Seventeen eunicid species from the Grand Caribbean region are characterized, including the description of a new species; fifteen species were collected from Mexican Caribbean coaslS; a review of type materials for other six species is also included.


The display of the sectional images of the object in a modified trigun shadow mask picture tube and in modified Forgue's picture tube are described. Volumetric display of images in three picture tubes and in large screen laser scan display medium are analysed. Further, the volumetric display of sectional images in gas discharge display metrices and LED metrics are examined for faithful reconstruction of 3D images. Also, a direct eye contact viewing system for stereographic vision is illustrated. An autostereoscopic method of displaying images in a LED based lenticular lens screen is also analysed.


The role, principle and characteristics of the rubber chain attached board used in steel wire knitting machine were analyzed in this paper. A new kind of attached board with reasonable structure was designed through comparison of several design schemes. Eventually, through finite element analysis and size optimization design based on Workbench, the structure size of attached board was optimized and the whole strain, the maximum equivalent stress and the minimum safety factor were calculated. At the same time, new design ideas are also provided for the development of steel wire knitting machine to save materials and reduce cost.


A Monte Carlo program is presented for the computation of the most general cross section for two-photon production in e+e- collisions at fixed two-photon invariant mass W. Functions implemented for the five gamma* gamma* structure functions include three models of the total hadronic cross section and the lepton-pair production cross section. Prospects of a structure-function determination through a study of the azimuthal dependence between the two scattering planes are outlined. All dependences on the electron mass and the photon virtualities Q_i^2 are fully kept. Special emphasis is put on a numerically stable evaluation of all variables over the full Q_i^2 range from Q_{i\min}^2 \sim m_e^2 (W/\sqrt{s})^4 \ll m_e^2 up to Q_{i\max}^2 \sim s. A comparison is made with an existing Monte Carlo program for lepton-pair production and an equivalent-photon approximation for hadronic cross sections.


Although inspiratory muscle training (IMT) is effective in improving inspiratory muscle strength, endurance, and physical activity in individuals with COPD; training-adherence remains a challenge. The participants9 inability to maintain effective training levels is well-known in pulmonary rehabilitation. In order to optimise home-based IMT, it is paramount to gain knowledge about the participants9 experiences with home-based training. This knowledge may contribute to development of home-based IMT interventions. This study aims to explore experiences of training-adherence in a 12 weeks home-based IMT program for individuals with COPD. We used a grounded theory design, in which data collection and a constant comparative analysis were conducted in a concurrent process till theoretical saturation was reached. Thirty-six individuals with COPD were recruited from a pulmonary rehabilitation program. Data were collected by semi-structured face-to-face and telephone interviews with participants after completion of the 12 weeks IMT program. Maintaining self-esteem resulted from the participants9 behavioural patterns, through which they resolved their main concern: avoiding to disappoint themselves through three changeable behavioural modes: the Regretting Mode, referring to discouraging, denying, and renouncing behaviour; the Misgiving Mode, referring to respecting, reserving, and extenuating behaviour; and the Involving Mode, including determining, committing, and accepting behaviour. The Theory of Maintaining Self-esteem provides knowledge of participant9s variation in their need for professional support, and should be targeted specifically at participants in the Misgiving Mode.


Introduction Despite the abundant literature about health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and the scarcity of published literature in KSA, this is the first study to assess the 6-min walk test, sputum examination, and tuberculin test for patients with PTB in correlation with HRQOL domains. Patients and methods The study aimed to measure HRQOL among patients with PTB and to identify the demographic and the clinical factors that may affect HRQOL. A cross-sectional study using the WHO-BREF 26-item questionnaire was carried out on 114 patients with PTB at a secondary hospital in Jazan from September 2018 to September 2019. Results There was a significant association between the overall perception of health and health status of patients. The social domain had the lowest scores, followed by the environmental, psychological, and lastly, the physical domains. The influence of comorbidities has a significant correlation with the environmental and social domains for HRQOL in patients with PTB. A significant correlation was found between the 6-min walk test and physical and psychological domains. However, sputum smear examination and tuberculin test did not significantly relate to HRQOL domains. Conclusion A decrease of the four domains in the assessment of the HRQOL in PTB has been noted in relation to some demographic and clinical factors.


The study of the way of life of the common people and their popular expressions is a recent science. At the beginning of this century some of the egyptian scholars and men-of-letters consecrated their labours to recuperate their own cultural legacy. Ahmad Taymur figures between them. Many of his scientific works are devoted to the study of the literature and the modern Arabic dialect of Egypt, making an special reference to the proverbial sayings.


Cultural heritage is the most important bridge of mankind, between past and future which has an enlightening attribute on a society's development and perspective. As long as their values are appreciated, they will continue living as a guide and inspirational resources. Anatolia is one of the leading regions for cultural heritage. Due to its location, many civilizations used it as a homeland and hosted many cultural heritage. However, necessary precautions are not taken for protecting the cultural heritage which is becoming obsolete and worn out day by day. For its protection, restoration is needed and in order to carry the cultural heritage to the future and documentation is needed with modern advanced documentation techniques. The greatest advantage of the recent technological developments enables us to prepare the most precise and accurate documentation. Precise and accurate documentation is not only important for carrying the cultural heritage and historical structures to the future, but also important for evaluating the structures and bring functionality. In this study, the benefits of process for digitizing 3D documentation with laser scanner tools have been discussed for the conservative architecture. Within this context, the sample architectural documentation has been taken from the county of Sivrihisar, which is located in the city of Eskisehir. Today, this sample 'Armenian Bath' is out of use and it was built between 1867 and 1868 by Armenians. At the end of the study, an accurate and precise structured 3D model has been provided.


Direct torque control (DTC) suffers from flux droop owing to the long zero-voltage vectors at low motor speeds. Previous studies were able to attain flux regulation by imposing the continuous switching of forward and reverse active-voltage vectors by causing torque overshoots in the torque hysteresis bands (THBs). This led to an excessive increase in the switching frequency and larger torque and current ripples, thus reducing the drive efficiency. In this paper, a modified flux regulation method is proposed for the classical DTC using a single THB when flux droop occurs in a low-rotor-speed range. The proposed method can protect the DTC from flux droops at low speeds by reducing the duration of zero-voltage vectors and minimizing the number of reverse-voltage vectors. In addition, the proposed strategy is efficient in reducing torque and current ripples while operating at low motor speeds. Furthermore, a significant reduction in the switching frequency is obtained. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy is confirmed by simulation and experimental results.


L'argent du roi: les finances sous François Ier. By Philippe Hamon. Paris: Comité pour l'histoire économique et financière, Ministère de l'Economie, 1994. Pp. xliii+609. ISBN 2-11-087648-4. 249F. The king's army: warfare, soldiers, and society during the wars of religion in France, 1562–1576. By James B. Wood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Pp. xvi+349. ISBN 0-521-55003-3. £45.00. One king, one faith: the parlement of Paris and the religious reformations of the sixteenth century. By Nancy Lyman Roelker. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 1996. Pp. xiii+543. ISBN 0-520-08626-0. £50.00. A city in conflict: Troyes during the French wars of religion. By Penny Roberts. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996. Pp. xi+228. ISBN 0-7190-4694-7. £40.00. The birth of absolutism: a history of France, 1598–1661. By Yves-Marie Bercé, translated by Richard Rex. Basingstoke and London: Macmillan Press, 1996. Pp. viii+262. ISBN 0-333-62757-1. £15.50. The French sixteenth century has always posed serious difficulties for historians. It was a time of rapid change and, in its later decades, of massive disorder, so that there are many large and complex issues to unravel. The need for close analysis as an antidote to over-hasty generalizations is obvious, yet on many issues the archives are frustratingly scanty or even non-existent. A group of recent books tackles these problems with considerable ingenuity and a fair degree of success, even if some of the gaps in the evidence inevitably defy the authors' best efforts.


This paper reports the levitation of micro-organisms in the sheath of radio-frequency (RF) plasma. Based on simple force-balance calculations, the required electric field for the levitation of micro-organisms has been estimated. It is predicted that micro-organisms could levitate at the periphery of the sheath. Experimental results demonstrate the levitation of two species of bacillus micro-organisms Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Klebsiella pneumoniae in an RF plasma. The almost monodiverse Klebsiella pneumoniae levitating in the RF plasma formed an ordered state similar to a 2-D Coulomb crystal. Diverse E. coli particles demonstrate the tendency that the levitating height of micro-organisms decreases as the radius of particles increases. Levitating micro-organisms in plasmas can be referred as dusty plasmas.


A mild and highly α-selective glycosylation of several glycosyl acceptors was performed with an in situ formed glycosyl donor, benzyl-protected glycosyl methyldiphenylphosphonium iodide, to afford the corresponding α-disaccharides in high yields in CH2Cl2 at room temperature without any assistance of acid promoters.


The meteorological content of ERTS images, particularly mesoscale effects of the Great Lakes and air pollution dispersion is summarized. Summertime lake breeze frontal clouds and various winter lake-effect convection patterns and snow squalls are revealed in great detail. A clear-cut spiral vortex over southern Lake Michigan is related to a record early snow storm in the Chicago area. Marked cloud changes induced by orographic and frictional effects on Lake Michigan's lee shore snow squalls are seen. The most important finding, however, is a clear-cut example of alterations in cumulus convection by anthropogenic condensation and/or ice nuclei from northern Indiana steel mills during a snow squall situation. Jet aircraft condensation trails are also found with surprising frequency.


When the disturbances in regression models do not have normal distributions, the usual F-test for coincidence of regressions is not appropriate. We propose a simple robust test for coincidence of regressions and by means of a simulation study compare its performance with that of the usual F-test for models with errors having distributions from the family of symmetric stable distributions.


The essential purpose that channels this paper is to look deep into hermeneutics of the current state of education and propose a possible way to reverse the paradigmatic crisis in which it is bound.


In this paper optimal control design is used to build a controller and various design methods is discussed for disturbance rejection in industrial control. ESO minimizes the disturbance from the system and estimates the unknown states and the system becomes stable. An observer FSFESO is introduced to observe the unknown states along with minimization of a scalar disturbance. The performance and robustness is discussed here for various control system problems from industry or laboratory. In the nonlinear MIMO system disturbance rejection is very complicated due to the high nonlinearity of the model. Here in this paper 2-DOF Helicopter by $\mathrm {M}/\mathrm {s}$. QUANSER Innovate Educate is used as a plant. The coupling effect of the model is very strong in both the inputs i.e pitch and yaw angle. If a disturbance signal is given to the pitch angle input a higher disturbance will be generated in the yaw angle of output, due to the coupling of the model. The systems stability is very sensitive and to control such type of system is a big challenge, however one extended state type observer controller is proposed for the stable output of the system using optimal control method.


Tom Boyle of British Telecom describes our current era as the "age of interdependence;" former U.S. President Bill Clinton asked the question in his 2002 Los Angeles Times editorial, "will interdependence be good or bad for humanity?"; a popular business advertisement states "Collaborate or Die!;" and The World is Flat author Tom Friedman argues that we have to move to a more horizontal – connect and collaborate – value-creation model. If, as these pundits claim, interdependence is the current coin of the realm, then what can we do to help prepare students for an interdependent world? What are the skills and competencies that students need and how can we ensure that they gain these skills and competencies? Several studies and initiatives – AAC&U College Learning for the New Global Century, Boeing and RPI's The Global Engineer, NAE's Engineer of 2020, and many others – have begun to articulate the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind that are needed. The question posed in this chapter is "What roles can cooperation and social interdependence theory play in informing the design and practice of preparing graduates for living and working in an interdependent world?" The examples will come predominantly from engineering, the discipline with which I am most familiar. Cooperative learning and its underlying theoretical framework, social interdependence theory, have been systematically studied in higher education for over 50 years. In engineering, for example, the first study was conducted at MIT in 1948. Engineering faculty began embracing cooperative learning shortly after it was introduced in engineering education conferences and journals in 1981 and its use continues to grow. This chapter provides a brief summary of the theory, extensive empirical evidence, and implications for practice of cooperative learning, and hopes to start a dialogue on the question, "How can we prepare students for an interdependent world?"


At present,rock collapse in the construction of double-arch tunnel.Problems of large area crack exist in linings.In this paper author analyses the mechanics of two different construction methods of double-arch tunnel including displacement,force of principal support and safety factor,come to some conclusion,which can provide some reference on construction of double-arch tunnel.


Many different stormwater control measures (SCMs) can be implemented in order to mitigate issues with polluted stormwater flows into receiving water bodies.  The treatment function of  SCMs is comm ...


The phenomenon of addiction to legal and illegal drugs represents a serious social and health problem at a global level. The correct assessment of the severity of the addiction and its consequences is crucial in order to be able to offer suitable therapeutic alternatives adapted to the needs of the patients. In recent decades, numerous diagnostic interviews have been developed to facilitate the detection of substance use disorders, as well as interviews focused on the severity of the addiction which determine the extent of the consequences of drug use. Additionally, generic questionnaires have been created that assess different aspects related to substance use across multiple substances, as well as specific questionnaires focused on particular areas or substances. The evolution of the assessment instruments for adults has been very significant, but tools aimed specifically at adolescents have only appeared relatively recently and their availability, particularly with regard to instruments validated in Spanish, is scarcer. Nevertheless, there is now a wide variety of psychometrically robust instruments available for professionals. The present review firstly analyses the magnitude of the problem of addiction worldwide and in Spain, its impact and social costs, and the background and advances in the assessment of addictions. Finally, we provide a discussion on the most pressing needs and the future lines of development in this field of psychology.


We investigate a modified Anderson model at the large-$N$ limit, where Coulomb interaction is replaced by Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev random interaction. The resistivity of conduction electron $\rho_{c}$ has a minimum value around temperature $\widetilde{T}_{K}$, which is similar to the Kondo system, but the impurity electron's density of state $A_{d}(\omega)$ elucidates no sharp-peak like Kondo resonance around the Fermi surface. The impurity electron's entropy $S_{d}$ and specific heat capacity $C_{\textrm{v}}$ illustrate a crossover from Fermi liquid to the non-Fermi liquid. The system is a non-Fermi liquid at temperature $T^{\star} \widetilde{T}_{K}$. The non-Fermi liquid at intermediate-$T$ regime does not occur in standard Anderson model. With renormalization group analysis, we elucidate a crossover from Fermi liquid to the non-Fermi liquid, coinciding with transport and thermodynamics. The resistivity minimum and the Kondo resonance are two characteristics of Kondo effect. However, the resistivity minimum emerges in our model when the system behaves as a NFL rather than FL, and the impurity electron's density of state without the Kondo resonance.


This article tells the importance of knowing the same and different aspects in cultures of English and Chinese languages.After knowing the cultural background of English and Chinese people can understand the purposes of the authors so that they can use the language correctly and visually.


From January 1984 through December 1989, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) price index for prescription pharmaceuticals grew at 9.09% per year. Using BLS-type Laspeyres index procedures with monthly price and quantity data on all prescription pharmaceuticals sold by four U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers accounting for 24% of industry domestic sales, we find that the four-company index increases at 6.68% per year. When we employ a Divisia price index with smoothed weights incorporating new goods, the index grows 6.03% per year. Why does the BLS index grow 50% more rapidly than the Divisia index? That mystery is the focal point of our article.


Objective To analyze the radioactivity in Rare Earth (RE) enrichment of ion adsorption type RE ores.Methods Using HPGe-gamma spectrometer to analyze the activity ratio of gamma radionuclides in kind of samples,using FJ-2603 low background alpha,beta measurement apparatus to measure their total alpha and total beta activities,and using X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to analyze contents of La_2O_3 and Y_2O_3,respectively.Results HPGe gamma spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy are simple,convenient and non-destructive methods of analyzing radionuclides and La_2O_3,Y_2O_3 in RE enrichment of ion adsorption type RE ores,respectively.Conclusion In this paper,the basic data were provided for radiation protection and treatment of gas,liquid and solid waste in RE production of ion adsorption type RE ores;method and experience were provided for studying ion adsorption type RE ores.


We produce new examples supporting the Mond conjecture which can be stated as follows. The number of parameters needed for a miniversal unfolding of a finitely determined map-germ from n-space to (n + 1)-space is less than (or equal to if the map-germ is weighted homogeneous) the rank of the nth homology group of the image of a stable perturbation of the map-germ. We give examples of finitely determined map-germs of corank 2 from 3-space to 4-space satisfying the conjecture. We introduce a new type of augmentations to generate series of finitely determined map-germs in dimensions (n, n + 1) from a given one in dimensions (n - 1, n). We present more examples in dimensions (4, 5) and (5, 6) based on our examples, and verify the conjecture for them.


Helicobacter pylori‐induced, in vitro stimulation of mononuclear cells was characterized by measuring DNA synthesis response, interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) secretion and the number of immunoglobulin‐secreting cells. The strength of these responses was measured in 51 subjects comprising 36 dyspeptic patients from the Gastroenterological Unit and 15 members of the laboratory staff. Nineteen subjects had antibodies to H. pylori and 32 did not. The responses were compared with respect to H. pylori antibody status. Positive stimulation of DNA synthesis (stimulation index > 2) was obtained in 96% of the subjects, and the bacterium induced IFN‐γ secretion in all of them. The induction of immunoglobulin‐secreting cells revealed B cell in vitro stimulation. The antibody‐positive subjects had a tendency to synthesize less DNA (P not significant) and secrete less IFN‐γ (P < 0.05) in response to H. pylori than did the antibody‐negative ones, but the differences were not marked. The results show that the whole H. pylori bacterium stimulates mononuclear cells. The nature of the stimulation is not yet characterized (non‐specific versus specific).


Victorian women's autobiography emerged at a historical moment when the field of life writing was particularly rich. Spiritual autobiography was developing interesting variations in the heroic memoirs of pioneering missionary women and in the probing intellectual analyses of Nonconformists, Anglicans, agnostics, and other religious thinkers. The "chroniques scandaleuses" of the 18th century were giving way to the respectable artist's life of the professional Victorian woman. The domestic memoir, a Victorian variation on the family histories of the 17th and 18th centuries, flourished in a culture that celebrated the joys of home, family and private life. Perhaps most importantly, Victorian women writers were experimenting with all these forms in various combinations and permutations. Arguing that women's autobiography does not represent a singular separate tradition but instead embraces multiple lineages, Linda H. Peterson explores the poetics and politics of these diverse forms of life writing. She analyzes the polemical "Autobiography" of Harriet Martineau and "Personal Recollections" of Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna, the missionary memoirs that challenge Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, the romantic autobiographies of the poet and poetess that Barrett Browning reconstructs in "Aurora Leigh", the professional life stories of Margaret Oliphant and her contemporaries, and the Brontean and Eliotian bifurcations of Mary Cholmondeley's memoirs. The desire to know the details of other women's lives - and to use them for one's own purposes - underlies much Victorian women's autobiography, even as it helps to explain our continuing interest in their accounts.


This paper begins by reviewing the historic and current needs and problems associated with connecting theory and practice, and then moves to a brief discussion of current research on quality teaching, and factors that affect learning. An argument is put forward on how we can learn from other disciplines. Next, the case is made for thinking more about moderation and its relationship to standards. The paper concludes with a call for developing better vehicles for communication, a description of some innovative approaches to this issue using ICT, and some ideas on where to next.


There are multiple Multi-Attribute Decision Making methods elaborated for the past years. Those methods are targeted at aggregating assessments provided by the stakeholders of the problematic situation in order to choose the best alternative from the set of given ones. This paper considers ELECTRE, TOPSIS and the Multi-Level Linguistic Decision Making Methodology. In this paper we try to challenge first two methods by comparing it to latter method. One of the biggest challenges of modern Decision Making methods is flexibility to accept not only quantitative assessments but also hybrid ones: qualitative, interval, mixed etc. This brings the necessity for fuzzy computations. Decision Making methods analysis is performed through deep dive in constitution of each method and comparison across the set of elaborated criteria. Key criteria for the Decision Making methods assessment were identified and the comparative analysis on the base of two scenarios of different complexity was elaborated. The conclusion is made that ELECTRE and TOPSIS are well suited for small problems containing only several (less than a dozen) alternatives and criteria while being hardly generalized for the case of poorly structured problems (pollution, hunger, poverty). At the same time, Multi-Level Linguistic Decision Making Methodology excels at analyzing the problem from multiple aspects and considering any number of experts with arbitrary expertise that is beneficial in complex decision making cases.


Objective To explore the clinical application of nerve stimulator guiding bilateral cervical plexus block in endoscopic thyroidectomy.Methods Sixty ASA Ⅰ-Ⅱ patients without any contraindications such as hyperthyroidism,hypertension,cardio-cerebrovascular diseases and scheduled for thyroidectomy of levels were chose.They were randomly divided into two groups;group A received nerve stimulator guiding bilateral cervical plexus block and group B received the conventional cervical plexus anesthesia.The anesthetic effects of the two groups were assessed by using visual analogue scale(VAS).The complications of anesthesia were recorded.Results The difference in VAS scores after anesthesia were significant between the two group.The group A had a better anesthesia effect in cutting skin,isolating the upper pole and isthmus of thyroid gland and sewing skin as compared with the group B;while the group A had a lower incidences of anesthesia complications(P0.01).Conclusion Application of nerve stimulator in cervical plexus block can improve anesthetic effect and safety,reduce anesthesia complications and anesthesia expenses,and can be adapted to the outpatient daytime neck surgery.


Objective: To report a case of iatrogenic leg ulcer after subfascial endoscopic perforator surgery (SEPS). Design: Case report. Setting: Department of Vascular Surgery, Milton Keynes Hospital, a district general hospital. Patient, intervention and results: A 57-year-old woman underwent SEPS for a venous ulcer secondary to an incompetent perforating vein. Post-operatively she developed a new ulcer directly over the site of the divided perforator. The ulcer healed completely with conservative bandaging treatment after 4 months. Conclusion: We describe a complication of SEPS not previously reported. The perforating artery might have been divided inadvertently instead of the perforating vein. It is important to positively identify the perforating vein during SEPS before its division, especially in the presence of mixed arteriovenous disease.


There is a wealth of studies that have examined the way in which prey animals acquire information about their predators, yet the literature on how long prey retain this information is almost non-existent. Here, we investigated if the memory window associated with learned recognition of predators by juvenile rainbow trout was fixed or variable. Specifically, we tested whether the retention of predator recognition was influenced by the risk level associated with the predator. We conditioned juvenile trout to recognize predatory pumpkinseed sunfish posing a high, low or no threat and tested their response to the predator after either 1 or 8 days, and found that trout responded to the odour of the pumpkinseed longer if the risk associated with the predator was higher. We discuss the way in which memory associated with predator risk information provides fundamentally different costs/benefits trade-offs than those associated with foraging.


This project is focused on image fusion of images of di erent focus depth and fusing for super resolution. The aim is to study these concepts and provide simulations and evaluations on various implementations. When performing multi focal fusion the images are decomposed by wavelets to obtain high frequency coe cients which is used to determine which parts of the input images that makes it into the fused image. The same technique is tested on images of di erent modality. Super resolution utilizes measurements of subpixel shifts between several low resolution images of the same scene to create a fused image of higher resolution by interpolation and image enhancement. The thesis describes a modular approach for super resolution where registration, interpolation and blind deconvolution is treated as separate modules. Tests are performed for di erent images, choices of modules and input parameters. List of abbreviations CT Computerized tomography HR High Resolution LR Low Resolution MBD Multiframe Blind Deconvolution MR/MRI Magnetic Resonance (Imaging) PSNR Peak Signal to Noise Ratio, evaluation SNR Signal to Noise Ratio SR Super Resolution


Various diseases including cancer and cardiovascular diseases are induced by free radicals via lipid peroxidation, protein peroxidation, DNA damage, and cellular degeneration in the cells. Piper betle L., commonly called betel, belongs to the Piperaceae family. It originated from South and South East Asia, and has been used as a traditional medicine by people there due to its medicinal properties. In the present study, free radical scavenging activity of ethanolic leaves extract of Piper betle L. together with its different solvent fractions (hexane, ethyl acetate, butanol, and water) were evaluated by DPPH free radical scavenging assay. The ethanolic extract and the ethyl acetate fraction had shown very significant DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl) radical scavenging activity compared to the other fractions. In DPPH free radical scavenging assay, the IC 50 value of the ethanolic extract and the ethyl acetate fraction were found to be 17.43µg/mL and 11.53 µg/mL, respectively. The free radical scavenging activity was assumed due to the total phenolic content. The total phenolic content was found to be highest in the ethanol extract (277.68 μg EGCG/mg) and the ethyl acetate fraction (559.38μg EGCG/mg). The results concluded that the ethanolic leaves extract of Piper betle L. and its ethyl acetate fraction have a considerably free radical scavenging activity. Keywords : Piper betle L., Piperaceae, free radical scavenging, DPPH


We are pleased to respond to the comment by Loranne Agius (1) relating to our recent article in Diabetes Care (2). Overall, we are in agreement with Agius that further well-designed studies are needed to validate the underlying assumptions of the model. For that purpose, we are already performing studies that will help clarify these questions. Nevertheless, a point was raised in Agius's letter that we wanted to comment on further.

As stated by Agius, one possible explanation for the 50% difference in our estimates of glucokinase activity and that of Iozzo et al. (3) may be …


Today, employee retention has become a serious and perplexing problem for all types of organization. The study explores to identify the main factors of retention management strategies in organizations. The data was collected from 100 employees in the organizations. The questionnaire forms the basic source of primary data, while secondary data was collected through books and through online journals, magazines, project report. The data collected was analyzed using ANOVA, Rank correlation, Weighted Average Method, Regression, Chi square and Percentage Analysis to establish relationship between different variables.


Pneumatic motors have many advantages over electric motors, conventionally used for robotics and automation applications. However, the control performance of pneumatic motors is quite unsatisfactory, mainly due to the compressibility of air. We have recently proposed the development of hybrid pneumatic/electric motors where a small electric motor is used in conjunction with vane-type pneumatic motors, so that the hybrid actuator has better damping and ease of control than the pneumatic motor. In the present work, we consider the switching control of the hybrid actuator system, and, propose control algorithms for position, and trajectory control of the system. The performance improvement of the new actuator is illustrated by results of experimental implementation.


Many scientific findings have shown that the effects of pollution on human health are enormous, including higher rates of lung disease, respiratory illnesses and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Hamilton will continue to suffer significantly if fossil fuel emissions are not reduced. This paper investigates how individuals' health has been affected, and how that creates a burden for the health care system in Hamilton. Understanding the main contributors to pollution in Hamilton and possible solutions to improve air quality is of significant importance as it can lead to a better understanding on the Earth's state in the future.


This research aims to determine the effect Gratitude and Anxiety with Spiritual Well-Being to the special needs's parents. The population of special needs increase in the last decade. Research carried out by the quantitative method with 100 subjects. Data analysis was performed using multiple linear regression model where Gratitude and Anxiety as independent variables and Spiritual Well Being (SWB) as the dependent variable. Results of the first study is the correlation coefficient between independent variables and the dependent variable is 0.679. Multiple Linear Regression Model obtained was Y = 23.757 + 0,798X 1 + 0,308X 2 . These results indicate a positive influence between Gratitude and Anxiety to SWB. According to the theory, Anxiety should contribute negatively to SWB. Allegedly this is because the majority of the subjects had State Anxiety, so they can manage and control the emotions that give a positive effect on SWB.


Hyperspectral image is the combination of various spectral bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. As a preprocessing step, speckle in hyperspectral images is removed using log color filter and hybrid median filter. Segmentation is required to extract the variety of crops and mineral ores in filtered hyperspectral images of agricultural lands and mines. The reflectance and wavelength of the different forms of mineral ores present in mineral images are determined to find the extent of distribution of ores in mines. This is determined by identifying the end members and their abundance which is spectral un-mixing.


In this paper, we solve the distributed leader-follower formation stabilization control problem for generic planar underactuated vehicle networks without global position measurements. The vehicles in the network are modeled as generic 3-DOF planar rigid bodies with two control inputs. By incorporating graph theory, passivity-based control, partial stability theory, Matrosov's theorem and the persistence of excitation concept, a smooth time-varying formation control law is proposed to address the formation stabilization problem. Moreover, the structure of the controller is simple compared to the existing controllers in the literature, and thus, is practical and easy to implement. Simulations on a group of underactuated surface vessels are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.


The present invention discloses one kind of vacuum deposition apparatus and its adhesion preventing structure. The vacuum deposition apparatus includes a cavity, a vaporized source, an adhesion preventing structure and a deposition table. The vaporized source set inside the cavity includes vaporized material. The adhesion preventing structure set inside the cavity includes a adhesion preventing board, a first rolling bar connected to the first end of the adhesion preventing board, and a second rolling bar connected to the second end. The deposition table for bearing the substrate, which is made to pass between the adhesion preventing board and the deposition table while the adhesion preventing board is moved under the control of the rotating first rolling bar and second rolling bar.


Abstract The probability P(λ, μ) that a team with mean score λ beats a team with mean score μ is calculated when the score of each team is Poisson distributed. It is found that ∂P(λ, μ)/∂λ is equal to the probability of a tie. When this equality holds for any distribution of the score of the team with mean μ, it is shown that the score of the team with mean λ must be Poisson distributed. The Poisson distribution is shown to fit certain baseball data, and it is also applied to some soccer data.


The electrochemical behavior of amiodarone on a glassy carbon electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry,linear sweep voltammetry,chronocoulometry and bulk electrolysis with coulometry.It was found that amiodarone would give a sensitive oxidation peak at +0.85V in the BR buffer solution(pH 4.65) under the differential pulse voltammetric(DPV) mode.The peak current was linear with the concentration of amiodarone in the range of 2.0×10~(-7)~4.0×10~(-6) mol/L.Based on which,a DPV method for determination of amiodarone with the detection limit of 3.3×10~(-8) mol/L has been developed.The proposed method has been used for determination of amiodarone in the rabbit serum and urine sample,the recovery was found to be in the range of 91.1%~94.0%.The mechanism for this electrochemical reaction at the glassy carbon electrode was also discussed in this paper.


We formulate and solve a single-machine scheduling problem where each job requires a component unique to that job and one which is common to all jobs. We develop an optimal dynamic programming algorithm for this problem which minimizes total job flow time. In addition we show that scheduling jobs rather than components efficiently is desirable and may lead to improved coordination between production and assembly.


To be able to engineer magnetic nanostructures comprised of multiple layers with very different magnetic characteristics for device applications in information storage technology, requires the precise determination of the spin structure in heteromagnetic nanostructures. Soft x ray magnetic dichroism spectroscopies play an ever increasing role in improving our understanding of complex magnetic nanostructures since these techniques provide elemental and chemical site-specific magnetic information with high sensitivity and tunable probing depth. X ray spectromicroscopy techniques such as photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) add spatial resolution down to a few nm. It is clear that using spectroscopic information for magnetometry and magnetic microscopy, i.e., to determine the alignment of magnetic moments relative to the crystal axes and to image domains, requires the detailed knowledge and theoretical understanding of spectral shape and magnitude of dichroism signals as well as their dependence on the relative orientation of polarization, external field, and crystallographic axes. In this presentation we will discuss the first observation as well as accurate theoretical description of anisotropic x ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD) at the transition metal L 2,3 edges in Fe 3 O 4 , CoFe 2 O 4, NiFe 2 O 4, and NiO and the rare earth M 4,5 edges in EuO. We show unambiguously that − contrary to common belief − spectral shape and magnitude of the XMLD is not only determined by the relative orientation of magnetic moments and x ray polarization but that their orientation relative to the crystallographic axes has to be taken into account. The XMLD angular dependence reflects the symmetry of the crystal field and can be well reproduced using atomic multiplet theory. The observed anisotropy of XMLD is indeed a general phenomenon expected in any system. Consequently, conclusions based on the interpretation of spectra the


Methotrexate (MTX) chemotherapy is often limited by its severe side effects, which include nephrotoxicity. In the continuous search for efficient antioxidants that could ameliorate this toxic condition of MTX, our study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), Trolox methyl ether (Trolox-Me), and curcumin as potent antioxidants using an in vitro model of MTX-induced toxicity. Human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells were pre-exposed to different antioxidants for 2 h prior to MTX (5 μM and 50 μM). After 24 h of exposure to MTX, the cell viability and morphology were assessed, activities of antioxidant enzymes and levels of lipid peroxidation were measured by spectrophotometrically methods, and protein expression was determined by Western blotting. Exposure to MTX at concentrations between 1 and 100 μM for 24 h decreased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner and was correlated with the increase in p53 protein expression. All three antioxidants tested have proved that they can inhibit the apoptosis induced by MTX, as revealed by the expression of heat shock proteins (Hsp27, Hsp60, Hsp70 and Hsp90). Pre-treatment of cells with 50 μM of Trolox-Me succeeded to significantly decrease the MTX-induced cell death. The reduction in the activities of glutathione reductase and glutathione S-transferase after MTX incubation was correlated with a low level of GSH, and was attenuated by the pre-incubation with Trolox-Me or curcumin; these antioxidants being able to maintain enough GSH for the reactions of conjugation with MTX metabolites in order to decrease its toxicity. In conclusion, the pre-treatment with curcumin, Trolox-Me or NAC proved extremely effective at blocking MTX toxicity at the concentration investigated in vitro on kidney cells. The results of our study encourage further clinical assessments in order to use these antioxidants in dietary prevention of renal side effects of MTX.


: Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is common in geriatric cats, with a prevalence from 30% up to 60% in cats older than 10 years. Aims and objectives: The main objective of the study is to analyse the serum levels of Cystatin-C for the early detection of pre-hypertensive nephropathy. Material and methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in Ayub Medical College, Abottabad during November 2018 to March 2019. The data was collected from 100 nephropathic patients. The data was collected through non-probability sampling technique. Those with slightly raised serum creatinine and those with blood sugar levels within pre-diabetes range on previous reports were excluded, and so were those who gave history of antihypertensive medication or use of steroid. Informed consent was taken from all study participants. Results: The study subjects included 80 patients, 48 of them were male (60%) and 32 were female (40%). With a mean age of 59.85 ± 9.976 and age range of 41-80 years. All patients underwent elective CAG or PCI. According to the presented data and to the definition CIN and its grading in our study, CIN occurred in 19 patients 23.8%. The incidence of CIN was 0.0% in patients with serum creatinine increase <25% above baseline. While incidence in those with serum creatinine increase


The Chiamydomonas reinhardtii gene encoding cytochrome c6 (Cyt c6) is transcriptionally repressed by cupric ions. In quantitating the level of expression of this gene as a function of cupric ions available per cell, we find that transformed Chiamydomonas reinhardtii cells that accumulate high levels of plastocyanin (a type I copper protein) have a higher sensory threshold for copper-dependent repression of the Cyt c6 gene than do untransformed, otherwise isogenic, cells that are plastocyanin-deficient. Also, in wild-type cells, the extent to which the gene is expressed at any given ratio of copper/cell is exactly correlated with the predicted deficiency (at this level of copper) in the organism's capacity to synthesize holoplastocyanin. These results support a simple model in which the sensory threshold for transcriptional repression of the Cyt c6 gene is determined by direct competition for intracellular copper ions between a copper-binding regulator of this gene and plastocyanin. Thus, the organism is able to maintain a constant amount of Cyt c6 plus plastocyanin per Photosystem I. With the use of in vitro-generated Cyt c6-encoding transcripts as a standard for the quantitation of cellular Cyt c6 mRNA levels, we estimate that whereas copper-deficient wild-type cells maintain approximately 1 x 102 to 4 x 102 Cyt c6-specific transcripts per cell, coppersupplemented cells contain, on average, less than one Cyt c6encoding mRNA. Thus, repression of the Cyt c6 gene by copper ions is essentially 100%, making it unlikely that Cyt c6 has any essential metabolic function in copper-supplemented cells. We find also that the steady-state levels of several transcripts, including those for Cyt c6, are influenced by cell density, so that cells harvested at low density contain several-fold as many copies of a particular message as cells harvested near stationary phase. The Cyts c6 are found in algae and cyanobacteria, where they catalyze photosynthetic electron transfer between Cyt b6/f and the reaction center of PSI (11). Several algae and cyanobacteria can use Cyt c6 or a type I copper protein plastocyanin interchangeably in this capacity. In those organisms that have genetic information for both proteins, expres' Financial support: K.H. is a trainee under U.S. Public Health Service National Research Service Award (GM-07104) and a recipient of an Ursula Mandel Scholarship from the Graduate Division, UCLA. The work was supported by grants to S.M. from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (GM 42143), the U.S. Department of Agriculture/National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program (91-37306-6348), and the Searle Scholars Foundation/Chicago Community Trust. sion of Cyt c6 and plastocyanin is reciprocally regulated based on copper ion availability, such that plastocyanin accumulates only as long as sufficient copper is available to support its synthesis and function, whereas Cyt c6 accumulates only under conditions of copper deficiency (1, 16, 18, 24, 25, 31, 33, 33). In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the copper-dependent accumulation of plastocyanin is effected by the differential stability of the holoprotein (tl/2> 8 h) relative to the apoprotein (t1/2 = 16-18 min) without any significant alteration in the synthesis, targeting, or proteolytic processing of the preapoprotein in copper-supplemented versus copper-deficient cells (18). The level of plastocyanin in C reinhardtii is proportional to the amount of copper available until the plastocyanin content reaches approximately 8 x 106 molecules/cell (21). This level of plastocyanin is presumably optimal for photosynthesis and is likely determined by intemal factors that govern the stoichiometry of the various thylakoid membrane components. Thus, further increases in medium copper (>8 x 106_9 x 106 cupric ions/cell) do not result in additional plastocyanin accumulation (21). In the case of Cyt c6, copper-dependent repression of its accumulation in C reinhardtii is achieved primarily via transcriptional control (21), with little or no contribution from posttranscriptional processes (such as differential mRNA stability) (10). The transcriptional response of the Cyt c6 gene occurs independently of the photosynthetic process (19). Copper-dependent transcriptional regulation is reversible, dependent on the concentration of medium copper, highly specific for copper ions, and occurs within minutes after the addition of cupric ions to the growth medium (10, 21), suggesting that repression of the gene encoding Cyt c6 is mediated (either directly or indirectly) by a pre-existing, copper-binding regulatory protein. This copper-binding regulator2 is highly sensitive to cupric 2 We use the term copper-binding regulator to refer to a protein containing one or more copper-binding sites that functions as a cellular copper-sensor. This protein, by analogy to the ACEI gene product (29), may alter expression of the Cyt c6 gene either by interacting directly with copper-responsive elements oh the gene, or indirectly through interaction with a copper-responsive elementbinding protein. Furthermore, this regulator may serve as an activator of transcription in its apo (metal-free) form and/or as a repressor in its holo (metalated) form. For the sake of clarity, until the mechanism of its action is known, we do not distinguish between these possibilities in referring to this copper-dependent regulator.


Two of the most notable changes in political interest communities in recent decades have been the rise of direct lobbying by institutions and the decline of collective lobbying via associations. These trends may be related to each other, since institutions can choose to lobby through either or both approaches. The shifting balance between direct and collective representation of institutional interests may signal important changes in how institutions perceive their interests, how those interests are pursued, and how diverse interests are aggregated in public policy. We present four theoretical perspectives—the demographic opportunity, collective action, competitive exclusion, and crowded room perspectives—to develop hypotheses about the relationship between these two forms of representation. We then employ both aggregate data on state lobby registrations and survey data on state lobbying by institutions to distinguish between these hypotheses. We find strongest support for the crowded room perspective, such that the relationship between direct and collective forms of interest representation tends to be one of mutualism rather than competition.


Context: Student motivation has been linked to persistence until graduation for athletic training students. There is little research, however on ways athletic training programs (ATPs) foster studen...


USL 0.5 is designed to boost the city or state average school math levels to advance about 1 year although it normally takes 8-25 years for the U.S. states and the average will take about 16 years (according to NAEP). USL 1.0 is designed to boost the national average school math levels to advance about 2 years although it normally takes minimum 15-50 years for the U.S. states and the average will take at least 30 years even if they are very lucky; chances are about 40 years as the progress normally slows down significantly even for the fastest growing states or countries for boosting the school math average. This short paper is designed to provide some of the key information as to why the various states and major cities should consider the USL 0.25 or 0.5 pilot studies in 2015 as early as possible as the costs will be minimal compared to the colossal gains that the city or the state governments will gain over the rest of this century. As the USL reforms for the states will last 1-3 years or so, our projections will be 1.3-1.7x larger than Hanushek-Woessmann projections. 1) USL 0.25 will boost the state school math averages by half a year and its Real GDP contribution for the states are expected to be 4x-5x than now by USL 0.5 2) USL 0.5 will boost the Real GDP contribution for the states at least 10x larger than now (most likely about 13-16x larger). 3) USL 1.0 will boost the Real GDP contribution for the states at least 20-25x larger than now (most likely about 25-30x larger). We included the key data on the U.S. state math proficiency charts, statewide school math annual growth rates.


With the advent of intellectual economy and the tendency of global economy,compared with traditional higher vocational education,modern higher vocational education is confronted with many new situations and new problems to be settled and is given many new features.Therefore, we must put thinking in order and form a new modern higher vocational education outlook to promote the development of modern higher vocational education cause.


Equipped with various features, WhatsApp is the most popular mobile instant messaging (MIM) used by Indonesian internet users. This platform allows one-to-one and even one-to-many communications. WhatsApp is also potentially used to assist mobile learning activities. Mobile learning is a digital learning activity that uses both mobile devices and internet connectivity to help overcome time and space barriers in the learning process. This study aimed to investigate the use of WhatsApp in mobile learning activities in Komunitas Anak Pintar (KAP, smart children community), one of Indonesia's virtual communities. Under qualitative design and constructivist paradigm, this study sought to understand the social meaning created in context, especially on how MIM is used as a mobile learning platform in a virtual community and how learners perceived it. A case study method with in-depth interviews was used as the data collection technique. Results showed that learning through WhatsApp was positively perceived as efficient, flexible, less formal, informative, adjustable, helpful, and accessible. However, it also has limitations such as device and connectivity dependency, problems in learning process and materials, and lower community sense of belonging.


Background: The present research paper described about the optimization of various zero order and first order UV spectrophotometric method using different buffers. Validation study was performed to develop a simple, sensitive, rapid, accurate and economical Ultra Violet spectrophotometric method for the estimation of Valganciclovir. Methods: UV 1800 double beam UV Visible Spectrophotometer with a pair of 10mm path length matched quartz cells were used for the study. Method A (Water), Method B (phosphate buffer pH2), Method C (Phosphate buffer pH4) and Method D (phosphate buffer pH5) were developed for estimation of Valganciclovir by zero-order and first-order derivative. Results: Linearity was carried out in the concentration range of 5-60 μg/ml and the correlation coefficient were found to be 0.999. The percentage recoveries were found to be 98-102%. The relative standard deviation was found to be <2%. The LOD and LOQ were found to be 0.3241 μg/ml and 0.8227 μg/ml respectively. Conclusion: Hence, the methods were validated according to ICH guidelines and can be adopted for the routine analysis of Valganciclovir in pure and tablet dosage form.


Anthropogenic impacts on lotic systems, including pollutants, have had both direct and indirect negative effects on the aquatic habitats of the world. Goals of this study are: (1) Quantify atrazine, the atrazine metabolite diaminochlorotriazine (DACT), and glyphosate burdens in common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) tissue from individuals collected within the Embarras River in Coles County, Illinois. (2) Quantify the atrazine, DACT, and glyphosate loads in water from the aquatic habitats in which common snapping turtles reside. (3) Quantify the relative abundance of all turtle species and movement patterns of common snapping turtles in this lotic ecosystem. Hoop nets and modified minnow traps were deployed and all turtles captured were identified to the species level. In addition, common snapping turtles were weighed, sexed, marked, and a tissue sample collected from the tail. Concentrations of atrazine, DACT, and glyphosate in tissue did not show any relationship with distance from the spillway (Lake Charleston, Illinois), carapace length, width, or mass. Year and gender did show a trend for atrazine in the tissue. Turtles captured the second time tended to have more atrazine and glyphosate in their tissue than when they were first captured; however, a paired t-test did not reveal any significance. Both atrazine and glyphosate tissue samples varied as a function of site, but DACT did not. Tissue concentration ofatrazine tended to vary with tissue concentrations ofDACT. Beginning at the spillway, atrazine and glyphosate concentrations in water samples showed a linear effect on distance and a deviation from linearity. DACT water samples did not show a linear effect on distance, but there was a deviation from linearity. Water column concentrations of all three contaminants varied across capture sites, but atrazine


The objective of the present study was to evaluate the quality of groundwater in the deltaic region of the Indus River in district Thatta, Pakistan. In the region, the groundwater is widely used for drinking purposes. Due to excessive abstraction rates of groundwater, a significant amount of seawater intrudes into the aquifers. The situation is, furthermore aggravated by dwindling flows of freshwater from the river Indus. Thus, groundwater samples (100) were analyzed for different physicochemical parameters. A number of water quality parameters crossed the WHO guidelines. The WQI model revealed that 8%, 57%, 20%, and 15% of the samples were good, poor, very poor and unsuitable for drinking purposes, respectively. Likewise, the SPI model indicated that 10%, 55%, 19%, and 16% were slightly polluted, moderately polluted, highly polluted and unsuitable for drinking. Though the model's input is different, the proportionate of ranking revealed a significant correlation (R2 = 0.78) between the outcomes of both models. The geospatial mapping of physicochemical parameters, WQI, and SPI model outcomes indicated that most of the groundwater resource in the study area is contaminated, thus not suitable for drinking purposes. The methodology developed in this study is extendable to other similar environments in the world.


Objective: To provide anatomical basis for imaging diagnosis of the parapharyngeal space diseases. Methods: 60 headneck of adult corpses were selected and cut into the coronal, sagittal and transverse section respectively. At pharyngeal recess level, parapharyngeal space and parapharyngeal structure were observed and measured in the width and area with vernier caliper and associate pane. Results: It was 348.8±1.88 mm 2(left) and 350.0±2.04 mm 2(right) on coronal, 425.0±2.32 mm 2(left) and 424.6± 2.28 mm 2(right) on sagittal, 447.6±2.18 mm 2(left) and 446.4±2.10 mm 2(right) on transverse section in area of the parapharyngeal space. Parapharyngeal space and parapharyngeal structure were symmetrical of both sides, there were no significant differences in the width and area ( P 0.05). It was better section to show preparapharyngeal, parapharyngeal and retroparapharyngeal space with coronal, sagittal and transverse anatomy separately. Conclusions: (1) Medial pterygoid muscle, levator palatini muscle, tensor palatini muscle, pharyngotympanic tube, internal carotid artery, internal jugular vein and styloid process were important anatomical marks for imaging diagnosis of MRI. (2) Three-dimensional sectional anatomy of the parapharyngeal space has an important significance for imaging diagnosis of the diseases of tumor in the parapharyngeal space.


The (η3-acryloyl)tricarbonylferrate (1) reacted with the acyl halides (2) affording the unexpected 1:1 adducts, which were deduced to be the novel halogenodicarbonyl(η-2-acyloxy)ferracyclopent-2-en-5-onates (3) derived by the carbonylation of an η3-vinylcarbene ligand.


This study aims to identify and compare the effect of interventional swallowing exercises on swallowing ability in stroke patients who experience dysphagia. The method used is a quantitative method with a one-group pre-test-post-test approach. Respondents in this study were stroke patients who underwent moderate category of dysphagia, totaling 35 respondents. Initial data collection was started using the Nursing Bedside Swallowing Screening dysphagia assessment sheet. Then, the researcher used the Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability (MASA) to assess the patient's swallowing ability. The results showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in the swallowing capacity of the respondents before and after the swallowing training intervention. The conclusion of this study, swallowing exercises are effective in improving the swallowing ability of stroke patients who experience dysphagia.
Keywords: Dysphagia, Swallowing Ability, Stroke


4 Dawson DJ, Khan AN, Miller V, Ratcliffe JF, Shreeve DR. Detection of inflammatory bowel disease in adults and children: evaluation of a new isotopic technique. Br Med J 1985;291: 1227-30. 5 Thaysen EH, Pedersen L. Idiopathic bile acid catharisis. Gut 1976;17:965-70. 6 Merrick MV, Eastwood MA, Ford MI. Is bile acid malabsorption underdiagnosed? An evaluation of accuracy of diagnosis by measurement ofSeHCAT retention. BrMedy 1985290:665-8. 7 Canm PA,Read NW, Holdsworth CD, Barends D. Role ofloperamide and placebo in management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). DigDis Sci 1984;29:23947.


With the experimental material of Burley B37 pollen,various tobacco pollen vigor evaluation methods were compared.The results indicated that pollen germination was the best method for identifying pollen vigor.With the formula of 3% glucose,50mg/L boric acid,20 mg/L CaCl2and 10% sucrose,50 mg/L boric acid,20 mg/L CaCl2,cultivating 3 h under 25℃ constant temperature,the percentage of pollen germination was the highest.The pollen vigor was 86.8% and 91.3% respectively.


Based on the fact that image nature can be represented by its matrix singular values and fault information is always contained in vibration signal 3D and 2D time-frequency graphics,the singular values of rolling bearing vibration signal 2D gray chart are obtained by the theorem of singular value decomposition.The Euclidean distance of singular values is used as the measurement of similarity between two gray charts,realizing fault diagnosis.The method is used to analysis fault bearing real test data.The result shows the means has high pattern classification accuracy,but it will be descend with growing of malfunction size because of influence of rolling bearing elements.It also shows the method has better precision by comparing the diagnostic results of gray degree of association based on texture features.


In present study,~(60)Co γ-rays was used to irradiate soil with doses of 3.0 kGy and 25.0 kGy,respectively,to discriminate between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and other soil microorganisms,while soil without irradiation was used as control to study the effects of soil microorganisms on uptake of ~(89)Sr by ryegrass and bahia grass.The results showed that the AM infection rates in ryegrass and bahia grass were 48.0 % and 28.0% in the control soil,respectively which indicated that both grass species were prone to forming AM symbiosis with AM fungi.Although AM fungi and other soil microorganisms had no significant effect on above ground biomass in ryegrass and bahia grass,both AM fungi and other soil microorganisms decreased the uptake of()~(89)Sr in the two grass species,though to a more or less extant.


As a result of this study, it was possible to derive the compressive strength curves of ordinary to ultra high strength concrete using the hammer type non - destructive testing equipment. In order to obtain reliable results, it is necessary to construct additional data. In addition, if reliability is ensured through construction site evaluation, it is considered that the application is possible on construction site.


Background: Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET/CT has a high sensitivity (89-100%) and reasonable specificity (79-95%) for the diagnosis of NSCLC. Currently it is mainly used in preoperative staging. In approximately 15% of these cases, it leads to the diagnosis of metastatic disease that was neither clinically suspected nor seen in conventional imaging. It may be assumed that integrating these cases in the palliative stage IV group, has an influence on overall survival. Aim: To compare the overall survival (OS) of patients with stage IV NSCLC who underwent FDG-PET/CT staging with patients where conventional imaging procedures were performed. Methods: We analyzed the OS of all patients diagnosed in 2009 (n=254), 96/254 (38%) patients were staged with PET/CT and 158/254 (62%) with conventional imaging (CT group). Survival data were compared by Kaplan-Meier statistics. Results: Patient in the PET/CT group (65±11) were younger than in the CT group (68±10 years; p = 0.008). The median OS of all patients was 246 (range: 217 – 275); 338 (range: 247 - 429) days in the PET/CT group and 207 (range: 161 - 253) in the CT group (p = 0.001). Conclusion: FDG-PET/CT staging leads to earlier recognition of stage IV NSCLC patients and thus longer survival times. To what extend a selection bias for age and/or clinical condition may have influenced our results, needs to be discussed.


The Beikang Basin is an important Cenozoic sedimentary basin located at the southwestern mar-gin of the Nansha massif,in the middle part of the Nansha sea area.It has good petroleum potential.In recent years,the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey has completed about 20,000km seismic profiles and related gravity and magnetic surveys in an area of more than60,000km 2 in the basin.On the basis of an analysis of the regional geological setting,the authors have carried out the correlation of seismic stra-ta and detailed seismic facies analysis,and then three super-sequences and seven sequences are distinguished.The sedimentary facies of five sequences among them have been analysed and their sedimentary facies maps drawn.Before the late Eocene,the Beikang basin was located at the edge of the Paleo-South China Sea,and its northwestern part was marked by continental facies and the southeastern part was marked by the littoral-neritic environment.In the late Eocene to the early part of the early Oligocene,the Nansha massif was separated from the South China continental block and drifted away to the south.Concomitantly with the passive subduction of oceanic crust of the Paleo-South China Sea and spreading of the Neo -South Chin Sea,the waters of the basin deepened.Then except in its northwestern part where there was conti-nental facies,the basin was mainly occupied by the marine environment.After the early Oligocene,the Nansha massif was amalgamated with the Borneo massif.Then the neritic-bathyal environment gradually predominated in the Beikang basin.Pursuant to the law of sedimentary evolution of the Beikang basin,Pa-leogene lacustrine and swampy mudstone and early Miocene neritic mudstone are favorable hydrogen source rocks,contemporaneous deltaic sandstone and littoral sandstone and late Miocene turbidites are main reser-voir rocks,the regional covers consist of neritic to bathyal mudstone and sandy mudstone developed since the late Miocene,and the local covers include lacustrine mudstone and neritic sandy mudstone,mudstone and lime mudstone.


In 1975 the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (the main Spanish institution for scientific research) published the monograph [14] by the second author (by the way, father and Ph.D. advisor of the first author). Its title could be translated as "Geometric Interpretation of Ideal Theory" (nowadays Ideal Theory is not normally used, in favour of Commutative Algebra). It somehow illustrated the geometric ideas underlying the basics of the classic books of the period (like [2, 11, 16]) and was a success: although written in Spanish, the edition was sold out.Of course there are much more modern books on ideals and varieties than [2, 11, 16], such as the famous [7] or [8], that illustrate the theory with images. Moreover, there are introductory works to Gröbner bases such as [3, 9, 12, 13, 15], as well as books on the topic like [1], and articles about applications, like the early [4]. Even a summary in English of the original Ph.D. Thesis by Bruno Buchberger is available [5].
Nevertheless, we believe that there is a place for a visual guide to Gröbner bases, as there was a place for [14].
For instance, statistical packages are probably the pieces of mathematical software best known by non-mathematicians, and they are frequently used as black boxes by users with a slight knowledge of the theory behind. Meanwhile, Gröbner bases, the most common exact method behind non-linear polynomial systems (algebraic systems) solving, although incorporated to all computer algebra systems, are only known by a relatively small ratio of the members of the scientific community, most of them mathematicians. This article presents in an intuitive and visual way an illustrative selection of ideals and their Gröbner bases, together with the plots of the (real part) of their corresponding algebraic varieties, computed and plotted with Maple [6, 10]. A minimum amount of theoretical details is given. We believe that exact algebraic systems solving could also be used as a black box by non-mathematicians just understanding the basic ideas underlying commutative algebra and computer algebra.


Some necessary and some sufficient conditions are given for the existence of the Moore–Penrose generalized inverse of an unbounded linear operator between inner product spaces with an appropriately restricted domain. These results generalize a recent result of W. F. Langford.


1-Azadienes, generated via a one-pot procedure from phosphonate (II), nitriles and aldehydes, are trapped is situ by ketenimines (I) to give dihydropyridine intermediates.


The operational wind turbine efficiency in the power maximization regions and reliability improvement to reduce the produced power cost can both be enhanced by using an appropriate controller to cope with the highly nonlinear behavior of wind turbines in the presence of wind speed variation and actuator faults. In this regard, a nonlinear controller is proposed to make the wind turbine operate effectively despite some of the actuator faults, similar to the fault-free case. The considered actuator faults are pitch and generator actuator biases, as well as pitch actuator dynamic change, including pump wear, hydraulic leak, and high air content in the oil. Also, the wind speed is assumed to be an unmeasurable disturbance, and, accordingly, when using the neural network scheme, the unknown desired trajectory is reconstructed, so that the captured power is maximized. The proposed controller is shown to be able to keep the wind turbine tracking the reconstructed desired trajectory with sufficient accuracy. By u...


Consumption of unpasteurized (raw) milk has been linked to foodborne illness in the United States at higher relative rates than pasteurized milk and milk products. Intra-state regulation of these products differs by state. Regardless of the risk of consumption, some people still purchase and consume unpasteurized milk. Using the 2016 Food Safety Survey (FSS) and the 2019 Food Safety and Nutrition Survey (FSANS), we evaluated prevalence, frequency, and demographic predictors of consumption of raw milk in the U.S. population. In total, 4.4% of consumers reported consuming raw milk at least once in the past year, with 1.6% reporting frequent consumption of raw milk (once a month or more often) and 1.0% reporting consuming it once a week or more. Those consuming raw milk in the past 12 months are more likely to be younger, living in a rural area, and living in a state where retail sale of raw milk is legal. This study helps to quantify the prevalence, frequency, and demographics of those who consume unpasteurized milk in the United States.


This article aims to evaluate the existence of access of platform drivers to minimum worker rights, provided for in Brazil's 1988 Constitution 1998. Such analysis will be made by the exam of a class action lawsuit by Sindaplic, against the companies Uber and 99, in which access to basic protective equipment was requested to prevent  contamination by SARS-CoV-2 virus and to guarantee a minimum monthly payment that was not less than 1 (one) minimum wage.


To detect whether 125I‐αIIbβ3 is associated with tyrosine kinases in platelets, antibodies specific to pp60c‐src, pp54/58lyn, and pp62Fyn were used to precipitate their homologous antigens. In contrast to Lyn and Fyn kinases, pp60c‐src appears to be complexed with αIIbβ3. Both proteins, pp60c‐src and αIIbβ3, coprecipitated when antibodies to pp60c‐src were used in the immunoprecipitation experiments. This conclusion was further supported by immunoprecipitation of αIIbβ3 from Triton X‐100 extracts of nonlabelled platelets with P2 antibodies. There was no pp60c‐src detectable in immunoprecipitates obtained with antibodies specific to α2β1 or GPIb. Since PGE1 was used to prevent platelet activation in buffers throughout all procedures and there was no phosphorylation of pp72syk we assume that the platelets were in the resting state. Therefore, we conclude that αIIbβ3 and pp60c‐src can form a complex in resting platelets suggesting that pp60c‐src is directly involved in initiating the outside‐in signaling cascades in blood platelets.


Mobile telephone conversations in public places are often annoying to bystanders. Previous work has focused on the psychological and social causes for this, but has not examined the possible role of properties of the communication channel. In our paper "Do Bystanders and Dialog Participants Differ in Preferences for Telecommunications Channels?" (21 International Symposium on Human Factors in Telecommunication, 2008) we consider the possibility that a reason for the annoyance could be that bystander preferences differ from talker preferences, but conclude that this is in fact unlikely to be a major factor. This technical report provides supplemental information, specifically a broader view of the likely causes of annoyance and more details on the ten pilot studies and the data collected.


Govt of India introduced National food security Act, 2013 (NFSB) to address the severe malnutrition and food crisis. The State Govt /UT are responsible for implementation to the targeted beneficiaries. The Govt of Andhra Pradesh launched 'Amma Hastham' scheme all over the State for supplying specified quantities of nine essential commodities in a packet just for Rs.185 to white card households. The study was taken up with an aim to see whether there is any variations in cooking quality and organoleptic attributes after cooking and over all acceptance of the essential commodities supplied by six districts of A.P under Amma hastham scheme. There was no significant difference in flavour, taste, and overall acceptability in the quality of products prepared with wheat flour, oil, sugar, turmeric, chillipowder, iodised salt between the districts. The products prepared with whole wheat grain wheat flour showed significant difference in texture (p<0.01). Recipes prepared with redgram showed significant difference (p<0.05) in texture between the districts. Maximum were in acceptance without significant variation between the districts. Thus the study helps in change of general perception of the public and develops confidence towards food security schemes


Continuous Variable (CV) quantum key distribution (QKD) is a promising candidate for practical implementations due to its compatibility with the existing communication technology. A trusted device scenario assuming that an adversary has no access to imperfections such as electronic noises in the detector is expected to provide significant improvement in the key rate, but such an endeavor so far was made separately for specific protocols and for specific proof techniques. Here, we develop a simple and general treatment that can incorporate the effects of Gaussian trusted noises for any protocol that uses homodyne/heterodyne measurements. In our method, a rescaling of the outcome of a noisy homodyne/heterodyne detector renders it equivalent to the outcome of a noiseless detector with a tiny additional loss, thanks to a noise-loss equivalence well-known in quantum optics. Since this method is independent of protocols and security proofs, it is applicable to Gaussian-modulation and discrete-modulation protocols, to the finite-size regime, and to any proof techniques developed so far and yet to be discovered as well.


Recent research in nanoscale computing offers multiple techniques for producing large numbers of parallel nanowires (NWs). These wires can be assembled into crossbars, two orthogonal sets of parallel NWs separated by a layer of molecular devices. In a crossbar, pairs of orthogonal NWs provides control over the molecules at their crosspoints. Hysteretic molecules act as programmable diodes, allowing crossbars to function as both memories and circuits (a PLA for example). Either application requires that NWs be interfaced with existing CMOS technology.


Drawn from the notion that Twitter is a suitable context for micro-celebrity practices (Marwick, 2010) this research examines interactions between Indonesian Twitter-celebrities called selebtwits and their followers. The results suggest that several strategies include: stimulated conversation, audience recognition, and various level of self-disclosure that have been conducted by the selebtwits to maintain the relationship with their followers. This research also found that from the follower viewpoint, interaction with selebtwits is often perceived as an "endorsement" and "achievement". However, there are others who are not particularly fond of the idea of the selebtwits-follower's engagement. Some selebtwits-followers' interactions lead to "digital intimacy", while others resemble parasocial interaction and one-way communication. Furthermore, this study suggests that in the broader context, selebtwits are perceived in both positive and negative ways.


A voltage divider incorporating a non-ohmic resistor in its low-voltage arm, has been developed for measuring the burning voltage of an arc initiated by a high-voltage flashover. An analysis of the performance of the divider is given, and is supported by proving tests. A design procedure is outlined.


Multimodal biometrics are always adopted to improve the recognition performance of single modality biometric systems. Besides introducing more discriminating power to the biometric system, integrating multiple modalities also leads to the curse of dimensionality problem. In this paper, we engage the minimal redundancy maximal relevance criterion to reduce the dimensionality of the feature vector. The minimal redundancy maximal relevance criterion is a feature selection criterion that aims to retain the most relevant elements while discarding the other redundant elements. Our experiments show that, with only 15% of the original feature length, minimal redundancy maximal relevance criterion-based features are able to perform similarly well or even better than the baseline results.


—There is an increasing number of articles, web pages, robotic kits and other materials that are using the term Educational Robotics (ER) to refer to the use of robots in education, however the current definition of ER is still vague and open to misinterpretation. Therefore, anyone can claim that their work falls in the category of ER just because robots are involved. Despite all benefits of robotics, its incorrect use may be counterproductive. Therefore, the incremental use of the term ER is meaningless if it is not used correctly. Consequently, a concrete and precise definition of ER is required to support the development of it. This paper presents a first attempt to develop a concrete definition of ER, which describes all fields of study that constitutes it and how they are related between them. The definition is the result of the experience acquire during the participation of the European project Educational Robotics for STEM (ER4STEM).


We read with great interest the article by Linge et al on 'NCF1339 polymorphism is associated with altered formation of neutrophil extracellular traps, high serum interferon activity and antiphospholipid syndrome in systemic lupus erythematosus' as well as the response of Linge and Bengtsson to the comment by Joob and Wiwanitkit, who raised a question regarding the importance and the role of the NCF1339 rs201802880 (p. Arg90His) polymorphism in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Linge and Bengtsson nicely placed this polymorphism in a functional context, pointing out that the amino acid shift from arginine to histidine at a PX domain of the NCF1 protein (a domain of crucial importance in the membrane binding reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS) response. Of note, the rs201802880 p. Arg90His variant of he NCF1 gene has been associated, apart from SLE, with rheumatoid arthritis and Sjögren's syndrome in adult patients as well as with earlyonset interferonopathy in paediatric patients. Our aim with this letter was to extend the information given by Linge and Bengtsson by presenting data that elucidate further the significance of the rs201802880 Arg90His variant from another viewpoint, using data from a structural biology approach, thus analysing this variant in the various genetically controlled functions that is involved, including the neutrophil extracellular trap formation, the reduced extracellular ROS production in neutrophils and the decreased NADPH oxidase function. To this end, we have recently evaluated the structural significance of the rs201802880 variant on the p47 PX domain of the NCF1 protein by constructing a threedimensional structural model, focusing on the phosphatebinding pocket of NCF1 p47 domain with the electrostatic molecular surface. Our molecular investigation showed that in this variant, the functionality of the p47 PX cytosolic subunit of neutrophil NADPH oxidase has been modified, leading to affinity reduction to PtdIns(3,4)P2 caused by the loss of specific phosphoinositide head group interactions and affecting the p47 translocation to the plasma membrane. The structural biological information reported here may help the interpretation of the findings of Linge et al from the structural–functional point of view and, apparently, is in agreement with the statements in the comment of Linge and Bengtsson that emphasise on the crucial importance of the NCF1339 polymorphism under discussion.


Gregg A. Johns is a staff psychologist at the Mississippi State Hospital's child and adolescent inpatient unit. His interests includes the facilitation of creativity for both therapeutic and problem-solving applications and divergent production research. Linda W. Morse is a professor of educational psychology at Mississippi State University where she serves as program coordinator and is a John Grisham Master Teacher. Her research interests include problem solving strategies, and creative production. David T. Morse is a professor of educational psychology and psychology at Mississippi State University. He is the co-author of the Khatena-Morse Multitalent Perception Inventory, and his research interests include test-taking behaviors, and creativity.


The Turkic peoples of the Volga Region lost their statehood for centuries due to the Russian occupation of the Khanate of Kazan and Astrakhan in the mid–16 century. The memory of statehood among these peoples has been maintained and preserved for posterity through the oral historiography of the steppe. It comes as no surprise then that there has been an effort to create and strengthen the national identities in the post-Soviet Turkic republics with the successive publication of the latest editions of national epics and collections of historical stories. Research objectives and materials: This investigation focuses on one such source that forms part of the oral historiography of the steppe, a Genghis-name compiled and recorded by an unknown author in the late 17 century. The chapter on Genghis Khan contains two stories that depict the various forms of organisational practices in nomadic states. The first was characteristic of the Golden Horde and the Nogai Horde at its zenith; it concerns the joint rule of the khan and the beglerbeg. The second depicts relations in the late Golden Horde and its successor states, in which the khan and the four chieftains constituted and led the country together. In the Genghis-name we could set the type of a super complex chiefdom headed by Temir Kutlu Khan with his four kara@ı biy's of the clans Kiyat, Kongrat, Cathay, Saldzhut. Research results and novelty: It was possible to give an answer to the question why are so different the kara@ı biy's of the Great Horde of those in the other late Golden Horde states. A historian can glean information from this story both on the age in which the source was created and on practices of nomadic rule: What stands out above all is that the clans had the right to resist and that they were able to shift away from their tyrannical rulers without any consequences and seek a new ruler for themselves. The steppe lacked the power of law that would have enabled the ruler to use force in such cases. The khan was only able to maintain his power over the chieftains through his generous gifts or by ensuring regular opportunities for booty. The khan came to be the leader of the society through the support of the chieftains but had no absolute power over them.


A novel approach to information processing in grid sensor networks is presented. Based on the Fornasini-Marchesini (FM) model, this highly scalable method can implement any general linear system in a grid sensor network in a fully distributed manner. It can significantly reduce the communication overhead and enable local actuation in response to local events. Quantization effects on the stability of such distributed filters are briefly discussed with models for quantization nonlinearities. A real world implementation of this distributed processing method on a sensor network is also presented.


We have fabricated organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) using various dielectric films of poly-p-xylylene derivatives to investigate the correlation of field-effect mobility and the surface properties of the dielectric films under constant conditions of fabrication process and molecular backbone. The OFET using pentacene as the semiconductor and poly-chloro-p-xylylene as the dielectric film showed good performance for an OFET using a polymer dielectric film; the field-effect mobility was 0.81 cm2/Vs and the on/off current ratio was 1.4×106. We observed an obvious tendency for the hydrophobic dielectric layers to give a higher field-effect mobility for both crystalline organic semiconductors and amorphous polymer semiconductor, though a significant correlation of field-effect mobility with the dielectric constant and surface roughness of the dielectric films was not observed.


Almost all individuals undergo reproductive and/or parenting experience at some point in their lives, and pregnancy and childbirth in particular are associated with alterations in the prevalence of several psychiatric disorders. Research in rodents shows that maternal experience affects spatial learning and other aspects of hippocampal function. In contrast, there has been little work in animal models concerning how reproductive experience affects cost-benefit decision making, despite the relevance of this aspect of cognition for psychiatric disorders. To begin to address this issue, reproductively experienced (RE) and reproductively naïve (RN) female and male Long-Evans rats were tested across multiple tasks that assess different forms of cost-benefit decision making. In a risky decision-making task, in which rats chose between a small, safe food reward and a large food reward accompanied by variable probabilities of punishment, RE and RN males did not differ, whereas RE females chose the large risky reward significantly more frequently than RN females (greater risk taking). In an intertemporal choice task, in which rats chose between a small, immediate food reward and a large food reward delivered after a variable delay period, RE males chose the large reward more frequently than RN males, whereas RE females chose the large reward less frequently than RN females. Together, these results show distinct effects of reproductive experience on different forms of cost-benefit decision making in rats of both sexes, and highlight reproductive status as a variable that could influence aspects of cognition relevant for psychiatric disorders.


We report the case of a 23-year-old female patient with an antiphospholipid syndrome character ized by recurrent deep venous thromboses and fetal losses, with positive lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin antibodies. During the course of the disease she had hemorrhagic manifestations not attributable to oral anticoagulants. Hematological analyses documented reduced levels of factors IX and VIII, with evidence of a specific inhibitor of factor IX. The deficiency of clotting factors improved with steroids and cyclophosphamide. (Acta Med Colomb 2011; 36: 196-199)


Question: How does the spatial aggregation of landscape structure affect the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of metapopulations? Mathematical methods: Analytical and numerical analysis of a generalized Levins type metapopulation model using procedures developed in adaptive dynamics theory. Key assumptions: Landscapes are composed of patches of two types that are spatially aggregated with constant autocorrelation. Patch type determines population extinction rates but not the ability to establish new populations. Local populations are genetically identical. Predictions: Niche switching following habitat disturbance is critically dependent upon landscape composition as well as phenotypic plasticity. Landscape configurations can result in evolutionary trapping. Increasing the degree of spatial aggregation can lead to a decline in evolutionary attractors, corresponding to a potential reduction in biodiversity. Conclusions: The results are at odds with the commonly held opinion that aggregating spatial heterogeneity is a mechanism for promoting and sustaining biodiversity. Metapopulation models developed to investigate adaptive responses to landscape degradation would benefit if spatial variation in habitat structure, and not just population structure, is incorporated.


Let G be a real Lie group and g its Lie algebra. If one studies the exponential function exp : g→ G and fibrations of the set of regular elements of G over the set of all Cartan subalgebras of g , then one needs a general concept of a Cartan subgroup and a Weyl group. So let h ⊆ g be a Cartan subalgebra, i.e., a nilpotent subalgebra which is self-normalizing. Then we consider the adjoint action of the complexification hC on the complexified Lie algebra gC given by ad : hC→ der gC , ad(X)(Y ) = [X,Y ] . For α ∈ h∗ C we set g C := ⋂


Objective To assess the effectiveness of sonographic screening and discuss sonographic characteristics of Down syndrome and trisomy 18.Methods The subjects were recruited from pregnant women undergoing prenatal sonographic examinations and subsequently proven to be Down syndrome and trisomy 18 by genetic results.Results The results of ultrasound findings in 11 cases confirmed as Down syndrome and 6 cases confirmed as trisomy 18 were retrospectively reviewed.Conclusion Fetal sonography is a practical and effective prenatal screening method for detecting Down syndrome and trisomy 18.


At the end of the semester, students in a data structures class need to know what it has all been about. How are they supposed to use their new knowledge? These questions have prompted us to design a capstone unit, which does for the data structures course what a capstone course does for an undergraduate student's entire four years of study. Our cap-stone unit takes into account resizable stacks, queues, strings, hash tables, and matrices, all of which have certain advantages and disadvantages, compared to their non-resizable counterparts.


Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is an inflammatory rheumatic disease affecting the axial skeleton (1), with a prevalence of up to 0.5% in Europe (2; 3), and occurs equally in men and women [4]. Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) and biological Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (bDMARDs) such as Tumour Necrosis Factor inhibitors (TNFi) are the first choice in pharmacological treatments for AS patients (5; 6). Data on employment situation in correlation with disease activity and disease duration in AS patients treated in real life settings in Europe are limited.To evaluate the disease activity status and assess participation in professional life in relation to treatment response following at least 12 weeks of treatment with TNFi and/or NSAIDs.INVISIBLE was a multinational, cross-sectional, non-interventional study in Germany, Austria and Belgium. Adult patients with confirmed diagnosis of AS for at least 6 months and ongoing treatment with TNFi and/or NSAIDs for at least 12 weeks prior to enrolment were included. Primary data were collected at a single visit using Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) and collecting current demographic data including employment status using the categories employed, unemployed, parental leave, retired and sick leave (>6 weeks). Medical history data were collected from available patient files.747 adult AS patients (67% male) were included in this analysis. The patients were 47.9±13.1 years of age. Symptom duration was 18.2±13.0 years. 22.9% of patients received NSAIDs, 41.6% TNFi, 29.7% both NSAIDs and TNFi, and 5.4% other treatment for at least 12 weeks prior to enrolment. BASDAI was 3.4±2.3 and ASDAS 2.2±1.0. Patient's disease activity assessment (Visual Analogue Scale 0-100) showed on average 35.8±27.5 and patients with BASDAI ≥4 reported significantly higher disease activity compared to patients with BASDAI <4 (59.7±20.7 vs. 20.7±19.7, p<0.001). 72.5% of patients were employed and 9.9% unemployed or in sick leave for >6 weeks. More patients with a BASDAI ≥4 were unemployed or in sick leave regardless of type of treatment and duration of symptoms compared to patients with a BASDAI <4 (see Table 1).Results from the non-interventional study INVISIBLE showed that a higher proportion of AS patients receiving NSAIDs and/or TNFi with high disease activity according to BASDAI are not participating in professional life. These results suggest that in some patients, disease control and treatment response are suboptimal under current treatment strategy.[1]Braun, J & J, Sieper.Lancet.2007, Bd. 369, S. 1379–90.[2]Braun, J, et al.Arthritis Rheum.1998, Bd. 41, 1, S. 58-67.[3]Dean, LE, et al.Rheumatology.2014, Bd. 53, S. 650-657.[4]Rudwaleit, M, et al.Ann Rheum Dis.Jun 2009, Bd. 68, 6, S. 777-83.[5]Dougados, M, et al.Ann Rheum Dis.2002, Bd. 61, suppl 3, S. 40–50.[6]Braun, J, et al.Ann Rheum Dis.2006, Bd. 65, S. 316–20.[7]Feldtkeller, E, et al.Rheumatol Int.2003, Bd. 23, S. 61–66.Table 1.Participation in professional life in relation to disease activityBASDAI <4 (N = 445)BASDAI ≥4 (N = 292)NEmployed 333 (74.8%)Unemployed* 29 (6.5%)NEmployed 192 (65.7%)Unemployed* 41 (14.0%)n%n%n%n%Treatment- NSAID857183.522.4826376.867.3- TNFi20014472.0199.5996363.61414.1- NSAID & TNFi1239879.764.9915863.71920.9- Other262076.927.713646.2215.4Duration of Symptoms- <5 years575189.547.0453782.2613.3- ≥5 years37528174.9256.724215564.03514.5* unemployed and sick leave >6 weeksNIL.Jan Brandt-Juergens Consultant of: Abbvie, Affibody, BMS, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Medac, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, UCB, Judith Haschka Speakers bureau: Eli Lilly, Amgen, Consultant of: Eli Lilly, Richard Finsterwalder Employee of: Novartis Pharma GmbH, Aurélie Casier Employee of: N.V. Novartis Pharma S.A., Angela Kill Employee of: Novartis Pharma GmbH, Stéphanie Dierckx: None declared.


This document addresses the remote systems and design integration aspects of the development of the Solid Waste Processing Center (SWPC), a facility to remotely open, sort, size reduce, and repackage mixed low-level waste (MLLW) and transuranic (TRU)/TRU mixed waste that is either contact-handled (CH) waste in large containers or remote-handled (RH) waste in various-sized packages.


The driver's functional condition is one of the
indicators that reflects his readiness to perform professional
tasks. At the same time, the driver is forced to work in different
conditions in terms of complexity. Some of these are motion
the flat conditions of motio. Studies show that these conditions
can be attributed to the simplest according to the impact on the
drivers body.


Case Report A normal baby boy, birthweight 3855 g. (8 lb. 8 oz.), was one of binovular twins. As their father had a past history of pulmonary tuberculosis, 0 1 ml. BCG was given to both children intradermally in the deltoid region of the left arm on the third day of life. Four months later the child developed a rash around the BCG site which then spread to the limbs, trunk, and face. Clinical examination at age 9 months showed a wellnourished healthy male infant with a rash chiefly on the trunk, but also scattered on the face and limbs. It consisted of brownish pinhead-sized papules. Very small depressed scars were seen at the site of some healed lesions, particularly around the area of BCG inoculation. The BCG site itself was well healed. There were no other abnormal clinical findings.