Bromidotris(triphenyl­phosphane)silver acetonitrile monosolvate monohydrate

In the title compound, [AgBr(C18H15P)3]·C2H3N·H2O, the coordination of the Ag atom is close to ideal tetra­hedral, with the three Ag—P bond lengths almost equal [2.5441 (10), 2.5523 (9) and 2.5647 (10) ° A] and the Ag—Br bond slightly longer [2.7242 (5) Å]. The coordination tetra­hedron is slightly flattened, the Ag atom is closer to the PPP plane; the P—Ag—P angles are wider than the Br—Ag—P angles. The voids in the crystal structure are filled with ordered acetonitrile solvent mol­ecules. The remaining electron density was inter­preted as a water mol­ecule, disordered over three alternative positions. Neither of the solvent mol­ecules is connected by any directional specific inter­actions with the complex

Synthetic Social Support: Theorizing Lay Health Worker Interventions

Levels of social support are strongly associated with health outcomes and inequalities. The use of lay health workers (LHWs) has been suggested by policy makers across the world as an intervention to identify risks to health and to promote health, particularly in disadvantaged communities. However, there have been few attempts to theorize the work undertaken by LHWs to understand how interventions work. In this article, the authors present the concept of 'synthetic socialsupport' and distinguish it from the work of health professionals or the spontaneous social support received from friends and family. The authors provide new empirical data to illustrate the concept based on qualitative, observational research, using a novel shadowing method involving clinical and non-clinical researchers, on the everyday work of 'pregnancy outreach workers' (POWs) in Birmingham, UK. The service was being evaluated as part of a randomized controlled trial. These LHWs provided instrumental, informational, emotional and appraisal support to the women they worked with, which are all key components of social support. The social support was 'synthetic' because it was distinct from the support embedded in spontaneous social networks: it was non-reciprocal; it was offered on a strictly time-limited basis; the LHWs were accountable for the relationship, and the social networks produced were targeted rather than spontaneous. The latter two qualities of this synthetic form of social support may have benefits over spontaneous networks by improving the opportunities for the cultivation of new relationships (both strong and weak ties) outside the women's existing spontaneous networks that can have a positive impact on them and by offering a reliable source of health information and support in a chaotic environment. The concept of SSS can help inform policy makers about how deploying lay workers may enable them to achieve desired outcomes, specify their programme theories and evaluate accordingly. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Getting Past the Language Gap: Innovations in Machine Translation

In this chapter, we will be reviewing state of the art machine translation systems, and will discuss innovative methods for machine translation, highlighting the most promising techniques and applications. Machine translation (MT) has benefited from a revitalization in the last 10 years or so, after a period of relatively slow activity. In 2005 the field received a jumpstart when a powerful complete experimental package for building MT systems from scratch became freely available as a result of the unified efforts of the MOSES international consortium. Around the same time, hierarchical methods had been introduced by Chinese researchers, which allowed the introduction and use of syntactic information in translation modeling. Furthermore, the advances in the related field of computational linguistics, making off-the-shelf taggers and parsers readily available, helped give MT an additional boost. Yet there is still more progress to be made. For example, MT will be enhanced greatly when both syntax and semantics are on board: this still presents a major challenge though many advanced research groups are currently pursuing ways to meet this challenge head-on. The next generation of MT will consist of a collection of hybrid systems. It also augurs well for the mobile environment, as we look forward to more advanced and improved technologies that enable the working of Speech-To-Speech machine translation on hand-held devices, i.e. speech recognition and speech synthesis. We review all of these developments and point out in the final section some of the most promising research avenues for the future of MT

Influence of Agricultural Use on Some Properties of Soils Developing from Post-Mining Grounds of Konin Brown Coal Mine

An attempt was made in this investigation to determine the impact of the following four systems of soil agricultural use: not subjected to any reclamation treatment, fodder-cereal reclamation treatment, rape-cereal reclamation treatment and the so-called “conservation” treatment (permanent lucerne) on the properties of soils developing from post-mining grounds. A particular attention was paid to the properties of the humus layer of the developing soils, among them, their texture which belongs to the most important soil diagnostic features. Experiments were carried out in 2010 on the experimental field of the Department of Soil Science and Reclamation of the University of Life Sciences in Poznań. A combination without mineral fertilisation (0NPK) was established on each of the analysed use systems. In the case of the fodder-cereal and rape-cereal systems, additionally, two levels of mineral fertilisation: 1NPK – in rape-cereal system (rape: 200 kg N, 70 kg PO5, 90 kg K2O; wheat: 160 kg N, 40 kg P2O5, 80 kg K2O) and in fodder- cereal (lucerne: 170 kg N, 60 kg P2O5, 150 kg K2O; wheat: 160 kg N, 40 kg P2O5, 80 kg K2O) and 2NPK were applied. The control was post-mining ground which was not subjected to any reclamation treatment. The evaluation of changes in the selected, most important soil structure parameters was based on the original methodological solution elaborated at the Department of Soil Science and Reclamation of the University of Life Sciences in Poznań in which the basic element is a regular soil aggregate of 1 cm3 volume. The following parameters were determined for such aggregates cut out from two depths of the humus layer (7 and 15 cm): dynamic water resistance (SW), static water resistance (SW), secondary aggregation after dynamic and static water action, time of capillary rise (TKMIN), capillary minimal (VKMIN) and maximal (VKMAX) water capacity and compression strength (Rc). The above-mentioned properties were determined in 5 replications. Using methods commonly employed in soil science, the following parameters were determined: texture composition, solid phase density, bulk density and porosity, hygroscopic capacity and maximal hygroscopic capacity as well as soil reaction and carbonate, carbon and nitrogen contents. Reclamation treatments applied in the course of the past 32 years and soil-forming processes taking place under their influence led to distinct changes in the morphological structure of the examined profiles, primarily, in their surface layer. The smallest morphological changes were observed in the profile sampled from the plot with long-term lucerne cultivation (so-called “conservation”). The profiles representing the fodder-cereal use system exhibited a more advanced stadium of soil-forming processes. Their humus layer was more distinctive, with dark colour, its thickness ranged from 20 to 28 cm corresponding to the depth of the performed ploughing. Identical features and better homogeneity were observed in the case of the humus horizon developed in the rape-cereal system of agricultural use, although certain differences were recorded in profile morphology depending on the level of the applied mineral fertilisation (1NPK and 2NPK). Post-mining ground which was not subjected to any reclamation treatment was found to contain the smallest quantities of organic material – carbon and nitrogen (2.65-2.84 g kg-1). The amount of oxidisable carbon in the fodder-cereal system of agricultural use was 2.5 to 3 times higher (6.45-8.82 g kg -1) than in the untreated post-mining ground irrespective of the level of mineral fertilisation. On the other hand, the amount of carbon was more varied in the rape-cereal system of use. In the case of absence of fertilisation (0NPK), this quantity was by about 50% higher in comparison with the post-mining ground and amounted to 3.1 g.kg-1. Elevated fertilisation with 1NPK and 2NPK doses increased levels of carbon to values similar as in the fodder-cereal system. The highest quantity of carbon of about 12 g.kg-1 was recorded in the humus horizon developed on the surface representing permanent lucerne (so-called “conservation”). A distinct variability was also observed in the physical properties of soils from the examined systems of agricultural use. Untreated post-mining grounds were characterised by high bulk density (1.97–2.02 Mg m-3) and, consequently, by low general porosity (23.6 to 25.3%). In the fodder-cereal use system, soil density was found to be by about 0.30 Mg m-3 lower and porosity – by about 10% higher. In the case of the rape-cereal system of agricultural use, soil density was only by about 0.1 Mg m-3 higher and general porosity – by about 5% lower in comparison with the fodder-cereal system. Bulk density and general porosity in the so-called “conservation” system of use amounted to 1.35–1.51 Mg m-3 and 42.8–48.9%, respectively, in other words, exhibited the most advantageous values of these features from the point of view of agricultural usage. Recapitulating, it should be emphasised that widely distinguished two soil-forming factors, namely: time and human activity begin to play a dominant role in the formation of soils, especially in areas which undergo large industrial geomechanical transformations mainly as a result of open-cast mining of different minerals

The influence of long-term tillage simplifications on the properties of arable layer in arenosols and luvisols

Obiektem badań były gleby Gospodarstwa Rolnego Karolew, które od ponad 10 lat uprawiane są w płodozmianie w systemie uprawy uproszczonej oraz przyległe do nich gleby gospodarstw indywidualnych, na których jest również stosowany płodozmian ale system uprawy tradycyjnej. Zasadniczym celem prowadzonych badań była wstępna ocena podstawowych właściwości fizycznych i parametrów fizykomechanicznych gleb i agregatów glebowych w wymienionych dwóch systemach uprawy. Badania przeprowadzono na modelowanych agregatach glebowych, zagęszczanych i formowanych w ściśle kontrolowanych warunkach wilgotności, temperatury i zagęszczenia. Przeprowadzone badania wykazały różnice we właściwościach fizykomechanicznych struktury agregatowej tych samych gleb w różnych systemach uprawy. Agregaty modelowane z materiału glebowego, który podlegał uproszczeniom uprawowym, cechowały się nieco mniejszą wodoodpornością, ale lepszą agregacją wtórną zarówno po statycznym, jak i dynamicznym działaniu wody. Zróżnicowane były również pojemności wodne agregatów; agregaty w systemie uprawy klasycznej wykazywały mniejszą o około 1-4% kapilarną pojemność wodną, pomimo znacznie dłuższego czasu podsiąku kapilarnego. Zdolność do pęcznienia agregatów w glebie będącej w uproszczeniu uprawowym była większa o około 2-9% od agregatów w systemie uprawy tradycyjnej.The object of the research were soils in the Karolew Farm, which have been cultivated in crop rotation and tillage simplification system for over 10 years, as well as the neighbouring soils in individual farms, also cultivated in crop rotation, yet traditional tillage system. The main aim of the research was the initial assessment of physical properties and physical and mechanical parameters of soils and soil aggregates in the two tillage systems. The study was conducted on moulded soil aggregates, which had been thickened and formed in strictly controlled conditions of humidity, temperature and compaction. The study proved differences in physical and mechanical properties in soil aggregates of the same soil but under different tillage systems. Aggregates moulded from the soil material which had undergone tillage simplifications showed slightly lower water resistance but better secondary aggregation after both static and dynamic water actions. There were also differences in the water capacity of aggregates: the capillary water capacity of aggregates under a traditional tillage system was lower by about 1-4 % despite longer capillary rise. The ability to swelling of aggregates under simplified tillage system was higher by about 2-9% than the one of aggregates under a traditional tillage system

N-Methyl-2-thiocytisine

The rings of the three-ring cytisine system in the title compound [systematic name: (1R,5S)-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexahydro-1,5-methano-8H-pyrido[1,2-a][1,5]diazocine-8-thione], C12H16N2S, have planar [maximum deviation 0.0170 (7) Å], half-chair and chair conformations. In the crystal structure, relatively short and directional C—H...π interactions and weaker secondary C—H...S contacts join the molecules into helical chains along the [001] direction

Is upper gastrointestinal bleeding still a life-threatening condition?

Background: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a common clinical problem and one of the main reasons for emergency hospitalization. It is associated with an overall mortality rate of 2% to 13%, despite advances in medical therapy. First-choice management is conservative treatment with endoscopic hemostasis. Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to examine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding with a focus on the course of hospitalization based on the etiology Material and methods: A retrospective study was conducted in the Department of Surgery at the 4th Military Teaching Hospital in the years 2011–2016, comprising a total of 200 hospitalizations. 150 (75%) of the study group were men, and the mean age was 63.6±15.8 years. Results: Patients most frequently presented with melena (n=105; 53.1%) and hematemesis (n=79; 40%) or coffee ground vomiting (n=57; 28.7%). . 138 (69%) of hemorrhages were managed with endoscopic hemostasis, and in 43 (21.5%) of cases conservative treatment was adequate. In 12 (6%) of cases, laparotomy was the first-choice therapy and in 7 (3.5%) cases, surgery was performed after an attempt at endoscopic treatment had failed. The sources of bleeding were: gastric ulcer – 58 (29%), duodenal ulcer – 48 (24%), esophageal varices – 31 (15.5%), gastric tumor – 15 (7.5%), Mallory-Weiss syndrome – 10 (5%), and Dieulafoy’s lesion – 3 (1.5%). 16 (8%) of the hospitalizations were fatal. Conclusions: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding still has a high mortality rate (8%). It more frequently affects men and the elderly. Gastric and duodenal ulcers are the most common etiologies of bleeding. Esophageal varices and neoplasms are also a significant source of bleeding. Despite the progress in the pharmacological treatment of peptic ulcers, the complications resulting from gastrointestinal bleeding continue to be a serious clinical problem