Male circumcision (MC) prevents HIV acquisition in males, leading to calls for extensive implementation in sub-Saharan Africa. The widespread adoption of male circumcision will require social marketing targeted at various families and family members. The objective of this article is to demonstrate the utility of conjoint analysis in the choice of social marketing strategies tailored to different populations to promote male circumcision in Johannesburg, South Africa. Seven social marketing strategies for MC were identified through open-ended interviews (n = 25). Preferences were assessed using conjoint analysis, implemented in a cross-sectional survey of randomly selected households. An oversampling strategy ensured balance between Blacks (34%), Coloreds (mixed-race; 32%), and Whites (34%). Respondents randomly received a block of 4 conjoint analysis tasks comparing 2 mutually exclusive and exhaustive subsets of the 7 strategies. Preferences were then evaluated using logistic regression stratified by ethnicity and family member. Whereas all strategies were attractive, television marketing, endorsement by church/school leaders, and a countrywide program were most preferred (p < .0001). Stratified analyses identified heterogeneity, e.g., only Coloreds valued radio (p < .0001) and a lasting presence in the community (p < .0001). Within families, mothers and sons were most concordant for Blacks (p < .05) and Coloreds (p < .01), but fathers were most concordant with sons among Whites (p <.05). Conjoint analysis provides valuable insight into preferences and can be used in the development of social marketing, especially when aimed at promoting behavioral change.


The optimal gap of a depository institution is derived using a market value optimization model. The gap is estimated using portfolios of returns on rate-sensitive assets and liabilities and is found to be not significantly different from zero. The estimate is compared to the average gap position of a sample of banks. It is found that the average gap position of a sample of banks is "too positive." This suggests that banks are not showing risk minimization behavior in the positioning of the gap. Copyright 1990 by MIT Press.


Introduction: Early placement of interprofessional education (IPE) in academic curricula may foster foundational learning to shape student attitudes, knowledge, and skills and better prepare practice-ready clinicians for future team-based collaboration. The purpose of this narrative review was to investigate and analyze the current use of IPE in OT and PT higher education.

Methods: Three databases, Academic Search Complete, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and ERIC, were searched from 2017 to 2022. Inclusion criteria were articles with full text availability, published within the 5 year search time range from the time of the narrative review process, peer reviewed studies, original research, meta-analysis studies, case studies, and review articles. Duplicates were removed, and studies were excluded if related to only clinical or practice-based healthcare delivery, community health service-learning, virtual or telehealth platforms, not applicable to the disciplines of OT and PT, or not available in English.

Results: After filtering and screening articles yielded from the literature review, a total of studies (n = 76) provided considerable evidence for contributing to best-practice guidelines in aligning IPE learning with student outcomes and the Interprofessional Education Collaborative Core Competencies. Substantial evidence was found, which resulted in the creation of a conceptual framework to advance IPE health science education and to meet discipline-specific IPE accreditation standards for OT and PT education. The resultant proposed IPE Conceptual Framework provides alignment of course learning objectives, accreditation standards, institutional and programmatic learning outcomes, and IPEC Core Competencies to create authentic IPE learning activities.

Conclusions: This study provides a current review for IPE in OT and PT education in the United States and can have application abroad. The findings guided development of a conceptual framework for alignment of IPEC Core Competencies, curricular outcomes, and accreditation standards. Follow-up studies are recommended to validate the utilization of the proposed framework, and then subsequent research inquiry to further assess IPE effectiveness.


The propagation of plane sound waves in gases in tubes can be divided into three main types, depending on the radius and frequency involved. These types are described as `narrow' tube, `wide' tube and `very wide' tube propagation. The phase velocity, attenuation and cross section profile of particle velocity etc. are investigated theoretically, and their inter-relation pointed out. The factors affecting the validity of Kirchhoff's formulae are considered, and the theory is applied to some recent work.


The nurses and midwives are the backbone for the delivery of health care service. Their contribution to health care development is crucial to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Education and training are key investment tools for Capacity Building. This descriptive study aimed to identify the training needs of the health workers with regards to the Essential Public Health Services (EPHS) and develop the operational modules for the capacity building. The study was conducted at the selected Primary Health Centres and Sub-Centres in Maharashtra; 200 Health Care Providers were selected by non-probability convenience sampling technique. In phase 1, the Training Need Assessment was done and in 2nd phase, on the basis of training needs, the operational module on EPHS was developed and evaluated for the Capacity Building components. The results showed a signi cant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean knowledge, attitude and practice scores, as the calculated t values (Knowledge = 24.14, Practices = 13.89, Attitude = 11.83) were greater than the table t value 1.96 at 0.05 signi cance level, corresponding to df = 199. The calculated 'r' values for Knowledge with Practices, Practice with Attitude and Attitude with Knowledge (p>0.05) indicated a positive correlation in pre-test. In post-test, the Practices were not correlated with the Knowledge and Attitude (p 0.05), whereas, Knowledge was correlated with the Attitude (p<0.05) Association of mean knowledge, attitude and practice scores with the selected demographic variables showed no signi cant association between the age, education, designation, nature of an appointment, area of work, work experience, building of PHCs/ SCs, travelling times (p 0.05). Whereas, there was a signi cant association between the training received and the post-test mean knowledge score (p<0.05) at 0.05 levels. Further, there was association between the age, education, work experience, and area of work with the post-test attitude score (p<0.05). To conclude, Operational Module based on the training needs, designing teaching–learning methods which focused on both theory and practices is an essential tool for Capacity Building in the Primary Health Care system.


OBJECTIVE
To confirm the mutation of ALAS2 gene is the cause of sideroblastic anemia in a family.

METHODS
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify the microsatellite DXS 991, DXS 1199 in the chromosome Xp11.22 linked gene ALAS2 and haplotype analysis was performed in a kindred with 2 patients and 7 normal members. All cDNA encoded regions in the ALAS2 gene of the patients and their normal siblings were cloned, sequenced and compared.

RESULT
Both brother patients had the same allele of ALAS2 and their normal siblings did not. The mutation in the patients' ALAS2 gene was exon 5 A523G, causing threonine to alanine; and exon 3 T372C, leucine to proline. The latter located in the splicing region, its significance is not clear.

CONCLUSION
The pathogenesis of this kindred of X-linked sideroblastic anemia (XLSA) involved a novel mutation in ALAS2 exon 5.


The maximum amount of load demand is supplied through batteries instead of a PV array for standalone applications in rural areas. This demands proper and equal battery source utilization for multilevel inverters (MLIs) with multiple sources for maintaining a better life of the battery. In this regard, a two-source nine-level MLI topology with the characteristics of equal source utilization is proposed. The number of voltage levels further increased either by increasing the number of switches or cascaded connection of the cell for improving the quality of the waveform. The proposed topology has the capability of equal voltage source utilization, which increases the balance in the charge of batteries by proposing a new switching method for generating gate pulses. The effectiveness and robustness of the developed topology are carried out under various operating conditions in the Simulink environment. Finally, an experimental test bench of the developed topology is built and the acquired experimental results validate the simulation results.


This article proposes the use of Blockchain by small farmers in the agri-food sector. The registers of accounts and transactions stored by each participating partner, made through Blockchain, allow keeping secure information about the status of farms, contracts and product stocks. This ensures the creation of credible supply chains for both the producer and the consumer. Intelligent contracts are made that can guarantee timely payments between the parties while modifying the data in the distributed databases. The research conducted in our study found that, usually, the marketing of small farmers' products is done in the arranged spaces (agri-food markets) or are taken over by intermediaries to be marketed. All these processes have the effect of increasing the prices borne by the consumer, but not only. During critical emergency periods, such as 2020 SARS-CoV-2, many farmers were left with unseen products. In support of producers and consumers; it is proposed to use the new blockchain system. This system achieves transparency, security and trust in the trading process. Although the blockchain system is at the beginning of the road, it can successfully achieve all these problems, so that small farmers can sell the products in periods with restrictions or not, to consumers, safely and at lower prices (directly from the manufacturer).The process can be applied in a region, state and even globally.


Based on the cultural studies perspectives, especially those focused on the History of Book and the History of Reading during early modern times, this article's aim is to contribute for a deeper knowledge of the presence and the circulation of religious writings in the Portuguese society of the 'ancien regime', especially among the clerical milieu. In order to stress the differences on literary culture existing between the members of catholic clergy, this paper focuses on the books commonly used by preachers in the 17th century Portugal. Regarding this matter, we have analysed an anonymous Jesuit's library, bearing in mind the different genres of writings and volumes he collected in his cubiculum. At the same time, we have considered the variety of reading practices raised by those texts in order to achieve the rhetorical actions associated to preaching.


The polarization of protons from the He/sup 3/(d,p)He/sup 4/reaction was measured at eight laboratory angles between 20 and 140 deg for six deuteron energies from 3 to 12 Mev. The polarization was determined by scattering the protons from carbon. For all energies measured the polarization is positive at forward angles with a maximum near a laboratory angle of 30 deg . The polarization passes through zero in the vicinity of 60 deg and has a broad peak of negative polarization at back angles. At the forward maximum the polarization increases with bombarding energy from +0.01 plus or minus 0.03 at 3 Mev to +0.76 plus or minus 0.03 at 10 Mev, and +0.73 plus or minus 0.04 at 12 Mev. The broad minimum in the polarization at larger angles shows a similar energy dependence, but the minimum also shifts to larger angles with increasing deuteron energy. The most negative value of the polarization (P = --0.66 plus or minus 0.05) was found at 12O deg and 8 Mev. The present measurements suggest that the He/sup 3/(d,p)He/sup 4/ reaction may be a useful source of 23-29 Mev polarized protons. The results are compared with measurements of the neutron polarization in themore » mirror reaction T(d,n)He/sup 4/. Some new information of the polarization in the scattering of protons from carbon has also been obtained. 30 references. (auth)« less


This study examines the growth of mobile telephony in Oman and investigates the determinants of this growth. The growth rates were estimated by fitting four statistical models namely, Logistic, Gompertz, Exponential and Autoregressive to fifteen years of data on annual numbers of mobile subscribers. The in-sample and out-of-sample forecasting performance of these models was assessed by Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) and Mean Square Error measures. Based on this criterion it was observed that the Gompertz model outperformed the other models under consideration and gave the minimum forecast error. This model was then used to estimate the speed of diffusion which was regressed on potential factors that could affect the growth of mobile telephony. The factors considered were fixed line service, prepaid service, per capita income, consumer price index and the number of operators. All these factors were found to have significant effect on the speed of diffusion of the mobile telephony in Oman.


The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in the effect of regular and irregular exercise on tissue damage, while the indicator used to determine tissue damage was creatine kinase. This study is an experimental laboratory study with a randomized control group post-test-only design, using a sample of 39 male Rattus norvegicus strain wistar mice divided into 3 groups consisting of: swimming exercise group regularly with exercise frequency 3 times per week, swimming training group irregularly. With irregular exercise frequency and control group who were not given swimming training. The treatment was carried out for 3 months. From the results of the study, the following results were obtained: there was a very significant difference (p < 0. 01) between the groups of regular and irregular exercise on tissue damage, where irregular exercise has a greater effect on tissue damage. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that irregular exercise has a greater potential for tissue damage than regular exercise.


Cloud computing platform gives people the opportunity for sharing resources, services and information among the people of the whole world. In private cloud system, information is shared among the persons who are in that cloud. Because of this, different security related problems have grown in this platform. This paper work has proposed newer security architecture for cloud computing platform, which ensures secured communication system and hiding information from others. DES based file encryption system and asynchronous key system for exchanging information or data is included in this model. This structure is easily applicable with main cloud computing features, e.g. PaaS, SaaS and IaaS. This model also includes unique encryption key for user authentication process. El Gamal has been proposed in this paper for secured communication between users and cloud storage system. This paper work mainly deals with providing security for files stored in cloud computing archtecture.


Greek planning law is not familiar with the takings issue, the reduction of development rights due to planning or zoning decisions and the granting of compensation to the owner. Multiple factors have contributed to the lack of development in this area of the law: the lack of specific constitutional rules directly pertaining to the takings issue in the field of urban planning and zoning, increased court protection of natural and cultural environment, and the long-term absence of a responsive land-use policy. It is not surprising that while planning restrictions on the use of private land have become more common and intense in recent decades, few statutory regimes for takings assessment and compensation have been established up to now. Under this legal regime, few individuals have brought takings lawsuits before the courts and even fewer still have been able to meet the constitutional threshold for compensation. Yet, despite the lack of attention devoted to this legal issue, empirical evidence suggests that the takings issue is a widespread problem in Greek planning practice. In 2005, the Greek Ombudsman published a special report that presented instances of injurious land-uses, de facto expropriations, physical invasions, and long-term delays in the payment of compensation for land condemned for public open space, all of which fall broadly under the takings debate. According to this report, recent takings complaints in Greek planning stem from a wide range of public decisions.


Reactions of Ar+(2P3/2) ions with H2, N2, O2, and CO have been studied with the CRESU apparatus at 30 K in argon buffer gas and with the newly developed mass‐selected ion injector (CRESUS configuration) at 20 and 70 K in helium buffer gas. The atom exchange reaction with H2 is rather fast, with a rate coefficient k showing a small energy dependence well represented by k=1.5×10−9E0.16 cm3 s−1 with the collision energy in the center‐of‐mass frame, E, in the range 2.5×10−3−0.65 eV. This result is more compatible with a frozen‐rotor capture model rather than with a threshold model for endoergic reactions. Concerning the reaction with N2, a competition between the two exit channels involving the two first vibrational levels of the N+2 product ion explains the minimum of the rate constant suggested at about 140 K by previous SIFT experiments [D. Smith and N. G. Adams, Phys. Rev. A 23, 2327 (1981)] and presently confirmed. The rate coefficients for the charge transfer reactions with O2 and CO increase with decre...


Background: The aim of this study was to estimate the cumulative risk of a false-positive (FP) result in a fecal occult blood test (FOBT) through 7 screening rounds and to identify its associated factors in a population-based colorectal cancer screening program. Methods: Retrospective cohort study, which included participants ages 50 to 69 years of a colorectal cancer screening program in Catalonia, Spain. During this period, 2 FOBTs were used (guaiac and immunochemical). A discrete-time survival model was performed to identify risk factors of receiving a positive FOBT with no high-risk adenoma or colorectal cancer in the follow-up colonoscopy. We estimated the probability of having at least 1 FP over 7 screening rounds. Results: During the period of 2000 to 2017, the cumulative FP risk was 16.3% (IC95%: 14.6%–18.3%), adjusted by age, sex, and type of test. The median number of screens was 2. Participants who began screening at age 50 years had a 7.3% [95% confidence interval (CI), 6.35–8.51] and a 12.4% (95% CI, 11.00–13.94) probability of an FP with 4 screening rounds of guaiac-based test and immunochemical test, respectively. Age, the fecal immunochemical test, first screening, and number of personal screens were factors associated with an FP result among screenees. Conclusions: The cumulative risk of an FP in colorectal screening using FOBT seems acceptable as the colonoscopy, with its high accuracy, lengthens the time until additional colorectal screening is required, while complication rates remain low. Impact: It is useful to determine the cumulative FP risk in cancer screening for both advising individuals and for health resources planning.


The recent development of metasurfaces, which may enable several use cases by modifying the propagation environment, is anticipated to substantially affect the performance of sixth-generation (6G) wireless communications. Metasurface elements can produce passive subwavelength scattering to enable a smart radio environment. Simultaneously transmitting and reflecting reconfigurable intelligent surface (STAR-RIS), which refers to reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) that can transmit and reflect concurrently (STAR), is gaining popularity. In contrast to the widely studied RIS, which can only reflect the wireless signal and serve users on the same side as the transmitter, the STAR-RIS can reflect and refract (transmit), enabling 360° wireless coverage, thus serving users on both sides of the transmitter. This article presents a comprehensive review of the STAR-RIS, focusing on the most recent schemes for diverse use cases in 6G networks, resource allocation, and performance evaluation. We begin by laying the foundation for RIS (passive, active, and STAR-RIS), and then discuss the STAR-RIS protocols, advantages, and applications. In addition, we categorize the approaches within the domain of use scenarios, which include increasing coverage, enhancing physical-layer security (PLS), maximizing sum rate, improving energy efficiency (EE), and reducing interference. Next, we will discuss the various strategies for resource allocation and measures for performance evaluation. We aimed to elaborate, compare, and evaluate the literature regarding setup, channel characteristics, methodology, and objectives. In conclusion, we examine this field's open research problems and potential future prospects.


Radar elevation-angle errors observed in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico are compared with values predicted from the surface value of the radio refractive index. Although this method of prediction is not particularly efficacious under the conditions of this experiment, encouraging agreement nevertheless was obtained between predicted and observed: a) mean value of elevation angle error, b) variation of elevation angle error with N_{s} , and c), the degree of reduction in the uncertainty of prediction gained over the use of a single-standard atmosphere.


Ferric illite (Fe‐illite) developed extensively in a siliciclastic submarine fan sequence within a lime‐mud succession in the Proterozoic Penganga Group at Adilabad, South India. The minerals formed as de novo by preferentially replacing high‐K minerals like alkali feldspar and mica. It is compositionally intermediate between glauconite and illite in a continuously varying chemical spectrum. The mineral exhibits an R1 or R3 type stacking sequence, with low (<10%) interlayering of illite and smectite (I/S). All the analyzed grains are characterized by high potash content, and it has been inferred that the maturity is dictated by high ak in the microenvironment. This occurrence strongly calls into question the environmental significance that has so far been attributed to glauconitic minerals.


In this paper we study finite absolute continuity with respect to Wiener measure. A general condition of finite absolute continuity in terms of disintegration of measures is given. Finite absolute continuity of Ito processes and conditional distributions of the Wiener process is studied.


Students look to interlibrary loan (ILL) as a mechanism for acquiring textbooks. What are the students' expectations of ILL and can ILL meet those expectations, especially given that textbooks are perceived as difficult to borrow? This article reports the findings of a survey designed to determine the expectations of students who had placed ILL requests for textbooks. By analyzing the records for those students' requests using data from ILLiad, the degree to which students' expectations can be met was determined. Students' flexibility with editions provides ILL staff methods to increase fill rates and improve service.


Empirical work has demonstrated that individually reported subjective wellbeing (SWB) may be positively correlated with objectively measured economic variables like income, and affected by non-economic personal circumstances. Assuming individuals' own SWB reports emerge from random discrete choices, one can therefore use their stochastic properties to construct a broad class of ordinal level comparable interpersonal utility measures. In turn these can be used to determine a welfarist social choice rule. Ethically acceptability, however, seems to require more than level comparability. Beyond individuals' own SWB reports, one could perhaps use data from experiments designed to elicit SWB inequality aversion. [89 words]


Treatment of animal cells with interferon (IF) results in the induction of an enzymatic activity which, in the presence of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), polymerizes ATP into pppA(Z'p5'A),,. These oligonucleotides have been designated 2,5A and the enzyme 2,5A polymerase. The levels of this enzymatic activity in IF-treated cells correlate with the inhibition of virus replication, as measured for example by the reduction in encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) RNA synthesis. This suggests that the 2,5A polymerase plays a role in the establishment of the antiviral state. The 2,5A activates a single-strand specific endoribonuclease present in both IF-treated and untreated cells. This nuclease cleaves both viral and cellular mRNA in the presence of 2,5A. This fact must be taken into account in proposing a role for the 2,5A polymerase/endonuclease system in the antiviral state, since in IF-treated cells the accumulation of viral transcripts is specifically inhibited while host mRNA remains intact. Two properties of the 2,sA-activated endonuclease suggest a possible mechanism for the preferential degradation of viral mRNA: (1) the endonuclease activity is dependent on 2,5A concentration; (2) the endonuclease reverts to an inactive state in the absence of 2,5,A. If the 2,5A polymerase were activated by dsRNA present in viral replicative complexes (RC), there would be a locally high concentration of 2,5A. The endonuclease could then be effectively activated only near the site of 2,5A synthesis and this localized activation could result in the preferential degradation of nascent viral mRNA. To test this working hypothesis, we constructed model substrates that share with RC one common feature: ssRNA is covalently linked to dsRNA. These substrates were cellular and viral poly(A)-containing mRNA, in which the poly(A) was annealed with poly(U). and EMCV RNA, in which a poly(C) tract was annealed with poly(1). These substrates were mixed with ssRNA labeled with a different isotope, which served as an internal control, and incubated in extracts of control and IF-treated cells. In all cases the ssRNA linked to dsRNA was preferentially cleaved relative to the unlinked ssRNA in extracts of IFtreated cells but not in extracts of control cells. The preferential degradation of ssRNA linked to dsRNA was not due to a nuclease that cleaves dsRNA, nor to binding to ribosomes and protection of mRNA not linked to dsRNA. This preferential degradation takes place regardless of the location of the dsRNA at the 3'-or near the 5'-terminus of RNA and of the base composition of the dsRNA linked to ssRNA. The preferential degradation requires MgZ' and ATP, but is abolished by high concentrations of 2.5A or dsRNA. In this latter case all ssRNA is degraded. Moreover, the dsRNA linked to ssRNA has to be at least 60 base pairs long. We have also examined the degradation of labeled EMCV replicative intermediate (RI) in extracts of control and IF-treated cells. The RI is preferentially


Recent advances in grazing incidence X-ray optics using synchrotron radiation sources have stimulated the need for basic research in high quality mirror materials for novel applications. In this paper we communicate the results of the first measurements of glazing angle X-ray reflectivity (XRR) of speculum metal mirrors using synchrotron radiation sources. Our results agree with similar measurements made in polished speculum gratings by Arthur Compton and his collaborators during 1923 using ordinary X-ray tubes. Our experimental investigations are based on synchrotron radiation research facilities (Indus 2) maintained by Govt of India in Indore . Variations in the XRR with grazing angles of incidence and X-ray energy for cast, thin film and electron irradiated samples of speculum metal will be discussed in this paper.


Abstract In order to improve the octane number of gasoline, Ni/HZSM-5 and NiMo/HZSM-5 catalysts were prepared by impregnation method, and their activities for hydrocracking, hydroisomerization, and aromatization were investigated by the transformation of cylcohexane. The experimental results show that the conversion of cyclohexane is affected greatly by the reaction temperature. The production of methyl-cyclopentane is the result of the hydroisomerization of cyclohexane. The olefin distribution reveals that the hydrocracking reaction of cyclohexane over acidic zeolite catalyst probably obeys the dimolecular mechanism and the C5 and C7 olefins come from the cracking of the dimer of cyclohexane. The activities of the presulfided Ni/HZSM-5 and NiMo/HZSM-5 catalyst for the transformation of cyclohexane were evaluated and the product selectivities for two presulfided catalysts are similar to those obtained over reduced Ni/HZSM-5 catalyst.


In early modern England, people believed in the music of the spheres, the notion that the foundations of cosmic order were a result of musical principles. The importance of music in early modern En...


Abstract The coronavirus crisis reignited the debate over the ethical dimension of employment practices in the hotel sector. This study, which draws on the findings from semistructured interviews conducted with 51 Polish hotel workers during the pandemic, aims to ascertain their views on fairness in the workplace, their well-being, the attractiveness of hotel employment and collective representation. Our findings were, in many respects, at variance with earlier research and our a priori assumptions. Specifically, most interviewees had regular contracts, were satisfied with their jobs, rated the attractiveness of hotel employment highly and did not complain of emotional labour. Some highlighted managerial disrespectful treatment, especially after the outbreak of the pandemic. Most were indifferent to unions or viewed them unfavourably, doubted the efficacy of collective action and were uninterested in unionisation, with the crisis having little impact on their attitudes. The paper concludes by discussing theoretical and practical implications of the findings.


The first step towards software quality is to understand what it means. Unfortunately, there is not a consensus about the terminology used. This causes misunderstanding and several problems in the definition of a quality program. In this paper, we present an ontology of software quality, aiming to support the understanding of this complex domain. The goal is to use the ontology as the basis for a tutorial about software quality. Key-words: Software Product Quality, Education on Software Quality, Ontology.


Being the first issue of 2011, I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. We have just ushered in the Year of the Rabbit in the Lunar calendar and with this, I am reminded of a famous Aesop's fable entitled 'The Tortoise and the Hare'. Like the speed of the Hare, our current technological environment has progressed in leaps and bounds. But let us not forget the broad areas of technological advancements in security and defense as new issues emerge in today's uncertain times.


Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) a member of family Amaryllidaceae, has originated from Mexico. Due to its pleasant fragrance, higher returns, and wide adaptability to varied climate and soil, tuberose is an important commercial cut as well as loose flower crop of India. It is valued much by the aesthetic world for the serene beauty and fragrance. Due to the absence of carotenoids and anthocyanins (Huang et al., 2002), all existing commercial varieties of tuberose lack colours in the petals and this is a major disadvantage International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 8 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com


Objective  To document the types and severity of adverse drug reactions to diethylcarbamazine and albendazole in randomly selected urban populations from Colombo and rural populations from Gampaha, Sri Lanka.


This article describes the mathematical economic model of a communication web portal. To create the model, we use Cluster analysis as one of the areas of artificial intelligence. Based on real data obtained from the operation of the communication web portal and the subsequent identification of the individual data clusters, a model is created that mathematically describes the dependence of economic variables (income from sales of services and selling price of services) on other variables (time of sales of services and field of offered services). Using this analysis, the model clusters together all data to parameterized sets of given properties. The main purpose of creating a model is the suitable classification of data. Consequently, it is possible to streamline the sale of the services and maximize the profits of web portals offering this type of service.


Although basic scientific research has generated methodological and technical innovations rapidly in recent decades, translational science has not kept pace. Among the factors contributing to the slower pace of translation is a bottleneck in the drug discovery pipeline. This is due in part to the widespread failure of therapeutics in early phase clinical trials, despite promising results from preclinical testing. Improved tools that better predict adverse effects in humans for therapeutics are much needed to reduce the rate of failed trials. Safety, toxicity and efficacy assessment using human tissue as a supplement to animal models prior to clinical testing in humans could reduce clinical trial failure rates, leading to significant savings in lives, time and money. The Microphysiological Systems (MPS) Program (''organs-on-chips'') (http://www.ncats.nih.gov/research/ reengineering/tissue-chip/tissue-chip.html) supports an innovative approach to preclinical toxicity testing on human tissue: development of in vitro, three-dimensional organ systems from human cells on bioengineered platforms that mimic in vivo tissue architecture and physiological conditions in order to facilitate and accurately monitor key organ-level functions. The platforms incorporate complex factors found in vivo, including extracellular scaffolding, three-dimensional structure, cellular interactions (including between different cell types), perfusion, biomechanical stresses (e.g., stretch and shear forces from fluid flow), electrical stimulation of excitable tissue, hormone responses, etc. These features are present in animal models, but some aspects of animal physiology do not accurately represent those of humans. Development of human organ microsystems to bridge the gap between preclinical testing in animals and human clinical trials would be a significant advancement.


Synthesis of the possible analgesic and/or antiinflammatory agent 5-benzoyl-6-trifluoromethyl-1,2-dihydro-3H-pyrrolo[1,2-α]pyrrole-1-carboxylic acid (1) was designed from the already known intermediate ester 3-methoxycarbonyl-4-trifluoromethyl-5-benzyloxycarbonylpyrrole-2-acetic acid methyl ester (4) wich is prepared via a Knorr synthesis.


Ongoing work at the University of Strathclyde to model, control and improve the design development process is presented. Design Co-ordination has stimulated a number of initiatives to facilitate and support design development performance improvement. Ten elemental frames are discussed and a number of approaches for designing design outlined. Two computer based coordination systems have been used in industrial case studies with savings of up to 64% in process execution time and 45% resource cost reduction. Improvement needs can be identified and used as a basis for continuous improvement through re-design; craft, parametric and process optimisation. Significant improvements have been witnessed in industrial practice and processes optimised with an iteration criteria reduction of up to 83%. Future research will attempt to consolidate the work into a holistic approach to designing design and performance improvement.


Information security plays an extremely important role in e-services, as the e-services are vulnerable to various kinds of security and privacy threats on the Internet. The paper presents a formal model of e-services considering four different abstraction levels: application, middleware, operating system and network. Various security threats to e-services and security services to prevent these threats are described. The security level of e-services is determined by the weighted sum of security ratings of individual security services.


Purpose – The paper sought to extend previous research on factors associated with corporate entrepreneurship (CE) by surveying operating managers and top executives in Thai manufacturing firms.Design/methodology/approach – The paper used an expanded case method that combined face‐to‐face interviews with the top executives and results of responses to the corporate entrepreneurship assessment instrument (CEAI) by middle managers in three large and three medium Thai manufacturing firms.Findings – The results of this paper suggest that management support for CE, their use of rewards and recognition, and their allowing workers discretion in their jobs all are significantly related to improving competitiveness, as indicated by internal performance improvement and firm financial improvement. Unlike previous studies, time allocated to idea generation/innovation activities and cross‐boundary communication are not found to be significantly associated with CE in Thai manufacturing firms. These quantitative results a...


Solid pseudopapillary neoplasms of the pancreas are rare malignant lesions of the pancreas that typically occur in young women. Large series from any one centre are notably absent in the literature. The aim of this study was to determine long‐term outcomes of operative therapy.


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Coal,slag,and fly ash samples were taken from a utility boiler equipped with the NID(Novel Integrated Desulfurization) system,and the mercury contents of these samples were measured.Ontario-Hydro method was applied to determine the mercury patterns in flue gas before and after NID system.The physicochemical characteristics of the ashes in NID system were analyzed by specific surface and porosity analyzer,X ray diffractometer,scanning electron microscope and spectrometer,and the microscopic mechanism of simultaneous mercury removal by the novel integrated semi-dry desulfurization system was revealed.Results indicate that the lime hydrate and quick lime can mix thoroughly in the novel integrated semi-dry desulfurization system and the circulation ratio of fly ash in the desulfurization tower is high.There is always fresh Ca(OH)_2 on the surface of the mixture ash.Furthermore calcium silicate hydrate is formed in the desulfurization tower and particle agglomeration is serious,which is very beneficial for SO_2 and mercury removal from the flue gas.The mercury removal efficiency of the novel integrated semi-dry desulfurization system for flue gas is as high as 86.6%~92.2%,and the control effect for mercury emission of the coal-fired power station is obvious.


INTRODUCTION: Young women diagnosed with breast cancer in close proximity to childbirth have increased risk of mortality compared to nulliparous women, and the postpartum period has been identified as a risk window for breast cancer metastasis. BRCA1/2 germline mutation carriers have a high risk of developing breast cancer at young age, yet it is unknown if recent childbirth is a poor prognostic risk factor for BRCA1/2 carriers. Here we assessed whether time between last childbirth and breast cancer diagnosis impacted survival among early-onset BRCA1/2 breast cancer patients. METHODS: The study population includes 903 female BRCA1/2 mutation carriers diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer at ≤45 years of age between 1950 and 2021 in the UK. The primary outcome of this study is all-cause mortality. The primary exposures were no prior childbirth (n=224), or time between last childbirth and breast cancer diagnosis grouped as 0-<5 years (n=228), 5-<10 years (n=191), or ≥10 years since last childbirth (n=260). Cox proportional hazards regression was applied to identify factors associated with risk of 20-year mortality. RESULTS: Breast cancer diagnosed 5-<10 years after last childbirth was associated with an elevated risk for mortality [HR=1.56 (95% CI, 1.05-2.30)] compared to nulliparous cases after adjusting for patient age and tumor stage. Across groups, nulliparous women had the best prognosis, suggesting parity may increase risk of death in BRCA1/2 carriers. ER-negative cancers were the dominant tumor type across all groups: 54.8% (nulliparous), 52.6% [postpartum breast cancer (PPBC) <5], 58.4% (PPBC 5-<10), and 54.0% (≥10). ER-negative cases were more prevalent among BRCA1 carriers (77%) compared to BRCA2 carriers (24%). In stratified analyses by either ER or BRCA status, increased mortality in the PPBC 5-<10 group was significant for ER-negative cases [HR=3.12 (95% CI, 1.22-7.97)] and BRCA1 carriers [HR=2.03 (95% CI, 1.15-3.58)], compared to nulliparous groups. For ER-positive cases, 71% of cases were BRCA2 carriers, and the most significant postpartum interval among ER-positive cases was observed in the 0-<5 group [HR=2.35 (95% CI, 1.02-5.42)]. No association was observed for BRCA2 carriers with PPBC 0-<5 vs nulliparous groups [HR=1.26 (95% CI, 0.73-2.16)].CONCLUSION: Results suggest that BRCA1/2 breast cancer patients are at increased risk for all-cause mortality if diagnosed within 10 years of childbirth. For ER-positive disease, poorest prognosis occurs within 0-5 years postpartum, consistent with promotion of existing sub-clinical tumors. For BRCA2 carriers, the association between postpartum diagnosis and mortality is weak. For ER-negative disease, similar to BRCA1 carriers, poorest prognosis occurs 5-10 years postpartum, suggesting an interaction between BRCA1 and parity may result in increased tumor initiation.
 Citation Format: Zhenzhen Zhang, Shangyuan Ye, D Gareth Evans, Pepper Schedin. Impact of time between last childbirth and diagnosis of early-onset breast cancer on survival in germline BRCA1/2 carriers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 6484.


This study intends to provide some deeper insight into the notion of explicitation through studying text type which has not been fully studied in Persian as far as the researchers know. It holds Reiss' text type theory as a starting point to conduct a descriptive research. Explicitation as a cohesive device at levels of lexis and syntax is the focus of this study. Thus, the purpose is to observe the behaviour of explicitation at lexical and syntactic levels with regard to two types of text (informative and expressive), both qualitatively and quantitatively. In this study, three narrative and three scientific texts (translated from English into Persian) are taken as the corpus for expressive and informative text types. The findings clearly indicated that explicitation is text type dependent and expressive texts showed higher level of explicitness in comparison to informative texts.


Mobile robots are excellent examples of systems that need to show a high level of autonomy. Often robots are loosely supervised by humans who are not intimately familiar with the inner workings of the robot. We cannot generally predict exact environmental conditions in which the robot will operate in advance. This means that the behavior must be adapted in the field. Untrained individuals cannot (and probably should not) program the robot to effect these changes. We need a system that will (a) allow re-tasking, and (b) allow adaptation of the behavior to the specific conditions in the field. In this paper we concentrate on (b). We will describe how to assemble controllers, based on high-level descriptions of the behavior. We will show how the behavior can be tuned by the human, despite not knowing how the code is put together. We will also show how this can be done automatically, using reinforcement learning, and point out the problems that must be overcome for this approach to work.


We report on the incidental prenatal detection of an interstitial X‐chromosomal deletion in a male fetus and his mother by fetal sexing with a primer pair recognizing an X‐Y homologous locus (DXYS19), formerly unassigned on the X chromosome. The proband asked for prenatal diagnosis because of her elevated age and risk of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Prior to molecular genetic testing for DMD, fetal sexing was carried out on DNA prepared from cultured amniocytes. PCR analysis revealed the expected Y‐chromosomal product, but did not show the constitutive X‐chromosomal fragment. The absence of the X‐chromosomal fragment in the fetus and on one X chromosome of the mother was confirmed by Southern hybridization of HindIII restricted DNA with probe pJA1165 (DXYS19). DXYS19X was mapped to Xp22.3 by combining several approaches, including: (1) analysis of somatic cell hybrid lines containing different fragments of the human X chromosome; (2) Southern hybridization of a yeast artificial chromosome (YAC)‐filter panel provided by the Resource Center/Primary Database (RZPD); (3) FISH analysis; and (4) re‐evaluation of two patients with interstitial deletions in Xp22.3. The extent of the deletion in the fetus was estimated by further markers from Xp22.3 and found to include the STS gene. Mental retardation could not be excluded since some mentally retarded patients exhibit overlapping deletions. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Filtering effectively noise in TV's sound can help to enhance quality of TV programs. System View is a powerful software for DSP and communications simulation, it can transform signals from time-field to frequency-filed. Using System View Software can distinctly capture noise's frequency spectral and design a filter in reason in order to remove noise from TV's sound.Offers a example of using System View Software to remove noise in speech.


Generally, a gene which is inserted directly into a cell does not operate independently. Instead, the transmission of the gene is genetically modified by a biological messenger called a vector, consists of a transgene and a large DNA sequence as a backbone. Since they can deliver the new gene by infecting the cell, such viruses are also used as vectors. The adenovirus is a non-enveloped virus that can be tailored to transfer DNA to target cells, and it has sparked a lot of interest in the field, particularly in clinical trial therapy techniques. For the new age production of COVID-19 vaccine, development of different mammalian cell lines like HEK293 (most reliable growth and prosperity for transfection) and recombinant adenoviral vectors have become the first priority for biopharmaceutical giants and globally approved vaccine manufacturers to scale up their vaccine production. Adenoviruses have an icosahedral shape, with a protein coat encasing the viral double-stranded DNA genome. Because the adenovirus genome is relatively small, it's a good candidate for insertion of foreign DNA. The adenovirus E1A gene is deleted, and the virus loses its capacity to replicate. This ability can be restored during cell culture propagation by employing cells that produce the E1A protein, for example. Hence, in this mini research, I have shared an overview of the propagation of adenoviral vectors, i.e. recombinant adenovirus SARS CoV-2 vector in HEK-293 cell suspension culture.


As a fundamental study on corrosion of refractories by alkali-containing vapor, the present study has been made for the purpose of researching the reactions occurred in the refractory materials such as corundum, mullite and forsterite when they were exposed to vapors from the melt of mixed salt, K2CO3-Na2CO3, at 1200°C and from the melt of mixed salt, K2SO4-Na2SO4, at 1300°C.In the tests with carbonate vapor, the reactions took place through two stages under the condition held in a steady vapor composition and at a constant temperature. At the early stage the mole ratio of K2O to Na2O found in the reaction products was almost the same as that in the vapor, whereas at the later stage the products were altered progressively into those richer in Na2O by replacing K in the products by Na in the vapor. In the respective cases of corundum, mullite and forsterite, the solid solutions of K- and Nacompounds as shown by the following formulas were formed, namely, (K, Na) AlO2, (K, Na)3Al3SiO8 and (K, Na)2xMgxSi10-xO20 (4≤x≤5). During cooling, however, the solid solutions were separated into two phases of K- and Na-compounds. Consequently, the amount of Na-compounds in the reaction products increased with increasing time of reaction.In comparison to the tests with carbonate vapor, the reaction velocity observed when tested with sulphate vapor were very sluggish, nevertheless, at the early stage of reaction the mole ratio of K2O to Na2O in the product was almost the same as that vapor also in this case.


tinuances of any civil case without consent of the Court. It is recognized that the pre-trial Justice will grant some latitude concerning continuances at pre trials, but once the case has left the pre-trial calendar, the rules of Court specifically provide that postpone ments may not be granted except for cause arising after the completion of pre-trial and not due to fault of the parties or their attorneys. (Sec. 6 Rule 22*4.) The Court has felt it imperative to the clearing up of the calendar that continuances of cases on the ready for-trial calendar should not be granted except under unusual conditions. As we have endeavored to stress, all jurisdictions have found pre-trial procedure has been effective only where the final trial has followed the completion of the pre-trial within a period of not longer than from two to four weeks. After pre-trial, the Court may find it necessary to permit amendments to pleadings. Of course provision for amendments after trial is made by the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. But amendments after pre trial are to be discouraged. The time for making amendments is at pre-trial and the policy of the Court will be to permit them only where it wrould be unjust or harsh to do otherwise. Between September 18th and October 2nd, 1939, there should be pre-tried a sufficient number of cases to start off six Justices of our Court who are assigned to conduct final trials of civil cases. This is not easy to accomplish. But it can be done if you will con tinue your fine cooperation with the Court. Notice for pre-trial hearings for the first several days already have been sent to counsel. May I ask that when you receive these notices, you will set about in earnest to prepare your cases for pre-trial, discuss possible settlements with your clients and come to Court with full knowl edge of your cases and with power to act. If you do so, the program of the Court will not drag. The importance of the program has been stressed. Its in itiation has resulted after hard work in preparation. Moreover, it has been interesting to note the extent that Judges and counsel in other States have made inquiries of our Court with regard to our program, and it is believed that if through a continuance of the fine spirit of cooperation which already has been mani fested between Court and counsel in this City, the dockets of our Court are aided, and litigants, counsel and witnesses are benefited, a contribution to the cause of justice will be made not only here but in other parts of our country where pre-trial procedure and improve ments in the Courts are being given consideration.


It designed a neural networks self-organizing fuzzy controller(NNSOC),and used it in control the electro-hydraulic servo system,for enhancing the system's control performance.The simulation results show that the controller can moderate the unknown and time-varing external load disturbances effectively,and has stronger robustness than that of conventional constant fuzzy controller.


The authors examine factors that affect product-usage compliance, or the act of using a product as it is intended to be used. They develop a conceptual model of compliant behavior as a function of four main constructs: (1) salience/mindfulness, (2) the consumer's costs and benefits of compliant behavior, (3) advertising and distribution cues to action, and (4) the perceived threats associated with noncompliant behavior. They test the model using a regression mixture model of compliant behavior calibrated on unique panel data from four categories of pharmaceutical drugs that are used to treat chronic (i.e., lifelong) ailments. The findings include insights into the dynamics of product compliance: The data support the proposed four-stage evolution of compliant behavior between consecutive service provider (e.g., doctor) interventions. For marketers, the authors find substantial heterogeneity across consumers for the effects of cues from advertising and distribution. For example, in some segments, advertising has a positive impact on compliance (directly and/or by heightening responsiveness to product-efficacy evaluations), whereas in other segments, its effect is negative. Thus, the authors shed new light on the effects of advertising, which has both strong advocates and opponents in the pharmaceutical industry.


The field of interactive drama attempts to provide a player of a virtual system with a rich dramatic experience that provides him with a large set of consequential actions that directly affect how that experience progresses. As the player makes decisions, the system incorporates those decisions and adapts the environment to continue the ongoing narrative. The amount of content possibly written for such experiences, however, is finite. In a highly interactive world, the player's capabilities may easily exceed the story experiences covered by the authored content (called the story space). A major problem in interactive drama is how to create a large story space and how to believably manage the player's experience so it remains within the boundaries of that story space. I present here the Interactive Drama Architecture (IDA) which addresses this problem. IDA employs a real-time story management agent, called the director , which attempts to subtly guide the player's experience to stay within the boundaries of an authored story space. A key approach to this story management is the use of a model of player behavior and knowledge, which is used to intelligently anticipate problematic situations before they occur. This dissertation describes the functions of the director agent, the story representation, the definition of synthetic characters and how they relate to the director, and an experimental design and results for evaluating the use of prediction for story management in an interactive drama.


Pre‐transplant measurable residual disease (MRD) predicts relapse and outcome of allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (allo‐HCT). The impact of MRD on the outcomes of post‐transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy)‐based allo‐HCT from a matched unrelated donor (UD) is unknown. This study assessed the impact of MRD in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in the first complete remission (CR1). A total of 272 patients (MRD negative [MRD−], n = 165; MRD positive [MRD+], n = 107) with a median follow‐up of 19 (range: 16–24) months were studied. The incidence of grades II–IV and grades III–IV acute GVHD at day 180 was 25.2% and 25% (p = 0.99), and 10.6% and 6.8% (p = 0.29), respectively, and 2‐year chronic GVHD was 35% and 30.4% (p = 0.96) in MRD+ and MRD− cohorts, respectively. In multivariate analysis, MRD+ status was associated with a higher incidence of relapse (RI) (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.56, 95% CI: 1.39–4.72), lower leukaemia‐free survival (LFS) (HR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.23–3.39), overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.04–3.25) and GVHD‐free, relapse‐free survival (GRFS) (HR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.10–2.58). MRD status did not have a significant impact on non‐relapse mortality (NRM), or acute or chronic GVHD risk. Among patients with AML undergoing UD allo‐HCT with PTCy, pre‐transplant MRD+ status predicted a higher relapse rate, lower LFS, OS and GRFS.


Spectroscopic techniques play a key role in the everyday work of the pharmaceutical analyst. In addition to the normal use of the various spectroscopies for simple, routine analyses, a pharmaceutical analytical chemist might use spectroscopy to perform a host of additional functions. These might include, for example, the characterization of a polymorphic substance by either X-ray diffraction or nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the identification of a foreign material in a tablet dosage form by infrared microspectroscopy, or the selection of a wavelength for liquid chromatographic analysis by photodiode array ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The following presentation is meant to acquaint the non-pharmaceutical chemist with some of the ways spectroscopy is utilized in the pharmaceutical analysis research and development laboratory.


We consider some families of binary binomial forms $aX^d+bY^d$, with $a$ and $b$ integers. Under suitable assumptions, we prove that every rational integer $m$ with $|m|\ge 2$ is only represented by a finite number of the forms of this family (with varying $d,a,b$). Furthermore {the number of such forms of degree $\ge d_0$ representing $m$ is bounded by $O(|m|^{(1/d_0)+\epsilon})$} uniformly for $\vert m \vert \geq 2$. We also prove that the integers in the interval $[-N,N]$ represented by one of the form of the family with degree $d\geq d_0$ are almost all represented by some form of the family with degree $d=d_0$. In a previous {paper} we investigated the particular case where the binary binomial forms are positive definite. We now treat the general case by using a lower bound for linear forms of logarithms.


This paper, based on the receptor's aesthetics theory and via an analysis of readers, explores the development of Chinese war novels in the past 50 years, arguing the large number and low-quality of war novels in the 50s and 60s are attributed to the same political views of writers and readers. The novels in the 80s are creative both in forms and themes due to aesthetic expectations of readers but a bit shallow. Only the multipolar tastes in the 90s ultimately help bring out the epic style of war novels. The paper also challenges the contention that 50s and 60s as well as 80s are the two apexes of war novels.


The novel Dead Souls marks the peak of Gogol's writing career.However,Gogol burned his manuscript twice when he was writing the second volume of Dead Souls,which shocked the literary circle of the world.The reason of his burning the manuscript was because of his contradictory thought and mental suffering.On the other hand,people can see how a serious writer looks upon the value of his works as well as his own social responsibility.


The report outlines the general principles of building relay protection devices with their inherently developed intelligence created by deep learning neural networks. It is shown that the functioning of such a smart device in the pace of the emergency process development in the protected electrical system is not constrained by the complexity of solving the problem of training a neural network. The entire computationally complexity procedure for selecting supporting precedents for deep learning of a neural network, developing and playing out a full set of simulation modeling scenarios, and confirming the effectiveness of device training is performed, as before, at the design stage. In contrast to the characteristics of classical relays, which use a limited number of geometric figures (circles, ellipses, polygons, etc.) on a plane to form the tripping characteristics, Smart Protection Devices present their characteristics in the multidimensional space of tracked emergency mode parameters. An important feature of such devices is the absence of a branched rigid logic computing scheme, and its intelligence has access to characteristics of any complexity because the classification of the current mode of the protected electrical system and the decision making by a new generation relay protection device is based on discriminant functions with developed nonlinear cores. It is demonstrated that, despite the use of discriminant functions that are complex in terms of design principles, the functioning of Smart Protection Devices does not require an avantgarde computing environment.


Rationale: Gastric trichobezoars are a rare form of bezoar formed from swallowed human hair as well as hair from dolls or animals, blankets, and carpets. They usually develop in young women who are emotionally disturbed, depressed, or mentally retarded, with trichotillomania and trichophagia. They can lead to abdominal pain, gastric ulceration, bleeding, obstruction, and perforation. Patient concerns: A 13-year-old girl was admitted to our institution with complaints of nausea, vomiting, and epigastric pain for 2 days. She underwent laparoscopic removal of a large gastric trichobezoar at our institution 5 years ago. A 12-year-old girl presented at our institution due to epigastric pain, dizziness, and melena for 2 days. Diagnosis: They were diagnosed with gastric trichobezoar by abdominal computed tomography scan and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Interventions: Large gastric trichobezoars were removed via a mini-laparotomy. Outcomes: They recovered well postoperatively without complication. Lessons: Although the recurrence of gastric trichobezoar after surgery is rare, few recurrent cases were reported in the literature. Therefore, psychiatric consultation and regular follow-up after treatment should be considered in the children and their parents to prevent the recurrence of gastric trichobezoar.


Urological presentations account for approximately 1.7% of emergency hospital admissions, 7.8–20% of the acute surgical take and 5–10% of visits to general practice. Training in this area is often unsatisfactory, with a third of final year medical students not feeling confident in managing urological emergencies and 6% receiving no exposure at all. Urology is a multidisciplinary speciality, and many emergency urological presentations require urgent treatment with specialised equipment or skills. A quality improvement project was set up at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with the aim of improving experience and confidence among junior doctors and allied health-care professionals with common urological practical skills using a simulation-based course. There was an emphasis on multidisciplinary team working to mirror the clinical environment. Pre-course questionnaires showed that most participants lacked confidence with common urology practical skills, such as haematuria management (80–85%), nephrostomy management (93–95%) and suprapubic catheters (93–100%). After attending the course, confidence improved in all skills, and participant satisfaction was high, with 100% finding the course relevant to clinical practice. The course was run at low cost, free to participants and without the need for long periods of study leave, making it accessible to all. We suggest the model of this course could be easily transferred to other hospital trusts and applied to other surgical specialities for similar simulated training. Level of evidence: Level 5.


Nowadays, computer simulation is being used to develop new materials. Many of them are dispersed media (e.g., paints, and 3D printer inks). Modern automotive paints are of great interest in research works. They contain colorant particles and thin flat metallic or pearlescent flakes distributed in a clear varnish. There are two main approaches to simulation of light scattering in a dispersed media. The first one is based on the continuous medium model. This model is faster but less accurate. The second approach is the simulation of light propagation through an ensemble of paint flakes and particles represented as an explicit geometry. This model correctly calculates light scattering but is rather time-consuming. In our study, we investigated the dependence of the painted surface luminance on particle size and compared both the approaches. We prove that the effect of coarse particles can emerge even in a model where positions of these particles are not correlated; this is different from the mainstream studies which have only concentrated on the role of these correlations. Then, we suggest a semi-analytical model of dependence on particle size. This model not only allows to more accurately simulate visual appearance but also admits intuitive comprehension of how it is affected by various medium parameters. In case of the divergence between the results of LTE and accurate approaches, we propose a simple approximation that allows to improve the accuracy of the LTE results for coarse particles.


Objective:To develop a transurethral endoscopy technique to examine and treat the distal seminal tracts with ureteroscope.Methods:Totally 16 cases of patients with distal seminal tracts disorders were diagnosed and treated with the transurethral endoscopy through the distal seminal tracts, with ureteroscope.Results:Ejaculatory duct, seminal vesicle, and ampulla of vas deferentis were observed under direct vision with ureteroscope. The vas deferens was passed through by the guidewire or by the epidural anesthesia catheter. In this group, 4 cases were diagnosed as having seminal cyst, 3 cases as cystospermitis, 3 case as vas deferens obstruction, and 6 cases having no disorders found. All the disorders founded were treated properly. At followup of at least 3 months, 3 cases had post-operative discomfort in perineal region, but all of them resolvedby with conservative treatment.Conclusions:This approach enables a new endoscopic technique with ureteroscope to diagnose and treat the distal seminal tracts disorders through the normal anatomic pathway, and it can be easily performed with few post-operative complications.


[Objective] The research aimed to provide references for the study of Pestalotiopsis spp.isolation,purification and ITS region cloning and sequencing.[Method] The endogenous Pestalotiopsis spp.in Termitomyces albuminosus was isolated,purified and identified by the means of morphology and molecular biology.Pestalotiopsis spp.ITS region was amplified with PCR and analyzed after cloning and sequencing.[Result] Morphology identification demonstrated that there was no other similar Pestalotiopsis spp.with which isolated from the study.And sequence alignment analysis revealed it belonged to single branch.[Conclusion] It was quite necessary to establish the ITS sequence database of Pestalotiopsis spp.


Over the last decade, a war has been taking place which involves the computer security community and the black hat hackers. The security community uses every possible routine and strategies in order to cease and also to remove the damage caused by the malicious programs while at the same time the black hat community advances their techniques that can easily bypass the installed security measures. In this paper, a study has been carried out on different classes of Malware and their propagation techniques. We highlight on different detection vectors for malware along with different tools to analyze them. Some challenging issues which need further research are also presented.


Objective To study the HLA match rate of 222 living-related donors for kidney transplantation, and to give suggestions for clinical selection of suitable donors and recipients. Methods We analyzed the HLA match rate of 222 kidney transplantations from living relative donors from April 2006 to December 2008. There were 168 male recipients and 54 female recipients. The ages of 222 recipients ranged from 10 to 58. There were 133 male donors and 89 female donors. The ages of 222 recipients ranged from 21 to 64.Results The HLA-A, B, DR, DR, antigens of 87 kidney transplantations from living parental donors were half-matched, of which 14 were higher than half-matched. The HLA-A, B, DR, DQ antigens of 7 kidney transplantations from living children donors were half-matched, including 2 cases higher than half-matched.Among 56 kidney transplantations from living sibling donors, 12 cases were totally mated, 34 cases were half-matched, and the rest were less than half-matched or mismatched. Among 72 kidney transplantations from other living relative donors, 20 cases were higher than half-matched and 5 cases were completely mismatched. More than 4 HLA antigens in 6 cases were matched, but not half-matched. Three HLA antigens or less were matched in 41 cases. Conclusion The HLA match rates from living parental, children, or sibling donors were higher than other relative donors.

Key words:
Living- related kidney transplantation; Relatives; Match rate


Facilitating factors Challenging factors A "burning platform" following two Fear of reprisal very tragic adverse events Strong leadership support Strong program and professional autonomy Good quality improvement culture Inconsistent follow-up of ideas and infrastructure and initiatives Well established morbidity and Fragmented risk-reporting mortality review processes systems Clinical information systems with Fragmented clinical information computerized provider order entry and systems electronic order set capability Committed teams Relatively young workforce Compelling mission to improve Inconsistent application of the health of children policies, procedures and guidelines Designing an Agenda for Change


Some sociological and psychological theories view physical punishment as a form of violence which promotes violent behavior and attitudes in children. However, it is used by 90% of American parents. The long-term impact of such widespread reliance on physical punishment on children's lives is largely speculative, as there is a paucity of empirical research in this area. The current study examines reported types of punishment during childhood and adult attitudes towards violence and interpersonal aggression. Differences in men and women are also examined. Two hundred and forty college students participated. Men and women reported different histories of punishment type, and differed in attitudes towards violence and interpersonal aggression. No relationship was found between punishment history and current attitudes towards violence and interpersonal aggression.


Aim To examine the effect of implantation of intracoronary stents on the serum levels of C-creative protein (CRP). Methods This study included 105 patients who underwent implantation of intracoronary stents and 242 patients who received coronary angiography (CAG). Serum CRP was measured in the early morning before the procedure and the following morning after the procedure. Results In patients with implantation of stents, CRP levels after the procedure were significantly higher than that before procedure (6.7±0.5 vs 17.6±1.0, P0.01). In CAG group, however, CRP levels after angiography were not significantly higher than that before angiography (3.5±0.7 vs 3.6±0.8, P0.05). Conclusions Implantation of intracoronary stents leads to a detectable increase in serum levels of CRP, which is probably related with plaque rupture, the intrinsic inflammatory or tissue damage within arterial intima treated with stents implantation. It is suspected that increased-CRP may be a manifestation of acute coronary syndrome.


Alterations of plasma and/or intracellular calcium concentrations seem to be involved in the pathogenesis of primary hypertension and hypertension in pregnancy. Plasma and membranous and intracellular Ca ++ contents were determined in 30 untreated patients with essential hypertension (EH) and 30 normotensive healthy subjects (NT). Additionally, 16 pregnant women with a preeclampsia (PP), 18 healthy normotensive pregnant women (PH) as compared to 25 female controls (CF) were studied. Membranous and intracellular measurements were performed in erythrocytes. Ca ++ concentrations were measured by means of atomic absorption spectroscopy (Video 12) and as a membranous reference membrane protein content was determined according to Bradford's method. There was no significant difference in plasma Ca ++ (NT: 2.52 ± 0.11 versus EH: 2.66 ± 0.14 mmol/l) and in intracellular Ca ++ concentrations (NT: 1.96 ± 0.24 versus EH: 2.02 ± 0.22 mmol/l) between normotensives and essential hypertensives. In controls, membrane Ca ++ content was measured 0.81 ± 0.32 versus 2.46 ± 0.26 pmol/g membranous protein in the EH group (means ± SD, p < 0.01). Plasma Ca ++ concentrations were significantly lower in preeclamptic women (PP) (1.96 ± 0.15 mmol/l, p < 0.01) compared to healthy female controls (CF) (2.43 ± 0.14 mmol/l) or women with uncomplicated pregnancies (PH) (2.20 ± 0.10 mmol/l). Intracellular Cap concentrations were not different between groups (CF: 2.11 ± 0.34 versus PH: 2.0 ± 0.3 versus PP: 1.98 ± 0.28 mmol/l). However, membrane Ca ++ content was significantly increased in the preeclamptic patients (1.23 ± 0.36 μmol (g membrane protein, p < 0.01) as compared to control subjects (0.83 ± 0.16 pmol/g membrane protein) and healthy pregnant women (0.77 ± 0.13 μmol/g membrane protein). In conclusion, membrane calcium is significantly increased in both primary hypertensives and preeclamptic women.


Voltage side-by-side device is an important device to meet voltage circuit switch need within substation.In primary device running way adjustment process of substation,the normal running of voltage circuit of corresponding voltage grade protection,automation and measurement device need be guaranteed,otherwise it causes secondary voltage circuit exception,leads to protection device exception and incorrect action,effects the accurate measurement of measurement device,even leads to the serious consequences such as reverse charging from secondary to primary etc.Voltage circuit design flaws are more subtle,hard to find,only in actual operation,by the exposed problems,to analyze and troubleshoot in detail.Combined with the discovery,analysis and treatment of the actual problems,this article proposes improvement measures,having certain reference and guidance significance to the design,operation and maintenance of voltage side-by-side device circuit.


Purpose: To compare the movement characteristics and muscle activation between Hula Hoop (HL) and Mini Hoop (MH). Methods: Sixteen healthy females randomly used HL and MH three minutes, respectively. Motion Analysis System and Noraxon wireless surface electromyography (EMG) were used to measure the movement characteristics and muscle activation. The paired t-test was used to test the difference between MH and HL. Results: The HL had larger in range of hip motion and root mean square of EMG in spinal erectors than MH (p < .05); the MH had higher in movement frequency (cycles per second) and median frequency of EMG in spinal erectors than HL (p < .05). Conclusion: Two fitness hoops have different movement characteristics and muscle action due to the different equipment design.


The study examined the impact of dividend policy determinants on stock price volatility in Sub Sahara Africa. Three (3) economies (Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa) were selected from among the 51 economies in the region, and data spanning 9 years (2011-2019) were obtained and subjected to econometric analyses. The Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedacity (GARCH) was used to ascertain and generate the volatility properties of the stock prices, while the panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique was used to capture the relationship between dividend policy determinants and stock price volatility. The independent variables analyzed in this study are leverage (LEV), firm size (FSIZE), dividend yield (DY), earnings per share (EPS) and dividend payout (DPO) while the dependent variable was the volatility in stock price (SPV). Findings show that all of the variables considered have varying degree of relationships with stock price volatility both in the long run and short run in the three countries. The pooled result indicated that DPO, LEV, FSIZE, DY and EPS had a significant relationship with stock price volatility within the study period in the long run but no short run relationship could be confirmed for the combined samples. The study concluded that dividend payout, dividend yield and earnings per share are significant factors that can be used for predicting the volatile movement in stock price in the African stock markets. The study recommended that dividend payment should be consistent and smoothed to disrupt volatility of stock prices since dividend payment is found to be significant determinant of stock price volatility.


This is a prospective hospital – base study carried out in Wed Medani Teaching Hospital for Obs and Gyn (WMTHOG),during the period from 5 th October 2003 to 30 December 2003. All  pregnant women with malaria admitted to the hospital during that period were included in the study. Malaria was diagnosed by thick and thin blood film, Gemsa's stain. Sever falciparum malaria was diagnosed according to WHO criteria. The national protocol for treatment of malaria with pregnancy was adopted in the management of all women. The results were analysed using SPSS. The total number of pregnant women included in this study were 210. The main results of the study were: (I) severe falciparum malaria 73.4% , (II) anaemia  98.6% of whom 11% was very severe, 20% was severe, (III) hyperparasitaemia 46.7% , (IV) dehydration 33.3% and (V) jaundice 20.5% . Complications on the fetus were: (I) preterm labour 44.1% , (II) low Apgar's score < 7 55.9% , (III) low    weight < 2.5 44.1% and (IV) perinatal death 5.5% . Quinine was the main drugs used. Conclusion: pregnant women admitted to the hospital need intensive care. Although there was no mortality but morbidity was high. The current protocol is adequate in reducing mortality.


abstract The Student Performance Standards policy in Queensland, Australia bears a resemblance to similar technologies currently employed in other countries to test children throughout their schooling. Drawing on the Foucauldian understanding of governmentality, assessment practices are positioned as technologies of government regularly used to achieve certain social and political goals, i.e. governing a school population by convenient means. Through a close investigation of the policy cycle of the Student Performance Standards, contradictions of policy making and interpretation are evident. Testing practices are shown to reflect a centralised thrust which presents a paradox in an educational bureaucracy which is presently involved in devolution. It is the political balancing act of keeping the language of policy making in accordance with what is in the child's best interests as well as satisfying the needs of government to 'know' a population so that it can act in ways which are considered to be appropri...


To establish the feasibility of inducing a protective immune response against a chlamydial genital infection in animals with different genetic backgrounds, groups of C3H/HeN (H‐2k), BALB/c (H‐2d) and C57BL/6 (H‐2b) mice, were immunized intranasally with elementary bodies (EB) of the Chlamydia trachomatis mouse pneumonitis biovar. Following the intranasal immunization strong Chlamydia‐specific humoral and cell‐mediated immune (CMI) responses were detected in the three strains of mice. Eight weeks following immunization the animals were challenged with C. trachomatis in the genital tract. Vaginal cultures showed that the three strains of mice immunized with EB were significantly protected in comparison to the sham immunized animals. To determine the ability of this immunization protocol to protect against infertility six weeks after the genital challenge the animals were mated. Mice of the three strains immunized with EB showed significant protection as demonstrated by the number of animals that were fertile, and the number of embryos present in their uterine horns, in comparison to the sham immunized mice.


The concept-drift phenomenon is used for outlier detection or data labeling, which plays a vital role in detection of outlier. But in that there is a disadvantage which is of reclustering when drift occurred. In this connection two scanning operations are required, one for the drifting and another for the reclustering of sliding window. It is necessary to investigate the principal of clustering to design efficient algorithms to minimize the disk I/O and minimizing the number of scanning operations. In this paper, to overcome the problems of scanning operations and also it is extended to the categorical data where as in literature the leader algorithm for the numerical domain and sequence of data set. The main objective of the idea of clustering the outliers based on the leader algorithm instead of reclustering the entire sliding window /data set by calculating the threshold with the average method and maximal resemblance of leaders. This is more efficient than using reclustering the sliding window.


Introduction: Childhood poisoning is one of the causes of high morbidity and mortality especially among under-five children in low income  countries. The home and its surroundings may harbour poisonous substances which might be ingested by adventurous children. Evo-stik glue is a modified silane (MS) polymer based high performance adhesive. It contains toluene, a colourless, sweet-smelling liquid with detrimental effects on virtually every organ in the body especially brain and kidneys. Toluene is a component of household items such as gasoline, shoe and nail polish.Aim / Objectives: From a few reported cases of toluene poisoning worldwide there was need to create awareness on the possibility of toluene poisoning as well as its deleterious effects. This is a case report on exposure to the effects of toluene by accidental ingestion that set the platform toemphasize the importance of prompt and appropriate management of toluene poisoning.Methodology: This case report is about a 2year old girl who accidentally ingested 15-20ml evostik glue stored in an attractive container in the  home. QH was presented at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Paediatric Emergency Unit with a one day history of persistent  spontaneous, non-projectile and non-bilous vomiting. On admission, she was conscious, moderately dehydrated with dry buccal mucosa. (38.2oC)febrile, but not pale, icteric, or cyanosed. She developed seizures, recurrent hypoglycaemia, generalized peripheral edema and Anurias. On the second day of admission a renal challenge was performed to which the kidneys were unresponsive. Intravenous fluid was then restricted in line with conservative management of acute kidney injury when renal challenge fails. Deranged electrolytes and hypoglycaemia were corrected. She was also placed on an antihypertensive (Amlodipine). In addition, she received intravenous Omeprazole and Ranitidine on account of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Haemodialysis and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy could however not be done on the second day of admission due to logistic reasons.On the third day she slipped into unconsciousness and her Glasgow coma scale had dropped to 8/15. A double volume exchange blood transfusion was commenced. The patient's clinical state suddenly deteriorated during the procedure and she succumbed despite all efforts at resuscitation.Results: She developed persistent vomiting, altered sensorium and acute kidney injury within 48 hours of presentation. The case was 100% fatal. Toluene significantly inhibits the N-Methyl-D aspartic acid (NMDA) subtype of glutamate-activated ion channel. It remarkably reduces metabolicfunction in the brain increases dopamine release and the activity of dopaminergic neurons.Conclusion: Toluene poisoning is associated with high mortality. Early presentation and prompt intervention may lead to a good outcome.  Prevention of accidental ingestion of toxic substances at home is key in averting mortality associated with childhood poisoning.
Keywords: Toluene Poisoning, Evostik, Nigerian


The field programmable gate array (FPGA) and modern computer aided design tools provide new opportunities in teaching computer architecture. This paper presents a simple yet nontrivial Von Neumann style computer architecture and corresponding implementation suitable for an undergraduate course in computer architecture. The processor architecture itself is worthy of study, including such features as subroutines, stack relative addressing, interrupts, and conditional branching. The processor is able to pre-fetch with some instructions and provides performance comparable to traditional small microprocessors such as the Motorola/Freescale 68HC11. The architecture and implementation documents are written so that several options are possible for introducing nod4 into the classroom curriculum. In particular, students may investigate the nod4 processor or implement the processor themselves. It is also possible to present the processor architecture entirely without the implementation.


Anglovaal Minerals acquired the Nkana slag dump from Zambia Consolidated Copper mines (ZCCM) in 1998 and embarked on an ambitious project to pioneer the recovery of cobalt from slag using DC smelting technology. Anglovaal Research Laboratories performed initial pioneering smelting tests in a 250 kW DC furnace over a 3-year period before engaging Mintek for three piloting campaigns at the 1.5 MW level. Mintek had previously developed a reductive smelting process, patented in 1995, using a DC arc furnace for the recovery of cobalt from slags. The results of the pilot-plant test campaigns were used as the basis for engineering the commercial 40 MW operation installed at Chambishi Metals plc in Zambia in 2001. This paper traces the development of understanding of the metallurgical fundamentals ultimately used to predict furnace performance, reviews some of the extreme technical challenges faced, how solutions were identified and highlights some of the critical issues identified during piloting and how these impacted both positively and negatively on the final commercial operation.


Conflicts in recommended medical interventions regularly arise when multiple treatments are simultaneously needed for patients with comorbid diseases. An approach that can automatically repair such inconsistencies and generate conflict-free combined treatments is thus a valuable aid for clinicians. In this paper we propose an answer set programming based method that detects and repairs conflicts between treatments. The answer sets of the program directly correspond to proposed treatments, accounting for multiple possible solutions if they exist. We also include the possibility to take preferences based on drug-drug interactions into account while solving inconsistencies. We show in a case study that our method results in more preferred treatments.


Although great achievements have been made to the study of the early spreading of Marxism in China in the past decades,there are still some weak links for further research,especially in the research ideas and methods of research and some specific problems.At present,in order to advance the research,it is important to set up scientific research concepts and update methods of research to deepen the research with combined effort in both grand narrative study and specific detail study.


The synthesis of 3'-{(4-substituted phenyl-1-N-ethoxyphthalimido-6'-pyridin-2-yl}-3,3a'-dihydro-6'H-spiro[indole-3,5'-[1,3]-thiazolo[4,5-c]isoxazol]-2(1H)-ones 6a-d is carried out through a five step pathway starting from acid catalyzed condensation of 2-aminopyridine with isatin yielding 3-(pyridin-2-ylimino)-1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one 1 which on reaction with thioacetic acid in the presence of anhydrous ZnCl 2 give 3'-pyridin-2-yl-4'H-spiro[indole-3,2'-[1,3]thiazolidine]-2,4'(1H)-dione 2. Reaction of 2 with various araldehydes 3a-d affords the corresponding 5'-[(4-substituted phenyl)methylidene]-3'-pyridin-2-yl-4'H-spiro[indole-3,2'-[1,3]thiazolidine]-2,4'(1H)-diones 4a-d. These chalcones are further cyclised with hydroxylamine hydrochloride to furnish 3'-(4-substituted phenyl)-6'-pyridin-2-yl-3,3a'-dihydro-6'H spiro[indole-3,5'-[1,3]thiazolo[4,5-c]isoxazol]-2(1H)-ones 5a-d which are subsequently condensed with ω-bromoethoxyphthalimide to yield the targeted compounds 6a-d. Structural confirmation of the synthesized compounds has been accomplished by IR, 1 H NMR, and mass spectral data. Final compounds have been screened for their antimicrobial activity.


A study probing the scope of acylation of indoles with dicarboxylic acids in acetic anhydride has beenperformed, resulting in products incorporating 3-acylindole- or 1-acylindole motifs depending o ...


Management transformation principles directed toward con tinual quality improvement suggest the process for inversion of the traditional organizational pyramid. Training of all em ployees in new philosophy and implementation of teamwork provide an environment in which all employees strive to im prove quality by applying statistical process control to their work processes. This way a company can meet the customer needs in the ever-changing and competitive marketplace.


present paper intends to understand the paradox expressed in the context of social policies with goals of social inclusion for adolescents: this policies may be inadequate to deal with expressions of social and gender identities, and with particular demands holds by adolescents clients. Therefore, processes that legitimate exclusion are internally generated, and potentially, the expulsion of some subjects is the result of interactions. The paper addresses a theoretical agenda drawing on debates on social vulnerability, social exclusion and citizenship. The main assumptions hold are: a) articulation on social categories on risk and vulnerability frame interactions and expectations hold by agents, determinating patterns of inclusion and exclusion; b) gender identities, contexts and modes of participation, interest and demands may determinate flexibility for negotiating in some areas while not in others. To do so, the paper's empirical evidence has been produced through ethnographic work in different contexts of implementation of social policies with goals of social inclusion directed to adolescents defined as in social vulnerability in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. Some of the empirical questions are: which are the figures or social categories constructed by programs as "vulnerable" or "at risk"? What programs consider as social inclusion? Which behaviours are considered legitimist or ilegitimist? What the participation in the programs means for the adolescents? Which interactions results in expulsions and which ones in transformations –of programs and/or adolescents?


Alginate – chitosan – alginate multilayer hydrogel encapsulation systems were investigated for encapsulation of chondrocytes. Hydrogel is crosslinked due to ionic interaction between cationic chitosan and anionic alginate, and additionally by calcium ions. Cells were encapsulated in micro-beads and fibres. The work provides the detailed examination of the impact of the microencapsulation process on the growth of cells. The viability of chondrocytes is significantly influenced by the size and the shape of produced microcapsules. Applied encapsulation methods does not contain harmful stages and creates good conditions for cell growth. Possible application area of the developed system is dressing and regeneration of damaged joints cartilage.


Her Majesty joined the audience at a panel debate at the LSE this morning where I was talking about climate change, Africa and the media. It was part of the opening celebrations for the New Academic Building. The new auditorium was packed full of international young people thrilled by the presence of royalty and still drunk on the idealistic promise of Obama's victory in America last night.


In this paper, an real-time fatigue crack monitoring method is investigated based on the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. Three FBGs are applied along the direction of crack propagation to monitor a fatigue crack with size of 10mm. Experimental results demonstrate that the reflection spectrum changes observably with the propagation of crack when the crack is within 3-4mm long of each FBG. Characteristic parameters are constructed to detect the variation degree of reflection spectrum. A crack quantification model based on characteristic parameters is proposed to describe the correlation between the crack size and damage sensitive features extracted form FBG measurements. It makes possible to monitor the propagation of crack quantitatively within 3-4 mm long for each FBG. Finally, a certain size crack can be monitored using several FBGs.


In order to promote the free movement of persons, the European Community is taking steps to encourage the standardization of qualifications in some sectors of activity. New forms of qualification are being imposed on member States in the framework of European regulations. The ways in which these regulations are applied depend, however, on how qualifications have always been set up and recognized in the various countries, since each country has its own traditional approach to these matters. It therefore seemed to be worth analysing this process of transposition in some countries reputed for their strong traditions as far as vocational training and qualification are concerned. The present paper was based on the results of a survey on the latest system of qualifications adopted in France in the field of aircraft maintenance.


This thesis examines the factors involved in the design of a Decision Support System (DSS) for a Thai university. The work examines the proposition that developing a DSS for an Eastern culture may require methods that differ from those methods recommended in the Western literature.
The study covers using a prototype of a Thai University DSS (UDSS) for gathering user requirements for a DSS, understanding the concepts underlying such a support system, and testing the user-interface design. The selected data-modeling technique, Modified Object-Relationship, is used to represent the semantics of the data models for four UDSS applications.
One Thai university is selected as case study, acting as the representative of other government universities in determining the requirements for a UDSS. A questionnaire is used to gather information from the university managers. In addition, interviews, observation, and document review are also used to provide a better understanding of the university managers and university environment.
The indicators of a successful Thai UDSS are identified from the questionnaire. As well, the users' characteristics and experience are examined as the foundation for the user-interface design. The prototypes provide the managers with tools for the expenditure-planning activity and the academic-resource planning activity implemented on Excel 4.0 and Wingz 1.1 respectively.
The data models representing the database structure for Academic Resource Planning, Extra-Promotion Guide, Tuition-Fee Planning, and Computer Support Planning applications are presented. The UDSS database that combined the data properties of each data type for every application is then presented.
The study recommends the database design technique and approach that should be appropriate for the university environment.
In this research, the prototype is limited to the DSS that is designed for the manager at one level, since the communication facilities are not yet established for the personal computers at the selected university.
The recommendations about the involvement of people during the UDSS development and implementation are also given.


The immerging need for preventing the world from air pollutions and global warming due to transport requires a group of researchers who have constructed an unlimited trust between members and a high expertise in the field of transport and the environment. WCTRS World Conference on Transport Research Society has provided an invaluable source for this. The CUTE project, which is a part of SIG (Special Interest Group) of WCTRS, has produced the first book to have described systematically from the causing source of the problems through good practices from 21 cities of the world, till political movements to be taken.


The invention discloses a method for detecting reduction reasons of liquid in a nursing bottle. The method comprises the following steps: detecting whether the nursing bottle is in a static state or not in real time; obtaining a current inclination angle value of the nursing bottle if the nursing bottle is not in the static state; judging whether the current inclination angle value is changed from being smaller than 90 degrees to be larger than 90 degrees or not, obtaining the current acceleration of the nursing bottle if the current inclination angle value is changed from being smaller than 90 degrees to be larger than 90 degrees, and judging whether the current acceleration of the nursing bottle exceeds an acceleration threshold or not; acquiring the time duration in which the current inclination angle value of the nursing bottle is larger than 90 degrees if the current acceleration of the nursing bottle does not exceed the acceleration threshold, and judging whether the time duration is larger than the time threshold or not; determining that the liquid in the bottle is drunk and displayed if the time duration exceeds the time threshold; determining that the liquid in the bottle is poured and displayed when the current acceleration of the nursing bottle exceeds the acceleration threshold. Through the method, whether the liquid in the bottle is drunk or poured can be determined by detecting whether the liquid in the nursing bottle has the accelerated movement or not when the inclination angle is larger than 90 degrees; the judgment results can be directly displayed; the great convenience is brought to users.