Performance evaluation of a combined generation and transmission system normally includes the independent outages of generators, transformers and transmission lines. However, substation-originated outages due to failure of breakers, transformers and busbars can also have a significant effect on the bulk power system performance indices in terms of average outage frequency and duration. This paper describes general-purpose software for substation reliability assessment. Reliability analysis technique using the minimal cut set method was implemented. The software package is able to define and incorporate fifteen types of system configurations in the analysis and at the same time comprehensive analysis tools such as print, save, sensitivity studies, tutorial guide, etc, are also incorporated. The concept associated with the reliability analysis is illustrated by application to a simple but comprehensive substation configuration.


Helicopters are known to exhibit higher vibratory levels compared to fixed-wing aircraft. The consequences of vibrations depend on the affected helicopter component or subject. Specifically, pilots are in contact with several parts of the helicopter; vibrations can spoil the pilot-vehicle interaction. To evaluate the effects of vibration exposure on pilots, comfort levels resulting from whole-body vibration are computed. However, specific body parts and organs, e.g., hands, feet, and eyes are also adversely affected, with undesirable effects on piloting quality. Therefore, a detailed assessment is necessary for a more accurate estimation of pilot vibration exposure when comparing different configurations, tracking changes during design, and determining the safety of the flight envelope. A generalized assessment is presented by considering vibrations at the seat surface, hand-grip of controls, eyes, and feet. The suggested vibration measure includes comfort, handling, feet-contact, and vision in a single formulation. It is illustrated by coupling a high-fidelity biodynamic model of the pilot to a helicopter aeroservoelastic model in a comprehensive simulation environment. Using appropriate modeling techniques, vibration exposure of helicopter pilots could be evaluated during all stages of design, to achieve a more comfortable and safer flying environment.


Two piezochromic fluorescent compounds are prepared by introducing thiomethyl substituents to the peripheralpositions of two related cyano oligo(p-phenylene vinylenes) (CN-OPV). The new derivatives, namely, 1,4-bis[2-cyano-2(4-thiomethylphenyl)ethenyl]benzene (TOPV1) and 1,4-bis(1-cyano-2-(4-thiomethylphenyl)ethenyl) benzene (TOPV2), are characterized by NMR, powder X-ray diffraction data (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) data. UV-Vis and fluorescence spectra are also measured. TOPV1 with the cyano groups farther away from the central aromatic ring is photoluminescent, and on application of pressure exhibits a more obvious color change and higher Stokes shift than those measured for TOPV2. We also observe piezochromic aggregation-induced emission (PAIE) for TOPV2, but TOPV1 does not exhibit any PAIE.


Current approaches to pre-existing music in film focus on the ability of the lyrics or intertextuality to support the narrative and character development of a film, often at the expense of other musical characteristics (Inglis 2003, Lannin and Caley 2005, Powrie and Stilwell 2006, Reay 2004, Wojcik and Knight 2001). While this approach accounts reasonably well for popular music in classical Hollywood cinema, it is considerably less successful in explaining the role of popular music that is deployed similarly to composed scores, such as in contemporary action film. In this dissertation, I explore how the musical characteristics of popular music, such as hooks, timbre, rhythm, and texture, are connected to the audiovisual editing and kinetic action of action film. In Shaun of the Dead (2004), for instance, the protagonists pummel the zombie pub landlord in time with Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now." An analysis of the lyrics would highlight the song's comedic function, but this analysis would not account for how music determines the rhythms of visual editing or the choreography of kinetic action. My analyses of introductions, trailers, and action sequences exemplify these important connections between popular music characteristics, kinetic action, and audiovisual editing in order to propose a new way of understanding how popular music functions in contemporary action films.


Capillary plasmas with large length-to-diameter ratios (1/d > 100) are proposed as amplification media for soft-x-ray and XUV radiation by direct discharge excitation. The capillary geometry provides a small volume and an adequate resistance for ohmic heating. Heat conduction to the capillary walls provides rapid cooling of the plasma during the decay of the excitation pulse, resulting in a large recombination rate and a population inversion. A time-dependent collisional–radiative model of the capillary plasma predicts gains of the order of 5 cm−1 in the 18.2-nm line of C vi.


Abstract The compound 1-octen-3-ol is a known attractant of some mosquito species, which has led to the hypothesis that olfactory stimulation by this alkenol may be associated with the following structural elements: a terminal site of unsaturation or high electron density; a structural capability for hydrogen bonding, e.g., -OH, -NH2, NHR, NR2, etc.; a saturated hydrocarbon chain of a certain minimum length; and a certain relative distance between the region of high electron density and the alcohol (or other hydrogen-bonding) functional group. Using this logic, we synthesized 20 alkenol analogs based on the octenol double-bonded carbon skeleton. The attraction of female Aedes albopictus and Culex quinquefasciatus to these analogs was compared with 1-octen-3-ol as a standard in semi–field trials. For both species, collections from Mosquito Magnet-X© (MMX) suction traps baited with the alkenol analogs in the absence of carbon dioxide were not significantly different from octenol-only baited traps, with the exception of (Z)-3-hepten-1-ol which collected significantly more Ae. albopictus. In the presence of CO2, most of the collections from traps baited with an alkenol were considerably increased for both species but not different from octenol plus CO2, with the exception of Ae. albopictus where (Z)-3-decen-1-ol, (Z)-4-hexen-1-ol, 7-octen-2-ol, and 8-nonen-3-ol significantly depressed trap catches. Although no clearly identifiable structure–activity relationship could be determined from our collected data, we did find that MMX traps baited with carbon dioxide and 4-penten-2-ol or (E)-2-decen-4-ol significantly enhanced Cx. quinquefasciatus collections up to nearly 3-fold compared with octenol plus carbon dioxide.


Recognition potential (RP), a recently discovered electrophysiological response of the brain, is sensitive to semantic aspects of stimuli. Given its peak values (about 250 ms), RP may be a good candidate for the study of semantic processing during its occurrence. However, its topography and neural generators are largely unknown. To improve this state of affairs, high-resolution electroencephalography and brain electrical source analysis were carried out. Results suggest a possible origin of RP in the lingual gyrus, hence reflecting the activity of the basal extrastriate areas. RP therefore appears to be a highly valuable tool in the study of those regions considered to be the "third language areas" (in addition to Broca's and Wernicke's areas), whose precise role in language processing is still largely unknown. Another important finding was that RP amplitude in the left hemisphere differed as a function of the semantic category of the stimuli, providing evidence for the sensitivity of this component to semantic categorization. A tentative proposal is made with regard to the role of the basal extrastriate areas.


Existing star-forming vs. active galactic nucleus (AGN) classification schemes using optical emission-line diagnostics mostly fail for low-metallicity and/or highly star-forming galaxies, missing AGN in typical z ∼ 0 dwarfs. To recover AGN in dwarfs with strong emission lines (SELs), we present a classification scheme optimizing the use of existing optical diagnostics. We use Sloan Digital Sky Survey emission-line catalogs overlapping the volume- and mass-limited REsolved Spectroscopy Of a Local VolumE (RESOLVE) and Environmental COntex (ECO) surveys to determine the AGN percentage in SEL dwarfs. Our photoionization grids show that the [O iii]/Hβ versus [S ii]/Hα diagram (S ii plot) and [O iii]/Hβ versus [O i]/Hα diagram (O i plot) are less metallicity sensitive and more successful in identifying dwarf AGN than the popular [O iii]/Hβ versus [N ii]/Hα diagnostic (N ii plot or "BPT diagram"). We identify a new category of "star-forming AGN" (SF-AGN) classified as star-forming by the N ii plot but as AGN by the S ii and/or O i plots. Including SF-AGN, we find the z ∼ 0 AGN percentage in dwarfs with SELs to be ∼3%–16%, far exceeding most previous optical estimates (∼1%). The large range in our dwarf AGN percentage reflects differences in spectral fitting methodologies between catalogs. The highly complete nature of RESOLVE and ECO allows us to normalize strong emission-line galaxy statistics to the full galaxy population, reducing the dwarf AGN percentage to ∼0.6%–3.0%. The newly identified SF-AGN are mostly gas-rich dwarfs with halo mass <1011.5 M ⊙, where highly efficient cosmic gas accretion is expected. Almost all SF-AGN also have low metallicities (Z ≲ 0.4 Z ⊙), demonstrating the advantage of our method.


A 43-year-old man was referred to center of maxillofacial surgery and dentistry with a very painful and severe swelling in the left submandibular area, redness of the neck, fever for 1 week, and slight worsening of swallowing. According to history of patient`s complaints, 10 days ago in the area of the present swelling, several movable lesions in the depth of soft tissue were noted. Longitudinal gray scale ultrasound (US) (Panel B, US using linear probe; Panel C, US using convex probe) showed subcutaneous oedema (white asterisk), large collection of well-defiened hypoechoic fluid (indicated by '+' and '×' calipers) under the platysma muscle (arrowheads). Movement of the fluid during dynamic compression was noted. The usual artifact for fluid-contained objects, posterior acoustic enhancement, is indicated by black asterisks. No ultrasound signs of gas loculations in the soft tissue and fluid were found. This allows assuming the absence of gas-forming organisms. Also, the enlarged lymph nodes were noted at the left neck. The diagnosis of submandibular abscess due to non-odontogenic inflammation and suppurate fusion of the lymph nodes was established. The abscess was lanced, and drained using submandibular approach. 18 ml of purulent material was obtained. At the next morning after surgery, the patient felt significant improvement; 1 week follow-up the patient was clinically well.


Background: Radical resection of gastric cancer liver metastases can increase the 5-year survival rate of GCLM patients. However, patients may lose the theoretical feasibility of surgery due to the critical location of liver metastasis in some cases.Case presentation: A 29-year-old female had a chief complaint of chronic abdominal pain for one year. Abdominal CT and MRI examinations suggested a mass of unknown pathological nature located between the first and second hila and the margin of the lower segment of the right lobe of the liver. The anterior wall of the gastric antrum was unevenly thickened. The diagnosis of (gastric antrum) intramucosal well-differentiated adenocarcinoma was histopathologically confirmed by puncture biopsy with gastroscopy guidance. She underwent radical resection(excision of both gastric tumors and ELRA simultaneously)followed by XELOX adjuvant chemotherapy. Without serious postoperative complications, the patient was successfully discharged on the 20th day after the operation. Pathological examination of the excised specimen indicated that gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection for primary gastric tumors and R0 resection for liver metastases were achieved. The resected mass was confirmed to be poorly differentiated gastric carcinoma (hepatoid adenocarcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation) with liver metastases in segments VIII. No recurrence or metastasis within the liver was found during a 7.5-year follow-up review that began one month after surgery.Conclusions: Application of ELRA in radical resection for GCLM can help selected patients with intrahepatic metastases located in complex sites obtain a favorable clinical outcome.


trans,trans-[RhL(2)(Ph)(CO)HCl] (2a) and trans,trans-[RhL(2)(Ph)Cl(CO)H] (2b) are known to form as major products in the reaction between benzene and a photoexcited state of trans-[RhL(2)(CO)Cl] (1; L = PMe(3)). In the presence of carbon monoxide, these species are believed to ultimately lead to catalytic photocarbonylation of benzene. At the B3LYP level of theory the calculated free energy of activation for the concerted transition state (TS) of phenyl to CO migration in 2b (TSb) is 39 kcal/mol. In contrast, the barrier of insertion in the trans,trans-[RhL(2)(Ph)H(CO)Cl] isomer (2c) which is 7.4 kcal/mol higher in energy than 2b is only 15 kcal/mol. The calculated geometries of the reactants and TSs indicate that the disparity in the given barriers arises from a combination of two factors. First, the orientation of H trans to the migrating Ph group in 2c favors the TS because it weakens the Rh-Ph bond and thus makes it easier to begin migration of the phenyl group in comparison with 2b where the phenyl is trans to the chloride. Second, the orientation of the hydride trans to CO in 2b appears to strongly disfavor the reaction compared to 2c where CO is trans to Cl. Specifically, the calculations give strong evidence that the Rh-H bond in 2b is substantially weakened in TSb, and this should add to the increased barrier of this isomer. These propositions are supported by calculations on the reaction of the cis-Rh(PMe(3))(2) isomers of 2 and other related octahedral complexes.


A novel genetic algorithm for the degree-constrained minimum spanning tree (d-MST) is proposed in this paper. In the proposed algorithm, a candidate solution is directly represented by set of the edges contained in the corresponding spanning tree, and a specific initialization scheme, a heuristic crossover and a mutation operator are designed, respectively. Moreover, both the crossover operator and the mutation operator are very easy to execute, and the offspring generated by them always represent feasible spanning trees. Furthermore, the global convergence of the proposed algorithm to globally optimal solution with probability one is proved. At last, the simulated results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.


In Ghana and many sub-Saharan African countries, ethnographies of medical setting are relatively uncommon. This might be due to the general view that to study the area of biomedicine by investigating hospital, health centre or clinic is a new territory for medical anthropologists. Besides, perhaps, anthropologists rarely made biomedicine itself a subject for analyses and accepted that it is supposedly grounded in science; it is not a subject of anthropological or sociological inquiry. Therefore, anthropologists over the years devoted much of their time into studying rituals and beliefs of exotic cultures, indigenous therapists, lay perceptions of health and illness. However, there is a growing interest in recent years in studying biomedicine as a cultural or social system. In this regard, this article seeks to illustrate the rigorous processes/procedures social scientists need to go through to enter the hospital and the peculiar strategies they have to adopt in order to collect data in the hospital setting. Further, it tries to show how actors in the facility (which includes biomedical professionals, patients and their relatives) generally perceive social scientists who conduct social science research and particularly ethnography in the hospital setting. The article thus sheds light on the experiences of an ethnographer in the hospital and how he continuously negotiated his presence to collect data in a setting which is often considered the domain of biomedical professionals. The article concludes that the anthropological method is not common in the hospital setting and therefore the need for more hospital ethnography to make it popular among health workers and also demonstrate its important contribution to quality health care delivery.


Keratin is widely recognized as a high-quality renewable protein resource for biomedical applications. A large amount of rabbit hair waste is produced in textile industries, because it has high medullary layer content, but poor spinnability. Therefore, it is of great significance to extract keratin from waste rabbit hair for recycling. In this research, an ultrasonic-assisted reducing agent-based extraction method was developed and applied to extract keratin from rabbit hair. The results showed that the ultrasonic treatment had a certain destructive effect on the structure of the fiber, and when combined with reducing agent, it could effectively promote the dissolution of rabbit hair, and extract keratin with high molecular weight between 31 and 94 kDa. The structure and properties of keratin were studied. Compared to the rabbit hair, the cystine content of keratin was significantly reduced, and the secondary structure changed from α-helix to β-sheet. The keratin products show excellent biocompatibility and antioxidant capacity. In addition, large keratin particles can be formed by assembly with a balance between intermolecular hydrophobic attraction as the concentration of urea in keratin solution decreased during dialysis.


During the surveys carried out for natural enemies of Scirtothrips bispinosus Bagnall in tea plantations, the predatory thrips Franklinothrips vespiformis Crawford was found preying on tea thrips in High ranges, Nilgiris and Central Travancore regions of south India. The life history and predatory potential of F. vespiformis were studied in the laboratory by providing different life stages of S. bispinosus as feed. Studies on life history revealed that F. vespiformis had six life stages with a greater potential for population increase at 25 °C. Adult stages of F. vespiformis, consumed more number of thrips than the larval instars. However, per day consumption was more in second instar larva than adult and first instar. All the active life stages of F. vespiformis except the non-feeding pupa preferred mostly first instar larvae for feeding followed by the second instar. Field observations revealed that increase in predator population coincided with the population increase of prey species. The results of the present study indicate F. vespiformis as an efficient predator against S. bispinosus and therefore it could be explored as a potential biocontrol agent in the management of tea thrips.


An approximation to the relativistic broadening of an electron cyclotron resonance is obtained by including only the effect of the momentum parallel to the magnetic field. This approximation is then applied to the calculation of the absorption of the electromagnetic X-mode and compared to the full relativistic analysis with which it agrees very well. The propagation and damping of electron Bernstein waves is calculated using the approximate electrostatic dispersion relation and compared with the result obtained from the full electromagnetic dispersion relation.


The RPA and ladder series of many-body Green function formulations are suggested as approximations to the optical potential of e+-atom (molecule) elastic processes. It is pointed out that both infinite series, above, can be exactly summed, in terms of 'renormalised' positron and electron one-particle Green functions. The theory is shown to be in good agreement with experimental results for the e+-H2 system.


Despite the axisymmetry of Saturn's internal magnetic field, a variety of magnetospheric properties and radio emissions exhibit periodic modulations due to Saturn's rotation. Previous studies have shown that Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) and auroral hiss have two different modulation rates, one associated with each hemisphere, which also vary over the time scale of a Saturn year. The narrowband emissions exhibit dual periodicities in each hemisphere. We update the modulation analysis of Saturn's radio emissions to the end of year 2016. It is shown that the northern SKR rotation slowed to around 800°/day in 2016, while the south remained around 809°/day as of late 2015 (no clear rotation signal for southern SKR in 2016). When Cassini shifted to high inclination orbits at the end of 2016, a single modulation signal of the narrowband emission showed up around 800°/day. A rotational modulation signal for northern auroral hiss also showed up around 800°/day, but there was no signal for the southern auroral hiss.


Cargo transport within cells is essential to healthy cells, which requires microtubules-based motors, including kinesin. The C-terminal tails (E-hooks) of alpha and beta tubulins of microtubules have been proven to play important roles in interactions between the kinesins and tubulins. Here, we implemented multi-scale computational methods in E-hook-related analyses, including flexibility investigations of E-hooks, binding force calculations at binding interfaces between kinesin and tubulins, electrostatic potential calculations on the surface of kinesin and tubulins. Our results show that E-hooks have several functions during the binding process: E-hooks utilize their own high flexibilities to increase the chances of reaching a kinesin; E-hooks help tubulins to be more attractive to kinesin. Besides, we also observed the differences between alpha and beta tubulins: beta tubulin shows a higher flexibility than alpha tubulin; beta tubulin generates stronger attractive forces (about twice the strengths) to kinesin at different distances, no matter with E-hooks in the structure or not. Those facts may indicate that compared to alpha tubulin, beta tubulin contributes more to attracting and catching a kinesin to microtubule. Overall, this work sheds the light on microtubule studies, which will also benefit the treatments of neurodegenerative diseases, cancer treatments, and preventions in the future.


Background In 2010, the NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Program (FASP) issued national targets for the antenatal detection rates (ADR) of "serious cardiac anomaly" at the 18+0–20+6 week Fetal Anomaly Scan. There is no standardised definition for reporting for this heterogeneous group of anomalies. Here we evaluate the EUROCAT "serious cardiac group" against the FASP target of 50% antenatal detection, using data for 2010–2011 from the East Midlands and South Yorkshire Congenital Anomaly Register (EMSYCAR). Methods Births between 01/01/2010 and 31/12/2011 reported to EMSYCAR as affected by one or more of the relevant cardiac ICD-10 codes were included in this analysis; cases associated with chromosomal anomalies were excluded. Birth prevalence and detection rates with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each anomaly and compared to the FASP target. Results The regional birth prevalence rate for the serious cardiac group was calculated; this varied between anomaly sub-groups from 0.59 to 4.42 per 10,000 births. The ADR failed to reach the FASP target: (44.85%, 39.14%–50.66%) though it was not significantly lower. Overall, 7 sub-groups reached the FASP target; 2 groups achieving statistical significance. Conclusion The EUROCAT serious cardiac group of anomalies show wide ranging birth prevalence and ADR between the sub-groups, highlighting problems with standardised reporting. Given problems defining the group and the requirement for producing annual FASP target data at hospital level using small case numbers, there is major statistical uncertainty, leading to problems interpreting results. Standardisation of definitions and reporting will enhance the value of FASP targets for units.


In some physical and biological swarms, agents effectively move and interact along curved surfaces. The associated constraints and symmetries can affect collective-motion patterns, but little is known about pattern stability in the presence of surface curvature. To make progress, we construct a general model for self-propelled swarms moving on surfaces using Lagrangian mechanics. We find that the combination of self-propulsion, friction, mutual attraction, and surface curvature produce milling patterns where each agent in a swarm oscillates on a limit cycle with different agents splayed along the cycle such that the swarm's center-of-mass remains stationary. In general, such patterns loose stability when mutual attraction is insufficient to overcome the constraint of curvature, and we uncover two broad classes of stationary milling-state bifurcations. In the first, a spatially periodic mode undergoes a Hopf bifurcation as curvature is increased, which results in unstable spatiotemporal oscillations. This generic bifurcation is analyzed for the sphere and demonstrated numerically for several surfaces. In the second, a saddle-node-of-periodic orbits occurs in which stable and unstable milling states collide and annihilate. The latter is analyzed for milling states on cylindrical surfaces. Our results contribute to the general understanding of swarm pattern formation and stability in the presence of surface curvature and may aid in designing robotic swarms that can be controlled to move over complex surfaces and terrains.


A 2-year-old male German shepherd dog in poor bodily condition was evaluated for thoracic limb lameness due to a large, firm mass medial to the left cranial scapula. Radiography revealed several large cauliflower-like mineralized masses in the craniomedial left scapula musculature, pectoral region and bilaterally in the biceps tendon sheaths. Urinalysis, haematology and serum biochemistry showed that the dog was severely anaemic, hyperphosphataemic and in chronic renal failure. The dog was euthanased and a full post mortem performed. A diagnosis of chronic renal failure with secondary hyperparathyroidism was confirmed. The mineralised masses were grossly and histopathologically consistent with a diagnosis of tumoral calcinosis. Tumoral calcinosis associated with chronic renal failure that does not involve the foot pads is rarely seen.


This paper reports on research carried out at the Contemporary Music‐making for Amateurs (COMA) Summer School. A range of qualitative research methods were used to investigate participants' reasons for making music, and from these data a number of educational themes emerged: (i) general interactions between tutors and participants; (ii) evaluation of teaching, particularly at 'crisis' moments; (iii) motivation and responsibility of participants. These are explored here through diary and questionnaire extracts, revealing the high expectations and levels of motivation shared by the participants, and considering their implications for music teaching in schools and universities. The suggestion is made that considering music learning outside the institutional setting can shed new light on familiar practices, and help to encourage a pragmatic idealism that keeps the student learning experience at the heart of educational thinking.


In connection with an ongoing effort of the government to examine certain Microsoft documents, the government on October 12, 2016, stated in a filed document that one of the transactions at issue is "unquestionably" a tax shelter for purposes of section 7525. The significance of that is in whether some written communications should be protected from IRS scrutiny by the section 7525 confidentiality privilege that may apply to tax advice between a taxpayer and tax practitioners. Under section 7525(b)(2), written communications will not qualify if they are "in connection with the promotion of the direct or indirect participation of the person in any tax shelter."
This article make the case that various countering briefs filed by Microsoft, KPMG, and certain amici do not tell the full story. They primarily maintain that there can be no tax shelter since the structure includes a cost sharing agreement, which is a structure that has been condoned by regulations for almost forty years. This article suggests that a fuller story must include background information on the Microsoft structuring, of which the cost sharing agreement is merely one piece.
With full details regarding the structuring and how Microsoft conducts the relevant operations being unknown, this article draws no conclusion about whether a section 7525 tax shelter label is appropriate. The article importantly notes, though, that the district court's ability to make a reasonable judgment would be best served if the parties provided a full picture of the relevant activities performed by Microsoft and the part played by the cost sharing agreement.


Let N be a 2 torsion free prime Γ-near-ring with center Z(N) and let d be a nontrivial derivation on N such that d(N) ⊆ Z(N). Then we prove that N is commutative. Also we prove that if d be a nonzero (σ,τ)-derivation on N such that d(N) commutes with an element aofN then ether d is trivial or a is in Z(N). Finally if d1 be a nonzero (σ,τ)-derivation and d2 be a nonzero derivation on N such that d1τ = τd1, d1σ = σd1, d2τ = τd2, d2σ = σd2with d1(N)Γσ(d2(N)) = τ(d2(N))Γd1(N) then N is a commutative Γ-ring. AMS Subject Classification: 16Y30, 19W25, 16U80


We present methods for estimating the base proportion of introduced alien species that will naturalize, and the distribution of time until naturalization occurs. The approach is Bayesian, incorporating prior estimates of the probability of naturalization and the time from introduction to naturalization. A worked example uses data on the introduction and time to recorded naturalization of woody perennials introduced to South Australia. Up until 2007, 188 of 2230 (8.4%) woody perennials listed in nursery catalogues between 1843 and 1985 were recorded as having naturalized. If prior information on naturalization rates from elsewhere is ignored, the available data suggest that the most likely proportion of introduced plants that will naturalize is large (0.93) though uncertain (95% CI 0.51–0.99), with the corresponding mean time to recorded naturalization being protracted (522 years) and similarly uncertain (95% CI 360–678 years). Alternatively, if informative prior estimates of both the naturalization probability and the time to recorded naturalization are incorporated, the most likely probability of naturalization is estimated to be 18.6% (95% CI 15.5–23.4%). For those plants that do naturalize, the most likely value for the mean time from importation to recorded naturalization is 149 years (95% CI 130–174 years). Our results illustrate the potentially long timescale of the naturalization process, and the challenges this presents for obtaining accurate estimates of naturalization parameters.


The use of neural networks for control of a robot manipulator is presented in this paper. The control system consists of a neural model of the robot, a neural controller and a conventional PID controller. The control structure uses internal model control (IMC). The Alopex method is employed as a learning algorithm to train the networks. The standard backpropagation (BP) algorithm is also utilised for comparison with the Alopex learning algorithm (ALA). The proposed network is a recurrent hybrid network which is suitable for identification and control of robot manipulators. Compared to neural networks with pure nonlinear hidden processing elements, e.g., the diagonal neural network, the proposed recurrent hybrid network converges faster than taught to identify linear and nonlinear dynamics systems. Simulation results are presented to evaluate the performance of the IMC for the control of a SCARA-type robot manipulator.


While the history of international law has been mainly dominated by intellectual history, the neighboring humanities and social sciences have witnessed a 'material turn.' Influenced by the new materialisms, historians, sociologists, and anthropologists have highlighted the role of objects and nonhuman infrastructures in the making of the social. Law, however, has been conspicuously absent from these discussions. Only until recently, things began to be studied as instruments of – global – regulation. In this article, I trace an intellectual history of the intellectual history of international law, contextualizing it since its inception in the so-called 'Cambridge School' to its spread into the legal field via the Critical Legal Studies movement and its final import into international law in the last two decades. I conclude arguing that international legal historians can depart from the 'well-worn paths' of intellectual and conceptual history to engage with the materiality (past, present, and future) of global governance.


Process orientation was one of the new approaches in managerial topics, which were recently considered by the Iranian healthcare centers. The study's aim is to identifies the main factors of process orientation in health care management arena in Iranian hospitals. To achieve this objective, the main variables were recognized and the questionnaire was determined. Iranian Social security organization's hospitals were chosen as a sample among all Iranian healthcare centers (n=48).The validity of questionnaire were assured with expert judgment and the reliability was determined using Cronbach's alpha and Pearson correlation (1st and 2nd times). Cronbach's alpha coefficient and Pearson correlation were 0.819 and (p<0.001) 0.951 respectively. The questionnaire was filled out by the research community. After the sample size was proved to be sufficient, the exploratory and confirmatory factors were analyzed. The findings of the present research showed that, after conducting the factor analysis of "process orientation" in health care management, 2 factors were extracted. The factors were "design and implementation of processes" and "control and improvement of processes". The calculated fitness indexes proved the desirability and appropriateness of structural relations. It may be concluded that these factors have substantial roles in the performance of process orientation and are considered to be the main factors while performing process orientation approach in these organizations.

 Key words: Process orientation, Iranian healthcare, social security organization, health care management.


The present special issue contains contributions from invited speakers who took part in the Workshop on Biopolymers held at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, from 30 May to 3 June 2005. The goal of the workshop was to provide a state-of-the-art perspective on the thermodynamics, kinetics and mechanics of biopolymers, particularly DNA and proteins. Several years ago, the natural audience for a workshop focused on these 'molecules of life' would have been the community of biologists and biochemists. The wide range of scientific backgrounds of the workshop speakers and participants (covering biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science) testifies to the dramatic development that this vital area of research has undergone in the last decade. The close integration of the above-mentioned disciplines was arguably triggered by the unprecedented rate at which detailed experimental measurements of the behaviour of proteins and DNA are being collected and made publicly available. The wealth of quantitative measurements, now available also at the level of single molecules rather than for ensembles, has provided valuable terms of reference for theoretical/computational models. The latter have, in turn, often stimulated further experimental investigations or have provided (as is the case for single-molecule experiments) the necessary framework for analysing and interpreting the raw measurements. The series of papers that appear in this special Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter issue convey an overview of the recent advancements in the biopolymers area and illustrate well the aforementioned interdisciplinarity and theory-experiment integration. The authors have strived to keep their (refereed) contributions self-contained and with an appropriate balance between review-like aspects and novel results. We are grateful to all of them for their efforts in keeping the presentations accessible to a non-specialist readership. We wish to express our gratitude to the International Centre for Theoretical Physics whose generous logistic and financial support allowed 150 scientists from all continents to gather. Finally, we thank all participants for having contributed to this memorable scientific meeting.


Drones pose privacy concerns such as surveillance and stalking. Many technology-based or policy-based mechanisms have been proposed to mitigate these concerns. However, it is unclear how drone controllers and bystanders perceive these mechanisms and whether people intend to adopt them. In this paper, we report results from two rounds of online survey with 169 drone controllers and 717 bystanders in the U.S. We identified respondents' perceived pros and cons of eight privacy mechanisms. We found that owner registration and automatic face blurring individually received most support from both controllers and bystanders. Our respondents also suggested using varied combinations of mechanisms under different drone usage scenarios, highlighting their context-dependent preferences. We outline a set of important questions for future privacy designs and public policies of drones.


. I emphasize the importance of broadening behavioral, ecological, and conservation science into a more integrative, interdisciplinary, socially responsible, compassionate, spiritual, and holistic endeavor. I stress the significance of studies of animal behavior, especially ethological research concerned with animal emotions in which individuals are named and recognized for their own personalities, for helping us to learn not only about the nonhuman animal beings with whom we share Earth but also about who we are and our place in nature. We are best understood in relationship with others. To this end I develop the notions of "minding animals" and "deep ethology." Animals are sources of wisdom, a way of knowing.

We are all citizens of Earth, members of a global community in which intimate reciprocal and beneficent peaceful relationships are mandatory. A world without cruelty and with boundless compassion, respect, grace, humility, spirituality, and love would be a better world in which to live. We have compelling responsibilities for making Earth a better and more peaceful habitat for all beings. It is essential that we do better than our ancestors. We must reflect and step lightly as we "redecorate" nature. Time is not on our side.

I plead for the development of heartfelt and holistic science that allows for joy and play. Science need not be suspicious of things it cannot fully understand. We must not avert our eyes or other senses from the eyes and voices of other beings who urgently need our uncompromising and unconditional aid and love. We can do much more than we have done for animals and the Earth.


HIV infection and AIDS rarely are associated with plasma cell disorders, since the beginning, in the last 90 ́s, of the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) the prognosis has improved dramatically and the concentration of monoclonal protein was reduced, with subsequent fewer prevalence of these disorders. Here we present a case report of hypergammaglobulinemia in HIV infected patient, who presented with other infections like Hepatitis B, SARS COV-2 and syphilis. Treatment with HAART generates remission in most cases in the follow-up.


– Seyfarth, Cheney, and Marler (1980) were the first researchers to delineate a nonhuman animal communication system that seemed to include linguistic reference (signals with specific meanings). Arguments continue, however, over the use of linguistic terms as well as the specific nature of those calls. Frequently dismissed or ignored in the discussion of the usefulness of animal communication to the study of human language evolution is the wealth of data from the language research projects that show remarkable levels of symbolic behavior in animals reared in enriched, enculturated environments. These data show that the capacity for semantic communication systems is not unique to humans. Discussions surrounding semanticity and human language evolution would therefore benefit by switching focus to the environmental factors that support the expression of biologically extant semantic capacities.


Olefinic coordination polymers (CPs) have recently drawn more attention, owing to the many possibilities in conformational conversions and photochemical reactivity that olefin molecules offer. In the presence of different carboxylic acids, we utilize one diolefin ligand 4,4'-((1E,1'E)-(2,5-dimethoxyl-1,4-phenylene)bis(ethene-2,1-diyl))dipyridine (OCH3-bpeb) and Cd(II) to assemble six different crystalline CPs (1-6). By fine-tuning the substituent size, carboxyl group number, and geometrical configuration of carboxylate ligands, these diolefin CPs show quite different crystal architecture models, from one-dimensional intersecting stacking to one-dimensional parallel stacking to three-dimensional interpenetrated structure. Of these, four kinds of CPs (1, 2, 5, and 6) are demonstrated to be photoreactive for [2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions, as confirmed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Both 2 and 5 can be dimerized into different cyclobutane products in a single-crystal-to-single-crystal manner under visible light, and remarkably, the photocycloaddition reaction of 5 involves a rare phase transition with structural symmetry enhancement from P1̅ to P2/n. This work demonstrates the power of carboxylate ligands in tuning single crystal structures and photocycloaddition reactions of CPs, which provides important references for the further exploration of other physicochemical properties of functionalized olefin-containing complexes.


| Nephropathies in fowl are common and causing economic losses with high mortality and decrease in growth rate. Etiology of renal affections varies. Many viruses, bacteria, parasites, toxins and metabolic factors are in general incriminated. This study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of renal lesions in 877 examined birds, received at the avian clinic of the National Veterinary Medicine School of Tunisia between 2012 and 2016. Necropsy was completed by histopathological and bacteriological analysis for a better orientation of the diagnosis. Animals were issued from commercial and free-range flocks located in the North-East of Tunisia. Global prevalence of renal lesions was 17.56% (154 animals: 79 from free-range flocks; 75 from commercial flocks), with a significant higher prevalence in >18 weeks group (20.40%), compared to young birds (<18 weeks) (15.73%) (χ2=3.158; p<0.05). Gross pathology study showed a predominance of vascular lesions (congestion, hemorrhage) (81.82%) followed by cellular lesions (hypertrophy, atrophy, steatosis, deposit urates, acute interstitial nephritis) (66.88%). Tumor infiltration was showed in 5.20% of cases. Viral diseases (47.6%) predominate suspicions, followed by metabolic disorders (29.21%) and bacterial infections (23.38%). Histopathological investigations showed nonspecific lesions, expected of tumor lymphoid infiltrations, which are compatible with Marek's disease. Our findings in this first report showed that renal lesions occurred in Tunisian free range and commercial poultry flocks. Kidney damages can be primary or secondary to other diseases. Diagnosis of renal affections in poultry needs epidemiological, clinical, necropsy and laboratory


In this paper, we present an algorithm which automatically maps a given set of intellectual property onto a generic regular network-on-chip (NoC) architecture and constructs a deadlock-free deterministic routing function such that the total communication energy is minimized. At the same time, the performance of the resulting communication system is guaranteed to satisfy the specified design constraints through bandwidth reservation. As the main theoretical contribution, we first formulate the problem of energy- and performance-aware mapping in a topological sense, and show how the routing flexibility can be exploited to expand the solution space and improve the solution quality. An efficient branch-and-bound algorithm is then proposed to solve this problem. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is very fast, and significant communication energy savings can be achieved. For instance, for a complex video/audio application, 51.7% communication energy savings have been observed, on average, compared to an ad hoc implementation.


The opinion is expressed that mental health agencies should actively provide family planning services to their communities and should show people how acceptance of family planning services would benefit them personally. This action is seen as preventive medicine in the area of mental health.


This paper describes and compares three techniques of categorisation of hay, straw and other feeds and beddings collected from stables. A hand-held sampler was used to categorise samples according to the presence of plant material, fungal spores and dust mites. An Andersen sampler was used to categorise samples according to the thermotolerances of fungi and actinomycetes. An aerodynamic particle sizer was used to categorise samples according to respirable particle release rates. The highest burden of respirable particles was associated with the presence of thermophilic and thermotolerant actinomycetes and fungi. The portable slit sampler proved to be an accurate, quick and simple semiquantitative method of assessing the mould contamination of source materials. This latter technique requires only a microscope and the sampler, and is thus ideal for veterinary practices and small diagnostic laboratories.


The Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh This contribution is an attempt to analyse the background and dynamics of the Azeri-Armenian conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. It focuses particularly on the genesis of Azeri and Armenian nationalisms in relation to the conflict, tracing its history back to the last decades of Tsarist rule. The article shows that initial seeds of discord were sown back in the last quarter of the 19th Century as Armenian bourgeoisie was increasingly growing in power and its dominance in the economic, as well as political life of Baku, the Empire's oil metropolis, and other Azeri-dominated areas alienated marginalized Muslim masses. In the 1905 clashes, the conflict at the very first time overgrew its socio-economic roots, which resulted in extensive ethnically motivated clashes between Azeris and Armenians scattered through some ethnically mixed areas of Transcaucasia. The article then draws attention to the short intermezzo of 1918–1920, hen independent republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia clashed heavily for territories they both claimed. Portraying the rather silent period of Soviet rule, emphasis is put on its final years with Armenians' irredentist aspirations – and Azeri efforts to withstand them – becoming a leading force of the national revival for both South Caucasian peoples. Analyzing a number of triggering factors, which gradually led to a full-scale war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the dominance in Nagorno-Karabakh in the aftermath of the dissolution of the USSR, the article seeks to unveil the post-war state of affairs in both republics centering around the issue of societal preparedness for a possible war. It also undertakes a concise analysis of international involvement in the conflict focusing on the role of Russia as the major international player in the negotiation process. Finally, it discusses potential ways of resolving the conflict, both peacefully (with an emphasis on OSCE-mediated efforts) and via military means showing that a renewal of war, though rather implausible in the short run, would cause a serious regional conflict in which not only Azerbaijan and Armenia, but also Turkey, Iran and Russia would be likely to be drawn in. Keywords: Nagorno Karabakh


Completely ab initio global potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the singlet and triplet spin multiplicities of rigid O(2)((3)Σ(g)(-))+O(2)((3)Σ(g)(-)) are reported for the first time. They have been obtained by combining an accurate restricted coupled cluster theory with singles, doubles, and perturbative triple excitations [RCCSD(T)] quintet potential [Bartolomei et al., J. Chem. Phys. 128, 214304 (2008)] with complete active space second order perturbation theory (CASPT2) or, alternatively, multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) calculations of the singlet-quintet and triplet-quintet splittings. Spherical harmonic expansions, containing a large number of terms due to the high anisotropy of the interaction, have been built from the ab initio data. The radial coefficients of these expansions are matched at long range distances with analytical functions based on recent ab initio calculations of the electric properties of the monomers [M. Bartolomei, E. Carmona-Novillo, M. I. Hernández, J. Campos-Martínez, and R. Hernández-Lamoneda, J. Comput. Chem. (2010) (in press)]. The singlet and triplet PESs obtained from either RCCSD(T)-CASPT2 or RCCSD(T)-MRCI calculations are quite similar, although quantitative differences appear in specific terms of the expansion. CASPT2 calculations are the ones giving rise to larger splittings and more attractive interactions, particularly in the region of the absolute minima (in the rectangular D(2h) geometry). The new singlet, triplet, and quintet PESs are tested against second virial coefficient B(T) data and, their spherically averaged components, against integral cross sections measured with rotationally hot effusive beams. Both types of multiconfigurational approaches provide quite similar results, which, in turn, are in good agreement with the measurements. It is found that discrepancies with the experiments could be removed if the PESs were slightly more attractive. In this regard, the most attractive RCCSD(T)-CASPT2 PESs perform slightly better than the RCCSD(T)-MRCI counterpart.


The law governing various aspects of securities holding and disposition was, and still widely is, purely national law, whereas the relevant markets were highly internationalised and securities were transferred and pledged cross-border all the time. Against this background, the EU adopted the Settlement Finality Directive in 1998 and the Financial Collateral Directive in 2004. The Hague Conference on Private International Law adopted the Hague Securities Convention in 2002, and UNIDROIT adopted the Geneva Securities Convention in 2009. These EU and international instruments address in part identical problems. Some of the solutions provided by these are compatible, or even identical, with one another, others differ.
This paper provides an analysis of the main patterns for holding and disposition of financial instruments, including the provision of financial collateral. It emphasises the importance of the relevant conflict-of-law analysis.


Abstract Little is known about the behavior of individual fish in a spawning aggregation, specifically how long an individual remains in an aggregation. We monitored Moxostoma robustum (Cope) (Robust Redhorse) in a Savannah River spawning aggregation during spring 2004 and 2005 to provide an estimate of the total number of adults and the number of males comprising the aggregation and to determine male residence time and movements within a spawning aggregation. Robust Redhorse were captured using prepostioned grid electrofishers, identified to sex, weighed, measured, and implanted with a passive integrated transponder. Spawning aggregation size was estimated using a multiple census mark-and-recapture procedure. The spawning aggregation seemed to consist of approximately the same number of individuals (82–85) and males (50–56) during both years of this study. Individual males were present for a mean of 3.6 ± 0.24 days (± SE) during the 12-day spawning period. The mean distance between successive recaptures of individual males was 15.9 ± 1.29 m (± SE). We conclude that males establish spawning territories on a daily basis and are present within the spawning aggregation for at least 3–4 days. The relatively short duration of the aggregation may be the result of an extremely small population of adults. However, the behavior of individuals has the potential to influence population estimates made while fish are aggregated for spawning.


Mapping the seagrass distribution and density in the underwater landscape can improve global Blue Carbon estimates. However, atmospheric absorption and scattering introduce errors in space-based sensors' retrieval of sea surface reflectance, affecting seagrass presence, density, and above-ground carbon (AGCseagrass) estimates. This study assessed atmospheric correction's impact on mapping seagrass using WorldView-2 satellite imagery from Saint Joseph Bay, Saint George Sound, and Keaton Beach in Florida, USA. Coincident in situ measurements of water-leaving radiance (Lw), optical properties, and seagrass leaf area index (LAI) were collected. Seagrass classification and the retrieval of LAI were compared after empirical line height (ELH) and dark-object subtraction (DOS) methods were used for atmospheric correction. DOS left residual brightness in the blue and green bands but had minimal impact on the seagrass classification accuracy. However, the brighter reflectance values reduced LAI retrievals by up to 50% compared to ELH-corrected images and ground-based observations. This study offers a potential correction for LAI underestimation due to incomplete atmospheric correction, enhancing the retrieval of seagrass density and above-ground Blue Carbon from WorldView-2 imagery without in situ observations for accurate atmospheric interference correction.


"Good Governance" – may it be corporate or governmental, is a badly needed focus area in the world today where the companies and governments are struggling to survive the political and economical turmoil around the globe. All governments around the world have a tendency of expanding the size of their government, but eventually they would be forced to think reducing the size by incorporating information technology as a way to provide services to the citizens effectively and efficiently. Hence our attempt is to offer a complete solution from birth of a citizen till death encompassing all the necessary services related to the well being of a person living in a society. Our research and analysis would explore the pros and cons of using IT as a solution to our problems and ways to implement them for a best outcome in e-Governance occasionally comparing with the present scenario when relevant.


The objectives of this research were to explore sleep quality, perceived factors interfering with sleep and intervention activities, and their relationships among patients receiving mechanical ventilation in the Respiratory Care Unit of a university hospital. The subjects included 60 hospitalized patients receiving mechanical ventilation. A questionnaire-based interview was used to collect demographic data and data on sleep quality and factors interfering with sleep. Nurses also monitored and recorded the patients' sleep and interventions given to each patient around 24 hours. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's product moment correlation were used to analyze the data. The findings were as follows: The subjects had poor sleep quality, a mean sleep quality score of 33.23 (SD=6.42 ) with a possible score of 0-80 and total sleep time in 24 hours of 240 minutes (SD 51.75) or approximately 4 hours. They received intervention activities on average 63.4 times (SD 2.38). The most frequent activities given to the patients were suctioning, taking vital signs and giving medication, respectively. The subjects reported factors prominently interfering with sleep as 1) Physical factors including suctioning, pain from oral tissue injury, dry mouth and throat, dyspnea, changing position every 2 hours and venepuncture. 2) Psychological factors including nightmares, fear of extubation, and weaning from mechanical ventilation. 3) Environmental factors including hot temperature of the unit, staff talking, noise from other patients, continuous sound from monitors and constant bright lights. Sleep quality had negative correlations with the numbers of physical and environmental factors intefering with sleep, the total numbers of interventions given to the patients and the frequency of suctioning. The findings suggest a need to reduce or eliminate the factors interfering with sleep in patients receiving mechanical ventilation.


Auscultation is one of the most important noninvasive and feasible methods for the detection of lung diseases. Systematic changes in breathing sounds with increasing age are of diagnostic importance. To investigate these changes, we recorded lung sounds taken from four locations in the posterior thorax of 162 subjects, together with airflow. The data were analyzed according to age, sex, and smoking habit. In order to describe the power spectrum of the lung sounds, we calculated mean and median frequency, frequency with the highest power, and a ratio (Q) of relative power of the two frequency bands of 330 to 600 Hz and 60 to 330 Hz. Linear regression analysis was used as a measurement of age-dependence of these variables. Significant differences in Q were found in men versus women (p < 0.05), but not in smokers versus nonsmokers. Within the groups, a small but significant correlation existed between Q and age (r(2) </= 0.1, p < 0.05). For both men and women, a slight increase of the relative power in the frequency band of 330 to 600 Hz was recorded with increasing age. However, on the basis of large individual variations, these small changes (DeltaQ approximately 5%, SD(Q) >/= +/- 5%) have no clinical significance and need not to be considered in the automatic detection of lung diseases by analyzing lung sounds.


of harm reduction, particularly for UK policy makers and practitioners working with people with drug misuse, who are being encouraged to embrace the concept of 'recovery'. Characteristically for addiction, a polarised debate is raging. In one corner there are those who believe that harm reduction, underpinned by opiate replacement therapy, simply perpetuates dependence and is a barrier to living a healthy and rewarding life, whereas abstinence from all drugs, both medicinal and nonmedicinal, is the only valid measure of recovery. Russell Brand has been a recent vociferous champion of this view. Others have argued that harm reduction and recovery are not mutually exclusive concepts. The editors have recruited a broad church of authors from many parts of the world – policy makers, academics, clinicians, educators, policemen, philanthropists and service users. It is refreshing and enriching to the field to have such an eclectic mix of contributions. At almost 500 pages, the book is a substantial tome, but it is easy to dip in and out of and never turgid. The first section sets the scene with a historical overview of harm reduction and how it has been conceptualised around the world. There is a good account of the guiding principles of education, which underpins so much of the effectiveness of harm reduction, and how it differs from propaganda. The next section focuses on international policy institutions, policy initiatives in the police service and in prisons, and the failure of the securitising approach in global drug control. There are some interesting contributions from advocates of drug use and ethicists who discuss harm reduction in the context of balancing benefits to the individual and society. Section three describes specific harm reduction interventions across the main classes of addictive drugs, including alcohol and tobacco. The chapter on problematic compulsive behaviours focuses on gambling, which is now recognised as an addictive disorder in DSM-5. Complications from injecting and the role of needle exchanges in harm reduction are highlighted. Supervised injecting facilities merited greater discussion in view of the current interest in the expansion of these services, particularly in the UK. I was disappointed that the chapter on stimulant use made no mention of contingency management, for which there is an increasingly robust evidence base. The chapter on reconciling harm reduction with recovery is helpful for those caught in the headlights of this hot topic. The final section takes the reader around the world (although there is no mention of China) and it is clear the UK is punching above its weight. The reluctance to let go of the prohibitionist model by politicians in North America is particularly apparent. The multi-authorship brings with it considerable strengths, but some lack of harmony as well. For example, the chapter on cannabis discusses the psychopharmacological changes in dependence in great detail, but leaves the question of how to beat cannabis addiction in the air. There are no analogous accounts of the effects of opiate and alcohol addiction on the brain elsewhere in the book, which is a shame, because this awareness is critical to understanding the biological basis of both the compulsion to use drugs and relapse. Too often in addiction the profound effects of drug use on the brain are ill understood, and addictive drug use is simplistically conceptualised as a 'lifestyle choice'. The authors all have one thing in common. They bring an informed, thoughtful, compassionate, sometimes championing approach to the role of harm reduction interventions in improving the lives of people with substance misuse. It would have been interesting to give the abstentionist lobby the right of reply.


This paper describes a 12-bit 40 MS/s calibration-free pipelined analog-to-digital converter (ADC), which is optimized for high spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) performance and low power dissipation. With a 4.9 MHz sine wave input, the prototype ADC implemented in a 0.18-μm 1P6M CMOS process shows measured differential nonlinearity and integral nonlinearity within 0.78 and 1.32 least significant bits at the 12-bit level without any trimming or calibration. The ADC, with a total die area of 3.1 × 2.1 mm2, demonstrates a maximum signal-to-noise distortion ratio (SNDR) and SFDR of 66.32 and 83.38 dB, respectively, at a 4.9 MHz analog input and a power consumption of 102 mW from a 1.8 V supply.


Fish sanctuary is a common tool for retrieving fisheries diversity in a threatened aquatic ecosystem. The present study highlighted a case study on sustainable management of Halti Beel tank sanctuary, Bangladesh (a part of Chalan Beel) established for the betterment of fisheries and fishermen community. The study was conducted for a period of 6 months from July to December 2017. Both primary and secondary data was used for a comparison before and after effects of Halti Beel tank sanctuary considering three parameters viz., fisheries diversity, production trends and socio-economic condition of fishermen community. During the study period, diversity in both native and exotic fish species (71) were increased where 62 species were native and 9 were exotic under 26 families of 11 orders. This number (71) was observed 97.22% higher than the number of species before declaring Halti Beel tank as fish sanctuary. Recovery rate was observed highest for the order Siluriformes (11) and the lowest for Channiformes (1). Cypriniformes was the most diversified order with 24 species (18 native and 6 exotic species). The observed data showed a dramatic increase in fish production from 8.77 to 37.50 metric ton within four fiscal years whereas the gradual production trend was recorded 10.12, 29.47, 35.10 and 37.50 metric ton, respectively in the year 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2014-2015 and 2016-2017. The study was also showed a satisfactory improvement in financial and housing assets as socio-economic status of fishermen community involved in the management of Halti Beel tank sanctuary.


AASAG Animal Ambassador Scientific  Advisory Group The mission of the Animal Ambassador Scientific Advisory Group (AASAG) is to develop cooperative relationships between the education, research, and animal welfare interests of the zoo and aquarium community around the topic of program animals. The AASAG advis


Aim: We aimed to compare the clinical efficacy of levobupivacaine alone and levobupivacaine/sufentanil combination in spinal anesthesia for transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) in elderly patients. Method: Ninety patients were randomly assigned into two groups to receive either levobupivacaine 10 mg (Group L) or levobupivacaine 7.5 mg combined with 2.5 µg sufentanil (Group LS) for spinal anesthesia. The dermatome level and upper level of sensory blockade, time to develop a sensory block to T10, duration of sensory and motor blockade, Bromage score at the end of surgery, two- segment sensory regression time, and side effects were recorded. The quality of anesthesia was evaluated and rated after the surgery. Result: There were no significant differences between groups in demographic data or hemodynamic variables in terms of sensory blockade, onset time of sensory blockade to T10 dermatome, and two-segment regression. Bromage score at the end of surgery was significantly higher in Group L (p<0.05). The number of patients with maximum motor block was significantly higher in Group L (p<0.05). Complete motor block resolution time was longer in Group L (p<0.05). There were no significant differences in side effects between groups except for pruritus (p<0.05). There were no significant differences between groups in quality of anesthesia. Conclusion: It was shown that 10 mg levobupivacaine and 7.5 mg levobupivacaine combined with 2.5 µg sufentanil were considered to be convenient for clinical use in TURP surgery with spinal anesthesia; both treatments provided adequate anesthesia with hemodynamic stability in elderly patients.


The overpressure fragility of a Mark I boiling water reactor drywell was performed by detailed finite element (FE) analysis. The drywell overpressure capacity is controlled by the onset of leakage in the bolted head flange connection once separation exceeds the capacity of the silicone rubber O-ring seals.The FE analysis was conducted at 6 discrete accident temperatures, ranging from 150 to 425°C. The overpressure evaluation used an axisymmetric model of the drywell head region for computational efficiency, and verified it by comparing to results from one FE model which used 3D solid elements. The mechanical properties of the steel materials were defined as temperature-dependent linear-elastic.The median overpressure capacity at each temperature was determined using a 2-step thermal-stress analysis procedure. First, a steady-state heat transfer analysis was conducted to map out the temperature distribution in the drywell wall, which is exposed to the accident temperature on the inside and ambient temperature on the outside. Second, a quasi-static multi-step stress analysis was performed. The vertical differential movement between the flange surfaces was monitored and compared to the O-ring rebound capacity to define the pressure at the onset of leakage. After leakage occurred, the relationship between leakage area and increased pressure was recorded.The evaluation predicted the median overpressure capacity and the lognormal standard deviation for uncertainty in O-ring rebound capacities, bolt preload, and model sophistication, in addition to the median pressure-leak area relationship.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


Social scientists have explored the writing of Russian literary philosopher Bakhtin from a variety of perspectives, but little attempt has been made to apply Bakhtin's conception of dialogue to the conduct of research and the production of research reports. The author's questions relate to what dialogical research would look like and the ethical imperative of dialogical research.


Sport makes it possible to (re)invest certain forms of capital which have been forged in and through professional work. Certain men thus manage to transfer their labour potential and their « pain threshold» to
boxing or to rugby, while others invest their cultural capital in sports which involve forms of scientific
knowledge. Bodies are not however gender-neutral. Men and women are thus set apart in the work of
sport, both in its practice and in its normative representation. « Femininity » has the prerogative of grace
and beauty, in gymnastics or in skating, while masculinity and virility are signified in terms of broad shoulders, courage, the willingness to fight on. The cult of the body, which has remained in vogue since the
1980s, has to some extent blurred the boundaries between the sexes. Muscles have thus become emblematic of an all-purpose fitness. Despite this, the indifference of the media to numerous leading women
athletes, along with the suspicions hanging over them of a blurred gender identity demonstrate that the
muscular woman has failed to become an ideal of feminine beauty. While there are many different spaces
within which fit bodies can be made profitable, those of women cyclists and football players, who stir up
a certain gender trouble, do not occupy such spaces.


This article aims to study how melodrama, constitutive of the Latin American telenovela, incorporates the new sense conformations of contemporary society. The text proposes a reconstruction of the network of genres that constitutes the telenovela to find some explanatory keys, while analyzing the gender identity of some illustrative characters. It is concluded that the melodramatic matrix places in a manageable universe the irruption of the new, integrates it in the conformation of common sense and continues with its prescriptive and moralizing function, contributing to the configuration of a new hegemony.


This book introduces the writings and Abbasid-period textual world of Al-Jahiz, the 'father of Arabic prose'. Al-Jahiz was a bibliomaniac, theologian and spokesman for the political and cultural elite, a writer who lived in Iraq during the first century of the Abbasid caliphate. He advised and argued with the major power brokers and leading religious and intellectual figures of his day, and crossed swords in debate and argument with the architects of the Islamic religious, theological, philosophical and cultural canon. His many, tumultuous writings engage with these figures, their ideas, theories and policies. They give us an invaluable but much-neglected window onto the values and beliefs of this cosmopolitan elite. Edinburgh University Press will publish two self-contained guides to reading al-Jahiz that also shed light on his society and its writings. Volume 1, In Praise of Books, is devoted to bibliomania and al-Jahiz's bibliophilia. Volume 2, In Censure of Books, explores Al-Jahiz's bibliophobia.


Privacy is the main concerning in now a days. In this paper we concentrated on distance measures applied to ensure the privacy of the individual sensitive information.Protecting data privacy is an important problem in data distribution. Distance measure techniques typically aim to protect individual privacy, with minimal impact on the quality of the released data. Recently, a few of models are introduced to ensure the privacy protecting and/or to reduce the information loss as much as possible. That is, they further improve the flexibility of the anonymous strategy to make it more close to reality, and then to meet the diverse needs of the people. Various proposals and algorithms have been designed for them at the same time. In this paper we provide an overview of distance measure techniques for privacy preserving. We discuss the distance measure models, the major implementation ways and the strategies of distance measure algorithms, and analyze their advantage and disadvantage. Then we give a simple review of the work accomplished. Finally, we conclude further research directions of distance measure techniques by analyzing the existing work.


A total of nine silica-scaled chrysophytes (Chrysophyceae: two species each in Spiniferomonas and Paraphysomonas; Synurophyceae: five Mallomonas species), 16 heliozoa, and two scaled flagellates were recorded from 19 samples collected from Edo State, Nigeria, over a period covering both dry and rainy seasons in 2006–2007. Identifications were based on transmission electron microscopy. Eleven are new records for Africa, including a new species of Mallomonas, M. cribridomus. Also observed were two siliceous scaled colourless free-living thaumatomonad flagellates, Thaumatomastix nigeriensis and Gyromitus limax, the latter also a new record for Africa.


This review explores the various micro-struggles at the heart of the biopolitics of the 'war on terror'. Through a discussion of the ethico-political and aesthetic dimensions of Steve McQueen's Hunger and Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, it critically evaluates questions of humanity, solidarity and conviviality under the most extreme and Manichean situations of occupation and colonialism. The article focuses on how contemporary strategies and techniques of power intersect and oscillate between biopower and sovereignty. It argues that the body remains a central site for violence and protest, while sites of exception — such as Guantanamo Bay — clearly symbolise not only the boundaryless and limitless reach of this war, but also the nexus of identity, security and law that binds life in the 'war on terror'. An appraisal of these two very different films thus opens up new ways of interrogating the technologies at work in our post-9/11 landscape.


SGN-LIV1A is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) currently being evaluated in a phase 1 clinical trial for metastatic breast cancer. SGN-LIV1A consists of the microtubule disrupting agent, monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE), conjugated to the anti-LIV-1 humanized monoclonal antibody hLIV22. LIV-1, as a downstream target of STAT3, promotes the epithelial to mesenchymal transition that is important in the malignant progression to metastasis. We have previously shown that as a single agent, SGN-LIV1A displays target specific internalization and cytotoxic activity against a breast cancer cell line in vitro and also demonstrates antitumor activity in in vivo preclinical xenograft models with significant delay of tumor growth. We report here additive and synergistic effects when combining SGN-LIV1A with current chemotherapeutic modalities used in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Specifically, we show synergy between SGN-LIV1A in combination with either doxorubicin or Abraxane in MCF-7 breast cancer tumor model. In addition, we show additive effects when carboplatin or protein kinase inhibitors are dosed in combination with SGN-LIV1A in this tumor model. These findings support further evaluation and development of SGN-LIV1A in combination with standard of care chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of breast cancer. Citation Format: Fu Li, Martha Anderson, Joshua Hunter, Jaime Miyamoto, Michelle Ulrich, Ana Kostic, Che-Leung Law, Django Sussman. Preclinical combinations of the antibody-drug conjugate SGN-LIV1A with chemotherapies show increased activity. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2966.


Laser soldering of electronic components is a rapidly maturing technology and has been found to be particularly useful in the attachment of very fine pitch surface mount devices. Conversely, very little progress has been made to extend this technology to other soldering applications. It was the intention of this study to explore the feasibility of utilizing laser soldering to produce hermetic closure joints in radar packages. In producing hermetic joints, several requirements had to be met. It was essential to have a process that would eliminate the potential for entrapment of corrosive flux residues within the radar unit. In addition, it was desirable to create higher strength solder joints than could be produced by conventional step solder techniques which require lower temperature solders to be used in the final closure process. Further, solder mixing of the closure joint solder and solders used on components inside the radar was to be avoided. To fulfill the requirements, the localized heating characteristics of laser soldering made it an obvious choice for this application.


Abstract Previous empirical studies on the "rationality" of economic and financial forecasts generally test for generic properties such as bias or autocorrelated errors but provide only limited insight into the behavior behind inefficient forecasts. This paper tests for a specific form of forecast bias. In particular, we examine whether expert consensus forecasts of monthly economic releases are systematically biased toward the value of previous months' releases. Such a bias would be consistent with the anchoring and adjustment heuristic described by Tversky and Kahneman (1974) or could arise from professional forecasters' strategic incentives. We find broad-based and significant evidence for this form of bias, which in some cases results in sizable predictable forecast errors. To investigate whether market participants' expectations are influenced by this bias, we examine interest rate reactions to economic news. We find that bond yields react only to the residual, or unpredictable, component of the forecast error and not to the component induced by anchoring, suggesting that expectations of market participants anticipate this bias embedded in expert forecasts.


Cambridge University Library is one of Britain's major repositories of medieval manuscripts. Its two-letter collection (Dd-Oo) includes just over 1,000 medieval western manuscripts, and amongst these may be found examples of every type of Middle English prose composition. Religious works predominate: there are several copies of the "Wycliffite Bible", various sermon cycles, and works by Love, Hilton and Rolle; there is also a vast number of unattributed religious works. Secular texts are represented by the works of Chaucer, "Mandeville's Travels", and no fewer than eight copies of the "Brut". The collection is also extremely rich in Middle English prose writing in the fields of science and information, preserving medical, gynaecological, veterinary, culinary, alchemical, mathematical, heraldic and linguistic texts. Altogether the current handlist covers 207 manuscripts, and indexes more than 1250 separate items. Margaret Connolly teaches in the School of English at the University of St Andrews.


Methylglyoxal (MGO), a dicarbonyl compound derived from glucose, is elevated in diabetes mellitus and contributes to vascular complications by crosslinking collagen and increasing arterial stiffness. It is known that MGO contributes to inflammation as it forms advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which activate macrophages via the receptor RAGE. The aim of study was to investigate whether inflammatory activation can increase MGO levels, thereby completing a vicious cycle. In order to validate this, macrophage (RAW264.7, J774A.1) and microglial (N11) cells were stimulated with IFN-γ and LPS (5 + 5 and 10 + 10 IFN-γ U/ml or μg/ml LPS), and extracellular MGO concentration was determined after derivatization with 5,6-Diamino-2,4-dihydroxypyrimidine sulfate by HPLC. MGO levels in activated macrophage cells (RAW264.7) peaked at 48 h, increasing 2.86-fold (3.14±0.4 μM) at 5 U/ml IFN-γ+5 μg/ml LPS, and 4.74-fold (5.46±0.30 μM) at 10 U/ml IFN-γ+10 μg/ml LPS compared to the non-activated controls (1.15±0.02 μM). The other two cell lines, J774A.1 macrophages and N11 microglia, showed a similar response. We suggest that inflammation increases MGO production, possibly exacerbating arterial stiffness, cardiovascular complications, and diabetes-related cognitive decline.


BACKGROUND
Characteristics of the aging face include soft tissue atrophy, loss of skin elasticity resulting in excess facial skin, and gravitational descent or ptosis of facial soft tissues. Poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) is a synthetic biodegradable polymer that provides soft tissue augmentation through stimulation of an inflammatory tissue response with subsequent collagen deposition.

OBJECTIVE
The authors discuss the special considerations inherent in facial aging, describe the mechanism of action and indications for a new PLLA filler under consideration for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval (Sculptra Aesthetic, sanofi-aventis US, Bridgewater, New Jersey), and detail the results of a two-year off-label pilot study with the product.

METHODS
The senior author (LAC) treated 106 patients with PLLA in an off-label indication, as part of a pilot study while Sculptra Aesthetic was being evaluated for FDA approval for cosmetic indications. All patients were followed up for two years to help develop a protocol for injection technique.

RESULTS
The age range of patients in this series was 40 to 78 years. Three patients were male and 103 were female. Patients received an average injection of 1.6 vials per session, over an average of 2.3 sessions, to achieve volume restoration in the tear trough, midface, malar region, nasolabial folds, prejowl area, mandibular border, and mandibular angle. The authors we achieved 100% follow-up with 99.1% patient satisfaction. The rate of nodule formation was 4.7% at a minimum follow-up of two years.

CONCLUSIONS
Because of its unique mechanism of action, PLLA for nonsurgical facial rejuvenation requires meticulous injection technique with special considerations for optimizing outcomes and minimizing adverse events.


This paper examines two aspects of spot FX volatility. Using intra-daily quotation data on the Deutsche Mark/Dollar we simultaneously estimate the deterministic intra-daily seasonal pattern inherent in volatility and the effects of US macroeconomic announcements. The empirical specification and estimation technique is based on the Stochastic Volatility methodology contained in Harvey, Ruiz and Shephard (1994). Results conform with previous work, in that ¶news¶ effects are strong and persistent, being felt for over one hour after the initial release time. Inclusion of an explicit seasonal is shown to be essential for the accurate estimation of other volatility components. Further estimations allow us to examine which particular pieces of US data move the markets. These result show that the most important statistics are those associated with the Employment and Mercantile Trade reports.


The objective of this study was to compare the fractional zinc absorption (FAZ) and the size of the rapidly exchangeable zinc pool (EZP) after three months of iron supplementation in women consuming ferrous sulfate between meals. Twenty-one non-anemic apparently healthy women received on average 55.1 ± 18.5 mg elemental iron per day as ferrous sulfate, and five received no supplemental iron. Fractional absorption of zinc was determined before and three days after finishing the third month of iron supplementation by using an extrinsic labeling with zinc stable isotopes and a dual isotope enrichment method in urine. EZP was determined from urine enrichment following intravenous administration of 70Zn. Results of selected zinc-related variables in the iron supplemented women were (before vs. after iron supplementation): FAZ with meal 0.22 vs. 0.24, p = .23; FAZ in fasting state 0.58 vs. 0.69, p = .005; EZP 177 mg vs. 160 mg, p = .058; plasma zinc 90.6 vs. 86.1 μg/dl, p = .065. The control group remained unchanged. The capacity to absorb zinc was increased three days after terminating a period of iron supplementation as compared with the pre-iron period. This may be attributable to impairment of zinc status by the iron supplements as evidenced by a trend for lower plasma zinc and EZP.


In many applications, piecewise continuous functions are commonly interpolated over meshes. However, accurate high-order manipulations of such functions can be challenging due to potential spurious oscillations known as the Gibbs phenomena. To address this challenge, we propose a novel approach, Robust Discontinuity Indicators (RDI), which can efficiently and reliably detect both C^{0} and C^{1} discontinuities for node-based and cell-averaged values. We present a detailed analysis focusing on its derivation and the dual-thresholding strategy. A key advantage of RDI is its ability to handle potential inaccuracies associated with detecting discontinuities on non-uniform meshes, thanks to its innovative discontinuity indicators. We also extend the applicability of RDI to handle general surfaces with boundaries, features, and ridge points, thereby enhancing its versatility and usefulness in various scenarios. To demonstrate the robustness of RDI, we conduct a series of experiments on non-uniform meshes and general surfaces, and compare its performance with some alternative methods. By addressing the challenges posed by the Gibbs phenomena and providing reliable detection of discontinuities, RDI opens up possibilities for improved approximation and analysis of piecewise continuous functions, such as in data remap.


The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is notorious for its ability to evolve drug-resistance in patients treated with potent antivirals. Resistance to inhibitors of the viral reverse transcriptase (RT) enzyme is frequently mediated by a single amino acid substitution within RT. Resistance against the nucleoside analogue AZT is remarkable in that multiple amino acid changes accumulate over time to yield virus variants with high-level drug resistance. We now report that in addition to drug-resistance properties, the relative replication capacity of the virus variants affects the evolution of AZT resistance. Some of the typical AZT-resistance mutations have a negative impact on virus replication, and the 41-70 double mutant was found to represent a particularly poor virus. Furthermore, introduction of additional AZT-resistance mutations (41-70-215) leads to nearly complete restoration of virus replication. These results may explain the absence of the 41-70 double mutant in clinical samples and indicate that the evolution of AZT resistance is also influenced by virus replication parameters. Prolonged passage of the replication-impaired 41-70 virus in the absence of AZT yielded several fast-replicating variants. These revertants have compensatory changes in the RT polymerase, some of which have been observed previously in AZT-treated patients. Because we could select for these changes without drug pressure, these changes are likely to improve the RT enzyme function and the HIV-1 replication capacity.


Aim.  To develop the methodological ware for distance cardiologists' postgraduate education by virtual patients' simulations. The article describes the first stage of the project to create a database of virtual patients. It includes the integration of text and multimedia clinical and diagnostic information about patients and software for its presentation. A virtual patient is considered as an informational model of the diagnostic and treatment processes. Material and methods.  To create a database of virtual patients, a description of completed clinical cases in specially designed patterns was used. To provide distance access to information about virtual patients, the JavaScript was used. Results.  When forming the database of virtual patients, two categories of case histories were used — the most common cases and rare disease variants. From archival case histories and examination data, information has been selected that plays a significant role in the diagnosis and treatment. It was decided to present the information in the form of separate portions-visits. Each visit includes the results of tests and specialty consultations necessary to make a decision on further treatment. In the template developed by doctors and analysts, patient information is broken down into blocks that included complaints; anamnesis; physical examination; provisional diagnosis; diagnostic and treatment plan; tests' results; administrations; final diagnosis; clinical report. These blocks served as the basis for the development of relational database tables. To visualize information about the virtual patient, prototypes of screen forms were implemented. Information about different visits was placed on different marks, and the user is able to see previously available information. Conclusion. After testing, this software will be used in education to demonstrate complete clinical cases to students. In addition, by each virtual case, tasks that require students to make medical decisions can be formed. The technology of virtual patients can be used both for postgraduates (doctors) and medical students.


Life skills Education (LSE) is a means to an end of many problems that the younger generation faces with the fastest changing world and to deal the challenges of everyday life. WHO pioneered the concept of LSE and it is recognized widely. But this important approach of developing the positive coping abilities and resiliency among the younger generation is yet to be widely practices by the teaching communities at different levels. This book focused on the Trainee teachers' perception about the importance of life skills for the development of the children and adolescents. The ten key mother skills can be tailor made according to the specific need, situation and cultural context to ensure maximum benefit for the students in a classroom setting. The teachers being the key in this approach should be sensitized, trained and supported to practice life skills with their students. This book explained how teachers, family members can play an effective role in development of these skills and discussed how the curricular/co-curricular activities should be used for life skills education for the children and adolescents.


To alleviate coming workforce shortages, employers, educational institutions, federal and state policy makers, and consumer advocates must recognize long-term care as a vital component of the larger healthcare market. Over the past decade, numerous studies have documented a growing long-term-care workforce crisis. These studies have usually focused on the shortages of direct-care workers who provide the great bulk of formal care (Stone and Harahan, 2010; Institute of Medicine, 2008; Health Resources and Services Administration, 2004; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 2003). Much less attention has been paid to the role and status of licensed professionals who supervise direct-care staff and provide health and ancillary services in long-term-care settings. Shortages of competent and dedicated long-term-care professionals- particularly among licensed nurses-continue to be ubiquitous across all long-term-care sectors. In comparison, the recession has significantly eased the shortage of hospital-based nurses. Between 2007 and 2008, employment of registered nurses (RNs) in hospitals increased by 18 percent-the largest increase in thirty years. During this same period, 50,000 nursing positions were lost in non-hospital settings, including nursing homes and homecare agencies. Hospitals offer a competitive advantage over long-term-care employers because of higher wages, better benefit packages, and more attractive work schedules (Buerhaus, Auerbach, and Staiger, 2009). The remainder of this article summarizes the roles and responsibilities of licensed long-termcare professionals, discusses the capacity and commitment of these professionals to meet the increasingly diverse long-term-care needs of a growing older adult population, and suggests reforms to attract and retain high-quality long-term-care professionals. The Roles of Licensed Long-Term-Care Professionals Licensed professionals employed by nursing homes, assisted living facilities and home health and personal care agencies include administrators, physicians, nurses, social workers, mental health professionals, and consulting pharmacists. Physicians Nursing homes reimbursed by Medicare or Medicaid are required to have a physician medical director to oversee the medical care of residents and participate in the design of residents' care plans. The federal government does not require assisted living facilities and home health agencies to have a medical director, although many do. According to recent research, medical directors, usually primary care physicians, devote about 44 percent of their practice to nursing homes. A significant minority have some special training in geriatrics (Caprio, Karuza, and Katz, 2009). The involvement of other physicians in caring for long-term-care patients seems to fade away once an individual is admitted to a long-term-care institution. A 2006 survey conducted by Katz and Karuza found that only one in five self-identified primary care physicians reported any involvement in nursing homes. Those who were involved averaged about two hours per week (Katz and Karuza, 2006). An important factor in physicians' reluctance to work in nursing homes is their fear of medical malpractice and liability risk (Kapp, 2008). Nursing home and home health administrators Nursing home and home health administrators are responsible for all aspects of their respective organizations, including supervision and management of staff, and compliance with federal and state regulations. The federal government requires states to license nursing home administrators. However, there are no national standards, and state licensing requirements vary widely. Several studies (Singh and Schwab, 2000; Castle, 2001; Castle, 2006) show high rates of administrator turnover in nursing homes. The credentialing of assisted living facility, home health agency, and other home- and community-based service agency administrators is left to states. …


Reflectivity measurements using a dual spectral‐line (DSL) pump having variable spectral‐line separations and two different geometrically‐constrained SBS medium lengths are summarized. Good empirical agreement between the experimental data and a transient solution for SBS gain is obtained provided that the interaction length for SBS is chosen to be the shorter of either the dual spectral‐line beat length or the geometrically‐constrained effective medium length. Such an analysis of the data appears to remain valid even for dual spectral‐line separations large enough to violate the slowly‐varying envelope approximation. The correctness of choosing the beat length of the dual spectral‐line source as an effective pump coherence length for this analysis is discussed.


Shell Heat Improvement of high temperature heat exchanger efficiency by inserted porous material (wire net layers) is investigated. The primary high temperature gas is so designed as to pass through the wire net layers, which receive thermal energy from the primary gas and are highly heated. Then the wire net layers heat the secondary-gas-flowing tube bundle by radiation, and this effect im-proves the heat exchanger efficiency. Because of the fine structure of the porous material the volu- metric heat transfer coefficient, with which the primary gas transports its thermal energy, is very high and the ability to emit radiative energy is expected to be as large as that of the black surface, which assure the above mentioned effect of improving heat exchanger efficiency. Improvement of heat exchanger efficiency by inserted porous material is experimentally clarified. When the porous material is not inserted, the shell wall plays the same role as the porous material, however heating the shell wall to high temperature should be avoided from the structural designing point of view. With the porous material inserted, the improvement of heat exchanger efficiency is found even when the shell wall is cooled.


Chronic pain is one of the main manifestations of immuno-inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IIRD), such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), which determines the severity of suffering, reduced quality of life and disability of patients. Unfortunately, the use of synthetic and biological disease modifying antirheumatic drugs, as well as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs does not always provide sufficient control of pain in IIRD, even when it is possible to achieve a significant reduction in inflammatory activity. The reason for this is the complex mechanism of chronic pain. It includes not onlystimulation of pain receptors caused by damage of the elements of the musculoskeletal system, but also a change in the perception of pain associated with the phenomenon of central sensitization (CS). CS is characterized by a significant and persistent increase in the sensitivity of nociceptive neurons to pain and nonpain stimuli. One of the main theories of the CS development consider this phenomenon as an inflammatory reaction of the neuronenvironmentthe activation of astrocytes and microglial cells, local hyperproduction of cytokines, inflammatory mediators and neurotrophic factors. Factors contributing to the development of CS in IIRD are obesity, depression and anxiety, damage of the somatosensory system, insufficient relief of pain in the onset of the disease. Clinical manifestations of CS in IIRD is hyperalgesia, allodinia, «expanded pain» and secondary fibromyalgia. An important role in the development of chronic pain and CS plays the intracellular inflammatory pathway JAK-STAT. Therefore, JAK inhibitors, such as tofacitinib, used in RA and PsA, can also be considered as an effective means of controlling chronic pain in these diseases.