illustrates the reform idea and application mode of case-based teaching in detail. Take "image feature detection" as an example, the basic principle is first described, and then the intelligent change detection based on spatiotemporal attention mechanism is extended, and data comparison is carried out. Through the study and experiment on cases, students can not only master theoretical knowledge, but also be cultivated with programming ability, so as to achieve the teaching goal of combining theory with experiment.


Nutrition is one of the important indicators in realizing village without hunger. However, nutritional health problems still occur in Indonesia, namely stunting. Stunting is a health problem that causes a child's length or height to be below the standard for his/her age and is caused by chronic malnutrition. Therefore, the purpose of this activity is to identify stunting in Desa Perbawati and implement interventions. This activity uses a mixed method, specifically Sequential Explanatory Design. The participants in this activity are Perbawati villagers with the main targets are toddlers and parents. The results showed that there were 22.5% or 9 toddlers in RW 06 Desa Perbawati who are stunted because of parenting and economic factors. In addition, the lack of public knowledge about nutrition really affects the occurrence of stunting. Educational posters can be an effective media to present non-verbal education and socialization about balanced nutrition in preventing and overcoming stunting.


The paper is devoted to consideration of questions of the organization and the content of educational work with cadets in higher education institution taking into account requirements of the modern historical period of development of society


could again become the history of styles of man and styles of life" (p. 291). This, then, has the makings of a fine work. The author is sensitive to the problems of historical studies, asks questions of his material that displays this sensitivity and is intimately involved with his subject. The book, however, suffers from a number of faults which detract from its purpose. The bulk of each chapter is a summary of the main works of each author, points which for all have been gone over before and in much the same way. These summaries make up the large majority of each section to the degree that only very short space is devoted to the author's main concern: the problems of the cultural historian. This difficulty is often compounded by a rather heavy prose style and excessive footnoting which only serves to distract the reader. Many questions remain unanswered. Is it merely accidental that the two "graphic" historians shared a radical pessimism while those more concerned with concepts either demonstrated the progressive nature of history or like Ortega were aristocratic liberals? What accounts for the fact that while most were teachers of the first rank none had students who developed their methods? These questions are not investigated by Weintraub because of the central problem of his work; that of not providing a historical dimension to the study of these historians. I t was Collingwood's point that we may only understand an author if we recognize the questions his work attempts to answer. These questions must be understood historically, that is to say they represent problems posed at a particular stage of the development of thought and are answered with reference to the fabric of imperatives of the thinker's time and place. In failing to treat his material historically Weintraub does not discuss the relationship and changing nature of the problems of cultural history confronted by these six writers. If one considers that Guizot in part addressed himself to what he felt to be the problematical nature of Voltaire's methods and conclusions and Huizinga saw his own work as directly related to the problems of Burckhardt's this fault becomes apparent. The danger of considering the writing of historians as if they themselves were independent of their own cultures and the problems of their predecessors is to miss, as Burckhardt and Ortega recognized, a crucial concern of history itself.


This article demonstrates that the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) has several controversial points for which no
solution is in sight. As will be shown in most cases, the IRR does not represent a correct measure of return on
investment. The IRR only represents the return on invested capital in those cases where there are conventional
flows characterized by an initial outlay and final receipt. These flows are typical of certain financial applications,
but rare in the scope of production and operations projects. Intermediary cash flows that occur with great
frequency in projects in these areas strip IRR of its condition as a means to measure the return on investment.
The objective of this study is to offer a more appropriate interpretation of the multiple rates of return phenomena
that may be found in unconventional cash flows and validate the modified internal rate of return (MIRR) as
a more acceptable indicator to estimate the rate of return for a conventional investment project. In conclusion,
the article shows that for certain unconventional cash flows in which there are multiple solutions for the IRR,
even the MIRR is in need of financial meaning.

Keywords: Economic Engineering; project evaluation; cash flow analysis; internal rate of return; rate of reinvestment;
modified internal rate of return.


This article rethinks modern Taiwanese literary history of the 1950's. In the fifties, encouraged by the Kuomingtang government, anti-communist-oriented writing was believed to be the dominant literary trend and in fact the only mainstream literary current. However, going through articles and papers published in journals during that period, we can easily see that this dominance was at least shared by female and modernist writing. How is it that such an incorrect impression of Taiwanese literature developed, was widely accepted, and held its place among literary researchers for years? This question leads us to consider how ideas of literary history are formed. This article mainly adopts the critical approach of the "field" raised by Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002).


For any compact Lie group $G$, we give a description of genuine $G$-spectra in terms of the naive equivariant spectra underlying their geometric fixedpoints. We use this to give an analogous description of cyclotomic spectra in terms of naive $T$-spectra (where $T$ denotes the circle group), generalizing Nikolaus--Scholze's recent work in the eventually-connective case. We also give an explicit formula for the homotopy invariants of the cyclotomic structure on a cyclotomic spectrum in these terms.


We report on the fabrication and the characteristics of Al0.4Ga0.6As/GaAs tandem solar cells. The annealing characteristics of GaAs tunnel diodes are studied. It is found that the degradation of the tunnel peak current density by the annealing is suppressed for the diodes composed of a GaAs tunnel junction sandwiched between AlGaAs layers. The tunnel junction is applied to the interconnect between the Al0.4Ga0.6As top cell and the GaAs bottom cell for the tandem solar cell. The cell has a short‐circuit current density of 13.8 mA/cm2, an open‐circuit voltage of 2.10 V, a fill factor of 70.0%, and a conversion efficiency of 20.2% at 1 sun, AM1.5. This efficiency is the highest ever reported at 1 sun for tandem solar cells.


A Navier-Stokes solver for non-equilibrium aerothermodynamics is coupled with a fully implicit solver of the Maxwell equations. Transport phenomena are modelled using a high accurate Chapman-Enskog method that accounts for the effects of concentration, pressure and temperature gradients and provides anisotropic diffusion velocity, heat flux and viscosity in the presence of a magnetic field. Gas neutrality is not enforced so that the electric charge density can be locally different from zero. Numerical tests are carried out on a flatfaced cylinder to test the capabilities of the implicit Maxwell solver and of the coupled Maxwell/Navier-Stokes system.


Five samples of lyotropic liquid crystals of SDS/CTAB/water have been prepared, in different concentration. These samples were characterized by thermal polarizing microscopy for morphological, thermo-optical studies. The dielectric spectroscopy measurements were carried out in a wide frequency range 50Hz to 1 MHz by RCL meter. Sample show higher dielectric permittivity in the lower frequency. Large dispersion in permittivity has been observed in these systems at the expense of temperature variation in the frequency dependent studies, which may be associated with the change in the optimal area and ordering of the micelles. The temperature dependent dielectric studies reflect the decrease in the permittivity with the increment in the temperature however fluctuation near 60 0 C owes to the phase transition. The ternary systems exhibit thermal hysteresis attributed to the unpacking of LLC structures to the micellar phase. These systems of materials are expected to find wide range of applications including their use in electrolytic capacitors and energy storage devices.


This thesis is concerned with techniques for determining the properties of singularities in the flow field. Okubo and Ebbesmeyer (1976) and Molinari and Kirwan (1975) developed a regression technique that has become a standard for determining velocity gradients of the flow field. Kirwan (1988) has pointed out that this regression technique is fundamentally inadequate because is assumes a paradigm with the flow centre fixed to the centroid of the drifter cluster. Kirwan et al., (1988) formulated a solution to this dilemma by inverting non-linear solutions obtained by Okubo (1970) for motion near a flow field singularity with specified differential kinematic properties (DKP). The DKP are horizontal divergence, vorticity, stretching and shearing deformation rate. We solve the non-linear equations of Kirwan et al., (1988) to obtain DKP and the position and velocity of a flow field singularity from a single drifter trajectory. This solution (henceforth called the OK solution) is mathematically more concise than that presented in Kirwan et al., (1988) and corrects previously undetected algebraic errors in the published literature. It has been successfully tested using artificially generated data. The method is fundamentally limited due to the requirement that DKP are time invariant. It also has the undesirable feature that it requires fourth order time derivatives of data. A new method, the HS method, that uses regression without artificially setting a flow centre to the cluster centroid is presented. It has also been successfully tested by application to artificially generated data. The DKP are successfully recovered by the HS providing all drifters in the cluster are being moved by the same unique singularity in the flow field. -- Applying all three methods to three neighbouring drifter tracks measured on Sable Island Bank clearly indicated the limitations of all three methods. The regression technique Okubo and Ebbesmeyer (1976), the OE method, 'failed' because the flow centre was not at the cluster centroid position. The OK method gives ambiguous results in that it can not distinguish between solid body rotation about a point and a slab that oscillates. The lack of a single well defined flow centre for all three drifter trajectories was sufficient to ensure the HS method gave meaningless DKP that had large intermittent fluctuations. Nevertheless, given trajectories near a well-defined flow field singularity, we can be assured that both the HS and OK method can be used to obtain the position, velocity and SKP of the singularity. Depending upon the separation scales of the drifters, the HS method can be much less or more sensitive to noise than the OK method.


The article discusses the relationship between media, politics and advertisingin the magazine Caros Amigos between 1997 and 2006. It studies on the weight of the Partido dos Trabalhadores in the funding of the publication and the charges made againstthe magazine's publishers due to this fact. Key words: Caros Amigos, Partido dos Trabalhadores.


The development of laser systems capable of delivering laser pulses lasting merely 15 2 hundreds of femtoseconds, yet having peak intensities exceeding 10 W/cm , has opened new avenues for laboratory studies of the equation of state and transport properties of hot, dense, plasmas in the strongly coupled regime. As the new experiments began to yield data, there arose a need for new methods to interpret their results and to design new experiments. This thesis addresses such needs through numerical modelling of femtosecond lasermatter interactions. Moreover, this thesis shows how numerical modelling is not only indispensable for modelling most femtosecond laser-matter experiments but also a guide to bring greater depth and breadth to our understanding of femtosecond laser-matter interactions. Finally, as the continued development of laser technology may reduce the durations of intense laser pulses to tens of femtoseconds, a new class of experiments offering the possibility of measuring the transport and equation of state properties of extremely well-defined, soliddensity, strongly coupled plasmas can be realized.


The performance of a coherent communication system using direct-sequence spread-spectrum in specular multipath fading is analyzed in terms of average probability of error. Approximations to such are based on the characteristic-function method. The probability mass function of the correlation receiver output is also derived with this approach. Numerical results on the error probability are presented for various multipath environments with channel coding.<<ETX>>


Eyelid eversion is a common procedure carried out during ophthalmic examination. It is part of the routine examination of patients attending with a foreign body sensation or a 'lost' contact lens and is a vital part of eye irrigation. Ophthalmic practitioners should be confident that they can carry out this procedure safely and easily.


While shared access to common pool CI resources is requisite for high-performance collaboration, it does not ensure shared and transparent knowledge production in the scientific problem solving process. Participatory, structured analytic-deliberation is key to deepening shared understanding, particularly as problem complexity increases, and should be integrated with analysis tools. The Structured Participation Toolkit (SPT) enables structured participation methods to be seamlessly integrated into analytical environments, such as Science Gateways, to support large-scale, asynchronous participation; structured analytic-deliberation; consensus-building and decision-making; as well as to provide an open, transparent decision repository and participation metrics.


In June 1987, the Center acquired the valuable Beethoven collection of William S. Newman (b. 1912), musicologist and emeritus professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (The University of North Carolina received the balance of his large library.) The Center's part of the Newman collection, purchased with funds made available from the American Beethoven Society and President Gail Fullerton of San Jose State University, includes books; facsimiles of autographs, related manuscripts, and original as well as early editions; nineteenth- and twentieth-century scores that include Newman's fingerings and performance markings; and considerable correspondence with other Beethoven scholars and performers. Newman's very active career has embraced not only his contributions to musicology (among them a term as the American Musicological Society's president in 1969-70), but also extensive performance in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and a considerable interest in composition. He received his Ph.D. from Western Reserve University in Cleveland, followed by post- doctoral studies with Paul Henry Lang and Erich Hertzmann at Columbia University. He began teaching at Chapel Hill in 1945, became an Alumni Distinguished Professor of Music in 1962, and retired in 1977. In his last main recital (1970), he performed with three other faculty members in a series of Beethoven's complete piano sonatas presented in eight programs. Among Newman's publications are the three volumes in his well-known History of the Sonata Idea [no. 2 in the list below of his publications related to Beethoven]. His interest in the history of the sonata is also apparent in his editions of early sonatas [nos. 1 and 3 below] and numerous lecture-recitals. His longtime interest in performance practices turned to Beethoven in 1971 with the appearance of his little introductory book, Performance Practices in Beethoven 's Sonatas [no. 4]. That book has been entirely superseded by Newman's full study, Beethoven on Beethoven - Playing His Piano Music His Way, which is due to appear soon. Much of the collection that the Center acquired was developed as source materials for these last two books. Among the items in that collection are thirty-one facsimiles of Beethoven manuscripts, largely obtained from the main Beethoven collections in this country and abroad, and from private collections. Certain manuscripts have rarely been seen, such as the autograph of the Sonata in E minor, Opus 90, owned privately, or the copy of the Sonata in A-flat major, Opus 110, with Beethoven's corrections. The latter, proudly cherished by Brahms, was rediscovered in the early 1970s by the late Christa Landon in Vienna. Most recently added by Newman was a facsimile of the great "Archduke Trio," Opus 97, taken from its autograph recently discovered in the archives of the Bibliotekajagiellonska in Poland. Newman's facsimile of the corrected version of the "Diabelli Variations," Opus 120, was intended for a London publication that never appeared. Understandably, the largest number of sources represented (for the earliest printed editions as well as the manuscripts) are those for the Grande Sonate pathetique, Opus 13; the "Moonlight" Sonata, Opus 27, no. 2; and the last three sonatas, Opuses 109,110, and 111. A summary list of manuscripts and earliest printed editions in his collection is appended below. The Newman collection also includes microfilms of most of the manuscript and printed scores. There are 110 facsimiles of the earliest editions, some of which are not listed in the Kinsky-Halm thematic catalog or its supplement by Dorfmuller. Other editions help to fill gaps in complicated publication histories of the sonatas. For example, the Sonatas, Opus 31, nos. 1-2, were first published by Nageli in 1803, but Opus 31, no. 3, did not appear until the next year, when it was printed with a reprint of Eder's early edition of Opus 13. For an edition of Opus 31, no. …


Qinghai spring broad bean (Vicia faba L.) is famous for high-yield, good quality and high commodity rate. The dynamics of population development by means of stattistical data of culture technique was analyzed to provide with basis for higher yield and quality of broad bean.


Over the last decades, with increasing energy demand along with the shift towards greener energy solutions, Li-ion batteries have gained attraction for energy storage applications. [1] Due to the high complexity in the hierarchical architecture of composite electrodes, it is extremely challenging to ensure a homogenous electrode structure. The non-uniform distribution of phases, leading to microstructural heterogeneities, has been shown to induce a non-uniform electrochemical behavior, which can deteriorate the performance, and cause macroscopic failures. [2,3] Therefore, the identification of these microstructural heterogeneities and understanding their effects on the dynamics of (de)lithiation is crucial to improve electrode design.


BACKGROUND
Symptomatic but unruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a potentially fatal disease since its etiopathogenesis, involving acute changes in the aortic wall, including inflammation, increasing the probability of impending rupture. The objective of the present study was to assess the prognostic value of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the plateletto-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients undergoing urgent symptomatic AAA repair.

METHODS
This was a retrospective study including 29 patients with symptomatic AAA repaired between 2011 and 2020. Both NLR and PLR were calculated on hospital admission prior to the intervention. The primary endpoint was in-hospital mortality, and the secondary endpoint included length of hospital stay and postoperative complications.

RESULTS
In-hospital mortality rate was 10.3%. The discriminatory performance to predict the primary endpoint was very good both for PLR [area under the ROC curve (AUC): 0.92 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.82-1.00; p=0.02] and NLR [AUC: 0.88 (95% CI: 0.75-1.00); p=0.04]. The best cutoff point to predict in-hospital mortality was 185 for PLR (100% sensitivity and 85% specificity) and 6.4 for NLR (100% sensitivity and 77% specificity). The most frequent postoperative complication was acute kidney failure (37.9%). Both elevated PLR as NLR were significantly associated with acute kidney failure and multiorgan failure in the immediate postoperative period (p <0.01). None of the two ratios was associated with length of hospital stay (p=NS).

CONCLUSIONS
Both PLR and NLR are low-cost inflammatory markers widely available in every emergency department, with excellent performance to predict in-hospital mortality in patients undergoing symptomatic AAA repair. Patients with a PLR ≥185 and/or an NLR ≥6.4 could benefit from a "surveyed waiting conduct" improving the preoperative clinical condition prior to the intervention, or even considering endovascular repair.


An efficient technique for representing a grey-scale image with a collection of connected triangular planar patches is investigated. The patches are planar in the three-dimensional space described by the plane of the image and using the intensity as the third dimension. In this way, the image can be thought of geometrically as a surface. The patches are fitted to this surface by application of the local adjustment technique.<<ETX>>


The theories of art and the mind which Poe advances systematically in his criticism and elaborates into the cosmology of Eureka are also expressed in his literary works on all levels of theme and form, including recurrent actions, symbols, settings, patterns of characterization, and narrative stances. Despite his separation of beauty from truth and duty, and of the imaginative faculty from reason and conscience, Poe's aesthetic is a self-contained metaphysics and ethics. Unity, the essential condition and supreme value of art, is the condition likewise of death, as pursued by Poe's fictional characters through destructive acts which are vicariously and finally suicidal. Often literally artists or connoisseurs, these protagonists are motivated by a "perversity" indistinguishable in its goals and techniques from those of the divinely inspired imagination. In killing others, they impose unity upon the diverse and particular, assimilating into themselves identities which were tangible reflections of their own beings, and were, so to speak, imperfect art objects. When the hero is victim rather than aggressor, his passage into unconsciousness or mystic awareness is again governed by his longing for unity and attended by aesthetic insight. The relationship in Poe's essays between artist and critic illuminates the ratiocinative tales. Here, the detective's solutions arise from imaginative identification with the criminal and internal enactment of his deed. Obedient to the same intuitive forces, the critic-detective and the creator-criminal display a kinship which conforms to the doubling of aggressive and passive figures in the tales of terror. Life, in Poe's value system, is inimical to an aesthetic bliss; and the didactic implications of his poetry and fiction are reversals of conventional humanistic judgments.


This article presents a brief review of preclinical in vivo cell‐tracking methods and applications using perfluorocarbon (PFC) probes and fluorine‐19 (19F) MRI detection. Detection of the 19F signal offers high cell specificity and quantification ability in spin density‐weighted MR images. We discuss the compositions of matter, methods and applications of PFC‐based cell tracking using ex vivo and in situ PFC labeling in preclinical studies of inflammation and cellular therapeutics. We also address the potential applicability of 19F cell tracking to clinical trials. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Based on high-resolution analyses of trace elements of Li, V, Cs, Co, REE(La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Er, Yb) concentrations and ωcs/ωRb in sediments of Qinghai Lake, it can be concluded that the sediments from Qinghai Lake have very similar REE distribution patterns, which are moderately rich in light rare earth element(LREE). Indicating that the sediments at different depths have the same (or the similar) source supply and formation process. Trace elements content of lake core are changed with environmental change. There is a well positive correlation between Σ contents and ωcs/ωRb which has obviously environmental significance for indicating climatic and environmental changes. Σ, Li, V, Cs, Co concentrations and ωcs/ωRb are all relatively high, This indicates the warm and humid climate, while the lower contents of chemical elements are corresponded with the cold and arid climate condition. The characteristic of climatic and environmental change was the replacement between cold-arid and warm-humid in recent 8500 years, the sudden change of elemental contents was in accordance with the transformation of climate. Therefore, Σ in sediments of Qinghai Lake is an effective indicator to reflect the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental variation in the high-cold semi-arid areas.


In 1S1R (one-selector one-resistor) crosspoint memory arrays, a nonlinear selector device is connected in series with each memory element to address the inherent sneak current paths problem. It is crucial that the selector device achieves voltage compatibility with the memory element for acceptable write and read performance of the array. We present a study on the relationship between the switching voltage of the memory element, Vsw and the threshold voltage of the selector device, Vth that must be met for voltage compatibility. The study also takes into account parameter variations induced by the fabrication process. Using mathematical models and circuit simulations, we demonstrate that the write and read requirements, set the maximum and the minimum allowed values, respectively, of Vsw/Vth, which determines the design space for 1S1R crosspoint memory array design.


Background Ultrasound (US) guidance for central venous catheter (CVC) placement is considered gold standard in localization and cannulation, making the procedure safer with less complications. Objective To compare the short-axis/out-of-plane (SAX) with the long-axis/in-plane (LAX) technique for US-guided CVC insertion in internal jugular vein in intensive care practice regarding safety and efficacy. Patients and methods A prospective randomized trial was conducted in Zagazig University Hospitals, from October 2017 to October 2018. All were randomized into one of two groups according to US guidance technique: SAX technique (group S), including 116 patients, and the LAX technique (group L), including 116 patients, for US-guided CVC insertion in internal jugular vein. The primary outcome was first-attempt success rate of both the SAX and LAX approaches for US-guided vascular catheterization. The secondary outcomes were total success rate, which was defined as successful venous cannulation without complication; cannulation times calculated in seconds; the number of attempts; and complications (hematoma and arterial puncture). Results US-guided venous cannulation was successful without complications in 115 (99.14%) patients. Venous access time, catheterization time, and US imaging time were significantly lower in the group S than in the group L (P<0.05). Complications in both groups had no significant difference. Hematoma formation was evident in one patient in group L. Multiple puncture was more in LAX group, with no significant difference.


A system dynamic model was set up for the study of China's total amount of coal production and consumption,the model overpassed various test and was simulated.The paper set up different situations for simulating calculation,get important conclusions for the analysis of the simulation results,at last put forward relevant measures and developing goal.


In this paper, we evaluate how the performance of a wearable context recognition system is affected by the sampling frequency and the resolution of the sensor signals used for the classification. We introduce our method for this evaluation and present the results for a widely studied activity recognition task: the classification of human modes of locomotion using body-worn acceleration sensors. With this example we show that both the sampling frequency and the resolution can be significantly reduced without much impact on the recognition performance. While many of the published approaches in this domain rely on higher sampling frequencies and signal resolutions, we show that good recognition performance can already be achieved with 20 Hz and 2 bit resolution.


The present paper briefly described the refining process and metallurgical results of 80t LF in the Steel-making Plant of CISCO, including flow of bottom stirring, hot metal reheating, development and application of refining slag and control of inclusions in steel.


Water-Soluble Chitosan (WSC) was synthesized from squid pens waste by optimization temperature and time of deacetylation process from chitin to become chitosan. Chitin isolated from squid pens waste had been recovered using demineralization and deproteinization methods. HCl 7% was used for demineralization process and NaOH 10% at 60°C was used for deproteinization process. Deacetylation process has been made by NaOH 50% solution for 10 hours on temperature variation 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100°C. Afterwards for time variation on 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 hour using the optimized temperature. WSC has been synthesized by shortening polymer chain of chitosan using H2O2 30%. The synthesis result was then characterized by FTIR. The result of squid chitin yield showed at 33.9%. The optimum temperature and time of chitosan deacetylation occurred at 90°C for 8 hours as indicated by the value degree of deacetylation (DD) in equal to 83.94% and 82.22%. The percentage of WSC yield at an optimized temperature (90°C) was 27.59 % and at optimized time (8 hours) was 23,16%. WSC solubility test has been done in water and HCl 0,1 N. In addition, optimum chitosan products were insoluble on water and HCl 0,1 N.


Defining social capital in terms of the information benefits available to a firm due to its strategic alliances we present a theory of social capital that conceptualizes it as a multidimensional construct. We draw from the literature to argue that social capital yields three distinctly different kinds of information benefits in the form of information volume, information diversity, and information richness. This extends current theoretical and empirical research by specifying and empirically demonstrating three interrelated yet distinct dimensions of social capital. Firms vary in their levels of social capital not just on their structural position in an alliance network but also in the dynamics that underlie alliance formation and maintenance. More importantly, the different dimensions of social capital theoretically provide differential benefits. We establish the construct validity of our proposed three-dimensional conceptualization of social capital using longitudinal data on the population of strategic alliances formed during the period 1980–94 by firms in the global steel industry. In addition, we establish predictive validity by demonstrating that the information dimensions have differential effects on firm performance, using firm nationality as a contingency. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In this paper, three similarity solutions of a mathematical model for the gravitational waves of the Milne expanding empty spacetime, namely, the Gordon-type equation of the Milne metric will be determined. This equation is a linear second-order partial differential equation, dependent on a functional parameter. Formerly, some Lie reductions of the equation have been found, only for the special cases of its parameter. In this work, by applying a symmetry method for the Gordon-type equation, its new Lie reductions will be found, in the general form of the parameter. Then, its three similarity solutions will be presented.


Fatigue is a particular situation accompanied by a drop in efficiency and durability of work. Fatigue showed differences in physical and mental, but all the result caused decrease of power and reduction body's resistance to work. In the apron area, the intensity of noise is quite high due to several types of work that cause noise. Workers will feel fatigue if they are exposed to the noise. In addition, age factors, workload, length of work and years of service are some of the causes of work fatigue in apron workers. This study aims to determine the relationship of age, workload, and length of work, work period, and noise intensity with the fatigue of Apron Section workers at Sultan Hasanuddin Airport, Makassar. It uses observational analytic research with a cross sectional study approach. The data collection was conducted in against 71 workers as a sample of 242 populations taken using the proportionate random sampling technique. Work fatigue data is taken by using measurement of reaction timer, measurement of pulse, measurement of noise intensity, data on age, length of work and length of service with the questionnaire. The data analysis was univariate and bivariate with chi square test. The results showed that workers who experienced work fatigue were 48 people (67, 6%) and workers who did not experience work fatigue were 23 people (32, 4%).
 The statistical test results show that there is a relationship between age (p=0,001) (p˂0, 05), workload (p=0,001) (p˂0, 05), length of work (p=0,001) (p˂0, 05), work period (p=0,001) (p˂0, 05) and noise intensity (p=0,017) (p˂0, 05) with fatigue of Apron Section workers at  Sultan Hasanuddin Airport Makassar. The company is advised that the length of work of the workers is according to established standards and to workers to use the Personal Protective Equipment (earplug) provided by the company.


s India Review Still Under Nehru's Shadow? The Absence of Foreign Policy Frameworks in India By Pratap Bhanu Mehta This article is a reflection on three main themes. First, it argues that there is no single template which gives direction to Indian Foreign Policy Making. The usual motivations that drive big powers: balance of power or ideological motives have a weak foothold in Indian Foreign Policy thinking. Second, India has limited instruments to secure its foreign policy goals. It is reluctant to use force as an instrument, and its culture of diplomatic bargaining rests more on a sense of entitlement than hard bargaining. Third, India is likely to remain a very cautious power, more defensive and reactive than agenda setting. Its power is likely to be the power of its example. Despite some significant changes in its policies, there is also an underlying continuity to its foreign policy. This is best described as an attempt to secure great power agreement. India's Soft Power and Vulnerability By Jacques E. C. Hymans This article examines the evolution of India's soft power vis-à-vis the global hegemons Great Britain and the United States from the nineteenth century up to the present day. Soft power is an important element of national power, and thanks to its new international orientation, today's India has more soft power than it did twenty years ago. However, the long-term historical perspective taken in this article underscores the limited extent and questionable durability of India's recent soft power attainments. The article also uses the Indian case to clarify and to complicate our understanding of the general concept of soft power, as well as its flip side of soft vulnerability. The Influence of Business and Media on Indian Foreign Policy By Sanjaya Baru India's economic globalization and the rise of the globalized professional middle class have raised the profile of business and media in Indian foreign policy making. International trade and capital flows, as well as the economic importance of Indian migrants abroad have


A novel cocrystallization form of amantadine hydrochloride (AMNH) with sulfathiazole (SUZ), as the first example of dual-drug cocrystal simultaneously containing antiviral drug and antibacterial ag...


ABSTRACT Three new species of the family Gnaphosidae are diagnosed and illustrated: Hitobia procula sp. nov. (only male), Synaphosus iunctus sp. nov. (only female) and Urozelotes patulusus sp. nov. (both male and female). The genera Hitobia and Synaphosus are recorded for the first time from India. www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B0090C55-5C3A-4D8A-A543-EFE945F09332


Cancers of the digestive system account for a large portion of malignant tumors in humans,and the trend is on the rise.The formation of neovascularization is the dominant factor in the metastasis of tumors.The vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) is well documented as the most potent inducer of angiogenesis.It promotes the formation of new blood vessels in several aspects,such as proliferation of endothelial cells,endothelial cell migration and increased vascular permeability.So VEGF is regarded as an important factor in the development of digestive system tumors.The purpose of this review is to investigate the relationship between VEGF and digestive system tumors.


The present study is aimed to analyze the effect of process parameters on the qualities of the Friction Stir Welded AZ31B Mg Alloy. Response Surface Methodology based Grey Relation Analysis technique was used to multi-optimization of the response parameters such as tensile strength (TS), percentage elongation (El), microhardness (MH), and impact strength (IMP). The mathematical models for response parameters were developed by considering tool rotational speed (RS), tool shoulder diameter (SD), and welding speed (WS) as process parameters. ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) was performed to check the adequacy of the formulated mathematical model and figure out the significant parameters. The results revealed that RS of 950 rpm, WS of 150 mm/min, and SD of 11 mm are the optimal process parameters for optimum response parameters (TS of 157.8700 MPa, IMP of 4.3001 Joule, MH of 84.1335 Hv, and El of 10.0071%). WS is the most significant factor, followed by RS and SD. The grain growth was observed in thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ). The fracture analysis indicated that crack had initiated from the bottom of the centerline in the welded zone and propagated towards the advancing side.


Nucleoproteic agglutinogen (NPA), Lancefield's "M," and their proteic components have been spread in thin films on 0.01 M buffer solutions. The process of spreading resembles that observed with globular proteins, in that the films are characterized by their extreme insolubility. The resemblance extends also to the fact that for each of these substances a series of films, graded with respect to their mechanical properties, can be prepared by suitable choice of conditions. The possibility of such a gradation in properties, referred to as the transition between "completely" and "incompletely" spread films, is of significance in connection with observations of the serological properties of these films. The force-area-curves of films of "M" show at certain pH values a characteristic inflection not encountered in films of other proteins. The inflection tends to become less pronounced upon repeated compression and can be removed by spreading upon solutions of high electrolyte-content. Characteristic quantitative differences in the force-area-curves for films of NPA and M with pH, together with differences in other mechanical properties, appear to indicate that M is chemically distinct from NPA, and that the major difference resides in the proteic components. The nucleic acid present in varying degree in these substances has only a minor influence on the properties of the films.


Motor Control may not be as trendy as say IoT, but it cannot be denied that the application areas of late have been much more interesting. The growing popularity of drones, electric vehicles such as the Tesla, mobility vehicles like electric bikes or the allure of hover-boards have seen an explosion of electric motors. But changes are also happening in the more traditional industrial sector of motor and servo drives. The demand for cost and energy efficiency is driving the need for new system topologies and greater integration levels. Devices now have to integrate communications with traditional control. Integrated Safety and Security are now part of the mix. The Motor Control device of today is vastly different then 10+ years ago and the challenges are much greater, requiring a broader set of design skills.


Dear Editor, We have read with interest the letter written by Dr. Kahn and colleagues,1 who suggest that IdeS (imlifidase), a bacterial protease that cleaves IgG and strongly inhibits the interaction of pathogenic IgG antibodies with FcγRIIa receptors and the resulting clinical consequences, could be used to treat patients severely affected by vaccineinduced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT). This interesting proposal is actually not original, as we published a short report a few weeks ago in the New England Journal of Medicine (not cited in the Kahn et al. letter) demonstrating that rapid tests used for the diagnosis of heparininduced thrombocytopenia (HIT) were ineffective in detecting antiplatelet factor 4 (PF4) antibodies in patients with VITT.2 More importantly, using a serotonin release assay sensitized with PF4, we also showed that IdeS completely inhibited the strong platelet activation induced by several VITT samples. Because intravenous immunoglobulins may be inappropriate to treat severe cerebral venous thrombosis with intracranial hypertension, we therefore emphasized that IdeS may be an effective alternative treatment in VITT but should be evaluated in this particularly severe condition. This effectiveness of IdeS in suppressing the pathogenic effect of VITT antibodies in vitro was not surprising to us, as we had previously shown that IdeS cleavage of antiPF4/H IgG associated with HIT also completely abolished heparindependent cellular activation.3 Furthermore, IdeS prevents antiPF4/heparin HIT antibodyinduced thrombocytopenia and hypercoagulability in transgenic mice expressing human PF4 and FcγRIIA receptors. Therefore, we also proposed that IdeS injection could be a potential treatment for patients with severe HIT. In VITT and HIT, IdeS should be effective within minutes of intravenous injection, but almost all IgG will also be cleaved and nonfunctional, which could expose treated patients at increased risk for bacterial infections. Therefore, an infusion of polyclonal IgG will be required early on to restore normal IgG levels in all IdeStreated patients. Importantly, this protease does not appear to affect blood coagulation, with no impact on thrombin generation, as assessed in our mouse model, and should not increase thrombotic risk, which is particularly high in VITT patients. In conclusion, our data obtained with pathogenic antiPF4 antibodies strongly support the proposal that IdeS can be used as an emergency treatment in the most severely affected VITT patients.


[Objective]To get an insight into the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of hand,foot and mouth disease in Zhabei district.[Methods]From June to December in 2009,patients with hand,food and mouth disease were retrospectively investigated for epidemiological characteristics and clinical features.[Results]Of all the patients,the male patients were more than the female ones;Most of the HFMD occurred to infants aged from l year to 5 years in nurseries or at home;The prevalent peak was from June to July;CoxA16 and EV71 were the primary causes of HFMD during the epidemic in Zhabei.[Conclusion]The early discovered of HFMD can significantly reduce or even suppress the prevalence and the occurrence of severe and deaths.