The Basalt Waste Isolation Project (BWIP) is developing a multiple-barrier waste package to contain high-level nuclear waste as part of an overall system (e.g., waste package, repository sealing system, and host rock) designed to isolate the waste in a repository located in basalt beneath the Hanford Site, Richland, Washington. The three basic components of the waste package are the waste form, the canister, and the backfill. An extensive testing program is under way to determine the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of potential canister and backfill materials. The data derived from this testing program will be used to recommend those materials that most adequately perform the functions assigned to the canister and backfill.


An analysis of Tunisias medical system with a view toward answering a number of questions about medical care in less developed countries (LDCs) in general. The usual view is that there is an imbalance in the medical system of LDCs toward specialization in urban hospitals and that it would be better to decentralize resources and concentrate on primary care. This paper attempts to determine what the actual operating efficiency of a medical system is at the micro level. After examining the role of medical referral systems in LDCs the case of Tunisia is described. The country is divided into health regions and districts. A hospital (providing primary medical services of general medicine and obstetrics) is located in each district together with a network of outpatient clinics and an emerging network of maternal-child health centers. Referrals are made to regional hospitals where more specialized services are available. At the top level are 6 general hospitals and several speciality institutes in 4 urban areas to which patients from regional hospitals may be referred. These facilities receive the dominant share of allocated resources. However to evaluate this system it must be seen whether it works on its own terms. E.G. does the number of patients that should be referred equal the number that can be and are referred while maintaining quality of care? Several formulas for determining adequate relations among these factors are offered. The Tunisian case reveals that most in-patient services are disproportionately used by residents in their immediate areas. Case-mix studies show however that hospitals at the more sophisticated levels have higher numbers of specialized cases but data is inadequate to determine the real reasons for this. Urban-rural disease patterns must be taken into account. In addition the difficulties of rural people in moving through the referral system particularly where the system does not internalize costs through transportation or subsidies will cause the systems operations to break down. This is primarily a function of a societys degree of modernization; it is critical to keep the pattern of rural demand in perspective suggesting a need for more base level services. 2 additional problems in Tunisia are the excessive congestion at primary outpatient clinics and severe under utilization at the district hospital level.


A fast production scheduling system, the very fast scheduler (VFS), has been developed by the authors. It creates a capacity constrained production schedule within one minute of elapsed time for problems of a size encountered in industry. The quality of the schedules is comparable with the best alternative heuristic scheduling techniques. The speed of the scheduler is such that it can be used on a real‐time basis to plan capacity, adjust priorities and other parameters and derive new schedules.


In this study, 6.125-mm cracked Al 7075-T6 plates unpatched and repaired with 4-ply boron/epoxy composite patches of several geometries have been investigated under both static and fatigue loads. The stress distributions around the crack tip for these specimens were calculated using the finite element method. It was shown that Rose's model was not adequate to calculate the stress intensity factor for different patch geometries where patch dimensions were on the order of those of the cracked structure. A new definition based on the stress near the crack tip was introduced. Also, based on the experimental data, a new definition for relative repair efficiency was introduced, and the effects of patch geometry on the static tensile and fatigue behaviors of the repaired structures were examined experimentally. Combining the results of static tensile and fatigue tests, it was concluded that the geometry of the patch had large effects on the properties of the repaired structures, the effects not included in Rose's model.


Atkinson Morley's Hospital in Wimbledon, South West London, is where, in the autumn of 1971, the first prototype CT scanner in the world was installed. It was at the time an innovative, fundamentally different concept of the way X-rays could be used for medical diagnostic imaging. The reader might well ask "But why at Atkinson Morley's Hospital?" Bear with me a while and I will attempt to describe the background against which this came to pass. Atkinson Morley's Hospital has now been in existence for about 126 years and was established in 1867 and opened in 1869 as a convalescent hospital where patients from St. George's Hospital, Hyde Park Corner, could recuperate in the peace and quiet of a rural setting. It was built by the trustees of St. George's hospital using an accumulated legacy left by a Mr. Atkinson Morley for that purpose. It is said that he had been a patient in St. George's and had found incessant noise created by the horses hooves and the metal rims of carriage wheels on the cobblestones of Hyde Park Corner unbearable. Hence the legacy and the building of a convalescent hospital on the edge of Wimbledon Common, far from the madding crowds. This rural area is now largely urbanised but a good number of ancient trees and the main structure of the hospital still stand substantially unchanged. The use of the hospital for convalescence continued unaltered until 1941 when medical and surgical specialist units were established there as part of a policy of dispersal of essential medical services. Then followed a series of events which conspired to bring in a dynamic young surgeon, Wylie McKissock, to run the units and to be in overall charge. Except for a period when it was deemed wise to move the units to Bath out of range of the V1 bombs, they remained at Atkinson Morley's until the cessation of hostilities in 1945. At that time neurosurgery was poorly served in London and Southern England, enabling McKissock to establish his tenure at Atkinson Morley's. He was by training and inclination a neurosurgeon and it was not long before a badly needed neurosurgical service was being provided by his unit. Before the war McKissock had travelled widely in Scandinavia and North America but was most impressed by what he had witnessed in Stockholm, in particular the collaboration between Herbert Olivecrona and Eric Lysholm and the co-operative melding of ideas in film interpretation. When he returned to London he encouraged a young James Bull to go to Stockholm to study Lysholm's diagnostic skills and the way neuroradiology was organised. When Bull returned after the war, having survived being a prisoner of war in the far East, he returned to Stockholm to refresh his memory of what he had previously learned. It is therefore hardly surprising that there should be a very noticeable Swedish slant in the strong co-operation between neurosurgery and neuroradiology which exists to this day in the units influenced by McKissock and Bull. By 1948 Atkinson Morley's Hospital had become the busiest neurosurgical unit in London, providing a prompt, efficient service to a large part of South London and most of Southern England. When I came to work at Atkinson Morley's Hospital in the summer of 1959 I soon learned that McKissock was not only a surgical master but was also a superb exponent of the then existing "Tools


A foreign body aspiration occurs when a foreign object becomes lodged in the airway, causing breathing difficulties or choking. Objects can enter the respiratory and digestive tracts through the mouth and nose, but when an object enters the respiratory tract, it causes aspiration. The foreign bodies can then lodge in the trachea or further down the respiratory tract, such as in a bronchus. Regardless of the type of item, any aspiration can be a life-threatening situation that demands immediate evaluation and response to reduce the risk of negative outcomes. Despite significant improvements in clinical outcomes as a result of enhanced care, there were still 2,700 fatalities. The literature on tracheobronchial foreign bodies aspiration was retrieved using the Cochrane Database of systematic reviews, Pubmed, and Google scholar. Keywords and phrases used during the search included "tracheobronchial," "bronchial," and "aspiration." This review aims to reflect on the pattern of tracheobronchial tree foreign-body aspiration and the rate of success for rigid bronchoscopy in children admitted to a single center and the correlation between the type of foreign bodies and the age of the patients, presentation of the patient, and comorbidities.


Previous reports have documented the use of doxycycline as a sclerosing agent in the treatment of recurrent pleural effusion and pneumothoracies. However, little is currently known of its use in the closure of lymphatic fistulae. This paper presents a case in which an infusion of doxycycline was used in a patient who had developed the unusual complication of a high-output lymphatic fistula, following a femoral needle puncture. As no standard of care has been established in the treatment of this problem, we embarked on a minimally-invasive course of action, using doxycycline as a sclerosing agent. We found this treatment to be effective, with no complications.


Violence against women as a serious problem got international recognition in 1979 when UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). India became signatory to the Convention in 1993 and ratified CEDAW. However, reported incidences of violence against women continued to be witnessed. Rather it can be stated that gender violence have increased in the last few years and so has their forms, more so in the urban areas. Urbanisation does provide women greater mobility, employment opportunities, more access to educational facilities and more liberty than her rural counterparts. However, it also exposes them to detrimental situations such as sexual harassment in the professional and public spaces.


Introduction: Resolvin-D1 (RvD1) and other specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPM) are synthesized in-vivo from docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) through transcellular pathways involving leukocytes. We investigated if vascular tissues, in the absence of inflammatory cells, can contribute to the local production of SPM.

Methods: Primary cultures of human saphenous vein endothelial (EC) and smooth muscle (SMC) cells were supplemented with DHA in cell culture media (10% serum) for 4h-24h. Freshly harvested rabbit aorta was incubated intact or following gentle EC denudation in medium with or without DHA for 48h. RvD1 levels were quantified by ELISA, and lipoxygenase (LO) expression by western blotting.

Results: In the absence of DHA supplementation, EC and SMC produced undetectable levels of RvD1. DHA treatment produced a dose and time-dependent increase in RvD1 production by EC and SMC (10.1 ±1.0 pg, 7.4 ±0.2 pg respectively; 1000nM DHA; 24h; Fig A, B). 5-LO expression was demonstrated in both cell types, however DHA induced increased 5-LO expression in EC (Fig C) but not in SMC. DHA-treated intact rabbit aorta segments produced 0.24±0.05 pg RvD1/mg tissue versus 0.13±0.01 pg RvD1/mg tissue in media alone. Moreover, EC-denuded aortas produced significantly less RvD1 (Fig D).

Conclusions: Human vascular cells and rabbit vascular tissue can biosynthesize RvD1 de novo from its precursor DHA, signifying a potentially important local source of SPM in the vasculature.

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The author proposes that the financial insecurity of one country can be described by the fluctuations of financial variables.According to the hypothesis,the financial insecurity index of China,by which China's financial insecurity can be demonstrated,is created by the method of factor analysis.And,the relationship between real estate price index and financial insecurity index of China is analyzed by the way of ECM.Finally,a conclusion that China's financial state has been really deteriorating by the real estate bubble in recently years,is got.


Summary. Ultrasound has recently been introduced into endodontics to aid in the biomechanical preparation of the root canal. Although there are numerous investigations into the clinical efficacy of the endosonic system, there has been a poor understanding of the possible role of the biophysical aspects of ultrasound. Such areas where clarification is required are the possible roles of cavitation and acoustic microstreaming together with the 'synergistic' effect of the combined use of ultrasound and irrigant (usually sodium hypochlorite). Furthermore the oscillation of the file within the root canal may be prone to the load applied to it and this will greatly affect its efficiency. The present article aims to clarify these areas and to provide a guide to some of the biophysical terms used within the ultrasound discipline. Further investigations are required however to understand fully the action of the instrument, and it is hoped that this article will provide a basis for a scientific appraisal of endosonics.


Following the pioneering work of Hutton from 1895 to 1900, the general pattern within the New Zealand Orthoptera is now well established, the main elements being covered by Salmon (1950) (Henicidae), Richards (Rhaphidophoridaa of N.Z., parts I-XII, 1958-1965) and Bigelow (1967) (Acrididae) . In the Henicidae four endeniic genera with 23 species are recognised in N.Z. There a re possibly two or three species yet to be described in Zealandrosandrus and Hemiandrus. In the Rhaphidophoridae : Macropathinae there a re fifteen endeniic genera containing for ty species but Dr. G. W. Yeates in a n unpublished project done a t the Zoology Department, University of Canterbury, shows that some generic revision is needed in the Pleioplectron, Isoplectron and Weta complex. Descriptions of approximately thirty new species are needed.


The nucleation and crystal growth of sodium chloride in aqueous solution during crystallization by ethanol droplet feeding were investigated by determining the suspension density and crystal size distribution. Crystallization was conducted in a microwave reactor, and the effect of the power, stirring speed, and ethanol concentration were investigated to clarify the anti‐solvent effect under microwave radiation. Molecular diffusion was accelerated by fine particle production due to microwave radiation when the stirring speed was low and ethanol concentration was high. However, moderate microwave power and stirring speed were required for efficient molecular diffusion.


We report on the systematic variation with well composition of the electron density in the quantum well of GaAs/AlGaAs/InGaAs double barrier resonant tunnelling structures designed for vertical quantum dot applications. By increasing the indium content in the quantum well from 4.0 to 5.5% we tune the electron density, n, from ∼6 to ∼13 × 1010 cm−2. Current–voltage traces for large mesas made from these structures display the desired characteristics, i.e. a finite differential conductance at zero bias showing that electrons occupy the quantum well without application of a bias, and the current resonances exhibiting negative differential resistance are close to zero bias. The electron density is determined from (Shubnikov–de Haas) oscillations in the differential conductance at zero bias by applying a magnetic field parallel to the tunnelling current.


Changes in renovascular tone and periureteric fibrosis have been implicated as causes of oliguria in patients with malignant carcinoid. To these must be added ureteral obstruction by tumor.


The NZB mouse is genetically predisposed to develop, at approximately 6 months of age, a spontaneous and severe autoimmune anaemia caused by production of pathogenic anti‐mouse erythrocyte auto‐antibodies. Molecular analysis of a panel of five anti‐erythrocyte monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) derived from splenocytes of unimmunized NZB mice revealed that these autoantibodies all had functionally rearranged genes from the VH J558 family of immunoglobulin genes with closest homology to germline genes H10 and H30. Owing to clustering of nucleotide differences within the CDRs, compared with the germline, it was concluded that these antibodies were most likely generated by an antigen‐driven mechanism.


The reaction of Cp*TiX3 [X = Cl (1a), F (1b), Cp* = η5-C5Me5] with an excess of AlMe3 afforded the methylated products Cp*TiCl2Me (2a) and (Cp*TiF2Me)(AlMe2F) (2b), respectively, whereas under thermal conditions the reduced titanium species Cp*2Ti2(μ-Cl)6Al2Me4 (3) and Cp*2Ti2(μ-F)8Al4Me8 (4) were obtained in moderate yields. The reduction of Ti(IV) to Ti(III) is observed when Cp'2TiF2 (Cp' = η5-C5H5, η5-C5H4Me, Cp*) and Cp*TiF3 are treated with AlEt3, leading to [Cp'2Ti(μ-F)2AlEt2]2 [Cp' = η5-C5H5 (5), η5-C5H4Me (6), Cp* (7)] and Cp*2Ti2(μ-F)8Al4Et8 (8), respectively. The crystal structures of complexes 3, 4, and 6 have been determined by X-ray single-crystal structure analyses. The core of structure 3 is described as a chair conformation. The environments of the Al and Ti atoms in 3 are distorted tetrahedral and pseudo square pyramidal, respectively. The single-crystal structure analysis of 4 shows an octahedral metal core for Al4Ti2 with the Ti atoms occupying trans positions. The core of complex 6 is ...


Disclosed are an all-dielectric self-supporting optical cable and a manufacturing method thereof. The all-dielectric self-supporting (ADSS) optical cable installed on an extra-high voltage electrical power transmitting pylon comprises a first armor rod made of metal material and connected to a dead end of the all-dielectric self-supporting optical cable; and an insulating member for insulating the first armor rod.


TPS551Background: A new class of material with high electron density, hafnium oxide, was designed at the nanoscale (NBTXR3) to efficiently enhance the energy dose deposit from within the tumor cells and increase lethality of tumors, when exposed to radiotherapy (RT). The physical mode of action of NBTXR3 may represent a breakthrough approach for the local treatment of liver cancers, as it does not engage liver and renal functions, i.e. nanoparticles are not metabolized and not excreted by kidney. A phase I/II trial has been implemented for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver metastasis [NCT02721056]. The study is currently recruiting patients. Methods: Patients (pts) receive a single intralesional (IL) injection of NBTXR3 (53.3g/L) at Volume levels equivalent to 10%, 15%, 22% and 33% of the baseline tumor volume, followed by RT (SBRT, 45Gy / 3 fractions / 5 to 7 days). For the Phase I part, primary endpoints include determination of the Recommended Dose and Dose Limiting Toxicities (DLT). ...


. This article suggests that in times of digital mass media, mediatized political issues create a self-perpetuating phenomenon that is here titled a neo-myth. Through combining interdisciplinary theories of Issue-Attention Cycles and Social Dramas, the article argues that the standardized ways that political issues are framed, mass-mediated and consumed in a contemporary society, paradoxically create a cyclical and self-perpetuating pattern. Instead of being linear, rational and cause-to-solution oriented, they become stereotypical, cyclical and performative, thus resembling mythological patterns both content and form-wise. The article discusses how and why these neo-myths form, as well as how political, public and media actors interact within the process. It discusses them in terms of their emergence, structure, causality, processual logics and formal variety, and suggests that the phenomenon falls in line with the findings of recent research on the shifting knowledge patterns in times of digital culture.


Abstract From 1984 through 1987, we studied aggressive responses of Prairie Falcons (Falco mexicanus) to species intruding into their nesting territories in southwestern Idaho (52 nesting attempts, 613 days, 9,085 hr). Prairie Falcons responded aggressively most frequently to Common Ravens (Corvus corax; 49% of encounters), followed by Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis; 24%), Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos; 7%), Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura; 4%), Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus; 2%), American Kestrels (Falco sparverius; 1%), and bobcats (Lynx rufus; 1%). The frequency of aggressive responses toward intruders was similar for males and females, except in the case of American Kestrels and bobcats. Aggressive responses of nesting Prairie Falcons to intruders may be related to predator deterrence, competition for nest sites, stage of the nesting cycle, food availability, and sexual size dimorphism of falcons.


The aim of this research is to explore those competencies within the entrepreneurial small firm, (ESF), which will determine if it is to adopt and fully exploit the potential of the Internet in developing and maintaining relationships with its customers. A key relationship, and one that is a major focus of much of the relationship marketing literature, is that between the supplier, in this case the ESF, and the customer or buyer. In this research, using a qualitative methodology, the authors examine the nature and character of the challenges faced by 30 entrepreneurial individuals in their relationship-oriented utilisation of the Internet. As a first stage of a larger research programme it explores the competencies likely to determine the extent of Internet adoption. The paper offers insights to a more complete competency spectrum for Internet marketing in the ESF.


including TPEN Structure Wu Hao, Yusuke Inaba and Kenji Takeshita Tokyo Institute of Technology Abstract A novel hydrophobic ionic liquid including TPEN structure ((IL-TPEN)NTf2) was successfully synthesized and its extraction behavior of Cd and Zn from nitric acid solution was investigated. The maximum separation factor of Cd and Zn was obtained as 8 at pH 2.


Objective To study and evaluate the multiplex PCR-based reverse line blot hybridization macroarray (mPCR-RLB) in the detection of Trichomonas vaginalis and common Candida. Methods The DNAs from Trichomonas vaginalis and 6 species of Candida (C. alblcans, C. troptcalis, C. krusei, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis and C. dubliniensis) were amplified with two sets of primers directed to repeat DNA fragment of Trichomonas vaginalis and the ITS2 region of the gene from 28s rRNA to 5.8s rRNA of Candida respectively. The reverse primers were labeled with biotin. The products were identified by hybridization with its specific oligonucleotide probes labeled with amidogen in a nylon membrane. The method was applied in the detection of the swab specimens. Results All of Trichomonas vaginalis and 6 species of Candida strains were amplified by mPCR-RLB, the length of Candida and Trichomonas vaginalis PCR products was 302~441bp and 262bp. These probes proved specific (they hybridized with only their target molecules). The method was used to test 150 vaginal swabs. The positive rate of mPCR-RLB for Candida and Trichomonas vaginalis was higher than that in culture (P0.05 ). Conclusion The mPCR-RLB is a simple, fast method for simultaneous detection of Candida and Trichomonas vaginalis infections, and it plays a very important role in the diagnosis of STI.


The development of Chinese mining geophysical technology is shaped jointly by the coal-oriented energy consumption structure,the complicated coal-forming patterns and various mining conditions. On the basis of mine geophysical technology development represented by mine seismic method and mine electromagnetic method,it is found that the fundamental studies have to be strengthened in the respects of whole space and multi-field coupling problems in accordance with the current status of Chinese domestic coal mining. It is also necessary to research and develop new technologies to combine with Internet of things techniques and tunnel and borehole space in areas of mining geophysical equipment,recording geometry,inversion methods,etc. The main methods of Chinese geophysical prospecting, which are mine seismic method,channel wave method,mine direct current method,mine transient electromagnetic method,and radio-wave penetration method,should make improvements in both exploration and monitoring,with multifield coupling detection and joint interpretation as research emphasis. At present,the main task and key problem for us is the detection of disaster sources,such as complex goafs,limestone water and gas outburst.


Objective To study the curative effect of urinekinase in hematoma removal with microsurgery. Methods 58 cases of hypertension cerebral bleeding patient were performed hematoma removal with needle under CT location and urinekinase lysis the hematoma. Results The removal time were 24 h in 18 cases, 24~48 h in 26 case and over 48 h in 14 cases. All patient had no bleeding during and after operation. ADL score was improved. Conclusion Urinekinase might be stable in pharmacology with less side effect, easy perform, cheap and accuracy effect.


Nucleophosmin (NPM) gene mutations are the molecular hallmark of a large primary AML subgroup of patients. NPM mutated cases are commonly associated with FLT3-internal tandem duplications which seem to confer an adverse prognostic meaning. Blasts from NPM+ leukemias have been described as CD34 negative. Objective: To assess the presence of CD34 positive populations and their phenotypic profile in NPM mutated samples at diagnosis. To investigate whether there are differences between NPM/FLT3- and those with an associated FLT3-ITD. Patients and methods: Cells from forty-three bone marrow de novo NPM+ AML (26 females/ 17 males) patients enrolled in AML-CETLAM protocols were analyzed at diagnosis by means of multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC). In 18 cases an associated FLT3-ITD was detected (NPM+/FLT3+ group). Immature antigenic markers were investigated by triple combinations of direct conjugated MoAbs to CD15, CD34 and HLA-Dr ; CD34, CD123 and HLA-Dr; CD34, CD33 and CD19; CD15, CD117 and CD45. Minimal residual disease studies (7 cases) were performed in samples in complete remission using flow cytometry and real-time PCR (ABIPRISM 7700). Results: In all the patients we were able to detect an abnormal CD34 population. CD15 coexpression, abnormal light scatter patterns, CD117 clusterization, antigenic overexpression and abnormal CD123 expression were all detected in these cases. NPM+/FLT3+ patients had 2,24% CD34+ cells(0,12%–42%) whereas for NPM+/FLT3- cases the mean CD34+ value was 1,05% (0,1–92%)(n.s.). Sequential samples to test in parallel the abnormal immunophenotype and NPM transcripts by real-time PCR were available in 7 cases (5 NPM+/FLT3+ and 2 NPM+/FLT3-). Relapses were observed in two NPM+/FLT3+ cases (4% and 42% CD34+ cells at diagnosis) and 1 NPM+/FLT3- patient (0.1% CD34+ cells at diagnosis). No definite pattern of relapse could be established given that in some cases NPM rises preceded the detection of phenotypically abnormal cells. Conclusions: NPM mutated AML patients may be mostly categorized as CD34 negative following standard flow-cytometry positivity thresholds. Nevertheless, the constant detection of immature abnormal cells (CD34+CD123+CD117++) may help to identify the leukemic stem-cell pool in NPM+ and FLT3+ leukemias. It remains to be investigated whether the size of this compartment has prognostic relevance in some groups of normal karyotype AML.


Condition monitoring and fault diagnosis are essential to improve the reliability and availability of wind turbines (WTs). In such systems, power switches and sensors are some of the components most susceptible to faults. In this context, this article proposes a new diagnostic method for WTs based on doubly-fed induction generators with the ability to handle insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) faults, rotor and stator current sensor outages, and stator voltage sensor outages. The proposed method is based on an augmented state and disturbance observer combined with a statistical chi-square $(\chi ^{2})$ test, adaptive thresholds, and normalized diagnostic variables to ensure reliable diagnosis regardless of the operating conditions. The robustness and effectiveness of the proposed approach have been verified experimentally on a 15-kW test bench under the various faults considered.


Lahore School of Nursing, Faculty of Allied Health & Sciences The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan. Student, Department of Nursing *Corresponding Author E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Tel.: +92 301 4124704 Neonatal Jaundice is a significant worldwide common condition that occurs in almost 80% of preterm and 50-60% of full-term newborn infants. NNJ is a significant contributor to infant morbidity and mortality in many regions of the world. NNJ can cause many significant complications including irreversible brain damage and even cause death in severe cases. The descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 107 women in the rural community of Sharqpur, Sheikhupura district, Punjab province of Pakistan. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of women towards Neonatal jaundice. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. The result of the study showed that only 37.38% participants had good knowledge about Neonatal Jaundice. There was no statistically significant association between their age and their knowledge about Neonatal jaundice. Only 10.2% participants knew that it can cause brain injury. Only 11.21% participants heard about neonatal jaundice from a physician, while the majority of respondent's source information was old aged family members and friends. The attitude of participants towards seeking medical consultation was 83.98%. Results show that participants widely believe that putting a baby under early morning sunshine and giving glucose water is the most effective treatment of Neonatal jaundice, 90.6 and 75.7% respectively. This study reveals that women of community Sharqpur have enough knowledge related to recognition of Neonatal jaundice. However, I had poor knowledge about many aspects of the condition. This study reveals that participants have a good attitude towards Neonatal jaundice, but their management measure and practice of it is ineffective with a lot of misconception.


In this paper, we examine the problem of channel assignment in multi-hop wireless networks in which each node is equipped with multiple transceivers. We summarize various approaches to transceiver channel assignment. Most approaches in the literature seek to assign a channel to each available transceiver. In contrast, we seek to achieve a baseline connected topology that conserves resources, keeping some fraction of the transceivers inactive so as to dynamically react to changing traffic stimuli. We call our scheme resource-minimized channel assignment (RMCA). We show that RMCA achieves basic network connectivity and low interference, while using fewer resources compared to other protocols, and performs well under varied node density and number of transceivers per node. Finally, we evaluate several channel assignment schemes through simulation using a set of widely-accepted networking and graph- theoretic metrics.


A new inversion technique using filtered acceleration envelope with emphasis on frequency-dependent properties of source process is presented. The technique uses strong motion prediction model EMPR (Earthquake Motion Prediction model on Rock surface) developed by Sugito et al. [1] which have been developed on the basis of the strong motion database. Filtered envelopes for the simulated motions are calculated for comparison with the observed motions. The least square method is then applied to solve the best pattern describing the relative distribution of seismic power from elemental sources on the fault plane. Numerical examples are shown for the inversion of source process of the 1999 Taiwan Chi-Chi earthquake. Frequency-dependent asperities are obtained for the low, mid, and high frequency ranges; the first one is consistent with far-field S wave inversion by Yagi et al. [2], the last one being with non-filtered acceleration envelope inversion. Successful results are also demonstrated in terms of reevaluation of time histories of non-stationary power spectra and spatial distribution of seismic intensity.


We present the theory of radiative association of atoms and molecules, and we apply it to the (H$_2$-H$^-$) van der Waals complex. We discuss the possibility for the H$_3^-$ ion to be formed in the interstellar medium in an environment with abundant ionized molecular hydrogen H$_2^+$. The observation of H$_3^-$ would also be a probe for the presence of H$^-$ in the interstellar medium. By computing the electronic structure of the H$_3^-$ ion, we determine its dipole moment, bound states, rotational constants, predissociated vibrational resonances and their lifetimes, and suggest a way to detect the ion in the interstellar medium.


Background & Aim: Reducing readmissions is a major goal of health care systems. This study aimed to identify readmission risk factors following coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Methods & Materials: This case-control study analyzed 540 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery between January 2016 and December 2019 at Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Qom, Iran. The case group contained 270 patients who were readmitted to the hospital during the 30-day after discharge and the control group comprised 270 non-readmitted patients.
Results: Readmit patients suffered from higher rates of cardiac failure, myocardial infarction, hypertension, myocardial dysrhythmia, and using antiplatelet coagulant medication (P<0.05). Compared with non-readmitted patients, readmitted patients were more likely to have emergency surgery (OR 1.62; CI 1.11-2.38), cardiac arrest (OR 2.52; CI 2.39-2.85), and massive intraoperative hemorrhage during surgery (OR 2.36; CI 2.13-2.67). Postoperative disorders such as surgical site infection, pleural effusion, dysrhythmias, and myocardial infarction were independent risk factors for readmission (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Patients at risk for readmission should be closely monitored. Furthermore, careful decision-making about surgical criteria by a multidisciplinary team can help improve outcomes as well as reduce readmissions.


Telecommunication network is gradually evolving to its 5th Generation by circumventing conventional wireless technologies and devices. The need for a seamless next generation wireless network in a highly mobile environment like High Speed Rail has thrown open significant challenges to system designers. The paper proposes a distinct model using Distributed Mobile Relays to enhance the cellular communication in an HSR scenario. The simulation study shows that the proposed model outperforms the existing single link based scheme and the implementation has significantly improved the HO Latency at higher speeds.


The $\mu$ -calculus with atoms, or nominal $\mu$ -calculus, is a temporal logic for reasoning about transition systems that operate on data atoms coming from an infinite domain and comparable only for equality. It is, however, not expressive enough to define some properties that are of interest from the perspective of system verification. To rectify this, we extend the calculus with tests for atom freshness with respect to the global history of transitions. Since global histories can grow arbitrarily large, it is not clear whether model checking for the extended calculus is decidable. We prove that it is, by showing that one can restrict attention only to locally relevant parts of the history.


This paper discusses the parachute subsystem used on an atmospheric entry probe that will descend through the clouds of Jupiter. The entry probe is a part of the Galileo Project to be launched in 1985 aboard the Space Shuttle; the entry probe will encounter the planet in 1988. The parachute subsystem consists of a pilot parachute and a main parachute, and both are of conventional conical ribbon design. Key considerations in the design of the parachutes and a summary of the parachute subsystem test program, which includes two air drop tests and a systems drop test (balloon launched), are presented.


Currently, the number of abdominal surgery has gradually increased, accompanied by the increasing of ventral hernia and parastomal hernia patients. The main reason is abdominal incision or abdominal stoma destroying the normal abdominal muscle fascia, as well as obesity, malnutrition, ascites, diabetes, infections leading to poor wound healing. The incidence of abdominal wall incisional hernia after abdominal surgery accounts for about 80% of ventral hernia. These incisional hernias and some other ventral hernias may easily become large ventral hernia without the standard treatment. Surgery is the only effective treatment for large ventral hernia. However, such hernia repair for surgeons is a great challenge. In clinical practice, after removing the huge sac and completely resetting the contents of the hernia sac can lead to decreasing of intraperitoneal volume and increasing of intra-abdominal pressure, or even lead to occurrence of abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS). The increasing of intra-abdominal pressure and occurrence of ACS has aroused the attention of clinicians after large ventral hernia operation. Some content reduction operation in the process of large ventral hernia surgery can effectively reduce postoperative intra-abdominal pressure, occurrence of intra-abdominal hypertension and ACS. More and more patients with large ventral hernia underwent the abdominal content reduction surgery combined with hernia repair. But there is still lack of evidence-based medical researches on large simples. Therefore, it still needs multi-center prospective clinical study on large samples to provide clinical treatment strategies for the volume reduction surgery and more base for further researches and clinical applications.

Key words:
Initiative content reduction; Large ventral hernia; Abdominal compartment syndrome; Intra-abdominal hypertension


Spring-run chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have an unusual life history pattern in that they move into their spawning streams in the spring, hold there all summer in deep pools, and then spawn in the fall. Populations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin and Klamath-Trinity drainages have declined dramatically in recent years perhaps due to their exceptional vulnerability to the negative effects of water diversions (e.g. low flows/high temperatures) and human disturbances in their stream habitat. We examined the limits of pool holding capacity under varying conditions of temperature, flow, and human use primarily in a 2.3 km study stretch in the upper reaches of Deer Creek (Tehama County) during 1991. We found some evidence that spring-run chinook salmon continually move upstream over the summer. However, pool depth also affected the presence of adult salmon. The number of salmon counted reached an asymptote in many pools over the summer, suggesting that pools have a limited holding capacity. Human rafting activity caused an increase in salmon movement in pools, and may stress salmon if it is a common activity. We documented substantial evidence of possible harassment and poaching of salmon in a 2.3 km study stretch of Deer Creek during 1991. This evidence included the presence of heavy line and treble hooks in pools containing adult salmon, and we even observed people with snorkeling equipment trying to capture adult salmon with a dipnet. Estimated spawning success was about 50-60% in Butte Creek in 1989 and Deer Creek in 1990 and 1991. Problem and research objectives spring-run chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), once the largest stock of Central Valley salmon, have been declining drastically over the past few decades (Campbell and Moyle 1991). Because similar declines have also occurred in the KlamathTrinity drainage, it is being considered for state listing as a threatened species (Moyle et al. 1990). Significant spawning runs (> 50 fish) that involve natural stocks occur in Deer and Mill Creeks, Tehama County. A run also occurs in Butte Creek, Butte county, although the relative contributions of natural and hatchery stocks to this run are uncertain. Water diversions in the lower reaches of all three streams probably have resulted in the misdirection and decreased survival of out-migrating juveniles. Additionally, water is diverted in Butte Creek at a higher elevation for purposes of power. This diversion may affect the flow rate and associated variables such as temperature in the higher reaches of Butte Creek where returning adult spring-run chinook salmon hold in pools during the summer. The current drought may be causing similar effects in Deer and Mill Creeks. Furthermore, high levels of human use on some portions of all three creeks may be resulting in increased poaching and stress to adult fish. These factors may in turn affect the survival and spawning success of adult spring-run chinook salmon. Prior work (Sato and Moyle 1989; Campbell and Moyle 1990) has indicated that adult spring-run chinook salmon may prefer or require deep pools and that other pool characteristics such as substrate type are of lesser importance. In this study, we examined more closely the limits of pool holding capacity under varying conditions of temperature, flow, and human use, and the effects of such conditions on spawning success. Specifically, we examined the following hypotheses: (1) Adult spring-run chinook salmon continually move upstream throughout the summer provided that flows are sufficient to allow movement among pools. If this is true, it would suggest that upstream movement is genetically influenced, i.e. that adult salmon tend to move upstream over time regardless of temperature/flow regime, crowding in pools, or other factors. (2) There is an upper limit to the number of spring-run chinook salmon contained within a pool. If this is true, it would suggest that crowding in pools, and factors that may exacerbate its effects (e.g. high temperatures/low flows, human disturbance) determine the presence of spring-run chinook salmon in pools. (3) Human recreational use of pools containing adult spring-run chinook salmon increases the activity of the salmon. If this is true, it would suggest that human recreational use can cause stress to adult salmon. (4) spawning success varies with temperature/flow regime and amount of human disturbance experienced by adults during the summer holding period. If this is true, it would suggest that


Abstract : This volume contains the description and instructions of the use of Sharp PC-1500 Pocket Computer for the key calculations of the stiffness and strength of symmetric laminated composites. Instant calculations can be made for practical use. The formulas and equation numbers used in the performed programming have been derived from a book entitled, Introduction to Composite Materials, co-authored by S. W. Tsai and H. T. Hahn, published by Technomic Publishing Company, Westport, CT, July 1980. (Author)


The arid conditions of the north-central region of Mexico are limiting agricultural and livestock production, as water availability depends on the amount, spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation. The objective of this study was to analyze the sustainability of agricultural production systems with two indices used to evaluate the state of the agro-system in two main areas: production sustainability (As) and food self-sufficiency (Aa). The study was conducted for the DDR189 (Rural Development District), on the eastern end of the State of Zacatecas that includes the municipalities of Calera, Enrique Estrada, Guadalupe, Morelos, Panuco, Vetagrande, Trancoso, Villa de Cos and Zacatecas. The main crop of this region is bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), followed by species for forage, corn (Zea mays), and oats (Avena spp.), and by pepper (Capsicum spp.) as an emerging product after 2005. Agricultural production has low values of sustainability r elated to two main factors: 1) high water consumption for its production, and 2) high volume production in monocultures. This study shows that the production system in the DDR189 has a low agricultural suitability of soils. In conclusion, the production scheme of monocultures over large areas and the extensive use of irrigated land threaten the sustainability of the system based on the use of water and the lowering of aquifers.


Effects of evaporation/condensation on spreading and contact angle were experimentally studied. A sessile drop of R-113 was tested at different vapor environments to determine the effects of evaporation/condensation on the evolution of contact diameter and contact angle of the drop. Condensation on the drop surface occurs at both the saturated and a nonsaturated vapor environments and promotes the spreading. When the drop is placed in the saturated vapor environment it tends to completely wetting and spreads rapidly. In a nonsaturated vapor environment, the evolution of the sessile drop is divided three stages: condensation-spreading stage, evaporation-retracting stage and rapid contracting stage. In the first stage the drop behaves as in the saturated environment. In the evaporation-retracting stage, the competition between spreading and evaporation of the drop determines the evolution characteristics of the contact diameter and the contact angle. A lower evaporation rate struggles against the spreading power to turn the drop from spreading to retracting with a continuous increase of the contact angle. The drop placed in open air has a much higher evaporation rate. The strong evaporation suppresses the spreading and accelerates the retraction of the drop with a linear decrease of the contact diameter. The contraction of the evaporating drops is gradually accelerated when the contact diameter decreases to 3 nun and less till drying up, though the evaporation rate is gradually slowing down.


The aim of the study is to determine the features of anamnesis, course of pregnancy, and delivery outcomes in women with fetal growth restriction depending on the period of its manifestation. Material and methods. The presented cross-sectional study includes 143 pregnant women, 91 of whom had early-onset and 52 had late-onset fetal growth restriction. The features of anamnesis, course of pregnancy, and delivery outcomes are analyzed. Results. The course of pregnancy with early-onset fetal growth restriction is significantly more often accompanied by the presence of signs of chromosomal abnormalities during the prenatal screening, oligohydramnios, persistent and critical hemodynamic disorders in the "mother - placenta - fetus" system, severe pre-eclampsia, and high perinatal mortality rate.


This study was aimed to investigate the prevalence and habit-associated risk factors of Method: Java, Indonesia. A self-administered questionnaire was given. The questionnaire consisted of demographic and Chi-square test. The study has been approved by the Medical Research Ethic Committee. Results: not associated with GERD. Conclusion: is high. Habits associated with GERD in this study were smoking, high-salt intake, herb consumption, poor hand hygiene and NSAID consumption.


The authors reform the conventional self-correlation filtering factor in the process of gravity and magnetic anomalies in search for the observed value in remaining local anomaly largest point automatically in each measuring line and taking it as the reference model,then making the sliding self-correlation treatment along the whole measuring lines.The study of theoretical model shows that the zero-contour of reformed filtering results can define the abnormal border preferably is strong in resolving power of horizontal anomaly superimposition,and can extract weak anomaly which is indiscernible in normal method.The study of filtering window shows that it is the best for self-correlation radius in 3~6 grid node distances.The authors find new prospecting area by treating the actual data using reformed self-correlation filtering factor.


We focus these commitments specifically on catastrophic risks1, defined as large-scale devastation (for example, thousands of deaths or hundreds of billions of dollars in damage) that is directly caused by an AI model and wouldn't have occurred without it. AI represents a spectrum of risks and these commitments are designed to deal with the more extreme end of this spectrum. This work is complementary to our work on other areas of AI safety, including mitigating harms like misinformation, bias, and toxicity, studying societal impacts, protecting customer privacy, building robust and reliable systems, and developing techniques like Constitutional AI for alignment with human values.


We study electromagnetic sum rules, such as the bremsstrahlung sum rule m_0 and the polarizability sum rule alpha_D at various approximation levels in coupled-cluster theory using interactions from chiral effective field theory. We go beyond singles-and doubles excitations by employing the CCSDT-1 approach which includes leading-order three-particle-three-hole (3p-3h) excitations for the ground state, excited states, and in the similarity transformed operator. To gauge the quality of our coupled-cluster approximations we perform several benchmarks in 4He with the effective interaction hyperspherical harmonics approach. We find that inclusion of 3p-3h excitations in the ground state is sufficient to obtain an agreement with the hyperspherical harmonics approach to better than 1%. We employ the chiral interaction N2LOsat [Ekstroem et al., Phys. Rev. C 91, 051301 (2015)] and calculate m_0 and alpha_D in 16O and 48Ca. For 48Ca we also use the chiral interaction 1.8/2.0 (EM) [Hebeler et al., Phys. Rev. C 83, 031301 (2011)], which has been shown to give accurate description of binding energies and spectra from light to heavy nuclei. We find that the effect of 3p-3h excitations in the ground state is small for 1.8/2.0 (EM) but non-negligible for N2LOsat. This reconciles the recently reported discrepancy between coupled-cluster results based on this interaction and the experimentally determined alpha_D from proton inelastic scattering in 48Ca [Birkhan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 252501 (2017)]. For the computation of electromagnetic and polarizability sum rules, the inclusion of leading-order 3p-3h excitations in the ground state is important, while less so for the excited states. Furthermore, we find that induced three- and higher-body terms coming from the similarity transformation of the dipole operator are found to be small, thus allowing for efficient and precise approximations.


The Persian king Xerxes, when he attacked Greece in 480 B.C., built a bridge over the Hellespont which was destroyed by a storm. His behaviour was interpreted by Greek observers as an act of hybris, the intolerable pride of a human who could not accept his limits. But the true meaning was quite different: according to ideas which go back to Indo-European prehistory, a hero had to prove his value by overcoming the opposition of water. This was a consequence of the concept of "fire in water" , which can be reconstructed from many parallels outside Iran – e.g. Rome, Ireland and even Greece.


Abstract Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) has been proposed as a means to enhance state-of-the-art computer-assisted interpreting (CAI) tools and to allow machine-learning techniques to enter the workflow of professional interpreters. In this article, we test the usefulness of real-time transcription with number highlighting of a source speech for simultaneous interpreting using InterpretBank ASR. The system's precision is high (96%) and its latency low enough to fit interpreters' ear–voice span (EVS). We evaluate the potential benefits among first-time users of this technology by applying an error matrix and by investigating the users' subjective perceptions through a questionnaire. The results show that the ASR provision improves overall performance for almost all number types. Interaction with the ASR support is varied and participants consult it for just over half of the stimuli. The study also provides some evidence of the psychological benefits of ASR availability and of overreliance on ASR support.


Toilet freshener (1) comprising a power source (3), a control unit (4) and at least one first container (9), which contains a first preparation (10) and with the toilet freshener (1) is coupled, wherein at least the first composition (10) has a viscosity less than 3,000 mPas, and that a pump (6) and / or a dispensing element (43) is configured such that when the pump (6) and / or in the closure position of the delivery member (43 ) a free flow of the formulation (10) is prevented in the surrounding area.


We investigate the robustness of our spectral data driven machine learning based QoT estimator by artificially noising the input features. The estimator shows superior robustness against feature changes compared to a non-spectral estimator. We validate its generalization ability and robustness on an unseen experimental dataset.


NEW YORK CITY — Stephanie Wilson was reaching for a receipt inside a paper shopping bag from Saks Fifth Avenue when she found a letter pleading, "HELP HELP HELP." The message, written in blue ink on white lined paper, appeared to be a desperate cry from a man who said he made the bag while being unfairly held in a Chinese prison factory more than 7,000 miles away. "We are ill-treated and work like slaves for 13 hours every day producing these bags in bulk in the prison factory," continued the letter, which was tucked into the bottom of the bag. It ended, "Thanks and sorry to bother you." "I read the letter and I just shook," said Wilson, 28, an Australian who lives in West Harlem. "I could not believe what I was reading." The note, which Wilson found after buying a pair of Hunter rain boots at Saks in September 2012, was signed Tohnain Emmanuel Njong and was accompanied by a small passport-photo sized color picture of a man in an orange jacket, she said. The letter, which also included a Yahoo email address on the back, triggered a hunt for the whereabouts of the mystery man. Wilson showed the missive to the Laogai Research Foundation , a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group founded to fight human rights abuses in Chinese prisons. The nonprofit foundation began investigating using its contacts on the ground as well as online, a representative confirmed to DNAinfo New York. But when Njong's Yahoo email address bounced back, the nonprofit was unable to locate him. Harry Wu, the founder of Laogai Research Foundation, spent 19 years in a Chinese prison factory, known as laogai. He said he took steps to verify the letter and believes that Njong took a huge risk in writing and sending it. "There would be solitary confinement until you confess and maybe later they increase your sentence — or even death," Wu said. His organization referred the letter to the Department of Homeland Security, which investigates allegations of American companies using forced labor to make their products. Homeland Security officials confirmed to DNAinfo that they were made aware of the letter, but could not say if they investigated it or are currently looking at Saks in connection to it. They also could not discuss Wilson's claim that DHS agents interviewed her in June 2013. But a DHS official said it's not the first report of a cry for help letter from China ending up on American shores. According to DHS senior policy adviser Kenneth Kennedy, the department was made aware of a woman in Oregon who made international news in 2012 when she discovered a similar letter detailing abuse and grueling labor in a Chinese prison when it fell from a Halloween decoration she'd bought at Kmart. The Oregon letter was anonymous, though The New York Times later tracked down the man who said he wrote it. A representative for Saks Fifth Avenue confirmed that the store was notified of the letter by the Laogai Research Foundation in December 2013 and said the company took the allegation seriously and launched an investigation, according to Tiffany Bourre, spokeswoman for Hudson's Bay Company, which took a controlling stake in the famous department store last December. Bourre said Saks does have its paper shopping bags made in China, but the company was unable to determine the specific origin of the bag that contained Njong's letter and photo. Hudson's Bay Company is currently in the process of ensuring all vendors meet the new company's standards on workers' rights, Bourre added. Plea for Help From Man Claiming to Be Chinese Prisoner Found in Saks Bag http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/newscast/463


A double module control system in permanent magnet synchronous grid wind power generation system is researched.Buck converter the MPPT control module is set between the rectifier and inverter,duty cycle of Buck Converter was controlled by optimized the optimal gradient-climbing method strategy.Grid inverter control module used DC bus voltage instantaneous value of the outer ring and the current instantaneous value of the inner ring double-loop control strategy.It through the outer loop voltage PI control current instruction,and then net output current was obtained by using PI instantaneous current control by the inverter and LCL filter.The simulation experiments waveform show that the MPPT control module can quickly and stably track the maximum power.The output of the inverter to meet network requirements,the control effect has better stability and dynamic characteristics.


In this paper, we proposed a smart energy meter prototype with the feature of three-phase inverter control that is supplied by a solar PV system and is connected to a grid. The inverter is controlled according to grid requirement and hence promotes the optimized penetrations of renewable to the grid. The smart meter designed has been incorporated with the feature of active and reactive power control. The controller is placed in the design of smart meter to eliminate the need of excess control system for controlling grid-connected inverters. This approach has been taken into account considering the need of inverter control for renewable integration in smart grid and hence including the control design in the smart energy meter can eliminate the use of excess equipment and also reduces the cost involved. This paper also describes the various literatures involved for control of grid connected inverter for non-ideal grid connections and also shows how the present system can be more efficient and cost effective for renewable integration with the grid system.


Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of A-imerica in Congress assembled, That whenever the death of a person shall be caused by wrongful act, neglect, or default occurring on the high seas beyond a marine league from the shore of any State, or the District of Columbia, or'the Territories or dependencies of the United States, the personal representative of the decedent may maintain a suit for damages in the district courts of the United States, in admiralty, for the exclusive benefit of the decedent's wife, husband, parent, child, or dependent relative against the vessel, person, or corporation which would have been liable if death had not ensued. SEC. 2. That the recovery in such suit shall be a fair and just compensation for the pecuniary loss sustained by the persons for whose benefit the suit is brought and shall be apportioned among them by the court in proportion to the loss they may severally have suffered by reason of the death of the person by whose representative the suit is brought. SEc. 3. That such suit shall be begun within two years from the date of such wrongful act, neglect, or default, unless during that period there has not been reasonable opportunity for securing jurisdiction of the vessel, person, or corporation sought to be charged; but after the expiration of such period of two years the right of action hereby given shall not be deemed to have lapsed until ninety days after a reasonable opportunity to secure jurisdiction has offered. SEC. 4. That whenever a right of action is granted by the law of any foreign State on account of death by wrongful act, neglect, or default occurring upon the high seas, such right may be maintained in an appropriate action in admiralty in the courts of the United States without abatement in respect to the amount for which recovery is authorized, any statute of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding. SEC. 5. That if a person die as the result of such wrongful act, neglect, or default as is mentioned in section i during the pendency in a court of admiralty of the United States of a suit to recover damages for personal injuries in respect of such act, neglect, or default, the personal representative of the decedent may be substituted as a party and the suit may proceed as a suit under this Act for the recovery of the compensation provided in section 2. SEC. 6. That in suits under this Act the fact that the decedent has been guilty of contributory negligence shall not bar recovery, but the court shall take into consideration the degree of negligence attributable to the decedent and reduce the recovery accordingly.


The existence of multiple equilibria complicates empirical analysis of discrete games of complete information. If the prediction of the game outcome is not unique, it is hard to use outcomes to infer the game primitives. This paper explicitly models the selection of equilibrium as a discrete choice problem. We consider both exogenous and endogenous selection mechanisms and discuss the neglected heterogeneity problem in the selection equation. After discussion on model setup and identi cation, we propose an MCMC procedure to estimate the structural model. A Monte Carlo experiment shows the bene ts of adding equilibrium selection. Applying this framework to the entry competition in the home improvement industry, we nd Lowe's is always the one entering the market if either Lowe's or Home Depot could enter but not both.


Soil organic carbon (SOC) is important in the carbon cycle and studies in the field are gaining relevance because of its relation to global climate change. In this paper, we report a study of SOC stock (0-200 cm) from a 50 years old secondary forest and a pasture under inceptisols in a floodplain in the tropical humid Caribbean coast of Honduras. Samples were collected at the depths 0-20, 20-40, 40-80, 80-120, 120-160, and 160-200 cm. Total SOC stocks were 89.2±10.9 Mg ha−1, and 72.5±10.0 Mg ha−1 for the secondary forest and pasture respectively. The estimated annual increase of SOC stock in the forest is 0.34 Mg C ha-1 year-1. SOC stock values were 50.3% and 47.9% of the total (0-200 cm) in the 0-20 cm layer for forest and pasture respectively. SOC distribution at a depth of 0-20 cm were 21.26 g kg-1 and 12.09 g kg-1 for forest and pasture respectively. Soil texture at the 0-20 cm depth were clay loam, and sandy clay loam, in the forest and pasture respectively. SOC stock in these ecosystems would be reduced if they were converted back to conventional agriculture, particularly in the forest. The forest had higher SOC values because of higher litter input as compared to the pasture, particularly in the upper soil layers, at deeper layers there are no significant differences (p <0.05) and SOC values are low. Compared to most other studies in tropical regions, SOC stock in our study were lower in both ecosystems, this may be due to high precipitation (ca. 3200 mm year-1) and high temperatures, rate of decomposition of litter input, general low clay content, and possibly priming effects which we have not addressed. More studies on the SOC stock in Central America with a similar climate are needed to improve our understanding of SOC dynamics and help reducing uncertainty in SOC models.


Mass differences of low-lying, nonstrange, hadron isomultiplets are investigated in the framework of a relativistic, independent quark potential model, implemented by center-of-mass, one-gluon-exchange, and pion-cloud corrections. The introduction of pionic self-energy corrections with nondegenerate intermediate states is instrumental in our analysis, playing also a fundamental role for a successful description of the {rho}-{omega} mass splitting. The effect of the superposition of all these corrections is discussed in some detail for the {ital p}-{ital n}, {pi}{sup +}-{pi}{sup 0}, {rho}{sup +}-{rho}{sup 0}, and {Delta}{sup ++}-{Delta}{sup 0} mass differences. The corresponding hadronic masses are also calculated with suitable values for the hadronic sizes and quark masses.


ZK60 alloy was chosen for investigation because of its highest specific strength in wrought magnesium alloys.Experimental studies of hot deformation and heat treatment for ZK60 alloy were carried out. Anti-penetration property of ZK60 alloy under high impact loading was studied for three different hot working states targets. The results show that after hot compression deformation under 300 ℃,tensile strength of ZK60 alloy is improved by 35 MPa and elongation is improved by 9%on average. After T5 treating and deforming,tensile strength of ZK60 alloy is decreased by 18 MPa and elongation is decreased by 2.6% on average. After T6 treating and deforming,tensile strength is decreased to the lowest value 241 MPa,while elongation is increased to the highest value 33.8%. Under the same impact velocity,there is no cracks around the crater corresponding to T5 treated hot deformation ZK60 target,while there is obvious longitudinal cracks around the crater corresponding to T6 treated hot deformation ZK60 target. The morphology of the crater corresponding to hot deformation ZK60 target has different characteristic,which is associated with the mechanical properties of the target. Through linear regression,the linear fitting equation of the crater depth and mechanical properties of the target was given for reference.


Abstract: In 1989 the Nutrition Program of the Health Department of Western Australia determined a minimum recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables for use in promotion of increased fruit and vegetable consumption. Considerations in the development of this recommendation included: a review of existing recommendations; the protective effects of fruit and vegetables; specification of fruit and vegetables separately or together; classification of fruit and vegetables; definition of a serve; and practical considerations for the implementation of the recommendation. This paper outlines the development of the recommendation to eat at least two average–sized (120–150 g) pieces of fruit and five average–sized (60–90 g) serves of vegetables daily. (Aust N Z J Public Health 7997; 21: 638–42)


This article according to "face Information processing Modern Chinese Grammar Research" center to the modern Chinese sentence semantics structure system classification, the application regular expression to classifies the sentence the sign note to carry on the match, thus found already classifies the type to be selected the note semantic ingredient, finally realizes modern Chinese grammar processing.


Using data from the Comparative National Elections Project 2004 and 2009 South African post-elections surveys, this paper argues that political discussion within interpersonal discussant networks plays a primary role in shaping political attitudes and vote choice in South Africa. The extent of partisan homogeneity or heterogeneity within discussant networks has important yet distinct implications for voting behaviour. While homogeneous discussion networks tend to encourage stronger partisan loyalties and fewer defections in vote choice, people in heterogeneous networks show less consistency in their attitudes and behaviour during elections. The analysis also shows how momentous socio-political events at the time of a particular election can change the nature of social networks, with important consequences for electoral outcomes.


The requirements of low power consumption and fast operation have necessitated the development of thin film transistors (TFTs) with exploration of new dielectric materials. Here, the unprecedented integration of high‐κ dielectric CaCu3Ti4O12 is reported, yielding significant enhancements in the performance of amorphous InGaZnO TFTs. Using a multilayer structured amorphous Al2O3/CaCu3Ti4O12/Al2O3 dielectric configuration, the performance of the transistors is greatly improved as highlighted with high saturation mobility (>10 cm2 Vs−1), high on/off current ratio (3.8 × 107), low threshold voltage (≈0.51 V), and low subthreshold swing (≈0.45 V decade−1). The balanced performance enhancements are attributed to the lower density of interfacial/bulk trap states and sufficient band offsets.


Nowadays China's home textiles are bubbling with noise in propaganda. What is brand? What are the essence of brand and the spiritual connotation? How should an enterprise operate the brand? How should we know the relation between quality and brand? These are the questions we must think of. To scientifically understand the essence of "quality" and the significance of "brand" and the relation between them is the main subject this paper discusses.


Over the past few years, the occurrence of depression in South Korea has significantly increased. Even though Buddhism was the main religion in historical South Korea, Christianity has recently emerged as a dominant faith tradition. However, the relationship between religion and depression among older Korean adults is understudied. The present study is designed to investigate religious variations and the role of religious participation in depression among older Korean adults using the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA). From the KLoSA database, 6817 participants were extracted and analyzed. Utilizing the Korean version of the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D 10) and the generalized linear models (GLM), a significant difference in depressive symptoms between religious groups (p < 0.05) and religious nones surfaced. This significant difference remained even after adjusting for the confounding factors. When the levels of depressive symptoms were compared across various faith traditions, the lowest depression score was detected from Buddhists (7.04), followed by Roman Catholics (7.12), and Protestants (7.71). Moreover, a significant difference in depressive symptoms between Buddhists and Protestants was observed. With regard to the frequency of religious participation, a significant difference in the depression score was observed only for Protestants. That is, the depression score for those who reported attending religious meetings 'once to six times a year' was significantly higher than the others. It is concluded that those who are religiously involved had significantly less depression symptoms than religious nones. Moreover, of the three faith traditions, Buddhists and Protestants showed a significant difference in depressive symptoms.


Advances in hyperspectral remote sensing have instigated multitude of applications for better understanding of our planet through remote data acquisition and observation of natural phenomena such as weather monitoring and prediction to include tornado, wild fires, global warming, etc. For this, data analysis methods that exploit the rich spectral and spatial information in hyperspectral data are often employed to gain insights about the natural phenomenon. This work presents a new deep learning based hyperspectral data analysis framework, which efficiently utilizes both spatial and spectral information present in the data to achieve superior classification performance. Gabor filtering is used for spatial feature extraction in conjunction with sparse random projections for spectral feature extraction and dimensionality reduction. Finally, supervised classification using a 3-D convolutional neural network was employed to perform a volumetric hyperspectral data analysis. Experimental results reveal that the proposed spatial–spectral hyperspectral data analysis frameworks outperform the conventional 2-D convolution neural network-based spectral–spatial feature extraction techniques.


Contents: Preface. Part I: Overview of Family Literacy: Development, Concepts, and Practice. B.H. Wasik, S. Herrmann, Family Literacy: History, Concepts, Services. P. Hannon, V. Bird, Family Literacy in England: Theory, Practice, Research, and Policy. Part II: Children and Early Childhood Education Within Family Literacy Programs. J. Sparling, Earliest Literacy: From Birth to Age 3. C.J. Lonigan, Emergent Literacy Skills and Family Literacy. L.M. Morrow, J. Temlock-Fields, Use of Literature in the Home and at School. V. Purcell-Gates, Family Literacy as the Site for Emerging Knowledge of Written Language. A.S. Fuligni, J. Brooks-Gunn, Early Childhood Intervention in Family Literacy Programs. D.K. Dickinson, R.G. St.Pierre, J. Pettengill, High-Quality Classrooms: A Key Ingredient to Family Literacy Programs' Support for Children's Literacy. Part III: Parenting and Parent Education. D.R. Powell, Parenting Education in Family Literacy Programs. R.C. Pianta, Relationships Among Children and Adults and Family Literacy. K. Jacobs, Parent and Child Together Time. F.V. Rodriguez-Brown, Project FLAME: A Parent Support Family Literacy Model. Part IV: Adult Education. J.P. Comings, The Process and Content of Adult Education in Family Literacy Programs. J.A. Alamprese, Understanding Adult Education in the Context of Family Literacy. E.N. Askov, Workforce Literacy and Technology in Family Literacy Programs. Part V: The Home Environment and Home Services. K.A. Roskos, S. Twardosz, Resources, Family Literacy, and Children Learning to Read. C.S. Hammer, A.W. Miccio, Home Literacy Experiences of Latino Families. D. Bryant, B.H. Wasik, Home Visiting and Family Literacy Programs. Part VI: Coordination and Integration Issues in Family Literacy. M. Potts, Integration of Components in Family Literacy Services. G.L. Harbin, S. Herrmann, B.H. Wasik, D.R. Dobbins, W.K. Lam, Integrating Services for Family Literacy. Part VII: Diversity and Culture. V.L. Gadsden, Family Literacy and Culture. L. Vernon-Feagans, D. Head-Reeves, K. Kainz, An Ecocultural Perspective on Early Literacy: Avoiding the Perils of School for NonMainstream Children. H.S. Wrigley, We Are the World: Serving Language-Minority Adults in Family Literacy Programs. J. Strucker, C. Snow, B.A. Pan, Family Literacy for ESOL Families: Challenges and Design Principles. S. Emberton, Family and Child Education (FACE): Family Literacy Services for American Indians. Part VIII: Assessment and Evaluation. P. Johnston, E. Yanoff, Early Childhood Assessment and Family Literacy. C.J. Lonigan, K.D. McDowell, B.M. Phillips, Standardized Assessments of Children's Emergent Literacy Skills. D. Powell, L. Okagaki, K. Bojczyk, Evaluating Parent Participation and Outcomes in Family Literacy Programs: Cultural Diversity Considerations. B. Van Horn, L. Forlizzi, Assessment of Adult Literacy Skills. R.G. St.Pierre, A.E. Ricciuti, F. Tao, Continuous Improvement in Family Literacy Programs. Part IX: What the Future May Bring. S. Darling, Future Directions for Family Literacy. B.H. Wasik, Family Literacy Programs: Synthesizing Across Themes, Theories, and Recommendations.


Cecal diverticulitis is an unusual condition that presents clinically similar to appendicitis. Although it is usually asymptomatic, it may cause inflammation, bleeding, or perforation. The diagnosis is not always easy and in the majority of cases, the diagnosis is usually made at laparotomy. There have been various controversies in the literature regarding the optimal management of cecal diverticulitis. The aim of this study is a detailed description of this rare cause of acute abdomen. A 40-year-old female patient presenting with acute onset pain in the right lower abdominal quadrant, nausea and fever had mild leukocytosis. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed findings suggestive of plastron appendicitis. The diagnosis of cecal diverticulitis was established during the surgery. The patient underwent diverticulectomy and appendectomy operations. Cecal diverticulitis is rare clinical entity that should be considered in the differential diagnosis of emergency patients admitted with the complaint of pain in the right lower abdominal quadrant.


This paper deals with the applicability of Maskell's theory to porous plate and truss girder through which air stream can blow, and also to hexagonal section. The applicability was certainly proved for all sections within the range of blockage ratio studied in this test. The blockage effect is not negligible even at 5% blockage ratio. Its effect is especially large for the section which has large porous ratio. To make the correction method practical for various types of sections, the general expression of the blockage factor was attempted. From the results of this test, the generalization was successfully carried out by introducing drag coefficient defined by model outlined area in place of model projected area.


The fascination that ever younger children find in technology is a banal observation. More and more adults, too, seem to be falling into the traps of pseudo-communication. This becomes even more serious when it affects the parent-child relationship and when videos and photos, as, as such, partial objects, come and mask the subject, darkening it while pretending to lighten it, it being the child who needs after all just a humanizing word, a structuring refusal or an empathic gesture. Drawing on three observations taken from the practice of a paediatrician working in a city context, we shall see how parents can use cameras, mobiles and pads, calling on the paediatrician to witness their deadlock, their impossibility to understand the psychic suffering of their child.


No major shift in social institution is ever judged by the code in place when it starts. No shift ever succeeds except with asseveration that it fully lives up to that existing code and always will. These are two lemmas which, it seems to me, have proved themselves over and over again during the past century in the United States. In Fair Science: Women in the Scientific Community, Jonathan Cole is making the classic (and probably unsuccessful) counterattack against a shift in process: holding it up against the existing code, here a work ethic. That is one important perspective on the book under review. There is another: Who owns the null? The embarrassing truth is that this question identifies social science verdicts on real social changes. There is not enough power either in theory or technique to overturn the null in complex situations. What would be needed is the kind of calibration and control achieved, with great effort and enormous experience, by engineers (see, e.g., the lucid new work of Bennett [1979]). Jonathan Cole, as in all his works as a patriotic citizen of science, takes as his null hypothesis that there is no (unfair) discrimination i science. Two caveats are in order. The jazzy title catches your interest but is misleading: this book is about the professoriat. Cole has only glancing remarks to make about industrial, or about commercial, or about direct government science, or about contract science for government. The book is about science only if you share Cole's (unstated) conviction that (now, in the United States) science rests almost entirely on the professoriat. And over half the full-time faculty in universities are in fields which Cole includes within science. The fate of science is tied up with that of higher pedagogy. Second, law is in charge now on this topic; as Cole makes very clear from his table of contents on, law is the audience to be wooed and won. I do not know whether Cole has done well, by his or any other lights, for that real audience. Jonathan Cole has, I think, earned the high encomium that this is a proper book. It is not just another research report, thesis, or monograph. You can disappear into it for periods of time, bemused by a byway found in some note and then able, because it is a book, to wander around finding other connecting paths. It is a creature of differing moods and tongues,


The objective of this study was to assess the changes in female sexual function during pregnancy and to identify associated factors among Turkish population using a validated questionnaire. Furthermore, we aimed to examine Turkish pregnant women's beliefs regarding sexual activity and describe their source of information about sexuality during pregnancy.


Within a semiotic and psychodynamic frame, we present and discuss the psychological construct of modal articulation. By modality, we mean the way a subject organizes the meaning of his/her own experience according to categories of necessity, possibility, opportunity, will, knowledge, permission, and duty. Modality is a relevant topic in some branches of philosophy, logics, linguistics, and semiotics, but there is no systematic discourse about it in psychology. The proposal of this work is to deal with some interesting and promising features of modal categories in the sensemaking process of subjective experience. Modalization is presented as a relevant semiotic organization in each contextual and dynamic sensemaking process in order to perform three functions: (a) connection between affective matrix and subjective experience, (b) mediation between subjective positioning in intersubjective context, and (c) vectorialization of action, namely orienting subjective agency in becoming temporal. Theoretical, methodological, and clinical implications are discussed.


Income inequality has increased in advanced and emerging economies during the previous decades in the time of growing globalization. There is still no consensus, whether foreign direct investment (FDI) as one of the main drivers of globalization has resulted in a higher-level income inequality. This study analyses the influence of FDI on income inequality using multiple regression model between 1989 and 2017 in Ireland. By using multiple regression mode that includes inflation, trade, FDI, GDP per capita and government expenditure on education, FDI tends to increase income gaps but the results are not significant in many models. Furthermore, government expenditure on education tends to increase income disparity in our model as well. In contrast, trade and GDP per capita tend to decrease the income inequality in Ireland. Finally, these findings show that FDI do affect income distribution in Ireland.


Congenital factor XIII (FXIII) deficiency is a rare bleeding disorder with a low incidence of one in 2–5 million people [1]. Inherited in an autosomal recessive manner, it affects both the sexes with often a history of consanguinity among parents. Patients with homozygous FXIII deficiency face severe bleeding complications like umbilical stump bleeding (a representative and diagnostic symptom of FXIII deficiency), epistaxis, gum bleeding, gastrointestinal and intracranial haemorrhage. Women in the reproductive age group may present with severe menorrhagia and recurrent abortion/pregnancy loss [2]. FXIII deficiency is caused mainly due to mutations in F13A1 and less frequently in F13B gene. Approximately, 150 different causative mutations have been reported in FXIII gene worldwide. A high heterogeneity in the nature of mutations has been reported earlier in Indian patients [3,4]. Present report summarizes the first trimester prenatal diagnosis offered in five severe FXIII-deficient families by direct DNA sequencing. The study was reviewed and approved by a duly constituted Institutional Ethics Committee for Research on Human Subjects (National Institute of Immunohaematology/Institutional Ethics Committee/ 12-2013). After appropriate counselling, a written informed consent was obtained from all the patients and couples; all the investigations were conducted in accordance with the principles of Declaration of Helsinki (1975), as revised in 2008. Chorionic villus sampling was performed in the 10th–12th gestational week by trans-abdominal insertion of a 20-gauge needle under ultrasound guidance followed by application of 2% xylocaine to the puncture site. The villi collected in RPMI medium was separated from any maternal decidual tissue under a dissection microscope. DNA was extracted from the villi and frozen blood leukocytes from citrated blood samples of family members using commercial kits (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). Diagnosis of FXIII deficiency in the index cases was confirmed by screening coagulation tests and the conventional clot lysis method [5]. Mutations were detected by direct sequencing of the entire coding region, intron–exon boundaries and the promoter region of F13A1 using 15 sets of oligonucleotide primers [4] of the propositi, the parents and the unborn foetus, using Big Dye DNA sequencing kits (Applied Bio systems, Foster City, CA, USA). The sequences were compared with the published sequence NCBI GenBank (accession Number NP 000120.2). The nucleotide numbering was done according to the NCBI nucleotide sequence locus NM_000129.3. Amino acid numbering was done as per Ichinose et al. [6] where codon serine is the first amino acid of the processed protein (not the initial methionine which is removed post translationally). All the changes were confirmed by reverse sequencing in the complementary strand. Prediction software analysis using polyPhen-2 (http://genetics.bwh.harvard.edu/pph2) and mutation taster (www.mutationtaster.org) to study the effect of novel missense mutations and their impact on the structure and function of the protein proved that the changes were probably damaging and disease causing.


The purpose of this paper is to investigate the tridimensional relationship between total quality management (TQM), learning orientation and market performance of Malaysian service firms, in which TQM is hypothesised as a platform to enhance both learning orientation and market performance of a company. Furthermore, this empirical paper also investigates whether effective learning orientation can bring about improved market performance. The sample data are collected from 146 service firms in Malaysia. To examine the relationship between TQM, learning orientation and market performance of the service organisations in Malaysia, the structural equation modelling analysis was employed. The survey evidence identified that the adoption of TQM practices in service organisations is positively and significantly related to both learning orientation and market performance. However, learning orientation did not show any significant correlation with market performance of the firm, implying that learning orientation does not provide extensive opportunities for a service organisation to attain a higher market performance. The managers of the service firms who intend to achieve organisational success through the implementation of TQM practices that support their firm's learning orientation and enhance their market performance will be able to benefit from this research paper.


Freezing conditions naturally induce chronic photoinhibition (ie light-dependent decrease in efficiency of photosystem II) in over-wintering leaves of eucalypts and other evergreen species. We examined relationships between spatial patterns in freezing, concentrations of photosynthetic pigments, and photosynthetic characteristics. Patterns of freezing in intact, attached leaves of Eucalyptus pauciflora were studied with infra-red thermal imaging. After ice nucleation, temperatures increased to values near the freezing point over the whole leaf. However, local variation in leaf shape, thickness and water content influenced the duration of elevated temperatures, causing spatial gradients in leaf temperatures during freezing of as much as 4° C. Temperatures were lower (and hence dehydration greater) toward the leaf tip and margins. Spatial patterns in pigmentation in leaves that had been exposed to naturally occurring frosts were determined by conventional extraction techniques combined with high resolution hyperspectral imaging of reflectance from intact leaves. These measurements showed that concentrations of chlorophyll per leaf area were lower while concentrations of zeaxanthin plus antheraxanthin per chlorophyll were higher toward the leaf tip and margins. These changes in pigment composition were highly correlated with greater sustained reduction in Fv/Fm, which in turn was strongly correlated with a unique emission band in the 77K fluorescence spectra signifying the reversible formation of a recently discovered novel photoprotective complex (Gilmore and Ball 2000 PNAS 97: 11098-11101). Thus, altered patterns in pigmentation and thylakoid function were consistent with patterns in freezing temperatures. These data provide explicit spatial linkage between environmental stress and physiological responses to it.


This paper presents a methodological discussion of a study of tagging quality in subject indexing. The data analysis in the study was divided into 3 phases: analysis of indexing consistency, analysis of tagging effectiveness, and analysis of the semantic values of tags. To analyze indexing consistency, this study employed the vector space model‐based indexing consistency measures. An analysis of tagging effectiveness with tagging exhaustivity and tag specificity was conducted to ameliorate the drawbacks of consistency analysis based on only the quantitative measures of vocabulary matching. To further investigate the semantic values of tags at various levels of specificity, a latent semantic analysis (LSA) was conducted. To test statistical significance for the relation between tag specificity and semantic quality, correlation analysis was conducted. This research demonstrates the potential of tags for web document indexing with a complete assessment of tagging quality and provides a basis for further study of the strengths and limitations of tagging.


A key challenge for pharmacogenetics is the creation of databases to store, analyse and disseminate important datasets in order to catalyse research and training. Most successful databases have a limited scope: Genbank contains DNA sequences [1]; the Protein Data Bank contains the three-dimensional coordinates of macromolecules [2]; the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man contains a record of human genetic disease [3]; and PubMED contains the biomedical literature [4]. This limited scope is a great strength, because the information can be stored, searched and analysed using a few powerful tools, and the users of these databases know exactly what to expect. Databases for pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics will have much more diversity. Pharmacogenetic data involve phenotypes that are as diverse as the assays we invent to measure them. Thus, it is unclear what a user should expect from a pharmacogenetics database, and yet a public repository of pharmacogenetic data is critical to establish a core dataset for the field upon which we can build new analyses and new hypotheses [1]. Clearly, successful databases for pharmacogenetics must employ some sort of classification of phenotypes that is general purpose, yet extensible to include undefined characterizations of phenotype.


A 48-year-old woman presented to our emergency department with recurrent flank pain and fever. She had a history of medullary sponge kidney and recurrent nephrolithiasis since her twenties, but stone formation ceased after certain Chinese herbs use for decades. However, fever with dysuria and abdominal pain occurred since 2 days ago. Urinalysis revealed pyuria (leukocytes 80-100/high power field) and bacteriuria. Blood test yielded leukocytosis (12640/μL) and mildly impaired renal function (creatinine 124 μmol/L). An abdominal computed tomography (CT) without contrast, ordered for ruling out other intra-abdominal pathology, demonstrated multiple renal stones and medullary nephrocalcinosis bilaterally, with renal pyramidal dilation (Figure). We incidentally identified multiple hypodense ill-defined lesions over her entire liver (Figure). This radiologic finding is compatible with multiple bile duct harmatomas, a rare condition known as "von Meyenburg complex". Subsequent workup ruled out the possibility of metastatic malignancy, microabscess, cysts and


Surface layer of earth's crust in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is composed of loose sand with soluble salts, which is generally termed as Sabkha. Poor strength and durability characteristics of the Sabkha soil adversely challenge the safety and serviceability of infrastructure built on it. Therefore, improvement of its physical properties demands urgent attention of the engineering society. In this study, date palm ash (DPA), a local industrial waste, is utilized as an additive to improve strength characteristics of problematic Sabkha soil. A remarkable improvement in compaction characteristics and compressive strength is achieved. By investigating the effect of different proportions, the optimum quantity of additive is determined with respect to compressive strength.


This guidance is based on research conducted by the Association for Dementia Studies at the University of Worcester. The research involved a number of key phases including a review of the relevant literature, practice experience from CHC panels, Alzheimer's Society and family carers as well as feedback from nurses who do not have specialist dementia knowledge


This paper analyzes the United States' domestic water heating industry and solar domestic water heating technology adoption from the standpoint of Porter's five forces model and the technology adoption life cycle model. Using Porter's five forces model, the key barriers to entry for solar water heating technology are high buyer price sensitivity and unequal access to distribution channels. In the context of the technology adoption life cycle, current solar water heating technology is disruptive but it has not yet crossed the chasm. Further, a dominant design has not emerged. Two strategies are proposed to address these barriers and facilitate crossing the chasm. One strategy focuses on establishing a beach head with the home owner using a focused sales approach involving six factors and convincing them that the value of a solar water heater more than outweighs the initial cost. The other strategy seeks to shift the up front cost away from the home owner using an approach similar to that being taken by the solar electric industry with Solar Power Purchase Agreements.


Legal directives give effect to social policy. There has been extensive debate about how best to design the contours of the law to achieve that end.1 However, this theoretical debate has generally overlooked one simple fact: rules are sometimes broken. Rules are not concrete walls that actively stop all the behavior they prohibit.2 Rather, they are porous screens through which some prohibited conduct may pass. A rule's porousness is an essential element of the rule itself, and rulemaking should acknowledge and even exploit its contours. A rule's porousness is often predictable and can be shaped through the design of the rule and its accompanying remedial regime — efforts to catch violators and penalties for violations.3 Because rules can be porous and this porousness can be shaped, it is an underappreciated feature of legal directives that sorting between desirable and undesirable conduct happens not just at the level of deciding what conduct to prohibit, but also at the level of deciding how the directive is enforced or remedied, and ultimately at the level of people deciding whether to comply. Once it is recognized that selection occurs at several levels, it becomes apparent that there is a pervasive design choice about how much selection should happen at each level. Complex rules that are tailored to a purpose and perfectly followed are in some cases substitutable for seemingly overinclusive rules that are broken and thus accompanied by downstream selection effects. Some literature has acknowledged in particular contexts that rulebreaking may be an important feature of rule design, but there is little generalized discussion about this tradeoff as a matter of legal architecture. This Note explores the phenomenon of rule porousness and its implications for the design of legal directives. Part I describes rule porousness and how such porousness may be shaped and harnessed. Part


An estimation studies on post harvest losses in potato was surveyed at different potato growing areas of Hassan district during Kharif season for three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017. At main field of potato both losses due to left over produce from randomly selected three farmers plots and losses from storage heap during marketing of potato of same plots were documented on yield parameters such as total tuber yield, late blight diseased tubers, cut or cracked tubers and bruised tubers. The pooled data of three years indicated that, an average losses due to left over produce in different farmer field was about 13.83 per cent of late blight diseased tubers, 15.69 per cent of cut or cracked tubers and 4.60 per cent of bruised tubers. Further, an average losses at storage heap was around 1.83 per cent of diseased tubers, 0.98 per cent of cut or cracked tubers and 0.48 per cent of bruised tubers in short period of storage of 15 to 20 days at farm. From the studies, it was found that both losses due to left over produce in different plots of farmers and losses from storage heap contributed nearly 35.00 per cent post harvest losses in potato under Southern Dry Zone of Karnataka during Kharif season.