This paper presents the analytical study on the dynamic response of a natural stone block masonry minaret of a historical mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. A three-dimensional finite element model of the whole minaret, adjusted with former in situ ambient vibration test results, was used in order to get probable lateral displacements, stresses, and understanding of failure modes under seismic loading. Particularly, FEM has been used to evaluate the seismic safety of the minaret in present-day condition and after the application of a proposed strengthening method. In this method, by utilizing the fiber reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) material, the critical cross-sections were jacketed. The appearing damage for the bare minaret obtained from FEM analyses was located at the boot and transition part of the minaret. After FRCM material was wrapped around these critical cross-sections, the analytical results indicated that such method appears effective in terms of the seismic response. It also appears less invasive in terms of the conservation of historical heritage like minarets without causing aesthetic conflict on the existing structure when compared to other available techniques.


This article announces the Biochemical Society and Portland Press' joint commitment to commencing a sustainable and equitable transition to open access and describes early steps on our road to a more 'open' ethos. The paywall conundrum is explored as part of this, and Portland Press' first steps towards transformative models are described.


We use data from an innovative nationally representative survey of 6,000 Pakistanis in April 2009 to study beliefs about political Islam, Sharia, the legitimacy and efficacy of jihad, and attitudes towards specific militant organizations. These issues are at the forefront of U.S. policy towards Pakistan. Four results shed new light on the politics of militancy and Islamic identity in Pakistan. First, there is no relationship between measures of personal religiosity and the likelihood a respondent expresses highly sectarian sentiments. Second, militarized jihad is widely seen as legitimate in Pakistan but there are substantial regional differences in the acceptance of militarized jihad. Third, attitudes towards militant groups vary dramatically across groups, particularly when it comes to the efficacy of their actions. Fourth, while Pakistanis express massive levels of support for Sharia law, this is driven by its perceived connection with good governance, not by sympathy with the goals of militant groups claiming to implement it.


Acquisition of data is a difficult task in many applications of machine learning, and it is only natural that one hopes and expects the population risk to decrease (better performance) monotonically with increasing data points. It turns out, somewhat surprisingly, that this is not the case even for the most standard algorithms that minimize the empirical risk. Non-monotonic behavior of the risk and instability in training have manifested and appeared in the popular deep learning paradigm under the description of double descent. These problems highlight the current lack of understanding of learning algorithms and generalization. It is, therefore, crucial to pursue this concern and provide a characterization of such behavior. In this paper, we derive the first consistent and risk-monotonic (in high probability) algorithms for a general statistical learning setting under weak assumptions, consequently answering some questions posed by Viering et al. 2019 on how to avoid non-monotonic behavior of risk curves. We further show that risk monotonicity need not necessarily come at the price of worse excess risk rates. To achieve this, we derive new empirical Bernstein-like concentration inequalities of independent interest that hold for certain non-i.i.d.~processes such as Martingale Difference Sequences.


DOI 10.24972/ijts.2017.36.2.1 Abstract This paper explores how mythical figures and comicbook superheroes can 1) inspire personal growth, social and planetary change, and 2) explicate aspects of the deep ecology movement and transpersonal ecosophy that invite further academic inquiry while at the same time 3) speak to concerns that ignite the interests of popular culture and personal mythology. Likewise the ecopsychological significance of modern fictional characters in comicbooks, graphic novels, and films will be examined. It is divided into two parts. Part 1 provides a theoretical examination of how definitions of the terms myth and hero and hero's journey are framed, and their implications for understanding personal and transpersonal growth. Part 2 provides portraits of individual characters from comicbook lore, their evaluation, and their significance toward raising collective archetypal awareness of the psyche's relationship with Earth—an ecopsychological framework. In addition the paper offers practical examples of how this understanding of comicbook lore can be used for cultivating a new quality of life on a planetary scale. Creative Commons License


Faith and evolution provide complementary - and sometimes conflicting - models of the world, and they also can model the adoption of programming languages. Adherents of competing paradigms, such as functional and object-oriented programming, often appear motivated by faith. Families of related languages, such as C, C++, Java, and C#, may arise from pressures of evolution. As designers of languages, adoption rates provide us with scientific data, but the belief that elegant designs are better is a matter of faith.This talk traces one concept, second-order quantification, from its inception in the symbolic logic of Frege through to the generic features introduced in Java 5, touching on features of faith and evolution. The remarkable correspondence between natural deduction and functional programming informed the design of type classes in Haskell. Generics in Java evolved directly from Haskell type classes, and are designed to support evolution from legacy code to generic code. Links, a successor to Haskell aimed at AJAX-style three-tier web applications, aims to reconcile some of the conflict between dynamic and static approaches to typing.


Present value based asset pricing models are explored empirically in this thesis. Three contributions are made. First, it is shown that a market timing strategy may be implemented in an excessively volatile market such as the S&P500. The main premise of the strategy is that asset prices may revert to the present value over time. The present value is computed in real-time where the present value variables (future dividends, dividend growth and the discount factor) are forecast from simple models. The strategy works well for monthly data and when dividends are forecast from autoregressive models. The performance of the strategy relies on how discount rates are empirically defined. When discount rates are defined by the rolling and recursive historic average of realized returns, the strategy performs well. The discount rate and dividend growth can also be derived using a structural approach. Using the Campbell and Shiller log-linearized present value equation, and assuming that expected and realized dividend growth are unit related, a state space model is constructed linking the price-dividend ratio to expected returns and expected dividend growth. The model parameters are estimated from the data and, are used to derive the filtered expected returns and expected dividend growth series. The present value is computed using the filtered series. The trading rule tends to perform worse in this case. Discount rates are again found to be the major determinant of its success. Although the structural approach offers a time series of discount rates which is less volatile, it is on average higher than that of the historical mean model. The filtered expected returns is a potential predictor of realized returns. The predictive performance of expected returns is compared to that of the price-dividend ratio. It is found that expected returns is not superior to the price-dividend ratio in forecasting returns both in-sample and out-of-sample. The predictive regression included both simple Ordinary Least Squares and Vector Autoregressions. The second contribution of this thesis is the modeling of expected returns using autoregressive fractionally integrated processes. According to the work of Granger and Joyeux(1980), aggregated series which are derived from utility maximization problems follow a Beta distribution. In the time series literature, it implies that the series may have a fractional order (I(d)). Autoregressive fractionally models may have better appeal than models which explicitly posit unit roots or no unit roots. Two models are presented. The first model, which incorporates an ARFIMA(p,d,q) within the present value through the state equations, is found to be highly unstable. Small sample size may be a reason for this finding. The second model involves predicting dividend growth from simple OLS models, and sequentially netting expected returns from the present value model. Based on the previous finding that expected returns may be a long memory process, the third contribution of this thesis derives a test of long memory based on the asymptotic properties of the variance of aggregated series in the context of the Geweke PorterHudak (1982) semiparametric estimator. The test makes use of the fact that pure long memory process will have the same autocorrelation across observations if the observations are drawn at repeated intervals to make a new series. The test is implemented using the Sieve-AR bootstrap which accommodates long range dependence in


XML (eXtensible Markup Language) became in recent years the new standard for data representation and exchange on the WWW. This has resulted in a great need for data cleaning techniques in order to identify outlying data. In this paper, we present a technique for outlier detection that singles out anomalies with respect to a relevant group of objects. We exploit a suitable encoding of XML documents that are encoded as signals of fixed frequency that can be transformed using Fourier Transforms. Outliers are identified by simply looking at the signal spectra. The results show the effectiveness of our approach.


Metadata has the proven ability to provide information necessary for successful long-term curation of digital objects. However, without curation metadata itself may deteriorate in terms of its quality and integrity over time. Therefore, a digital curation process needs to incorporate the curation of metadata along with that of data in order to ensure the accurate description of data over time. Unfortunately, no comprehensive method for effective curation of metadata for long periods of time is known to exist at present. Even the Reference Model for Open Archival Information System (OAIS), despite being the most comprehensive and widely adopted framework for long-term data preservation, fails to address the requirements of long-term metadata curation in a comprehensive and unambiguous manner.  This paper presents an approach to efficiently curating digital metadata over the long-term that is achieved through articulating the metadata curation related ambiguities of the OAIS Reference Model. The approach essentially involves the use of a "Metadata Curation Model", which is a specialised edition of the "Data Management" module of the OAIS Reference Model, dedicated to the purpose of long-term metadata curation.


ABSTRACT Africa and for that matter the Gulf of Guinea cannot be indifferent to the global energy politics of the 21st century. The increasing importance of the region has attracted major actors in the energy sector. The competing interests of these actors are played out in various forms. This heightened interest in the region, especially with the discovery of oil in huge commercial quantities, has brought the importance of the area into focus in global oil politics. This paper looks at the importance of the region in light of the huge energy potentials of the Gulf of Guinea and how the institution of proper governance systems could serve as an important factor in ensuring the proper management of the resource.


Comparative studies contribute significantly to determining principles of renal physiology. Examples of comparative relationships important for past, current, or future studies are discussed. Structural simplicity of the avian glomerulus may permit detailed analysis of filtration pressure profiles. Alterations in nephron function, redistribution of filtration among nephron populations, and control by antidiuretic hormone and other factors are readily demonstrable in nonmammalian vertebrates. Studies of the distal tubule-glomerular feedback mechanism may be particularly revealing in nephrons of nonmammalian vertebrates, many of which lack a macula densa. The influence of volume flow rate in collecting ducts on the concentrating mechanism can be analyzed readily in avian kidneys in which glomerular intermittency influences such flow. The structure of Henle's loops may be related to the importance of sodium, chloride, and urea in avian and mammalian concentrating mechanisms. Perfusion of isolated reptilian renal tubules to study urate transport has also raised questions about fluid absorption and may permit more detailed analysis of some other transport systems than perfusion of mammalian tubules. Simplicity of some nonmammalian systems and exaggerated functions in these systems should continue to make them useful for revealing basic principles of renal function.


Superhydrophobic surfaces demonstrate remarkable advantages involving interfacial issues but limited practical applications due to their poor mechanical robustness and environmental durability. The required micro-/nano-hierarchical structures and low-surface-energy nanocomponents are very vulnerable to physical and chemical destruction. Moreover, harsh conditions fundamentally weaken the mechanical strength of already-constructed robust superhydrophobic surfaces. In this work, inorganic adhesives are proposed to strengthen the bonding force between superhydrophobic coatings and various substrates. A simple spray-coating method is adopted to fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces using an all-in-one suspension that contains an aluminum phosphate binder, titanium dioxide nanoparticles, and alkylsilane. The surfaces benefitting from inorganic adhesives still extremely repel water after physical abrasion, and greatly endure harsh conditions including hot oil (80 °C), hot water (80 °C), and hot acetone (50 °C) for 24 h to preserve their high mechanical strength. The prepared coatings also have a self-healing ability against boiling-water treatment, O2-plasma etching, and amphiphilic pollution. Superhydrophobicity can be rapidly regenerated after multiple cycles of high-temperature repairing for 5 min. In addition, the robust interfacial materials exhibit a very reliable performance in oil–water separation after 100 abrasion cycles. Benefiting from the distinctive advantages of inorganic adhesives, interfacial materials will be broadly developed for practical applications in related fields.


Ten years ago, Jim Gray observed that flash was about to replace magnetic disks. He also predicted that the need for low latency would make main memory databases commonplace. Most of his predictions have proven accurate. Today, who can make predictions about the future of the storage hierarchy? Both main memory and storage systems are undergoing profound transformations. First, their design goals are increasingly complex (reconfigurable infrastructure at low latency, high resource utilization and stable energy footprint). Second, the status quo is not an option due to the shortcomings of existing solutions (memory bandwidth gap, inefficiency of generic memory/storage controllers). Third, new technologies are emerging (hybrid memories, non-volatile memories still under non-disclosure agreements, near-data processing in memory and storage). The impact of these transformations on the storage hierarchy is unclear. Yet, they raise interesting research questions.


We study static spherically symmetric solutions of massive bi-gravity theory, free from the Boulware-Deser ghost. We show the recovery of General Relativity via the Vainshtein mechanism, in the weak limit of the physical metric. We find a single polynomial equation determining the behavior of the solution for distances smaller than the inverse graviton mass. This equation is generically of the seventh order, while for a specific choice of the parameters of the theory it can be reduced to lower orders. The solution is analytic in different regimes: for distances below the Vainshtein radius (where General Relativity is recovered), and in the opposite regime, beyond the Vainshtein radius, where the solution approaches the flat metric.


OBJECTIVE
Symptomatic thoracic disc herniations (TDHs) are rare, and multiple TDHs account for an even smaller percentage of symptomatic herniated discs. Most TDHs are found in the lower thoracic spine, with more than 75% occurring below T-8. The authors report a series of 15 patients with multiple symptomatic TDHs treated with a modified transfacet approach.

METHODS
Fifteen patients (9 women and 6 men) with a total of 32 symptomatic TDHs were treated surgically at the authors' institution between 1994 and 2010. The average patient age was 51.1 years. Thirteen patients had 2-level herniation and 2 patients had 3-level disease. The most commonly involved level was T7-8 (10 herniations), followed by T6-7 and T8-9 (6 herniations each). All patients had long-standing myelopathic and/or radicular complaints at the time of presentation. Each disc that exhibited radiographically confirmed compression of the spinal cord or nerve root was considered for resection. Only patients with lateral disc herniations were considered for the modified transfacet approach; patients with a centrally herniated disc underwent ventral or ventral-lateral procedures. The average follow-up time was 30 months.

RESULTS
All patients had successful resection of their herniated discs. All patients with preoperative weakness demonstrated improved strength, and 11 of 12 patients with preoperative pain showed improvement in pain. Sensory loss was less consistently improved. The 2 patients who underwent posterior fixation and fusion achieved radiographically confirmed fusion by the 1-year follow-up. Nine of 10 patients who were working returned to their jobs. Eleven of 12 patients with preoperative back or radicular pain had drastic or complete pain resolution; 1 patient had no change in pain. All 7 patients with preoperative ambulatory difficulty had postoperative gait improvement. Complications were minimal.

CONCLUSIONS
Multiple symptomatic herniated thoracic discs are rare causes of pain and disability, but should be treated surgically because good outcomes can be achieved with acceptably low morbidity.


This research paper examines air cargo infrastructure in the developing world and seeks to apply those findings to the specific air cargo infrastructure situation in Pune, Maharashtra India ( a medium-sized city in need of airfreight infrastructure improvements), as well as determine how it will benefit businesses and the economy. By examining the current state of the air cargo industry, throughout India and the rest of the world along with insights from within the industry popular press and academic journal articles, it was determined that effective usage of facilities and integration (separate parties working together to ensure efficient flow of cargo) and links between other points in the supply chain are important in designing a logistics facility. Additionally, in planning for both intermodal and air-cargo-only facilities, input and buy-in from relevant stakeholders will be very important to ensure the success of a project in Pune. Improved capabilities would allow companies to reduce their costs, and could also have a positive effect on the secondary (nonmanufacturing) sector. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Marketing First Advisor Dawn Pearcy This open access senior honors thesis is available at DigitalCommons@EMU: http://commons.emich.edu/honors/267


This thesis presents an analysis of how one UK Regional Development Agency (RDA) used scenario planning in its construction of the region's Regional Economic Strategy (RES). Strategists are broadly defined to include those within the RDA charged with developing and enacting a consultative strategy making process, the consultants engaged to provide advice and expertise to ensure workshops were conducted effectively, and, individuals representing stakeholder organizations that attended these workshops and responded to written consultations. Four scenarios depicting the region in the year 2020 were produced, which were subsequently presented as an evidence-base for the strategy process. A draft RES was created and issued for consultation. Previous RES development processes had been criticized for their lack of consultation, in this iteration strategists skilfully utilized a recognized strategy making practice as a means of responding to this. The scenario planning approach they adopted bore little resemblance to to the sanitised and context-free recipes commonly presented in the strategy textbooks. The research is a reflective, longitudinal study with data drawn from forty-six semi-structured interviews producing an authentic rich description that illustrates how actors enacted a strategizing process in the complex environment of the UK public sector. The analysis highlights how the strategists were influenced by sometimes conflicting desires and aspirations, and that to reconcile these and ensure deadlines were met inductive, interpretive and subjective acts were required. This analysis presents strategists as bricoleurs, with the documents and draft strategies produced being socially situated co-constructions emerging from negotiated, temporally-bound, power-laden and politically-infused interactions.


Comparisons among repeated levelings along selected lines through the Death Valley region of California and adjacent parts of Nevada have disclosed surprisingly large vertical displacements. The vertical control data in this lightly populated area is sparse; moreover, as much as a third of the recovered data is so thoroughly contaminated by systematic error and survey blunders that no attempt was made to correct these data and they were simply discarded. In spite of these limitations, generally episodic, commonly large vertical displacements are disclosed along a number of lines. Displacements in excess of 0.4 m, with respect to our selected control point at Beatty, Nevada, and differential displacements of about 0.7 m apparently occurred during the earlier years of the 20th century and continued episodically through at least 1943. While this area contains abundant evidence of continuing tectonic activity through latest Quaternary time, it is virtually devoid of historic seismicity. We have detected no clear connection between the described vertical displacements and fault zones reportedly active during Holocene time, although we sense some association with several more broadly defined tectonic features.


To support the continuously increasing number of mobile telephone users around the world, mobile communication systems have become more advanced and sophisticated in their designs. As a result of the great success with the second generation mobile radio networks, deployment of the third and development of fourth generations, the demand for higher data rates to support available services, such as internet connection, video telephony and personal navigation systems, is ever growing. To be able to meet the requirements regarding bandwidth and number of users, enhancements of existing systems and introductions of conceptually new technologies and techniques have been researched and developed. Although new proposed technologies in theory provide increased network capacity, the backbone of a successful roll-out of a mobile telephone system is inevitably the planning of the network's cellular structure. Hence, the fundamental aspect to a reliable cellular planning is the knowledge about the physical radio channel for wide sets of different propagation scenarios. Therefore, to study radio wave propagation in typical Australian environments, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Australian Telecommunications Cooperative Research Centre (ATcrc) in collaboration developed a cellular code division multiple access (CDMA) pilot scanner. The pilot scanner measurement equipment enables for radio wave propagation measurements in available commercial CDMA mobile radio networks, which in Australia are usually deployed for extensive rural areas. Over time, the collected measurement data has been used to characterise many different types of mobile radio environments and some of the results are presented in this thesis. The thesis is divided into an introduction section and four parts based on peer-reviewed international research publications. The introduction section presents the reader with some relevant background on channel and propagation modelling. Also, the CDMA scanner measurement system that was developed in parallel with the research results founding this thesis is presented. The first part presents work on the evaluation and development of the different revisions of the Recommendation ITU-R P.1546 point-to-area radio wave propagation prediction model. In particular, the modified application of the terrain clearance angle (TCA) and the calculation method of the effective antenna height are scrutinized. In the second part, the correlation between the smallscale fading characteristics, described by the Ricean K-factor, and the vegetation density in the vicinity of the mobile receiving antenna is investigated. The third part presents an artificial neural network (ANN) based technique incorporated to predict path loss in rural macrocell environments. Obtained results, such as prediction accuracy and training time, are presented for different sized ANNs and different training approaches. Finally, the fourth part proposes an extension of the path loss ANN enabling the model to also predict small-scale fading characteristics.


The creation of photonic Dirac cones by accidental degeneracy in the Brillouin-zone center was recently reported for both metamaterials with localized electromagnetic resonant states and dielectric photonic crystals without well-defined resonance. Based on the anticipation that there should be a common physical origin in this phenomenon, we systematically examined the relation between mode symmetries and shapes of dispersion curves for both systems. The result strongly suggests the presence of universality of mode symmetries that enable the creation of photonic Dirac cones irrespective of the details of the sample structure.


A cornerstone of the theory of phase transitions is the obser vation that many-body systems exhibiting a spontaneous symmetry breaking in the thermodynamic limit g enerally show extensive fluctuations of an order parameter in large but finite systems. In this work, we introd uce the dynamical analogue of such a theory. Specifically, we consider local dissipative dynamics preparing a steady-state of quantum spins on a lattice exhibiting a discrete or continuous symmetry but with extensive fluctua tions in a local order parameter. We show that for all such processes satisfying detailed balance, there exis t metastable symmetry-breaking states, i.e., states that become stationary in the thermodynamic limit and give a finit e value to the order parameter. We give results both for discrete and continuous symmetries and explicitly show how to construct the symmetry-breaking states. Our results show in a simple way that, in large systems, local dissipative dynamics satisfying detailed balance cannot uniquely and efficiently prepare states with extensi v fluctuations with respect to local operators. We discuss the implications of our results for quantum simulat ors and dissipative state preparation.


BACKGROUND
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer amongst women worldwide, and one distressing complication of breast cancer treatment is breast and upper-limb lymphoedema. There is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of surgical interventions in both the prevention and management of lymphoedema affecting the arm after breast cancer treatment.

OBJECTIVES
1. To assess and compare the efficacy of surgical interventions for the prevention of the development of lymphoedema (LE) in the arm after breast cancer treatment.2. To assess and compare the efficacy of surgical interventions for the treatment of established LE in the arm after breast cancer treatment.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched the Cochrane Breast Cancer Group's Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) and ClinicalTrials.gov for all prospectively registered and ongoing trials on 2 November 2017. Reference lists of included studies were also handsearched by three review authors for additional eligible trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA
All randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing a surgical intervention for the prevention or treatment of lymphoedema of the arm after breast cancer treatment to either standard intervention, placebo intervention, or another surgical intervention were included. Patients of both sexes and all ages who have had treatment for their breast cancer were considered. No limits were applied to language or study location. Three authors independently determined the eligibility of each study.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Three authors independently extracted data for each included study using a pre-designed data extraction pro forma and used Cochrane's 'risk of bias' tool for assessing risk of bias. Dichotomous variables were analysed using the Mantel-Haenszel method to estimate risk ratios (RRs). Differences in continuous variables were expressed as mean differences (MDs). GRADE was used to assess the certainty of the evidence provided by the included studies.

MAIN RESULTS
Two studies involving 95 participants examined surgical interventions for preventing breast cancer-related lymphoedema. Both studies evaluated the efficacy of the lymphaticovenular anastomosis technique as part of a preventative management protocol. Both studies were deemed to be at unclear risk of bias overall. Statistical variation between the studies was low, which increases the reliability of the evidence. However, the two studies were conducted in the same centre. Lymphaticovenular anastomosis appears to result in a reduction in the incidence of lymphoedema compared to nonoperative management with a risk ratio of 0.20 (95% CI 0.06 to 0.63, P = 0.006; 95 participants; low-certainty evidence). The RCTs did not evaluate any of the secondary outcomes.One study involving 36 participants evaluated the effectiveness of vascularised lymph node transfer for treating breast cancer-related lymphoedema. The trial was deemed to be at unclear risk of bias. For participants suffering from stage 2 lymphoedema, the evidence suggested reductions in limb volume (MD -39.00%, 95% CI -47.37% to -30.63%, very low-certainty evidence), pain scores (MD -4.16, 95% CI -5.17 to -3.15, very low-certainty evidence), heaviness sensation (MD -4.27, 95% CI -5.74 to -2.80, very low-certainty evidence), mean number of infections/year (MD -1.22, 95% CI -2.00 to -0.44, very low-certainty evidence), and an improvement in overall function scores (MD -3.77, 95% CI -4.89 to -2.65, very low-certainty evidence) for those who had undergone vascularised lymph node transfer compared to those who had undergone no treatment.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
There is low-certainty evidence that lymphaticovenular anastomosis is effective in preventing the development of lymphoedema after breast cancer treatment based on the findings from two studies. One study providing very low-certainty evidence found that vascularised lymph node transfer is an efficacious option in the treatment of established stage 2 lymphoedema related to breast cancer. Important secondary outcomes in this review were rarely reported in the included studies. More high-quality RCTs are required to further elucidate the effectiveness of surgical interventions in the prevention and treatment of lymphoedema after breast cancer treatment. At the time of this review, no ongoing trials on this topic were identified.


BACKGROUND
Recent experimental evidence indicates that endogenous mechanisms against cerebral vasospasm can be induced via preconditioning.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether these vascular protective mechanisms are also present in vivo in humans with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

METHODS
A multicenter retrospective cohort of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage was examined for ischemic preconditioning stimulus: preexisting steno-occlusive cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and/or previous cerebral infarct. Generalized estimating equation models were performed to determine the effect of the preconditioning stimulus on the primary end points of radiographic vasospasm, symptomatic vasospasm, and vasospasm-related delayed cerebral infarction and the secondary end point of discharge modified Rankin Scale score.

RESULTS
Of 1043 patients, 321 (31%) had preexisting CVD and 437 (42%) had radiographic vasospasm. Patients with preexisting CVD were less likely to develop radiographic vasospasm (odds ratio = 0.67; 95% confidence interval = 0.489-0.930; P = .02) but had no differences in other end points. In terms of the secondary end point, patients with preexisting CVD did not differ significantly from patients without preexisting CVD in mortality or unfavorable outcome in multivariate analyses, although patients with preexisting CVD were marginally more likely to die (P = .06).

CONCLUSION
This retrospective case-control study suggests that endogenous protective mechanisms against cerebral vasospasm-a preconditioning effect-may exist in humans, although these results could be the effect of atherosclerosis or some combination of preconditioning and atherosclerosis. Additional studies investigating the potential of preconditioning in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage are warranted.


Background: Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) play an important role in medical, health and environmental applications. All kinds of microorganisms were found to be able to synthesize GNPs. The optimization of laboratory conditions for achieving more economical benefits of mass production has been studied widely. Methods: This study assesses the enhancing effect of low-level X-rays on the biosynthesis of GNPs by Actinomycetals. The isolated Actinomycetes were grown aerobically in MGYP broth media. The harvested bacteria were suspended in 50 mL aqueous HAuC l4 in 12 Erlenmeyer flask. Each group contained4 flasks. 2 groups of samples were irradiated by 30 mGy and 5 mGy X-rays respectively. The third group as control remained without irradiation. The solutions were shake- incubated for 120 h. Results: After 5 days, the color of first group samples changed from milky to purple, while the color changing occurred after 10 days in the 2nd group samples and the control samples. The UV-vis absorption spectrometry of the irradiated aqueous medium by 30 mGy X-rays confirmed the formation of GNPs. Conclusion: The findings showed that 30 mGy X-rays stimulated the microorganism to form GNPs in a half time in comparison to other groups.


Congenital malformations of female genitalia may be inherited or occur during abnormal embryonic development. They can cause infertility or complicate pregnancy. We refer to the rare congenital developmental defect of the genitalia (uterus septus communicans cum cervix duplex et vagina septa) which is compatible with high risk pregnancy. We demonstrate the importance of accurate description of the defect for monitoring and the successful course and timely adequate termination of pregnancy. Failure to recognize this defect could have fatal consequences, especially for the fetus.


Growing development of renewable energy sources, particularly wind power, has caused great challenges in power system operations need to be carefully investigated. Variability in wind power generation is the main concern regarding wind integration which should be adjusted with a reasonable cost in order to maintain system balance between supply and demand. The continuous augment of Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) has made them as one promising solution due to their flexibility and low-emission. This paper evaluates the interaction of PEV Parking Lots (PLs) in both energy and reserve markets considering the impact of dispersed and gathered wind generation. To this end, a two-stage stochastic framework is adopted with the aim of modeling the day-ahead network-constrained market clearing. The proposed method considers the uncertainty of wind generation as well as the PEV owner's behavior takes into account the arrival/departure time of PEVs to/from the PL, the initial state of charge (SOC) of PEVs, and their battery capacity using a set of scenarios. Several numerical analyzes are carried out to assess the reserve requirement as a result of dispersed or gathered wind generation. Also, the effectiveness of PEV PLs participation in energy and reserve market on wind integration is examined.


In our latest case-control screening analysis of pharmaceuticals for possible carcinogenesis,1 with up to 50 age-, sex-, and follow-back-duration-matched controls, we noted a positive association of oxybutynin with gallbladder cancer risk. In a Kaiser Permanente Northern California database extending from 1996 through 2014, the odds ratio for 8 or more prescriptions dispensed (with at least 2 years of use) compared with 0 prescriptions dispensed was 2.65 (95% confidence interval = 1.41-4.97, p = 0.002), on the basis of 11 exposed cases and 238 exposed controls (unpublished data). Although this could have occurred by chance in a setting of thousands of screenings of 292 drugs and drug groups at 55 cancer sites, oxybutynin is an anticholinergic drug used to treat symptoms of an overactive urinary bladder and is known to relax smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal tract in general, with no mention of an effect on the gallbladder.2 Too few patients with gallbladder cancer in the aforementioned screenings had received other drugs for overactive bladder for meaningful study. Gallstones are an established risk factor for gallbladder cancer, but this association is not well understood, ie, whether gallstones themselves are carcinogenic, or whether gallstone formation is a marker for prolonged exposure of the gallbladder mucosa to carcinogens.3 In addition, detection bias may play a role, especially if the gallstones are symptomatic. Impaired contraction and emptying of the gallbladder is known to foster the development of gallstones.4 Laboratory studies have shown no evidence that oxybutynin is mutagenic or carcinogenic in rodents,2 which supports the view that if oxybutynin use does predispose to gallbladder cancer, this would be via reduced gallbladder motility associated with gallstone formation. This led us to a search of the literature aimed at physicians and the general public for information about anticholinergic drugs and gallstones. Unfortunately, we currently lack financial support for a proper study of the risk of gallstones and gallbladder cancer in relation to oxybutynin use. Such a study would require gathering detailed patient histories of oxybutynin use, gallstone disease, and gallbladder surgery, including time before membership in Kaiser Permanente, and ultrasound testing for silent gallstones, which are present in approximately 10% to 15% of adults.5 A PubMed search for review articles related to drugs and gallstones led to the following drugs described as promoting the formation of gallstones via impaired gallbladder motility: Postmenopausal hormones and oral contraceptives3-4,6-10; somatostatin analogs, especially octreotide4,6,8-13; nitric oxide donors such as glyceryl trinitrate, nitroprusside, and l-arginine; calcium channel antagonists such as nifedipine and verapamil; loperamide; calcitonin; trimebutine; ondansetron; and unspecified spasmolytics.8,11 Only one review article specified anticholinergic drugs as a category.11 Other drugs such as ceftriaxone promote gallstone formation by changing bile composition.6,9,13 Two other articles dealt with immediate effects of acute administration of several different drugs14 and during parenteral nutrition, which is known to impair gallbladder contraction.15 The chapter on gallstone disease in the 10th edition of a highly respected textbook of gastroenterology, published in 2016,16 lists only 3 drugs fostering gallstone formation: Estrogens, octreotide, and ceftriaxone, with only the first 2 described as affecting gallbladder motility.16 From the same textbook, a chapter on intestinal disorders lists the following drugs as diminishing intestinal motility: Tricyclic antidepressants, phenothiazines, some anti-Parkinson disease drugs, anticholinergics—specifically atropine, scopolamine, and belladonna alkaloids—opiates, and loperamide.17 Three online references, from WebMD,18 the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease,19 and the Mayo Clinic,20 listed hormone replacement therapy and birth control pills as drugs fostering gallstone formation. WebMD and the Mayo Clinic also mentioned some cholesterol-lowering medications without being specific. No other drugs were mentioned. Although the association in drug screening between oxybutynin use and the risk of gallbladder cancer that triggered this brief exploration could have been a chance finding, it seems probable that insufficient attention has been paid to the effects of long-term use of anticholinergic pharmaceutical drugs on the motility of the gallbladder from the point of view of both research and clinical care. v


The strength of contrast masking depends not only on spatial but also on temporal parameters. In a previous study (T. P. Saarela & M. H. Herzog, 2008), we showed that the detection of a briefly presented Gabor patch is most strongly impaired when an iso-oriented grating mask immediately follows the Gabor and that this masking effect is relieved when a surround is added to the mask. Here, we studied the spatial characteristics of this backward masking effect. Gradually changing the size of the iso-oriented masking grating changes contrast detection thresholds in a non-monotonic way that can be explained in terms of contrast-dependent spatial summation and inhibition. However, these spatial interactions seem only to take place when the mask is a uniform grating. When the mask is divided into a small center and a larger surround by changing the surround parameters or by adding a small gap, masking is as strong as with the small center mask only. We suggest that spatial interactions are weaker or even absent when the stimulus elements are perceptually segregated.


This study uses 44 high quality liquefaction case histories taken from 22 locations affected by the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence to evaluate four commonly used CPT-VS correlations (i.e., Robertson, 2009; Hegazy and Mayne, 2006; Andrus et al., 2007; McGann et al., 2015b). Co-located CPT soundings and VS profiles, developed from surface wave testing, were obtained at 22 locations and case histories were developed for the Mw 7.1, 4 September 2010 Darfield and Mw 6.2, 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. The CPT soundings are used to generate VS profiles using each of four CPT-VS correlations. These correlated VS profiles are used to estimate the factor of safety against liquefaction using the Kayen et al. (2013) VS-based simplified liquefaction evaluation procedure. An error index is used to quantify the predictive capabilities of these correlations in relation to the observations of liquefaction (or the lack thereof). Additionally, the error indices from the CPT-correlated VS profiles are compared to those obtained using: (1) the Kayen et al. (2013) procedure with surface wave-derived VS profiles, and (2) the Idriss and Boulanger (2008) CPT-based liquefaction evaluation procedure. Based on the error indices, the evaluation procedures based on direct measurements of either CPT or VS provided more accurate liquefaction triggering estimates than those obtained from any of the CPT-VS correlations. However, the performance of the CPT-VS correlations varied, with the Robertson (2009) and Hegazy and Mayne (2006) correlations performing relatively poorly for the Christchurch soils and the Andrus et al. (2007) and McGann et al. (2015b) correlations performing better. The McGann et al. (2015b) correlation had the lowest error indices of the CPT-VS correlations tested, however, none of the CPT-VS correlations provided accurate enough VS predictions to be used for the evaluation of liquefaction triggering using the VS-based liquefaction evaluation procedures.


The remarkable developments in gas turbine materials and cooling technologies have allowed a steady increase in combustor outlet temperature and, hence, in gas turbine efficiency over the last half century. However, the efficiency benefits of higher gas temperature, even at the current levels, are significantly offset by the increased losses associated with the required cooling. Additionally, the advancements in gas turbine cooling technology have introduced considerable complexities into turbine design and manufacture. Therefore, a reduction in coolant requirements for the current gas temperature levels is one possible way for gas turbine designers to achieve even higher efficiency levels. The leading edges of the first turbine vane row are exposed to high heat loads. The high coolant requirements and geometry constraints limit the possible arrangement of the multiple rows of film cooling holes in the so-called showerhead region. In the past, investigators have tested many different showerhead configurations by varying the number of rows, inclination angle, and shape of the cooling holes. However, the current leading edge cooling strategies using showerheads have not been shown to allow a further increase in turbine temperature without the excessive use of coolant air. Therefore, new cooling strategies for the first vane have to be explored. In gas turbines with multiple combustor chambers around the annulus, the transition duct walls can be used to shield, i.e., to protect, the first vane leading edges from the high heat loads. In this way, the stagnation region at the leading edge and the showerhead of film cooling holes can be completely removed, resulting in a significant reduction in the total amount of cooling air that is otherwise required. By eliminating the showerhead the shielding concept significantly simplifies the design and lowers the manufacturing costs. This paper numerically analyzes the potential of the leading edge shielding concept for cooling air reduction. The vane shape was modified to allow for the implementation of the concept and nonrestrictive relative movement between the combustor and the vane. It has been demonstrated that the coolant flow that was originally used for cooling the combustor wall trailing edge and a fraction of the coolant air used for the vane showerhead cooling can be used to effectively cool both the suction and the pressure surfaces of the vane.


People including main stream professional architects sometimes wonder about the reason of or the need for architectural awards while questioning their validity: Are they necessary? I would say yes. Awards are critical; they validate the achievements of professional architects while making their contributions more widely acknowledged by the public, hence promoting excellence in architecture. Some awards recognise the extraordinary lifetime achievement of an architect and others praise projects of virtues that offer guidance for changing the status quo toward a positive change. The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) continues to centre its interest on these three areas. In essence, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture-AKAA addresses contexts in which Muslim communities have substantial presence and, in my view, it has contributed at the physical intervention level and at the architectural thought level in the whole developing or non-Western world. The Award's concern and impact is not only expressed in the conservation of architectural heritage or revitalisation of deteriorated communities or stylistic and symbolic interventions. It is about the enduring values of architecture in creating physical and visual manifestations that speak to their communities, relate effectively to their users and their economic and societal realities. In this editorial, I reflect on selected aspects of Award and its contributions.


This study addresses the dilemmas and challenges facing senior executives who serve on steering committees or other supervising bodies of large and strategically important initiatives. They ultimately bear responsibility, but they are not in a position that allows them to understand all the details of what is going on. They do not have the time, they are distant from the actual work processes, and, after all, executives cannot be experts on everything. These initiatives are often cross-functional, involve breaking new ground, and bring together areas outside of executives' normal expertise. Furthermore, since this these initiatives are temporary, normally in the form of a project, executives cannot rely on learning over time or draw upon established corporate practices. In this situation, how can executives provide the guidance and supervision these initiatives need? How can they avoid abdicating responsibility and becoming spectators to a project run by experts? The management profession has a solid understanding of what project managers and their teams should do. But we do not well understand the challenge for the steering committee that supervises the project managers. The added difficulty comes from organizational distance: hidden information, multiple areas of expertise, non-aligned interests, and other changing circumstances. Some projects fail not because of project management itself, but because of failure of the supervisors to provide the necessary senior leadership and governance to the project. Thus, project supervision has a very important effect on project success. But supervising a temporary, one-off strategic initiative that enters new territory is very different from managing an ongoing business. When the setting is temporary, and separate from your regular executive role, how deeply should you delve into the project? How do you set targets, evaluate progress, align the initiative with the organization, and evaluate the people? Based on interviews with 17 senior managers in three countries (Sweden, Germany and France), plus five investor-board members of start-ups in Shanghai, we make recommendations to senior managers on the composition of a good steering committee and how it should conduct itself. We find that the two dominant challenges of large projects are uncertainty as well as goal agreement among stakeholders. We discover strategies for shaping the steering committee, understanding the project, setting targets and measuring progress, getting the right information from the project, responding to surprises (which always happen in large projects), and for motivating and evaluating the people.


The performance of a product depends on if it is created in terms of expected functional requirements. A product is designed to satisfy some certain tasks. In this study, the design of an automobile seat is handled. Automobile seat design procedure is based on experience and trial-and-error method, rather than structured and scientific methods. Axiomatic design is a design theory providing a systematic approach to engineering design. We propose a new product development algorithm based on axiomatic design principles. The independence axiom of axiomatic design is extended to fuzzy environment. Then, an automobile seat design process is taken into consideration by the proposed algorithm. The design characteristics of an automobile seat and their priorities are determined. Moreover, the design dimensions of an automobile seat are defined for Turkish drivers.


This paper estimates single-index model (SIM) beta coefficients for the major cash crops of Ontario's agricultural-producing counties. Beta coefficients are estimated using per acre gross revenues weighted by (1) the proportion of each crop planted in each county and (2) equal weights. The results show that sometimes substantial differences arise from these procedures. Implications for government policy and farm-level risk-management strategies are discussed. A practical approach for using SIM for farm management purposes is presented and the effects of systematic and nonsystematic risk are discussed.


This paper aims to understand how Spain's business law approaches the companies financial performance's positive element. For this purpose, the study analyses the most pertinent business legislation, to identify legal dispositions, national, and international ones, that deals with the income concept. Internationally, it examines the International Accounting Standards (IAS) and the Conceptual Framework of the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB). In national domains, it analyses the Commerce Code (CC), the national accounting rules, and the corporate income tax law (CIT). The results show that, in order to European accounting harmonization, Spain adopts international accounting rules. In the internal domains, the business legislator was extensive because it expressly established the concept of income, not only in accounting law but also in commerce law. In the tax dimensions, the lawmaker assumes the concept implicitly when accepts the accounting profit as the bases for legal person's income tax determination. This research highpoint the Spanish practice in the process of economic concepts' business national laws incorporation. States can see Spain's knowledge. It keeps them resources and time. Although the relevance of the search, it treats only the Spanish experience.


How large economic stimuli generate individual and aggregate responses is a central question in economics, but has not been studied experimentally. We provided one‐time cash transfers of about USD 1000 to over 10,500 poor households across 653 randomized villages in rural Kenya. The implied fiscal shock was over 15 percent of local GDP. We find large impacts on consumption and assets for recipients. Importantly, we document large positive spillovers on non‐recipient households and firms, and minimal price inflation. We estimate a local transfer multiplier of 2.5. We interpret welfare implications through the lens of a simple household optimization framework.


Human-robot collaboration plays a strong role in industrial production processes. The ISO/TS 15066 defines four different methods of collaboration between humans and robots. So far, there was no robotic system available that incorporates all four collaboration methods at once. Especially for the speed and separation monitoring, there was no sensor system available that can easily be attached directly to an off-the-shelf industrial robot arm and that is capable of detecting obstacles in distances from a few millimeters up to five meters. This paper presented first results of using a 3D time-of-flight camera directly on an industrial robot arm for obstacle detection in human-robot collaboration. We attached a Visionary-T camera from SICK to the flange of a KUKA LBR iiwa 7 R800. With Matlab, we evaluated the pictures and found that it works very well for detecting obstacles in a distance range starting from 0.5 m and up to 5 m.


In the spring of 1940, the Great Depression was still spreading misery throughout the world, and war in Europe threatened to drag America into the conflict. Amid these global troubles a tempest in a teapot was brewing on the island of Manhattan, where the board of the City College of New York had just appointed the renowned philosopher Bertrand Russell to teach. With the appointment of this most celebrated of philosophers, the board had intended to boost the school's image. Instead, it found itself suddenly embroiled in a controversy involving the city's conservative Episcopal bishop, charges that it was encouraging radical and communist views at the college, and political in-fighting between the popular liberal mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, and corrupt Tammany Hall politicians with a hidden agenda. Journalist Thom Weidlich masterfully reconstructs this major political imbroglio, which not only captured the attention of New Yorkers but very quickly received national coverage. As political theatre, with both farcical and dramatic elements, the denial of Russell's appointment is interesting in and of itself: The sanctimonious and outraged Bishop Manning demands to know how the board could have chosen a man with such radical views on sex, marriage, and religion. Then, amazingly, a seemingly ordinary Brooklyn housewife files a lawsuit to stop Russell's appointment. Journalists begin to wonder, what is her motive? Is she being manipulated by Tammany Hall politicians and their rivalry with the liberal mayor? Before long civil libertarians are holding rallies at City College in defence of the philosopher and academic freedom. And for Russell this trying situation couldn't have come at a worse time with his funds running low and his third marriage falling apart. But beyond its intrinsic interest, this 1940s' clash between an independent thinker and the guardians of public morality is still of the greatest relevance in light of today's cultural debates and arguments over standards of decency. Journalist Thom Weidlich has written an engrossing page-turner that brings recent history to life and makes us rethink the perennial issues of free thought and moral standards at publicly funded institutions.


Almost two decades of observations of radio emission in galaxy clusters have proven the existence of relativistic particles and magnetic fields that generate extended synchrotron emission in the form of radio halos. In the current scenario, radio halos are generated through re--acceleration of relativistic electrons by turbulence generated by cluster mergers. Although this theoretical framework has received increasingly supporting observational evidence over the last ten years, observations of statistically complete samples are needed in order to fundamentally test model predictions. In this paper we briefly review our 7--element Karoo Radio Telescope observations of a sample of nearby clusters aimed to test the predictions of the turbulent re--acceleration model in small systems ($M_{500} > 4 \times 10^{14}$ M$_{\odot}$). We conclude by presenting two galaxy cluster surveys to be carried out with MeerKAT in order to provide crucial test of models of radio halo formation in nearby ($z 0.4$) systems respectively.


Despite its important theoretical, empirical and policy implications, sunk-cost hysteresis has not been characterized for the case of model consistent, or rational expectations (previous studies assume that firms believe the forcing variable is generated by some ad hoc, time invariant process such as an iid or Brownian motion process). This omission is significant since if firms do have forward-looking expectations, the existing characterizations cannot be used for empirical testing, or as a guide in developing appropriate econometric techniques. Furthermore, policy conclusions based on such characterizations may be misleading. This paper demonstrates the possibility and characterizes the nature of sunk-cost hysteresis for a broad class of assumptions on the forcing variable process. Most notably this class includes rational or model consistent expectations. Specifically, we show that the firm's problem with a quite general forcing variable process can be reduced to be formally identical to the iid case. Additionally we analytically show that (i) the hysteresis band tends to widen with greater sunk costs, (ii) the effect of greater volatility on the band width depends upon the specific nature of the process generating the uncertainty, and (iii) greater persistence in the shocks has the effect of making well-entrenched firms more likely to exit and of narrowing the band for marginal firms. Lastly we show that the possibility of sunk-cost hysteresis is robust to a number of modifications of the basic sunk cost model.


The molecular imprinting of proteins is of great importance but remains a challenge. Particularly, efficient, universal and facile approaches for protein imprinting are limited. Here we report a new general approach, boronate affinity-based controllable oriented surface imprinting, for the efficient and facile imprinting of glycoproteins. A glycoprotein template was first covalently anchored onto the surface of a boronic acid-functionalized substrate by boronate affinity binding. The substrate surface was then deposited with a thickness-controllable imprinting coating generated by in-water self-copolymerization of dopamine and m-aminophenylboronic acid (APBA). After removal of the template with an acidic solution, 3D cavities complementary to the molecular shape of the template were formed in the imprinting layer. The imprinting layer was hydrophilic and showed limited residual boronic acid, thus non-specific binding was avoided. The approach has significant advantages, including high specificity, high imprinting efficiency, and widely applicable substrates (from 2D to 3D, from regular size to nanoscale). Uniquely, the prepared molecularly imprinted polymers can rebind the templates in dual modes: a high affinity mode (boronate affinity interaction is on) and a low affinity mode (boronate affinity interaction is off), and the overall binding strength can be tuned by adjusting the surrounding pH. Such an affinity-tunable dual-mode binding mechanism enables the binding strength to be adjusted while keeping the specificity, which allows for wider applications, and also sheds new light on the role of affinity-determining factors in molecular imprinting.


We report the discovery of eight new R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using the MACHO project photometry database. The discovery of these new stars increases the number of known RCB stars in the LMC to thirteen. We have also discovered four stars similar to the Galactic variable DY Per. These stars decline much more slowly and are cooler than the RCB stars. The absolute luminosities of the Galactic RCB stars are unknown since there is no direct measurement of the distance to any Galactic RCB star. Hence, the importance of the LMC RCB stars. We find a much larger range of absolute magnitudes (MV = -2.5 to -5 mag) than inferred from the small pre-MACHO sample of LMC RCB stars. It is likely that there is a temperature-MV relationship with the cooler stars being intrinsically fainter. Cool (~5000 K) RCB stars are much more common than previously thought based on the Galactic RCB star sample. Using the fairly complete sample of RCB stars discovered in the MACHO fields, we have estimated the likely number of RCB stars in the Galaxy to be ~3200. The SMC MACHO fields were also searched for RCB stars, but none were found.


Objective To assess extent and determinants of past-month recognition of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADR) and past-year ADR reporting among healthcare professionals (HCPs) in Uganda. Setting Geographically diverse health facilities (public, private for-profit, private not-for-profit). Participants Of 2000 questionnaires distributed, 1345 were completed: return rate of 67%. Primary and secondary outcome measures Per cent HCPs who suspected ADR in the past month; reported ADR in the past year. Results Nurses were the majority (59%, 792/1345). Only half the respondents had heard about pharmacovigilance: 39% of nurses (295/763; 95% CI 35% to 42%), 70% otherwise (383/547; 95% CI 66% to 74%). One fifth (268/1289 or 21%; 95% CI 19% to 23%) had suspected an ADR in the previous 4 weeks, 111 of them were nurses; 15% (190/1296) had reported a suspected ADR in the past year, 103 of them were nurses. Past-month ADR suspicion was more likely by non-nurses (OR=1.7, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.40) and with medical research involvement (OR=1.5, 95% CI 1.05 to 2.15) but past-month receipt of patient ADR-complaint predominated (OR=19, 95% CI 14 to 28). Past-year ADR reporting was higher by hospital staff (OR=1.9, 95% CI 1.18 to 3.10), especially in medicine (OR=2.3, 95% CI 1.08 to 4.73); but lower from private for-profit health facilities (OR=0.5, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.77) and by older staff (OR=0.6, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.91); more likely by HCPs who had ever encountered a fatal ADR (OR=2.9, 95% CI 1.94 to 4.25), knew to whom to report (OR=1.7, 95% CI 1.18 to 2.46), or suggested how to improve ADR reporting (OR=1.6, 95% CI 1.04 to 2.49). Two attitudinal factors were important: diffidence and lethargy. Conclusions One in five HCPs suspected an ADR in the past-month and one in seven reported ADR in the previous year. Empowering patients could strengthen ADR detection and reporting in Africa.


Static, switching and short-circuit characterization of a 10 kV-class Silicon Carbide (SiC) Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) is reported. The 2.4 mm2 SiC BJT show good static and switching behavior. The current gain is low compared to literature, but several issues have been identified and can be improved. For the first time, the Short-circuit ruggedness of a 10 kV SiC-BJT is reported. These tests show outstanding performance with at least 16 µs withstand time. Several samples have been brought to failure and revealed an outstanding 52.1 J/cm2 of short-circuit critical energy at 32% of breakdown voltage. The failure seems to happen on the top face metallization since the devices failed in blocked mode and the base-emitter terminals shorted. The SiC BJT handles without failing at least 3 times the critical Short-circuit energy of the commercial SiC MOSFETs. In addition, switching performance is much better than that of Si-IGBTs.


Whether buried underfoot or strung overhead, electrical lines are omnipresent. Not only are most societies dependent on electrical infrastructure, but this infrastructure actively shapes electrified society. From the wires, poles, and generators themselves to the entrepreneurs, engineers, politicians, and advisors who determine the process of electrification, our electrical grids can create power-and politics-just as they transmit it. Current Flow examines the history of electrification of British-ruled Palestine in the 1920s, as it marked, affirmed, and produced social, political, and economic difference between Arabs and Jews. Considering the interplay of British colonial interests, the Jewish-Zionist leanings of a commissioned electric company, and Arab opposition within the case of the Jaffa Power House, Ronen Shamir reveals how electrification was central in assembling a material infrastructure of ethno-national separation in Palestine long before "political partition plans" had ever been envisioned. Ultimately, Current Flow sheds new light on the history of Jewish-Arab relations and offers broader sociological insights into what happens when people are transformed from users into elements of networks.


Fish is a food that is consumed many people other than as an export
commodity. Fish not only has good taste, it also has nutrients that are very useful.
Basically, fish processing aims to prevent damage or decay. Gelatin is a protein
that can be extracted from the bone. Gelatin in the bones was extracted by hot
water at a temperature 60-100 ° C. A good extraction can result in 14-15% yield
(calculated from the weight of bone). Extraction of gelatin from fish bones is a
business of fish processing waste.
The purpose of this experiments is to determine whether the best processes,
and determine the time it takes to get good results.
The process is done through 4 stages of degreasing, demineralization,
extraction, and drying. Degreasing process includes cleaning the bone by soaking
in boiling water for ± 30 minutes and then drained. The process involves
immersing the bone demineralization in 5% HCl solution, wash, drain, and
cutting. And for stirring performed bone pulverization process into a powder.
Extraction process involves stringing tools and materials, then extracting at a
temperature of ± 90 ° C for (2, 3, 4 hours), further refine the extracted and
concentrated. The process of drying involves drying the solid in an oven at a
temperature of ± 50oC for 24 hours. It was grinded to reduce size and analyze the
best results.
From the experiments it was found that the process is best with a 1:3 ratio
stirring for 4 hours. And from the results of sensory test can be said that the
respondents most preferred products and product closer to market is a product
obtained from the extraction of gelatin with stirring


Humans are using natural products from thousands of years. Plantbased drugs have formed the basis of traditional medicine systems that have been used for centuries in many countries such as China and India. [1] Today herbal drugs continue to play an essential role in health care. It has been estimated by the World Health Organization that 80% of the population of the world rely mainly on traditional medicines for their primary health care. [2] Kapikachhu (Mucuna pruriens Linn.) is the most popular drug in Ayurvedic system of medicine. M. Pruriens are generally used to treat impotence. The aphrodisiac properties of the plant of the legume familyimprove the quality and quantity of the sperm. [3] and useful in diabetes mellitus [4] and cancer [5] whereas the seeds have muti-diversefied functions like several free radical mediated diseases management, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, atherosclerosis, nervous disorders, analgesic, antipyretic activity and in the management of Parkinsonism [6] . The most important of these bioactive compounds of plants are alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and phenolic compounds [6] . Here the present review study is an attempt to provide reported detail information of this herb from various samhitas and its study in modern area like its phytoconstituents and pharmacological activities.


Background and Purpose— To investigate relationships between the degree of early reperfusion achieved on perfusion-weighted imaging and clinical outcomes in the Diffusion and Perfusion Imaging Evaluation for Understanding Stroke Evolution studies. We hypothesized that there would be a strong correlation between the degree of reperfusion achieved and clinical outcomes in target mismatch (TMM) patients. Methods— The degree of reperfusion was calculated on the basis of the difference in perfusion-weighted imaging volumes (time to maximum of tissue residue function [Tmax]>6 s) between the baseline MRI and the early post-treatment follow-up scan. Patients were grouped into quartiles, on the basis of degree of reperfusion achieved, and the association between the degree of reperfusion and clinical outcomes in TMM and no TMM patients was assessed. Favorable clinical response was determined at day 30 on the basis of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and good functional outcome was defined as a modified Rankin Scale score ⩽2 at day 90. Results— This study included 121 patients; 98 of these had TMM. The median degree of reperfusion achieved was not different in TMM patients (60%) versus No TMM patients (64%; P=0.604). The degree of reperfusion was strongly correlated with both favorable clinical response (P<0.001) and good functional outcome (P=0.001) in TMM patients; no correlation was present in no TMM. The frequency of achieving favorable clinical response or good functional outcome was significantly higher in TMM patients in the highest reperfusion quartile versus the lower 3 quartiles (88% versus 41% as odds ratio, 10.3; 95% confidence interval, 2.8–37.5; and 75% versus 34% as odds ratio, 5.9; 95% confidence interval, 2.1–16.7, respectively). A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identified 90% as the optimal reperfusion threshold for predicting good functional outcomes. Conclusion— The degree of reperfusion documented on perfusion-weighted imaging after reperfusion therapies corresponds closely with clinical outcomes in TMM patients. Reperfusion of ≥90% of the perfusion lesion is an appropriate goal for reperfusion therapies to aspire to.


Stephen Railton's study of the American Renaissance proposes a fresh way of conceiving the writer as a performing artist and the text as an enactment of the drama of its own performance. Railton focuses on how major prose works of the period are preoccupied with their readers--how they seek to negotiate the conflicted space between the authors, who brought to the act of publication their own anxieties of ambition and identity, and the contemporary American reading public, which, as a growing mass audience in a democracy, had acquired an unprecedented authority over the terms of literary performance. New readings of Emerson's orations, Poe's tales, the sketches of the Southwest Humorists, "Walden," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "The Scarlet Letter," and "Moby-Dick" relocate American writers in the dramatic context in which they suffered and thrived. The book attends closely to historicist issues, arguing that one of the most profound ways that the culture shaped these texts was also the most immediate--as the audience each writer had to address. Equally concerned with biographical themes, it appreciates each of the major works within the larger pattern of the writer's public career and private needs.Originally published in 1991.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


The European Union (EU) does not typify any of the political union models that were proposed for the basis of Us formulation. Quite to the contrary, the Maastricht Treaty interweaves components of these prototypes, with the end result being rather disconcerting at a conceptual level. The Treaty does stipulate, however, that an Intergovernmental Conference take place in 1996-97; an important item on the agenda mil be defining the political union model that will set the stage for further European integration. This paper identifies and analyses the alternative political union models available to EU members, and attempts to discern which of them will, in most likelihood, be selected by the Conference. They are grouped into jour categories: status quo, federation, renationalisation and confederation. These models, each in their unique style, address such issues as alleviating the democratic deficit (explored further in paper) and buttressing the legitimacy of Brussells' institutions. The paper suggests that the Conference will ultimately choose between the status quo and confederation options ; but, faced with the difficulty of predicting which of these choices will win favour - especially given the debate unfolding on eastern EU expansion - it does not attempt to pinpoint the outcome of the Conference. It does conclude, however, that the renationalisation and federation options are not realistic in light of their weak foothold in Europeans' political culture.


Quiescent and aging hair follicle stem cells Stem cells enable normal cell homeostasis, but they also exist in a quiescent state, ready to proliferate and differentiate after tissue damage. Now, two studies reveal features of stem cells in the hair follicle, an epithelial mini-organ of the skin that is responsible for hair growth and recycling (see the Perspective by Chuong and Lei). Wang et al. found that the Foxc1 transcription factor is induced in activated hair follicle stem cells, which in turn promote Nfatc1 and BMP signaling, to reinforce quiescence. Matsumura et al. analyzed hair follicle stem cells during aging. They identified type XVII collagen (COL17A1) as key to hair thinning. DNA damage-induced depletion of COL17A1 triggered cell differentiation resulting in the shedding of epidermal keratinocytes from the skin surface. These changes then caused hair follicle shrinkage and hair loss. Science, this issue p. 559, p. 613; see also p. 10.1126/science.aad4395 DNA damage triggers the destruction of type XVII collagen, resulting in hair follicle stem cell depletion and hair loss. [Also see Perspective by Chuong and Lei] INTRODUCTION During aging, most organs in mammals become smaller (miniaturize) or thinner, and their functions and regenerative capability also decline. Histologically, tissue atrophy and fibrosis are observed in many aged organs. Yet the exact mechanisms for the architectural and functional decline are unknown. Indeed, areas that are as yet underexplored include the dynamics of the constituent cells and their cellular fate, as well as determination of whether aged or damaged cells accumulate or are eliminated in tissues and organs during the aging process. Organismal aging has been explained by various theories—such as reactive oxygen species, cellular senescence, telomere erosion, and altered metabolism—but not from the viewpoint of cellular and tissue dynamics. Stem cell systems sustain cellular and tissue turnover in most mammalian organs, but it has been difficult to experimentally test the precise fate of somatic stem cells, the cellular pool for tissues and organs. This has limited our understanding of the mechanisms of aging of tissues and organs and the existence of an aging program in mammalian organs. The hair follicle (HF) is an epithelial mini-organ of the skin that sustains cyclic hair regrowth over repeated hair cycles. Hair thinning (senescent baldness) is one of the most typical signs of aging in many long-lived mammals and is often prematurely induced by genomic instability, as in progeroid syndromes. We studied the mechanism for aging of the epithelial mini-organ. RATIONALE Miniaturization of HFs has long been believed to be a specific key phenomenon for male-pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia) but not for HF aging. Our study revealed that mammalian HFs do miniaturize and often disappear from the skin during aging both in mice and humans, regardless of sex. We employed in vivo stem cell fate tracing in mice during physiological aging and searched for possible links between the cell fate of aged HF stem cells (HFSCs) and the stepwise miniaturization and loss of HFs. Combining gene expression profiling of young versus aged HFSCs and conditional knockout or maintenance of gene expression in HFSCs in mice, we defined the early events and molecules that connect HF cycling, HFSC aging, and the dynamic HF aging processes, which are characterized by the stepwise miniaturization of HFs. RESULT The fate analysis of HFSCs during aging revealed that organ aging is primed by the sustained DNA damage response against DNA damage that accumulates in renewing stem cells during aging. This now tightly links intrinsic genomic instability in stem cells to epithelial organ aging. Further, we found that stem cell aging results from proteolysis of type XVII Collagen (COL17A1/BP180) by neutrophil elastase in response to DNA damage in HFSCs and the commitment of stem cells to epidermal differentiation. Terminal differentiation of HFSCs into epidermal keratinocytes drives HF miniaturization and enables the elimination of damaged stem cells as shed corneocytes from the skin surface. The fate of aged HFSCs abrogate their commitment to follicular differentiation to grow hair. Finally, HF aging can be recapitulated by Col17a1 deficiency and can be prevented by the forced maintenance of COL17A1 in HFSCs. This demonstrates that COL17A1 in HFSCs orchestrates the stem cell–centric aging program of the epithelial mini-organ. CONCLUSION In vivo stem cell fate tracing of HFSCs revealed the critical role of HFSCs in the induction of aging-associated hair thinning. We identified a distinct organ aging program that is driven by transepidermal elimination of aged HFSCs through their depletion of COL17A1 via DNA damage–induced protease expression and terminal epidermal differentiation. The dynamic HF aging program is a good model of organ and tissue shrinkage and functional decline commonly seen in many different organs during aging. This paradigm could potentially open new avenues for the development of anti-aging strategies to prevent and treat aging-associated diseases. The mechanism of HF aging and associated hair loss. HFs sustain their cyclic regeneration through the intensive self-renewal of activated HFSCs (blue dots). The aging of HFSCs is triggered by DNA damage-induced COL17A1 proteolysis. Once aged HFSCs (red dots) are activated during the hair cycle, they leave the niche and terminally differentiate into epidermal keratinocytes and are then eliminated from the skin surface. Hair thinning and loss are prominent aging phenotypes but have an unknown mechanism. We show that hair follicle stem cell (HFSC) aging causes the stepwise miniaturization of hair follicles and eventual hair loss in wild-type mice and in humans. In vivo fate analysis of HFSCs revealed that the DNA damage response in HFSCs causes proteolysis of type XVII collagen (COL17A1/BP180), a critical molecule for HFSC maintenance, to trigger HFSC aging, characterized by the loss of stemness signatures and by epidermal commitment. Aged HFSCs are cyclically eliminated from the skin through terminal epidermal differentiation, thereby causing hair follicle miniaturization. The aging process can be recapitulated by Col17a1 deficiency and prevented by the forced maintenance of COL17A1 in HFSCs, demonstrating that COL17A1 in HFSCs orchestrates the stem cell–centric aging program of the epithelial mini-organ.


Different profiles of female participation and part-time employment can be observed within Europe. The aim of this paper is to estimate whether there still exists a wage penalty for part-time workers in four European countries (i.e. Austria, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom) after the introduction of Council Directive 97/81/EC concerning the Framework Agreement on part-time work and aiming at eliminate any form of discrimination against part-time workers. Full-time hourly wages exceed part-time hourly wages in all countries. Several explanations can be found in literature: different characteristics of part-time and full-time workers in terms of human capital accumulation, preferences, level of union membership, etc. Also the presence of discrimination against part-time workers within firms can explain this positive wage gap. However the magnitude of these explanations may differ between countries. Using the EU-SILC for the year 2009, we study the full-time/part-time pay differential focusing on the contribution of segregation and selection in explaining the observed positive wage gap. Results show that segregation matters in explaining the full-time/part-time wage gap. We find also evidence of a significant part-time wage premium in Austria and Poland once we control for sample selection.


A major discovery in science was the central dogma: that the digital code of DNA was read and translated by RNA into proteins. The information carried by DNA is thus the genotype, which constitutes the phenotype. While the genotype–phenotype discussion primarily concerns the role of 'real' protein-coding genes, the impact of non-protein-coding elements like transposons on the phenotype has been less recognised. Such noncoding elements constitute however a major share of most genomes, and genome size per se may display a tremendous variability even between closely related organisms. Whether noncoding elements are parasitic 'junk DNA' or are transcribed and thus affect the phenotype is a matter of heated debate. Whether seen as junk or not, noncoding DNA strongly boosts the share genome size, thereby affecting a range of fitness-related phenotypic traits like mutation rate, genomic flexibility, cell size, body size, morphology, growth rate, behaviour, life cycle and potentially also speciation.

Key Concepts

The central dogma postulates that the blueprint of life is coded in the genes, which is read by RNA to produce protein. Thus the genotype constitutes the phenotype.
The genotype (the sum of all DNA) is in most organisms made up by non-protein-coding DNA, often dominated by virus-like transposable elements, and whether this is 'junk' or 'parasitic' DNA of which has a clear function is a heated debate.
The C-value paradox points to the striking variability in genome size even between related organisms, which do not reflect organism complexity.
Even if the noncoding DNA is seen as 'junk', it has however wide implications for a range of phenotypic traits such as cell size, growth rate, metabolism and life history and is an important yet often neglected part of the genotype–phenotype link.
The genome is far more flexible and dynamic than often recognised and is still full of surprises.

Keywords:

genome size;
genotype;
phenotype;
selfish DNA;
transposable elements


Abrupt global warming and profound perturbation of the carbon cycle during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, ca. 55 Ma) have been linked to a massive release of carbon into the ocean-atmosphere system. Increased phytoplankton productivity has been invoked to cause subsequent CO2 drawdown, cooling, and environmental recovery. However, interpretations of geochemical and biotic data differ on when and where this increased productivity occurred. Here we present high-resolution nannofossil assemblage data from a shelf section (the U.S. Geological Survey [USGS] drill hole at Wilson Lake, New Jersey) and an open-ocean location (Ocean Drilling Program [ODP] Site 1209, paleoequatorial Pacific). These data combined with published biotic records indicate a transient steepening of shelf-offshelf trophic gradients across the PETM onset and peak, with a decrease in open-ocean productivity coeval with increased nutrient availability in shelf areas. Productivity levels recovered in the open ocean during the later stages of the event, which, coupled with intensified continental weathering rates, may have played an important role in carbon sequestration and CO2 drawdown.


ABSTRACT The present study investigated the adsorption behaviour of Direct Orange 34, a highly toxic dye used in textile industries in Tunisia, on modified kaolinite-rich clays. A kaolin from the Sidi Bader (SDB) area was activated with hydrochloric acid to create the activated clay referred to hearafter as SDBa, or treated with FeSO4•7H2O to obtain its Fe-saturated form, Fe-SDB. The adsorbents were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, transmission electron microscopy, BET surface area and zeta-potential measurements. The equilibrium adsorption data were analysed using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The estimated adsorption capacities (qm) for the dye were improved in the Fe-loaded samples. The good fit (R2 = 0.99) with a pseudo-second order expression suggests that the adsorption process could be effective following a chemisorption mechanism. At acidic pH, the optimum dye-retention rate was achieved for SDB (83%) after 60 min. The uptake decreased at neutral pH and increased again in alkaline media. This behaviour might be explained by the formation of covalent bonds between the OH radicals on the external surface and the negatively charged dye molecules. On the other hand, Fe impregnation increased the zeta potential of kaolinite, leading to a greater adsorption capacity compared to its natural and acid-activated counterparts. In addition, the adsorption rate increased when increasing the suspension temperature from 283 to 313 K. The modified kaolinite-rich materials showed satisfactory affinity for adsorbing this reactive dye.


This paper investigates how the possibility of earnings management affect equilibrium incentives and welfare in a two-period agency setting. Managerial performance measures are positively correlated because of a time-invariant productivity component that affects earnings in both periods. The firm and the manager learn about this permanent earnings component over time and cannot commit not to revise the contract terms in light of updated information. While learning over time reduces uncertainty, its strengthening effect on the second period incentive rate is offset by the need to mitigate earnings inflation. We find that when the uncertainty about permanent earnings is large enough, allowing some earnings management can be welfare-enhancing. We also consider a career concern setting in which the permanent component of earnings relates to managerial ability. Contrary to Gibbons and Murphy (1992), we find that incentive rates and productive efforts can decline over the manager's tenure.


Phasor measurement units (PMUs) deployed to monitor the state of an electrical grid need to be patched from time to time to prevent attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in the software. Applying some of these patches requires a PMU reboot, which takes the PMU offline for some time. If the PMU placement provides enough redundancy, it is possible to patch a set of PMUs at a time while maintaining full system observability. The challenge is then to find a patching plan that guarantees that the patch is rolled out to all PMUs in the smallest number of rounds possible while full system observability is maintained at all times. We show that this problem can be formulated as a sensor patching problem, which we demonstrate to be NP-complete. However, if the grid forms a tree, we show that the minimum number of rounds is two and we provide a polynomial-time algorithm that finds an optimal patching plan. For the non-tree case, we formulate the problem as a binary integer linear programming problem and solve it using an integer linear programming (ILP)-solver. We also propose a heuristic algorithm to find an approximate solution to the patching problem for grids that are too large to be solved by an ILP-solver. Through simulation, we compare the performance of the ILP-solver and the heuristic algorithm over different bus systems.


Two novel photoresists were developed for the fabrication of sub-diffractionally sized polymeric nanostructures with chemically reactive surfaces. Using multiphoton polymerization as well as stimulated emission depletion (STED) lithography, chemically functional monomers were copolymerized with highly crosslinking triacrylate monomers to yield stable nanostructures. The polymer structure was thereby supplemented with chemical functionalities for further covalent modification reactions. The reactivity of mercapto- and carboxylate groups on the surface of the nanostructures was proved by orthogonally labeling them with reactive fluorophores. The photoresists can be used for stimulated emission depletion lithography and lateral line widths down to 55 nm were achieved. A three-dimensional structure is shown that is made up with three compounds: a frame out of a un-functionalized acrylate photoresist, and two intermediate networks made up with thiol- and carboxyl functional photoresists.


XAR 450 Premium is a special wear-resistant structural steel as thick plate that is water quenched and tempered. These wear resistant materials last at least five times longer than conventional steels due to their extreme hardness and toughness. This datasheet provides information on composition, microstructure, hardness, and tensile properties. It also includes information on high temperature performance as well as forming, heat treating, machining, and joining. Filing Code: SA-833. Producer or source: ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG.


The printing-related expenditure that is budgeted in 2014 for U.S. Federal agencies is $1.8 billion. Even though printing expenditure has been decreasing in recent years, it continues to be high and a small percentage decrease in printing expenditure due to a font change could result in substantial monetary savings. A sample of five publically available documents produced by various federal agencies is analyzed and the cost savings arising from a change in font type are estimated. To make the comparison, fonts that were found to be efficient in a previous study and those recommended by the government are used. The results are then extrapolated to state and local governments. Assumptions are made based on public data to make these assessments. A sensitivity analysis is completed with respect to assumptions that have the most uncertainty. The analysis predicts that the Government's annual savings by switching to Garamond are likely to be about $234 million with worst-case savings of $62 million and best-case savings of $394 million. Indirect benefits arising from a less detrimental impact on the environment due to lower ink production and disposal volumes are not included in these estimates. Times New Roman is not as efficient as Garamond, and the third federally-recommended font, Century Gothic, is actually worse on average than the fonts used in the sample documents.


Title: In vitro comparison of the effect of Iranian nystatin and chlorhexidine mouthwashes with foreign samples on standard and local isolated strains of Candida albicans Authors: Ataei Z. Assistant Professor*, Abdollahi H. Assistant Professor**, Salarzadeh M. Dentist Address: * Department of Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences ** Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences Background and Aim: Chlorhexidine is a mouthwash with known antibacterial effect but its antifungal effect is not clear. The aim of this study was to compare the antimicrobial effects of nystatin and chlorhexidine mouthwashes (one Iranian product and the other, commercial) on Candida albicans under in vitro condition. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, the strains of Candida albicans used consisted of one standard strain (PTCC 5027) and ten local isolates. The latter were obtained from patients referred to different dental clinics in Kerman city. The specimens were taken from the gum and palate area by sterile swabs and dipped into Stewards transport medium, transferred to the laboratory within one hour, and cultured on Sabauraud dextrose Agar. Colonies showing the characteristic appearance of Candida were further cultured and routine differential tests including germ tube formation were performed to confirm the diagnosis of C.albicans. These were used to prepare a microbial cell suspension of 0.5 Mc Farland concentration. Each cell suspension was inoculated over duplicate plates of SDA and 4 wells of 5 mm diameter were made using sterile cork borers. Each previously coded mouthwash was placed in corresponding well and incubated for 2448 hours and the diameter of inhibition zone was measured with ruler. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of each mouthwash for each isolate of Candida albicans was determined using dilution tube technique. Data were analyzed by SPSS package using proper statistical tests with P<0.05 as the limit of significance. Results: There was a significant difference between the antimicrobial effects of the four tested mouthwashes. The results indicated that Iranian nystatin mouthwash had the greatest effect and the average inhibition zone from the highest to the lowest was associated with Iranian nystatin, foreign nystatin, Iranian chlorhexidine and foreign chlorhexidine respectively. The MIC determination revealed that generally nystatin was more effective than chlorhexidine. No statistical difference was seen between the Iranian and foreign samples. Conclusions: Despite the antifungal effects of chlorhexidine, more investigations on different strains of C.albicans is required before recommending its cilinical application.


The quenching operation is a very critical part of the heat treatment process. Improper quenching parameters and drifting of the cooling characteristics during the working life of the quenchant will influence the quenching results. Sophisticated computer-based tools have made it possible to monitor, evaluate, and perform a continuous quality control of the quenchants' and the quenching systems' performance. The increasing and ever more sophisticated use of FEM simulation in order to optimize products and processes means that there is also a growing need for accurate input data. In quenching simulations, the boundary conditions expressed as heat transfer coefficients based on measured cooling curves are of great importance in order to obtain accurate calculations. One system that offers these features is the ivf SmartQuench® system (SQ). This system encompasses data acquisition and a software module for analyzing the cooling curves. With the new, extended software module that was introduced in 2007, SQintegra (SQi), it is now possible for the user to calculate heat transfer coefficients (e.g., for the ISO 9950 probe), as well as hardness and microstructure in a cross section of steel samples. Heat transfer calculations are made on the basis of an inverse analysis of the recorded cooling curve. The result is used as input for the calculation of microstructural constituents and the hardness profile of cylindrical samples of arbitrary diameter. Calculations can be made for several different steel grades. The system can be used for quality control of quenchants, troubleshooting, process follow-up, calculation of heat transfer coefficients, hardness calculations compared to verifying tests, and sensitivity analyses of quenchants. The system has also been used to evaluate the cooling performance in showers used for quenching after induction heating. The process window for a specific quenching shower was established for a polymer quenchant. Factors considered were flow rate, concentration and temperature of the quenchant.