Effect of Pumice Aggregate and Air Entrainment on the Freeze-Thaw Durabilities of HSC

The objective of this work is to calculate the compressive strength and relative dynamicmodulus of elasticity (RDME) induced into concrete during freezing and thawing. Freeze thaw durability of concrete is of great importance to hydraulic structures in cold areas. In thispaper, freezing of pore solution in concrete exposed to a freeze-thaw cycle is studied byfollowing the change of concrete some mechanical and physical properties with freezing temperatures. The effects of pumice aggregate (PA) ratios on the high strength concrete(HSC) properties were studied at 28 days. PA replacements of fine aggregate (0-2 mm) wereused: 10%, 20%, and 30%. The properties examined included compressive strength and RDME properties of HSC. Results showed that compressive strength and RDME of samples were decreased with increase in PA ratios. Test results revealed that HSC was still durable after 100, 200 and 300 cycles of freezing and thawing in accordance with ASTM C666, Bprocedure. After 300 cycles, HSC showed a reduction in compressive strength between 6 to 21 percent, and reduction in RDME up to 16 percent

Efficacy of low power laser therapy and exercise on pain and functions in chronic low back pain.

Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether low power laser therapy (GalliumArsenide) is useful or not for the therapy of chronic low back pain (LBP). Study Design/Materials and Methods: This study included 75 patients (laser þ exercise-25, laser alone-25, and exercise alone-25) with LBP. Visual analogue scale (VAS), Schober test, flexion and lateral flexion measures, Roland Disability Questionnaire (RDQ) and Modified Oswestry Disability Questionnaire (MODQ) were used in the clinical and functional evaluations pre and post therapeutically. A physician, who was not aware of the therapy undertaken, evaluated the patients. Results: Significant improvements were noted in all groups with respect to all outcome parameters, except lateral flexion (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Low power laser therapy seemed to be an effective method in reducing pain and functional disability in the therapy of chronic LBP

Stance of Accounting Instructors to Forensic Accountancy Profession: Example of Turkey

Considerable firm scandals that have been experienced in recent years, have reduced the confidence to financial statements and have caused amendments to be made on existing regulations. This situation brought attention to accountants and auditors that expose the financial conditions of the firms. The scandals have been experienced, revive the importance of accounting auditing and the increasing responsibility of the auditors. Inadequacy of accountants and auditors that have been educated according to the existing curriculum, conduce a new profession to arise. Being its original name “Forensic Accounting”, this profession, that exhibits rapid progress in delevoped countries with United States of America in the lead, is known as “Forensic Accountancy-Adli Muhasebecilik” in our country. Forensic Accountancy profession; with its services as litigation support consultancy, expert testimony and fraud auditing (investigative accountancy) fills a large gap in this field. This study is aimed at measuring the awareness of accounting instructors against this profession that has not been applied in our country yet. For this purpose, the survey being developed is going to be forwarded to accounting instructors in an attempt to determine the level of awarenesses. This study deals with the scope of forensic accountancy profession, the specifications of forensic accountants, belonging to forensic accountancy profession and the education of forensic accountants, thereby this study attempts to explain the level of awareness and to comment on survey results

Detecting the interferences in adrenocorticotropic hormone measurement - three cases reinforcing the efficiency of the complementary clinical and laboratory audit

Highlights Comparing test results to clinical data enhances the identification of interferences Misinterpretation of ACTH as a result of interference may lead to unnecessary testing Despite the interference, ACTH concentration can be in the reference interval Accurate measurement of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is crucial in the evaluation of pituitary and adrenal disorders. Although great progress has been achieved in ACTH measurement with immunometric assays, interference may occur and adversely affect the clinical management. The report contributes to compiling the evidence on the clinical challenges with the management of the interferences in the ACTH measurement by presenting three cases: two with clinically overt hypercortisolism and discrepant ACTH concentrations within the reference interval; the third case describes the falsely elevated ACTH in a patient with secondary adrenal insufficiency. In all patients, the results obtained with the two immunometric platforms, chemiluminescence (CLIA) immunoassay (Siemens, Immulite) and electrochemiluminescence (ECLIA) immunoassay (Roche, Cobas), were discordant. Serial dilution of plasma samples revealed nonlinearity. After polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation recoveries were less than 22%, 26%, and 3%, respectively, supporting interference. Moreover, a decrease in ACTH concentration after incubation in a heterophile antibody-blocking tube was observed in the second case. In the first case, misinterpretation of ACTH led to inferior petrosal sinus sampling (IPSS), whereas timely detection of assay interference prevented further investigations in other cases. Increasing awareness regarding ACTH interference and comprehensive approach in evaluation could allow timely detection, helping to prevent unnecessary testing and perplexing clinical outcomes

Expanding the clinical and immunological phenotypes of PAX1-deficient SCID and CID patients

Paired box 1 (PAX1) deficiency has been reported in a small number of patients diagnosed with otofaciocervical syndrome type 2 (OFCS2). We described six new patients who demonstrated variable clinical penetrance. Reduced transcriptional activity of pathogenic variants confirmed partial or complete PAX1 deficiency. Thymic aplasia and hypoplasia were associated with impaired T cell immunity. Corrective treatment was required in 4/6 patients. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation resulted in poor immune reconstitution with absent naïve T cells, contrasting with the superior recovery of T cell immunity after thymus transplantation. Normal ex vivo differentiation of PAX1-deficient CD34+ cells into mature T cells demonstrated the absence of a hematopoietic cell-intrinsic defect. New overlapping features with DiGeorge syndrome included primary hypoparathyroidism (n = 5) and congenital heart defects (n = 2), in line with PAX1 expression during early embryogenesis. Our results highlight new features of PAX1 deficiency, which are relevant to improving early diagnosis and identifying patients requiring corrective treatment

IMAGE SEARCHING WITHIN ANOTHER IMAGE USING IMAGE MATCHING AND GENETIC ALGORITHMS

WOS: 000443156600005Main focus of this work is to realize image searching within another image in an efficient way. Image searching within another image is accomplished through the integrated use of image matching techniques and searching algorithms. Artificial neural networks along with various image features such as average color value, color standard deviation, correlation and edge parameters are used for image matching whereas genetic algorithms were used for image searching. In the work presented in this paper, an integrated method based on smart searching algorithms, quick image matching methods and parallel programming techniques were proposed and implemented. Proposed method was tested on several low and high-resolution reference and template images. Results revealed that the proposed method can successfully match images and significantly reduce the total search time

Path planning for mobile DCs in future cities

In future smart-cities, public transportation vehicles are planned to serve as data couriers (DCs) in order to exchange massive amounts of data chunks. In this research, we study the path planning problem for these DCs while optimizing their counts and their total traveled distances. As the total collected load on a given DC route cannot exceed its storage capacity, it is important to decide on the size of the exchanged data-packets (images, videos, etc.) and the sequence of the targeted data sources to be visited. We propose a hybrid heuristic approach for public data delivery in smart-city settings. In this approach, public vehicles are utilized as DCs that read/collect data from numerously distributed Access Points (APs) and relay it back to a central processing base-station in the city. We also introduce a cost-based fitness function for DCs election in the smart-city paradigm. Our cost-based function considers resource limitations in terms of DCs count, storage capacity, and energy consumption. Extensive simulations are performed, and the results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach in comparison to other heuristic approaches with respect to total traveled distances and overall time complexity

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

QTL is an ultra-lightweight block cipher designed for extremely constrained devices. The cipher has two versions, QLT-64 and QTL-128 supporting key lengths of 64 and 128 bits, respectively. In this paper, we present the first third party cryptanalysis of QTL. We first introduce related key distinguishers for full versions of the cipher. We propose attacks on full QTL in single key model by using the related key distinguishers. With these attacks we are able to reduce the security of QTL-64 and QTL-128 by 16 bits. We also enumerate 2(48) weak keys and propose a practical key recovery attack on full QTL-64 for these keys. This attack requires 2(16) data and recovers the key in a time complexity of 2(32) encryptions. We also give some observations disprove designers' claims about number of active S-boxes and actual value of differential branch number