Introduction Nickel exposure usually presents as Allergic Contact Dermatitis. However, Nickel not only causes dermatitis, but an excess of dietary Nickel is reported to be responsible for overweight, metabolic disorders and imbalance of gut microflora. Objective The aim of study is to expand a preliminary reported evidence of the presence of Nickel-resistant bacteria isolated in human microbiome and further evaluate their association with nickel allergy and overweight in females, the gender mostly affected by Nickel exposure. Materials and Methods We collected stool samples from 11 lean female with a nickel allergy (BMI <25) and 17 overweight nickel allergic subjects (BMI >25). 11 subjects not allergic to nickel served as control group. Stool cultures were supplemented with increasing concentrations of nickel sulphate (NiSO4⋅6H2O) from 0.1mM up to 50 mM, in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions (culturomics-approach Lusi, 2017). Stool cultures not supplemented with nickel were used as controls. Identification of Nickel resistant bacteria was made by MALDI-TOF technology. Results In control subjects, 5 mM NiSO4 was the cut off for microbial growth. Conversely, gut bacteria continued to grow at concentration higher than 5 mM in allergic subjects. In particular, Nickel resistant bacteria able to tolerate 32 mM of NiSO4 was detected in 10% of lean allergic and 29% of overweight allergic females. Gut microbes able to grow in at extremely high NiSO4 concentration (50mM) could only be detected in overweight patients with a severe nickel allergy. At increasing NiSO4 concentration, allergic females, especially those with increased BMI, showed a progressive decrease of Enterobacteriaceae along with an increased presence of Lactobacillaceae, Bacillaceae and Clostridiaceae compared to control subjects. Major changes in microbial composition were noted at 50 mM of NiSO4 in overweight allergic females. Conclusion Overweight females with a nickel allergy harbor gut microbes highly resistant to nickel and the role of these bacterial strains must be further elucidated.


In many engineering applications, it is a formidable task to construct mathematical models
that are expected to produce accurate predictions of the behavior of a system of interest.
During the construction of such predictive models, errors due to imperfect modeling and
uncertainties due to incomplete information about the system and its environment (e.g.,
input or excitation) always exist and can be accounted for appropriately by using
probability logic. To assess the system performance subjected to dynamic excitations, a
stochastic system analysis considering all the uncertainties involved has to be performed. In
engineering, evaluating the robust failure probability (or its complement, robust reliability)
of the system is a very important part of such stochastic system analysis. The word 'robust'
is used because all uncertainties, including those due to modeling of the system, are taken
into account during the system analysis, while the word 'failure' is used to refer to
unacceptable behavior or unsatisfactory performance of the system output(s). Whenever
possible, the system (or subsystem) output (or maybe input as well) should be measured to
update models for the system so that a more robust evaluation of the system performance
can be obtained. In this thesis, the focus is on stochastic system analysis, model and
reliability updating of complex systems, with special attention to complex dynamic systems
which can have high-dimensional uncertainties, which are known to be a very challenging
problem. Here, full Bayesian model updating approach is adopted to provide a robust and
rigorous framework for these applications due to its ability to characterize modeling
uncertainties associated with the underlying system and to its exclusive foundation on the
probability axioms. First, model updating of a complex system which can have high-dimensional uncertainties
within a stochastic system model class is considered. To solve the challenging
computational problems, stochastic simulation methods, which are reliable and robust to
problem complexity, are proposed. The Hybrid Monte Carlo method is investigated and it
is shown how this method can be used to solve Bayesian model updating problems of
complex dynamic systems involving high-dimensional uncertainties. New formulae for
Markov Chain convergence assessment are derived. Advanced hybrid Markov Chain
Monte Carlo simulation algorithms are also presented in the end.
Next, the problem of how to select the most plausible model class from a set of competing
candidate model classes for the system and how to obtain robust predictions from these
model classes rigorously, based on data, is considered. To tackle this problem, Bayesian
model class selection and averaging may be used, which is based on the posterior
probability of different candidate classes for a system. However, these require calculation
of the evidence of the model class based on the system data, which requires the
computation of a multi-dimensional integral involving the product of the likelihood and
prior defined by the model class. Methods for solving the computationally challenging
problem of evidence calculation are reviewed and new methods using posterior samples are
presented.
Multiple stochastic model classes can be created even there is only one embedded
deterministic model. These model classes can be viewed as a generalization of the
stochastic models considered in Kalman filtering to include uncertainties in the parameters
characterizing the stochastic models. State-of-the-art algorithms are used to solve the
challenging computational problems resulting from these extended model classes. Bayesian
model class selection is used to evaluate the posterior probability of an extended model
classe and the original one to allow a data-based comparison. The problem of calculating
robust system reliability is also addressed. The importance and effectiveness of the
proposed method is illustrated with examples for robust reliability updating of structural systems. Another significance of this work is to show the sensitivity of the results of
stochastic analysis, especially the robust system reliability, to how the uncertainties are
handled, which is often ignored in past studies.
A model validation problem is then considered where a series of experiments are conducted
that involve collecting data from successively more complex subsystems and these data are
to be used to predict the response of a related more complex system. A novel methodology
based on Bayesian updating of hierarchical stochastic system model classes using such
experimental data is proposed for uncertainty quantification and propagation, model
validation, and robust prediction of the response of the target system. Recently-developed
stochastic simulation methods are used to solve the computational problems involved.
Finally, a novel approach based on stochastic simulation methods is developed using
current system data, to update the robust failure probability of a dynamic system which will
be subjected to future uncertain dynamic excitations. Another problem of interest is to
calculate the robust failure probability of a dynamic system during the time when the
system is subjected to dynamic excitation, based on real-time measurements of some output
from the system (with or without corresponding input data) and allowing for modeling
uncertainties; this generalizes Kalman filtering to uncertain nonlinear dynamic systems. For
this purpose, a novel approach is introduced based on stochastic simulation methods to
update the reliability of a nonlinear dynamic system, potentially in real time if the
calculations can be performed fast enough.


If you want to start blogging fast but don't want to get sidetracked by the details, then you need a Visual QuickProject Guide!You don't need to know every feature-you just want to know how to get your project done.Full-color illustrations show you how to perform each step of your project from start to finish.Low-pricedwhy pay more than you need?In Publishing a Blog with Blogger: Visual QuickProject Guide, best-selling author, Elizabeth Castro, shows users how to get started in the wonderful world of blogging. This book features large color illustrations and a minimum of verbiage to show brand-new Blogger users each step of the blogging process. Castro first acquaints readers with the interface and standard options, then walks them through blog setup, creating their profile, posting email, adding pictures and audio. She also covers adding widgets to a blog; tools for tracking Web traffic and following subscriber traffic; using color and customizing layouts; understanding template tags and using tags to categorize content; combating spam; understanding balance and deciding how many blog posts to have on the homepage; privacy issues; posting photos; blogging mobile; and more.This is ideal entry point to the blogosphere for anyone who wants to get started fast, but doesn't need to know every featurejust how to get the project done!


Int J Exerc Sci 1(3) : 125-135, 2008. Firefighters and police have different physical job requirements and selection processes. Firefighters have on-duty exercise time and police do not. This could affect body composition and strength. The purpose of this investigation was to compare body composition and bench press strength between firefighters and police officers in the CharlotteMecklenburg departments. Current 2006 fitness records were analyzed to compare firefighters and police (N = 2330). Variables included: gender, age, body mass, percent body-fat, fat mass, lean mass, bench press strength, bench press/lean mass, bench press/body mass, and percent that were obese. Significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences were found between male firefighters and police in age (37.7 vs. 36.9 yrs), body mass (91.5 vs. 93.2 kg), percent body-fat (17.8% vs.18.5%), fat mass (16.9 vs. 18.0 kg), bench press strength (93.4 vs. 96.3 kg), bench press/body mass (1.03 vs.1.05) and percent that were obese (10% vs.17%), respectively. Significant differences between female firefighters and police were found in age (42.4 vs. 37.4 yrs), body mass (77.5 vs. 71.8 kg), lean mass (54.4 vs. 51.2 kg), bench press strength (52.3 vs. 43.9 kg), bench press/lean mass (0.99 vs. 0.86) and bench press/body mass (0.69 vs. 0.62), respectively. Male police were younger, weighed more, had higher percent body fat, higher percent of obesity, and had greater upper body strength than firefighters. Female police were younger, weighed less, had less lean mass and less upper body strength than their firefighter counterparts. Contributing factors might include pre-employment selection, recruit training, in-service physical fitness testing, and counseling provided by departments.


The Department of Health publication, Commissioning services for women and children who have experienced violence or abuse – a guide for health commissioners, clearly acknowledges that 'victims of violence or abuse tend to use health services more than average' and that this is 'despite often finding it hard to access services' (Golding and Duggal, 2011: 22). The guidance goes on to state that it is precisely because of this that 'it is in the NHS interest to identify these women and children, provide opportunities for them to disclose, and provide services [..] to help them improve their physical and mental health' (ibid). The policy that has been implemented to support this process is known as 'routine enquiry' (RE). Since 2003 it has been Department of Health policy that all adult service users should be asked about experiences of violence and abuse in mental health assessments. However, asking about experiences of abuse and violence is not enough. To be effective the policy of routine enquiry has to be underpinned by the provision of appropriate and effective services for survivors of abuse. As the commissioning guidance notes, 'commissioners should be aware of the importance of clear referral pathways, so that health professionals know where and how to refer women and children to local services'. For appropriate services to be available, commissioners also need to be aware of the type of services and care pathways that people who have experienced abuse feel are appropriate to meet their needs. In this briefing we present information drawn from interviews with mental health service users who have experienced domestic and/or sexual violence.

This briefing focusses on the links between experience of abuse and mental health and the implications this has for commissioners to create an effective service landscape. The REVA research included the experience of both male and female service users. Useful guidance focussing on commissioning services specifically for women and girls who have survived violence is also available: see Woman's Aid and Imkaan, 2014 'Successful commissioning: a guide to commissioning services that support women and children survivors of violence', see www.womensaid.org.uk for details.


1. Perturbations And Biological Impacts: Rivers: Dynamic Components Of Catchment Ecosystems River Pollution Hydrological Change River Channel Change System Recovery 2. Monitoring Programmes: Spatial And Temporal Problems With Monitoring Water-Quality Monitoring Biological Water-Quality Assessment Of Rivers: Use Of Macroinvertebrate Communities 3. Modelling: Forecast And Prediction: Hydrology And Climate Change Modelling Hydrological Processes For River Management Water-Quality Modelling Sediment Transport And Channel Stability Prediction Of Biological Responses Evolution Of Instream Flow Habitat Modelling 4. Management Options: Assessment Of Instream Flow Needs Control Rules For Regulating Reservoirs Water-Quality Control Environmentally Sensitive River Engineering Management Of Macropytic Vegetation Direct Control Of Fauna: Roles Of Hatcheries, Fish Stocking And Fishing Regulations Rehabilitation Of River Margins Restoration Of River Corridors: German Experiences 5. Case Studies: Management Of The Upper Mississippi River Management In Cold Regions: A Case Study Of The River Laxa, North Iceland Dryland Rivers: Their Ecology, Conservation And Management


Communication technology evolved extensively in recent years and the introduction of the featured smartphones considered as the critical milestone in the mobile phone history. Unlike traditional phones, smartphones have the number of applications which keep the users engage to a greater extent of time like never before. Such unbroken psychological association of the individuals with their smartphones has led to an emergence of a new kind of psychological problem called as the phantom syndrome characterized by the frequent false feeling of ringing and vibration from the smartphones. Although the phenomenon of the phantom is widespread, only a limited number of studies are available on it. Furthermore, most of the studies available are to exploratory nature with lack of standard study designs. Keeping all such aspect into the consideration, the present review endeavors to extend the current scientific knowledge on phantom syndrome by providing a thorough understanding and new ideas for future research.


A successful model for off-road tyres must be reliable, efficient and capable of reproducing and predicting the main system phenomena. Mathematical models are proposed for longitudinal, lateral and combined lateral and longitudinal force generation characteristics of off-road tyres.

For a better understanding of off-road tyre behaviour, the study of the interaction between the tyre forces and those generated by the deformed soil is very important.
Details of the force system in the contact patch, therefore, are used as a basis for developing models for the prediction of the tractive performance and comering
characteristics of off-road tyres.

Previous work of the relevant literature pertaining to tyre behaviour is reviewed to provide the reader with background information on off-road tyre characteristics.

Various models for off-road tyres of differing degrees of complexity but which all incorporate the key features of off-road tyre problems are then developed.

Previous methods of analysing the combined lateral and longitudinal forces generated by off-road tyres on deformable surfaces are investigated. A modified
version of a previous model is then proposed which is based on a different and original method for investigating tyre behaviour in the contact region. An entirely new model is then developed which is based on a modification of the "multi-spoke" tyre model used for road vehicle studies. Predicted results are compared with those obtained from other models and with reported experimental data.

The usefulness of such models is in problems involving the steering, braking and handling behaviour of off-road vehicles. Hence, the models are formulated so that
they can be applied to such vehicle problems by enabling lateral and longitudinal forces on the tyre to be predicted from any combined conditions of wheelslip, wheelskid and slip angle.

The proposed models provide an improved qualitative description of behaviour in the contact region. Although slightly more complex than previous models, the
computational load is nevertheless sufficiently small that the tyre models can conveniently be incorporated in off-road vehicle handling models.

Suggestions for future recommendations are discussed with particular reference to improving the predictive models and for a possible extension of the study to generate more detailed practical results for tyre forces under controlled experimental conditions.


Greywater, the untreated household wastewater that has not been contaminated by toilet waste, has been touted as a reliable all year-round source of water, especially in water scarce areas. Although it is commonly reused in water scarce urban and peri-urban settlements in Kenya, information on its bacteriological and physico-chemical properties is generally limited. The present study sought to compare the physico-chemical and bacteriological quality of kitchen and laundry greywater from an urban (Githurai) and peri-urban settlement (Homabay). Compared to the source water, kitchen and laundry greywater at the two sites had higher electrical conductivity (EC) and salinity, depressed dissolved oxygen (DO) levels and a wide pH range. Although significant differences in EC, DO and salinity of greywater from kitchen and laundry were noted (P < 0.05), the two sites differed significantly only in DO (P = 0.002). Total coliforms (TC) and fecal coliforms (FC) were also higher in greywater than in source water. The greywater types differed in TC (P = 0.003) while the two sites differed in both TC and FC (P � 0.03). High loads of TC and FC suggest possible fecal contamination of greywater. This coupled with the occasional presence of Salmonella, Shigella and Vibrio cholerae means that reuse of untreated greywater is not safe in both sites, and should be treated before use. Owing to the differences in the quality of the different types of greywater as well as the sites investigated, the design of greywater treatment technologies should consider both type and source.


Two time-dependent sets of two-dimensional hydrodynamic models of solar granulation have been analyzed to obtain dependence of simulated thermal convection on the horizontal size of the convection cells. The two sets of models treat thermal convection either as fully non-stationary, multiscale convection (granular convection is a surface phenomenon) or as quasi-steady-state convection cells (they treat granular convection as a collection of deep-formed cells). The following results were obtained: 1) quasi-steady convection cells can be divided into 3 groups according to their properties and evolution, namely small-scale (up to 900 km), intermediate-scale (1000-1500 km) and large-scale (larger 1500 km) convection cells. For the first group thermal damping due to radiative exchange of energy, mostly in the horizontal direction, is very important. Large-scale cells build up a pressure excess, which can lead to their total fragmentation. Similar processes also acts on the fully non-stationary convection. 2) The largest horizontal size of convection cells for which steady-state solutions can be obtained is about 1500 km. This corresponds to granules, i.e. the bright parts of the convection cells, with a diameter of about 1000 km. 3) In addition to the zone of high convective instability associated with the partial ionization of hydrogen, we identify another layer harboring important dynamic processes in steady-state models. Just below the hydrogen-ionization layer pressure fluctuations and the acoustic flux are reduced. Steady-state models with reflecting lateral boundaries even exhibit an inversion of pressure fluctuations there. 4) From observational point of view the surface convection differs from steady-state deep treatment of thermal convection in the dependence of vertical granular velocities on their sizes for small-scale inhomogeneous. However, they cannot be distinguished by the dependence of temperature or emergent intensity of brightness structures. 5) Both kinds of models demonstrate the inversion of density in subphotospheric layers. It is more pronounced in small-scale cells and inside hot upflows. 6) The brightness of simulated granules linearly increases with their size for small granules and is approximately constant or even decreases slightly for larger granules. For intergranular lanes the simulations predict a decrease of their brightness with increasing size. It falls very rapidly for narrow lanes and remains unchanged for broader lanes. 7) A quantitative comparison of the brightness properties of simulated granulation with real observations shows that the strong size-dependence of the properties of the smallest simulated granules is not accessible to current observations due to their limited spatial resolution. The observed size dependences result rather from spatial smoothing and the granule-finding algorithm. We do not exclude, however, an influence of the limitations of the 2-D treatment of thermal convection on the present results.


The presence of measurable quantities of arsenic in the blood of most terrestrial species signifies an exposure that often warrants further investigation regarding source and potential veterinary intervention and treatment. However, some species, such as felids, have a genetic predisposition to retain arsenic in their blood; circulating concentrations of the heavy metal, albeit abnormal for most species, may actually present as a normal or expected finding. To make sense of this disparity, the authors queried a veterinary diagnostic laboratory database over a time period of 10 years (2008–2018) to discern the range of arsenic concentrations observed in various felids. All felid whole blood samples tested for heavy metals contained measurable concentrations of arsenic; this contrasts with other companion animals such as dogs which generally had arsenic concentrations below detectability. From these data, the authors present a working reference interval for whole blood arsenic in both domestic and captive-raised big cats. Veterinary diagnostic reference intervals are important parameters for the clinical management of animal health. Reference intervals for enzymes, hormones, minerals, vitamins and therapeutic drugs specific to organ function and health are becoming increasingly well defined for most companion and production animal species, and often dictate the clinician's decisions regarding therapeutic approaches. A conundrum arises, however, when the presence or detection of a heavy metal that is otherwise deemed potentially 'toxic' to most species is an 'expected', or 'normal', finding in another. Such is the case with whole blood heavy metal screens for the feline patient. The presence of blood arsenic is a common finding in both domestic and big cats raised in captivity. If not placed into the context of a range of known results, the finding may be erroneously interpreted as evidence for acute heavy metal intoxication. The current study reviews feline whole blood heavy metal submissions for arsenic concentrations to the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory between 2008 and 2018.


The processes for hydrogen isotope's separation are very important for nuclear technology. One of the most important processes for tritium separation, is the catalyst isotope exchange water-hydrogen. Our catalytic package consists of Romanian patented catalysts with platinum on charcoal and polytetrafluoretylene (Pt/C/PTFE) and the ordered Romanian patented package B7 type. The catalytic package was tested in an isotope exchange facility for water detritiation at the Experimental Pilot Plant from ICIT Rm.Valcea. In a column of isotope exchange tritium is transferred from liquid phase (tritiated heavy water) in gaseous phase (hydrogen). In the experimental set-up, which was used, the column of catalytic isotope exchange is filled with successive layers of catalyst and ordered package. The catalyst consists of 95.5 wt.% of PTFE, 4.1 wt. % of carbon and 0.40 wt. % of platinum and was of Raschig rings 10 × 10 × 2 mm. The ordered package was B7 type consists of wire mesh phosphor bronze 4 × 1 wire and the mesh dimension is 0.18 × 0.48 mm. We analyzed the transfer phenomena of tritium from liquid to gaseous phase, in this system. The mass transfer coefficient which characterized the isotopic exchange on the package, were determined as function of experimental parameters.


Our understanding of how fast mating behaviour evolves in insects is rather poor due to a lack of comparative studies among insect groups for which phylogenetic relationships are known. Here, we present a detailed study of the mating behaviour of 27 species of Sepsidae (Diptera) for which a well‐resolved and supported phylogeny is available. We demonstrate that mating behaviour is extremely diverse in sepsids with each species having its own mating profile. We define 32 behavioural characters and document them with video clips. Based on sister species comparisons, we provide several examples where mating behaviour evolves faster than all sexually dimorphic morphological traits. Mapping the behaviours onto the molecular tree reveals much homoplasy, comparable to that observed for third positions of mitochondrial protein‐encoding genes. A partitioned Bremer support (PBS) analysis reveals conflict between the molecular and behavioural data, but behavioural characters have higher PBS values per parsimony‐informative character than DNA sequence characters.


This thesis explores Richard Easterlin's theories regarding the association between
structural ageing and crime, and its relation to the age-crime pattern, in a three-tiered
analysis of Western Australian and South Australian apprehension trends.
Easterlin (1987a) proposes two expressions of an age structure-crime pattern: cohort
density and age composition. The cohort density expression suggests that, in
comparison to smaller birth cohorts, large birth cohorts will engage in higher levels
of criminal activity because they experience higher levels of internal competition,
and thus, relative disadvantage. The age composition expression suggests a
concomitant decline in young persons' share of the population age structure and
crime because, in comparison to older persons, young persons make a more sizeable
contribution to a population's crime levels.
These arguments have not previously been investigated for Australia. Such analysis
is appropriate, as official Australian crime statistics reflect the age-crime pattern (i.e.
that individual offence levels peak around age 15-24 years and decline thereafter),
and the population is ageing structurally.
Initially, the state of the age-crime pattern is assessed through distribution and
correlation analysis. The findings indicate that the Australian age-crime pattern is
diminishing; a decline in young persons' share of all apprehensions, and an upward
shift in the age distribution of offenders, is unfolding more or less simultaneously
with change in population share.
Cohort-specific departures from the age-crime pattern (i.e. whether or not the cohort
has experienced declining apprehensions levels as it has aged, thus extending its
participation in crime beyond the young crime-prone ages) are then identified by
organising age-specific apprehension rates by birth cohort over time. Cohort analysis
reveals that high cohort density is a potential source of variance in the age-crime
pattern, and that departures from the age-crime pattern have been more sizeable (and frequent) for the younger, larger 'baby bust' cohorts (the residential Australian
population born 1968-74).
Finally, apprehension rates are standardised (and decomposed) for change in age
structure, population size, and apprehension rates. These analyses show that
structural ageing is constraining apprehension levels; its influence is generally
greater than that of population growth, but lower than underlying change in
apprehension levels which typically have the largest effect.
Overall, therefore, the thesis finds Easterlin's propositions to be supported, with
Australian crime trends having been influenced by both cohort density and age
composition effects. However, there are some differences across gender, offence
categories, and period, suggesting that, like the underlying age-crime pattern, the
association between structural ageing and crime is not rigidly invariant.


Mechanosensitive ion channels such as Piezo, TRAAK, TRPs and OSCA are important transmembrane proteins that are involved in many physiological processes such as touch, hearing and blood pressure regulation. Unlike ligand-gated channels or voltage-gated ion channels, which have a canonical ligand-binding domain or voltage-sensing domain, the mechanosensitive domain and related gating mechanism remain elusive. TRAAK channels are mechanosensitive channels that convert a physical mechanical force into a flow of potassium ions. The structures of TRAAK channels have been solved, however, the functional roles of the structural domains associated with channel mechanosensitivity remains unclear. Here, we generated a series of chimeric mutations between TRAAK and a non-mechanosensitive silent TWIK-1 K2P channel. We found that the selectivity filter region functions as the major gate of outward rectification and found that lower part of fourth transmembrane domain (M4) is necessary for TRAAK channel mechanosensitivity. We further demonstrated that upper part of M4 can modulate the mechanosensitivity of TRAAK channel. Furthermore, we found that hydrophilic substitutions of W262 and F121 facing each other, and hydrophobic substitutions of Q258 and G124, which are above and below W262 and F121, respectively, greatly increase mechanosensitivity, which suggests that dynamic interactions in the upper part of M4 and PH1 domain are involved in TRAAK channel mechanosensitivity. Interestingly, these gain-of-function mutations are sensitive to cell-poking stimuli, indicating that cell-poking stimuli generate a low membrane mechanical force that opens TRAAK channels. Our results thus showed that fourth transmembrane domain of TRAAK is critical for the gating of TRAAK by mechanical force and suggested that multiple dynamic interactions in the upper part of M4 and PH1 domain are involved in this process.


The reaction of enargite, Cu 3 AsS 4 , with alkaline NaClO solutions is of interest for hydrometallurgical applications. In this study, the surface of cleavage fragments was observed ex situ by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after sequential interaction (up to 240 min) with a 0.27 M NaClO/0.03 M NaOH solution (pH 12.2) at room temperature (295 ± 2 K). Likewise, the evolution of the reaction of enargite powder (25 < size fraction < 53 μm) interacting with the same solution was investigated in a flow-through experiment. AFM images show the progressive formation of protrusions, preferentially along surface features such as steps and cracks. XPS analyses of the surface after 240 min reaction indicate the establishment of Cu(II)-O, As(III)-O and As(V)-O bonds. SEM images and EDS analyses show that a newly formed, highly porous phase is composed of a copper oxide, identified as tenorite (CuO) by X-ray diffraction. In the flow-through experiment, arsenic and sulphur are released in nearly stoichiometric proportions (As/S molar ratio = 0.27 ± 0.01). Release of As and S decreases slightly with time, whereas Cu depletion in the output solution occurs, because of the formation of CuO. Based on sulphur and arsenic release, the steady-state dissolution rate (normalized to initial surface area) is estimated to be on the order of 10 -8 mol m -2 s -1 .


The ionisation of atoms and molecules via stepwise excitation of long-lived intermediate electronic
states is called resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionisation (REMPI). At comparably low power
densities, on the order of 10 6 W cm -2 , REMPI becomes an ionisation method
which is selective and sensitive towards aromatic hydrocarbons. On the one hand, the method presents
an advantage because aromatic compounds can be ionised directly from a complex matrix without the
resonant excitation of matrix elements or commonly used solvents. On the other hand, this method
limits the analyte spectrum. In order to extend the method's selectivity and sensitivity to
non-aromatic compounds, ionisation labels have been adopted. These consist of an aromatic group
(ionophore) which is primarily excited, a spacer, and an anchor group that is covalently coupled to
the analyte.

 This work is concerned with the development of ionisation labels for GC applications. Here,
the vaporisation of the analyte-label derivative is the property of capital importance. First, the
spectroscopic characteristics of the potential labels and the derivatives were investigated by
examination of their respective (1+1) REMPI spectra with an optical resolution of about 0.1 nm.
For this propose, a time-of-flight mass spectrometer equipped with a medium pressure laser
ionisation (MPLI) source was available. The system was refurbished, equipped with a new
data-acquisition unit and coupled with an Nd:Yag laser pumped optical parametric oscillator (OPO),
which generates laser light of variable frequencies in a range of 200 nm to 3100 nm. As part of this
project, special software was written for the control and synchronisation of OPO, mass spectrometer
and data acquisition.

 Another important detail, which was required for recording REMPI spectra, was the design of the
sample inlet. A means of transporting the analytes continuously into the ion source was created.
The challenge here is to vaporise the liquid samples without diluting them too much. High dilution,
as is used for pneumatically assisted vaporisation, would lead either to overtaxing the pumping
system or to a decrease of the method's sensitivity. In addition to the optimisation of the
sample-inlet arrangement, the configuration of the ion-source had to be revised. To this end, an
auxiliary repeller was established to optimise the ions' trajectories on their way through the
differential pumping stage to the detector. The result of this development was a pressure-controlled
sample inlet, which also enabled the vaporisation of compounds of low volatility without pressure
fluctuations in the source.

 The first step in the development of the ionisation labels was the recording of REMPI spectra of benzene derivatives. These compounds are suitable labels because they undergo ionisation during the REMPI process and have only little effect on the vaporisation of the label-analyte derivative. Another factor that had to be considered in the selection of labels was the ionisation yield at fixed-frequency laser wavelengths in the UV-range. Fixed-frequency lasers offer the advantages of low costs and a high repetition rate, which benefits the performance when coupling with chromatographic systems. From the beginning, the potential labels p-fluorotoluene and p-xylene were selected because of their good ionisation yield at the fourth harmonic of Nd:YAG lasers ( l : 266 nm). Furthermore, aromatic silylation reagents were employed because of their rapid reactions. For detailed studies, the archetypical analytes palmitic acid and palmityl alcohol were derivatised with the potential labels, and their REMPI spectra were recorded. The measurements showed a shift of the derivatives' absorption bands, which could be explained by reduction of electron density at the aromatic ring as well as intramolecular interactions between ionophore and the coupled analyte. By variation of ionophore, spacer, and anchor group, derivatives with an ionisation maximum at the fixed-frequency laser wavelength of 266 nm could be created. It was shown that the influence of the coupled analyte on the absorption bands of the derivative could be minimised. These results lead to the conclusion that the mass-spectrometric response factors for analytes tagged with the same REMPI label are virtually identical. Provided that the presently investigated analytes have the same derivatisation yield and similar vaporisation, this method leads to a significantly simplified analysis of the data. It was shown that mixtures of fatty alcohols in both standards and real samples could be quantified without chromatographic separation, solely on the basis of the mass spectra.

 Similarly, the appropriateness of labels in GC analyses was demonstrated. A temperature- controlled line was constructed to transfer the sample into the ion source of the mass spectrometer. The analyses of a PAH mixture and labelled fat chemicals proved the functional efficiency of the GC-MPLI-MS coupling.


Human resources play a crucial role in the evolution of the organizations, and huge organizational developments caused by unlimited intellectual capacity of human resources. Therefore, of the priorities of any organization is to preserve these valuable resources. In this regard, an appropriate alternative is to improve the quality of work life in organizations. To this aim, the quality of work life was investigated among the staff employed in General Department of Human Resources of Municipality of Tehran (the study population was included of 3 types of employments one official and two contractual employments), during 2017- 2019. The research method is descriptive-survey and the data were collected using the Walton work quality of life questionnaire (1973) and a researcher-made questionnaire on demographic characteristics. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and statistical Tests including frequency, mean and standard deviation, and inferential statistical test including one-way T, Pearson correlation and analysis of F variance. The results indicated that the status of quality of work life in the studied area is 3.03 and above mean from the staff point of view. Also, the mean scores of life quality amongst Hadianshahr (one of the tow contractual employments) were lower than official (fixed) staffs and Khadamate Edearie Shahr (one of the two contractual type of employments). In terms of demographic variables, an adverse relationship was observed between quality of work life and age.


Abstract This article is based on the key-note lecture given at the conference "Non-Nationalist" Russian Operas, Leeds, U.K., on 17 November 2010. It engages with the conference9s distinction between the "nationalist" and "non-nationalist" and proposes six potential situations for when an opera might be described as "Russian": by composer9s intention, by reception, by interpretation, by association, by blood or culture, and by emanating from the nationalist school. Given that these six categories of Russianness (some of them mystificatory) form a network of conflicting claims upon any opera, there is no straightforward method for assigning operas to Russian or non-Russian categories. Therefore an alternative approach is proposed: to revive the older concept of "local color," which figured prominently in nineteenth-century Russian discourse on opera, and to use this as a lens through which almost any nineteenth-century Russian opera can instructively be viewed. After examining how the concept was understood by leading Russian critics, Serov and Cui, the author offers a selection of her own examples to elucidate the use of "Russian" local color. It is emphasized that there are certain limits beyond which this color cannot be applied: characters of noble birth, even when Russian, are rarely portrayed in Russian colors; scenes that take place outside Russia usually have their own, appropriate color, e.g., "Polish" or "Oriental"; most importantly, themes that are considered universal, such as love or death, are usually exempt from Russian coloring. Examples from the late operas of Rimsky-Korsakov demonstrate his conscious and sometimes obsessive efforts in creating appropriate colors, Russian and otherwise. This approach allows us to set aside preconceived notions of which composers were truly national, especially when we generalize that local color denotes any distinguishing device designed to evoke a specific time and place, as well as the social identity of a character. Thus Tchaikovsky9s operas, often criticized for their lack of "Russianness," display a subtle understanding of appropriate coloring: Eugene Onegin , for example, uses an idiom based on the parlor song of the Russian gentry, while The Queen of Spades takes up eighteenth-century idioms—in both cases lending the drama an appropriate color. The article concludes that local color, a much-used device in nineteenth-century opera across Europe, was an almost obligatory requirement for Russian opera composers who adopted an aesthetic of the characteristic, along the lines proposed by Victor Hugo in his Preface to Cromwell . The concept proves to be a valuable critical tool that allows us to deal with nineteenth-century Russian opera without becoming ensnared in essentializing distinctions between "nationalist" and "non-nationalist." At the same time, it allows us to put Russian color in perspective, as one color among many cultivated by opera composers.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Understanding the introduction history of invasive plant species is important for their management and identifying effective host-specific biological control agents. However, uncertain taxonomy, intra- and interspecific hybridization, and cryptic speciation may obscure introduction histories, making it difficult to identify native regions to explore for host-specific agents. The overall aim of this study was to identify the native source populations of Acacia pycnantha, a tree native to south-eastern Australia and invasive in South Africa, Western Australia and Portugal. Using a phylogeographical approach also allowed an exploration of the historical processes that have shaped the genetic structure of A. pycnantha in its native range.

METHODS
Nuclear (nDNA) and plastid DNA sequence data were used in network and tree-building analyses to reconstruct phylogeographical relationships between native and invasive A. pycnantha populations. In addition, mismatch distributions, relative rates and Bayesian analyses were used to infer recent demographic processes and timing of events in Australia that led to population structure and diversification.

KEY RESULTS
The plastid network indicated that Australian populations of A. pycnantha are geographically structured into two informally recognized lineages, the wetland and dryland forms, whereas the nuclear phylogeny showed little geographical structure between these two forms. Moreover, the dryland form of A. pycnantha showed close genetic similarity to the wetland form based on nDNA sequence data. Hybrid zones may explain these findings, supported here by incongruent phylogenetic placement of some of these taxa between nuclear and plastid genealogies.

CONCLUSIONS
It is hypothesized that habitat fragmentation due to cycles of aridity inter-dispersed with periods of abundant rainfall during the Pleistocene (approx. 100 kya) probably gave rise to native dryland and wetland forms of A. pycnantha. Although the different lineages were confined to different ecological regions, we also found evidence for intraspecific hybridization in Victoria. The invasive populations in Portugal and South Africa represent wetland forms, whereas some South African populations resemble the Victorian dryland form. The success of the biological control programme for A. pycnantha in South Africa may therefore be attributed to the fact that the gall-forming wasp Trichilogaster signiventris was sourced from South Australian populations, which closely match most of the invasive populations in South Africa.


Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) is a mosquito-borne flavi virus that causes severe acute viral encephalitis in humans. JEV exists in a zoonotic cycle between mosquitoes and pigs and/or water birds. JEV is a member of the genus Flaviviruses of the Flaviviridae family. The genomic RNA of JEV is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA. In this study, the primer was studied by the method of segmented design according to the whole sequence (Genebank sequence number M18370) of the genebank JaOArS982 Japanese encephalitis virus strains. The material was gained from Hubei academy of agricultural sciences' cultured cells. RNA was extracted from the cells and then subjected to RT-PCR, which yielded ten different segments. The complete nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the JEV strain JEV-Yin were determined. The sequenced genome of JEV-Yin was 10,976 nucleotides in length. Sequence comparison of the JEV-Yin polyprotein Open Reading Frame (ORF) with those of 33 other JEV strains revealed that the nucleotide sequence divergence ranged from 0.53% to 25.14%. Sequence analysis of the full-length JEV-Yin E gene sequence with those of 34 other JEV isolates also identified nucleotide divergence, ranging from 0.33% to 22.27%. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that the JEV-Yin strain belonged to genotype III. These results may provide insight into the molecular properties and developing infectious cDNA clone of JEV-Yin strain.


Despite the important contribution of camel milk to food security for pastoralists in Kenya, little is known about the postharvest handling, preservation and processing practices. In this study, existing postharvest handling, preservation and processing practices for camel milk by pastoralists in Isiolo, Kenya were assessed through crosssectional survey and focus group discussions. A total of 167 camel milk producer households, 50 primary and 50 secondary milk traders were interviewed. Survey findings showed that milking was predominantly handled by herds-boys (45.0%) or male household heads (23.8%) and occasionally by spouses (16.6%), sons (13.9%) and daughters (0.7%). The main types of containers used by both producers and traders to handle milk were plastic jerricans (recycled cooking oil containers), because they were cheap, light and better suited for transport in vehicles. Milk processing was the preserve of women, with fresh camel milk and spontaneously fermented camel milk (suusa) being the main products. Fresh milk was preserved by smoking of milk containers and boiling. Smoking was the predominant practice, and was for extending the shelf life and also imparting a distinct smoky flavour to milk. The milk containers were fumigated with smoke from burned wood of specific tree species such as Olea africana, Acacia nilotica, Balanities aegyptica and Combretum spp. Boiling was practised by primary milk traders at collection points to preserve milk during times when transport to the market was unavailable. Milk spoilage at the primary collection point in Kulamawe was aggravated by lack of cooling facilities. At the secondary collection point in Isiolo town, milk was refrigerated overnight before onward transmission to Nairobi. The mean quantity of traded milk was 83.2±3.8 litres. The main problems experienced by milk traders in Isiolo included milk spoilage (43.0% of respondents), delayed payments—after one or two days (19.9%), loss of money due to informal courier (12.2%), low prices of fermented milk (10.9%), milk rejection by customers in Nairobi (7.1%), inadequate supply during dry season (3.5%), loss of milk due to bursting of containers (2.1%) and milk not being supplied by producers due to insecurity (1.3%). In-depth understanding of the postharvest handling, preservation and processing practices would help to devise appropriate strategies that would increase the quantity and improve the quality of marketed camel milk. Such strategies should include the improvement of infrastructure such as milk transport, collection, cooling and processing facilities of suitable capacity.


The purpose of this study was to address an aspect of the history of the horn neglected in traditional horn scholarship--that of the horn in America from the development of colonial society (ca. 1700) to the early days of the antebellum era (ca. 1840). This choice of time period avoided the massive influx of foreign musicians and exponential growth of American musical activities after 1840, as well as that of the general population, as this information would become too unwieldy for anything but studies of individual cities, regions, or specific musical groups. This time frame also paralleled the popularity of the horn virtuoso in Europe given so much attention by horn scholars. Additionally, all information gathered through examination of sources has been compiled in tables and included in the appendices with the intention of providing a point of reference for others interested in the horn in early America. This survey includes a brief introduction, review of literature, the ways in which the horn was utilized in early America, the individuals and businesses that made or sold horns and horn-related accoutrements such as music, tutors, crooks, and mouthpieces as well as an examination of the body of repertoire gleaned from performances of hornists in early America.


Heart failure (HF) is a major worldwide epidemic associated with high morbidity and mortality, with the number of cases expected to increase in line with increasing average life expectancy (1). Progressive advances in medical science have allowed identification of blood-based biomarkers [e.g., B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal prohormone of BNP (NT-proBNP) and troponin] that are able to provide improved prognostic information for patients at risk of or following an HF event. However, their routine use for decision making at times is limited and shows challenging hurdles for precise risk stratification, such as emerging risks being affiliated with sub-clinical myocardial damage for use of troponin and/or inflammatory biomarkers (2) driving researchers to investigate a cocktail of biomarkers to improve risk prediction.


Ab s t r Ac t Introduction: Competency-based medical education (CBME) is being implemented across India in medical colleges from the 2019 batch. The new aspects of this curriculum are introduction of a foundation course (FC); early clinical exposure; longitudinal program on attitudes, ethics, and communication; electives; emphasis on small group learning methods; assessment changes; and most importantly, a horizontally aligned and vertically integrated method of teaching–learning. The faculty members of medical colleges are the prime movers for implementing the CBME. The Medical Council of India (MCI) is imparting training about the new curriculum to the faculties of all medical colleges across India. All faculty members have not been able to get the requisite training in the latest changes as required for the new curriculum. This study is an attempt to analyze the awareness and perceptions of the faculty and the challenges envisaged in the implementation of CBME. Materials and methods: All faculty members of our college were e-mailed a self-structured, prevalidated Google questionnaire. The results were analyzed by the inbuilt available Google statistical software. Results: A total of 58 faculty members responded to the questionnaire. Of the 58 faculty members, 87.9% were aware about the CBME but only 51.7% felt that better doctors would be produced as a result of its implementation. Eighty-one percent were aware that small group teaching needs to be two-thirds of the total teaching hours in a particular subject but the small group teaching methods only few could enlist. Around 86.2% agreed that students should have early clinical exposure. Around 41.4% were not aware of the changes in internal assessment as proposed by CBME. Conclusion: The faculty lacked uniformity in awareness and there was ambiguity on various aspects and constituents of CBME as proposed by the MCI. The proper implementation of CBME would require more clarity and continuous efforts by Medical Education Units (MEU) under guidance of the MCI to update their faculty in the form of Curriculum Implementation Support Programs (CISPs), Revised Basic Course Workshops (RBCWs), and advanced courses in medical education.


In February 1822 the writer and adventurer Edward John Trelawny arrived in Pisa to make the acquaintance of his heroes Shelley and Byron, leaving a broken marriage and an exotic seafaring career behind him. He became a close companion to them and their circle, and this collection of his reminiscences is one of the most fresh and intriguing documents of the Romantic age. It records his initial meeting with a cynical and flippant Byron, his impressions of a youthful, otherworldly Shelley and, most memorably, the poet's death at sea and the subsequent burning of his body on the sand. Trelawny's Records combine vigorous prose, vivid description and mythmaking to create one of the most memorable portraits of an age. Rosemary Ashton's new introduction explores the mysterious life and quixotic character of Trelawny, and this edition includes all the author's later revisions. Edward John Trelawny (1792-1881) was one of the most curious figures of the English Romantic Movement, and spent his long life travelling extensively as a naval officer, biographer and adventurer. After a brief education, Trelawny was assigned as a volunteer in the Royal Navy by the age of thirteen, and led an unaccomplished naval career until his resignation at nineteen. He met Shelley and Byron in Italy in 1822, where he became fascinated, almost hypnotized, by the two poets. His Records of Shelley, Byron and the Author, written after both their deaths, is the end-product of this strange obsession. An incorrigible romancer, Trelawny had three marriages - the second of which was to Tersitza, sister of the Greek warlord Odysseus Androutsos, whose cause he had joined and whose mountain fortress he looked after when Odysseus was arrested. He died after a fall at the age of eighty-eight, in England, and his ashes were buried in Rome in a plot adjacent to Shelley's grave. Rosemary Ashton was educated at the universities of Aberdeen, Heidelberg and Cambridge. She taught English literature at University College London from 1974 to 2012, and is Emeritus Quain Professor of English Language and Literature and an Honorary Fellow of UCL. She has published critical biographies of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas and Jane Carlyle, George Eliot, and George Henry Lewes, two books on Anglo-German literary and cultural relations in the nineteenth century, The German Idea: Four English Writers and the Reception of German Thought 1800-1860 (1980) and Little Germany: Exile and Asylum in Victorian England (1986), and two books about Victorian radicalism, 142 Strand: A Radical Address in Victorian London (2006) and Victorian Bloomsbury (2012).


Mohl, an early editor and translator of the Shāhnāme, began the discussion on Ferdowsi's sources in the Shāhnāme in 1878. From that time until now, it has been one of main issues of discussion among expertson the Shāhnāme and Iranian culture. One can find various theories on Ferdowsi's sources in the numerous works and articles which are published ever so often. One of the latest works in this field is Kumiko Yamamoto's book The Oral Background of Persian Epics: Storytelling and Poetry. In the present article, first, various theories about Ferdowsi's sources are classified in three groups with reference to their proponents, and then each of these theories is critically and briefly analysed. After a detailed introduction to Kumiko Yamamoto's work, it is evaluated in view of the different theories proposed for the sources of the Shāhnāme. The present author favours the theory of both oral and written sources in the genesis of the Shāhnāme, and, in light of this, some strengths as well as weaknesses of this work are discussed in this extended review.


If I see someone come in and he's got a diaper on his head and a fan belt around that diaper on his head, that guy needs to be pulled over and checked. - Former U.S. Congressman John Cooksey' I. INTRODUCTION In the aftermath of September 11, the federal government has revived the practice of profiling people who appear to be Muslim, Arab, or Middle Eastern,2 resulting in state-sanctioned discrimination and encouraging discrimination by private actors. Public violence in the form of governmental policies targeting "Muslim-looking" people in the United States has been accompanied by private discrimination and hate crimes against such people.3 Though the U.S. government has declared formally that Americans do not blame all Muslims or all Arabs for the attacks of September 11, former Congressman Cooksey's derogatory comments about men who wear turbans, made in a radio interview broadcast statewide in Louisiana, demonstrate otherwise.4 Though Cooksey later claimed he had not intended to disparage loyal Americans of Arab descent, he then aired television commercials in which he stated, "We know the faces of the terrorists and where they're from."5 Furthermore, Cooksey noted that although the words "a diaper on his head" were too strong, "our security and safety are our most important rights."6 Similar profiling of Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent was seen again during the 2004 congressional elections. When Kamran Akhtar was arrested for videotaping the Charlotte, North Carolina skyline in July 2004, North Carolina congressional candidate Vernon Robinson immediately aired the following television ad: NARRATOR: This is Pakistani terrorist Kamran Akhtar. He got arrested videotaping targets in Charlotte, North Carolina. He came here illegally across our Mexican border. VERNON ROBINSON: I'm Vernon Robinson, and I approved this message because ol' Akhtar didn't come here to live the American dream. He came here to kill you.7 Contrary to Robinson's allegations, Akhtar was detained for immigration violations and was never charged with any terrorism-related activities. Federal authorities are not known to have uncovered any ties between Akhtar and terrorists.8 The comments and advertisements of Vernon Robinson and former Congressman John Cooksey indicate, however, that profiling of people perceived to be from the Middle East - those who have the "faces of the terrorists" - is unapologetically alive and well. Although racial profiling had become unacceptable in the minds of many Americans prior to 2001, this view quickly changed after September 11, at least with respect to people who appear Arab, Muslim, or Middle Eastern. According to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll taken in September 2001, 58% of U.S. citizens favored racial profiling of Arabs, including profiling of U.S. citizens of Arab descent; 49% favored special identification cards for them; and 32% supported special surveillance of Arabs and Arab Americans.9 In contrast, prior to the September 11 attacks, 80% of Americans opposed racial profiling.10 Even more frightening, a 2001 Gallup poll found that one-third of the U.S. population favored internment of Arab Americans.11 This profiling and questioning of people of Middle Eastern descent continues because members of this group are seen as foreign and are presumed to be disloyal. This phenomenon, in turn, leads to a lack of American identity citizenship among group members. Although many people of Middle Eastern descent residing in the U.S. are U.S. citizens, they lack identity citizenship, which Linda Bosniak describes as a sense of belonging and community membership.12 Identity citizenship may be essential to protecting a community's interests and guaranteeing the rights and treatment granted by formal citizenship.13 Thus, a lack of identity citizenship can lead to the erosion of a group's formal and political rights.14 Violations of these formal and political rights then reinforce the lack of identity citizenship, both within the community whose rights have been violated and in the American public's perception of the community. …


Background. Treatment with CAMPATH-1H at the time of transplantation allows reduced maintenance immunosuppression. We hypothesized that CAMPATH-1H induction would modulate the response of repopulating leukocytes to donor alloantigens. Methods. The phenotype, proliferative and stimulatory capacity of peripheral blood leukocytes from 14 renal transplant recipients treated with CAMPATH-1H and reduced immunosuppression with mycophenolate mofetil and tacrolimus were investigated for the first six months after transplantation. The impact of immunosuppressive drugs on leukocytes that escape depletion was also evaluated in vitro. Results. CAMPATH-1H therapy caused a significant decrease in the number of B and T cells, with CD4+ T central memory cells being the most resistant to depletion. The recovery of CD8+ T cells was faster than that of CD4+ T cells. Lymphopenia correlated with a decrease in both proliferative and effector responses, however, the recipient T cells remained responsive to third-party antigens. Dendritic cells (DC) were also depleted but to a lesser extent than lymphocytes; lymphoid DC were more resistant than myeloid DC; these changes correlated with decreased allostimulatory capacity. One of the patients experienced rejection that was treated successfully. The rejection was associated with a high proportion of CD4+ T effector memory cells and myeloid DC, increased proliferation and enhanced effector activity to donor antigens. In vitro studies confirmed that the reduced dose of immunosuppressive drugs used could prevent activated T cells from switching to the effector compartment, suppressing both their proliferation and effector activity. Conclusions. CAMPATH-1H induction combined with reduced maintenance immunosuppression is sufficient to control the effector phase of immune response to donor antigens.


Background & objectives: The conventional techniques used in TB diagnosis like AFB (acid fast bacilli) smear microscopy lack sensitivity and the gold standard, culture test takes time. A test based on multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the 38 kDa gene and IS6110 insertion sequence, specific to Mycobacterium tuberculosis was developed to further increase the sensitivity of a TB-PCR kit targeting only 38 kDa gene developed earlier in the same laboratory. The multiplex test was validated using sputum samples from pulmonary TB (PTB) cases. The sensitivity and specificity were compared with AFB smear examination and Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) culture test. Methods: Multiplex PCR amplifying 340 and 245 bp sequence of 38 kDa gene and IS6110, respectively was standardized and analytical sensitivity was verified. Sputum samples (n=120) obtained from PTB cases were subjected to AFB smear examination, LJ culture and a multiplex as well as single target PCR test. Additionally, 72 non-TB respiratory samples were included in the study as negative controls. Results: Analytical sensitivity of multiplex PCR was found to be 100 fg for 38 kDa gene and 1 fg for IS6110. Multiplex PCR, using both the targets, showed highest sensitivity of 81.7 per cent, followed by 69.2 per cent for L-J culture test and 53.3 per cent for AFB smear when clinical diagnosis was considered as a gold standard. The sensitivity of detection of M. tuberculosis in AFB smear positive and negative samples by multiplex PCR was 93.7 and 67.9 per cent, respectively. Sensitivity of 77.1 per cent observed for the detection of M. tuberculosis with single target PCR increased to 89.2 per cent with multiplex PCR in culture positive samples. Four samples showed positive PCR results only with primers for 38 kDa gene. Interpretation & conclusions: Multiplex PCR increased the sensitivity of single target PCR and will be useful in diagnosing paucibacillary smear negative samples. Further, it can also be used to detect samples with M. tuberculosis strains lacking IS6110.


The article examines experiences at the Department of Theatre Studies at the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy in Warsaw  through its history and to the present day, endeavouring to place these experiences in two parallel contexts. First, the achievements of the department are considered with reference to achievements of European academic centers combining theory with the practice of theatre; particularly careful thought is given to the Institute of Applied Theatre Studies in Giessen. Second, the department is situated against the backdrop of comprehensive processes currently transforming the entire field of academic education in Europe.  These two themes converge in Tomasz Plata's polemical position on Artist at Work: Proximity of Art and Capitalism by Bojana Kunst. Kunst, a longtime professor at the Giessen Institute, is unambiguously critical of neoliberal economy and culture; in her view, the sphere of art – particularly performative art – and education is a realm in need of special protection, in order to successfully weaken market dictates. Plata disputes this outlook, proposing an alternative programme derived from the writings of the American liberal and pragmatist Richard Rorty.


Most researchers who perform data analysis and visualization do so only after everything else is finished, which often means that they don't discover errors invalidating the results of their simulation until post-processing. A better approach would be to improve the integration of simulation and visualization into the entire process so that they can make adjustments along the way. This approach, called computational steering, is the capacity to control all aspects of the computational science pipeline. Recently, several tools and environments for computational steering have begun to emerge. These tools range from those that modify an application's performance characteristics (either by automated means or by user interaction) to those that modify the underlying computational application. A refined problem-solving environment should facilitate everything from algorithm development to application steering. The authors discuss some tools that provide a mechanism to integrate modeling, simulation, data analysis and visualization.


We present the results of all-electron relativistic and nonrelativistic ab initio calcns. on ionization potentials, electron affinities, and excitation energies for the gold atom and the gold hydride mol. Values obtained from selecting multireference CI (CI) methods, full-class singles-doubles multireference CI, averaged coupled pair functional (ACPF), and various Green's function methods {outer valence Green's function (OVGF), algebraic diagrammatic construction in third order [ADC(3)]} are compared and generally found to be in good agreement. Relativistic effects are taken into account by means of the spin-free no-pair Hamiltonian obtained from a second-order Douglas-Kroll transformation. The influence of relativistic effects and electron correlation on the investigated properties is discussed. As far as expts. are available, our calcns. are in good agreement with the measurements. Our best est. for the ionization potential of the gold atom is 9.08 eV (expt. 9.22 eV) and 2.28 eV for the electron affinity (expt. 2.31 eV).


The binomial option pricing model and the trinomial model, its more versatile relative, are invaluable tools for pricing complex derivatives, especially those with American exercise. But while these models converge to the correct option values as the time and price step sizes go to zero, for certain kinds of problems getting close enough may require a very large amount of calculation. The cause is often non-linearity or discontinuity in the option payoff that occurs only in a small region. One example is a barrier option with a barrier that is only monitored at discrete intervals. This article describes how to solve the discrete barrier problem with an adaptive mesh model, a general approach to lattice building that constructs smell sections of fine high-resolution mesh in the critical areas and then grafts them onto a base lattice with coarser time and price steps elsewhere. The technique achieves an increase in accuracy that is quite remarkable.


China's housing market has had 18 years of rapid price inflation. To prevent deterioration of affordability, from 2005 to 2013 the central government used a combination of administrative interventions and macro-economic measures to contain housing price rises. However, centrally formulated housing policies and intervention measures could not be fully implemented at local levels and thus have only limited short-term successes. From 2013, the central government retreated from direction intervention at the national level and left local governments to intervene to contain renewed rapid price hikes. This paper analysed demand and supply in China's housing market and evolution of institutional arrangements that increase demand but distort supply using data obtained from fieldwork conducted in 2011 and 2013. It argues that localisation of intervention could be more effective than the one-size-fits-all approach adopted by the central government but reforms on institutional arrangements that prioritise high-end housing market and housing investors rather than owner occupiers are necessary to re-position the housing market to the middle class and ease affordability problems.


This paper proposes that an educational dimension to music therapy in both training and practice should be considered. The rationale of recent and forthcoming curricular developments in music teaching would seem to imply that the perceived boundaries between music education and music therapy are becoming less distinct. It is thus likely that the two professions begin to be curious, at least, about such close proximity. Yet the therapeutic potential of music is not exclusive to the profession after which it is named. Furthermore, it would appear that the responsibilities of the music teacher in the present educational climate require a more inclusive (and therapeutic) approach as pupils with special needs, increasingly, are integrated into the mainstream sector. It is probable, therefore, that the teacher, rather than the therapist, will be inclined to meet these needs. While the boundaries between the professions necessarily prevail, a re-alignment (by means of a continuum) might be appropriate. This paper represents the personal views of the author as to how such an adjustment could be made and certain parallels are drawn with the profession of art therapy. The outline of a case is then presented for the consideration of educational music therapy. This would enable teachers of music to follow a modular programme of study which, while confined to the special educational needs sector, could provide an alternative route to a music therapy qualification.


This book arises from authors' experience that today's student has less available study time than they had only a few years ago. Hence, this text aims to provide a friendly and accessible, all-in-one guide for students to start developing the learning skills required to succeed. It is targeted directly at first year university students and it is written in a language they can engage with. It 'talks' to them like a helpful sibling might, a mentor or guide rich with wisdom, insight, simple advice and practical tips. For example, students are 'told' concisely the 'A to Z' of writing an assignment without needing to seek another text on academic writing. Each concept is kept concisely within one page, so information is quickly located and easily used. The material presented equips students with critical foundation skills that enable them to survive first year, and thrive from that point on.


Present-day scholarship on religious conversions diverts from classic Protestant paradigms of sudden conversions and instant transformations of the self. Instead, it stresses that converts make active choices that are influenced by specific contexts and historical changes. This becomes evident in an ethnographic study of one controversial aspect of the recent refugee influx in Germany: the so-called mass conversions of Iranian refugees from Shia Islam to Christianity, which have been highly publicized and criticized since the height of immigration in 2015. The analysis draws on interview data with Iranian refugee converts and their pastors in Protestant churches in North Rhine-Westphalia between October 2017 and January 2018. The study reveals the need to theorize the symbiotic connection between religious contacts, forced migration, and conversion to Christianity. It applies Rambo's (1993) stage model of conversion and the analytical concept of secrecy (Jones 2014, Manderson et al. 2015, Simmel 1906) to demonstrate that the Iranian refugees' conversions are shaped by contexts, crises, encounters, quests, interactions, commitments, and consequences (Rambo 1993) as they negotiate the forces of secrecy, risk, transparency, and the benefits of being a Christian. The goal of this paper is to find thematic patterns in their narratives that can be systematized and can build a foundation for further study.


The main purpose of this thesis is to develop an efficient near-lossless bitonal compression algorithm and to implement that algorithm on a hardware platform. The current methods for compression ofbitonal images include the JBIG and JBIG2 algorithms, however both JBIG and JBIG2 have their disadvantages. Both of these algorithms are covered by patents filed by IBM, making them costly to implement commercially. Also, JBIG only provides means for lossless compression while JBIG2 provides lossy methods only for document-type images. For these reasons a new method for introducing loss and controlling this loss to sustain quality is developed. The lossless bitonal image compression algorithm used for this thesis is called Block Arithmetic Coder for Image Compression (BACIC), which can efficiently compress bitonal images. In this thesis, loss is introduced for cases where better compression efficiency is needed. However, introducing loss in bitonal images is especially difficult, because pixels undergo such a drastic change, either from white to black or black to white. Such pixel flipping introduces salt and pepper noise, which can be very distracting when viewing an image. Two methods are used in combination to control the visual distortion introduced into the image. The first is to keep track of the error created by the flipping of pixels, and using this error to decide whether flipping another pixel will cause the visual distortion to exceed a predefined threshold. The second method is region of interest consideration. In this method, lower loss or no loss is introduced into the important parts of an image, and higher loss is introduced into the less important parts. This allows for a good quality image while increasing the compression efficiency. Also, the ability of BACIC to compress grayscale images is studied and BACICm, a multiplanar BACIC algorithm, is created. A hardware implementation of the BACIC lossless bitonal image compression algorithm is also designed. The hardware implementation is done using VHDL targeting a Xilinx FPGA, which is very useful, because of its flexibility. The programmed FPGA could be included in a product of the facsimile or printing industry to handle the compression or decompression internal to the unit, giving it an advantage in the marketplace.


ABSTRACT The goblin spider genus Zyngoonops Benoit, 1977 is revised. The type and hitherto only species, Z. clandestinus Benoit from the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.), is redescribed on the basis of topotypical material. Nine new species are described from the D.R.C. (Z. moffetti, Z. redii, Z. goedaerti, Z. rockoxi, Z. beatriceae, Z. chambersi, Z. swammerdami, Z. marki) and the Central African Republic (Z. walcotti). Members of Zyngoonops show remarkable modifications of the sternum and pedicel tube: the sternum has two heavily sclerotized posterior extensions, and the pedicel tube has a protruding ventral lip. The female genitalia are complex, consisting of an epigastric scape, two uterine sclerites, and a long genital duct. In most species, the distal part of the duct is highly coiled. Males resemble those of Antoonops Fannes and Jocqué and Coxapopha Platnick in having elaborately modified endites, a pair of pleural flaps, and a carapace with extended anterolateral corners. The type species of Coxapopha is redescribed, and new images of the female genitalia of Antoonops and Coxapopha are provided. A cladistic analysis of morphological characters provides support for the monophyly of Zyngoonops and identifies Z. redii as the most basal species of the genus.


The profound crisis we are all experiencing today, both at global and national level, as well as at regional and individual level, requires a revision of the economic science and school, an objective frequently encountered in the papers of the current academic environment. We can find an answer in the works of the mourned Professor Paul Bran, THE ECONOMICS OF VALUE and MONETARY MECHANISM, papers within which the basis of a new theory re-garding value has been set up, of a new way of dealing with value, of a management and achievement mechanism of the value, as well as the entire organizational structure of the management of economic activity at microand macroeconomic level. On this basis one can build a theoretical model suited for the information society towards which the mankind is heading.


For as long as corporations have existed, debates have persisted among scholars, judges, and policymakers regarding how best to describe their form and function as a positive matter, and how best to organize relations among their various stakeholders as a normative matter. This is hardly surprising given the economic and political stakes involved with control over vast and growing "corporate" resources, and it has become commonplace to speak of various approaches to corporate law in decidedly political terms. In particular, on the fundamental normative issue of the aims to which corporate decision-making ought to be directed, shareholder-centric conceptions of the corporation have long been described as politically right-leaning while stakeholder-oriented conceptions have conversely been described as politically left-leaning. When the frame of reference for this normative debate shifts away from state corporate law, however, a curious reversal occurs. Notably, when the debate shifts to federal political and judicial contexts, one often finds actors associated with the political left championing expansion of shareholders' corporate governance powers, and those associated with the political right advancing more stakeholder-centric conceptions of the corporation.

The aim of this article is to explain this disconnect and explore its implications for the development of U.S. corporate governance, with particular reference to the varied and evolving corporate governance views of the political left - the side of the spectrum where, I argue, the more dramatic and illuminating shifts have occurred over recent decades, and where the state/federal divide is more difficult to explain. A widespread and fundamental reorientation of the Democratic Party toward decidedly centrist national politics fundamentally altered the role of corporate governance and related issues in the project of assembling a competitive coalition capable of appealing to working- and middle-class voters. Grappling with the legal, regulatory, and institutional frameworks - as well as the economic and cultural trends - that conditioned and incentivized this shift will prove critical to understanding the state/federal divide regarding what the "progressive" corporate governance agenda ought to be and how the situation might change as the Democratic Party formulates responses to the November 2016 election.

I begin with a brief terminological discussion, examining how various labels associated with the political left tend to be employed in relevant contexts, as well as varying ways of defining the field of "corporate governance" itself. I then provide an overview of "progressive" thinking about corporate governance in the context of state corporate law, contrasting those views with the very different perspectives associated with center-left political actors at the federal level.

Based on this descriptive account, I then examine various legal, regulatory, and institutional frameworks, as well as important economic and cultural trends, that have played consequential roles in prompting and/or exacerbating the state/federal divide. These include fundamental distinctions between state corporate law and federal securities regulation; the differing postures of lawmakers in Delaware and Washington, DC; the rise of institutional investors; the evolution of organized labor interests; certain unintended consequences of extra-corporate regulation; and the Democratic Party's sharp rightward shift since the late 1980s. The article closes with a brief discussion of the prospects for state/federal convergence, concluding that the U.S. corporate governance system will likely remain theoretically incoherent for the foreseeable future due to the extraordinary range of relevant actors and the fundamentally divergent forces at work in the very different legal and political settings they inhabit.


It has been shown that instead of learning actual object features, deep networks tend to exploit non-robust (spurious) discriminative features that are shared between training and test sets. Therefore, while they achieve state of the art performance on such test sets, they achieve poor generalization on out of distribution (OOD) samples where the IID (independent, identical distribution) assumption breaks and the distribution of non-robust features shifts. Through theoretical and empirical analysis, we show that this happens because maximum likelihood training (without appropriate regularization) leads the model to depend on all the correlations (including spurious ones) present between inputs and targets in the dataset. We then show evidence that the information bottleneck (IB) principle can address this problem. To do so, we propose a regularization approach based on IB, called Entropy Penalty, that reduces the model's dependence on spurious features-- features corresponding to such spurious correlations. This allows deep networks trained with Entropy Penalty to generalize well even under distribution shift of spurious features. As a controlled test-bed for evaluating our claim, we train deep networks with Entropy Penalty on a colored MNIST (C-MNIST) dataset and show that it is able to generalize well on vanilla MNIST, MNIST-M and SVHN datasets in addition to an OOD version of C-MNIST itself. The baseline regularization methods we compare against fail to generalize on this test-bed. Our code is available at https://github.com/salesforce/EntropyPenalty.


The Italian Industrial Districts (IDs) are now considered in the national and international literature as one of the main factors of the successful and rapid industrial development of Italy after the Second World War. In this paper we outline the general characteristics of the IDs approach and then the distinctive figures of the agrifood districts. A mosaic type of development characterised the geographical distribution of the different agrifood districts in the Italian experience. The different origins of agrifood districts often determines their production and structural characteristics of firms, with a relevant role of SMEs. In many cases, these districts originated from handcraft traditions and specific local demand. Their specialized production is often related to typical or high-quality products. The increasing demand for quality and typical food products might widen the possibility of developing local and regional food districts. In the second part of the paper, we have evaluated the economic performance and technical efficiency of a panel of firms in the meat sector which belong or not to the districts, for the period 1998-2002. Some very interesting results have been obtained from the economic and financial analysis on balance sheets of a large number of firms in the meat processing. The stochastic production frontier has been utilized to measure the 'district effect'. We have noticed that in the last years, the 'district effect' has been reducing according to the general difficulties of Italian industrial sector.


Models project that land ecosystems may be able take up a considerable proportion of the carbon dioxide released by human activities, thereby counteracting the anthropogenic emissions. In their Perspective,
 Hungate
 et al .
 argue that these carbon uptake estimates are too high because the models do not take other nutrients such as nitrogen into account appropriately. The authors estimate that there will not be enough nitrogen available to sustain the high carbon uptake scenarios. Nutrients other than nitrogen may also affect carbon uptake in ways not captured by most models.


Vast collections of video and audio recordings which have captured events of the last century remain a largely untapped resource of historical and scientific value. The Informedia Digital Video Library has pioneered techniques for automated video and audio indexing, navigation, visualization, search and retrieval and embedded them in a system for use in education and information mining. In recent work we introduce new paradigms for knowledge discovery by aggregating and integrating video content on-demand to enable summarization and visualization in response to queries in a useful broader context, starting with historic and geographic perspectives.


The incidence of seizures in relation to stroke is 8.9%, with a frequency of 10.6 and 8.6% in haemorrhagic and ischaemic stroke, respectively. In subarachnoid haemorrhage the incidence is 8.5%. Due to the fact that infarcts are significantly more frequent than haemorrhages, seizures are mainly related to occlusive vascular disease of the brain. The general view is to consider stroke-related seizures as harmless complications in the course of a prolonged vascular disease involving the heart and brain. Seizures can be classified as those of early and those of late onset in a paradigm comparable to post-traumatic epilepsy, with an arbitrary dividing point of two weeks after the event. Most early-onset seizures occur during the first day after the stroke. Late-onset seizures occur three times more often than early-onset ones. A first late-onset epileptic event is most likely to take place between six months and two years after the stroke. However, up to 28% of patients develop their first seizure several years later. Simple partial seizures, with or without secondary generalisation, account for about 50% of total seizures, while complex partial spells, with or without secondary generalisation, and primary generalised tonic–clonic insults account for approximately 25% each. Status epilepticus occurs in 12% of stroke patients, but the recurrence rate after an initial status epilepticus is not higher than after a single seizure. Inhibitory seizures, mimicking transient ischaemic attacks, are observed in 7.1% of cases. The only clinical predictor of late-onset seizures is the initial presentation of partial anterior circulation syndrome due to a territorial infarct. Patients with total anterior circulation syndrome have less chance of developing epileptic spells, not only due to their shorter life expectancy but also due to the fact that the large infarcts are sharply demarcated in these patients. The optimal timing and type of antiepileptic drug treatment for patients with post-stroke seizures is still a controversial issue. Prospective studies in the literature showed that immediate treatment after a first unprovoked seizure does not improve the long-term remission rate. However, because of the physical and psychological influences of recurrent seizures, prophylactic treatment should be considered after a first unprovoked event in an elderly person at high risk of recurrence, taking into consideration the individuality of the patient and a discussion with the patient and his/her family about the risks and benefits of both options latest studies regarding post-stroke seizure treatment showed that 'new-generation' drugs, such as lamotrigine, gabapentin and levetiracetam, in low doses would be reasonable. Although several studies suggest that seizures alter the functional recovery after a stroke, it remains difficult to determine whether or not the occurrence of a second seizure in an untreated stroke patient might hamper the overall outcome. However, repeated seizures and status epilepticus worsen the neurological and mental condition of stroke patienton The decision to initiate antiepileptic drug treatment after a first or a second post-stroke seizure should therefore be individualized, primarily based on the functional impact of the first seizure episode and the patient's preference. Several converging findings suggest that the majority of first-generation antiepileptic drugs, particularly phenytoin, are not the most appropriate choice in stroke patients because of their potential harmful impact on functional recovery and bone health, their suboptimal pharmacokinetic profile and interaction with anticoagulants or salicylates, their greater likelihood to be poorly tolerated, and the lack of level A evidence regarding their specific use in elderly patients. Among the new-generation drugs that do not interact with anticoagulants, antiplatelet agents, or bone health, lamotrigine and gabapentine are the only two drugs that proved to be more effective than immediate-release carbamazepine in elderly patients, providing level A evidence for their use in this indication. In addition, gabapentin remains the only drug that has been specifically evaluated in stroke patients, demonstrating a high rate of long-term seizure freedom. At present, low-dose lamotrigine or gabapentin appears to represent the optimal first-line therapy for post-stroke seizure and epilepsy in elderly patients or in younger patients requiring anticoagulants. However, low-dose extended-release carbamazepine might be a reasonable and less expensive option in patients with appropriate bone health who do not requiring anticoagulat. Based on the stroke management guidelines antiepileptic drugs should not be administered as preventive management in any type of stroke patients without seizure.


Objective. Renal length determination is common in everyday radiology practice. However, a normal range of kidney sizes may not apply to people of all body habitus. This study investigates this relationship in order to determine normal ranges in relation to body habitus. A secondary aim was to evaluate the relationship of renal size to gender and race.
Methods. Kidney lengths were measured on oblique coronal reformatted CT images of 514 patients who received routine abdominal CT scans for conditions unrelated to renal pathology. The patients had normal serum creatinine levels, no history of renal disease, no renal masses, and normal-appearing kidneys on CT. Weight, height, race and gender of the patients were recorded.
Results. The mean renal length was 108 mm with a standard deviation of 9.82 mm. Statistical analysis demonstrated a relationship between kidney size and body weight and height, both individually and collectively. The most accurate prediction model was 'kidney size = 49.18 + 0.21 x weight + 0.27 x height', with a R2-value of 0.32. Additionally, kidneys were generally larger in the white population than in the black, and also in males than females.
Conclusion. Normal renal size varies according to patients' body habitus. This variation can be expressed as a function of body weight and height, which can be represented by a nomogram and used as an easy reference in clinical practice.


This paper describes our system created for the SemEval-2018 Task 3: Irony detection in English tweets. Our strongly constrained system uses only the provided training data without any additional external resources. Our system is based on Maximum Entropy classifier and various features using parse tree, POS tags, and morphological features. Even without additional lexicons and word embeddings we achieved fourth place in Subtask A and seventh in Subtask B in terms of accuracy.


Mary Ellen Mark (1940-) is one of the most influential, contemporary photojournalists in the United States. In 1979, she published Ward 81, a study of severely ill women at Oregon State Mental Hospital. This article, based on visual analyses as well as some crucial literature, compares Mark's works with related works in the tradition of male-dominated psychiatric photography. In so doing, I decode how Mark negotiates her female gaze on women's madness. I also elucidate Mark's works through contemporary cultural discourses in sociology, literary theory, the history of science, the history of art, and gender studies to interpret the historical, aesthetic, cultural, social, and political meanings of Ward 81. My main innovative perspective is: Mark's imagery of women's madness differs from that in the tradition of psychiatric photography since the mid-nineteenth century. She no longer takes her lens as a tool to surveil women's madness in medical institutions. Rather, her photographs, influenced by the anti-psychiatry movement, reveal and protest against the anti-humanistic treatment of the female insane in Ward 81. Also, her provocative photographs of madwomen gazing back metaphorically establish their subversive agency and subjectivity against the rational surveillance of women's madness under patriarchy. In the conclusion, I examine the contribution and limitation of Ward 81 in the realm of gender politics and discuss whether women's madness is a powerful and subversive metaphor against the patriarchal order within feminist theory.


The aim of this study is to understand the different processes for managing outside sources of technology information with a major focus on practices that companies actually adopt. The specific goal of the study is to construct a theoretical and practical frame of reference for developing processes of sustainable technological innovation. Managing sources of information not only helps an organization harmonize the potential inside and outside sources of information but also helps organizations broaden their activities geared to stimulating and bringing about innovation. Companies today are setting up more and more alliances in order to make use of outside sources of information for innovation, but they still lack explicit management strategies. A survey was carried out in Brazilian industrial companies with innovative characteristics, and the aim was to provide new inferences on the relationships between the management of outside sources of technology information and the innovative performance of the companies studied. The objective of the research presented in this paper is to study the relationship between practices for managing external sources of information and the innovative performance of the enterprise. The research can be characterized as quantitative. The data were collected through questionnaires from enterprises seen as having substancial technological innovation activities. The bivariate and multivariate independent and dependent variables suggest the existence of an association between the management of outside sources of technology information and innovative performance. Especially important here is how the different types of sources of information influence the indicators related to products innovation and how the type of access to technology affects the indicators related to processes innovation. The findings of the study suggest many significant relationships between the innovation performance of the enterprise and the types of sources of technological information used and the access modalities to their external sources of technolgical information. The results indicate a trend towards increased use of external sources of information.