The Hungry Soul is a fascinating exploration of the natural and cultural act of eating. Kass brilliantly reveals how the various aspects of this phenomenon, and the customs, rituals, and taboos surrounding it, relate to universal and profound truths about the human animal and its deepest yearnings. "Kass is a distinguished and graceful writer...It is astonishing to discover how different is our world from that of the animals, even in that which most evidently betrays that we too are animals--our need and desire for food."--Roger Scruton, Times Literary Supplement "Yum."--Miss Manners


The taxonomic status of two southern African coastal pipefish species, Syngnathus temminckii and Syngnathus watermeyeri, was investigated using a combination of morphological and genetic data. Morphological data showed that S. temminckii is distinct from the broadly distributed European pipefish Syngnathus acus, and a molecular phylogeny reconstructed using mitochondrial DNA recovered S. temminckii and S. watermeyeri as sister taxa. The southern African species share an evolutionary origin with north-eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea species, including S. acus. These data support the existence of a distinct southern African clade of Syngnathus pipefishes that has diverged in situ to form the two species present in the region today.


In 1997, Ira Katznelson contributed to the ongoing discussion among social scientists and historians about how to analyze class formation and the development of the American state. He was particularly interested in tying this research to the history of liberalism in an effort to both historicize the generalizations of Louis Hartz and address the question of American exceptionalism. Evaluating the body of research, Katznelson argued that authors had too frequently abstracted the state from its context and then used it to explain the very phenomena that helped define the state's character in the first place. In part to imbed the state more concretely in its environment, he suggested "a shift in angle of vision away from the state as such to the character of the rules and institutions that govern the transactions between the state and civil society." This shift would also contribute to the study of America's prevailing liberalism, which has shaped the environment of the working class and the state, even while its own particular character has been the subject of some of the most profound divisions in American public life. Using J. David Greenstone's work, Katznelson defined liberalism as a "boundary condition," that is, "'a set of relatively permanent features of a particular context that affect causal relationships within it' even as it remains subject to dispute." In times of crisis, conflicts over liberalism's "grammar of rules," or it's "bundle of institutions and norms," spill across the line between state and civil society, because they involve redefining the relation between the two.Ira Katznelson, "Working-Class Formation and American Exceptionalism, Yet Again," in American Exceptionalism? US Working-Class Formation in an International Context, ed. Rick Halpern and Jonathan Morris (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997), 36–55, quotations on 40 and 42.


Offering a host of classic and new essays surveying the scholarly ethical and biblical debate surrounding the Ten Commandments, William Brown organizes his volume into three parts: the history of interpretation, contemporary reflections on the Decalogue as a whole, and contemporary reflections on individual commandments. A useful addition to ethics as well as Old Testament and Hebrew Bible courses, Brown's The Ten Commandments will be a standard reference for all Decalogue research, as it facilitates a helpful balance between moral, theological, and biblical study. The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a selection of important and otherwise unavailable texts in easily accessible form. Volumes in this series will enable sustained dialogue with predecessors though reflection on classic works in the field.


Cloud computing has been widely adopted by many organisations, due to its flexibility in resource provisioning and on-demand pricing models. Entire clusters of machines can now be dynamically provisioned to meet the computational demands of users. By moving operations to the cloud, users hope to reduce the costs of building and maintaining a computational cluster without sacrificing the quality of service. However, cloud computing has presented challenges in scheduling and managing the usage of resources, which users of more traditional resource pooling models, such as grid and clusters, have never encountered before. Firstly, the costs associated with resource usage changes dynamically, and is based on the type and duration of resources used; this prevents users from greedily acquiring as many resources as possible due to the associated costs. Secondly, the cloud computing marketplace offers an assortment of on-demand resources with a wide range of performance capabilities. Given the variety of resources, this makes it difficult for users to construct a cluster which is suitable for their applications. As a result, it is challenging for users to ensure the desired quality of service while running applications on the cloud. The research in this thesis focuses on optimising the usage of cloud computing resources. We propose approaches for scheduling the execution of applications on to the cloud, such that the desired performance is met whilst the incurred monetary cost is minimised. Furthermore, this thesis presents a set of mechanisms which manages the execution at runtime, in order to detect and handle unexpected events with undesirable consequences, such as the violation of quality of service, or cost overheads. Using both simulated and real world experiments, we validate the feasibility of the proposed research by executing applications on the cloud with low costs without sacrificing performance. The key result is that it is possible to optimise the usage of cloud resources for user applications by using the research reported in this thesis.


Taylor series-based flexible forms cannot be interpreted as Taylor series approximations unless all data used in estimation lie in a region of convergence. When flexible forms lose their Taylor series interpretation, elasticity estimates will be biased. When the flexible form is a translog, Rotterdam, or AIDS model, the region of convergence is shown to be the entire positive orthant. Regions of convergence associated with quadratic, Leontief, and any flexible form that does not employ logged arguments are smaller and may not encompass the entire data set. Implications for production and demand analyses and experimental design are discussed.


Automatic processing of bank cheques has been investigated for ten years at CENter for PAttern Recognition and Machine Intelligence (CENPARMI). Topics studied include the recognition of legal amount, courtesy amount and date. In the CENPARMI Cheque Processing System, sentence-to-word segmentation has to be done before the recognition of legal amount. Segmentation serves as the basis of recognition. However, the previous segmentation module is hindered by both under-segmentation and over-segmentation. To overcome this problem, a feedback-based approach is proposed. It is implemented in two steps. In the first step, segmentation is done according to the structural features found between the connected components in the legal amount. In the second step, a feedback process is introduced to re-segment the parts that could not be identified in the first step. Subsequently, the classifier is used to verify the re-segmentation result. The confidence value produced by the classifier is used to determine the best segmentation points. Two neural network classifiers have been introduced into the segmentation process. Their performances are compared. This approach is tested on a CENPARMI database with 680 images and the result indicates that the new approach has increased the correct segmentation rate by 15.0% from the previous approach. After segmentation, the legal amounts are recognized by a neural network classifier and a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) and a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) hybrid classifier. With the new segmentation method, the performances of the two classifiers have increased by 9.7% and 8.9% respectively


Suleiman provides a linguistic analysis of Jordanian Arabic spoken by educated groups and in particular by students at Yarmouk University. He investigates the extent to which spoken Jordanian Arabic is affected by the classical-colloquial dichotomy (i.e. the extent to which diglossia is involved). In addition, the influence of language contact between English and Arabic is studied (with reference to code-switching, interference and integration) by comparing the linguistic repertoire of Yarmouk students (where English is often used as a medium of instruction) with that of students at other Arab universities (where the medium of instruction is basically Arabic).


Cyborg Lives? is a groundbreaking collection of women's autobiographical accounts of everyday relationships with technology. The 'technobiographies' presented here describe encounters with technology ranging from CDROMS and web pages to science laboratories, ante-natal screening, nuclear power and applicances in the home. These very personal stories offer insight into lived experience where gender intersects with class, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, generation, and subcultural identity in shaping technological encounters.

Cyborg Lives? uses Donna Haraway's now well-known cyborg metaphor to examine the centrality of technology to daily life. The result is a series of fascinating life-stories that stimulate thinking about the ways that technology intersects with ordinary, everyday experieces. The volume asserts that, in the twenty-first century, technology is an intrinsic part of our subjectivity - whether we like it or not.

Cyborg Lives? is written in an accessible way, while at the same time reflecting a range of sophisticated theoretical perspectives. The book will be of interest both to new students and experienced researchers, and will become an invaluable resource in the fields of women's and gender studies, auto/biography, sociology, literature, and cultural, technology and communication studies.


The present study provides insights on the impact of using Facebook in e-learning higher education postgraduate programs. More specifically, the study (1) presents the status quo of Facebook in higher education, (2) explores the nature of Facebook in e-learning, and (3) investigates the effects of Facebook on learning community, focusing on their viewpoints. The findings reveal that the majority of the students think favorably of Facebook groups as they conveniently supplement Learning Management Systems (LMS). The survey also indicates that there was an interactive learning element to the use of Facebook that made it more appealing than their university's Course Management System (CMS) to use during the course.


Background. Globally, the prevalence of chronic and acute malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency is high in young children, especially in developing countries. Nutrition education is an important intervention to address these challenges. Objective. To determine the nutritional (anthropometric and micronutrient) status of children aged 3 - 5 years at baseline and post intervention.  Methods. A pre-test–post-test control group design was chosen, which included eight villages (four villages in the experimental group (E); four villages in the control group (C)). The Nutrition Education Intervention Programme (NEIP) comprised ten topics emphasising healthy eating, hygiene and sanitation.  Results. At baseline, 15% (E) - 22.4% (C) of children were stunted. Very few children were underweight in both groups (E = 2.5%; C = 8.2%) and only 2.5% of children were wasted in the E group at baseline. At baseline, about a third of children in both groups (E = 38.5%; C = 30.8%) had marginal vitamin A status (100 - 199.9 µg/L), while <10% in the E group (E = 7.7%) had vitamin A deficiency (<100 µg/L). According to the categories for indicators of iron status, the number of children who were in the 'adequate' category for serum iron, serum ferritin, serum transferrin and percentage transferrin saturation did not change in both groups at postintervention assessment. In both groups, nutritional status of children (both anthropometric and blood variables) did not change significantly following intervention. Conclusion. The nutrition intervention did not have a significant effect on indicators of nutritional status, possibly owing to its short duration (12 months) and the fact that food supplementation was not included.


The goal of this thesis work is to test the High Speed USB 2.0 communication between a custom board and a PC. Baltic Engineering AB has developed a hardware platform based on a microcontroller from ST microelectronics. The microcontroller STM32F405 is equipped with many peripheral functions, one of which is a High Speed USB 2.0 OTG unit. Baltic Engineering AB is planning to use this function in future projects but at the moment they have no experience of implementing software code for this type of communication link. The work is focused on programming and establishing the connection between the PC and the microcontroller. It is explained how to set up the development environment with CooCox CoIDE and how to write programs in C programming language with the help of the libusb library. The outcome of the project was a successful establishment of the USB FS communication. Furthermore, a bulk transfer was benchmarked and reached the bandwidth of approximately 2~Mb/s.


The SBM mouse is a unique transgenic model of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) induced by the dysregulated expression of c-myc in renal tissue. In situ hybridization analysis demonstrated intense signal for the c-myc transgene overlying tubular cystic epithelium in SBM mice. Renal proliferation index in SBM kidneys was 10-fold increased over nontransgenic controls correlating with the presence of epithelial hyperplasia. The specificity of c-myc for the proliferative potential of epithelial cells was demonstrated by substitution of c-myc with the proto-oncogene c-fos or the transforming growth factor (TGF)-α within the same construct. No renal abnormalities were detected in 13 transgenic lines established, indicating that the PKD phenotype is dependent on functions specific to c-myc. We also investigated another well characterized function of c-myc, the regulation of apoptosis through pathways involving p53 and members of the bcl-2 family, which induce and inhibit apoptosis, respectively. The SBM kidney tissues, which overexpress c-myc, displayed a markedly elevated (10–100-fold) apoptotic index. However, no significant difference in bcl-2, bax, or p53 expression was observed in SBM kidney compared with controls. Direct proof that the heightened renal cellular apoptosis in PKD is not occurring through p53 was obtained by successive matings between SBM and p53−/− mice. All SBM offspring, irrespective of their p53 genotype, developed PKD with increased renal epithelial apoptotic index. In addition, overexpression of both bcl-2 and c-myc in double transgenic mice (SBB+/SBM+) also produced a similar PKD phenotype with a high apoptotic rate, showing that c-myc can bypass bcl-2 in vivo. Thus, the in vivo c-myc apoptotic pathway in SBM mice occurs through a p53- and bcl-2–independent mechanism. We conclude that the pathogenesis of PKD is c-myc specific and involves a critical imbalance between the opposing processes of cell proliferation and apoptosis.


Nowadays people use mobile phones and other mobile devices. Most of us have a small computing device that is always with us. People use it example for calling, as calendar and organizer. Mobile devices with GPS receiver are also used to find paths in navigation. The main disadvantage of those systems is that we have to know places which we want to visit and they usually do not store any usable, valuable information about points of interest except phone numbers and addresses. The main idea of this thesis was to design a system that will run on most of phones and palms and will be helpful when visiting some new places and cities. This system should be able to find a route using user criteria. Those criteria should be simple and natural, like for example: a list of museums, the most famous historical objects, restaurants to visit, constraints to travel by bus and by walking. The system should find a path that fulfils those criteria, show it on screen, show names of objects, some short descriptions and photos of them and possible entrance costs. It should also be able to estimate time needed to travel from one object to the next and if it is possible, advise which bus line or other public means of transport may be used. It should be helpful for people that want to visit a city without having much information about it. Paths that are output of this system are only a proposition for trip. They will not be optimal but can not be counterintuitive and must be acceptable by the user.


1. Watching Food: The Production of Food, Film, and Values, Anne L. Bower Section I: Cooking Up Cultural Values 2. Feel Good Reel Food: A Taste of Cultural Kedgeree in Gurinder Chadha's What's Cooking?, Debnita Chakravarti 3. Food, Play, Business and the Image of Japan in Juzo's Tampopo, Michael Ashkenazi 4. Il Timpano- "To Eat Good Food is to be Close to God": The Italian-American Reconciliation of Stanley Tucci's Big Night, Margaret Coyle 5.Cooking Mexicanness: Shaping National Identity in Alfonso Arau's Como agua para chocolate, Miriam Lopez-Rodriguez 6. Chickens, Jams, and Kitchens: Modern Food and Malay Films of the 1950s and 1960s, Timothy P. Barnard 7. "I'll Have Whatever She's Having": Jews, Food, and Film, Nathan Abrams 8. Food as Representative of Ethnicity and Culture in George Tillman Jr.'s Soul Food, Maria Ripolli's Tortilla Soup, and Tim Reid's Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored, Robin Balthrope Section II: Focus on Women--the Body, the Spirit 9. Gendering the Feast: Women, Spirituality, and Grace in Three Food Films, Margaret McFadden 10. Food, Sex, and Power at the Dining Room Table in Zhang Yimou's Raise the Red Lantern, Ellen J. Fried 11. Anorexia Envisioned: Mike Leigh's Life is Sweet, Chul-Soo Park's 301/302, and Todd Haynes's Superstar, Gretchen Papazian 12. Production, Reproduction, Food, and Women in Herbert Biberman's Salt of the Earth and Lourdes Portillo and Nina Serrano's After The Earthquake, Carole Counihan 13. Images of Consumption in Jutta Bruckner's Hunger Years, Yogini Joglekar Section III: Making Movies, Making Meals 14. Appetite for Destruction: Gangster Food and Genre Convention in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, Rebecca L. Epstein 15. "Leave the Gun Take the Cannoli": Food and Family in the Modern American Mafia Film, Marlisa Santos 16. All-Consuming Passions: Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, Raymond Armstrong 17. Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's Delicatessen: An Ambiguous Memory, an Ambivalent Meal, Kyri Watson Claflin 18. Futuristic Foodways: The Metaphorical Meaning of Food in Science Fiction Films, Laurel Forster 19. Supper, Slapstick, and Social Class: Dinner as Machine in the Silent Films of Buster Keaton, Eric L. Reinholtz 20. Banquet and Beast: The Civilizing Role of Food in 1930s Horror Films, Blair Davis 21. Engorged with Desire: Hitchcock Films and the Gendered Politics of Eating, David Greven 22. What About the Popcorn? Food and Film-Watching Experiences, James Lyons


INTRODUCTION
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed rulemaking to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products to non-addictive levels. This qualitative study documents reactions to messages communicating this policy among people who use little cigars and cigarillos (LCCs).

METHODS
We conducted eight focus groups with participants from four populations with the highest prevalence of cigar use (African American males and females, White males and females). Participants described their reactions to eight messages about the policy: three messages about the equal risk of LCCs with regular and low nicotine levels; three quit efficacy messages about low nicotine LCCs being easier to quit; one "compensation" message to correct misperceptions about the policy causing people to smoke more to get desired nicotine; and one message about using alternative nicotine sources (e.g., e-cigarettes).

RESULTS
Participants perceived risk messages as the most motivating to quit, whereas efficacy messages made some participants feel that the policy would cause former users of LCCs to relapse. Many participants expressed favorable responses to the compensation message. The message about using alternative nicotine sources sparked intense responses, with many participants expressing outrage and mistrust of the message. Participants' beliefs that they were not addicted to LCCs dampened their perceptions of the effectiveness of the policy.

CONCLUSIONS
Perceptions of the addictiveness and relative harms of LCCS influenced responses to policy messages. The FDA should consider using different messages to communicate with people who use LCCs because they perceive LCCs as different from cigarettes.

IMPLICATIONS
This is the first study to document affect and cognitive responses to the FDA's reduced nicotine policy among people who use little cigars and cigarillos (LCCs). The false belief that cigar products are less harmful than cigarettes maybe influencing people's lack of support for the reduced nicotine policy and difficulty in understanding its potential positive impact. To maximize the public health benefit of the reduced nicotine policy, the FDA should include LCC products in the policy; however, it is crucial that they use educational messaging to clarify misperceptions regarding nicotine and harm as it applies to LCCs.


Achieving a smooth flow of work through the system is a goal for many teams and organizations that embrace agile and lean approaches. However, the flow of work faces many impediments as it flows through teams and organizations. Agile and lean approaches can reveal impediments that impact teams and organizations. Often at the start of their agile transition, but also frequently after the initial transition, teams and organizations can find themselves with a significant quantity of impediments that demand attention. With limited time and capacity, they need techniques to help them understand the impediments and make decisions about where to invest their time. This paper introduces a new technique called Impediment Impact Diagrams that helps people to understand which impediments to address, and who needs to be involved in addressing them. The technique can also be used to understand other attributes of impediments such as the relative cost of removing the impediment, or the relative duration it is likely to take to remove the impediments. The Impediment Impact Diagram can be used on its own or as part of an Impediment Removal Process. Drawing from original research on impediment removal, this paper includes detailed steps to use the technique, presents several examples of Impediment Impact Diagrams from multiple teams and organizations, and describes their experiences with the technique.


Transition in a fully developed circular pipe flow was investigated experimentally by introducing periodic perturbations. The simultaneous excitation of helical modes having indices m = ±1, ±2 and ±3 was chosen. The experiments revealed that the late stage of transition is accompanied by the formation of streaky structures that are associated with peaks and valleys in the azimuthal distribution of the streamwise velocity disturbance. The breakdown to turbulence starts with the appearance of spikes in the temporal traces of the velocity. Spectral characteristics of these spikes and the direction of their propagation relative to the wall are similar to those in boundary layers. Analysis of the data suggests the existence of a high-shear layer in the instantaneous velocity profile. Additional experiments in which a very weak, steady flow was added locally to the periodic axisymmetric perturbation were also carried out. These experiments resulted in the generation of a single peak in the azimuthal distribution of the disturbance amplitude. The characteristics of the transition process (spikes, vortical patterns etc.) within this peak were similar to ones observed in the helical excitation experiments. Based on these results one may conclude that late stages of transition in a pipe flow and in a boundary layer are similar. The present report is part of an ongoing investigation that was initiated by Eliahou, Tumin & Wygnanski (1998a).


The purpose of this study is to examine the capacity of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project
delivery model to support the implementation of Sustainable Energy Innovation (SEI) within the
context of the UK government's Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The study attends
to a significant gap in knowledge as there is a lack of conceptual and empirical work on managing
innovative processes for sustainable energy in PFI projects. Adopting Complex Product Systems
(CoPS) Innovation Management Theory, the BSF PFI project is conceptualised as a CoPS supply
network where success in innovation largely depends on the interactive relationships among
multiple project participants (Hobday, 1998, 2000; Hobday et al., 2000; Gann and Salter, 2000). A
conceptual framework is developed based on three determinants of CoPS innovation, particularly:
(1) clarity of the requirement, (2) communication and collaboration and (3) contractual incentives.
Taking such a system‐oriented perspective is considered important for SEI due to the increasing
levels of functional dependency and component complexity associated with environmental
innovations. Thus, effective interaction among producers, clients and users is seen to be critical for
their successful development (Rohracher, 2001; Intrachooto and Horayangkura, 2007).
Following a four‐case qualitative research methodology, the empirical findings point to the
significance of the three determinants of CoPS innovation in shaping the environment in which
private sector producers operate and innovate in BSF PFI projects. However, while the qualitative
nature of the chosen research methodology limits the ability to generalise, the case study findings
provide empirical evidence to the limited capacity of the PFI delivery model to support SEI based on
the key determinants postulated in CoPS Innovation Management Theory. The research establishes
that the capacity of the BSF PFI project delivery model to support SEI is weakened by: the limited
clarity of the sustainable energy requirement particularly in relation to its specificity and
achievability; ineffective multidisciplinary communication and collaboration within the integrated
ProjectCo due to restricting internal contractual relationships and the misalignment of Design‐
Construction‐Operation sustainability objectives; and ineffective Client/User‐Producer
communication and collaboration brought in by the restricted nature of BSF engagement processes
as well as the misalignment of Client/User‐Producer sustainability objectives. Contractual incentives were found to support SEI, albeit by fear of financial penalties through risk allocation, rather than
pursuit of reward for innovation.
The study concluded that the BSF PFI project delivery model, as a procurement policy, may not
adequately appreciate the system dynamics needed for successful SEI. Indeed, the study underlined
a number of problematic issues, or 'hotspots' (Hansen and Rush, 1998; Hobday and Rush, 1999),
weakening the key determinants of CoPS innovation success in BSF PFI projects. Recommendations
were developed to rectify the identified problematic issues. Future research directions were also
suggested.


Water temperature is a key variable affecting aquatic organisms. Understanding their response to elevated water temperatures is important for estimating upper thermal limits, and ultimately for assisting with setting defendable, biologically-relevant water temperature guidelines for lotic systems. Sublethal effects impacting on an individual organism or species may manifest at higher levels of the hierarchy, namely, populations, communities and entire ecosystems. Sublethal effects typically include those affecting an organism's physiology and metabolism (e.g. growth rates, secondary productivity, respiration); phenology (e.g. development time, voltinism, emergence); reproductive success and fitness (e.g. fecundity, rates and success of egg development and hatching); behaviour (e.g. migration, movement, drift); and broad-scale ecological effects (e.g. species richness, composition, density, distribution patterns). Sublethal effects are discussed with examples drawn from freshwater studies, in particular those focused on aquatic insects. Commonly-used methods, which vary from simple, cost-effective, laboratory-based methods to more elaborate, expensive, laboratory- and field-based studies, are assimilated to serve as a toolbox for future thermal research. Ultimately, the method adopted depends largely on the question(s) being asked and available resources.


Abstract In the age of information technology, the traditional paper-based trading process is inadequate and can become a burden for companies competing in the marketplace. Until recently, only major companies could afford to develop and maintain computer systems to improve their trading processes. These ad hoc solutions are expensive and preclude widespread applications because they often address specific issues. With personal computers and the Internet, it is now possible to realize the paradigm of affordable electronic infrastructure for virtual trading. The authors survey existing business-to-business (B2B) electronic trading systems and highlight key attributes of these systems and areas of improvements. These form the basis of the proposed Virtual Electronic Trading (VET) system. The VET system provides a generic framework for a variety of business models and practices, giving the system a universal appeal.


We review the state of modeling and simulation of nuclear fuels with emphasis on the most widely used nuclear fuel, UO2. The hierarchical scheme presented represents a science-based approach to modeling nuclear fuels by progressively passing information in several stages from electronic structure calculations to continuum level simulations. Such an approach is essential to overcome the challenges posed by radioactive materials handling, experimental limitations in modeling extreme conditions and accident scenarios, and the small time and distance scales of fundamental processes. When used in conjunction with experimental validation, this multiscale modeling scheme can provide valuable guidance to development of fuel for advanced reactors to meet rising global energy demand.


Organizations increasingly have access to massive, fine-grained data on consumer behavior. Despite the hype over "big data," and the success of predictive analytics, only a few organizations have incorporated such finegrained data in a non-aggregated manner into their predictive analytics. This paper examines the use of massive, fine-grained data on consumer behavior—specifically payments to a very large set of particular merchants—to improve predictive models for targeted marketing. The paper details how using this different sort of data can substantially improve predictive performance, even in an application for which predictive analytics has been applied for years. One of the most striking results has important implications for managers considering the value of big data. Using a real-life data set of 21 million transactions by 1.2 million customers, as well as 289 other variables describing these customers, the results show that there is no appreciable improvement from moving to big data when using traditional structured data. However, in contrast, when using fine-grained behavior data, there continues to be substantial value to increasing the data size across the entire range of the analyses. This suggests that larger firms may have substantially more valuable data assets than smaller firms, when using their transaction data for targeted marketing.


Many studies have been conducted in the intensive care unit (ICU). But little is known about the outcomes of ICU admissions. This is particularly the case in the ICU of developing countries. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess reasons and outcomes of admissions in the ICU of Jimma University Specialized Hospital (JUSH). A longitudinal study was conducted in the ICU of JUSH from February 7 to April 15, 2011. All patients admitted to the ICU during the study period were followed till discharge or death. Data was coded and entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) windows version 16.0 to generate descriptive statistics. Sixty nine patients admitted to the ICU during the study period were followed prospectively till discharge or death. Diseases of cardiovascular origin (30.4%) followed by surgical interventions (18.8%) were the major reasons of ICU admission. There were 26 (37.7%) deaths during the study period in the ICU. Mortality rate in the ICU was found to be significantly high. Diseases of cardiovascular origin were the major reasons for ICU admission. Hence, responsible bodies need to seek for possible ways of reducing this unacceptably high mortality in the ICU by devising quality control mechanisms.

 Key words: Reasons of admission, outcome of admission, intensive care unit.


Epitaxial aluminum nitride thin films have been grown on silicon carbide (6H-SiC) substrates by pulsed low-energy ion-assisted reactive magnetron sputter deposition (+5/-20 V of bias pulses), with ion-assisted energy (Ei)?22eV, under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions. Surface ion interactions during the negative bias pulse gave rise to enhanced surface mobility of adatoms with beneficial effects, which extended over the limit of ion repelling in the positive pulse as the film thickness increased. High-resolution electron microscopy shows that a large (>90 nm) AlN domain width can form on the substrate. Domain-boundary annihilation and domain suppression during film growth have been observed. The growth rate also increased by a factor of ~4 compared to growth conditions with no ion assistance (Ei=2eV) and by a factor of 2 from dc ion-assisted growth. This indicates that the supply of nitrogen is a limiting factor for AlN formation and that the reactivity of nitrogen is increased on the growing AlN film surface for pulse ion-assisted deposition. High-resolution x-ray diffraction shows a reduction in the full width at half maximum of the rocking curve from 1490 to 1180 arcsec when pulsed ions are used. The cathodoluminescence shows high intensity of near-band edge emissions at wavelengths of 206 (6.02 eV) and 212 nm (5.84 eV) at a measured temperature of 5 K, with relatively low defect and oxygen and carbon impurity related emission, which is indicative of a high quality electronic material. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.


This thesis provides an integrated approach to common problems with location
estimation for animal tracking. Many existing techniques confound problems
of location accuracy with simplistic track representations and under-utilization of
available data.
Traditional techniques such as speed ltering and time spent maps are illustrated
with a software package developed by the author with examples of location
estimates from southern elephant seals. This software enables the application and
exploration of various techniques that have previously not been available in a single
solution. These include ltering, temporal gridding, projection transformation and
GIS integration.
A novel Bayesian approach is introduced for the more general problems faced
by dierent tagging techniques. This approach integrates all sources of data including
movement models, environmental data and prior knowledge. This general
framework is illustrated by application to satellite tag data and light-measuring tag
data. Examples are used to detail the use of movement models with a powerful track
representation model, and the application of raw light data for location estimation.
Previously under-utilized sources of data are used to inform location estimates.
A method for applying light level geo-location within the framework is presented.
This approach provides a primary location estimate for each twilight and utilizes all
of the available data from archival tags.
These model runs result in very large databases of samples from Markov Chain
Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations and techniques for summarizing these for the
variety of analysis outputs are illustrated. This system solves issues of location
uncertainty with a full path representation and provides spatial maps of residency
for multiple animals.
The relation between archival tag data and ocean circulation is used to extend
the application of archival tag data for location estimation for diving animals in a
manner similar to commonly used SST methods. Diving proles from elephants seals
are compared with 4D oceanographic datasets. Older tags are limited by problems
with measurement lags for temperature|this problem is addressed with a proxy
model for temperature at depth to ocean height.
This thesis provides a number of important improvements to the derivation of
location from various types of tag data by integrating disparate information sources
in a systematic way. Location estimates are produced with inherent quantication
of errors. The approach provides the variety of metrics and analysis types required
with an extensible software package. These contributions help bridge the divides
between various analytic techniques traditionally employed for animal tracking.


Random numbers are indispensable for a variety of applications ranging from testing physics foundations to information encryption. In particular, nonlocality test provide strong evidence for our current understanding of nature-quantum mechanics. All the random number generators (RNGs) used for the existing tests are constructed locally, making the test results vulnerable to the freedom-of-choice loophole. We report an experimental realization of RNGs based on the arrival time of cosmic photons. The measurement outcomes (raw data) pass the standard NIST statistical test suite. We present a realistic design to employ these RNGs in a Bell test experiment, which addresses the freedom-of-choice loophole.


The Turning Point Model State Public Health Act (Turning Point Act), published in September 2003, provides a comprehensive template for states seeking public health law modernization. This case study examines the political and policy efforts undertaken in Alaska following the development of the Turning Point Act. It is the first in a series of case studies to assess states' consideration of the Turning Point Act for the purpose of public health law reform. Through a comparative analysis of these case studies and ongoing legislative tracking in all fifty states, researchers can assess (1) how states codify the Turning Point Act into state law and (2) how these modernized state laws influence or change public health practice, leading to improved health outcomes.


Background: Although the functional redundancy of catechol 1,2-dioxygenase (C12O) genes has been reported in several microorganisms, limited enzymes were characterised, let alone the advantage of the coexistence of the multiple copies of C12O genes. Results: In this study, four novel C12O genes, designated catA, catAI, catAII and catAIII, in the naphthalene-degrading strain Pseudomonas putida ND6, were cloned and characterised. Phylogenetic analysis of their deduced amino acid sequences revealed that the four C12O isozymes each formed independent subtrees, together with homologues from other organisms. All four enzymes exhibited maximum activity at pH 7.4 and higher activity in alkaline than in acidic conditions. Furthermore, CatA, CatAI and CatAIII were maximally active at a temperature of 45°C, whereas a higher optimum temperature was observed for CatAII at a temperature of 50°C. CatAI exhibited superior temperature stability compared with the other three C12O isozymes, and kinetic analysis indicated similar enzyme activities for CatA, CatAI and CatAII, whereas that of CatAIII was lower. Significantly, among metal ions tested, only Cu2+ substantially inhibited the activity of these C12O isozymes, thus indicating that they have potential to facilitate bioremediation in environments polluted with aromatics in the presence of metals. Moreover, gene expression analysis at the mRNA level and determination of enzyme activity clearly indicated that the redundancy of the catA genes has increased the levels of C12O. Conclusion: The results clearly imply that the redundancy of catA genes increases the available amount of C12O in P. putida ND6, which would be beneficial for survival in challenging environments.


THE DANISH IDIOM DICTIONARY has been criticized by Ken Faro to use a less than optimal theory in the description of what a phraseme really is. A closer examination of that theory, however, shows that this is not the case due to the hitherto neglected role of the common, non-academic user who has little need for an in-depth classification. The current article describes how THE DANISH IDIOM DICTIONARY puts the simplified theory into use and how a new and improved version currently under way improves on the theory by focusing on the user's needs, thereby reducing the necessity for complicated classifications. THE DANISH IDIOM DICTIONARY including its search capabilities is described in full.


Two phosphorus-containing four-membered ring radical cations 1(•+) and 2(•+) have been isolated and characterized by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compared with neutral molecules 1 and 2, radical 1(•+) has elongated P-P bonds and more pyramidalized phosphorus atoms, while shortened P-Nring distances and larger angles around phosphorus centers are observed for 2(•+). EPR studies indicate that for 1(•+) spin density mainly resides on the exocyclic nitrogen atoms with very minor contribution from endocyclic phosphorus atoms, while the situation is opposite for 2(•+). Such an inverse spin density distribution is controlled by the exocyclic substituents, which is supported by DFT calculations.


Abstract In this paper, two modifications to improve the efficiency of Lee et al.'s recently proposed "CMFD [coarse-mesh finite difference]-accelerated Monte Carlo" method for neutron criticality problems are presented and tested. This CMFD method employs standard Monte Carlo techniques to estimate nonlinear functionals (ratios of integrals), which are used in low-order CMFD equations to obtain the eigenvalue and discrete representations of the eigenfunction. In a "feedback" procedure, the Monte Carlo fission source is then modified to match the resulting CMFD fission source. The proposed new methods differ from the CMFD-accelerated Monte Carlo method only in the definition of the nonlinear functionals. The new methods are compared with the CMFD-accelerated Monte Carlo method for two high-dominance-ratio test problems. All of the hybrid methods rapidly converge the Monte Carlo fission source, enabling a large reduction in the number of inactive cycles. However, the new methods stabilize the fission source more efficiently than the CMFD-accelerated Monte Carlo method, enabling a reduction in the number of active cycles as well. Also, in all the hybrid methods, the apparent variance of the eigenfunction is nearly equal to the real variance, so the real statistical error is well estimated from a single calculation. This is a major advantage over the standard Monte Carlo method, in which the real variance is typically underestimated due to intercycle correlations.


The aim of this study was to know the effectiveness of pedagogical code switching (CS) and learner's language attitude on EFL learner's learning outcomes. This study was carried out at State Junior High School 23 of Malang, East Java. A quasi experimental design was used in this study. To this end, 68 students of 230 were randomly selected. The instruments used in this study were English tasks which required the students to answer in English and language attitude scale. The findings of this study revealed that (1) there was a significant difference between the students who were given pedagogical CS and those who were not given pedagogical CS on EFL learner's learning outcomes (P=.001<.05), (2) there was a significant correlation between language attitude and EFL learner's learning outcomes (r=.253; P=.038<.05), and (3) there was an interaction between pedagogical CS student's language attitude on EFL learner's learning outcomes (F=2.76; P=.027<.05). And determinant coefficient showed that 17.5% contributed to the EFL learner's learning outcomes.

Keywords: pedagogical code switching, EFL learner and learning outcomes


Background Non coding RNAs are the RNA molecules that do not code for proteins but play structural, catalytic or regulatory roles in the organisms in which they are found. These RNAs generally conserve their secondary structure more than their primary sequence. It is possible to look for protein coding genes using sequence signals like promoters, terminators, start and stop codons etc. However, this is not the case with non coding RNAs since these signals are weakly conserved in them. Hence the situation with non coding RNAs is more challenging. Therefore a protocol is devised to identify U1 RNA in species not previously known to have it. Results It is sufficient to use the covariance models to identify non coding RNAs but they are very slow and hence a filtering step is needed before using the covariance models to reduce the search space for identifying these genes. The protocol for identifying U1 RNA genes employs for the filtering a pattern matcher RNABOB that can conduct secondary structure pattern searches. The descriptor for RNABOB is made automatically such that it can also represent the bulges and interior loops in helices of RNA. The protocol is compared with the Rfam and Weinberg & Ruzzo approaches and has been able to identify new U1 RNA homologues in the Apicomplexan group where it has not previously been found. Conclusions The method has been used to identify the gene for U1 RNA in certain species in which it has not been detected previously. The identified genes may be further analyzed by wet laboratory techniques for the confirmation of their existence. 4


The subject of this book is an important and diverse field of electric machines and drives. The twelve chapters of the book written by renowned authors, both academics and practitioners, cover a large part of the field of electric machines and drives. Various types of electric machines, including three-phase and single-phase induction machines or doubly fed machines, are addressed. Most of the chapters focus on modern control methods of induction-machine drives, such as vector and direct torque control. Among others, the book addresses sensorless control techniques, modulation strategies, parameter identification, artificial intelligence, operation under harsh or failure conditions, and modelling of electric or magnetic quantities in electric machines. Several chapters give an insight into the problem of minimizing losses in electric machines and increasing the overall energy efficiency of electric drives.


Recent technological advances in computer and communication technology, as well as developments in seismic networks in the United States, have allowed seismologists to rapidly respond to earthquakes in revolutionary ways. Rather than limiting post-earthquake information to simply epicenter and magnitude, we can now rapidly provide maps of the intensity of shaking over the region affected by a damaging earthquake.

One system, called "ShakeMap", relies on shaking levels recorded at seismic stations to map out the distribution of shaking, pointing to the areas most shaking and likely to have experienced damage. These maps now provide the basis for emergency response coordination, estimation of damage and losses, and information for the public and the media.

The second system, the Community Internet Intensity Maps (more commonly referred to as "Did You Feel it?") is a unique approach to Citizen Science. By collecting reports of what was felt and observed earthquake effects through the World Wide Web immediately after the shaking subsides, we can rapidly map out the extent and distribution of shaking and damage in any area of the country. Remarkably, the public has taken kindly to "Did You Feel it?". In fact to date, we have logged over 350,000 individual entries to our questionnaire nationwide. This includes entries from all 50 states, plus the US Territories, indicating that the earthquake problem is indeed nationwide! In this lecture Dr. Wald will describe the science and technology behind these two new systems, including the complex nature of ground shaking and its effects on people and the built environment.


Distributed energy-balance melt models have rarely been applied to glaciers with extensive supraglacial debris cover. This paper describes the development of a distributed melt model and its application to the debris-covered Miage glacier, western Italian Alps, over two summer seasons. Sub-debris melt rates are calculated using an existing debris energy-balance model (DEB-Model), and melt rates for clean ice, snow and partially debris-covered ice are calculated using standard energy-balance equations. Simulated sub-debris melt rates compare well to ablation stake observations. Melt rates are highest, and most sensitive to air temperature, on areas of dirty, crevassed ice on the middle glacier. Here melt rates are highly spatially variable because the debris thickness and surface type varies markedly. Melt rates are lowest, and least sensitive to air temperature, beneath the thickest debris on the lower glacier. Debris delays and attenuates the melt signal compared to clean ice, with peak melt occurring later in the day with increasing debris thickness. The continuously debris-covered zone consistently provides ∼30% of total melt throughout the ablation season, with the proportion increasing during cold weather. Sensitivity experiments show that an increase in debris thickness of 0.035 m would offset 1°C of atmospheric warming.


Abstract The authors call on G20 leaders to extend more predictable and substantial support to lowand- middle-income countries that host refugees, in recognition of the global public good that these countries provide. Together with other high-income countries, G20 countries should fully cover the cost of providing for the basic and social needs of refugees. They should also help to expand public services and infrastructure for refugees as well as resident populations. Such international support for the economic integration and social inclusion of refugees will be most effective if host countries grant refugees a firm legal status with access to employment and entrepreneurship.


The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of capital adequacy on the return of assets to the banking sector in Kosovo. The capital adequacy ratio measures the ability of a financial institution to meet its liabilities by comparing its capital with its assets. As the banking system is one of the strongest points of our country's economy, it is understood that the capital adequacy ratio is used by banks to determine the adequacy of their capital holdings while taking their risk exposures into account.This study will provide empirical evidence of the relationship between capital adequacy and return on commercial bank assets in Kosovo during 2008-2017. It will be using secondary data obtained from audited reports of domestic banks and reports from the Central Bank of Kosovo. To measure the empirical results during this research, these econometric methods have been used: the linear regression model, the model of the fixed effects, and the random model and the GMM model. Based on the results we can conclude that capital adequacy has a positive impact on asset returns and has a significant relationship. In addition, other factors have had a positive and negative impact on the return of commercial banks' assets in Kosovo. Keywords: capital adequacy, return on assets, loans, deposits, interest rates.JEL Classification: G21, G31, G32


Printed and flexible organic electronics is a steadily expanding field of research and applications. One of the most attractive features of this technology is the possibility of large area and high throughput production to form low-cost electronics on different flexible substrates. With an increasing demand for sustainable energy production, low-cost and large volume technologies to store high-quality energy become equally important. These devices should be environmentally friendly with respect to their entire life cycle. Supercapacitors and batteries based on paper hold great promise for such applications due to the low cost and abundance of cellulose and other forest-derived components. We report a thick-film paper-supercapacitor system based on cellulose nanofibrils, the mixed ion-electron conducting polymer PEDOT:PSS and sulfonated lignin. We demonstrate that the introduction of sulfonated lignin into the cellulose-conducting polymer system increases the specific capacitance from 110 to 230 F g−1 and the areal capacitance from 160 mF cm−2 to 1 F cm−2. By introducing lignosulfonate also into the electrolyte solution, equilibrium, with respect to the concentration of the redox molecule, was established between the electrode and the electrolyte, thus allowing us to perform beyond 700 charge/discharge cycles with no observed decrease in performance.


We exploit the random assignment rule implemented by the government of the municipality of Salto (Argentina) in its program of social housing in order to identify the effect of the program on subsequent domestic violence. Beneficiaries receive a finished house in exchange for a long-term credit at a heavily subsidized rate, and are entitled to legal ownership after full payment. Using administrative records from the population of applicants, we find that subsidized home-ownership programs to low-income households are associated to an increase in reported domestic violence. We explore various potential mechanisms and we conclude that the empirical evidence only favors the mechanism of an increase in transaction costs associated to exiting a relationship.


Detection and characterization of nanoparticles (NPs) in complex media as consumer products, food and toxicological test media is an essential part of understanding the potential benefits and risks of the application of nanoparticles. Single particle ICP-MS (spICP-MS) was studied as a screening tool for the detection and characterization of nanoparticles in complex matrices such as food and biological tissues. A data evaluation tool was created for the calculation of particle size, concentration and size distribution from the raw data. spICP-MS measurements were carried out on a standard quadrupole instrument as well as on a sector-field instrument. Performance characteristics were determined for four types of NPs. For the quadrupole instrument the size detection limits were 20 nm (Au and Ag), 50 (TiO2) and 200 nm (SiO2). For the sector-field instrument size detection limits are lower, 10 nm (Au). Concentration detection limits ranged from 1 ng L−1 for 60 nm Au NPs to 0.1 μg L−1 for 500 nm SiO2 particles. The dynamic range of spICP-MS is limited to two orders of magnitude and as a consequence sample dilution is often required. The precision of the method was found to be <5% and <10% for the determination of particle size and concentration, respectively while the accuracy for particle size (Au NP only) was <10%. The robustness against potential sample matrix components was investigated. The applicability to routine samples was demonstrated by four examples (food, waste water, culture media and biological tissues). The presented combination of spICP-MS measurements with a powerful data evaluation tool enables the use of this technique as a fast, cost efficient and easy to use screening tool for metal and metal oxide NPs that can be widely implemented in the statutory monitoring of food and consumer products for the presence of NPs, as well as in the analytical evaluation of toxicological studies.


The software engineering tools and techniques available for use in traditional information
systems industries are far more advanced than in the manufacturing and
production industries. Consequently there is a paucity of ladder logic programming
support tools. These tools can be used to improve the way in which ladder logic
programs are written, to increase the quality and robustness of the code produced
and minimise the risk of software related downtime.
To establish current practice and to ascertain the needs of industry a literature
review and a series of interviews with industrial automation professionals were conducted.
Two opportunities for radical improvement were identified; a tool to measure
software metrics for code written in ladder logic and a tool to detect cloned
code within a ladder program.
Software metrics quantify various aspects of code and can be used to assess code
quality, measure programmer productivity, identify weak code and develop accurate
costing models with respect to code. They are quicker, easier and cheaper than
alternative code reviewing strategies such as peer review and allow organisations to
make evidence based decisions with respect to code.
Code clones occur because reuse of copied and pasted code increases programmer productivity in the short term, but make programs artificially large and can spread
bugs. Cloned code can be removed with no loss of functionality, dramatically reducing
the the size of a program.
To implement these tools, a compiler front end for ladder logic was first constructed.
This included a lexer with 24 lexical modes, 71 macro definitions and 663 token
definitions as well as a 729 grammar rule parser. The software metrics tool and
clone detection tool perform analyses on an abstract sytax tree, the output from
the compiler. The tools have been designed to be as user friendly as possible.
Metrics results are compiled in XML reports that can be imported into spreadsheet
applications, and the clone detector generates easily navigable HTML reports for
each clone as well as an index file of all clones that contains hyperlinks to all clone
reports.
Both tools were demonstrated by analysing real factory code from a Jaguar Land
Rover body in white line. The metrics tool analysed over 1.5 million lines of ladder
logic code contained within 23 files and 8466 routines. The results identified those
routines that are abnormally complex in addition to routines that are excessively
large. These routines are a likely source of problems in future and action to improve
them immediately is recommended. The clone detector analysed 59K lines from
a manufacturing cell. The results of this analysis proved that the code could be
reduced in volume by 43.9% and found previously undetected bugs. By removing
clones for all factory code, the code would be reduced in size by so much that it
could run on as much as 25% fewer PLCs, yielding a significant saving on hardware
costs alone. De-cloned code is also easier to make modifications to, so this process
goes some way towards future-proofing the code.


Thymocytes mature through several stages of development, defined by cell surface markers such as CD3, CD4, and CD8, in response to environmental cues. Signal transduction resulting from lymphocyte- stromal cell interactions is likely to activate inducible transcription factors which in turn govern stage-specific gene expression. In this report we show that inducible transcription factors such as AP-1 and NF- AT are constitutively nuclear, in response to intrathymic signals, in freshly isolated thymocytes at all stages of maturation. In CD4+CD8+ double positive (DP), but not in the more immature CD4-CD8- double negative (DN) thymocytes, constant stimulus from the thymic environment is required to maintain nuclear AP-1. Thus, disruption of the thymus and incubation of thymocytes at 37 degrees C downregulates DNA binding by nuclear factors AP-1 and NF-AT. Similar treatment of thymocytes has previously been shown to downregulate CD3 zeta chain phosphorylation and increase T cell receptor CD3 expression on DP thymocytes, which is a feature of repertoire selection. Since mature T cells maintain inducible nuclear factors in an inactive form until an encounter with antigen, we propose that downregulation of nuclear DNA binding proteins may reflect another feature of this stage of T cell maturation.


The Bayesian generalization framework has been successful in explaining how people generalize a property from a few observed stimuli to novel stimuli, across several different domains. To create a successful Bayesian generalization model, modelers typically specify a hypothesis space and prior probability distribution for each specific domain. However, this raises two problems: the models do not scale beyond the (typically small-scale) domain that they were designed for, and the explanatory power of the models is reduced by their reliance on a hand-coded hypothesis space and prior. To solve these two problems, we propose a method for deriving hypothesis spaces and priors from large online databases. We evaluate our method by constructing a hypothesis space and prior for a Bayesian word learning model from WordNet, a large online database that encodes the semantic relationships between words as a network. After validating our approach by replicating a previous word learning study, we apply the same model to a new experiment featuring three additional taxonomic domains (clothing, containers, and seats). In both experiments, we found that the same automatically constructed hypothesis space explains the complex pattern of generalization behavior, producing accurate predictions across a total of six different domains.


Effects of Larynx Preservation Method on Phonation Threshold Flow in an Excised Porcine Benchtop Model Emily Huber Webster Department of Communication Disorders, BYU Master of Science An excised animal larynx model has been used in many studies to better understand the physiological and anatomical properties of the human larynx. One difference between an ex vivo model and an in vivo model is that ion loss occurs postmortem. To compensate for this in the excised model, researchers most commonly use a preservation method that includes completely submerging the specimen in isotonic saline (0.9% Na+Cl-) and then flash freezing it in liquid nitrogen. The flash freezing method allows researchers to maintain the integrity of the structures while also being able to gather specimens as they become available. Not enough research has been done to understand the effects of a preservation method on the outcomes of the study. Additionally, no common method has been established for preservation across studies to ensure that results are not being influenced by this variable. This prospective, mixed experimental design study includes three groups, a control group and two experimental groups. The control group consisted of 10 bench-mounted porcine larynges that were soaked in isotonic saline and flash frozen with liquid nitrogen. Prior to the experiment, the frozen larynges were thawed overnight before trials. The other two groups consisted of 10 bench-mounted porcine larynges each; these larynges were soaked in either isotonic saline or Ringer's solution, a balanced fluid used in vivo to counteract dehydration. Larynges from these two groups were kept fresh and stored in a refrigerator overnight before trials. On the day of experimentation, each larynx was mounted on a bench top setup including three micropositioners to stabilize, adduct, and elongate the vocal folds. All the larynges were connected to a pseudolung via the trachea and humidified air was passed through to the vocal folds until phonation was achieved. Phonatory trials consisted of brief phonation followed by 5-minute desiccation intervals until phonation was no longer achieved. Phonation threshold flow (PTF), defined as the flow observed at the onset of phonation, was observed during each phonation trial; and flow values were compared within and between groups. Statistically significant differences were found between the Ringer's group and the fresh saline group as well as between the Ringer's group and the frozen saline group, indicating that PTF is influenced by the larynx preservation method.


The purpose of this article is to summarize and integrate the articles appearing in this special issue within the unique technology development (TD) and human resources (HR) of Southeast Asian countries. This paper examines how the synergy between TD and HR can lead to improved national economic performance. We proposed that better HR exploitation can sustain the capabilities of TD. Thus, the detail indexes are first evaluated with each category, which constructs the basic meanings of TD and HR. Consequently, the contexts of TD are clustered by different patterns with similar attributes in each nation. Each pattern can monitor the performance of HR in specific TD pattern. In this empirical study, we discover that the leading three countries (Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand) have a strong positive rank correlation between TD and HR; In contrast, the rest of countries are poor rank correlation with regard to the two categories. These results mention that the level of TD, which depends on HR exploitation, is an important indicator of technological capability and even a proof of economic growth. We also examine the TD policies with strategic grid and offer a better road path of TD to follow, not only for those type countries to retune their policy, but also to parallel development in HR areas—such as the level of education upgrading, labor force environment improving, man power utilizing. Finally, Southeast Asian countries should calibrate feasible HR when use it to elaborate TD.


In 1992 landmark federal legislation called for the removal of two dams from the Elwha River to restore salmon runs. Jeff Crane dives into the debate over development and ecological preservation in "Finding the River, " presenting a long-term environmental and human history of the river as well as a unique look at river reconstruction. "Finding the River" examines the ways that different communities--from the Lower Elwha Klallam Indians to current-day residents--have used the river and its resources, giving close attention to the harnessing of the Elwha for hydroelectric production and the resulting decline of its fisheries. Jeff Crane describes efforts begun in the 1980s to remove the dams and restore the salmon. He explores the rise of a river restoration movement in the late twentieth century and the roles that free-flowing rivers could play in preserving salmon as global warming presents another set of threats to these endangered fish.A significant and timely contribution to American Western and environmental history--removal of the two Elwha River dams is scheduled to begin in September 2011--"Finding the River" will be of interest to historians, to environmentalists, and to fisheries biologists, as well as to general readers interested in the Puget Sound and Olympic Peninsula and environmental issues


The problem of this study was to document the history of radio station WKY, Oklahoma City, and to locate its place within the development of American radio broadcasting. This thesis divides WKY's history into two periods: 1920 through 1925, the years it was operated by Earl Hull, and 1926 through 1989, after it was acquired by E. K. Gaylord. The purpose of this study was to record the history of the oldest radio station operating west of the Mississippi River, its effect on the broadcast industry in general, and its effect on Gaylord Broadcasting Corporation, the parent organization. The study also explored the innovations. in both programming and engineering that caused the station to grow into one of the most popular radio stations in the Southwest, as well as its decline in recent years.


Today Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge is the largest single submarine feature in the Arctic Ocean, which geological origin is still unknown. A better understanding of the evolution of the ridge complex in relation to the opening of the Canada Basin would have profound consequences for Arctic geodynamic models. Currently models in which Alpha Ridge represents a former spreading centre or "hot spot" trail are favoured. In this contribution the state of knowledge will be reviewed.The ridge was discovered by the US ice station Alpha during its drift in the years 1957-1958, which acquired the first information on the ridges topography and sedimentary thickness. The largest single-channel seismic data set was gathered during the drift of the US ice station T-3 from February 1967 to June 1970. The width of Alpha Ridge ranges from 250 to 800 km. In bathymetric cross sections it is roughly symmetrical with greatest elevation at the centre. The existing single channel seismic reflection lines acquired from ice stations Alpha, T-3 and CESAR and ship based seismic experiments show that Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge is mainly covered by a sedimentary sequence, which can reach up to 1000 m in thickness. Along most of the profiles the sediments lie conformably on the basement. Deep seismic experiments of Canadian and Russian researchers indicate that the crust beneath the ridge has a thickness well above 30 km, and high seismic velocities above 7.0 km/s are present at lower crustal levels.The most important and complete geophysical data sets in that area are aeromagnetic and aerogravity data acquired by US and Russian researchers. The magnetic data across the Alpha Ridge indicate the presence of mostly irregular magnetic anomalies up to 2000 nT. No clear evidence of magnetic seafloor spreading anomalies has been obtained. Based on the existing geophysical data various researchers suggested that the ridge must have been formed during the Cretaceous positive polarity chron from 124 to 83 Ma, if the irregular magnetic anomalies are due to oceanic basalts. At three locations Cretaceous and Early Cenozoic sediments were recovered from western part of Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge. Two volcanic rock samples were dredged from the Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge. One of them could be dated to 83 Ma. So far, all existing geoscientific data support a formation of this complex in Cretaceous times. However, details on the responsible processes and the plate movements during this period are rather hypothetical.


The genus Trypanosoma comprises numerous species of flagellated vector-borne protozoa that parasitise the blood and tissues of vertebrates. They are ubiquitous in terms of their geographical distribution and host range. In mammals, most species of Trypanosoma have been described from wildlife yet apart from their taxonomy, we know very little about the host parasite relationship, particularly those species in Australia.

Most of what is known about their host parasite relationships, life history, and developmental biology has been obtained from studies on the two species that invade cells and infect humans - T. brucei and T. cruzi - species endemic in Africa and South America respectively, and which are major causes of disease and death in humans and domestic animals. T. brucei is the cause of sleeping sickness as a result of its association with the nervous system, whereas T. cruzi is the cause of Chagas disease that results in cardiac, neurological, and digestive disorders.

Importantly, an Australian species - T. copemani G2 - has also been found to invade cells, thus demonstrating a pathogenic potential previously not associated with trypanosomes from Australia. Recently several new species of Trypanosoma in Australian marsupials (T. copemani (G1 & G2), T. vergrandis, and T. noyesi) have been characterised. These have varying affinities to T. cruzi, including surprisingly similar genetic relationships (e.g. close genetic link of T. noyesi and T. cruzi) and behavioural traits (e.g. cellular invasion by both T. copemani and T. cruzi). Such observations not only raise concerns about the impact of Australian trypanosomes on wildlife health and conservation but also in terms of biosecurity and human health given the potential for local transmission of imported cases of Chagas disease.

Here we present correlative data across a range of length scales demonstrating the ongoing characterisation of several Trypanosoma spp. from Australian wildlife. In particular we have used live cell imaging to show host cell-pathogen interactions (Figure 1), scanning (SEM) (Figure 2) and transmission (TEM) (Figure 3) electron microscopy for structural analysis, and Slice and ViewTM focussed ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM)(Figure 4) to begin to image key structural features (e.g. kinetoplast, flagellum) at high resolution in 3-dimensions.

Together these data are i) providing a greater understanding of the pathogenic potential and host-parasite relationships of trypanosomes in Australian marsupials; ii) allowing for identification of biosecurity issues relating to potential local hosts and transmission of exotic species; and iii) generating information about the role of trypanosomes as a potential cause of disease in threatened and endangered Australian marsupials.


Despite a strong commercial trend towards wearable technology, this thesis considers the distal devices that have played an important role in our lives for over twenty years. Suggesting that the distance we have had between our bodies and our devices has given us the space to form meaningful relationships; the research explores how these relationships change when our devices migrate onto and into our bodies in the form of wearable technologies. The methodology of performative scenarios is developed to examine examples of relationships between people and their devices. Using examples of technologies that live with us now to inform the design of future technological developments reflects a post-phenomenological perspective calling for a materially oriented design approach. This thesis will explore this approach through focusing on the question; what would we lose if our distal devices became wearable devices? Ideations aiming to prevent any loss caused by the transition of devices from distal to wearable will provide examples of post-phenomenological wearable technology that not only maintains our relationships with our devices, but also helps our relationships to grow.


The teachers of Northminster Learning Center, a faith-based early childhood education program, are adept at documenting and sharing children's learning. They photograph children involved in Godly Play and religious activities, record what children say and do, and engage children in conversation about spiritual issues. When they combined a study group on children's spirituality with increased documentation they were surprised at the depth of children's thoughts. A documentation display of what they learned not only communicated how Christian formation occurs in the program but also significantly changed viewers ideas about the importance of spirituality in the early years.


We have recently shown that differentiating bone cells are capable of elaborating, in vitro, a calcified matrix at the interface with several non-biological substrata which is similar to cement lines found in remodelling bone tissue. From previous morphological observations, this matrix appeared free of assembled collagen fibres which indicated that osteogenic cells produce an initial mineralized matrix before overt collagen fibre production. In the work reported herein, we used six antibodies to extracellular matrix components and two conjugates of secondary antibody, fluorescein and colloidal gold, to initiate a preliminary characterization of the organic components at the bone cell substratum interface at early periods of culture. The labels were visualized by transmitted fluorescence light and immuno-gold scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Both secondary and backscattered modes were employed in the latter . The results showed that while chondroitin sulphate was ubiquitous in this culture system, osteopontin labeled discretely at the ends of cell pseudopodia, initially, following which the substratum surface was strongly labeled. The distribution of fibronectin was significantly different to that of osteopontin and indicated that this protein was primarily involved in cell/cell rather than cell/substratum adhesion. Although Type I collagen was not present in the extracellular matrix at early periods of culture, it was evident intracellularly at 3 days and extracellularly after the formation of the initial cement-like matrix. However, Type III collagen displayed the inverse sequence. In less mature cultures, it exhibited a ubiquitous distribution, while it was un-detectable at later stages of culture. Finally, osteocalcin was the only antibody employed which showed no labeling at early culture periods while at later stages, both the cellular compartment and the previously formed interfacial matrix labeled positively.


The objectives of this study were to quantitate the effects of local tumor hyperthermia (LTH) and concomitant x‐irradiation (RAD) on a moderately radioresistant murine fibrosarcoma in situ. Comparisons were made to the combined treatment response on the Ridgway osteogenic sarcoma, a radio sensitive tumor previously used in this laboratory and to establish the Meth‐A fibrosarcoma as a model system for combined modality studies. 1.0 cm3 tumors were exposed to single doses of RAD ranging from 0.5–3.8 krad alone or 0.5–2.3 krad in combination with LTH (water bath at 43.1 ± .05 C for 20 minutes) applied immediately postirradiation. LTH significantly enhanced the action of radiation as measured by tumor volume analysis, mean survival time and cures. The ratio of radiation doses vs. RAD + LTH required to produce an equivalent response ranged from 1.4 to 2.5 depending upon the endpoints evaluated. These findings are consistent with single dose studies on the radiosensitive Ridgway osteogenic sarcoma and suggest that the tumoricidal effectiveness of combination radiation and hyperthermia cannot be predicted on the basis of the radiation alone responsiveness of tumor. Cancer 42:2591–2595, 1978.


The review provides a detailed analysis of main trends in Russia's economy in 2011. The publication contains 6 big sections that highlight single aspects of Russia's economic development: the socio-political context; the monetary and credit spheres; financial sphere; the real sector; social sphere; institutional challenges. The paper employs a huge mass of statistical data that forms the basis of original computation and numerous charts


HeLa X human skin fibroblast hybrid cells have been developed into a model for radiation-induced neoplastic transformation of human cells. Previous studies indicate that the appearance of neoplastically transformed foci in this system is delayed for several population doublings after irradiation and appears to involve the loss of putative tumor suppressor loci on fibroblast chromosomes 11 and 14. We now show that after treatment with 7 Gy of X-rays, transformed foci initiation correlates with delayed apoptosis initiated in the progeny of the irradiated cells after 10-12 cell divisions and with reduced plating efficiency (delayed death). The cells develop classic apoptotic morphology, positive terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick end labeling and phosphatidylserine (annexin V) staining, and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. In addition, a delayed induction of the p53 protein and the proapoptotic Bax protein is evident over a week after radiation exposure. We propose that a delayed build-up of mitosis-dependent genomic DNA damage or a loss of genetic material over time (10-12 cell divisions postirradiation) has two relevant outcomes: (a) cell death due to the delayed induction of a p53-dependent apoptosis; and (b) neoplastic transformation of a minor subset of survivors that has lost fibroblast chromosomes 11 and 14 (tumor suppressor loci for this system) and has either evaded apoptosis or not acquired enough genetic damage to induce apoptosis. It is postulated that both phenomena result from X-ray-induced, translesion-mediated genomic instability.


As for all materials, the performance of concrete is determined by its microstructure. Its microstructure is determined by its composition, its curing conditions, and also by the mixing method and mixer conditions used to process the concrete. This paper gives an overview of the various types of mixing methods and concrete mixers commercially available used by the concrete industry. There are two main types of mixers used: batch mixers and continuous mixers. Batch mixers are the most common. To determine the mixing method best suited for a specific application, factors to be considered include: location of the construction site (distance from the batching plant), the amount of concrete needed, the construction schedule (volume of concrete needed per hour), and the cost. Ultimately, the quality of the concrete produced determines its performance after placement. An important measure of the quality is the homogeneity of the material after mixing. This paper will review mixing methods in regards to the quality of the concrete produced. Some procedures used to determine the effectiveness of the mixing will be examined.


We measured δ13C of CO2, CH4, and acetate‐methyl in profundal sediment of eutrophic Lake Dagow by incubation experiments in the presence and absence of methanogenic inhibitors chloroform, bromoethane sulfonate (BES), and methyl fluoride, which have different specificities. Methyl fluoride predominantly inhibits acetoclastic methanogenesis and affects hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis relatively little. Optimization of methyl fluoride concentrations resulted in complete inhibition of acetoclastic methanogenesis. Methane was then exclusively produced by hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis and thus allowed determination of the fractionation factors specific for this methanogenic pathway. Acetate, which was then no longer consumed, accumulated and allowed determination of the isotopic signatures of the fermentatively produced acetate. BES and chloroform also inhibited CH4 production and resulted in accumulation of acetate. The fractionation factor for hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis exhibited variability, e.g., it changed with sediment depth. The δ13C of the methyl group of the accumulated acetate was similar to the δ13C of sedimentary organic carbon, while that of the carboxyl group was by about 12% higher. However, the δ13C of the acetate was by about 5% lower in samples with uninhibited compared with inhibited acetoclastic methanogenesis, indicating unusual isotopic fractionation. The isotope data were used for calculation of the relative contribution of hydrogenotrophic vs. acetoclastic methanogenesis to total CH4 production. Contribution of hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis increased with sediment depth from about 35% to 60%, indicating that organic matter was only partially oxidized in deeper sediment layers.


A large number of new constructs are introduced into marketing. These new constructs are important in the development of marketing theories. The validation of these constructs are primarily based on a factor analytical framework (e.g., Churchill's paradigm), with a validation rationale found in Classical Test Theory. However as the limitations of Classical Test Theory are widely realized by many researchers, alternative measurement theories might provide better and more coherent guidelines for marketing researchers with regard to how to measure and validate marketing constructs. In this thesis I look at two alternative measurement theories, Item Response Theory and Generalizability Theory, in addition to Classical Test Theory. Both Item Response Theory and Generalizability Theory have recently become more important for marketing measurement. This thesis addresses how the constructs are measured based on these three theories and how these measurement theories differ from each other. After a detailed review of each theory, the theories are contrasted, especially in terms of construct validation. It is found that Classical Test Theory, Item Response Theory, and Generalizability Theory vary in how they address different measurement issues. They differ in terms of how constructs are defined, measured, and validated. However, the validation process employed for these three theories can only provide empirical evidence, or indications, for the construct validity but cannot provide evidence as to whether constructs exist or not. This will be a challenging research question for future research.


This study is about to establish the effects of deposit mobilization on the bank financial performance in commercial banks in Rwanda. A case study of Equity bank Rwanda limited. Deposits are an indispensable tool commercial banks use to enhance its profitability through advancing deposits mobilized to its customers in form of loans which make in return interest to commercial banks. The lending activity is made possible only if the banks can mobilize enough funds from their customers. Specific objectives of this study are to determine the effect of marketing strategies on the financial performance of commercial banks in Rwanda, to establish the effect of interest rate changes on the financial performance of commercial banks in Rwanda and to determine the effect of banking technology introduced on the financial performance of commercial banks in Rwanda. The target population for the study was the bank managers involved in deposit mobilization namely the marketing team and the branch management team in Equity bank Rwanda. The research used a census to study a population of 27 staff. The main source of data was the primary and secondary data. The documentary method, the questionnaire as research instruments were used to get the data needed for the research. Data were processed by use of descriptive statistics after editing have been done. The computer software SPSS version 20 was used as a device to accommodate analysis. Pearson and Spearman's correlation analysis was used to test the nature of relationship. The findings indicated that majority of the respondents (85%) confirmed that the brand name of the Equity Bank is recognized in the public this has made able overcoming challenges mostly facing high competition with other banks. The marketing strategy used made the bank to increase in terms of customers and it has led to the increase in deposits over the years. The findings also indicated that a positive change in deposits interest rate affects the level of deposits received and later on the profitability of the bank. The study revealed that the introduction of innovative banking technology has led to the increase in deposits at a low cost as opposed to the usual way of getting deposits through term deposits and made financial services accessible in the unbanked people. This also made the ROA, ROE, net profit increasing due as the loans volume increases. The statistical correlation revealed that there is a positive relationship between deposits mobilization and financial performance of commercial banks in Rwanda, the case of Equity Bank. The study recommends the bank to develop other strategies towards marketing and mobilize more deposits as they are indispensable tools towards the profitability of the bank.


In the known literature, hapax legomena in an English text or a collection of texts roughly account for about 50% of the vocabulary. This sort of constancy is baffling. The 100-million-word British National Corpus was used to study this phenomenon. The result reveals that the hapax/vocabulary ratio follows a U-shaped pattern. Initially, as the size of text increases, the hapax/vocabulary ratio decreases; however, after the text size reaches about 3,000,000 words, the hapax/vocabulary ratio starts to increase steadily. A computer simulation shows that as the text size continues to increase, the hapax/vocabulary ratio would approach 1.


Tunable coupling of superconducting qubits has been widely studied due to its importance for isolated gate operations in scalable quantum processor architectures. Here, we demonstrate a tunable qubit-qubit coupler based on a floating transmon device which allows us to place qubits at least 2 mm apart from each other while maintaining over 50 MHz coupling between the coupler and the qubits. In the introduced tunable-coupler design, both the qubit-qubit and the qubit-coupler couplings are mediated by two waveguides instead of relying on direct capacitive couplings between the components, reducing the impact of the qubit-qubit distance on the couplings. This leaves space for each qubit to have an individual readout resonator and a Purcell filter needed for fast high-fidelity readout. In addition, the large qubit-qubit distance reduces unwanted non-nearest neighbor coupling and allows multiple control lines to cross over the structure with minimal crosstalk. Using the proposed flexible and scalable architecture, we demonstrate a controlled-$Z$ gate with $(99.81 \pm 0.02)\%$ fidelity.


Estuaries are amongst the most productive and important ecosystems on the planet but are vulnerable to physico-chemical alterations within their waters. Water quality and health monitoring therefore requires the timely retrieval of physico-chemical concentrations. Whilst accurate, water quality retrieval performed through field sampling is often expensive, time consuming and unsuitable across larger spatial scales. remote sensing offers a possible solution to these problems. This study therefore assessed the ability of Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 remotely sensed imagery in estimating physico-chemical health within the Umdloti Estuary, South Africa. Sampling of the Umdloti Estuary was conducted over winter and spring where the in situ conditions of temperature, turbidity, secchi disk depth (SDD), salinity, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), chlorophyll-a (chl-a), dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH were retrieved through field and lab testing. Remote sensing algorithms were thereafter used to estimate the values of these parameters. Results from the comparison of the two approaches showed that temperature and turbidity were able to be accurately retrieved with best respective coefficients of determination (R2) of 0.96 and 0.97 and root mean squared error (RMSE) of 2.648 °C and 2.944 NTU. Chl-a, TDS and EC had respective inaccurate R2 values of 0.031, 0.576 and 0.037 but accurate RMSE of 0.902 μg/l, 638.159 mg/l and 1.801 μS/cm. These parameters were poorly modelled but accurate absolute concentrations could be estimated. Salinity, DO, pH and SDD estimation was poor. These parameters had a respective R2 values of 0.45, 0.53, 0.23 and 0.0007 as well as RMSE of 5.84, 1.91 ppm, 2.15 and 1.43 m. The optical inactivity of these physico-chemical parameters and unique complexity of estuarine waters were likely culprits in failed estimation. Positively, algorithms modified by this study showed greatly increased accuracy and future promise in the estimation of every parameter except secchi disk depth and pH. The estuary was determined to be in poor health due to a lack of improvements in physico-chemical conditions since it was last classified as poor. In future, studies should continue to refine algorithms for use in Umdloti Estuary and its health should be safeguarded.


We have studied the pH and the temperature effects on copper ions' adsorption on natural and treated clays from Algeria. The clay was also treated to improve the adsorption capacity. X-ray diffraction identified montmorillonite and kaolinite as major clay minerals. The Langmuir adsorption model was used for the mathematical description of the adsorption equilibrium and the equilibrium data adhered very well to this model. The treated and natural clay had a monolayer adsorption capacity equal to 15.40 and 12.22 mg/g, respectively, at pH value of 6.5 and temperature 20 °C, the adsorption isotherms could be fitted with Langmuir isotherms, and the coefficients indicated favorable adsorption of Cu(II) on the clays. Determination of the thermodynamic parameters, H, S , and G showed that the adsorption process was spontaneous and exothermic accompanied by a decrease in entropy and Gibbs energy. Results of this study will be useful for future scale-up for using this material as a low-cost adsorbent for the removal of Cu(II) from wastewater.


After explaining the concept of "proof beyond a reasonable doubt," many trial courts will conclude their burden of proof instructions by telling jurors "not to search for doubt" but instead "to search for the truth."  Criminal defense lawyers have argued that such truth-based instructions improperly lower the burden of proof to a mere preponderance of evidence standard.  Prosecutors, however, have dismissed defense lawyers' concerns as pure speculation. To resolve this dispute, Professor Lawrence White and I empirically tested the impact of truth-based jury instructions on verdicts.  In our two recently published studies, mock jurors who received truth-based instructions convicted at significantly higher rates than jurors who were simply instructed on reasonable doubt.  Jurors who received the truth-based instructions were also far more likely to mistakenly believe it was proper to convict even when they had a reasonable doubt about guilt.   Based on plain language, logical argument, and now the supporting empirical evidence, we defense lawyers have been asking trial courts to remove truth-related language from their burden of proof jury instructions.  Prosecutors, however, are fighting to keep these burden-lowering, truth-based instructions and have made twenty different arguments when attempting to preserve the status quo.  This Article collects, organizes, and debunks these prosecutorial arguments.  Its purpose is to assist criminal defense lawyers and judges in recognizing and responding to invalid arguments, many of which are based on logical fallacies, misstatements of law, misrepresentations of fact, or a gross misunderstanding of the scientific research.  Debunking these prosecutorial arguments is a critical step in winning the battle over the burden of proof and protecting each defendant's right to remain free of conviction "except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt."


This preliminary study aims to investigate children's ability to understand that the emotional
expressions that occur in pretend play do not necessarily coincide with the emotions people feel
inside. Previous research has found that children aged 4 and 6 have difficulty to distinguish between
the external and the internal emotion of a character who pretends an emotion. In the present work,
thirteen 4-year-olds and eight 6-year-olds were administered stories in which a character simulated
an emotion. Differently from previous research, the questions addressed to the children did not
focus on the distinction external/internal emotion but on the distinction between real/pretend emotion.
Furthermore, since previous research has suggested that children may understand better selfpretence
than pretence of others, the participants in our study were engaged in a pretence situation
where they had to pretend to be happy. The results obtained showed that, contrary to previous
research, most 4- and 6-year-olds realize that pretend emotions may not be real, and this was true
both for self-pretence and for the pretence of others.


Background: Amputations and disarticulation
of the limbs are becoming a public health problem. Goal: To describe the
epidemiological and etiological aspects of limb amputation in Kisangani.
Methods: A retrospective study of three health facilities in the city of
Kisangani: Kisangani Clinical University, General Hospital Makiso-Kisangani
Reference and Kabondo Reference General Hospital from 1st January 2005 to 31st
December 2014 counted 62 cases of amputation. Results: The prevalence of 14.69%
of all interventions of limbs. The age group of 57 - 75 years is the most concerned
and the male/female sex ratio is 2.9/1. The unemployed are most affected 51.6%.
The lower limb is concerned in 88.7%, including 30.6% in the lower leg and the
right side is reached in 56.5% of cases. Diabetic gangrene (30.1%) is
criminalized followed by traumatism (27.4%). The mortality rate is 17.8%.
Conclusion: The amputation of limbs is a situation encountered in Kisangani.
The adult male is most affected. Diabetic gangrene and open fractures are the
most encountered causes. Mortality is high. The early management of diabetics
and open fractures is a mandatory.