The trophy hunting of African leopards Panthera pardus pardus may generate revenue to help foster their conservation. However, leopards are sensitive to hunting and populations decline if overharvested. The practice therefore requires careful management grounded in robust estimates of population density/status. Camera-trap surveys are commonly used to establish leopard numbers, and may guide harvest quotas. However, such surveys are limited over wide spatial scales and many African governments lack resources to implement them. In this thesis I explore the potential use of a harvest composition scheme applied to puma Puma concolor in North America, to monitor leopards. The method hinges on the susceptibility of different leopard cohorts to hunting and if this varies, then predictions can be made about harvest composition. Susceptibility is likely to be governed by space use, encounter rates with bait lures (a common method used to attract leopards to hunting hides) and hunter selectivity. Thus in this thesis I explore leopard susceptibility to these factors using a protected leopard population in northern Zululand, South Africa. In my first chapter I examine using scent lures in camera-trapping. Against a backdrop of a passive survey I show adult males, females and sub-adults are captured at similar rates compared to a passive survey using lures. The use of lures does not appear to violate closure assumptions or affect spatio-temporal patterning, but their use appears limited as density estimate precision is not improved. My second chapter examines ecological (likelihood of encountering a hunter) and anthropogenic (attractiveness to hunters) susceptibility of leopards to trophy hunting. I show that adult males are the most susceptible cohort to hunting (sub-adults least susceptible). I then take the incident rates from ecological and anthropogenic models and create a theoretical harvest composition using population parameters of protected leopards. My third data chapter departs from hunting susceptibility and examines determinants of leopard trophy package price across Africa. I show that factors such as trophy quality, outfitter leopard hunting reputation and hunt success have little impact on price determination. Instead, overall outfitter reputation and the number of charismatic species in a package are positively correlated with price. These results have important consequences on several sustainable leopard hunting schemes proposed in the literature.


The detection of the current crisis in the urban space of Athens reveals the correlation of the spatial with the social reality. This paper presents an innovative methodology for the planning of urban space that is based on the mapping and reinforcing of social networks which are seen as an instrument for the restructuring of the urban tissue. This methodology was developed in the frame of the undergraduate course Planning of Urban Space of the School of Architecture of NTUA, whose objective is the investigation of interconnections between urban space and society through the systematic study of the urban tissue. The analytical work was based on interviews and field work that was carried out in the period 2013-2014 in the area of Fokionos Negri-Plateia Amerikis in central Athens. The starting point for this methodology has been the recognition of the importance of the invisible social processes in the structuring of the spatial reality as a result of the ways through which the different social groups infuse meaning to space, claim it and leave their imprint on it. Embarking upon this principle we attempted the mapping of the network of social relations and the investigation of its spatial imprint. For this purpose a system of four variables has been adopted (social group, need, action, space) with the following working hypothesis: social groups have needs which they address through actions that leave material imprints on urban space. The structure of the network affects in a formative way the spatial reality and determines the potential of its restructuring based on the existing dynamic by means of activating its hidden capacities. Considering that the study area is characterized by a high degree of social exclusion, it was deemed necessary to develop a network with the aim to improve social cohesion and symbiosis of the involved social groups. This method eventually enables an in depth view on the problematic of the restructuring of the urban tissue since it is taking into consideration the factors and the processes of production and arrangement of space. We believe that it contributes to the ongoing discussion regarding appropriate urban intervention approaches for dealing with the complex problems of the crisis and its multifaceted impacts on the urban space of Athens.


Hyperactive Wnt/β-catenin signaling is linked to cancer progression and developmental abnormalities, making identification of mechanisms controlling Wnt/β-catenin signaling vital. Transforming growth factor β type III receptor (TβRIII/betaglycan) is a transmembrane proteoglycan co-receptor that exists with or without heparan and/or chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan (GAG) modifications in cells and has established roles in development and cancer. Our studies here demonstrate that TβRIII, independent of its TGFβ co-receptor function, regulates canonical Wnt3a signaling by controlling Wnt3a availability through its sulfated GAG chains. Our findings revealed, for the first time, opposing functions for the different GAG modifications on TβRIII suggesting that Wnt interactions with the TβRIII heparan sulfate chains result in inhibition of Wnt signaling, likely via Wnt sequestration, whereas the chondroitin sulfate GAG chains on TβRIII promote Wnt3a signaling. These studies identify a novel, dual role for TβRIII/betaglycan and define a key requirement for the balance between chondroitin sulfate and heparan sulfate chains in dictating ligand responses with implications for both development and cancer.


The paper is motivated by a sharp exchange of words between Thabo Mbeki, the South African President and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the former Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee which ended in a communicative crisis. Given the premise of Democracy which is based on the freedom of opinion that is reflected through open criticism and debates, this paper studies the power of words in the course of public delivery. The paper examines specific theories of verbal communication and provides a theoretical framework of communicative public discourse which is a crucial factor in securing the essence of Democracy.


The fifth-generation cellular network requires dense installation of radio base stations (BS) to support the ever-increasing demands of high throughput and coverage. The ongoing deployment has triggered some health concerns among the community. To address this uncertainty, we propose an EMF-aware probabilistic shaping design for hardware-distorted communication systems. The proposed scheme aims to minimize human exposure to radio frequency (RF) radiations while achieving the target throughput using probabilistic shaping. The joint optimization of the transmit power and nonuniform symbol probabilities is a non–convex optimization problem. Therefore, we employ alternate optimization and successive convex approximation to solve the subsequent problems. Our findings reveal a significant reduction in the users' exposure to EMF while achieving the requisite quality of service with the help of probabilistic shaping in a hardware-distorted communication system.


Modern power systems consist of power electronics devices, which are used in renewable energy (RE) conversion. However, these devices, associated controllers, and uncertainty in RE output could bring new challenges to power system stability, especially oscillatory stability. Hence, the integration of battery energy storage systems (BESSs) is being developed to minimise the uncertainty and variability in renewables. Furthermore, to tackle the complex dynamics and inertia-less characteristics of wind and PV plants additional controllers such as power oscillation damping (POD) control and virtual inertia scheme are sought. However, the primary challenges associated with the wide-area oscillation damping controller are signal transmission delay, loss of communication signal, data drops, and others. This paper proposes a bat algorithm (BA) based resilient wide-area multi-mode controller (MMC) for enhancing oscillatory stability margin with high penetration of renewable power generations (RPGs) and BESSs. The Java 500 kV Indonesian grid is used to evaluate the performance of the resilient wide-area MMC. From the results, it is found that the proposed controller effectively damp the critical mode of oscillation in the system even under communication failure as well as certain damping controller failures.


Shallow seas are influenced by a magnitude of processes, acting on- and offshore. Therefore, most shallow sea areas have a unique appearance, preserving information both about their geologic history and processes acting on them. For this study, extensive hydroacoustic surveys, including side scan sonar, multibeam echo sounder, and reflection seismic, as well as sedimentological analysis were carried out in the Fehmarn Belt (SW Baltic Sea) and offshore Khao Lak (Andaman Sea, Thailand) between 2007 and 2011. The geologic evolution since the last glacial as well as recent sediment dynamics were investigated in Fehmarn Belt, while offshore impacts of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami where evaluated off Khao Lak. The development of the Baltic Sea since the last glacial period was controlled by several regression and transgression events during the phases Baltic Ice Lake, Yoldia Sea, Ancylus Lake and Littorina Sea. Many details regarding the development of these stages are unsolved, one question being whether, and to what extent, the regression of the Ancylus Lake at 9,200 to 9,000 14C yr BP took place over the Darss Sill. Next to the general geological evolution of Fehmarn Belt since the last glacial, this study addresses the question whether a drowned river system in Fehmarn Belt (SW Baltic Sea) can be related to the drainage of the Ancylus Lake. The river channel is cut into glacial till in the western Fehmarn Belt, reaching an incision depth of up to 12 m at a base level of 40 m b.s.l. (below sea level). Its continuation towards west can be recognized in bathymetric data, while the channel is buried towards Mecklenburg Bay. According to seismic images, it is rapidly widening from several hundred meters to more than 1 kilometre and seems to fade towards east. Sediment thickness above the glacial till can exceed 30 m in the buried section of the channel. It is proposed that the channel was mainly shaped as part of a glacial meltwater system at a water level of 30 m b.s.l., although it was eventually incised subglacially. During the lowstand of the Baltic Ice Lake, local, shallow water bodies covered the study area and calm conditions prevailed. A previously reported westward directed drainage of a lake in the eastern Fehmarn Belt could be restricted to a time interval following the highstand of the Ancylus Lake, and prior to the Littorina transgression. Timing, water level and potential water discharge of this event suggest its connection to the partial drainage of the Ancylus Lake over the Darss Sill. Subsequently to the regression, cliffs and lake deposits point to a local water level between 24 to 26 m b.s.l. However, finding of a channel system filled with sediment deposited during the early Littorina Transgression might indicate a short phase with a water level down to 30 m b.s.l. With rising water level during the Littorina transgression, a large subaqueous dune field was formed in the central Fehmarn Belt. It is situated in water depths between 11 and 25 m, with an extension of about 8.1 km E – W and 1.8 km N - S. It consists of asymmetric dunes, indicating a W to E directed current, with crest heights of up to 2.5 m. The dunes are composed of allochthonous, well-sorted medium to coarse sand. Sand ribbons, connected to the subaqueous dune-field and protruding towards the southwest, are supposed to be sediment-conduits. Only minor movements of the field over the annual cycle could be observed, but comparisons with older maps show an increase in spatial extension over the course of decades. It is assumed that sediment movements in the subaqueous dune field occur mainly during west-storm conditions, when salt water infrequently intrudes from the North Sea into the Baltic Sea. The aim of the second case study was to resolve impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami on offshore areas. The coastal area of Khao Lak (Thailand) was heavily damaged by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Meanwhile, its impact on offshore areas is mostly unknown, although offshore tsunami deposits were speculated to be widespread in the geological record. The 2004 tsunami offered the unique opportunity to catalogue its offshore effects from a well-recorded series of events. In Thailand, reported onshore tsunami deposits, containing marine sediments, as well as satellite images, showing large amounts of sediment transported offshore, indicate that the seafloor was impacted by tsunami run-up and backwash. Offshore Khao Lak, paleoreefs with associated boulder fields and sandy sediments dominate the inner continental shelf. Patches of fine-grained (silt to fine sand) sediments exist in water depths of less than 15 m. The sediment distribution pattern is stable between 2007 and 2010, apart from small shifts regarding the boundaries of the fine-grained sediment patches. In sediment cores and grab samples an event layer was documented, situated below a cover of modern sediments that is only a few cm thick. The event-layer can be securely traced down to 18 m water depth. It consists mostly of sand, including coral fragments, but contains compounds of terrigenous origin as well. It is interpreted as a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami deposit, which was the last major event in the area. Beneath 18 m water depth, indications of potential tsunami influence on a system of sand ridges are found, including erosion of app. 1 m deep channels at the NW-flank of the sand ridges and the deposition of silty material sandwiched by sandy sediments. On wide areas of the study-site an impact of the tsunami is hardly identifiable by seafloor morphology or sediment distribution five year after the event, pointing towards a tsunami impact focussed to some areas and a rapid return of the seafloor to equilibrium conditions.


Human motion tracking is an important problem in computer vision. Most prior approaches have concentrated on efficient inference algorithms and prior motion models; however, few can explicitly account for physical plausibility of recovered motion. The primary purpose of this work is to enforce physical plausibility in the tracking of a single articulated human subject. Towards this end, we propose a full-body 3D physical simulation-based prior that explicitly incorporates motion control and dynamics into the Bayesian filtering framework. We consider the humanpsilas motion to be generated by a ldquocontrol looprdquo. In this control loop, Newtonian physics approximates the rigid-body motion dynamics of the human and the environment through the application and integration of forces. Collisions generate interaction forces to prevent physically impossible hypotheses. This allows us to properly model human motion dynamics, ground contact and environment interactions. For efficient inference in the resulting high-dimensional state space, we introduce exemplar-based control strategy to reduce the effective search space. As a result we are able to recover the physically-plausible kinematic and dynamic state of the body from monocular and multi-view imagery. We show, both quantitatively and qualitatively, that our approach performs favorably with respect to standard Bayesian filtering methods.


Unstable angina represents an indication for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) provided it is based on a significant fixed lesion. A primary success rate of about 90% can be expected, but in 5% to 10% the intervention will cause a myocardial infarction. Mortality is higher than in patients with stable angina and does not differ from that of bypass surgery; however, it is still below 1%. At 1 year, 50% to 90% of the patients treated with initial success are asymptomatic if redilatations for recurrences (occurring in about one third) are included. - Acute myocardial infarction was introduced as an indication for PTCA in about 1980. PTCA was first used for failures, then for incomplete successes of intracoronary streptokinase therapy, and finally in patients without pretreatment. Currently, PTCA is being evaluated in multicenter studies as an adjunct to early intravenous fibrinolysis with clot specific agents (e.g., tissue-type plasminogen activator). PTCA achieves adequate initial reperfusion in about 80% irrespective of concomitant fibrinolytic therapy. It is complicated by occlusion of an already partially recanalized vessel in 4%. Late reocclusions occur in 15%, half of them accompanied by reinfarction. Intrahospital mortality is about 5% and increases by 1% up to 1 year. PTCA has its place in the treatment of unstable angina and acute infarction. In the latter it may be advantageous to precede it with early intravenous fibrinolysis.


A challenge for bioprinting tissue constructs is enabling the viability and functionality of encapsulated cells. Rationally designed bioink that can create appropriate biophysical cues shows great promise for overcoming such challenges. Here, a nanoparticle‐stabilized emulsion bioink for direct fabrication of porous tissue constructs by digital light processing based 3D bioprinting technology is introduced. The emulsion bioink is integrated by the mixture of aqueous dextran microdroplets and gelatin methacryloyl solution and is further rendered stable by β‐lactoglobulin nanoparticles. After bioprinting, the printed tissue constructs create the macroporous structure via removal of dextran, thereby providing favorable biophysical cues to promote the viability, proliferation, and spreading of the encapsulated cells. Moreover, a trachea‐shaped construct containing chondrocytes is bioprinted and implanted in vivo. The results demonstrate that the generated macroporous construct is of benefit to cartilage tissue rebuilding. This work offers an advanced bioink for the fabrication of living tissue constructs by activating the cell behaviors and functions in situ and can lead to the development of 3D bioprinting.


De-bureaucratization of public organizations (popularly called deregulation in Nigeria) is a relatively new concept in public administration. However, it is rapidly gathering tremendous interests because it is being considered as a more attractive organization concept than the much criticized bureaucratization. This growing interest is in most, if not indeed all, less developed countries, including Nigeria. Hence the central concern of this paper is identification and objective but critical analysis of the major bureau-pathologies in de-bureaucratic public organization in Nigeria. The rationale for the identification and critical analysis is to show that although de-bureaucratization is being embraced as a more attractive organization concept than bureaucratization, there are also bureau-pathologies inherent in de-bureaucratic organizations.
 The major and prevalent bureau-pathologies identified and analyzed are inconsistency and unpredictability, informality and denials, unlimited or un-circumscribed flexibility, personalization, limitation of de-categorization, laziness and goal displacement. These bureau-pathologies should be well handled if de-bureaucratization is to be truly a more attractive organization concept in Nigeria. The paper has proffered extent recommendations to enhance the application of de-bureaucratization in Nigerian public organizations. These include the promotion of adequate level of certainty rather than uncertainty; the reduction of informality in critical or sensitive issues; reduction in the level of flexibility in government operations; advancement of corporate interests over personal interests; compartmentalization of staff instead of de-compartmentalization which can generally promote confusion; and a determined effort to meet deadlines in public organizations in Nigeria. Global Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 6 (1) 2007: pp. 57-64


Across the United States and the world, COVID-19 has altered the manner patients are treated and admitted to the hospital. Through this pandemic, bed space has been allocated for the massive on-rush of patients requiring acute assistance with ventilations and survival. There has been a 60% reduction in nonemergent surgeries being postponed due to lack of available beds, due to precautions for COVID exposure, and due to decreased staff available for non-COVID patients [1-3,]. Added to this mix is the fact that patients with pre-existing coronary artery disease (CAD) are more at risk for cardiac injury and complications if exposed to the coronavirus [4]. According to [4] complications from COVID include myocarditis, arrhythmia, and heart failure and are observed in CAD patients (as a result of the COVID virus) and nonCAD patients alike and are permanent. This is due, in part, to the cytokine release syndrome seen in many COVID patients (Ganatra, et al., 2020). The population without CAD issues can simply avoid exposure to the virus to ensure that they will not develop the CAD symptoms; however, the patients with pre-existing CAD may have their conditions exacerbated. Traditional therapies for myocarditis, arrhythmia, and heart failure could entail hospitalization with IV antibiotics, cardiac procedures entailing angiograms, with the result of in-hospital admissions for monitoring and treatment [5-7]. Medical intervention and treatment measures after exacerbation have demonstrated they are significantly more expensive than prevention measures [8].


The advent of gay and lesbian studies as an academic field opened the door for a new exploration of sexuality in literature. Works generally considered heterosexual were re-examined in the light of queer theory. Here, the notion of homosexuality is viewed as a social construction that emerged during the 19th century, with a definitive difference between biological sex and gendered behavior. Heterosexuality is determined by whether sexual performance conforms to society-designated gender roles. From this wider perspective, this book examines literature previously viewed as "straight" in a search for alternative manifestations of desire and performance, relationships that contain an apparent disconnect between gender and desire. With broad coverage of many periods, authors, and genres, the 17 essays identify inherently queer heterosexual practices and critique the idea of heteronormativity, blurring the line between homo- and heterosexuality. Topics discussed include sodomy and chastity; the Victorian society; the relationship between sex, gender and desire; and the instability in literary portrayals of gender and sexuality. George Eliot, George Meredith, Ernest Hemingway, and Rider Haggard are among the many authors discussed.


BACKGROUND
This study was designed to identify potential effects of workload and sleep on injury occurrence.

METHODS
Questionnaires were disseminated to janitors in the SEIU Local 26 union; 390 responded and provided information on workload, sleep, and injury outcomes. Quantitative measurements of workload and sleep were collected via FitBit devices from a subset of 58 janitors. Regression techniques were implemented to determine risk.

RESULTS
Thirty-seven percent reported increased workload over the study period Adjusted analyses indicated a significant effect of change in workload (RR: 1.94; 95%CI: 1.40-2.70) and sleep hours (RR: 2.21; 95%CI: 1.33-3.66) on occupational injury. Among those with sleep disturbances, injury risk was greater for those with less than five, versus more than five, days of moderate to vigorous physical activity; RR: 2.77; 95%CI: 1.16-6.59).

CONCLUSIONS
Increased workload and sleep disturbances increased the risk of injury, suggesting employers should address these factors to mitigate occupational injuries.


The aims of this research were to study the problems of young Muslims in the three southern border provinces of Thailand, to study the management methods of government agencies employed to solve the problems faced by young Muslims, and to study the results of government activities, as well as to suggest guidelines for solving the problems faced by young Muslims. Qualitative methods were utilized in this study, including in-depth interviews with 41 participants and a focus group of 30 participants who met three times to discuss management and policy guidelines for the Thai government. The data were then analyzed using content analysis and descriptive analysis. The study found that the most significant problems facing young Muslims are drug addiction, lack of education, inappropriately timed pregnancies, and violence. In addition, most government projects are unsuccessful because they operate only in the short term and tackle symptoms instead of the root causes of problems. Moreover, most young Muslims who complete training programs go back to their homes, where they face the risk of returning to their former bad behavior, since drugs and insurgent groups are ever present in their communities. In addition, this study will be beneficial to the Royal Thai Government as a guideline for solving the problems of young Muslims in the three southern border provinces of Thailand.


This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of Trichogramma evanescens Westwood (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) release with as well as without Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Berliner) in biological control of Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in the Galaxy Gala apple variety grafted onto M9 rootstock in 2016. Four treatments were analyzed: releasing T. evanescens alone (TE), applying B. thuringiensis var. kurstaki (BT) alone, applying both (TE + BT), and a control (C) without any application at all. The experiment design entailed randomized blocks with four replicates. In each generation of the egg stage, 100,000 parasitoids per hectare were released twice (1440 parasitoids/plot), with an interval of 7-10 days. In the larval stage, BT was applied twice for the first generation and once for the second. Weekly counts were performed regularly. The decrease in egg count was 52.15% in TE, 58.99% in BT, and 65.46% in TE + BT plots. The decrease observed in larval numbers was 68%, 73.33%, and 94.66%, respectively. Egg parasitization rates varied between 58.64% and 69.79%. At harvest, fruit infestation rates were 9.66% and 8.33% in TE and BT plots and just 2.0% in the TE + BT plot, versus 34% in the control plot. Promising results were achieved in biological control of C. pomonella when TE was combined with BT. The combined treatment of both biological control agents significantly decreased the population of the pests and crop damage. The natural enemy alone was not effective in keeping the population below the economic threshold level.


The risk of bacterial infection of the endometrium causing uterine disease in cattle is increased in the progesterone-dominated luteal phase of the ovarian cycle, while oestrogens or oestrus are therapeutic or protective against disease. The first line of defence against bacteria, such as Escherichia coli that cause inflammation of the endometrium, is the innate immune system, which recognises bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This study tested the hypothesis that cyclic variation in ovarian hormone concentrations alters innate immune responses within the bovine endometrium. Ex vivo organ cultures of endometrium, and in vitro cultures of endometrial epithelial and stromal cells, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), all mounted inflammatory responses to E. coli or LPS, with secretion of inflammatory mediators interleukin 1β (IL1β), IL6 and IL8, and increased expression of mRNA encoding IL1B, IL6, CXCL8 (IL8) and CCL5. However, these inflammatory responses, typical of innate immunity, were not affected by the stage of ovarian cycle in which the endometrium was collected for organ culture, or by exogenous oestradiol or progesterone. Although a dexamethasone-positive control reduced inflammation stimulated by E. coli or LPS, treatment with oestradiol or progesterone, or inhibitors of oestradiol or progesterone nuclear receptors, did not affect endometrial cell or PBMC secretion of IL1β, IL6 or IL8, or IL1B, IL6, CXCL8 and CCL5 gene expression. In conclusion, the stage of the oestrus cycle or ovarian steroids did not modulate the innate immune response in the bovine endometrium in vitro.


In case you're not a neurosurgeon, here's a crash course in how the brain works. Deep inside your brain, there's something called a "reward pathway." You've got one. Your cat's got one. For mammals, it comes standard. The reward pathway's job is to help keep you alive by doing exactly what its name promises: rewards you, or more specifically, rewards you when you do something that promotes life, such as eating food or achieving something you've worked hard for. And the way it rewards you is by releasing chemicals in your brain— mainly one called dopamine, but also others like oxytocin.


Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disorder. Vitamin D has important roles both in the autoimmune response and in skeletal muscles. We determined the levels of 25‐hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] in patients with MG and in healthy subjects to determine whether vitamin D deficiency is present in MG and whether vitamin D supplementation has beneficial effects on fatigue.


Hydrogenated amorphous silicon-chalcogen alloy thin films have been the subject of growing interest during the past two decades. Thin films of these alloys are usually prepared by the decomposition of SiH4 and H2S or H2Se gas mixtures in a radiofrequency plasma glow discharge at a substrate temperature of 250°C. The alloy composition is varied by changing the gas volume ratio RV = [chalcogen/ silane]. Infrared spectroscopy is used to explore the bonding structure of the alloy. The material exhibits hydrogen-induced bands, normally observed in a-Si:H spectra and other chalcogen-induced bands resulting from bonding chalcogen atoms with hydrogen and silicon. Analysis of the vibrational spectra of this material reveals the presence of significant levels of Si-chalcogen-SiHn configurations. Optical and electrical measurements show that increasing the chalcogen content results in an increase of the optical (Tauc) gap and a decrease in dark conductivity and photoconductivity. Subgap absorption measurements are employed to probe the Urbach energy and defect density. Upon increasing the chalcogen content, a broadening of band tails and an increase in defect density is observed. These results are shown to be consistent with photoluminescence measurements carried out on these materials.


Chloupek O., Both Z., Dostál V., Hrstková P., Středa T., Betsche T., Hrušková M., Horáková V. (2008): Better bread from vigorous grain? Czech J. Food Sci., 26: 402–412. A high seed vigour is a desired trait in agronomy as it promotes the fast field emergence and homogeneity of harvest, which is necessary for producing quality food raw material. In this work, we studied the effects of the seed vigour on the bread quality. Relationships between the grain vigour, nutrients and anti-nutrients, contents, and bread volume were evaluated using the samples acquired from official variety trials. In the trials, the grain vigour was perceived as the grain ability to germinate in stress conditions, i.e. at 10°C in a solution of polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000 at osmotic pressure – 2 bars, the so called permanent wilting point). The results showed that the locations and years changed the bread volume but not the rank of the varieties tested in the trait. A higher grain vigour was significantly related to a higher falling number during two of the three trial years. The vigour was negatively related to the lipase activity. Moreover, other decomposing enzymes showed a similar tendency as was that found in the samples with the most diverse vigour. The grain samples with 80–90% vigour produced the greatest bread volume. The grain with a vigour below or above this range produced less voluminous loaves. The varieties of the highest quality produced the most voluminous bread from the samples reaching the grain vigour of 90–95%. The standard germination test was not related to the vigour and was less responsible for the bread quality. High-quality varieties had higher contents of total polyphenols than the varieties of lower quality, and the polyphenol content was correlated with the vigour (r2 = 0.19**) and bread volume (r2 = 0.08*). It can be concluded that the grain vigour is genetically controlled, thus the bread quality could be improved by grain breeding.


In this research we examined the criminological background of aggravated cases of the most serious crime against human life of outstanding severity, the crime of multiple homicide, in Hungary. Processing the full range of data of the period 2000-2012, we performed a detailed analysis of 217 cases, 250 perpetrators and 532 victims altogether. The research aimed to explore the legal assessment and the perpetration motives of the crime, the perpetrators' social and psychological backgrounds as well as the victims' characteristics.


Excerpt] The papers in this volume should give the reader a sense of the exciting empirical research that has recently taken place on compensation-related issues. As a set, these papers considerably expand our empirical evidence on the effects of compensation policies. Several papers show that executive compensation is structured in a way that at least implicitly ties executive compensation changes to measures of corporate performance, and —crucially—that doing so leads to improved corporate performance (Leonard, Murphy/ Gibbons, Abowd). Others show that compensation systems that pay workers for performance, in the sense of providing explicit or implicit incentives for high levels of performance, can motivate individuals to increase their effort levels (Ehrenberg/Bognanno, Hamermesh, Asch, Kahn/Sherer). Still others show that high-wage policies do have some of the effects that proponents of efficiency wage theories claim for them (Krueger/ Groshen, Holzer). Finally, one shows that profit-sharing plans appear, at least weakly, to increase employment stability (Chelius/Smith).


The book discusses Hanif Kureishi's early works in the context of postcolonial studies. The situation of the United Kingdom is analysed through the prism of colonial heritage. Hanif Kureishi, the son of a Pakistani father and an English mother, represents both ethnic groups and their views which is reflected in his works. The problems faced by Kureishi's protagonists concern numerous issues: tradition, homeland, religion and heritage. In their every-day struggle for identity the characters experience inferiority, hybridity, racism and depression evoked by the feeling of being constantly "in-between". Additionally, the postcolonial subjects living currently in the United Kingdom encounter typical problems of our civilization: endangered masculinity, emancipated, strong women, loneliness and marginalization.


Vibrio alginolyticus (CNCM I-5035) secretes an exopolysaccharide used as ingredient in cosmetic industry under the trademark Epidermist 4.0TM. It is appreciated for its ability to improve the physical and chemical barrier functions of the skin by notably increasing the keratinocyte differentiation and epidermal renewal. Composition analyses and in depth characterization of the polysaccharides as well as oligosaccharides obtained by mild acid hydrolyses revealed that it was composed of a repetition unit of three residues: d-galactose (d-Gal), d-N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and l-N-acetylguluronic acid, of which 30% (M/M) was acetylated in position 3. The complete structure of the polysaccharide was resolved giving the repetition unit: [→3)-α-d-Gal-(1→4)-α-l-GulNAcA/α-l-3OAc-GulNAcA-(1→4)-β-d-GlcNAc-(1→].


This study presents the development of an empirically validated framework for users' perception of effective Web sites for retail e-commerce (E-tail). In particular, we attempted to answer the main research questions: What are the major designs determining E-tail Web site effectiveness? How do these designs support Web users' objectives in using the Web? Based on the concept of "fitness for use†and the reasons that consumers use the Web, we proposed that "effective designs for E-tail Web sites should support Web customers for their (a) information search, (b) pleasure and (c) business transactions.†Then, data were collected from a survey on 427 potential Web customers. An exploratory analysis was conducted to refine the proposed framework and to provide structure of the constructs in the framework to be validated by a following confirmatory analysis. Results suggest that the major designs determining E-tail Web site effectiveness include 16 factors, with 64 Web designs supporting the three major reasons for customers to use the Web.


One of the areas that is included in facility management is relocation and move management. This exploratory research focuses on the relocation of nursing home residents and the influence on their wellbeing. As other organizations, nursing homes do change over time. Such changes may include reorganizations, mergers, and closures. At the same time such changes will foster a changing demand for space. As a direct consequence there may be a need to relocate residents leading to transitional and irreversible spatial interventions in the life of these nursing home residents. This may affect their physiological and psychological wellbeing: be reminded that a relocation process may cause serious stress and related health problems at these residents. The aim of this paper is to provide a literature review of studies on relocation outcomes. Because no recent literature was found on the particular Dutch situation, other studies have been reviewed in order to expose the diversity of studies and varying results. It is confirmed that relocation influences the wellbeing of nursing home residents. Positive or negative influences are determined by the organization of the relocation. Positive influences can be expected, for instance, if residents are mentally well-prepared prior to the move, if extra staff is deployed to stay in close contact with residents during the move, and if facility managers develop after-care programs until residents are completely accustomed to the new situation.


A critical part of an aquaculture operation is feeding the fish (at the right time, the right amount at the right rate) and monitoring the operation. The UNH Open Ocean Aquaculture demonstration project is working on its third and most ambitious automated, remote feeding buoy for offshore aquaculture operations. A central part of the feeders is a computer and software in the feed buoy, which controls and monitors the operations. This onboard processor has a large variety of tasks. It must start the generator in time for scheduled large power drain activities such as powering lights in the submerged fish cages to delay sexual maturation, and the feeding operations with its pumps, feed augers, feed dosers, etc. Also, the system must monitor of the status of each of these activity as they are taking place. This includes seeing that the generator started properly, that power is on the generator's power bus, and then switching it to the main system power bus. When activities such as feeding are taking place, the system must monitor the quantity of feed in the feed hopper, the rate that the feed is being delivered to the feed hose, and the pressure in the feed hose (to catch any blockages). The system also has a series of critical points that it monitors, such as any water in the buoy, the backup battery voltage, the rate of charge by any solar and wind power system and any critical problems with feeding or other activities. The system is programmed to respond to any problems, such as emergency shut down of the generator should it get too hot, the oil pressure too low, and the fuel level gets low. It will also terminate any feeding activity if the pressure in the feed hose rises indicating blockage. If water is detected in the buoy, indicating a leakage in the buoy itself or from one of the subsystems, the system sends an alert to shore as well as turns off any critical activities and making sure that all bilge pumps are active. The programmed activities are controlled by a series of files stored on compact flash in the computer. The system checks each hour to see if an activity is scheduled, then reads another control file (listed in the activities timing file) that will control the details of that activity. If it is feeding time, then it will read the feeding file specified which will tell how fast to feed, for what duration, and what sequence of pumps to use during the feeding process. By referring to different feeding control files, several feeding schedules can be run during one day, or on a weekly cycle. A feeding cycle may include putting a small amount of feed in the hose, then turning on a pump to wash it down to the fish cage, then waiting a little time for the fish to eat that food, and repeating the operation a number of times again. These systems are evolving with the third feed buoy, and lessons learned from the first two are being incorporated into the next


How tax practitioners approach ethical dilemmas remains generally unexplored in academic literature. We use here Rest's original Defining Issues Test ( Development in judging moral issues . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1979; Moral development. Advances in research and theory . New York: Praeger Publishers, 1986), combined with a tax context-specific test and in conjunction with a control group of non-tax specialists, to examine tax practitioners' moral reasoning in a social and tax context. We investigate: (i) the effect of a tax context on issues raised (finding that practitioners generally reason at lower levels than in social scenarios); (ii) whether the profession attracts people who reason at certain levels (finding that it does not); and (iii) whether practitioners are affected by training/socialization in their professional context (finding that that they are).


We investigated whether local biotic and abiotic conditions could explain the occurrence of calling males of the declining spadefoot toad Pelobates fuscus in 72 ponds in southern Sweden. The ponds covered the entire distribution range of P. fuscus and were monitored during the breeding season in 2000. Calling males were found in 33 ponds, representing ca 50% of all known ponds for the species in Sweden. They had a non-random distribution and a discriminant analysis including 19 environmental variables successfully classified 86% of the ponds as with or without calling males. A stepwise discriminant analysis selected eight of these variables and classified 85% of the ponds correctly. Ponds with calling males were classified mainly on characteristics of the ponds, whereas composition of the terrestrial habitat close to the ponds and traffic load within 500 m had little influence on the distribution of calling males. Ponds with P. fuscus were large, permanent and eutrophic with high concentrations of oxygen and high spring temperatures. They also had a high proportion of shoreline with steep banks. Permanent ponds with calling males typically had a low abundance of predatory fish and crayfish; only two of the ponds with P. fuscus contained predatory fish. The results of this study indicate that interactions between physical factors (e.g. pond drying) and predation determine the presence of P. fuscus. Because P. fuscus has specific habitat requirements necessary for its survival and high site fidelity, it is particularly vulnerable to local changes in the condition of its natural breeding ponds. The situation is particularly serious for this species because the majority of the ponds that are within its dispersal range do not seem to be suitable for P. fuscus because of physical constraints.


We extend a model for turbulence–flame interactions (TFI) to consider astrophysical flames with a particular focus on combustion in Type Ia supernovae. The inertial range of the turbulent cascade is nearly always under-resolved in simulations of astrophysical flows, requiring the use of a model in order to quantify the effects of subgrid-scale wrinkling of the flame surface. We provide implementation details to extend a well-tested TFI model to low-Prandtl number flames for use in the compressible hydrodynamics code flash. A local, instantaneous measure of the turbulent velocity is calibrated for flash and verification tests are performed. Particular care is taken to consider the relation between the subgrid rms turbulent velocity and the turbulent flame speed, especially for high-intensity turbulence where the turbulent flame speed is not expected to scale with the turbulent velocity. Finally, we explore the impact of different TFI models in full-star, three-dimensional simulations of Type Ia supernovae.


Background and Purpose— Until recently, atherosclerosis was thought to be inexorably progressive. Beginning in 2001 and implemented in our vascular prevention clinics by 2003, we have been treating arteries rather than risk factors. We studied the proportion of patients with plaque progression vs regression before and after this change in paradigm. Methods— Carotid total plaque area was measured by ultrasound at baseline and during follow-up. Before 2003, patients were treated according to consensus guidelines. After 2003, patients with plaque progression were treated more intensively, with the explicit goal of halting plaque progression or achieving regression. Results— Four thousand three-hundred seventy-eight patients had serial plaque measurements in a given year between 1997 and 2007; 47% were female. Mean age at time of referral was 60 (SD, 15); this increased steeply (from age 50 to 62 years over the first 5 years) as we focused on stroke prevention. The annual rate of plaque progression increased steeply as the clinic populations aged but then abruptly decreased after implementation of the new approach to therapy. Before 2003, approximately half the patients had plaque progression and ≈25% had regression; by 2005, this had reversed. Changes in plasma lipids show that the differences were attributable to plaque measurement, not simply more intensive therapy for all patients. By 2007, patients with progression had lower levels of low-density lipoprotein than those with regression. Conclusions— Treating arteries without measuring plaque would be like treating hypertension without measuring blood pressure. A clinical trial to test this approach is being designed.


Multi-beam forward looking sector scan sonars are commonly used as obstacle avoidance and relative navigation sensors on unmanned underwater vehicles. Their key characteristic is a fast update rate (e.g. 12 Hz at 10 metres range). This offers opportunity to exploit temporal as well as spatial correlation in automatic processing of the data. We present the approach to object segmentation, tracking and classification, exploiting both inter and intra frame processing. Using optical flow motion estimation, coupled to a tree structure allowing object tracks to be revised, we have demonstrated good tracking performance, with prediction errors of between 10 and 50 cm (1-5% of scan range). Supervised object classification has demonstrated errors of 1 to 2 % using non-noisy images. With realistic sensor noise, classification of up to 100% was achieved with signal-to-noise ratio between 7.6 and 9.5 dB.


Giemsa-stained blood film microscopy, CareStart rapid detection and PCR were used to detect the three cases who returned from Angola and Equatorial Guinea to Henan Province. Onset of malaria symptoms for two patients occurred 15 d and 27 d after their return from Angola, respectively. Two months after returning home, another case relapsed who had suffered from malaria in Equatorial Guinea. All three patients had the symptoms such as irregular fever, headache, chills and so on. Two cases had elevated total bilirubin and splenomegaly. The cases were confirmed as P. malariae infection by microscopic morphological examination. Amplified bands were produced by 18S rRNA nested PCR, which was the same with P. malariae in size, whereas the results of CareStart repaid detection test were all negative. They were cured by using artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT).


We demonstrate that films of an unconventional (d-wave) superconductor at temperatures T < approximately 0.43Tc can exhibit unusual superconducting phases. The new ground states beside the broken gauge and the point group symmetries can spontaneously break (i) continuous translational symmetry and form periodic order parameter structures in the plane of the film, or (ii) time-reversal symmetry and develop a supercurrent flowing along the film. These states are the result of the strong transverse inhomogeneity present in films with a thickness of several coherence lengths. We show a natural similarity between the formation of these states and the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state.


We explore the effect of female autonomy on individual fertility in Nepal. We find that families where wives have high level of autonomy get fewer children than other families. Using gender of the first child as a natural experiment, we also find that son preferences are present in Nepal. Moreover, the results indicate that women have more influence when the first born is a boy, compared to when the first child is a girl. We discuss policy implications with respect to the problem of excess children due to son preference. JEL-classification: D19, J13, O12


th week of lay and housed individually in battery cages were used for the study. Eggs were collected daily and recorded for each hen. The hens were subsequently divided into three classes based on their laying performance as follows: Good layers, intermediate layers and poor layers and their physical conditions appraised. Results showed that the peak of lay was between 06:00 to 08:00 h and egg production declined gradually throughout late afternoon hours until no egg was laid between 17:00 and 18:00 h. About 88.75 and 11.25% of the eggs were laid in the morning and afternoon hours, respectively. Eggs laid between 6:00 and 7:00 h had the heaviest (P>0.05) mean egg weight (70.10 ± 0.92 g) and the first eggs in a clutch were the heaviest eggs (P<0.05). Hens with the longest clutches and shortest number of pause days produced the greatest number of eggs. Good and intermediate layers had smooth, pinkish and full combs and wattles, moist and enlarged vents and flexible pubic bones with wide space in-between. Poor layers had dry combs and wattles, tight and hard abdomen and narrow space between pubic bones. It was concluded that Nera black hens could lay up to 229.68 eggs/annum and lay most eggs between 06:00 and 08:00 h of the day. Egg collection especially in floor managed flocks should be intensified within this time period to minimize losses from cracks and egg eating by the birds.


This research aims to investigate visibility, Web Impact Factor (WIF), RWIF and the collaboration rate of the websites of the Iranian Universities dominated by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT), and Health and medical Education (MHRME), using an analysis of the various links among these websites and webometrics. From all 119 websites belonging to the Iranian Universities, due to some technical problems, only 111 ones were reviewed through Yahoo, in a period of one month (October 6 – November 5, 2008). These were decreased to 71 websites in analysing co-links and identifying hi-frequency websites. The data were collected in two phase: using Yahoo Directory, first all the investigated university websites were retrieved and stored on a PC. Second the websites' various links were extracted and analysed. The results indicated that among all universities, the website of Olume Behzisty University had the most and Medical Science of Qum, the least visibility (respectively with 6.44 and 0.08). The WIF of Medical Science of Shahrood Website was the most, and that of Medical Science of Rafsanjan website, the least one. In regard to RWIF, the website of Mohghegh Ardebili with 3.5 had the first, and those of three universities (Gilan, Medical Science of Shahid Beheshti, and Medical Science of Gilan) had the last rank. In-link analysis results showed that the investigated websites had collaborated in 9 clusters, and a multidimensional scale illustrated the collaboration of these websites in 9 clusters.


Media has long been the watchdog in a democratic government, providing essential
truth and information not only to inform the society of what is going in
in the world but also constructing public consent through meaning that the
media represented. However, media industrialization turned the used of media
in the society into a tool of conglomeration and moreover, a tool to exercise
power and hegemony.
This research aims to see how media representation presented a violent event,
the tunnel collapse in Freeport's mine, Papua on May 14th, 2013. The media
selected are Reuters.com, Detik.com and Tabloidjubi.com representing international,
national and local discourse. The research used media analysis as the
method to observe how the media portrayed the tunnel collapse. There are six
news articles and 3 images from Reuters.com; five news articles and four images
from Detik.com; and 10 news articles and 8 images from TabloidJubi.com
that will be the primary data of this research. Those articles and images taken
from the first two days of the event and will be scrutinized by using Framing
and Focalization as analytical tools and hence analysed with the theoretical
framework of media representation and media relation with economic and
political interest.


The results and the costs of a routine follow-up program for patients with curatively resected colo-rectal carcinoma were evaluated in a retrospective matched pair study. Patients, who never had participated in such a program, were used as controls. In addition 58 patients were questioned prospectively regarding their opinion about the value of the follow-up program for their present and future life. Significantly more local recurrences and distant metastases were diagnosed at an average of 1.5 years earlier in the follow-up group as compared with the control group. Neither the hereby resulting higher number of curatively resected local recurrences or distal metastases nor a more aggressive oncological approach in unresectable cases resulted in a substantial improvement of survival time in the follow-up group. Considering the relatively high costs of the program, only the diagnosis of several other illnesses which one was able to treat, and the high appreciation by the patients speak in favor of the follow-up program. 86.2% of the patients believed that routine follow-up would be of essential value for their future life.


Information technology use is typically assumed to have positive effects for users, yet information technology use may also lead to negative consequences with various degrees of gravity. In the current work, we build on dual‐systems theories to investigate negative consequences associated with mobile phones use (MPU), defined as the extent to which the use of mobile phones is perceived to create problems in managing one's personal and social life. According to dual‐system theories, human behaviour is guided by two systems: reflexive (automatic) and reflective (control), which most of the time work in harmony. But when the two systems come into conflict, they will both complete to exert their influences over behaviour. Thus, we view the negative consequences associated with MPU as an outcome of the tug‐of‐war between the two systems influencing our day‐to‐day behaviours, where reflexive system is represented in our study by MPU habits and reflective system is represented by self‐regulation. We hypothesise that the influence of habit and self‐regulation on these negative consequences will be mediated through MPU. A partial least square analysis of 266 responses was used to validate and test our model. The study results generally support our model. The theoretical and practical implications of our study are discussed.


One hundred and fifty-nine men with erectile dysfunction were assessed with Rigiscan monitoring of nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) and response to intracavernosal injections (ICI) of papaverine or prostaglandin E1. A satisfactory NPT, suggestive of psychogenic causation, was recorded in 58%, whereas 15% had clearly impaired NPT. There was a significant association between presence of vascular disease, diabetes and impairment of NPT. For ICI, only 32% showed a satisfactory response, with 48% clearly impaired. Of the 92 men with satisfactory NPT, 40% HAD clearly impaired and 41% satisfactory ICI response. Of the 51 men with satisfactory ICI response, 8% had clearly impaired and 74.5% satisfactory NPT. There was no association between ICI response and history of vascular disease. We conclude that monitoring of NPT by Rigiscan, and without sleep monitoring, is a valuable diagnostic procedure. In contrast, because of the high proportion of false negative results. ICI monitoring is of very limited diagnostic value. The explanation for false negative ICI responses, however, could prove to be of considerable theoretical and clinical importance.


With the introduction of the Agile Manifesto, Lean Software Development, and Dev-Ops, documentation has become lower in quality and lesser in quantity leading to knowledge evaporation.
The Agile Manifesto values working software over comprehensive documentation, and Lean Software Development considers everything that does not contribute to customer value as waste. In Dev-Ops, documentation is primarily found in infrastructure-as-code to keep up with continuously changing legislation and demands for fast time-to-market.
Next to the developments above, another issue causing knowledge evaporation concerns the reluctance of software developers to write down information about a software product. In general, software developers and other stakeholders dislike reading documentation; in short, TL;DR.
New team members must invest substantial time in comprehending the intentions behind the source code, particularly understanding the reasons for its functioning and extracting insights into how it operates, all directly from the source code itself.
The source code alone cannot reveal design decisions or their rationale. Consequently, preserving knowledge necessitates primarily capturing design decisions, rationale, architecture and justification.

To mitigate knowledge loss, we formulated three primary research questions that subsequently informed the development of a framework consisting of three approaches and their corresponding artifacts. The first question poses challenges due to culture, loss of focus, and a wide array of tools and processes. The second question examines the characteristics of gls{csd}, including cultural traits defined by values, principles, practices, and processes, life cycle attributes of constant change, systematic challenges like lack of control, and the impact of bugs and new features. The third research question proposes a framework with approaches and artifacts.

The approaches in the framework are `Just Enough Upfront', 'Executable Documentation', and 'Automatic Text Analysis'. 'Just Enough Upfront' advocates informal whiteboard sketches to communicate the main objectives between stakeholders, a strictly codified interface description between (sub)systems, and a plan of approach. Afterward, developers document design decisions to incorporate progressive insights and deviations from the initially planned objectives. The characteristics of `Executable Documentation' pertain to human-readable requirements and specifications that can be executed. This approach is typically in use when specifications are clearly defined. With 'Automatic Text Analysis', machine learning with neural networks is used to identify causal relations in text, especially Git comments, for revealing design decisions. As such, this approach assists in retrieving knowledge.


We evaluated prospectively the detection of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by culture and by direct antigen detection using an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), a direct monoclonal immunofluorescence assay (DFA), and a monoclonal enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Of 221 specimens, 95 (43%) were culture positive for RSV, 4 (1.8%) contained more than one virus, and 17 (7.6%) contained a virus other than RSV. Overall, HEp-2 and Flow 6000 cells grew significantly more RSV isolates (82 and 72%, respectively) than A549 cells, which grew only 29% of the isolates. The mean time for RSV detection with HEp-2 cells was 2.9 days. This was significantly less than the mean time for RSV detection with either Flow 6000 cells (6.1 days) or A549 cells (6.4 days). Of 221 specimens, 129 were tested simultaneously by culture, IFA, and DFA. Of these 129 specimens, 62 (48%) were positive by culture, 69 (53%) were positive by IFA, and 70 (54%) were positive by DFA. For 92 specimens screened simultaneously by culture, IFA, and EIA, positive results were obtained for 33 (36%) of the specimens by both culture and IFA and for 29 (32%) of the specimens by EIA. Of 126 culture-negative specimens, 21 (17%) were positive for RSV when determined by IFA. Conversely, 14 (15%) of 95 RSV culture-positive specimens were negative by IFA, whereas DFA missed 19% of the culture-positive specimens. Compared with culture, the Kallestad EIA kit had a sensitivity and specificity of 73 and 92% respectively, but missed 9 (27%) of 33 culture-positive specimens. These data demonstrate that isolation by culture continues to be important for viral diagnosis of REV infections and that for valid comparative studies between viral isolations and rapid detection methods, both sensitive host cells and appropriate test conditions are required.


When diane middlebrook began the research for her biography of anne sexton (1928–74), she interviewed maxine kumin twice. Kumin and Sexton had been great friends and collaborators, and Kumin wrote the introduction to Sexton's Complete Poems (1981). The excerpt below is based on Middlebrook's typed transcript of a recording of a conversation that took place in Kumin's home on 9 October 1980. I abridged the transcript and submitted it to Kumin for her approval. The ellipses are part of the transcript, but the bracketed interpolations are mine. The complete interviews Middlebrook conducted for Anne Sexton: A Biography will be deposited in the Feminist Theory Archives of the Pembroke Center at Brown University.


We examine the possibility of excitonic superconductivity at a metal - semiconductor interface. An ab initio RPA calculation of the screened Coulomb electron - electron interaction is performed for the silicon - jellium multilayer model. The superconducting kernel for this multilayered system is found to be positive in the whole frequency range considered. We show that the inclusion of local field effects does not change the sign of the kernel and thus does not enhance the excitonic mechanism.


The aim of this study was to design polymeric nanospheres containing magnetic nanoparticle which could display superparamagnetic behavior and thus find application in allied fields. First magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized with coprecipitation method and then their stable acidic dispersion was prepared without surfactant and dropped into the polymerization system during a certain time interval after the polymerization started. The effects of time at which the magnetic sol was added into polymerization system on latex size and stability, average molecular weight of polymer were examined in the case of two different monomer concentrations. Extensive characterization by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, thermal gravimetric analysis and magnetic measurements shows that when the magnetic sol was dropped during earlier time of polymerization at stage 1, the latex size, average molecular weight of polymer, thermal stability of polymeric composite, and saturation magnetization reduced, whereas polydispersity of size and molecular weight increased because of the reaction between persulfate and naked surface of magnetite at the aqueous phase. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011


Artificial Intelligence in healthcare employs machine learning algorithms to emulate human cognition in the analysis of complicated or large sets of data. Specifically, artificial intelligence taps on the ability of computer algorithms and software with allowable thresholds to make deterministic approximate conclusions. In comparison to traditional technologies in healthcare, artificial intelligence enhances the process of data analysis without the need for human input, producing nearly equally reliable, well defined output. Schizophrenia is a chronic mental health condition that affects millions worldwide, with impairment in thinking and behaviour that may be significantly disabling to daily living. Multiple artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms have been utilized to analyze the different components of schizophrenia, such as in prediction of disease, and assessment of current prevention methods. These are carried out in hope of assisting with diagnosis and provision of viable options for individuals affected. In this paper, we review the progress of the use of artificial intelligence in schizophrenia.


This paper aims to provide an introductory overview over the socio-cultural context of Northern Vietnam to agricultural researchers. The paper focuses on the interplay between Vietnam's lowlands and the uplands to specify what makes the Northern uplands a distinct region; as an object of empirical agricultural research and as a context of application of research results. The paper reviews the developments of selected social institutions from pre-colonial times to the current era of "renovation". First, developments in Vietnam's legal and administrative structures are outlined. Second, education and higher education, particularly the agricultural sciences, are discussed. The third and main part elaborates on social, political, and economic specifics of the Northern Uplands. It is suggested that the relationship between formal and informal institutions is crucial for understanding the dynamics of contemporary uplands Vietnam, particularly in the given multi-cultural situation.


Task oriented language understanding (LU) in human-to-machine (H2M) conversations has been extensively studied for personal digital assistants. In this work, we extend the task oriented LU problem to human-to-human (H2H) conversations, focusing on the slot tagging task. Recent advances on LU in H2M conversations have shown accuracy improvements by adding encoded knowledge from different sources. Inspired by this, we explore several variants of a bidirectional LSTM architecture that relies on different knowledge sources, such as Web data, search engine click logs, expert feedback from H2M models, as well as previous utterances in the conversation. We also propose ensemble techniques that aggregate these different knowledge sources into a single model. Experimental evaluation on a four-turn Twitter dataset in the restaurant and music domains shows improvements in the slot tagging F1-score of up to 6.09% compared to existing approaches.


Glutarimide single crystals X-irradiated at room temperature were reinvestigated at 150 K with the purpose to obtain information about possible ring opening and other fragmentation processes involving free radicals in this compound, previously only observed to take place in aqueous solutions. In previous work, using EPR,ENDOR and EIE spectroscopy, two H-abstraction radicals present in a 3∶1 relative ratio in the irradiated crystals were identified. In the present work the detection of a third radical species, III, is reported. The g- and hyperfine coupling tensors for all three radicals at 150 K were obtained. Based on simulations of the EPR spectra the relative abundance of the three radicals was estimated to be 60, 25 and 15% for radicals I, II and III, respectively. Radical III is proposed to be of the allyl radical type –CHCH–˙CH– formed formally by a concerted H2 elimination from C2 and C3 of radical I and/or from C3 and C4 of radical II. This proposal and structure is at variance with observations from aqueous solution studies of succinimide, where the CO–CH2 bond was susceptible for rupture. However, the assignment is consistent with density functional theory (DFT) calculations, predicting equivalent hyperfine interactions to the two α-type protons at C2 and C4 in excellent agreement with the experimentally determined hyperfine coupling tensors. EIE results confirmed that both couplings originate from the same radical species. Possible mechanisms for the formation of radical III are discussed.


The advantages of this technique in large, shallow defects are: 1. The flap can be monitored clinically during the critical postoperative period. 2. The aesthetic result is much better than that of the bulky myocutaneous flap. 3. No second donor site for the split-thickness skin graft is required.


We analyze how the political dimension of ethnomathematics can be an effective tool for eurocentrism. Our thesis is that ethnomathematics is a useful tool for defending the mathematical knowledge of the communities in Latin America that are facing globalization, the specialization of the sciences, colonization, official histories, and the existence of a single truth, and can be used to develop a more inclusive, pertinent, and meaningful mathematics education. To support this thesis, we present three experiences where ethnomathematics played a main role in creating awareness of and revaluing this knowledge. In addition we present a work proposal to be used in the classroom that shows how to go from using ethnomathematics like a motivating element to an element of cultural valorization. We conclude by showing how ethnomathematics, and its political dimension in particular, contributes to the search for a better education, in line with the educational goals established by the Organization of Iberoamerican States (OEI).


The various techniques and algorithms of ML & DL are becoming popular for prediction with different level of accuracy. This paper includes performance comparison of few machine learning algorithms in the reference of student social engagement during covid-19 pandemic period. In this study, the comparison of Naïve Bayes, J48 tree, REPTree and Random forest algorithm is carried on structured dataset of 1200+ instance. In this paper, study proposes & scrutinizes commonly used social app & platform. Further, it compares them with the various ML approach. The objective of this study is to foreseeing the correlation between student social engagement for one the most popular social engagement platform during covid-19 pandemic. This paper focusses on accuracy, F-measure and time to summarize comparison result. The findings of the study and dynamic analysis indicate ML/Deep learning algorithm can lead better accuracy and other factor for preprocessed student social engagement dataset. The finding can predict engagement of students for most popular social media platform with performance comparison of ML algorithm.


Understanding how we perceive visual quality is important in a range of applications such as streaming or cross-media reproduction. Despite current perception models showing high correlations with recorded mean opinion scores, the factors influencing visual quality are still not fully understood, particularly when it comes to memory. We designed and carried out a study to compare quality assessment for two different levels of reliance on visual short-term memory. We found that assessments based mostly on memory tend to be more positive for compression, blur or gamut mapping distortions. Our results further highlight the role of memory in subjective quality assessment and visual masking.


The main goal of these investigations was the refined measurement of unsteady high-speed flow in a centrifugal compressor by using the advanced FRAP® fast-response aerodynamic probe system. The present contribution focusses on the impeller exit region and shows critical comparisons between fast-response (time-resolving) and conventional pneumatic probe measurement results.Three probes of identical external geometry (1 fast and 2 pneumatic) were used to perform wall-to-wall traverses close to the impeller exit. The data shown refer to a single running condition near the best point of the stage.The mass flow obtained from different probe measurements and from the standard orifice measurement were compared. Stage work obtained from temperature rise measured with a FRAP® probe and from impeller outlet velocity vectors fields by using Euler's turbine equation are presented.The comparison in terms of velocity magnitude and angle distribution is quite satifactory, indicating the superior DC measurement capabilities of the fast-response probe system.Copyright © 1998 by ASME


The injection of cryogenic fluids into environments where the prevailing conditions are supercritical in comparison to the critical point of the injected cryogenic fluid is encountered in cryogenic rocket engines, and novel engine architectures such as the recuperated split cycle engine. The physical characteristics of cryogens injected into supercritical environment are rather unclear. While surface tension is usually assumed to be absent/negligible for supercritical fluids, recent experimental research has identified the existence of surface tension and its effects on liquid hydrocarbons in supercritical environment. This research work proposes an alternative computationally simple adaptive surface tension algorithm for the simulation of a liquid injected into supercritical environment. The numerical simulations presented here correspond to single- and binary-specie cases of iquid nitrogen and liquid methane respectively, undergoing phase transition post their injection into supercritical conditions. Following a critical review of related numerical works, this paper begins with a brief explanation of the physics behind the surface tension effect in a binary-fluid interface in which a supercritical fluid is involved and we present why this effect is of relevance to supercritical cryogenic jets? Then, the rationale and specifics of the the new modelling framework based on adaptive surface tension is discussed along with its implications. The results of the numerical simulations of low-temperature vs near-critical temperature iquid nitrogen and liquid methane injection dynamics revealed the drastically different fluid- and thermo-dynamics at play in these two cases. The role of surface tension at these conditions is also explored.


The normal intestinal epithelium is not inflamed despite contact with a high density of commensal bacteria. Intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) express low levels of TLR4 and MD-2 and are lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-unresponsive. We hypothesized that immune-mediated signals regulate the expression of TLR4 and MD-2 in IEC. Expression of TLR4 and MD-2 was examined in normal colonic epithelial cells or intestinal epithelial cell lines. The effect of the cytokines interferon (IFN)-γ, IFN-α, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) on TLR4 and MD-2 expression was examined by reverse transcription-PCR and Western blot. NF-κB transcriptional activation and interleukin-8 secretion were used as measures of LPS responsiveness. Native colonic epithelial cells and IEC lines express a low level of TLR4 and MD-2 mRNA. IFN-γ regulates MD-2 expression in both IEC lines, whereas IFN-γ and TNF-α regulate TLR4 mRNA expression in IEC lines. Pre-incubation with IFN-γ and/or TNF-α sensitizes IEC to LPS-dependent interleukin-8 secretion. To examine MD-2 transcriptional regulation, we cloned a 1-kb sequence proximal to the MD-2 gene translational start site. This promoter directed expression of a reporter gene in endothelial cells and IEC. IFN-γ positively regulated MD-2 promoter activity in IEC. Co-expression of a STAT inhibitor, SOCS3, blocked IFN-γ-mediated MD-2 promoter activation. T cell-derived cytokines lead to increased expression of TLR4 and MD-2 and LPS-dependent pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion in IEC. IFN-γ regulates expression of the critical TLR4 co-receptor MD-2 through the Janus tyrosine kinase-STAT pathway. Th1 cytokines may initiate or perpetuate intestinal inflammation by altering toll-like receptor expression and bacterial reactivity.


During the last 20 years or so many advances have been made in our knowledge of the anatomy of the vascular supply to the spinal cord, and French investigators have been the leaders in this field. That radiological advances in technicue and interpretation should follow was a logical sequel, and Djindjian of Paris is outstanding for his work in this respect. Initially spinal angiography was used to demonstrate the blood supply and architecture of spinal angiomas, the contrast medium being injected direct into the aorta. This technique had two disadvantages: a large dose of a concentrated substance had to be injected, and the dense aortic shadow sometimes masked the small vessels being sought. This led to selective angiographic catheterization of individual intercostal and lumbar arteries. If the lesion was in the cervical region the vertebral or cervical arteries were catheterized. Thus a very sophisticated technique came to be adopted and sometimes all 24 intercostal arteries have to be examined. Concurrently much has been learned about the clinical presentation of spinal angiomas which was previously unknown. With experience of 56 cases (and a further nine before publication) Djindjian and his colleagues made the important and surprising finding that typical myelographic changes were present in only 480°', in 42%, myelography showed "anomalies which were not characteristic," and in 10% the myelograms were normal. They further found that 60%) of angiomas lay below the level of the 8th dorsal vertebra and 80%O of the patients were under 45, 5O'), under 14, and males constituted 70°'. In females pregnancy is a precipitating factor in producing symptoms. In one third of the cases subarachnoid haemorrhage was the first sign, and when the accident occurs in an individual under 14 the diagnosis of spinal angioma should always be seriously considered. Some of the operative results of this previously inoperable condition have been very successful, and Djindjian stresses the importance of postoperative angiography to confirm that complete removal has been achieved and to see if there is a disappearance of a vascular steal to other parts of the cord. Though the study of angiomas was the original spur to this work, more recently spinal tumours have been examined as well as ischaemic lesions of the cord. As the authors rightly say, pneumography was the radiological investigation of choice in earlier years for the demonstration of intracranial masses, just as myelography was used for studying spinal masses. For years now cerebal angiography has complemented pneumography, and today in a parallel fashion soinal angiography complements myelography. There are well over 800 illustrations, mostly spinal angiograms, and the text is written in both French and English. Djindjian and his colleagues are greatly to be congratulated on making an important contribution to the advancement of clinical medicine.


Background: Chronic cadmium (Cd) exposure can contribute to the progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially atherosclerosis (AS), but the underlying mechanism is unclear. Since mitochondrial homeostasis is emerging as a core player in the development of CVD, it might serve as a potential mechanism linking Cd exposure and AS. Here, we aimed to investigate the Cd-induced AS through macrophage polarization and tried to find out the mechanism of mitochondrial dysfunction caused by Cd exposure. Methods and results: In vitro, flow cytometry showed that Cd exposure markedly promoted M1-type polarization of macrophages, manifesting as the increasing expression of NF-kB, NLRP3 and their downstream inflammatory factors, IL-1β and IL-6. Mitochondrial function test revealed that the decreasing mitochondrial membrane potential and increasing superoxide (mROS) and mitochondrial fission were involved in Cd-induced macrophage polarization. Transmission electron microscope observation and immunofluorescence both identified the decrease of mitophage after Cd exposure. And improving mitochondrial function above significantly restored the balance of macrophage polarization. In vivo, Cd exposure was positively correlated with blood Cd concentration, and oil red O staining showed higher blood Cd significantly increased the area of AS plaques. Besides, M1-type polarization of macrophages and mitochondrial dysfunction were observed in mouse aortic roots through immunofluorescence and western blot as the dosage of Cd increasing. And the administered NAC or Mdivi-1, which decreased mROS or mitochondrial fission, markedly attenuated AS plaques and macrophage M1-type polarization in Cd-treated group. Finally, the up-regulated expressions of RIPK3 and p-MLKL were observed both in vitro and in vivo. And knocking out RIPK3 with decreasing expression of p-MLKL followed did improve mitochondrial dysfunction caused by Cd which effectively reversed macrophage polarization. Conclusion: Cd exposure activated RIPK3 pathway and impaired mitochondrial homeostasis, resulting in macrophage polarization to a pro-inflammatory phenotype and subsequent AS. These findings suggest that improving mitochondrial homeostasis may provide a potential therapeutic target for AS induced by chronic Cd exposure.


To assess the role of muscle and liver in the pathogenesis of postprandial hyperglycemia in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), we administered an oral glucose load enriched with [14C]glucose to 10 NIDDM subjects and 10 age- and weight-matched nondiabetic volunteers and compared muscle glucose disposal by measuring forearm balance of glucose, lactate, alanine, O2, and CO2 (with forearm calorimetry). In addition, we used the dual-lable isotope method to compare overall rates of glucose appearance (Ra) and disappearance (Rd), suppression of endogenous glucose output, and splanchnic glucose sequestration. During the initial 1–1.5 h after glucose ingestion, plasma glucose increased by ∼8 mM in NIDDM vs. ∼3 mM in nondiabetic subjects (P < 0.01); overall glucose Ra was nearly 11 g greater in NIDDM than nondiabetic subjects (45.1 ± 2.3 vs. 34.4 ± 1.5 g, P < 0.01), but glucose Rd was not significantly different in NIDDM (35.1 ± 2.4 g) and nondiabetic (33.3 ± 2.7 g) subjects. The greater overall glucose Ra of NIDDM subjects was due to 6.8 g greater endogenous glucose output (13.7 ± 1.1 vs. 6.8 ± 1.0 g, P < 0.01) and 3.8 g less oral glucose splanchnic sequestration of the oral load (31.4 ± 1.5 vs. 27.5 ± 0.9 g, P < 0.05). Although glucose taken up by muscle was not significantly different in NIDDM and nondiabetic subjects (39.3 ± 3.5 vs. 41.0 ± 2.5 g/5 h), a greater amount of the glucose taken up by muscle in NIDDM was released as lactate and alanine (11.7 ± 1.0 vs. 5.2 ± 0.3 g in nondiabetic subjects, P < 0.01), and less was stored (11.7 ± 1.3 vs. 16.9 ± 1.5 g, P < 0.05). We conclude that increased systemic glucose delivery, due primarily to reduced suppression of endogenous hepatic glucose output and, to a lesser extent, reduced splanchnic glucose sequestration, is the predominant factor responsible for postprandial hyperglycemia in NIDDM.


Using herbal extract as a natural anti-fungal substance is an effective alternative method for application of chemical synthetic controllers in food industries due to having some certain compounds is used in food industries as a natural antimicrobial substance to decrease the microbial load and enhance taste. The main objective of this research is the application of essential oil from thyme as a natural antimicrobial substance in processing of pistachio in washing stage to decrease the microbial load and destroy aflatoxin. typical trend, various inhibitions of thyme in concentrations of 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 ppm in washing stage have been used. The witness group in this level was pistachios that where washed by uninhibited water. Witness and inhibited samples were analyzed to determine their mould contamination, aflatoxin generating moulds, and aflatoxin in storage. A sensory test was used to compare the color, taste, flavor, smell, and acceptance between thyme oil washed group and the witness group. According to the results, there was a significant difference between the witness sample and other samples in their fungal and aflatoxin load whereby the more the concentration of the oil was, the lower the amount of both become. In aflatoxin test, the 1000 ppm inhibition more than other inhibitions decreased the aflatoxin. Thyme oil inhibited samples in comparison to the witness sample had a more pleasant taste (thyme aftertaste) and in general featured a better acceptance; but no meaningful difference in their color and taste was observed. Also the 500 ppm inhibition was chosen as the best one, because its fungal load declined with less amount of essential oil from thyme. Based on the results, it is applicable to use the essential oil from thyme as a source of a natural antifungal substance to decrease the microbial load and specially aspergillus flavus in the washing stage of pistachio.


The hydration Gibbs energies of adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine, uracil and isoguanine are determined by the molecular dynamics-thermodynamic integration method (MD-TI) and using continuous COSMO and hybrid models. The role of solvents in the COSMO model is described by permittivity and by combining the permittivity and specific hydration of single water molecules placed on the energetically most probable position in the hybrid model. The hybrid model describes hydration similarly to the COSMO model; both the continuous methods are in good agreement with the MD-TI method. Differences are small and the use of both models can be recommended.


Background and aim of the work: The Lynch Syndrome (LS) is associated with germline mutations in one of the MisMatch Repair (MMR) genes. Most of germline mutations are point variants, followed by large rearrangements that account to 15-55% of all pathogenic mutations. Many study reporting the frequency of large rearrangements in the MLH1 and MSH2 genes were performed, while, little is known about the contribution of large rearrangements in other MMR genes, as PMS2 and MSH6. Therefore, in this study we investigated the involvment of large rearrangements in MSH6 and PMS2 genes in a well-characterized series of 20 LS southern Italian patients. Methods: These large rearrangements are not usually detected by methods of mutation analysis, such as denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and direct DNA sequencing, but they are detectable by a known technique as the Multiplex Ligation-Probe Dependent Amplification (MLPA) assay. Results: No large rearrangements were identified in MSH6 gene; instead, a large rearrangement was identified in PMS2 gene. A large duplication including the exons 3 and 4 of the PMS2 gene was identified in a patient who developed a rectum carcinoma at 45 years of age, an endometrial carcinoma and a vaginal cancer at the 65 years of age. Conclusion: We can affirm that the detection of large rearrangements in the MSH6 and PMS2 genes should be included in the routine testing for Lynch syndrome, especially considering the simplicity of the MLPA assay.


A way to increase the value added to micro and small businesses (MSB) is through innovation, which starts from an intellectual capital where skills, attitudes, motivations and knowledge are the key. Innovation is seen as a process that results from the formation of skills of labor, and education or training and experience that leads to individual innovation. Thus, externalities of such skills translate into successful innovation processes (generation, development or modification of products and processes). Also, in transit through the spiral of innovation, which involves one step of creativity and one of entrepreneurship, three interrelated types of human skills come into play: basic, secondary and innovative. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to describe the importance of the individuals' skills and knowledge to the innovation process in Mexican MSB.


A theory of the lexicon is proposed which is consistent with the Lexicalist Hypothesis of Chomsky's 'Remarks on nominalization' (1970). The crucial problem is to develop a notion of lexical redundancy rules which permits an adequate description of the partial relations and idiosyncrasies characteristic of the lexicon. Two lexicalist theories of redundancy rules, each equipped with an evaluation measure, are compared on the basis of their accounts of nominali-sations; the superior one, the 'full-entry theory', is then applied to a range of further well-known examples such as causative verbs, nominal compounds, and idioms. A study was designed to investigate the views held by Egyptians of various ages and educational backgrounds towards several of the speech varieties used in the Egyptian context (classical and colloquial Arabic, Egyptian English, British and American English), and to ascertain the perceived suitability of these codes for diverse purposes within Egyptian society. [Methods described: selection of language varieties and speakers, elicitation of speech samples, questionnaire.] The subjects were four groups: schoolchildren from grade school and high school, and undergraduates from national and American universities in Egypt. [Results and discussion.] Subjects were presented with sets of sentences expressed in either the active or passive voice. There were one, two, four, or eight sentences in a set. After a few seconds, an active or passive question was asked about one of the sentences. When one sentence was presented, fewer errors occurred when sentence and question voice were the same than when they differed; but for four and eight sentences, fewer errors occurred when the question "was active rather than passive. The results suggest that the surface form of a single sentence is retained for question answering, that both surface and deep structures are retained following two sentences, and that only the deep structures of sets of four and eight sentences are retained.


Development of a Parameterized Model of Transverse Maize (Zea mays L.) Stalk Morphology Ryan A. Larson Department of Mechanical Engineering, BYU Master of Science Stalk lodging, or failure of the stalk structure, presents a serious problem in the production of maize (Zea mays L.). Lodged stalks negatively impact crop yields by inhibiting further grain growth and often prevent the harvest of the grain. Addressing this problem requires the development of new maize hybrids that exhibit enhanced lodging resistance, which in turn requires an understanding of the parameters that influence lodging resistance. Current methods make use of specimen-specific geometry and material properties, but these methods have limited ability to examine geometric effects and can require excessive time. A parameterized model of the maize stalk has the potential to overcome these limitations. The purpose of this study was to develop a model of the maize stalk cross-section that could accurately predict transverse stiffness. Principal component analysis was utilized to discover underlying geometric patterns that could be used as parameters in a cross-sectional model. Using the resulting principal components, a series of approximated cross-sections was created that represented various levels of fidelity to real cross-section geometry. The real and approximated cross-sections were modeled in transverse compression with a prescribed deformation load, and the predictive accuracy of each approximated model was calculated. A sensitivity study was also performed to quantify the strength of individual parameter effects. The simplest model, an elliptical cross-section, accurately predicted transverse stiffness while minimizing the number of model parameters. This model may later be used as a basis for a three-dimensional parameterized model of the maize stem.


The author has, wisely, developed the mathematics needed in chapters separate from those devoted to economics. There are seven chapters devoted to complex numbers, linear differential equations, l inear difference equations, vectors and mat r ices , matr ix algebra, game theory, and linear programming. Two appendices deal with the algebra of operators and linear systems, and the algebra of sets , groups, and vector spaces. The chapters on economics include an account of macrodynamic problems, trade cycles, economic regulation, input-output analysis, applications of linear programming, theory of the firm, value theory, and the aggregation problem.


Summary Lasers have been used in the treatment of haemangiomas since the early 1980s. Several study groups have reported good results, others have been less enthusiastic and emphasized other treatments like cryosurgery. We reviewed our experience with the use of laser therapy in treating complicated haemangiomas of infants. During a 15-year period, 1117 infants with haemangiomas were treated with the Nd:YAG laser. The lesions reported were particular troublesome because of significant cosmetic disfigurement, maceration or ulceration, bleeding, and of potential functional impairment. Superficial findings were treated using was a transcutaneous application with local ice cube cooling to protect the overlying skin. All deep-seated lesions were treated with interstitial laser irradiation. In trachaeal haemangiomas endoscopic laser destruction is an alternative to tracheostomy with good functional results and comparable or less morbidity. Overall, excellent results were achieved in 41% of infants and good results occured in 51%. On the basis of our results we conclude that laser therapy may successfully prevent enlargement and promote involution of haemangiomas with minimal adverse effects. Therapy should be initiated as early as possible, when lesions are relatively flat, for optimal results.


We present an intelligent system for satellite sea ice image analysis named ARKTOS (Advanced Reasoning using Knowledge for Typing Of Sea ice). The underlying methodology of ARKTOS is to perform fully automated analysis of sea ice images by mimicking the reasoning process of sea ice experts and photo-interpreters. Hence, our approach is feature-based, rule-based classification supported by multisource data fusion and knowledge bases. A feature can be an ice floe, for example. ARKTOS computes a host of descriptors for that feature and then applies expert rules to classify the floe into one of several ice classes. ARKTOS also incorporates information derived from other sources, fusing different data towards more accurate classification. This modular, flexible, and extensible approach allows ARKTOS be refined and evaluated by expert users. As a software package, ARKTOS comprises components in image processing, rule-based classification, multisource data fusion, and GUI-based knowledge engineering and modification. As a research project over the past 10 years, ARKTOS has undergone phases such as knowledge acquisition, prototyping, refinement, evaluation and deployment, and finally operationalization at the National Ice Center (NIC). In this paper, we will focus on the methodology of ARKTOS. and for their par-ticipation in the prototyping stage of ARKTOS, and Bertoia of the Ice and Flett of the Ice and of for their sea ice expertise. This research work in


Aim of the special session Intolerance may develop to various everyday environmental exposures at levels that are well below those known to cause adverse health effects. Reactions initiate typically from odorous substances, but also from non-perceivable factors considered harmful to health, e.g. electrical devices. Reactions range from unpleasant sensations and annoyance to multi-organ symptoms, severe disability, and major restrictions in daily life and work. Symptoms often lead to exposure assessments at work and may result in excessive actions to eliminate minor exposures. In environmental intolerance, occupational health care is the front line actor in primary and secondary prevention, and support of recovery. Markku Sainio1, Anna-Sara Claeson2, Christoph van Thriel3, Kenichi Azuma4, Lena Hillert5, Martin Tondel6,7 1Work Environment, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland 2Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Sweden 3Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, TU Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany 4Kindai University Faculty of Medicine, Osakasayama, Japan 5Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden 6Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden 7Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden


Subcutaneous ethanol injection to waking rabbits in a dose of 2-6 g/kg causes discoordination of movements, a decline in motor reactions to inhibitory and reinforced light flashes, and appearance of equalizing and paradoxical relations in the number of reactions to these stimuli. Under the influence of ethanol, activating and disinhibitory action of the pain reinforcement on neurones of the visual area temporarily weakens, while the disinhibitory influence of light flashes (CS) is preserved. Judging from the dynamics of phasic reactions to the inhibitory light flashes, the ethanol in a dose of 2-6 g/kg does not influence the inhibitory hyperpolarization processes in the cerebral cortex of rabbits. Tonic inhibition of the cortical unit activity temporarily intensifies after the ethanol injection.