Abstract The problem of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta is real, severe, enormous, critical, and precarious and is presently calling for both national and global attention. This study sought to investigate the social dimensions of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta. The aim of the study is threefold: · First, to investigate empirically the real issues at stake and the extent of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta; · Second, to present an accurate picture of the social dimensions of environmental degradation; and · Third, to suggest some categorical imperatives that will help to alleviate the identified social problems emanating from the impact of environmental degradation. The study made use of both primary and secondary sources of data. The three sources of data include (1) The literature (2) Observation and (3) In-depth interview. These multiple methods were adopted in order to enrich the quality of the data collected for the study. The study concluded by saying that something concrete must be done by both the government and the oil companies to cushion the effects of environmental degradation on the lives of the peoples of the Niger Delta as all people have a right to a generally satisfactory environment favourable to their survival and development.


The distribution of hemoglobin (Hb) levels and the prevalence of anemia are significant public health indicators. The aims of this study were to determine the distribution of Hb levels and the prevalence of anemia according to sex, age group, and region throughout Korea.


The main objective of the current study is to investigate the role of social network theory and knowledge-based view in the innovation generation process of a supply chain of Thai Agriculture supply. By drawing on knowledge-based view we have found the three different aspects of a firm which can affect the process of innovation generation, customer–supplier exchange relationship especially environmental, technological and organizational factors that affect the innovation. Secondly, we will examine innovation generation empirically and its link with supplier–customer relationship performance which is still ambiguous issue. Thirdly we will check the moderation effect of supplier's dependence on association among the drivers of innovation generation and the result of customer supplier relationship performance. The study found that the social capital  network position of the agriculture in Thailand  firm can be affected with a unit assessment of new knowledge which is dangerous for the development of new products According to the findings  lodging a good position in the network has additional power its more likely to achieve desired planned resources like knowledge and information. Therefore, we suppose that relationship among innovation drivers and output performance will be formed in the context of supplier who is depending on customers-supplier association.


Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: Women And Men In The Land Of Lincoln Chapter Three: Tea Party Racism Is American Racism Chapter Four: Women And Gender In The Tea Party Chapter Five: Ideology and Coalition


An 83 year old Caucasian woman with necrotizing fasciitis (NF) of the right hand is described. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the only organism cultured. Serology failed to demonstrate Streptococcus pyogenes, the common pathogen of NF. Despite antibiotic therapy, gangrene supervened, necessitating digital amputation. Staphylococcus epidermidis is usually non‐pathogenic, but review of the literature indicates that it is relatively commonly found with other pathogens in NF. Accordingly, studies of immune status were undertaken. Apart from reduced myeloperoxidase production (30–50% of normal levels), all humoral, cell‐mediated and neutrophil function tests were normal. This is the first report of Staphylococcus epidermidis as the sole isolate in NF and also the only study of immune status of NF patients. It is concluded that a non‐virulent organism (e.g. Staphylococcus epidermidis) may be pathogenic in the face of advanced age alone. Elevated fibrin degradation productions were also demonstrated in the patient, consistent with lysis of localized intravascular thrombus. The role of anticoagulation in NF is discussed.


In this work, we aim to maintain the correct execution of instructions in the pipeline stages. To achieve that, the integrity for the data computed in registers during execution should be maintained via protecting the susceptible registers. Thus, we present a Double Node Upset Resilient Flip-Flop (DNUR-FF) circuit that can tolerate double errors while incurring low area and power overheads. We deploy the proposed soft-error resilient register at higher level to replace the most vulnerable registers in large-scale pipeline processors. The experimental results validate the robustness of our design by delivering superior fault coverage masking (100%) for both SEU and DNU errors. In addition, the proposed design utilizes partial spatial redundancy, and therefore, incurs reduced area overhead (31%) and realizes 58% of PDP improvement compared to Triple Module Redundancy (TMR) approach while delivering high-performance with low complexity and power consumption.


The field of pulsar astronomy encompasses a rich breadth of astrophysical topics. The research in this thesis contributes to two particular subjects of pulsar astronomy: gravitational wave science, and identifying celestial sources of pulsed radio emission. We first investigated the detection of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries, which are the brightest expected source of gravitational waves for pulsar timing. We considered whether two electromagnetic SMBH tracers, velocity-resolved emission lines in active nuclei, and radio galactic nuclei with spatially-resolved, flat-spectrum cores, can reveal systems emitting gravitational waves in the pulsar timing band. We found that there are systems which may in principle be simultaneously detectable by both an electromagnetic signature and gravitational emission, however the probability of actually identifying such a system is low (they will represent ≪1% of a randomly selected galactic nucleus sample). This study accents the fact that electromagnetic indicators may be used to explore binary populations down to the "stalling radii" at which binary inspiral evolution may stall indefinitely at radii exceeding those which produce gravitational radiation in the pulsar timing band. We then performed a search for binary SMBH holes in archival Very Long Baseline Interferometry data for 3114 radio-luminous active galactic nuclei. One source was detected as a double nucleus. This result is interpreted in terms of post-merger timescales for SMBH centralisation, implications for "stalling", and the relationship of radio activity in nuclei to mergers. Our analysis suggested that binary pair evolution of SMBHs (both of masses >108 M⊙) spends less than 500Myr in progression from the merging of galactic stellar cores to within the purported stalling radius for SMBH pairs, giving no evidence for an excess of stalled binary systems at small separations. Circumstantial evidence showed that the relative state of radio emission between paired SMBHs is correlated within orbital separations of 2.5 kpc. We then searched for transient radio events in two archival pulsar surveys, and in the new High Time Resolution Universe (HTRU) Survey. We present the methodology employed for these searches, noting the novel addition of methods for single-event recognition, automatic interference mitigation, and data inspection. 27 new neutron stars were discovered. We discuss the relationship between "rotating radio transient" (RRAT) and pulsar populations, finding that the Galactic z-distribution of RRATs closely resembles the distribution of pulsars, and where measurable, RRAT pulse widths are similar to individual pulses from pulsars of similar period, implying a similar beaming fraction. We postulate that many RRATs may simply represent a tail of extreme-nulling pulsars that are "on" for less than a pulse period; this is supported by the fact that nulling pulsars and single-pulse discoveries exhibit a continuous distribution across null/activity timescales and nulling fractions. We found a drop-off in objects with emissivity cycles longer than


This paper represents the speed control of induction motor by using voltage and frequency ratio constant. In this paper method uses a Fuzzy logic controller for high performance of single phase induction motor. The fuzzy logic controller utilizes rules obtained from input output mapping of the controlled plant. In fuzzy logic controller input is depends upon speed error and change of speed error with linguistic variable while output is depends upon the change in switching control frequency of voltage source inverter. And also air gap flux of the machine is kept constant by maintain voltage and frequency ratio constant. Keywords— Fuzzy controller, induction motor, microcontroller system.


The World Resources series is intended to meet the critical need for accessible, accurate information on some of the most pressing issues of our time. This volume focuses on the critical environmental challenges facing the world's rapidly expanding urban areas. The special section explores the range of urban environmental problems in developing and developed countries and analyzes key policies for adressing them


College student is experiencing the most imporant time in his life. So it is worth discussing and studying how to improve thd ideological work apporach for college students and stress their ideological education in the fresh situation.With the absolutely different students to be managed, the traditional approach of instillation should be changed into informing, collective activity, concrete help and situational education. In this way, the students will improve their ability for understanding, analysis, solution, psychological endurance and their ideological quality.


These days, assessment has a central role in the teaching-learning process of different subjects. Teachers are expected to shift away from traditional, dominant testing procedures and employ authentic, genuine assessment practices in today's education. When authentic assessments are incorporated into the classroom, teachers are more likely to obtain a more complete picture of what their (language) students know and can do over the course of instruction. Thus it is imperative to get a solid understanding of Performance-Based Assessment (PBA) and Formative Assessment, as the application of these kinds of assessments can have a positive impact upon (language) learning and enhance teaching as well. Therefore, in order to better apply the aforementioned assessments in the language learning classroom, this article examines authentic assessment vs. standardized assessment, PBA, authentic strategies of PBA, the historical background and conceptualization of formative assessment, the fundamentals and attributes of formative assessment and its applications, as well as it discusses formative assessment within ESL/EFL educational contexts.


The usefulness of parliamentary lists to historians interested in the biography of individual M.P.s as well as the political and parliamentary process is well established, and valuable listings have been produced to facilitate consultation of the surviving eighteenth-century examples. Only a modest percentage of the total has been published, but even this has proved of considerable assistance to historians interested in the operation and personnel of parliament in the final decades of the eighteenth century. Lord Townshend's decision, following the rejection of the privy council's money bill in 1769, to dispense with undertakers and vest the responsibility for constructing a parliamentary majority in Dublin Castle provided the stimulus for the preparation of the majority of known eighteenth-century lists. The abolition of the Irish parliament in 1800 and the return thereafter of 100 Irish M.P.s to Westminster largely liberated the Irish executive from this onerous responsibility, and the number of lists of Irish members of parliament fell sharply as a result.


The work proposed here is intended to be the first synthesis of research aimed at defining a possible model of analysis and design aimed to the reuse and regeneration of minimum urban aggregates and buildings, mainly of public housing, with high social and housing degradation. Social housing can no longer fail to consider the degrees of connection with the various social categories to which it is called to give housing answers and with the complexity of urban space in which it is rooted, looking for services and developing further degrees of interaction. Hence the need for a useful tool to highlight constraints and variables of intervention for the recovery of run-down suburbs. The particularly topical theme in Italy refers in particular to public housing neighbourhoods born after the Second World War of the last century. The objective of the analytical-deterministic tool which is introduced here in its preliminary studies is therefore to identify and balance the type of services required in a specific building aggregate, the kind of residential offer planned, the distribution, the degree of connection, the dimensions and technical articulation of spaces in relation to the urban area of reference and to the buildings that compose it. The case study focuses on a popular and peripheral neighbourhood of the city of Bari. Here, starting from a preliminary identification of building aggregates with homogeneous characteristics (similar area), it is possible to arrive at the classification of specific types of invariants and design variables. In this sense, this study becomes a preliminary tool useful to reformulate the residential spaces and services of social housing aggregates and to correct forms of social and settlement marginalisation.


Endoscopic Hemostasis in Patients With Nonvariceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding? The management of patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NVUGIB) has seen substantial evolution with the emergence of novel endoscopic methods—most recently the use of cap-mounted or overthe-scope clips (OTSCs) (1). In their article, Lau and colleagues (2) completed an important trial in patients with NVUGIB, this time assessing OTSCs. Over the past 5 years, 4 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have compared OTSCs with standard endoscopic hemostasis in NVUGIB, all with some methodological limitations. A small RCT of 66 patients suggested the superiority of OTSCs in patients with recurrent NVUGIB in whom initial standard endoscopic approaches failed (3). Subsequent RCTs have focused on OTSCs as primary therapy. The first such trial showed superiority of OTSCs, but potential methodological limitations included high control rates of recurrent bleeding, imbalances in between-group covariates, and failure to meet enrollment targets (4). Consequent, current guidelines recommend OTSCs only in the context of persistent or recurrent bleeding (5, 6). A subsequent RCT assessed first-line OTSCs principally in elderly patients, showing their superiority over standard therapy. However, investigators used epinephrine injection before OTSC application in 50% of patients and used a nonstandard routine second-look approach that may have resulted in an overestimate of benefit (7). In addition, the control group had more lesions measuring greater than 20 mm, a characteristic known to increase recurrent bleeding risk (8). This imbalance is particularly important given the small number of patients reaching the main end points. The most recent published RCT showed no differences when comparing OTSCs with usual endoscopic hemostatic methods, but only patients with peptic ulcers 1.5 cm or greater were enrolled—a target population at very high risk for experiencing rebleeding after conventional endoscopic hemostasis that accounts for only 2.5% of all peptic ulcer bleeding (9). In this trial, the statistical power was low and the technical failure rate of OTSC application was high. Thus, Lau and colleagues' additional data is welcomed and timely (2). Overall, the researchers randomly assigned 190 adult patients with active bleeding or a nonbleeding visible vessel from a NVUGIB lesion to OTSCs or standard endoscopic therapy. The 30-day probabilities of further bleeding yielded a risk difference of 11.4 percentage points (14 of 97 vs. 3 of 93 [95% CI, 3.3 to 20.0 percentage points]), favoring OTSCs. Failure to control bleeding at index endoscopy also occurred less frequently in the OTSC group (1 vs. 6; risk difference, 5.1 percentage points [CI, 0.7 to 11.8 percentage points]). There were no statistically significant differences in other preplanned outcomes. Lau and colleagues recognize limitations of their study. Perhaps most important is the statistical fragility of the results. A change in the primary end point for 2 patients in each group would have yielded nonsignificant findings. This realization does not invalidate the results but highlights the lack of robustness of its conclusions—a limitation also noted in the aforementioned STING-2 trial (7). Furthermore, as in many gastroenterology therapeutic endoscopy studies, the lack of endoscopist blinding coupled with a subjective decision in ascertainment of failure of the initial therapeutic attempt may have affected measurement of the primary outcome. In addition, protocol deviations in both groups and the potentially controversial definition of the initial primary failure end point with arbitrary exclusion of patients in whom OTSC applications could subsequently have failed, may also have unintentionally favored the OTSC group. To address this situation, a post hoc analysis with a composite end point of failure to successfully apply assigned treatment and further bleeds was done, yielding a risk difference of 9.1 percentage points that favored OTSCs but achieving only borderline statistical significance with a 95% CI of 0.004 to 18.3 percentage points. Finally, important generalizability issues and limitations relating to OTSC application warrant discussion. With almost 60% of patients recruited at only 1 of the 7 participating centers, and despite endoscopists undergoing 2 weeks of standardized training to address what is a recognized learning curve for OTSC application (9), technical issues still arose. The clip could not be positioned successfully in 5% of randomized patients, with further exclusion of 10 patients eligible for randomization who were not believed to be OTSC candidates. Although these may represent generalizability issues that limit the applicability of OTSCs in patients with NVUGIB, they must be recognized when opting for this method even if once successfully applied less rebleeding ensues (9). Additional OTSC-specific technical issues include the need for scope withdrawal, mounting of the clip, and scope reinsertion, as well as the high cost of this technology compared with most other standard endoscopic approaches. Furthermore, bleeding after clip misfire is high, and in situations of persistent bleeding despite OTSC application, endoscopic salvage may prove challenging because of the presence of the OTSC; this situation can result in a high rate of rebleeding, with rescue transarterial embolization often required (9). In the Lau and colleagues' trial, 2 patients had what were likely OTSC-specific complications, namely obstruction from pseudopolyp formation and perforation. These are rarely or never seen with other endoscopic hemostatic approaches. Additional technical considerations relating


The main objective of the study was to elicit key concepts determining the aesthetic appeal of coastal dunes and forests using the example of the Curonian Spit (Lithuania). The mixed approach included three methods: (1) paired comparison survey of 45 coastal landscapes, (2) semi-structured interviews with local inhabitants, and (3) eliciting the key aesthetic appeal concepts by a panel of experts using the Delphi technique. The results of the paired comparison survey show that the most aesthetically appealing landscapes of the Curonian Spit are: (1) white mobile dunes, (2) white dunes with grey (grassland) dunes in the background, and (3) grey dunes with white dunes in the background. The local inhabitants considered the concept of visual coherence as the best, explaining the aesthetic appeal of the dune and the forest landscapes on the spit. The experts of the Delphi survey considered that the concepts of stewardship, naturalness, imageability, and visual scale best define the scenic appeal. The appeal of the least attractive landscapes, in their opinion, was shaped by the concepts of naturalness, disturbance, and complexity. We conclude that the notions of visitors, local inhabitants and experts differ on the aesthetic appeal concepts of coastal dunes and forests, suggesting potential management conflicts.


Cellular Automata (CA) is a nature-inspired and widespread computational model which is based on the collective and emergent parallel computing capability of units (cells) locally interconnected in an abstract brain-like structure. Each such unit, referred as CA cell, performs simplistic computations/processes. However, a network of such identical cells can exhibit nonlinear behavior and be used to model highly complex physical phenomena and processes and to solve problems that are highly complicated for conventional computers. Brain activity has always been considered one of the most complex physical processes and its modeling is of utter importance. This work combines the CA parallel computing capability with the nonlinear dynamics of the memristor, aiming to model brain activity during the epileptic seizures caused by the spreading of pathological dynamics from focal to healthy brain regions. A CA-based confrontation extended to include long-range interactions, combined with the recent notion of memristive electronics, is thus proposed as a modern and promising parallel approach to modeling of such complex physical phenomena. Simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed design and the appropriate reproduction of the spreading of an epileptic seizure.


Based upon former studies concerning the nonstationary electron kinetics in collision dominated, weakly ionized plasmas the phase delay between the ac electric field component and the resultant ac electron current density has been analysed, theoretically and experimentally, under the specific conditions of a microwave field superimposed to a dc discharge plasma column. The complex plasma conductivity and thus the phase delay has been calculated by solving an appropriate electron kinetic equation. The same quantities have been experimentally determined by using the microwave cavity which operates with different resonator modes. A comprehensive comparison between calculated and measured quantities for different neon discharge plasmas leads to a complete confirmation of the theoretical expectations.


Dendritic cells (and/or macrophages) are key transporters of antigen from extralymphatic tissue to secondary lymphatic organs. The phagocytized antigen is presented via MHC class II but not via class I, except for infections by intracellular viruses, bacteria, etc. (1–4).

Class II-negative cells (e.g., fibroblasts) that get drained to secondary lymphatic organs (including spleen) induce MHC class I restricted CD8 T cells' cell responses as efficiently as dendritic cells (5–7).

So called crosspresentation is at least 105 times less efficient than direct presentation and therefore is practically not achievable under physiological conditions (5–8).

If antigen accumulates in the endoplasmic (ER) reticulum because of transport problems, crosspresentation on to MHC class I can be demonstrated. This requires gigantic amounts of antigen accumulation in the ER, but this process has so far been difficult to quantitate in comparison to direct presentation (9).

Positive demonstration of crosspresentation in experiments is sometimes based on use of excessive amounts of protein antigen (e.g., OVA) and/or the use of unphysiological (i.e., much too sensitive) detection method, e.g., using very high frequencies of transgenic T cells (e.g., OVA-specific tgCD8+ T cells). In some experiments, virus inactivation is not controlled properly, permitting abortive (but not virus productive) infections that seemingly suggest crosspresentation instead of direct presentation [e.g., Ref. (8)].

An insulin-producing allogeneic cell graft strictly transplanted under the kidney capsule is accepted for more than >200 days by the host, but is promptly rejected if at the time of transplantation, or a few days later, the same cells are also given i.p. or i.v. (10) Once accepted, the allogeneic strictly peripheral cell graft is highly resistant to rejection by a transplanted corresponding allogeneic skin graft (or dendritic cells). This skin graft is rejected in a primary fashion, signaling absence of direct or indirect priming by the original allogeneic cell graft indicating absence of priming by the original cell graft. This prompt skin rejection does not cause rejection of the insulin-producing cell graft (10).

A strictly extralymphatic (7) tumor expressing a very strong and defined viral antigen (similar to insulin-producing self-beta-cells or allogeneic islet cells (10–12) can grow successfully to become lethal tumors. This depends on the condition that at the time of syngeneic tumor cell transplantation no (or too few) tumor cells escape/or drain to secondary lymphatic organs (7). This potentially early direct immunization is distinct from the late process of metastasis to secondary lymphatic organs that very often represent immune escape of tumor cells (e.g., MHC mutants, mutations of the T cell epitope, barrier formation by fibrin, coagulation, etc.)


Objective To develop a visual genechip with magnetic beads for detection of norovirus.Methods In the glass chip,streptavidin-coated magnetic beads were used as markers and biotinylated oligonucleotides as sample.The results of the tests were analyzed.Results The sensitivity of the method was 50ng.The results of o 20 streptavidin and biotin samples were observed by the naked eyes or by an ordinary microscope.There 6 fecal samples were positive for norovirus,in which one sample belonged to norovirus type Ⅰ,five samples belonged to norovirus type Ⅱ.The other 14 samples were negative.Conclusion This method is efficient,practical and visual.It could be used to detect samples containing the norovirus typeⅠand Ⅱ,it can meet the requirements of the customs for rapid detection of norovirust.


In the search and rescue efforts soon after disaster such as floods, the time critical activities of survivor detection and localization can be solved by using thermal long-wave infrared (LWIR) cameras which are more robust to illumination and background textures than visual cameras. This particular problem is especially challenging due to the limited computational power available on-board commercial drone platforms and the requirement of real-time detection and localization. However, the detection of humans in low resolution infrared imagery is possible due to the few hot spots that appear due to the heat signature. We propose a two-stage approach for human detection in LWIR images: (1) the application of Maximally Stable Extremal Regions (MSER) to detect hot spots instead of background subtraction or sliding window and (2) the verification of the detected hot spots using Integral Channel Features (ICF) based descriptors and a Naive Bayes classifier. The approach is validated by testing on an LWIR image dataset containing low resolution videos in real-time. The approach is novel since it achieves high detection rates while possessing a low computational runtime, and unlike several related works in human detection, without assuming that the targets are moving in the image frame.


Among fifty four screened wheat cultivars, RSP-81, C-306, VP-2765 and PBW-642 recorded maximum values (1.72 to 1.58%)in resistant starch(RS) content, whereas phytic acid (PA) content found minimum values (0.40 to 0.49 mg/100g) in RSP-529, RSP-566, HD-2687 and PBW-396 grains. Amylose content, similar to RS, also recorded highest values in VP-2765, RSP-81, C-306, PBW-642, RSP-564 and RSP-529 cultivars. Twenty one top performing cultivars, assessed on the basis of high RS andlow PA levels, were further investigated for other essential quality parameters. Starch, total protein, lysine, total sugarand fat contents were shown maximum in RSP-561 and HD-2687, HD-2687 and RSP-561, RSP-529, RSP-529 and RSP-511, respectively. In micro-nutrient, RSP-529 was found most potential revealing highest levels in carotene and iron (7.15mg/100g), (148.05μg/100g) and antioxidant (37.89% along with highvalues in zinc, calcium and phosporus. However, RSP-561, PBW-396 and PBW-550 possessed maximum values in zinc (5.79 mg/100g Zn), calcium (51.0 mg/100g Ca) and phosphorus (87.76 mg/100g P), respectively. Overall observations revealed that RSP-529 grain possessed very low starch (66.25%)content along with maximum lysine and micro- nutrients contents and lowest PA content, besides high values in protein(11.59%) and RS (1.4%) contents and hence RSP-529 is corroborated to be nutritionally best for diabetic persons among thefifty four wheat varieties investigated. C-306, which recorded highest RS content but lower PA, starch and sugar contentsalong with higher values in protein, lysine, iron, calcium and zinc contents, is also considered as good performer in this context. Moreover, RSP-561, HD-2687 and PBW-396, which carried maximum protein and minimum sugar contents alongwith higher values of lysine and micronutrient, RS levels and low PA values in grains, also may stand good position incontext to nutrition for diabetic persons.


Abstract:In Herta Müller's works, trauma characterizes the experience and continuing effects of the repressive regime in Romania; it informs both the content and the style of her writing. This article traces the development of Müller's representation of trauma in her prose texts and collages: the prose texts describe traumatic events, while the collages embody the dissociation and fragmentation which result from trauma; both focus on images of the body. The split in her œuvre allows Müller's prose works to move towards articulation, while the texts on the collages are increasingly playful and poetic.


The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has developed an innovative software tool, called GeoMiler, that is helping researchers better estimate freight travel. GeoMiler is being used to compute mileages along likely routes for the nearly 6 million freight shipments expected to be reported in the 2007 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS), the nation's largest survey of freight movements. These computations are used in estimating modal ton-miles of freight—a key measure for understanding the use and performance of our nation's freight transportation system. BTS, part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), developed GeoMiler using current Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to assign routes and calculate mileage from the true origin to the true destination of each freight shipment even when more than one freight mode is used. While developed for use in the CFS, the tool's integration of core GIS technology and its modeling approach can be used for any multimodal freight movement at all geographic levels.


This study is a part of the valorization of extract from three most commonly used Algerian spices, namely; caraway and cumin seeds and cinnamon bark. On the one hand, it aims at characterizing the chemical indices of extracted essential oils and evaluating the antibacterial activity of each essential oil by titration and disc diffusion method respectively. On the other hand, it attempts at evaluating the combined action of essential oils against four reference pathogenic bacterial strains, namely Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecalis by well and Chabbert-type diffusion method. The essential oils obtained by the hydrodistillation method have a relatively average extraction about 1.43, 2.3 and 2.5%, respectively for caraway, cumin, and cinnamon. The acid index indicates the behavior and amount of free acids present in the essential oil, in which the acid and saponification indices of cinnamon essential oil indicate a value of 4.48 and 168.56 respectively. It can also inform us about the susceptibility of the oil to undergo alterations. The antibacterial activity results showed that cinnamon essential oil (EO) proved to be the most active against the tested bacterial strains; caraway EO was active against Enterococcus faecalis, and the antibacterial action of cumin EO was the lowest. However, the association of the extracted essential oils has a higher synergistic effect than the independent effect of each essential oil, in which the MIC value found was estimated at 10 to 20 (V/V), 40 to 50 (V/V) and 50 to 70 (V/V) respectively for cinnamon, cumin and caraway. The obtained results show that the response to the antibacterial activity varies according to the plant species used and the extract tested alone or in combination.


Research subject. This report examines the current situation in poultry egg sector development in countries of Eastern Europe, features and challenges for Ukrainian eggs sector. The aim of the work is to summarize theoretical and practical aspects of improving the economic efficiency of poultry industry enterprises, to analyse the current state of the organization of egg poultry production, to develop and substantiate general recommendations for improving the state of the poultry industry at specialized enterprises. The methodology of the study includes statistical methods and methods of economic and comparative analysis, etc. The article presents the results of research on the dynamics of poultry development in Eastern Europe and Ukraine in particular. The movement of poultry, the level of poultry production and the production of chicken eggs, consumption of poultry products are analysed. The functional and organizational structure of the poultry business in Ukraine is developed. The general structure of poultry production allocation is provided, which proves the formation of poultry farming as an industrial business and reduction in the share of poultry keeping in households due to the concentration of production in specialized enterprises. The main producers of poultry products in Ukraine are revised. The dynamics of sales prices for chicken eggs and main factors influencing its annual fluctuations are investigated. The export potential of poultry farming is analysed, as well as the main importer countries of Ukrainian poultry production. The issue of modern challenges and problem areas of production of the corresponding products is investigated, concerning less manoeuvrability of small poultry farms, their inability to influence the conjuncture of the poultry market. The main threats to the activities of enterprises are named, first of all, by external factors: the economic situation in the country, which affects purchasing power of buyers, the level of egg prices, increased competition from large enterprises and enterprises of EU member states, livestock diseases and the epidemiological situation in the country. The analysis of the possibilities of further development of poultry farms, taking into account the existing potential and modern poultry business problems, is carried out. The main directions for improving production with the aim of improving the efficiency of the poultry industry are determined: improving biotechnological processes, providing a set of measures improving poultry, compliance stocking density of birds in the poultry house, proper nutrition by scientifically grounded norms of consumption of nutrients and elements; improvement of methodological basis of state supervision over the quality and safety of food products and raw materials; creation of modern instrumental analytical framework and quality control and safety of food raw materials and foodstuffs, etc.


Abstract : Tests are conducted to determine the resistance to load of various steel samples at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 300-500C. Steels with a higher titanium and vanadium content were shown to be the most resistant. Nickel introduced in amounts of 1 to 1.2% exerts no noticeable effect on resistance but promotes an increase in carbon content. (Author)


Global climate change is affecting important natural resources including water. Increasing temperature will change rate of evaporation and transpiration, leading to variations in water availability, ground water recharge, and water consumption by plants. Thus, competition for water will be a major future challenge for agriculture. Increasing water productivity at farm level is necessary to increase the efficiency of the irrigation system, plant water−use efficiency (WUE) and to optimize irrigation management. We test the hypothesis that in field−grown, drip−irrigated nectarine trees, the roots in the un−irrigated inter−row soil produce chemical signals that increase in summer to induce stomatal closure and so increase WUE. Concentrations of abscisic acid (ABA) were determined in leaf, root, and xylem sap of drip−irrigated (D) trees in which only about 25% of the soil volume was wetted and compared with those of trees irrigated using microjets (M) in which the whole soil volume was wetted. We also examined the effects of increased ABA on root−to−shoot dry matter ratio, the ratio ABA to indole−3−acetic acid (IAA), sap pH, and fruit and shoot growth. Both D and M trees were maintained at optimal water status as judged by pre−dawn leaf water potentials (about −0.3 MPa). There were no significant differences between treatments in mean fruit size (fruit diameter) or in tree yield (total fruit weight). However, shoot length was strongly reduced in D trees (to 75%) compared to M trees (100%). The concentrations of ABA in the inter−row roots of D trees were increased by 59% and that in the leaves by 13% compared to in the M trees. Despite the similar water status of D and M trees, a clear chemical signal was triggered in terms of a significant increase in the ABA/IAA ratio. This signal influenced leaf stomatal conductance which was 40% lower in D trees than in M trees. The associated responses in photosynthesis and transpiration raised the WUE of D trees by 7%–10% compared to M trees. This field study shows that in drip−irrigated trees, an ABA root−to−shoot signal issues from the inter−row roots growing in soil that dries out during a Mediterranean summer (hot, low rainfall). This ABA−induced WUE increase was achieved principally through reduced stomatal conductance and reduced transpiration.


In this paper I argue that there is no one-to-one relationship between syntactic position and informational value in Mandarin Chinese. To my mind the lian ... ye/dou construction carries new information. Hence Tsao's analysis (1990) of Han ... ye/dou as a topic marker is rejected.


After the mid-Tang Dynasty,along with the rise of the tea ceremony,people attached great importance to identify,evaluate and select water for tea beverage.At the same time,many poets in the Tang Dynasty expressed their own personal feeling about the spring,rivers and streams of pure sweet water when prepared tea.They triumphed and praised their innermost strong feeling with their poetry which gave to the living soul of the tea ceremony.The author also researches and compares the identification and evaluation standards of tea beverage from Lu Yu,Liu Bochu and Chang Youxin.


Ad-hoc networks are attractive, since they can provide a high level of connectivity without the need of a fixed infrastructure. Nodes that are not within the same transmission range communicate through multi-hops, where intermediate nodes act as relays. Mutual cooperation of all the participating nodes is necessary for proper operation of MANET. However, nodes in MANET being battery-constrained, they tend to behave selfishly while forwarding packets. In this paper, we have investigated the security of MANET AODV routing protocol by identifying the impact of selfish nodes on it. It was observed that due to the presence of selfish nodes, packet loss in the network increases and the performance of MANET degrades significantly. Finally a game theoretic approach is used to mitigate the selfishness attack. All the nodes in MANET should cooperate among themselves to thwart the selfish behavior of attacker nodes.


Sexual conflict over mating may induce male mate-guarding prolonged in time in the absence of males, via devices such as mating plugs, widespread in insects. In most Lepidoptera, internal plugs are common, while in some butterfly families large external devices, called sphragides, evolved independently. Lack of, or incomplete sphragis in a few individuals were reported in sphragis-bearing species. Previous studies focused on typifying species-specific devices in a few specimens of many species. In contrast, we investigated alternative mate-guarding devices in detail of a sphragis-bearing butterfly. We conducted a six-year observational field study in a Clouded Apollo Parnassius mnemosyne population. Inspecting 492 females, we identified 3 different devices, filament, stopple and shield (i.e., sphragis) increasing in size and structure complexity, implying differential male investment and effectiveness in securing paternity. Shield dimensions, colour and all devices' shapes varied considerably. Shields were far more frequent than other devices. Some devices were lost, and a few were video-recorded when removed by males, showing the role of different parts of male external genitalia. We discuss potential causes of device variation and the role of removal attempts, and assess potential costs and benefits for both sexes.


Somatic embryogenesis applied for clonal propagation of cocoa plants efficiency is still low, so that the objective of this investigation was to assess the response of the cotyledons from primary somatic embryos as explant source to induce somatic embryogenesis secondary (ESS) in presence of phytohormones and without these, in the cocoa genotype INIFAP 1 as well as describe the events of the ESS from 30 to 240 days of culture. Use of the phytohormones 2,4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and thidiazuron (TDZ), are important for primary somatic embryogenesis in cocoa. In the present investigation four treatments were established with fregment cotyledon, with phytohormones 2,4-D and TDZ in combination and independently, including a control without phytohormones.The results shown indicate that cotyledon fragments cultured without phytohormones favors ESS, obtaining an average of six secondary somatic embryos (ESs) at 210 days of culture against one for the treatment supplemented with TDZ. The apical meristem and radicular appeared in a period of 240 days, somatic embryos were observed by external structures as: cotyledons, apexes and roots. The apical meristem and radicular appeared in a period of 240 days, somatic embryos were observed by external structures as: cotyledons, apexes and roots. The results showed that the exclusion of 2,4-D and the thidiazuron they are not important to induce the ESS.The major number of ESs was found in a medium devoid of fitohormones so this information is relevant, because the cotyledon explants from primary somatic embryos, generate greater number of ESs in this species. These results constitute the first report of the induction of ESs without phytohormones.


This report also reveals other gaps in our understanding of the impact of opioids on construction workers. For example, Section 2 contains the surprising finding that the percentage of construction workers who used prescribed opioids, on average, is slightly lower than workers in all industries combined. Our assumption before conducting this analysis was the reverse, given that construction has one of the highest injury rates of all industries, particularly musculoskeletal disorders that often result in chronic pain and long-term pain management. One possible explanation for this counter-intuitive finding: construction workers are less likely to have health insurance than workers in other major industry sectors, and so they may be less likely to receive a prescription for opioids than workers in other sectors.


Summary Under the influence of crop and soil the composition of the soil fauna may vary con siderably. However the frequency of some species under a particular crop differed between soil types. Tillage, in particular, affects the vertical distribution of the springtail and mite popula tions. In uncultivated soil almost all the springtails and mites occurred in the top 5 cm. In normally tilled soil the soil fauna was more evenly distributed in the top soil. Small cylinders inserted into the soil, in which leaf discs were enclosed in coarse and in fine sand, showed considerable differences in the composition of the soil fauna present. Most likely, mites and springtails are especially affected by the soil structure, the moisture condition and the microflora present, which is also determined by the crop grown in this soil.


A new rotor noise prediction system called the Tiltrotor Aeroacoustic Code (TRAC) has been developed under the Short Haul (Civil Tiltrotor) program between NASA, the Army, and the U.S. helicopter industry. This system couples the comprehensive rotorcraft code CAMRAD.Mod1 with either the high resolution sectional loads code HIRES or the full potential CFD code FPRBVI to predict unsteady blade loads, which are then input to the noise prediction program WOPWOP. In this paper, HIRES will be used to predict the blade-vortex interaction (BVI) noise trends associated with blade shape. The baseline shape selected was a 17 percent scale model of a contemporary design 4 bladed rotor. Measurements for this rotor were acquired in the Duits-Nederslandse Windtunnel (DNW). The code is used to predict noise for the base configuration and the results are compared to the measured data. This provides a firm foundation for investigating the BVI noise trends associated with blade shape. The shapes selected for study are based on variation of sweep and taper which reflect plausible "passive" design concepts. Comparisons of power required, integrated noise, and aerodynamics are made and important trends are noted.


BackgroundA big portion of adolescent school children suffers from mental health problems. Low self-control and mindfulness are positively associated with poor mental health. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the effect of Surya Namaskara (SN) on mental health, self-control, and mindfulness among school children.Method63(39 female and 24 male) students (mean age = 14.24 years and SD = 0.42 years) studying at 9th grade in a private school in Karnataka, India were recruited as participants of the study. The design of the present study was a non-randomized two arms design. Students in grade 9 section 'A' (N= 33) were selected as the intervention group. Whereas, students in grade 9 section 'B' (N = 30) were considered as a control group. Students in the intervention group were given SN for 15 days. The participants were administrated the Brief Self-control Scale (BSCS), Mindfulness, Attention and Awareness Scale for Adolescents (MAAS-A), and General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) questionnaires on the baseline and after 15 days of intervention. ResultsFindings of the present study showed a significant difference in MAAS-A scores [F (1, 54) = 18.47, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.26] in within group comparison. There was also a significant interaction (Times*Groups) for BSCS [F (1, 54) = 4.89, p = 0.031, ηp2 = 0.08] and MAAS-A [F (1, 54) = 6.63, p = 0.013, ηp2 = 0.12] scores. Post-hoc analysis showed SN group has significantly high post BSCS score (p = 0.005) and MAAS-A score (p = 0.005) compared to control group. Similarly, there was a significant high BSCS score (p = 0.003) and MAAS-A score (p < 0.001) after SN intervention compare to their respective pre scores. There was no significant change in the GHQ-12 scores in both groups in pre-post comparison.ConclusionThe finding of the present study showed that SN improves self-control and mindfulness in adolescent school children. However, the results of the current study should be confirmed by future studies with robust research design, a large sample size, and advanced tools.


Before the introduction of modern combination chemother-apy, the acute leukaemias were rapidly fatal. Over the past40years, successive clinical trials have demonstrated steadilyimproving outcome with marked improvement in survivaland, in many cases, cure. The goal of the treatment ofacute leukaemias is to induce complete remission (CR).The criteria for CR include achievement of haematolog-ical CR plus the absence of any signs or symptoms ofextramedullary leukaemia. Criteria for a haematological CRinclude attainment of a normocellular bone marrow with lessthan 5% blasts, peripheral blood without blasts, a neutrophilcount higher than 1000/µl, and a platelet count higher than100000/µl. Only patients who achieve CR can be poten-tially cured. A cytogenetic CR is defined as the inability todetect leukaemic blast cells that have cytogenetic abnormal-ities using standard analysis, once CR has been achieved.Molecular CR includes the inability to detect any residualleukaemia-specific gene product. As a result of supportivecare failure, patients can die from the therapy used to induceremission, but more commonly, the leukaemia can be resis-tant to therapy. This manifests as failure to achieve CR inprimary refractory leukaemia or as recurrent disease after aperiod in CR. Relapse free survival (RFS) counts relapse anddeath in CR and is used as evidence that a specific treatmentis ineffective.The World Health Organization (WHO) classification ofacute myeloid leukaemias (AMLs) Harris


Creative thinking is the soul of design education.Teachers and students should adapt to the development of the information age and focus on knowledge globalization.Visual communication design education reform is about not only new knowledge in the content but also new knowledge in the form.Nowadays,visual communication design has become a multi-element and multi-disciplinary design disciplines direction,which makes people adapt to the development of information dissemination actively in the digital age,and grasp the main morphological characteristics of visual communication as the era of digital media information dissemination.We should find the change about people in the digital media environment to install innovative and practical visual communication design comprehensive experimental courses.


SUMMARY Interest in the use of supercomputers for the direct numerical calculation of turbulence prompts the development of efficient numerical techniques so that calculation at higher Reynolds numbers might be made. This paper presents an efficient pseudo-spectral technique, similar to but different from others that have recently appeared, for the calculation of momentum and heat transfer to a constant-property, turbulent fluid in a two-dimensional channel with walls at different, uniform temperature. The code uses no empiricism, although periodic boundary conditions are used for fluctuating quantities in the streamwise and spanwise directions. Calculations were made for a Prandtl number of 072 and Reynolds number based on friction velocity and channel half-height of 180 or 2800 based on channel half-height and average velocity. Calculations of mean velocity profile, turbulence intensities, skewness, flatness, Reynolds stress and eddy diffusivity of heat near a wall compare favourably with experimental results. Representative contour plots of the temperature field near the wall and of the spanwise and streamwise two-point velocity correlations are given. Deficiencies are that the calculation requires many hours on a fast computer with a large high-speed memory and that the grid size in each direction for appropriate resolution is approximately proportional to the square of the Reynolds number and to the Prandtl number raised to some power greater than one.


Objectives: To examine the effect of referral to an alcohol health worker (AHW) on levels of alcohol consumption, AE at 12 months alcohol consumption and quality of life (EQ-5D) were assessed. Hospital data was used to determine re-attendance. An analysis of costs associated with screening patients, attending an AHW session and AED attendance was undertaken. Analysis: 599 of 1167 hazardous drinkers met inclusion criteria and were randomised. Thirty-six per cent were lost to follow-up. Data was analysed on an intention to treat basis. Participants in the Treatment condition had significantly lower levels of consumption than Controls at six-month follow-up. Treatment participants attended the AED significantly less often than Controls; a number needed to treat analysis found that every two patients referred to the AHW prompted one less re-attendance. There were no significant differences between groups on the GHQ-12 or EQ-5D. Conclusions: Screening and brief intervention for alcohol misuse in the AED is feasible and results in lower levels of alcohol consumption over the following 12 months. Reduced alcohol consumption is associated with lower levels of reattendance in the AED, which in turn offsets the costs of screening and providing brief intervention.


We analyse the capacity of a simultaneous quantum secure direct communication scheme between the central party and other M parties via M+1-particle GHZ states and swapping quantum entanglement. It is shown that the encoding scheme should be secret if other M parties wants to transmit M+1 bit classical messages to the centre party secretly. However, when the encoding scheme is announced publicly, we prove that the capacity of the scheme in transmitting the secret messages is 2 bits, no matter how large M is.


Dimensional stability derivatives gathered from a simulator during the development of the XV-4B aircraft have been varied one and two at a time in a computer program for extracting the roots of the lateral-directional characteristic equation. These roots have been used to provide complex plane plots indicating the effect of derivative variation on the dynamic characteristics of the vehicle. Secondary plots have been used to show the breakdown of the elements making up each derivative. The sources for these elements and factors affecting their prediction have been examined, along with changes required to modify the vehicle's dynamic characteristics. Some comparisons are made with other vehicles.


The results are reported of a study to determine the effect of weathering and aging on the efficiency of some impregnated charcoals in absorbing and retaining halogens and organic halides. The purpose is to establish the optimum charcoal for use in the N Reactor confinement system. Charcoals exposed for six months in the Zone I ventilation system showed little change in the retention efficiencies for elemental iodine, but the methyl iodide retention was severely degraded in all cases. The loss of efficiency of methyl iodide retention was attributed to the accumulation of organic pollutants. (JSR)


The Council for the Accreditation of Education Programs (CAEP)—the professional accreditation organization for teacher education programs in the U.S.—has charged a high level Commission with the development of new standards for accreditation to govern the programs that it accredits. CAEP is the product of an amalgamation of two earlier accrediting organizations—the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC). To support the process developing new standards, CAEP has asked Dr. Peter Ewell of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) to prepare this background paper on recent trends and promising practices in accreditation.


Due to greater budget restrictions and the popularity of online learning education institutes are increasingly adopting massive open online courses. One disadvantage is however the lack of individualized student support, resulting in questionable learning outcomes. Chatbots could act as such an individualized scaffold for students and therefore be a useful tool to improve student learning success. Having this in mind, we present a design science research dialogue model for designing a chatbot and its dialogue in a problem-based learning scenario, intended for use in education and online courses especially. We also propose seven design goals for designing a chatbot dialogue on which we then evaluate the model.


This study challenges two general opinions concerning the beginning of iron-making in blast furnaces in early medieval times in one of Sweden's oldest mining district, (I) that iron was the reason ...


Introduction: Appropriate feedback is crucial for quality improvement, productivity, and growth. There is a scarcity of information on the effect of unsolicited negative feedback (USNF). Our current study aimed to investigate the impact of USNF on motivation, performance, and mental well-being. Methods: Data was collected on a 5-point Likert scale by a survey of 10 validated questions asking the impact of USNF around three themes: 1. "Mental Health," 2. "Motivation," and 3. "Performance." The rationale of the questions was to investigate the negative emotional state and its impact on confidence, motivation, and performance of similar activities after getting USNF. Additionally, it impacts the mental state of anger, sadness, and self-criticism. Results: A total of 38 participants completed the questionnaire. The agreement after USNF was 57.8% to develop harsh or critical self-talk, 76.3% for mood changes, 57.8% helps to learn, and 63% helps to fix things received on positive feedback. A total of 86.8% need time to reflect, 76.3% need time to process, 65.78% try to avoid USNF, 31.57% start to avoid people who give USNF, and 23.68% try to prove themselves to those who give USNF. The results showed a strong correlation between a person's need for time to process emotions and demand for space to process emotions and forecasting memories after the USNF. Conclusion: The psychological implications of USNF can be profound, leading to long-term negative effects on mental health, motivation, and performance. Training individuals to deliver negative feedback in a more constructive and positive manner is essential to mitigate these detrimental consequences.


(57) Abstract: The present invention is defective recombinant viruses, in preferably at least two nucleic acids encoding different enzymes, proteins and / or co-factors involved in the reverse transport of cholesterol, these nucleic acid transcriptional promoter operatively linked to a adenovirus, characterized in that are separated from one another by a sequence encoding an internal ribosome entry site IRES. The present invention further provides useful plasmid construct for the preparation of these adenoviruses, the cells transformed by these plasmids or adenovirus, and to pharmaceutical compositions containing the adenovirus.


The ovarian hormone estrogens promote binge alcohol drinking and contribute to sex differences in alcohol use disorder. However, the mechanisms for estrogen-induced binge drinking are largely unknown. This study aims to test if estrogens act on 5-hydroxytryptamine neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (5-HTDRN) to promote binge drinking. We used the drinking in the dark (DID) behavioral test in mice to mimic binge drinking in humans. We found that female mice drank more alcohol than male mice in chronic DID tests. This sex difference was associated with distinct alterations in mRNA expression of estrogen receptor α (ERα) and 5-HT-related genes in the DRN, suggesting a potential role of estrogen/ERs/5-HT signaling in binge alcohol drinking. In supporting this view, 5-HTDRN neurons from naïve male mice had lower baseline neuronal firing activity but higher sensitivity to alcohol-induced excitation compared to 5-HTDRN neurons from naïve female mice. Notably, this higher sensitivity was blunted by 17β-estradiol treatment in males, indicating an estrogen-dependent mechanism. We further showed that both ERα and ERβ are expressed in 5-HTDRN neurons, whereas ERα agonist propyl pyrazole triol (PPT) depolarizes 5-HTDRN neurons and ERβ agonist diarylpropionitrile (DPN) hyperpolarizes 5-HTDRN neurons. Notably, both PPT and DPN treatments blocked the stimulatory effects of alcohol on 5-HTDRN neurons in males, despite the fact that they have antagonistic effects on the activity dynamics of 5-HTDRN neurons. These results suggest that ERs' inhibitory effects on ethanol-induced burst firing of 5-HTDRN neurons may contribute to higher levels of binge drinking in females. Consistently, chemogenetic activation of ERα- or ERβ-expressing neurons in the DRN reduced binge alcohol drinking. These results support a model in which estrogens act on ERα/β to prevent alcohol-induced activation of 5-HTDRN neurons, which in return leads to higher binge alcohol drinking.


Background: Dynamic limb valgus, particularly high knee abduction moments, are a known risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. High knee abduction moments may result from poor static anatomic limb alignment, faulty biomechanics, or a combination of both. The distinction is important because anatomic limb alignment is difficult to change, while dynamic factors can be addressed through neuromuscular or biomechanical training. Hypothesis/Purpose: This study assessed the influence of static (lower extremity anatomic alignment) and dynamic (kinematic and kinetic) factors on external knee abduction moments during side-step cutting in uninjured adolescent athletes. Methods: This retrospective study included 43 adolescents with recent unilateral ACL reconstruction (mean age 15.3 years, SD 2.0, range 10-21; 17/43 female; 3-12 months post-surgery, mean 6.5, SD 2.1). Frontal plane hip to ankle imaging (EOS) was used to measure mechanical axis deviation (perpendicular distance from the center of the femoral condyles to the mechanical axis line connecting the center of the femoral head to the center of the talar dome) and tibial-femoral angle. Femoral anteversion was measured during physical examination. 3D motion capture provided lower extremity kinematics and kinetics during quiet standing and during the loading phase (initial contact to peak knee flexion) of an anticipated 45° side-step cut, with 2-3 trials per limb averaged for analysis. Relationships among imaging, static motion capture, and dynamic motion capture measures were investigated using correlation, and backward stepwise linear regression was used to evaluate potential predictors of average dynamic knee abduction moment. Results: Dynamic knee abduction moment was best predicted by a combination of dynamic measures: knee and hip abduction, external knee rotation, lateral trunk lean towards the planting foot, and ankle inversion during cutting (Table 1.1). Although EOS frontal plane tibial-femoral angle was correlated with dynamic knee abduction moment (r=0.24, p=0.02), no static/anatomic variables entered the model once the dynamic measures were included. Conclusion: Knee abduction moments during side-step cutting were related to dynamic factors reflecting frontal plane trunk, hip, knee, and ankle motion, as well as external knee rotation. Static (anatomic) lower limb alignment did not influence knee abduction moments once these dynamic factors were considered. Knee abduction moments and ACL injury risk are therefore not dictated by anatomic alignment and can be altered through neuromuscular/biomechanical training. Table 1.1. Multivariable prediction of average knee abduction moment during cutting (R2=0.69) β P Dynamic ankle eversion -0.35 <0.001 Dynamic knee external rotation 0.69 <0.001 Dynamic hip abduction 0.18 0.004 Dynamic trunk contralateral lean 0.17 0.007 Dynamic knee abduction 0.39 <0.001


This paper analyzes water resources quality water environment Pollution status quo and pollution sourceliving sewage the volume of water displacement, and puts forwand control objective.


Context Many tree and shrub species are underestimated fodder resources due to insufficient knowledge about their potential feeding value, especially for goats. Aims The present work aimed at assessing productive and nutritional attributes of the foliage of the following four temperate tree species widespread in Europe: Acer pseudoplatanus, Fraxinus excelsior, Salix caprea and Sorbus aucuparia. Methods Leaf length and biomass, proximate composition, fatty acid profile, phenolic composition and in vitro true dry matter digestibility were determined along the vegetative season. Key results The leaf length of the four species was significantly related to leaf biomass and can be considered as a proficient proxy for estimating leaf biomass. The differences found among the species were remarkable, although weakly related to temporal changes, especially when considering fatty acid and phenolic compositions. Fraxinus excelsior sprouts were the most productive, with a mean biomass of 13.2 g dry matter (DM) per sprout at the end of the growing season. Its foliage showed also the lowest phenolic concentrations (average total extractable phenols of 11.25 g/kg DM), resulting in the highest digestibility values (average in vitro true dry matter digestibility of 56.5 g/kg DM). Digestibility of S. aucuparia was similar, but its lower polyunsaturated fatty acid concentration (average value of 62.13 g/kg DM) could reduce the interest for this species as a feeding resource for goat dairy products with healthy properties. The lower digestibility found for A. pseudoplatanus and S. caprea (average values of 43.3 and 46.2 g/kg DM, respectively) may be related to their higher phenolic concentrations (average total extractable phenols of 45.9 and 47.3 g/kg DM, respectively). Conclusions The four species could represent an appealing feedstuff for goat nutrition, due to the valuable and complementary nutritional characteristics of their foliage. Implications The use of the studied species as fodder resource may be particularly relevant during drought periods and in the late summer when herbage quality decreases, especially in terms of crude protein and fatty acid profile.


The purpose of the study the improvement of early diagnostics of Lyme disease on the based of clinical and epidemiological analysis of the main clinical forms of the acute course of the disease in new natural foci in the Krasnodar Krai. Patients and methods. There was analyzed the clinical course of disease and epidemiological data for 207 patients in the early period of acute course of Lyme disease within the period from 2004 to 2013. Results. In the territory of the Krasnodar Krai and the Republic of Adygea there has formed a set of foci of tick-borne borreliosis (TB), i.e. Lyme disease (LD). The infection of cases is observed not only in the natural foci of disease, but also within the city limits. The disease is registered mainly in the erythematous form (74% of patients), non-erythematous form accounts for 26%. The average age of patients was 41,1±1,83, years, males 38%, females 62%. In the non-erythematous form initial clinical symptoms are recorded in average in 11,6 ± 2,20 days after tick suction; in the erythematous form in 6,4 ± 0,70 days ( p <0.05). The greatest difficulties are arised in the diagnosis of the non-erythematous form of TB running with prolonged fever and central nervous system involvement. Initial clinical manifestations of non-erythematous forms are symptoms of meningitis or meningoencephalitis of serous nature, and defeat of the third pair of cranial nerves. In the erythematous form of TB there are observed symptoms of peripheral nervous system damage in the form of radiculopathies. Regardless of the clinical form, in the first month of disease diffuse myocardial changes (55.3%) or conduction disorders of varying severity ( 7.1%) are recorded. Conclusion. In clinical diagnostics of TB distributed in the Krasnodar Krai, the early manifestation of signs of involvement of he nervous and cardiovascular systems must be considered. The formation of new natural foci of TB requires the in-depth clinical and epidemiological study, introduction of the different methods of serological diagnosis (indirect immunofluorescence test, ELISA) and PCR studies.


This paper presents a deep learning-based human height estimation approach using a stereo vision system, which is part of a smart receptionist framework. The proposal consists of a smart screen with an integrated webcam and an additional webcam. The workflow of this approach initially acquires and processes the images in real-time, using deep neural networks detects a human in the images, aligns the images from the two cameras, then obtains the depth of the camera, and finally computes the height of the person under study. The proposed solution is evaluated by different people to check the effectiveness of the system. Obtained results show MAE below 1.0 cm in the computed heights, it is also compared with other techniques of the state-of-the-art.


The aim of this paper is to investigate the extent of grammatical variation between late Middle English and Present-day English. To that end, we compare the automatic output which the English Constraint Grammar Parser (ENGCG-2) offers of an updated medieval text from The Book of Margery Kempe and its corresponding modern version. In the first half of the paper we focus on the description of the parser. This system parses every constituent and associates it with a complex tag which provides morphological and syntactic information. The second half of the paper is devoted to the evaluation of the results obtained after the application of the parser to the medieval and the contemporary passages. By examining the instances exhibiting either unjustified ambiguity or parsing failure we determine to what extent morphosyntactic rules designed for Present-day English can be suitably applied to earlier stages of the language.


Multiple medicine use is common in older Australians, with statins (hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors) being among the most commonly prescribed. While there is significant evidence that statins are of benefit in people at higher levels of cardiovascular risk, the risk–benefit ratio is less assured in those 80 years and older. High doses or high‐potency statins in elderly people may not increase effectiveness, but may increase the risk of adverse effects such as muscle‐related aches, pains and weakness. Hence, statin use in the elderly requires frequent review and consideration of their therapeutic goals, quality of life, risk–benefit ratio and life expectancy. This paper outlines steps to consider when an older person who is prescribed a statin experiences unexplained muscle‐related aches and pains or weakness.


Salisbury East Alternative Programs is a school-based alternative learning program attempting to reduce the marginalisation of at-risk students by providing them with a flexible learning environment and an engaging curriculum. At this stage results have been outstanding. The program began in 2013 as a means to engage our most disengaged students who were not connecting with the traditional curriculum. The school had a strong moral purpose to keep these students connected with the site, believing that schools are the best place to connect students with meaningful pathways. The belief was that if we could make the learning fun, engaging and meaningful, with a high level of wellbeing support, students who would have previously been moved into community learning programs could remain connected with school for longer.


The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on changes in the work environment, which has shifted from traditional to digital. Many companies have started implementing remote work systems (telecommuting). The telecommuting work system cause employees to be able to adapt to new work rhythms and face all other obstacles. The impact of the pandemic presents a challenge for companies in maintaining employee engagement to survive in an uncertain environment. Therefore, this study aims to test occupational self-efficacy's predictive power on employees' work engagement who work telecommuting during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study uses a quantitative approach with simple linear regression statistical analysis. In this study, 130 participants were found as active employees who worked at least two years in companies, had experience telecommuting during the pandemic, and were located in JABODETABEK. The results of simple linear regression showed that occupational self-efficacy was significantly able to predict 43.5% of the variance of work engagement (R2= 0.435, F (1, 128) = 98.698, p < 0.001).


This study seeks to identify with a plan to develop the educational content of Taekwondo majors Department for International Taekwondo chapter to explore the capabilities of factors need to develop the Korea Taekwondo instructors and students majoring in leadership skills. For the purpose of this study was applied to achieve an in-depth interview, categorization of responses, making a closed questionnaire, IPA matrix analysis. Taekwondo leader for domestic and overseas majors of the year when you present the strategic directions to be considered, when discussing educational content development plan are as follows. First, we need to secure a space for you to share information with top talent around the university and major department. This is run as a structure to expand the role of the current or Kukkiwon but may be born as a venture business or Colleges Cooperation companies. We are sending you configure an efficient method and environment for the talented Taekwondo spread. Second, we need to unify Taekwondo relevant information and knowledge to meet the global era, and spread them in a variety of languages. Each agency is still different from the environment to share information Taekwondo. Therefore, there is also unclear on the accuracy of the information Taekwondo knowledge. Taekwondo Taekwondo is necessary because only one effort. Third, Taekwondo majors are configured to allow entry of foreign support system without difficulty, and require proper budgeting it. Taekwondo young talent a chance to miss a vague fear, though they have the capacity increases and will not.


Millions of people participate in online communities, exchange expertise and ideas, and collaborate to produce complex artifacts, such as Linux and Wikipedia. They engage in a variety of roles, which strongly influence the amount and types of work they do, and how they coordinate their activities. Better understanding members' roles benefits members by clarifying how they should behave to participate effectively and also benefits the community overall by encouraging members to contribute in ways that best use their skills and interests. Social sciences have provided rich theoretic taxonomies of social roles within groups, while natural language processing techniques enable us to automate the identification of social roles in online communities. However, most social science work has focused on generic roles without accommodating the activities associated with tasks in specific contexts or automating the process of role identification. While there has been work to date about automatic role inference, identification of social roles has not had a corresponding strong emphasis in the language technologies community. A variety of methods were developed to extract specific "roles", patterns, or components in different contexts, lacking of generalized definitions about what are roles and systematic methods about how to extract roles. Moreover, how roles change over time and how the awareness of roles influence role holders' performance and the group production, have not been adequately researched in both fields. In this thesis, I advocate for both theories of social science and models of text analysis to better define roles, develop ways to extract roles, optimally recommend roles to users, and configure roles within the community. Concretely, I focus on four perspectives. The first work constructs profiles of users from what they do and with whom they interact in online cancer support groups, from which we then extract social roles in an unsupervised manner. The second work predicts when and how members transit from one role to another and examines how role contrast helps explain the occurrences of different transitions. Third, I model how the presence of different types of roles and their interaction with task level, group tenure, and group type, predicts group performances. The last perspective investigates whether making role expectation explicit increases group performance. I will produce both theoretical and computational results: this thesis will develop new algorithms to mine behavioral data to extract social roles and recommend roles, tasks, and groups to target an optimal group configuration; it can also advance the development of social science theories on how roles and role collaboration affect participation in online communities.


The feeling of social connectedness is an extremely important factor for the psychosocial well-being of individuals. Experiencing closeness, belonging, and mutual acknowledgement with the people who are part of the social circle, contributes to the establishment and maintenance of positive and stable relationships over time, as well as numerous benefits regarding the quality of life and mental health of individuals. In order to contribute to the field of study of interpersonal relationships, this study aims to adapt and validate the Social Connectedness Scale for Argentinean adults. The sample consisted of 399 individuals between the ages of 18 and 79 who completed the scale which was previously translated and submitted to expert judges. The results confirmed the one-dimensional structure of the scale, invariant by sex, with good internal consistency (ω = .92). Furthermore, evidence of convergent and discriminant validity was provided through correlations with measures of extroversion (rp=.37) and social anxiety (rp = -.61). It is concluded that the measures provided by the Argentinean version of the social connectedness scale are both valid and reliable to be used in research, as well as in clinical settings in Argentinean population.


The dual-driving feed system is widely used in high-end CNC machine tools for the good feeding precision and reliability, but it has a high requirement for synchronous control strategies owing to the unavoidable synchronization error. A dual-driving synchronization control strategy based on feed error compensation is proposed in this paper for dual-driving feed system. The compensation of feed error is aimed at the improvement of synchronization accuracy and feed accuracy, which is achieved by virtual shaft and electronic cam. Firstly, the feed error is measured and the error compensation model is established. Then the principle of the synchronization control strategy based on feed error compensation is introduced. Finally, the feed error compensation experiment is carried out to prove the effectiveness of this control strategy.


In recent years,around agricultural sustainable development,in accordance with the requirements of recycling,Gongdao town of Hanjiang district actively has promoted the mechanization of straw turnover and integrated technology of mechanized transplanting,which achieved remarkable results in environmental protection,soil improvement and so on.


UMMARY
The glacial movements discussed here took place when deglaciation was well under way in northeastern North America. At that time, small, local centres of active ice dispersal developed. One of these lay in the area of eastern Foxe Basin. A smaller independent ice cap may also have existed on Southampton Island, or in northern Hudson Bay, at roughly the same time, as Bird suggests.

Two major directions of ice movement across the peninsula are clearly indicated. North of Rae Isthmus (Figure 1 3. 1) movement appears to have been across the peninsula in a west-northwest direction. A study of drumlinoids, roches moutonnkes, and crag-and-tail features suggests this conclusion. Swaths of limestone-charged ground moraine tailing out towards the west from the eastern sedimentary lowland, and a decrease in the number of sedimentary erratics with increasing distance west across the upland, also support the theory of east-to-west glacial movement. An eastward projection of the line of general trend of these glacial indicators suggests that the source area for the ice lay in southeastern Foxe Basin.

A second major direction of glacial advance is indicated on Rae Isthmus. Here drumlinoid topography with a pronounced southeast-northwest alignment apparently resulted from movement to the northwest from a dispersal centre on Southampton Island or in northern Hudson Bay.

Whether or not the ice moving westnorthwest from Foxe Basin and northwest from Southampton Island were contemporaneous in their passage across the peninsula is difficult to say. The apparentabsence of any interlobate material in the area north of Haviland Bay suggests that they were not precisely so; the more recent movement may have removed in its passage any debris left by the earlier one in the area over which it passed at this stage.

Over most of the peninsula, then, the most recent ice movement appears to have been westward and northwestward as a broad lobe extending at its maximum from the latitude of Fury and Hecla Strait southward to at least the latitude of Repulse Bay. It may have been this ice which prevented south-moving ice in northern Baffin Island7 from crossing Fury and Hccla Strait or, if the north Baffin ice had previously crossed, which removed any evidence of southerly movement on Melville Peninsula.

How far west the ice advanced is unknown. No glacial flow lines or movement indicators appear on Wales Island. The few which appear on Simpson Peninsula suggest an ice movement there from south to north. But it seems reasonable to assume that ice from a Foxe Basin-Northern Hudson Bay source covered Committee Bay. portions of Simpson Peninsula. and the southern part of the Gulf of Boothia.

To the north, the Melville Peninsula icc mass probably merged in the vicinity of Fury and Hecla Strait with west- and southwest-flowing ice from northern Baffin Island. In the south it may have met ice moving north from northeastern Keewatin. Finally, it seems possible that an interlobate area existed in southern Gulf of Boothia between the Melville Peninsula-Foxe Basin ice and ice moving in a northeasterly direction over Boothia Peninsula.

When final ablation began in late "Wisconsin" time, the ice appears to have melted by downwasting. As the ice thinned, the high backbone of the peninsula was the first area to emerge. This event separated ice over Committee Bay from the larger mass over the peninsula and Foxe Basin. A kame moraine formed at the eastern margin of the remnant mass in Committee Bay (Figure 1 3. 2)

With continued eastward retreat of the western margin of the peninsular ice, the west coast valleys were exposed and filled with outwash. Contemporaneously the west coast eskers were formed. These features were all built, however, in a comparatively short period of time. Ablation soon placed the western edge of the ice east of the stream divide, and subglacial and proglacia1 drainage to the west was impeded.

As the Wisconsin glacial stage drew to a close, the melting of vast amounts of ice to the south raised the sea level, flooding low-lying areas. Sea water probably lapped about the edges of ice in Foxe Basin, hastened its melting, and separated it from the residual ice over the peninsulaS (Figure 1 3. 3). The eskers and outwash material north of Repulse Bay and Haviland Bay, north of Barrow River, and on the eastern Palaeozoic lowland all formed in meltwater streams flowing radially to the ice margin

Finally, the ice on the peninsula divided into two portions: a small remnant cap in the north, and a larger mass centred southwest of Parry Bay. The northern mass was the first to disappear. Ice remained longest in the area covered by ablation moraine and glacial drainage channels west of Parry Bay (Figure 1 3. 4). Here lay a heavily drift-charged ice mass from which drained torrential, east-flowing glacial streams capable of cutting the channels. By that time the ice over Foxe Basin itself had disappeared and the present Barnes Icecap on Baffin Island had shrunk almost to its present size.

RESUME
Des traces de phenomenes glaciaires appartenant au Wisconsin inferieur ont ete observers dans la Peninsule de Melville et resulteraient d'un faible avancement d'une masse de glace couvrant le Bassin de Foxe et la partie meridionale de I'lle de Baffin. Ce mouvement a travers la peninsule a probablement suivi deux directions. Au nord de l'Tsthme de Rae, l'orientation aurait ete O.-N.O. a partir d'une region-source situee dans la partie sudest du Bassin de Foxe. Sur l'Tsthme de Rae, l'avancement, a partir d'un point dans la zone septentrionale de la Baie d'Hudson, aurait eu une direction N.O. A son maximum, la glace aurait recouvert la Peninsule de Melville et la partie de la Baie Committee situee au sud de la latitude du Detroit de Fury et Hecla.

La disparition de la glace resulta de la fonte sur place. Les hauts reliefs de la partie occidentale de la peninsule emergerent d'abord, divisant la masse de glace en deux lobes, dont l'un, le principal, occupait la peninsule et l'autre, plus petit, couvrait la partie meridionale de la Baie Committee. Une moraine fut construite le long de la bordure orientale de ce dernier. Suivant la disparition de la glace et l'emergence des vallees de la cote occidentale, des sables et des graviers de lavage furent deposes dans la Baie Committee dont les eaux se maintenaient pour un temps a un niveau eleve. L'ablation graduelle amena la bordure occidentale de la masse de glace peninsulaire a Test de la ligne de partage des eaux et l'ecoulement des eaux de fonte vers l'ouest fut ainsi interrompu.

La montee du niveau de la Baie d'Hudson hâta la fonte de la glace dans le Bassin de Foxe et des ilots de cette glace furent separes du lobe coiivrant la peninsule. Des lignes d'eskers radiaires furent constituees et la masse de glace residuaire occupant la peninsule se divisa finalement en deux parties, au nord et au sud. la fonte du lobe septentrional fut rapide, tandis qu'au sud, la glace demeura assez longtemps sur une portion de territoire situee a l'ouest de la Baie de Parry. Les lits de drainage que Ton peut observer aujourd'hui furent formes dans cette derniere region par des torrents et des cours d'eau coulant soit sous la glace, soit en bordure.


Successful prognostic and health Muscrave, andLin(2)describe theuseofanauto- monitoring systems depend onbeing abletorecognize the associative neural network (AANN)inasensor validation signs ofafailure inprogress. Although suchsystems are application forreusable rocket engines. These findings are commonplace, little hasbeenreported todateonfault amplified inamaster's thesis byNajafi (3). Furthermore, detection forsystems wheretheinteractions ofthevariousthese papers postulate theuseoftheoutput ofthenetwork operating parameters aresubtle, complex, andcorrelated toreplace datalost byfailed sensors, duetotheAANN's inunknown ordifficult toelicit ways.This paper describesproperty of"correcting" anomalous data. Wang (4) theresults ofrecent research intotheuseofneural elucidates aneural network gated expert inconjunction networks toprovide detection oftheonset ofoperational withtheuseofanAANN;shealso corroborates theuseof failure insuchdevices. After apreliminary exploration theAANN inmonitoring thesensors ina health revealed theshortcomings ofmorecommonpatternmonitoring system. Expert knowledge isusedinthe recognition methods, suchaslimit checking, aposteriori PROMISEdiagnostic andprognostic system, asreported Baysean methods, andevenprincipal component analysis,byBiagetta andSciubba (5). A cogeneration plant inItaly itisshownthat certain types ofneural networks areupto usesanexpert system andsystem modeltoaugment the thetask.Theresults fromsimulations willshowthe health monitoring system. Here,theselection ofthe effectiveness neural network techniques indetecting the appropriate diagnosis whena detected fault couldbe onsetofthefailure. Thesetechniques willthenbe ascribed tomorethanonecause, andtoprovide the demonstrated ondatafromareal-world system andthe prognostic function isaided byexpert knowledge andthe results presented.


Piles consisting of granular material have frequently been used to improve the load settlement characteristics of foundations constructed on soft clays. The present paper examines the use of large numbers of such piles in a regular array. In this case, except near the edges of the loaded area, the behaviour of all pile soil units is virtually the same, and consequently only one pile soil unit need be analysed. Improvement of the soil behaviour is due to: (i) the presence of the stiffer pile, (ii) the sand drain action of the pile which promotes rapid consolidation of the clay. These two aspects are examined and the effects of geometric factors such as pile penetration, spacing and soil layer depth are investigated. The settlement analysis is capable of taking account of elastoplastic behaviour of the soil and of elastoplastic and dilatant behaviour in the pile material (a).


The invention relates to a method and a device for regulating bus voltage of a two-stage converter, which are used for regulating the bus voltage value of the two-stage converter formed by a PFC converter and a DCDC converter. The bus voltage regulating method comprises the following steps: A, sampling the input voltage value of the PFC converter and the output voltage value of the DCDC converter at real time; B, obtaining a first minimum bus voltage value according to the sampled input voltage value by calculation, and obtaining a second minimum bus voltage value according to the sampled output voltage value by calculation; and C, comparing the first minimum bus voltage value and the second minimum bus voltage value, sending the larger one of the first minimum bus voltage value and the second minimum bus voltage value to the PFC converter of the two-stage converter to be used as the bus voltage value of the two-stage converter after being regulated. The invention adopts the two-dimensional bus voltage regulating scheme, so that the first-stage PFC converter and the second-stage DCDC converter work at the optimal operating point, thereby fully using the best efficiency of the whole two-stage converter.


Summary

The quality of fish varies among the different methods of capture and storage times. In this study Rutilus kutum was captured by beach seine and gillnet and stored for up to 16 days; thereafter the changes in microbiological quality (total viable and psychrophilic counts) and chemical quality (pH, total volatile basic nitrogen, thiobarbituric acid, and free fatty acids) were evaluated. The storage time and method of capture had significant effects (P < 0.05) on bacteriological and chemical values. Depending on the time involved, the bacteriological counts and chemical values increased significantly (P < 0.05). Results indicate that the beach seine method has fewer adverse effects on fish quality compared to gillnet fishing, thus the present work recommends the beach seine method as preferable.


Quaternary climatic fluctuations had major impacts on species' distributions over the last 2.5 Myr. Expansions and contractions of the polar ice caps throughout glacial cycles strongly affected terrestrial fauna and flora whereas eustatic sea level variations had major consequences on rocky-shore communities. The effect of these glacial episodes on marine organisms inhabiting oceanic islands is still poorly understood. We analysed the genetic structure of the marine mussel Brachidontes puniceus from the Cape Verde Islands using mitochondrial sequence data. The apparent absence of physical oceanographic barriers or ecological filters in the geographical range of B. puniceus is reflected in the lack of genetic structure found among populations from the entire archipelago. Larval dispersal in B. puniceus likely played a critical role in the demographic connectivity of populations across the Cape Verde archipelago. Results from demographic analysis were consistent with a population expansion promoted by an increase in the habitat available for larval settlement resulting from a low sea-level stand during the last glacial maximum.


Over the past 2 decades acoustic testing for the space industry has evolved from the ubiquitous reverberant chambers to using loudspeakers in what has been defined as Direct Field Acoustic Testing (DFAT). The initial need was to create a versatile system to provide a portable test facility
 to qualify space hardware on site as opposed to go to a dedicated test facility. Since that initial test carried out by MSI in the late '90s equipment and control strategies have improved and today it is possible to recreate an acoustic field which is very similar to that of a reverberant
 chamber. Using Multi-Input-Multi-Output (MIMO) control strategy has solved many of the initial issues. And it allows for control of the field's diffusivity. However, unlike a test in a reverberant chambers, the acoustic fields produced in a DFA test is dependent on the parameters used by the
 controller, its specific technology, and the whole sound generation system. This paper attempts to provide a qualitative overview and insight in the acoustic field generated by a set of loudspeakers set around a test item. Particular focus is placed on the diffusivity of the field as this
 is a characteristic that is linked to the structural response of the device under test.


A 9-year-old girl with unknown vaccination status was referred for a sudden diminution of vision in both eyes and headache of 4 days duration following an attack of mumps. She had a history of fever and bilateral, painful, parotids swelling 2 weeks previously. On examination, her best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was perception of light with inaccurate projection in both eyes. Slit-lamp examination showed an anterior chamber reaction of 1+ and vitritis 1+ (SUN criteria). Pupillary examination was sluggish in both eyes. Fundus examination showed confluent areas of outer retinal necrosis involving the entire retina, hyperemic optic disc, and a few retinal hemorrhages. OCT showed an increased thickness and hyperreflectivity of the outer retinal layers (Figure 1). Intraocular pressures were 10 mmHg on applanation tonometry in both eyes. A provisional diagnosis of bilateral outer retinal necrosis was made. Aqueous tap was negative for herpes simplex (HSV), Varicella zoster (VZV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Rubella, Toxoplasmosis, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis by multiplex PCR. As she also had headache, she was referred to a neurologist who did a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis to rule out meningitis. The CSF analysis was negative for sugar, protein, and lymphocytes. Culture was negative for bacteria and fungi. Multiplex PCR on the CSF was also negative for the encephalitis profile (HSV, VZV, CMV, human herpes virus-6, rubella, mumps, measles, enterovirus, West Nile virus, chikungunya, Dengue, Chandipura virus, JC virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, H. influenzae, Cryptococcus neoformans, S. pneumoniae, N. meningitidis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, toxoplasmosis). Complete hemogram, VDRL, Treponema pallidum hemagglutination test, ELISA for HIV, toxoplasmosis were negative. Chest X-ray was normal. Serologic tests (ELISA) showed high antibodies (IgG) to the mumps virus (>150 U/ mL; normal: <8 U/mL). Her absolute lymphocyte counts were 1343/μL (normal range: 660–4600/μL). However, there was a transient decrease in absolute CD4 counts at the time of presentation (432/μL; normal range: 650–1500/μL), which can occur post-viral infection. She received intravenous acyclovir 315 mg 8-hourly for 5 days and prednisolone acetate eye drops (6 times/day). In subsequent follow-up visits, the retinitis showed quick, perivascular clearing, and resolution of the retinal edema. In spite of the clearing of the retinal edema, her vision still remained perception of light with inaccurate projection. She was started on oral steroids (20 mg/day) along with oral acyclovir. There was no improvement in vision. She eventually progressed to bilateral retinal pigment epithelium atrophy and optic atrophy in 4 weeks (Figure 2). Fluorescein angiogram showed diffuse choroidal hyperfluorescence caused by the retinal pigment epithelium atrophy and optic atrophy. OCT showed distortion and thinning of the outer retinal layers (Figure 3). There was foveal thinning to 90 μm and 64 μm in the right and left eyes, respectively at 1 month follow-up. Full field electroretinogram showed unrecordable rod and cone responses, suggestive of generalized retinal dysfunction. Repeated CD4 counts showed increased absolute CD4 counts (1983/μL; normal range: 650–1500/μL) at the end of 1 month.


The main objective of this paper is to introduce the notion of single-valued bipolar pentapartitioned neutrosophic set (SVBPNS). We also present some supporting examples and prove some basic properties of SVBPNS. We define score function and accuracy function of SVBPNS, and establish their basic properties. We define the single-valued bipolar pentapartitioned neutrosophic arithmetic mean (SVBPNAM) operator and the single-valued bipolar pentapartitioned neutrosophic geometric mean (SVBPNGM) operator and prove their basic properties. We develop two Multi-Attribute Decision Making (MADM) strategies namely SVBPNS-MADM Strategy based on SVBPNAM operator and SVBPNS-MADM strategy based on SVBPNGM operator under SVBPNS environment. Finally, we present a real world numerical example to illustrate the developed strategies


Maximum clique problem is to find a maximum clique(largest in size) in an undirected graph G. We present a method that computes either a maximum clique or an upper bound for the size of a maximum clique in G. We show that this method performs well on certain class of graphs and discuss the application of this method in a branch and bound algorithm for solving maximum clique problem, whose efficiency is depended on the computation of good upper bounds.