Nowadays,thinning timber and small-diameter logs are one of main wood resourses,we should exploit and utilize them.This paper introduces some ways of effectivly utilizing thinning timber and small diameter logs.


A total number of 350 cultured and wild freshwater fishes of different body weights. They were randomly collected from kafer El-sheikh cultured fish farms and also from various water sourses for detection of blood protozoal diseases. The collected fishes were represented as 100 wild Clarias gariepinus, 100 wild Oreochromis niloticus, 75 cultured O. niloticus and 75 cultured Cyprinus carpio. The cultured and wild fishes were collected seasonally. The main clinical picture of the infested fishes with blood protozoal parasites were abrasions on the external body surface, off food, emaciation, dullness, respiratory manifestation. Pale  gills and external body surface with distended abdomen . The total prevalence of blood parasites in all examined fishes was 29.7 %. The highest rate of infestation of Trypanosoma mukasai and Babesioma clarias wasin wild C. gariepinius. Babesioma tilapae in cultured & wild tilapia and Babesioma sp.in cultured C. carpio showedthe highest infestation in summer, summer and spring seasons respectively. Protozoal blood parasites showed dramatic changes in haemogram, leukogram picture, total proteins, albumin, globulin blood level, glucose and creatinine on all examined fishes. The infected fishes with Trypanosoma and Babesioma sp. showed different histopathological changes in liver, kidneys, spleen, gills, skin and musculature.


The purpose of this paper is to introduce some controls to undermine the capacity of the liquidated damages clauses which has a responsibility's limitative nature to extent its effects on contract by re-examining the traditional approach. The economic approach confers some racional arguments that covers its.


Spirituality often plays a central role in helping people with mental illness cope and recover. Assessment provides a vehicle for understanding and utilizing clients' spiritual strengths, and, consequently, practitioners are increasingly asked to conduct a spiritual assessment. For example, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), a major healthcare accrediting agency, now recommends that a spiritual assessment be conducted. This article provides a framework for an initial spiritual assessment that complies with the recent JCAHO (2002) recommendations. Suggestions for spiritually competent practice are provided, including guidelines for discerning authentic spiritual experiences from manifestations of mental illness that reflect spiritual content. The article concludes by reviewing a number of spiritual interventions that may flow from a spiritual assessment.


Abstract The main product in the Kratschmer synthesis of fullerenes is a insoluble amorphous solid called fullerene black. Structural and chemical characterisation allow to conclude that this material contains irregular stacks of bent and planar carbon sheets in large variations of size and bending radius. The chemical reactivity is heterogeneous comprising elements of carbon black chemistry and of fullerene chemistry.


This research work broadly estimated the farm level technical efficiency and elasticity of production among small scale catfish farmers in Alimosho Local Government Areas of Lagos State, Nigeria. The study in its specific objectives described the socio-economic characteristics of the catfish farmers in the study area; and analyzed the technical inefficiency of the catfish farmers in the study area. The study employed the use of cross-sectional data from household survey conducted on a sample of 80 catfish farmers in the study areas. The data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire and were later analyzed. The study employed the following analytical tools in order to analyze the data collected from the field: Descriptive Statistics as well as Inferential Statistical Model such as Stochastic Frontier Approach. The mean age of the farmers in the study area was 44 years. Majority of the catfish farmers are married. The catfish farmers in the study are well educated. The catfish farmers in the study have large households with an average household size of 7 persons. The mean year of farming experience was 9 years for the catfish farmers. This research revealed that about 70 % of the male catfish farmers were married in the study area. Among the catfish farmers, the variables that significantly influence catfish output in the study are included labour quantity employed (1%), fingerling quantity (1%) and pond size (1%). The estimated sigma square (s2) for the catfish farmers were 0.0209 (significant at 1%). The estimated gamma (g) parameter of catfish farmers revealed that 99% of the variations in the catfish output among the catfish farmers in the study area are due to the differences in their technical efficiencies. The fingerling quantity was the most important variable factor of production among the catfish farmers in the study area. The RTS for the catfish farmers was 1.175 in the study areas. How to cite this paper: Adeleke, O. A | Akintola, R. O | Fajobi, D. T | Adeleke, H. M "Estimating Farm Level Technical Efficiency and Elasticity of Production among Small Scale Catfish Farmers in Alimosho Local Government Area, Lagos State, Nigeria" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-4 | Issue-5, August 2020, pp.830-837, URL: www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd33008.pdf Copyright © 2020 by author(s) and International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development Journal. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by /4.0) INTRODUCTION Nigeria is a maritime nation with a vast population of over 160 million people and a coastline which measures approximately 853 kilometres, and in the nation's agricultural sector, fisheries occupy a unique position as the sub-sector, with contribution to the agricultural share of gross domestic product estimated to be 1.3% out of the total 40.9% agricultural share of gross domestic product in the year 2010, and as such fish production as an enterprise has the capacity to significantly fuel the development of the nation's agricultural sector (Osagie, 2012). The importance of fish farming especially catfish farming to the sustainability of the fishery industry cannot be over emphasized, even as majority of domestic food fish supply (81.6%) has been through artisanal activities. But regrettably, supplies from the artisanal sub-sector have been on the decline, and for instance, from 90% in 1990 to 84.2% in 1994, 81.6% in 2003 and down to 40% in 2006. This drop was primarily attributed to insecurity along Nigeria's coasts and waterways, higher energy costs and over-fishing (Tobor, 1990;; Adekoya, 2004; Inoni, 2007; GAIN, 2007). Catfish are hardy, tolerate dense stocking, and thrive in a wide range of environmental conditions. They are easily spawned under proper conditions, yet will not spawn when placed in the grow-out ponds, which gives the farmer control over the production process (Rana, 2007). Consequently, the catfish is vital to the sustainability of the aquaculture industry in the country as it possessed such good qualities as capacity to survive in different culture systems and diverse environments, grow very fast, high fecundity, improved survival of the fry and adaptation to supplemental feed. All of these qualities placed catfish farming in the frontline to serve as the only way of boosting fish production and thereby move the country towards self-sufficiency in food fish supply (Osawe, 2004) Fish products constitute more than 60% of the total protein intakes in adults especially those living in the rural areas (Adekoya, 2004). Food fish is cheaper and possess nutrient profile superior to all terrestrial meat (beef, pork, chicken, etc.) being an excellent source of high quality protein and high digestible energy (Nwuba and Onuoha, 2006; Lawal et al, 2008). But the local fisheries supply in Nigeria is IJTSRD33008 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470 @ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD33008 | Volume – 4 | Issue – 5 | July-August 2020 Page 831 inadequate and this is partly responsible for the current low daily animal protein intake per head per day of 10 g compared to FAO recommended 36 g. An aquaculture transformation agenda plan (which was to be implemented, monitored and evaluated through fish farm development program, fish seeds and feed mill development program, fish pen and cage culture development program and fish post-harvest management and marketing program) was developed to increase annual fish production from the current production of 0.78 million metric tonnes to 3.0 million metric tonnes in order to achieve self-sufficiency in fish production and supply by the year 2015, as a way to bridge the demand-supply gap (Tijani, 2011). It was however, noted by Oyinbo et al. (2013) that fishery extension program should be included as a component of the fishery transformation plan of Nigeria so as to facilitate the delivery of fishery extension services to fish farmers, fish marketers, fish feed millers and other actors in the fish value chain. Despite all the effort of National Accelerated fish Production Project (NAFP) in Nigeria toward improving the efficiency of fish farmers as well as to increase per capital income of indigenous fish farmers, the project did not yield the expected outcomes due to poor implementation, poor monitoring and evaluation of the project. As at 2007, the domestic fish production from artisanal water was 551,700 metric tonnes as against the present nation's demand of about 1.5 million metric tonnes estimated. The shortfall was said to be bridged by the importation of 680,000 metric tonnes thus consuming about N50 billion in nation's foreign reserve (Odukwe, 2007). Efficiency is a very important factor for productivity growth and hence in an economy where resources are scarce and opportunities to use new technologies are limited, inefficiency studies indicate the potential possibility to raise productivity by improving efficiency without necessarily developing new technologies or increasing the resource base (Bifarin et al., 2010). Measuring technical efficiency at the farm level, identifying important factors associated with the efficient production systems would serve as a panacea to assessing potential for developing sustainable aquaculture (Kareem et al., 2008). Efficiency is an important factor of productivity growth especially in developing agriculture where resources are meagre. The analysis of efficiency is generally associated with the possibility of farms producing a certain optimal level of output from a given level of resources or certain level of output at least cost. Battese and Coelli (1995), Yao and Liu (1998), Ohajianya, et. al, (2006), Parikh and Shah (1995) distinguished between at least two types of efficiencies. Technical efficiency refers to the ability of firms to employ the "best practice" in an industry so that not more than the necessary amount of a given set of inputs is used in producing the "best" level of output ( Ajibefun, et. al, 2002; Mijindadi, 1980; Ohajianya, 2006; Onyenweaku and Nwaru (2005); Anyanwu and Ezedinma, 2006). Criticisms have been raised about the interpretation of efficiency measures (Pasour,1981; Ellis, 1988). To avoid many of these criticisms levied upon efficiency concepts, Ellis (1988) advised that the producers' performance should be estimated only in terms of technical efficiency. This according to him is because measures of technical efficiency rely less heavily on assumptions of perfect knowledge, perfectly competitive markets and the profit maximization objective. Sarker, et. al, (1999) reported that efficiency can be estimated by separately estimating technical and allocative efficiencies from a production frontier using farm survey data. Technical efficiency is defined as the ratio of farmer's actual output to the technically maximum possible output, at given level of resources. Allocative efficiency is expressed as the ratio of the technically maximum output, at the farmer's level of resources to the output obtainable at the optimum level of resources (NPC, 2006). This study will therefore estimate the farm level technical efficiency and elasticity of production among small scale catfish farmers in Alimosho Local Government Areas of Lagos State, for the purpose of bringing out the areas in which the farmers need to be empowered so that the fish farmers will be able to maximize advantage in catfish production and make effective utilization of various production resources available to them. In addition, an underlying factor behind this work is that fish farmers were not making efficient use of existing technology to improve farm level efficiency. Based on the statement of the problem above, this research work was carrie


This paper presents a new approach to evaluate the cost effectiveness of agri-environmental policies at sector level. Policy uptake, cumulative environmental effects and public expenditure are identified as the main determinants of cost-effectiveness. On the basis of the sector-consistent, comparative-static, farm group model FARMIS, the determinants of policy cost-effectiveness at sector level are addressed. Firstly, intensity levels for the FARMIS activities are defined in order to model uptake of agri-environmental policies with FARMIS, secondly, life-cycle assessment data is attached to these intensity levels to determine environmental effects of the policies and thirdly, public expenditure is calculated under consideration of transaction costs. This paper concludes delineating the strengths and limitations of the approach.


the article provides an overview of the aesthetics of modernist literature. However, there are also many ideas about the aesthetics and psychologicalprocess of modernist literature. There are also analyses through examples of the aesthetics of theory in the modernistic period.


Chemicalexplosivescanbe found in the gaseous,liquid or solid phasesbut it is customaryto distinguishhomogeneousexplosivesfrom heterogeneous ones. Indeedexperimentshave revealedthat the dynamicalbehaviors of detonati ve or quasi-detonati ve decompositionregimesof explosiveshave moreto do with the latterclassificationthanwith the former. However, distinguishing betweenhomogeneous andheterogeneous behaviorscanbequestionabledependingon thenature,theamplitudeor therangeof the solicitationappliedto theconsideredexplosive. The objective of the presentationis to report on somerecentmodelingof critical dynamicalbehaviors of homogeneousor heterogenousexplosives in conditionsof chemicaldecompositioncloseto the detonationregime. The approachesarebasedon continuumandmicromechanical models. The first part of the presentationwill be devotedto the shock-to-detonationtransition (SDT) in homogeneousmaterials,the secondoneto detonationcritical diametersof heterogeneous materials. Eachpart will be precededby a short review of experimentalfacts. The choiceis to relatemodelingand experimentsby meansof as simpleas possibleassumptions, yetmathematicallyandphysicallyconsistentwith theunderlyingdynamicsof thephenomena.


Maintenance is an issue from the very start, from the design phase and the choice of construction techniques. The importance of maintenance of roadways for the economic life of any country leads to the definition of maintenance policies and to the programming of the required budgets, according to specific goals such as the level of service to be offered to various users according to the category of the road. Strategies of maintenance will be established based on the recognition of the network and the levels of service among which one will distinguish current maintenance, routine maintenance, progressive resurfacing, preventive maintenance and curative maintenance. An overview of main techniques is then analysed. For the covering abstract see ITRD E118499.


We propose a simple and highly query-efficient black-box adversarial attack named SWITCH, which has a state-of-the-art performance in the score-based setting. SWITCH features a highly efficient and effective utilization of the gradient of a surrogate model ˆ g w.r.t. the input image, i.e., the transferable gradient. In each iteration, SWITCH first tries to update the current sample along the direction of ˆ g , but considers switching to its opposite direction − ˆ g if our algorithm detects that it does not increase the value of the attack objective function. We justify the choice of switching to the opposite direction by a local approximate linearity assumption. In SWITCH, only one or two queries are needed per iteration, but it is still effective due to the rich information provided by the transferable gradient, thereby resulting in unprecedented query efficiency. To improve the robustness of SWITCH, we further propose SWITCH RGF in which the update follows the direction of a random gradient-free (RGF) estimate when neither ˆ g nor its opposite direction can increase the objective, while maintaining the advantage of SWITCH in terms of query efficiency. Experimental results conducted on CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100 and TinyImageNet show that compared with other methods, SWITCH achieves a satisfactory attack success rate using much fewer queries, and SWITCH RGF achieves the state-of-the-art attack success rate with fewer queries overall. Our approach can serve as a strong baseline for future black-box attacks because of its simplicity. The PyTorch source code is released on https://github.com/machanic/SWITCH. • Theory of computation → Adversarial learning .


This paper shows, using a technical perspective, the evolution of mobile technologies, from the second generation (2G) to the fifth generation (5G). It is analyzed from the following angles: multiple access, duplex, spectrum, carrier aggregation, modulation, multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) antennas, access infrastructure, and from the point of view of the standardization of International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) issued by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Releases of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Likewise, equations are formulated for the theoretical calculation of the speed offered by each technology.


The present invention provides a method for multimedia playback across devices, including at least a first device, a second device and server, the first and second device for playing multimedia, and connected to the server via a network, comprising: play on the first video device, the second device is in standby mode; the first and second devices simultaneously respectively predefined user operation, followed by the playback information and / or environmental information to the server; the server after receiving the information transmitted from the first and second devices, matching matching results obtained; the second device based on matching results obtained from the server was interrupted from the first device in the video continues to play a video. Scheme proposed by the present invention, only by a simple operation can be completed simultaneously broadcast data between different playback devices, users easier to use, and has a high real-time.


High penetration of wind power into the grid necessitates the coordinated action of wind energy conversion systems and the grid. A suitable generation control is required to fulfill the grid integration requirements, especially during faults. A system using a pair of voltage source converters with a squirrel cage induction generator coupled to a wind turbine is proposed to provide fault ride-through during grid faults. A threefold action is used for providing the effective fault ride-through via coordinated action of the machine side and the grid side converter. The entire wind energy conversion system is controlled such that the wind turbine remains connected even during the faults. To implement the threefold action: (i) A decoupled current controller is placed in the grid side converter, which separately controls the positive and negative sequence currents arising during faults. The grid side converter controller is capable of eliminating the double frequency oscillations at the dc-link voltage and, hence, real power, which arises during the unsymmetrical faults; (ii) Reactive power injection is additionally provided by the grid side converter for better grid support; and (iii) The vector control technique is used in machine side converter along with the droop control to adjust the generator speed and the torque resulting in actuation of the pitch control mechanism to limit power generation without shutdown of the turbine.


There are numerous reports dealing with the significantly reduced citrate secretion in (recurrent) stone formers. The critical values of the Ca/citrate ratio in the nocturnal urine of (oxalate) stone


The utility model discloses a shaft parts detection straightening device, which belongs to process equipment and aims to provide a device which has high detection precision and integrates detection and straightening. The device comprises a positioning device, a clamping device and a straightening device which are arranged on a base, wherein the positioning device comprises two supporting plates (7) fixed on the base (1) and two bearing shafts (3) arranged between the two supporting plates; the clamping device comprise a supporting rod (2) and a hinged support (11) which are fixed on the base (1), a pressing plate (9) hinged on the supporting rod (2), a pinch roller (6) arranged on the pressing plate, a compression screw (10) hinged on the hinged support (11) and a nut (8) arranged on the compression screw; and the straightening device comprises a screw (13) arranged on the base (1). The utility model has the advantages of simple and convenient operation, high efficiency, accurate detection and the like and is an ideal device for detecting the jitter of shaft parts and straightening the shaft parts.


In this paper, a structure for multi-channel Wavelength demultiplexer (WDM) based on nanodisk and nanoring resonators Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) plasmonic waveguides is proposed. WDM structure consists of a bus waveguide and several nano-disks and nanorings. The proposed structure consists of several filters that can be extended to 1 × N channels. The simulation results show in the designed structure, Full-Width Half-Maximum (FWHM) of about 18 nm achieves and can be used in nanosensors, optical integrated circuits, nanoscale WDM systems, and the ultra-compact demultiplexer devices. In this paper, the used numerical method is two dimensional Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method.


The nutritional status of a defined group of 49 older men and women living in a non-profit life care retirement center was assessed by means of analysis of dietary intake from food records, anthropometry and biochemical indices. The individuals ranged in age from 70 through 91 years, were generally healthy, had attended college, engaged in professional careers and were of upper socioeconomic status. The mean energy and nutrient intakes were calculated from food composition tables and compared to the 1980 Recommended Dietary Allowances. Dietary, anthropometric and biochemical characteristics of these "advantaged" elderly persons were compared with the nutritional status of free living persons of low and middle socioeconomic status as reported in the literature. The "advantaged" elderly individuals generally had higher nutrient and energy intakes, less subcutaneous fat, lower serum cholesterol and higher serum ascorbic acid values. The apparently better nutrition status of the "advantaged" subjects could be...


This paper presents a dynamic and queue based bandwidth allocation scheme for cellular networks. According to mobility values, the bandwidth threshold is dynamically changed and a queuing policy is used for newly originating calls. If the number of busy bandwidth units is greater than or equal to bandwidth threshold, the arriving new calls are queued. The results indicate that, our scheme outperforms other proposed scheme in terms of handoff dropping, new call blocking probabilities and utilization, and also maintains its superiority under different network circumstances.


: The effects of chlorpromazine, 25 mg/kg subcutaneously, nialamide, 50 mg/kg intraperitoneally, and imipramine, 100 mg/kg intraperitoneally, respectively, on the glucose and amino acid metabolism of the central nervous system of the rat were examined. Thirty minutes after the injection of U-14C-D-glucose the total amount and specific activity of the amino acids, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glutamine, alanine, and γ-amino butyric acid from the brain were determined. The total amount and the specific activity of blood glucose were similarly determined. With imipramine the study was extended to include 5, 15, 30, 45, and 90 min. after injection of U-14C-D-glucose. Imipramine reduced the glucose concentration, but brought about an increase in the specific activity of glucose. Chlorpromazine reduced the specific activity of the amino acid tested. Nialamide increased the specific activity of aspartic acid and γ-amino butyric acid. Imipramine increased the specific activity of the amino acids tested by 100–200 per cent. At the same time a decrease in the total quantity was observed.


The rehabilitation treatment of hemiplegia is performed through several selective activities, even then many patients don't feel instigated to accomplish the proposed exercises, which compromises the treatment evolution. Augmented Reality (AR) is an advanced interface technology which allows users to interact with a system and have been used for education, entrainment, engineer and health care. In this way, this present work aims to introduce a proposal to help patients treating lower body parts stimulating the proposed exercises execution using Augmented Reality (AR). An interactive environment was developed, making use of a Virtual Reality glasses, a smartphone, a NodeMCU module, an ultrasonic sensor and an accelerometer. This study involved two groups, each composed of two elderly individuals, with problems in the gait process and who are already undergoing hemiplegia treatment. One group made use of the Augmented Reality to aid and stimulate the running movements. The other group received traditional physiotherapeutic treatment. Both groups were followed up by a physiotherapist. The experiments were carried out at the Clinical School of the University of Vale do Taquari Univates, in individual sessions with each patient, during a period of 6 weeks. Tests have shown that the use of the technology may contribute to the treatment of patients with hemiplegia.


Summary The two species of Hylorchilus wrens are endemic to Mexico and were considered "Vulnerable" by Collar et al. (1994). They are restricted to humid tropical forest growing over karstic terrain, but large areas of apparently suitable habitat exist where they have not yet been recorded. I explored areas of potentially suitable habitat as well as a few localities where they were already known to occur in order to gather new data for a re-evaluation of the conservation status of these species. My records, together with six localities where these species have been reported by others in the past few years, add 15 localities to the 12 listed by Collar et al. (1992). Based on this and other new information, I recommend "Endangered" status for Nava's Wren, H. navai, based on criterion B of Mace-Lande (extent of occurence <5000 km2) and on the strongly fragmented state of its habitat. I would retain "Vulnerable" status for Sumichrast's Wren, H. sumichrasti, owing to its slightly larger range which is still relatively unfragmented and its apparently larger population density


Abstract : The United States (US) Department of Defense initiated a program in 1997 called the Military Operations in Urban Terrain Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (MOUT ACTD). MOUT ACTD is a joint US Army-Marine Corps. program led by the US Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command. The MOUT ACTD's charter is to seek technologies that satisfy 32 jointly derived requirements specific to operations in built up or urban areas. MOUT ACID evaluates these candidate technologies for military utility and transitions the successful candidates to acquisition programs for further development and fielding. One of the determinants of military utility that the MOUT ACTD program uses is situation awareness (SA) - specifically, the influence of SA on individual and force effectiveness as a result of the use of MOUT- related technologies. SA is defined here as the warrior's ability to quickly perceive and then discriminate between facets of the tactical environment, to accurately assess and reassess the where, when and why of that environment, to then know and understand the nature of the tactical situation and to extrapolate near term courses of action based on this understanding. This paper describes the process by which the MOUT ACID program developed and implemented a method for determining the impact of SA on individual and force effectiveness.


The present year marks the 10th anniversary of the Coalition, and this the third special journal supplement it has supported in the past decade. This supplement can be considered the fourth special supplement in a series, given that many people in the Coalition were also part of the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and AIDS (JLICA). JLICA Learning Group 1 produced a special supplement in AIDS Care in 2009 on 'Strengthening Families'. This was followed by two special supplements in the Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS) coordinated and funded by the Coalition, one in 2010 on 'FamilyCentered Services for Children Affected by HIV and AIDS', and the second in 2012 on 'Community Action to End Paediatric HIV'. These special issues were launched at the Coalition's Biennial Symposium on children's issues, affiliated to the 2-yearly International AIDS Conference. This year the theme of the Coalition's Symposium, hosted in collaboration with The Teresa Group and UNICEF, is 'Children and HIV: Start Early, Start Now! Integrated interventions for young children born into HIV-affected families'. The 2014 Symposium deals with many of the issues covered in this special supplement to AIDS.


Editions II is a group artist book project published by MA Bibliotheque, edited by Sharon Kivland with contributors from the PhD and MA ADRC SHU 2014/5 cohort. Launched at the London Artist's Book Fair, Whitechapel Gallery 2015, it has been bought by the Tate Britain, exhibited at Volumes, Independent Publishing Fair in Zurich, and the Vox Populi gallery, Philadelphia, and is in the Floating Library collection, Minnesota.


In other words, find the minimum (or more generally the infimum) of the polynomial p over the semi-algebraic set K = {x ∈ R : g1(x) ≥ 0, . . . , gk(x) ≥ 0}, which is the nonnegativity set of the polynomials g1, . . . , gk. Many problems from different areas of mathematics can be formulated in this way; some notable examples are the max-cut problem, testing matrix copositivity and the stable set problem. In the first part of this thesis, we study a polynomial optimisation problem which arises when solving the separability problem in quantum information theory, which asks to determine if a given quantum state ρ is entangled. Letting Mn(R) denote the space of n × n matrices, the most general criterion for answering this question is as follows.


Drug and alcohol treatment research, policy and practice are poorly linked in the drug and alcohol field, compared with other areas of health care. The reasons for this situation are explored from the perspective of treatment providers, researchers and policy makers. It is suggested that the improvement of research dissemination and uptake will rely upon more (and better) quality research studies, and upon the development of clearer methods of summarising and presenting findings to the target audience. Potential pitfalls in this process are briefly discussed, and details of two recently conducted Australian projects are provided as an example of how these difficulties are being dealt with in Australia.


We give an affirmative answer to a question raised by Khalid Bouhjar and Jan J. Dijkstra concerning whether or not every one-dimensional partial n-point set contains an arc by showing that a partialn-point set is one-dimensional if and only if it contains an arc.  2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. MSC:54B05; 54H05; 54F45


The problem of securing and protecting the citizens rights for the medical care delivery in the existing legislation is one of the most relevant in the modern Russian law. In domestic legislation the right to health and medical care is primarily enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. For example, the article 41 establishes the right to get free medical care in accordance with the state guarantees program of free medical care delivery to citizens, and to receive paid medical and other services. However, there are some peculiarities and problems of these rights implementation in minor patients. This article is devoted to the analysis of this problem certain aspects. In particular, it raises questions on the patient's right to get information about his/her health status, enshrined in the Fundamentals (article 19) and the Law of the Russian Federation «On Protection of Consumers' Rights of 07.02.1992». Quite controversial is the situation when the legal representatives of a minor under the age of 15 years strongly refuse medical intervention and hospital insists on it. Considering the features of the right ofminors to confidentiality, it should be noted that providing the information constituting patient's confidentiality to legal representatives is not stipulated by the national medical legislation standards in case of minors over 15 years old. However, it should be taken into account that in case of harm infliction to a minor or unlawful interference with the minor's health, the latters not having full legal capacity, are not able to protect themselves. Also in the current legislation in the field of donation and transplantation the problem of the minors lifetime donation regulation remains unsolved. In summary, it should be noted that, despite the relative development of the legislation on the minor patients rights, in reality unusual situations that create psychological, moral and ethical problems for doctors occur quite often.


The discovery of a person's meaningful places involves obtaining the physical locations and their labels for a person's places that matter to his daily life and routines. This problem is driven by the requirements from emerging location-aware applications, which allow a user to pose queries and obtain information in reference to places, for example, "home", "work" or "Northwest Health Club". It is a challenge to map from physical locations to personally meaningful places due to a lack of understanding of what constitutes the real users' personally meaningful places. Previous work has explored algorithms to discover personal places from location data. However, we know of no systematic empirical evaluations of these algorithms, leaving designers of location-aware applications in the dark about their choices.
 Our work remedies this situation. We extended a clustering algorithm to discover places. We also defined a set of essential evaluation metrics and an interactive evaluation framework. We then conducted a large-scale experiment that collected real users' location data and personally meaningful places, and illustrated the utility of our evaluation framework. Our results establish a baseline that future work can measure itself against. They also demonstrate that that our algorithm discovers places with reasonable accuracy and outperforms the well-known K-Means clustering algorithm for place discovery. Finally, we provide evidence that shapes more complex than "points" are required to represent the full range of people's everyday places.


Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

Design
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings
Researchers from North America established a relationship between career outcome expectations and different forms of job crafting through survey data of 151 employees from different professions. A second study, based on interviews, confirmed that when employees experience unfulfilled career expectations, they try to realign their work situations. This may lead to job crafting behaviors.

Originality
The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


Those who study Acts during this decade will find at their fingertips a plethora of commentaries, monographs, articles, and studies which have come to the fore as a result of the "storm center" surrounding Luke-Acts which van Unnik described in 1966. The past four decades have witnessed an incredible upsurge of interest in Lukan studies, especially in the Book of Acts. There are now so many areas of specialization that the Lukan scholar may sometimes feel he knows more and more about less and less! This is certainly the case when one approaches the study of Acts. The "storm" has subsided; the "stream of Lucan scholarship has become a torrent," but the rivulets formed by the runoff in recent Acts' studies are now fairly recognizable. The purpose of this article is two-fold. First, it addresses the question, what are the areas in Acts' studies today which are now fairly well settled in terms of a general consensus of scholarship? Such areas will be identified and discussed in broad strokes. Second, it asks, what are the areas where there is still considerable debate among scholars regarding Acts? Though the "storm" has subsided, the runoff has formed numerous rivulets which we will attempt to survey. Prior to 1950, Luke was primarily viewed as a historian (according to some not a very good one!) with little recognition of his theological interests. Research was conducted along sourceand redaction-critical lines concluding that Luke-Acts was more or less a pastiche assembled from numerous sources. However, there was little agreement as to where the sources ended and the narrative hand of Luke began.


Is it Time for the ICSID Ethics Code : Regulation of the ethical conduct of counsels appearing before ICSID tribunals


Fish aggregating devices (FADs) are one of the fishing devices widely used by traditional fishermen in the bay of Manado to attract a group of fish to stay around so they can be easily caught. Surface FADs are floating structures anchored to the sea bottom. The floating structure always moves within a coverage area. This research was done to study the FADs coverage area in Manado Bay in September and October 2015 based on FADs positions measured hourly. The results showed that the length of anchor rope determines the size of coverage area, and the movement of FADs did not have a clear pattern and did not form a circle. The unorganized pattern was due to currents, winds, or the combination of the two.


Ab initio molecular orbital calculations have been carried out for the substituted acetyl cations RCO+ (R = CH3, CH3CH2, (CH3)2CH, (CH3)3C) and XCH2CO+ (X = CH3CH2, CH2=CH,CH=C, C=N, OH, F). The stabilities of the ions RCO+ are found to follow the normal inductive order of the substituents R. The calculations suggest that C-C hyper-conjugation is more effective than C-H hyper-conjugation.


The aim of this chapter is to paint a collective portrait of the low self-esteem person. Our cumulative portrait draws on data from a number of survey and experimental studies that have included self-esteem as a critical or implicated variable. Although this approach differs from the familiar case study method, a great deal can be learned about the low self-esteem phenomenon by searching for general findings that appear across a broad range of cases. It is for this reason that we speak of a collective not an individual, portrait of people with low self-esteem (hereafter LSE). We utilize several data sources to paint our portrait, with particular focus on three large-scale studies of adolescents: (1) a study of 5,024 high school juniors and seniors in New York State (hereafter NYSS), (2) a study of 815 students from grades 7 to 12 in the Baltimore public schools (hereafter BCS), and (3) a study of 2,300 tenth grade pupils in eighty-seven high schools throughout the contiguous forty-eight states (the Youth in Transition Study, hereafter YIT). These data are supplemented by other published findings, especially from adult populations. Our sketch has two major components: (1) a discussion of LSE and high self-esteem self-concepts (self-esteem, it must be stressed, is only one feature of the self-concept), and (2) consideration of LSE peoples' emotional and cognitive dispositions. Concerning the first component, the self-concept is a much broader entity than self-esteem: It is the totality of the individua's thoughts and feelings about the self .


Abstract:This commentary on the 2018 special issue of the Journal of American Folklore, "Fake News: Definitions and Approaches," argues that digital networks have enabled fake news by amplification. Fake news by amplification occurs when small-scale events become amplified through the convergent actions of everyday users, mass media gatekeepers, and social media algorithms. Events that are amplified risk becoming distorted as they circulate, with users supplying their own context and interpretations. The resulting fake news is difficult to counter because it goes beyond questions of fact and enters the realm of interpretation, enabled by widespread networked belief.


Radiation Integrated System Research Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), Daejeon 305-353, Korea *E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Laser Plasma Engineering,University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon 305-350, Korea Research Analysis Center, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701, Korea Department of chemistry, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Korea Received July 22, 2013, Accepted September 23, 2013


This paper aims to examine the impact of type of pension scheme on retirement behavior. Section 1 describes a simple, theoretical model of optimal retirement. Section 2 introduces an empirical model of a simple retirement savings plan, or defined contribution pension scheme. Section 3 compares this with a defined benefit scheme. Sections4 and 5 examine the effect of these pension plans on work incentives. The following three sections extend the basic model to introduce 'real world' features of pension plans. Section 9 examines the policy implications of the results and sets out an agenda for future research in this area. The results show a powerful incentive to leave work at the earliest possible age in defined benefit plans. Defined contribution plans, in contrast, encourage people to remain in work longer.


The best populations and lines of spring common wheat selected shuttle nurseries of CIMMYT were evaluated for resistance to leaf rust, stem rust and powdery mildew in the Nonchernozem zone of the Russian Federation. In 2013-2014 wheat samples were tested on an artificial infectious background of leaf rust and natural infectious background of stem rust and powdery mildew. The most of tested samples were very resistant to leaf rust. Stem rust was noted at the end of vegetation when grain in an ear was already generated due to the productivities of plants have not reduced. The dynamics of powdery mildew was observed only on leaves of the bottom circles and crop was damaged insignificant. The tested populations and lines of wheat can be of interest for selectors not only Western Siberia and Kazakhstan, but also Nonchernozem areas of the Russian Federation.


The knowledge of dyeing techniques dates back to very early times; colour has been an important part of the most ancient cultures. Red hue dyes, such as reddish purple, have played an important role as distinctive marks of social and religious status, especially since these may have been intimately connected to the symbolism and archetype of blood from prehistoric times. Threads dyed in red shades have been found in some Neolithic settlements in the Middle East, in ancient Mesopotamia and at Charavines, Isere, France (c. 2450 BC). Due to their early date, there are no written sources which describe the exact nature of the colourants used for reddish purple ancient textile remains. It is likely that the inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula, during the Bronze Age, also dyed their clothes in a reddish purple colour - as found with other Mediterranean cultures. Since no records of the raw material exist, we can only speculate about material used and the methods of extraction required to obtain such dyes. To develop an understanding of this process, this paper reviews the oldest written sources concerning these dyes, together with the information about the dyes obtained through dye analysis of the extant ancient textiles. These considerations leave little doubt that the natural dyes used for reddish purple dye were primarily of local origin and therefore autochthons to the Iberian Peninsula.


This paper explores whether there exist differences in groupwise poverty in Madagascar; that is, whether there is a pattern over time of consistently poorer performance among sub-populations readily identifiable by one or more identity markers. Three key messages come out of this analysis. First, there exists a core type of household that remained persistently poor over the period 1999--2005. These households were largely not members of the dominant ethnic group, land poor, lived in remote areas, and were headed by uneducated individuals, most commonly women. Second, in addition to establishing the existence of persistent differences in poverty across groups, relative differences in returns to education, land and remoteness underscore the existence of differences within groups, as one characteristic affects the returns to another. Third, persistent differences in groupwise poverty are associated with multiple different identities, some of which are offsetting and some of which are reinforcing. For example, women's higher education tends to offset the disadvantages associated with being a head of household, while remoteness compounds the disadvantages associated with living in female-headed households. Copyright 2010 The author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: email@example.com, Oxford University Press.


An impact-resistant furniture item includes a load-bearing structure (2), having a support function for the furniture item (1), and an elastic layer (11) associated to the load-bearing structure and co-operating therewith to achieve an absorption and/or a dissipation of energy following deformations of the furniture item. The elastic layer is superposed to an inner surface of the load-bearing structure and it is at least partially uncoupled therefrom so that the elastic layer can be deformed and slide relative to the load-bearing structure. A method for manufacturing the furniture item includes the steps of readying the load-bearing structure, readying anchoring element (16) on the load-bearing structure, and applying an elastic layer of polyurea on at least one inner surface (12) of the load-bearing structure, preferably by spraying, so that the applied polyurea is also laid on the anchoring element (16) and remains stably connected to the load-bearing structure by effect of the anchoring element.


Objective:- To c ompare the duration of anaesthesia and the degree of post operative pain relief. Material and methods :- This Interventional type of study was carried out in the Anaesthesia department, Nishtar Hospital Multan from January 2017 to January 2018. A total of 100 patients (two groups of 50 patients in each group). Results:- The onset of anaesthesia and quality of anaesthesia were better in neostigmine group (P<0.05). Post operative pain relief was also better. No significant difference in hemodynamics and no adverse effects were observed. Conclusion:- With the addition of neostigmine in traditional lignocaine solution for IVRA the quality of anaesthesia and analgesia is improved. Key words:- Intravenous regional anaesthesia, IVRA, lignocaine, neostigmine.


Boron carbide low rolling resistance rubber composition and its preparation process, belonging automobile tire tread art. In parts by weight include the following materials: SSBR A 0 ~ 100, charge soluble SBR B 0 ~ 100, 40 ~ 100 silica, boron carbide, 0.05 to 20 silane coupling agent 0.05 to 10, 2.0 to 5.0 zinc oxide, stearic acid, 1.0 to 3.0, 1.0 to 3.0 antioxidant 4010NA, accelerator D 0.1 ~ 3.0, accelerator NS 0.1 ~ 3.0, accelerator TT 0.1 ~ 2.0, 1.0 ~ 2.0 sulfur. The present invention can provide low rolling resistance and high wear resistance compound, it can be used for the production of tire treads.


Geographic Information System (GIS) has been played an important role in many applications of our daily life since 1970. Recently, with the rapid development of new technologies, earth's data increases explosively. Many studies have been proposed to extend big data platforms with spatial data storage and processing. GIS users, however, still need a method to work with a large of data sets with traditional tools. This paper proposes a method to integrate ArcMap with Apache Hadoop and its ecosystem. The method has two phases including database creating and querying in Apache Hive. There are two tools following the proposed method are developed for illustration purpose. The experiment results on a data set of taxi trips in a year show that the method impressively improves the query performance. Received on 01 July 2021; accepted on 09 July 2021; published on 14 July 2021


Background: Intussusception is an invagination of one segment of intestine (the intussusceptum) into another segment of intestine (the intussuscipiens) , commonly in a proximal to distal direction. The commonest area to be affected is the ileum intussuscepting into the cecum and ascending colon. Intussusception is a frequent cause of bowel obstruction in infants & children. Aims of the study: To describe the clinical presentation & management of intussusception cases admitted to the Central Teaching Hospital of Pediatric in Baghdad for the period from January 2008 to January 2010. Patients & methods: This study was conducted by patient's relative interview in Central Teaching Hospital of Pediatric in Baghdad for the period from January 2008 to January 2010 .All patients were under (12) years old who were admitted and underwent surgical interference & followed up under the study group, This study for analyzing (80) infants & children. Results: Intussusception was rank as a second most common surgical emergency in pediatric age group (20%) coming after acute appendicitis (35%) among total admission of 400 cases as emergency to our pediatric surgical unit during a period of our study. The peak incidence was between 6 months to 2 years of age & occurred in 55 patients (68.75%), also there was a seasonal variation with increased incidence in spring & winter which correlated with increased episodes of respiratory tract infection & viral gastroenteritis. Thirty-five patients (43.75%) have had duration of symptoms less than 24 hours while forty-one patients (51.25%) had duration of symptoms from one day to one week. Male affected more than the female (50 male: 30 female patients) in ratio of male to female (1.7 : 1). Conclusions: Intussusception is the second common surgical emergency in pediatric age group especially between 6 month – 2 year (which is the typical age group for intussusception).idiopathic type was the commonest type while Meckel's diverticulum considered as the commonest pathological lead point for secondary intussusception which required surgical resection. Recommendations: Early diagnosis and surgical interference are vital in management of intussusception to preserve the bowel & decrease morbidity & mortality.


ne ea no five stages O in nine Australians has chronic kidney disse (CKD),1 although the condition may often t be recognised in primary care.2 There are of CKD, ranging from Stage 1, in which patients have normal renal function but urinary abnormalities, structural abnormalities or genetic traits pointing to kidney disease, through to Stage 5, in which patients have end-stage disease.1 Although anaemia in patients with CKD is multifactorial in origin, it is primarily associated with relative erythropoietin production deficiency3 as the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) falls. Once the estimated GFR trends below 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (Stage 3a CKD), erythropoietin production by the kidneys falls, and anaemia may develop. The history of anaemia management in CKD and associated clinical practice guidelines has been one of contradiction and perceived industry influence.4 The publication in August 2012 by the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) group (an international collaboration of nephrologists) of a guideline that updates and informs clinical practice in this area5 was therefore welcome. The KDIGO guideline contains 47 recommendations with varying grades of evidence (Box).5 It is noteworthy that the conclusions, recommendations and ungraded suggestions for clinical practice in the KDIGO guideline are largely consistent with those currently provided in the Kidney Health Australia–Caring for Australasians with Renal Impairment (KHA-CARI) guidelines.6,7 Of particular note, the KDIGO guideline takes into account the importance of balancing the risks and benefits of erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESAs) and iron therapy. A key aspect of the KDIGO guideline is that it recommends more caution in the use of erythropoietin. poietin 30 years ago was t led to the clinical develerythropoietin and thus anaemia in patients with l studies suggested that haemoglobin levels had ith higher targets.4 This conclusion was supported by the clinical consequences of anaemia (including fatigue, exercise intolerance, cognitive impairment and exacerbation of cardiovascular disease)3 and led clinicians to virtually demand ESAs for the treatment of CKD-associated anaemia. It was therefore ironic that the first randomised controlled trials to evaluate the outcomes of higher versus lower haemoglobin targets, using recombinant human erythropoietin, found the unexpected reverse outcome of negative effects (increased cardiovascular events and mortality) in patients randomly assigned to the higher targets.8,9 The evidence now seems to suggest that haemoglobin target levels between 100 and 115 g/L should be the aim for patients with CKD, and certainly not levels > 130 g/L,10 which have the potential to cause harm. In fact, the KDIGO guideline reaffirms the very strong (Grade 1A) KHA-CARI recommendation of not targeting haemoglobin concentrations > 130 g/L.7,10 There are also newer cautionary recommendations, not covered by the KHACARI guidelines, regarding ESA use in patients with active malignancy (1B), a history of stroke (1B) or a history of malignancy (2C), where there is greater potential for harm. The recommendations in the KDIGO guideline relating to the use of iron supplementation are similar to those in the KHA-CARI guidelines.6 They include the recommendation that oral iron supplementation is inadequate compared with injectable iron. This is problematic for most general practitioners, as intravenous iron cannot be administered in general practice, due to the need for monitoring. However, intravenous iron therapy may sometimes be arranged for the patient at a local hospital. Further, the KDIGO guideline recommends the use of iron indices to help guide therapy, with considerations of infection risk from excess iron and suboptimal ESA responsiveness.


Mechanisms are provided for energy management signalling with an apparatus for processing data, such as a system-on-chip integrated circuit (2). Processing circuitry (6, 8, 10) is coupled to consumer energy interface circuitry (14, 16, 18) which communicates with energy management circuitry (4). The energy management signals which are communicated include a static power consumption signal indicative of a level of power consumption which is independent of processing operations being performed and a dynamic power consumption signal indicative of a level of dynamic power consumption which is dependent upon the processing operations being performed.


With the advancement in complete sequencing of various genome, preliminary projection of gene function of novel sequences using bioinformatics methods was key to the further study on functional genomes. In this report, a web based program has been used to the gene functional classification , which was carried out according to NCBI COG's code table, and provided gene query interface and gene annotation tool according to homology . Gene functional classification for 24 completed and uncompleted sequencing bacteria genomes have been undertaken and the functional distribution among these genomes was discussed. The database and results could be accessed at http: //202. 116. 74. 108/.


How do new regulators in the UK develop and
implement their consumer policies? Do they
follow the examples of more established regulators,
or do they do something new? And if so,
are they as effective as older regulators? Taking
the examples of the financial services and
communications markets, both of which have
had regulators established by and Act of Parliament,
with a central place given to the public
interest, this article looks at how successful the
new regulators have been at meeting this
requirement, and what they still have to learn.


a common parochial mindset in much analysis of Russian foreign policy coming out of the United States. It is almost as if the Cold War had not ended, with now post-Soviet Russia operating once more as a revisionist state, only this time as an old-fashioned pretender for great power status. Yet it is the United States that has a post-Cold War strategic doctrine that calls for military primacy, and it is the United States that has engaged much more actively in making war against some states and interfering in the affairs of others. It is necessary to make this point because much contemporary analysis seems to assume that Russia's ambition to enhance its international power status somehow sets it apart from "western" states, when in fact, from the realist logic that appears to guide Mankoff, all major states act in a similar fashion. For a book of such length and on such a topic it is perhaps surprising that there is little engagement with theories of foreign policy and international relations, for this could have provided an analytical anchor and frame of reference to link to other works in the area. Having said this, Mankoff's book offers a detailed and, for the most part, a fair and balanced assessment of the development of Russian foreign policy from the early postSoviet years through to the war against Georgia in 2008. Good use is made of a wide range of relevant primary sources in both English and Russian, and a careful and balanced appraisal is given of the complexities of the domestic political arena in which foreign policy is determined. Insofar as there is a framework guiding the analysis, it is a loose realist one in which Russian foreign policy is guided by traditional notions of state interests and the desire, as the title of the book implies, to return to great power status. Again, it would have been useful here to have included some discussion about the nature of power in international politics and issues relating to polarity and the systemic, structural changes that have taken place since the end of the Cold War, and the impact this has had on the major powers. The author keeps repeating the point that the 'Vest" looms large in Russia's foreign policy, yet surely when considering the structure of power in the international system and the U.S. role within it, as well as Russia's geographical and cultural linkages with Europe, this should not be seen as remarkable or based simply on outdated thinking. Furthermore, Moscow's attention to its nearest neighbors and to Europe as a whole should be seen in light, not of its overarching western (or U.S.-centric) orientation, but of Russia's perceptions of its diminished power capabilities in the international system. Yet Mankoff's book does highlight some of the grand strategic thinking behind post-Soviet Russian foreign policy, placing this in the context of the changing dynamics of international politics and the rise of other powers, such as China, and the increasing importance of energy security and the geopolitical saliency of the former territories of the USSR, especially across the Caucasus and southwest Asia. Overall this is a very good assessment of contemporary Russian foreign policy that can be highly recommended for both the university classroom and the policy staffroom.


The hole between the electromagnetic wave CT method can not only detect and igneous rock formation in the karst rock weathering interface detection, has broad application prospects. Foundation for the power station on the left felstone igneous rock formation, rock containing quartz, feldspar, montmorillonite and other minerals, together with stress easily hidden weathering weak interlayer interface and a direct impact on dam safety. Made between the use of continuous improvement of the hole electromagnetic method and the CT processing software, data obtained from the inversion of the imaging. The results show that the absorption coefficient value of the observed specimen test results shows good agreement. In the detection of three pairs of drilling section, digital images are given a clear structure and the weathered rock layer interface depth, drilling results have been validated for the Zuojiang river dam foundation grouting curtain depth to provide a reliable basis.


Steve Fuller's article on the events of September 11th raises a number of important questions about the role of sociology in public discussion and debate. This brief response, in taking up this challenge, focuses on the issue of bio-terrorism. In doing so, a balance sheet is provided of the potential threat this poses, drawing both on the history of biological and chemical weapons to date, and the potential epidemics of fear they unleash in the aftermath of September 11th. Medical sociology, it is argued, alongside the sociology of emotions, is particularly well placed to address such issues, including questions of the biological and broader themes of war and health, medicine and the military.


This study was aimed to explore the cognitive mechanism of global advantage on mental rotation. Using event-related potential and divided-attention paradigm of compound stimuli, we observed that subjects` response to global rotation was faster than their response to local rotation, and the parietal P300 amplitude was inversely related to the character orientation. What's more, the local rotation task delayed the onset of the mental-rotation-related negativity at frontal and parietal electrodes. None clear effect was found for occipital N150. These findings suggest mental rotation of the global level occurs earlier than processing of the local one and further provide convergent evidence for our previous finding using a focused-attention paradigm.


Abstract : We have synthesized and characterized MR imaging agents using hyaluronic acid (HA) polymer backbones with molecular weights of 16, 31, and 74 kDa. The gadolinium content of HA-(EDA-DTPA-Gd) conjugates varied with preparations and was about ~10% as determined by ICP-MS, which corresponds to ~70% modification ratio of the HA carboxyl groups. T1 values of HA-(EDA-DTPA-Gd) prepared from HA of molecular weight 16kD, 31kD, and 74kD and measured at 400MHz were very comparable in the range from 15.3 ms to 19 ms. We also synthesized fluorescent labeled HA probes using the same HA molecules and demonstrated efficient labeling of the polymer using anime-reactive dyes and EDC/EDA linker. Biodistribution of the HA-(EDA-DTPA-Gd) contrast agent in vivo was determined by T1 weighted MRI. Blood half-life time of HA-(EDA-DTPA-Gd) compounds was determined from changes in blood relaxivity as a function of time. Two-compartment pharmacokinetic model provided good fit of experimental data and for 16kDa HA compound the fast and slow phases life times were 12.4 min and 141 min, respectively. Preliminary data suggest an increased uptake of 16 kDa and 31 kDa HA-(EDADTPA-Gd) agents in CD44-positive MDA-MB-231 tumor xenografts in comparison to CD44-negative MCF-7 tumors.


Many studies have investigated the determinants of product innovation in small firms, suggesting product, firm, market and innovation process factors are its key drivers of success. Variations across industries relating to the determinants of product innovation are often expected, but due to a lack of data this is still under-researched. This article explores if composite effects due to broad samples indeed blur one's view. Drawing upon a database of 1250 small firms across 7 industries, we investigate if any differences are found in the presence and impact of various firm-level determinants. Controlling for size and age differences, the analysis reveals some major differences to the extent small firms use innovative practices, and their connection with new product introductions.


Polyaniline-copper/Polycarbonate (PANI-Cu/PC) and polyaniline-copper/Polycarbonate-polyester (PANI-Cu/PC-PBT) nanocomposites (NCPs) were fabricated using chemical oxidative and casting techniques. The morphology of the prepared NCPs was studied using scanning electron microscopy. The optical absorption spectra of these NCP samples have been recorded in the wavelength range 250–850 nm at room temperature. Optical parameters such as Urbach energy (Eu ), optical bandgap (Eg ), refractive index (n), real (ϵ ′) and imaginary (ϵ ″) parts of complex permittivity have been evaluated. The induced modifications in the optical properties of the UV irradiated NCPs have been studied as a function of UV fluence. The values of optical bandgap of the blank PANI-Cu/PC and PANI-Cu/PC-PBT NCP samples were found to be 3.92 and 3.86 eV, respectively. These values decreased to 3.57 and 3.08 eV upon raising the UV fluence up to 120 J/cm2 due the dominance of crosslinking that destroys crystallinity and increases the amorphous phase. This was associated with an increase in Urbach energy, refractive index and dielectric constant. The obvious reduction in the optical bandgap of the UV irradiated PANI-Cu/PC-PBT NCPs makes it of great interest in optoelectronic devices applications.


The application of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment was recently introduced in Egypt. Studies on removal rates are therefore required in order to estimate removal constants for the different contaminants in wastewater. This will assist in the design of future facilities in the same environment. In this study an interpretation was conducted on experimental results obtained from a sub-surface flow constructed wetland in Egypt receiving primary treated municipal wastewater. The actual removal kinetics and organic loading were compared with theoretical values and with those applied in similar plants, thus estimates for actual removal constants were developed. The study aimed the estimation of removal rates of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), suspended solids (SS), ammonia (NH4), total nitrogen (TN) and fecal coliform (FC). As the studied constructed wetland is in the first few years of operation, the outcome of the study indicates the removal rates and efficiencies related to the initial operating phase.


The invention relates to a composite catalyst for ternary copolymerization of carbon dioxide, epoxy propane and lactide and a preparation method thereof. The composite catalyst is a binary catalyst system composed of a metalloporphyrin (PorphyrinM, M=Cr, Al or Co) and a cocatalyst (PPNCl, DMAP, and the like); and when the catalyst system is used for ternary copolymerization of carbon dioxide, epoxy propane and lactide, an aliphatic polycarbonate polylactide copolymer can be obtained, the number-average molecular weight of the copolymer is 10000-40000, the molecular weight distribution is 1.1-1.5, and the molar percentage of the polycarbonate PPC segment in the copolymer is 20-55%.


A late Cenomanian-early Turonian interval (Hamam-ghaleh section) adjusted with the transition of Aitamir and Abderaz formations has been investigated in the east of Koppeh-Dagh Basin to examine environmental perturbations related to the oceanic anoxic event 2. The dark shale of the upper Aitamir Formation indicate higher organic matter concentrations especially in the two intervals at the end of Rotalipora cushmani biozone and the middle part of Whiteinella archaeocretacea biozone. These intervals are characterized by higher detrital input (quartz and feldspar) and chemical alteration (high kaolinite/illite ratios), which suggest a warm-humid condition coeval with high productivity during the OAE2. The Aitamir Formation also shows higher total sulfur values associated with deposition of framboidal pyrite reflecting an oxygen deficiency.The warm and humid periods in the study section were followed by the cooler and drier intervals associated with decreased TOC values and chemical weathering. These cooling periods might be caused by falling of atmospheric CO2 due to large amount of carbon burial in sediments and high silicate weathering. The δ13Corg positive excursions of around 1‰ are other characteristics of these cooler-drier intervals, which were result of high burial of light carbon in the organic matter and lower isotopic differentiation in low atmospheric pCO2.


In the aftermath of the 1997 crisis Thailand has undergone changes in insolvency law, risk management (especially with respect to changes in the Bank of Thailand monetary regime), conduct of monetary policy, internal reorganisation, and risk management of financial institutions. Commercial and central bank regulators gradually learned from the crisis and responded by changing financial practices, consolidating business and introducing a new institutional infrastructure that is already in place and will be enforced in the coming years.


The area under a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) is a commonly used index for summarizing the ability of a continuous diagnostic test to discriminate between healthy and diseased subjects. If all subjects have their true disease status verified, one can directly estimate the AUC nonparametrically using the Wilcoxon statistic. In some studies, verification of the true disease status is performed only for a subset of subjects, possibly depending on the result of the diagnostic test and other characteristics of the subjects. Because estimators of the AUC based only on verified subjects are typically biased, it is common to estimate the AUC from a bias‐corrected ROC curve. The variance of the estimator, however, does not have a closed‐form expression and thus resampling techniques are used to obtain an estimate. In this paper, we develop a new method for directly estimating the AUC in the setting of verification bias based on U‐statistics and inverse probability weighting (IPW). Closed‐form expressions for the estimator and its variance are derived. We also show that the new estimator is equivalent to the empirical AUC derived from the bias‐corrected ROC curve arising from the IPW approach. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


It is well known that groundwater is a valuable but vulnerable natural resource. To set forth a proper strategy for conservation and sustainable use of groundwater resources, we need precise evaluations of the human impact on groundwater quality. In this paper, we develop a Bayesian contamination model that clusters the sampling locations of groundwater into polluted and unpolluted groups and simultaneously estimates the average amount of human impact. Among major dissolved ions in groundwater, NO3−, Ca2+, SO42−, Cl−, and Na+ were documented as useful variables describing the hydrochemical characteristics of anthropogenically polluted groundwater. Increased concentrations of these ions indicate that overused agrochemicals (particularly nitrogen fertilizers) and domestic sewage are the most important causes of groundwater pollution to considerable depths in the studied region. Our proposed model can be used to identify effective measures for groundwater quality management such as source control. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Objective To explore the curative effects on avascular necrosis of femoral head(ANF) by a new method of pedicled muchroom bone graft through fenestration over the femoral head and neck Methods According to Ficat classification,there were 10 caes of stage ⅡA of ANF,13 of stage ⅡB and 8 of stage Ⅲ.The vascular pedicled bone graft were applied in 13 cases,ilioc bone flap with sartorius muscle in 5 cases,tensor fasciae latae pedicled iliac bone graft in 4 cases and greater trochanter bone flap in 9 cases.31 cases of avascular necrosis of femoral head were treated with pedicled mushroom bone graft through fenestrations on the femoral head and neck.Results The average follow up period was 1 5 to 4 years.The excellent results were found in 20 cases,good in 7 cases,fair in 2 cases,poor in 2 cases and excellent rate was 87 1%based on Wangyan′s standard.Conclusion Mushroom bone graft could improve and reconstruct the blood circulation of femoral head,avoid stress concentration prevent and treat the collapse of the femoral head.


The HIV/AIDS epidemic is as much as three times worse than the global forecasters predicted in 1991 according to a report by the Joint UN Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS). Between 1999 and 2000 the number of people living with HIV/AIDS increased by 2 million. In 1999 2.8 million people died of AIDS half of them children. However the UNAIDS report shows that public policy efforts can stabilize or reduce the rate of new infections. In countries such as Senegal the new infection rate remains low and stable and in Uganda the high infection rate has begun to fall. The problem remains drastic in other countries however such as in Botswana where more than one-third of adults are infected. Unprotected heterosexual and homosexual sex ignorance violence against women the sex trade and drugs are all factors in the spread of the disease. UNAIDS recommends that in order for programs against HIV/AIDS to be effective they must be realistic and address the practical needs and concerns of the people in the higher risk groups.


Competitive and skilled management accountants are needed for the companies' survival in an ever-changing world and also a world without borders. Therefore, the problem is what components in a decision maker brings out the best decision. Since learning is continuous and continuous learning is essential in an ever changing world in order for the company to survive. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of metacognition on management accounting students' decision. To reach this aim 83 graduate students of Islamic Azad University of Tehran have been studied in 2017 using three questionnaires. Path analysis and factor analysis have been conducted simultaneously in PLS software. The results show that the correlation between metacognition and management accounting students' decision (what it is) is negative. And also the relationship between metacognition and management accounting students' decision in practice (what it should be) is negative. The study concludes that although metacognitions' aim is to bring out competitive learners, it does not necessarily make innovative decision-makers. Also centralized management in low-privatized countries could affect innovation in decision making


The Gross Llewellyn Smith sum rule has been measured at different values of four-momentum transfer squared (Q{sup 2}) by combining the precise CCFR neutrino data with data from other deep-inelastic scattering experiments at lower values of Q{sup 2}. A comparison with the {Omicron} ({alpha}{sub s}{sup 3}) predictions of perturbative QCD yields a determination of {alpha}{sub s} and its dependence on Q{sup 2} in the range 1GeV{sup 2} < Q{sup 2} < 20 GeV{sup 2}. Low Q{sup 2} tests have greater sensitivity to {alpha}{sub s} (M{sub Z}{sup 2}) than high Q{sup 2} tests, since at low Q{sup 2} {alpha}{sub s} is large and changing rapidly.


The currently accepted kinematic model of the Caribbean plate presented by DeMets et al. (2007) is based on velocities from 6 continuous and 14 campaign GPS sites. COCONet is a multi-hazard GPS-Met observatory, which extends the existing infrastructure of the Plate Boundary Observatory in North America into the Caribbean basin. In 2010, UNAVCO in collaboration with UCAR, was funded by NSF to design, build, and initially maintain a network of 50 new cGPS/Met sites and include data from another 50 existing sites in the Caribbean region. The current COCONet siting plan calls for 46 new stations, 21 refurbished stations, and 77 existing stations across 26 nations in the Caribbean region. Data from all COCONet sites flow into the UNAVCO archive and are processed by the PBO analysis centers and are also processed independently by the UTA Geodesy Lab using GIPSY-OASISII (v.6.2) using an absolute point positioning strategy and final, precise orbits, clocks, and Earth orientation parameters from JPL in the IGS08 frame.


Contemporary American Indian reservations are notable for, among other things, extreme poverty, a host of related social problems, and economies founded largely on transfer payments and governmental services. These signs of low standards of wellbeing-both economic and social-are enigmatic. Despite decades of professed federal and public concern and a seemingly endless flow of federal and private dollars, there is as yet relatively little sign of meaningful improvement on most reservations, or of the emergence of sustainable productive activity. American Indian tribes have significant sovereign powers, yet tribal governments are frequently ineffective. Most Indians apparently desire to maintain and build upon distinctive tribal identities and communities, yet social pathologies undermine many Indian societies with disheartening results. These problems are indicative of more than a lack of econom-


We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction. --Bill Gates, The Road Ahead, 1996 Bill Gates could probably have used even more extreme adverbs. That is, we vastly underestimate the change that will occur in ten years. Think of 1999 and compare it to today. Think of webinars, going digital, investment bubbles, e-readers, chat reference, handheld computers, cloud computing, Twitter, Facebook, Google Books, Flickr, social networking, and Library 2.0. This is the second column examining the statements of concerns from 105 candidates who have run for an elected position in RUSA in the past three years (2007-9). The method is described in the following note. (1) In the Winter 2009 RUSQ, I examined issues related to association participation. In this column I analyze the candidates' statements to determine implications for our strategic planning process. I know, strategic planning is not always interesting, but it is necessary and should act as a roadmap for our future. Sometimes it's nice to see where we are headed, and I hope to make it fun, or at the very least educational! I hope you will find this discussion interesting because it is from the membership's perspective (RUSA candidates who have run for office). I must again remind you that when the candidates created their statements for election, they did not write them for the purpose of this analysis. The idea to use them in RUSA's strategic planning process came later. In September 2009, leaders from ALA's executive board, divisions, round tables, and senior staff met for a strategic planning retreat in Itasca, Illinois. This meeting was the first step in the process of developing ALAS next strategic plan to guide the association over the next five years. To help inform our members, ALA created an environmental scan containing documents on major issues and trends affecting libraries, posting it on ALA Connect (http://connect.ala.org/2015scan). The environmental scan includes documents on these topics: * academic libraries * cultural environment * economic environment * educational environment * media environment * nonprofits and associations * political environment * public libraries * school libraries * societal environment * special and government libraries * technological environment * the American Library Association The document that came out of the Itasca planning retreat identified five goal areas to guide the planning process: * advocacy and public policy * building the profession * transforming libraries * member engagement * organizational excellence The planning document was reviewed and refined at the 2009 ALA Executive Board Fall Meeting in Chicago. The revised plan was disseminated before the 2010 ALA Midwinter Meeting for further member review. The intent is for the plan to go into effect after ALA Council approval at the Annual Conference in Washington, DC, in June 2010. Each October, all of ALAS division leadership and the ALA executive board gather in Chicago to discuss both division- and ALA-wide issues. RUSA's executive committee includes the "Three P's" (RUSA's current, past and future presidents), our ALA councilor, and the RUSA board secretary. The 2009 committee was Susan J. Beck, Neal Wyatt, Barry Trott, Kathleen Kern, and Theresa Mudrock. The RUSA committee meets in the morning to discuss RUSA issues, and then all the ALA leaders come together in the afternoon to discuss a common issue. This year we contributed to the development of ALA's next strategic plan. The following morning, the RUSA executive committee met again to review our current strategic plan and establish new strategies for this year. …


In several cities, permeable brick pavement (PBP) plays a key role in stormwater management. Although various hydrological models can be used to analyze the mitigation efficiency of PBP on rainfall runoff, the majority do not consider the effect of multi-layered pavement on infiltration in urban areas. Therefore, we developed a coupled model to evaluate the potential effect of PBP in reducing stormwater runoff at a watershed scale. Specifically, we compared the hydrological responses (outflow and overflow) of three different PBP scenarios. The potential effects of PBP on peak flow (PF), total volume (TV), and overflow volume (OV) were investigated for 20 design rainstorms with different return periods and durations. Our results indicate that an increase in PBP ratio reduces both PF (4.2–13.5%) and TV (4.2–10.5%) at the outfall as well as the OV (15.4–30.6%) across networks. The mitigation effect of PBP on OV is linearly correlated to storm return period and duration, but the effects on PF and TV are inversely correlated to storm duration. These results provide insight on the effects of infiltration-based infrastructure on urban flooding.


(13); "to speak with him by in Aramaic" (16); the king "receives unction" (23); "a gapping element of his story" (61); "Jesus abides to a transcendental torah" (76); "to the authenticity of this logion militate" (95); "we know as little to the development" (175, n. 18); the "utopist character" (238, n. 59). At the end L. assures his readers that the resurrection of Jesus is only a theological "postulate, which is to be proclaimed" (269). But how could Paul or anyone proclaim the Resurrection unless they held it to be factual? Sadly L. quickly dismisses as "mythologized" ideology the Jesus of early Christian creeds. But he is surely right in regretting the way in which Christians too often came to define their identity apart from and even in opposition to their Jewish parentage (274).


This paper aims to estimate the stability of the water-resistant strata between the tunnel and the small-medium-sized concealed cavity filled with high-pressurized water or other fillings at optional position around tunnel through solving the double-hole problem. The analytical method to identify the critical water-resistant thickness is proposed based on the Schwarz alternating method and Griffith strength criterion, and the program to calculate the critical thickness was prepared according to this method using mathematical software. Parametric study of the critical thickness indicates that the critical water-resistant thickness will increase with the buried depth of the tunnel and cavity size; the lateral pressure coefficient has more complicated influence on the critical thickness, which is affected by cavity position; when the cavity is filled with sand or gravel, the critical water-resistant thickness will decrease with the increase of the filling pressure; and when the cavity is filled with the high-pressurized water, the critical thickness will decrease as the water pressure initially and increase afterwards. The analytical result of the critical thickness is consistent with that obtained by numerical simulation using the user-defined program based on FLAC3D, demonstrating the rationality and feasibility of the proposed method in this study.


Background: To investigate the correlation between corneal biomechanical characteristics (in vitro and in vivo) and corneal densitometry in myopia. Methods: The Pentacam (Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany) corneal densitometry (CD) and Corvis ST (Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany) exams were conducted prior to surgery for myopic patients who were intended to undergo small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE). CD values (grayscale units, GSUs), and in vivo biomechanical parameters were obtained. The stromal lenticule was subjected to a uniaxial tensile test to obtain the elastic modulus E in vitro. We exam the correlations among in vivo, in vitro biomechanical characteristics and CD values. Results: In this study, 37 myopic patients (63 eyes) were included. The mean age of participants was 25.14 ± 6.74 years (range:16–39 years). The mean CD values of the total cornea, anterior layer, intermediate layer, posterior layer, 0–2 mm region and 2–6 mm region were 15.03 ± 1.23 GSU, 20.35 ± 1.98 GSU, 11.76 ± 1.01 GSU, 10.95 ± 0.83 GSU, 15.57 ± 1.12 GSU and 11.94 ± 1.77 GSU, respectively. Elastic modulus E (in vitro biomechanical indicator) was negatively correlated with intermediate layer CD (r = −0.35, p = 0.01) and 2–6 mm region CD (r = −0.39, p = 0.00). A negative correlation was also found between 0-2 mm central region CD and in vivo biomechanical indicator SP-HC (r = −0.29, p = 0.02). Conclusion: In myopic patients, densitometry is negatively correlated with biomechanical properties both in vivo and in vitro. With an increase in CD, the cornea deformed more easily.


BACKGROUND Teenage motherhood has been associated with a host of adverse outcomes over the life cycle. Less, however, is known about the impact of teenage motherhood on health later in life. OBJECTIVE To study the impact of teenage motherhood on late-life health, using a retrospective survey of almost 12,000 women aged 50+ from 13 European countries containing detailed information on early-life circumstances. METHODS We develop linear models of the association between teenage motherhood and late-life health outcomes. We control for early-life factors parametrically as well as through propensity score matching. In addition, we employ recently developed methods to derive consistent lower-bound estimates for the causal impact of teenage motherhood on late-life health outcomes. RESULTS We find that teenage mothers experience substantially poorer self-reported late-life health and are more likely to display depressive symptoms than nonteenage mothers. This result remains after controlling for early-life as well contemporaneous socioeconomic conditions. CONTRIBUTION We exploit recently developed empirical techniques to derive consistent lower bounds of the causal impact of teenage motherhood on health later in life using a cross-national survey of early-life and contemporaneous socioeconomic conditions. 1 University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com. 2 University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com. Angelini & Mierau: Late-life health effects of teenage motherhood 1082 http://www.demographic-research.org


Objective To compare ocular biometric values in angle closure glaucoma and cataract in senile population. Methods Ocular biometry was performed in eyes classified to have angle closure glaucoma (29 eyes) and senile cataract (31 eyes). Ocular biometry readings between two groups were compared and analyzed statistically. Intraocular pressure was also recorded before and after lens extraction. Results Anterior chamber depth was shallower in patients with angle closure glaucoma group [(1.79±0.56) mm] compared with senile cataract group [(2.69±0.40) mm] (P0.01). Lens thickness was greater in angle closure glaucoma group [(5.30±0.61) mm] than that in senile cataract group [(3.84±0.61) mm] (P0.01). Phacoemusification was performed in 5 patients with persistent acute attack of angle closure glaucoma. IOPs were controlled in all five cases after lens extraction. Conclusion Eyes with angle closure glaucoma seems to have significantly shallow anterior chamber and greater lens thickness compared to senile cataract eyes in the same age. Lens extraction might be effective in those cases with such anatomy features.


Outbreaks of gastroenteritis, characterised by diarrhoea, vomiting and/or abdominal cramps in two or more people, often occur in semi-closed settings such as hospitals and aged-care facilities. Several characteristics common to institutional settings facilitate outbreaks of gastroenteritis: close human contact and communal living; shared bathroom facilities; movement of ill staff and patients between wards/facilities; a higher proportion of susceptible people (because of their age or underlying illness); centralised food preparation/handling; and often impaired continence of inhabitants.


The invention discloses a cab pitching device of a bucket wheel machine, which comprises a driving device used for driving a cab (11) of the bucket wheel machine to rotate around a hinge point between the cab (11) and an arm support (12), a detector used for detecting the pitch angle of the arm support (12), a controller used for receiving a detecting signal of the detector and transmitting an action instruction, and a locking device for locking or unlocking the position of the cab, wherein a signal output end of the controller is electrically connected with the driving device, so that the driving device correspondingly responds according to the action instruction. The position of the cab can be exactly adjusted by the cab pitching device, so that the ground surface of the cab is positioned at the horizontal position, and an operator in the cab can conveniently work. Furthermore, the invention further discloses thea bucket wheel machine comprising the cab pitching device.


AIM To establish a HPLC-MS method for the determination of eplerenone in urine sample and to investigate the urinary excretion characteristics of eplerenone in healthy Chinese volunteers.METHODS Twenty healthy volunteers were given splitting single doses of eplerenone 25,50,and 100 mg orally,followed by determination and calculation of the concentrations of eplerenone in urine and finally compared by statistical analysis.RESULTS The accumulation amounts of eplerenone excreted in urine after 36 h of administration were(594 ± s 302),(1 085 ± 185),and(2 558 ± 854) μg for the 25,50,and 100 mg dosages,respectively.The excretion rates for the dosage range of 25 -100 mg were 2.17% -2.56%.The accumulation amounts of eplerenone excreted and the maximum excretion rates in urine of the male were higher than those of the female.CONCLUSION The accumulation amounts of eplerenone excreted and the maximum excretion rates in urine increased with linear correlation to the doses of eplerenone ranging from 25 mg to 100 mg and no significant difference in between them;but only different in gender.


Over the years, scholars have wrestled with the apparent emphasis on violence in the Apocalypse, even to question whether it should be considered Christian at all. Certainly, much of the material in Revelation appears to be violent and vengeful. In fact, Gerd Lüdemann calls this the 'dark side of the Bible'. As scholars of the Apocalypse, we are forced to ask, 'What is the significance of the violent images in Revelation? Does it matter? Does God, in fact, have a dark side, one which perhaps negates his "loving side"? If this violence is significant, how can these images be understood as relevant to our world which is so focused on technology, empiricism and rationality? What are we, as biblical scholars, to say about this as we proceed into the twenty-first century, a century already marred by terrorism justified by its emphasis on jihad? Is violence ever justified, even when it is used to bring about a just cause?' This article will review, without being comprehensive, what noteworthy scholars have suggested from their study of the Apocalypse. Possibly, an alternative to the extreme positions of violence and non-violence can be found within the text of Revelation. Hopefully, this review will advance a further consideration of this issue.


Today's highly integrated supply chains are exposed to various types of risks which disrupt the normal flow of goods or services within a supply chain network. Since most of these individual risks are interconnected, a mitigation strategy to tackle one risk may result in the exacerbation of another. Risk dependencies have been modelled using two approaches in the financial insurance literature : (i) random variables, and (ii) copulas. In this dissertation these studies are reviewed and extended. Also, applications for these models for di↵erent supply chain network configurations are presented. Then, a Poisson process model for risk propagation is proposed. Unlike the existing models, the transition rate of the proposed model not only expresses the time dependency, but also captures other possible dependencies in the network. Finally, the thesis is summarized and general directions and suggestions for future research on risk dependency and propagation modelling are provided.


The involvement of integrins in mediating interaction of cells to well-characterized proteolytic fragments (P1, E3, and E8) of laminin was assessed by antibody blocking studies. Cell adhesion to fragment P1 was affected by mAbs against the integrin/51 and /53 subunits and furthermore could be prevented completely by a synthetic peptide containing the Arg-GlyAsp sequence. Because the 153 antibody-sensitive cell lines expressed the vitronectin receptor (otv/53) at high levels, the involvement of this receptor in cell adhesion to P1 is strongly suggested. Integrin-mediated cell adhesion to E3 is of low affinity and was inhibited by antibodies against the integrin/51 subunit. In contrast, adhesion of some cell types to E3 was not or only partially sensitive to inhibition by anti-integrin subunit antibodies. Cell adhesion to E8 was blocked completed by integrin ct6 or/51 antibodies. The t~6-specific antibody did not inhibit cell adhesion to E3 or P1. Furthermore, the antibody only blocked adhesion to laminin of those cells that adhered exclusively to the E8 fragment. In addition, expression of a6fll was closely correlated with the ability of cells to bind to the E8 fragment of laminin. These results indicate that the o~6/51 integrin is a specific receptor for the E8 fragment of laminin. Many cell types expressed, instead of or in addition to a6/51 the recently described integrin ot6f14. Although the ligand of 0t6/54 was not identified, it must be different from that of c~6/51, because cells that express ~6/54, but not c~6/51, do not adhere to E8, and cell adhesion to E8 was specifically blocked by/51 specific antibodies. In conclusion, the data indicate that distinct integrin receptors belonging to the/51 or/53 subfamily are involved in adhesion of cells to the various laminin fragments. Adhesion to E3 may also be brought about by other receptor molecules, possibly proteoglycans, not belonging to the


A total of 109 Greek aquaculture projects were approved by the EC Commission between 1987 and 1991 under Regulation 4028/86, of which 65 were for sea-bass/sea-bream and 24 for mussels. The total production capacity of these projects was 13,483 tonnes, 13,025,000 sea-bass/sea-bream fingerlings and 600,000 trout juveniles. The total expenditure for grants was 12.1 billions drachmas. The geographic distribution of the projects approved by both the EC Commission and the National Developmental Law 1262/1982 (incentives for investments in Greece) are discussed in the text. A cumulative employment figure for a total of 330 aquaculture approved/established projects in Greece is about 5,500 jobs, created in remote areas where there are few other sources of employment. Total aquaculture production (excluding lagoons) increased from 2,200 tonnes in 1980 to 7,550 tonnes in 1990. A trend model, fitted to the total 1980-1990 production, predicted 10,507 tonnes for 1992. The prospects of aquaculture in Greece as well as conflict with tourism and fishing are also discussed


Healing of a large tibial nonossifying fibroma in a 12-year-old girl occurred following excision, curettage, and filling of the bony defect with human demineralized bone matrix powder mixed with a small quantity of the patient's bone marrow. The use of this graft composite was successful in the treatment of the lesion and reduced the potential risk and morbidity associated with pediatric orthopedic surgical procedures with autogeneic iliac crest and other bone grafts.