An ethical and democratic globality, and the kind of education that would contribute to it, are only possible in the context of a recognition of the relations of power that have shaped history, and in particular the political, cultural, economic, and epistemological processes of domination that have characterized colonialism and Eurocentrism. Imagining an ethics of the global in this context means articulating a decolonial perspective. Starting from recent work in philosophy and cultural studies, this paper describes key principles of such an orientation to globality, and develops a reconceptualization of education in the context of this framework. The article proposes in particular a curriculum against domination, oriented against the epistemic and cultural violence of Eurocentrism that underlies the politics of content and knowledge in education, and a pedagogy of lovingness, committed to building global solidarity based on non-dominative principles of coexistence and kindredness.


Instability in child care arrangements can negatively affect children's development, especially in low-income families. However, few studies have examined what predicts changes over time in child care arrangements. This paper presents findings from a unique multiyear study tracking child care use in low-income families. We estimate rich quantitative models to analyze the relationships among child, household, and care provider characteristics and four different types of changes. We find turnover in child care arrangements to be common in this low-income population. Over a period of six months, half of the children changed primary provider. Child care changes were frequently related to job loss, changes in family composition, or the changing availability of caregivers. While concerns have been raised that short spells of child care subsidy receipt cause child care instability, we found that subsidy use was not associated with higher rates of change. In addition, we found that the lower a parent's assessment of the child's experience in a particular arrangement in the prior time period, the higher the likelihood of changing providers by the next survey wave. These results indicate that low-income parents recognize quality factors and change arrangements to improve the quality of care.


The massive streams of Internet of Things (IoT) data require a timely analysis to retain data usefulness. Stream processing systems (SPSs) enable this task, deriving knowledge from the IoT data in real-time. Such real-time analytics benefits many applications but can also be used to violate user privacy, as the IoT data collected from users or their vicinity is inherently sensitive. In this paper, we present our systematic look into privacy issues arising from the intersection of SPSs and IoT, identifying key research challenges towards achieving holistic privacy protection in SPSs and proposing the solutions.


We present Virtual Secure Platform (VSP), the first comprehensive platform that implements a multi-opcode general-purpose sequential processor over Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) for Secure Multi-Party Computation (SMPC). VSP protects both the data and functions on which the data are evaluated from the adversary in a secure computation offloading situation like cloud computing. We proposed a complete processor architecture with a five-stage pipeline, which improves the performance of the VSP by providing more parallelism in circuit evaluation. In addition, we also designed a custom Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) to reduce the gate count of our processor, along with an entire set of toolchains to ensure that arbitrary C programs can be compiled into our custom ISA. In order to speed up instruction evaluation over VSP, CMUX Memory based ROM and RAM constructions over FHE are also proposed. Our experiments show that both the pipelined architecture and the CMUX Memory technique are effective in improving the performance of the proposed processor. We provide an open-source implementation of VSP which achieves a per-instruction latency of less than 1 second. We demonstrate that compared to the best existing processor over FHE, our implementation runs nearly 1,600$\times$ faster.


The Bureau International des Poids et Mesures has initiated world-wide intercomparisons of pressure standards. The intercomparison in the regime of very low pressures, i.e. 10-4 to 1 Pa, using Ar as the test gas, has now been completed with the participation of laboratories in nine countries (in alphabetical order): Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, France, India, Italy, Japan, People's Republic of China, UK and United States of America. In addition, five of these laboratories made measurements using H2 as the test gas. Four spinning-rotor gauges were employed as transfer standards. The achieved transfer uncertainty between the pilot laboratory (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt) and a participating laboratory lies between 0.16% and 0.30% (1σ) for Ar and has allowed an intercomparison at this level of accuracy. At all investigated pressures the standards in the various laboratories lie within an interval of ±3% around the standard of the pilot laboratory. For a brief synopsis of the intercomparison results, the calibration data of each laboratory for one gas species are reduced to a single number, i.e., the average over the pressure range 10-3 to 1 Pa, although this procedure is somewhat arbitrary and obscures scatter and pressure-dependence of some calibration results. These averages deviate from their mean by not more than about 1%. Systematic deviations between some laboratories are clearly identifiable: however, for most of the laboratories it appears that these are compatible with the estimated uncertainties of the pressure generation and the transfer uncertainty.


This paper presents a 50 GHz-band high gain monolithic balanced gate mixer. Conversion gain of the mixer is improved by using an external IF balun with high impedance transforming ratio. This paper shows that the IF impedance of the balanced gate mixer can be approximated from a small signal equivalent circuit. The maximum conversion gain of 8.2 dB is achieved at a LO power of 0 dBm. The effectiveness of the described mixer is confirmed experimentally.


Murine allogeneic red blood cells (RBC) induce primary IgM antibody responses to H-2 alloantigens T-cell-independently (TI). In this study we showed that bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which should activate B lymphocytes polyclonally, could not trigger an anti-H-2d plaque-forming cell response. We then demonstrated that administration of LPS (on days 0-1) with allogeneic RBC suppressed the response of mice to H-2d, while giving LPS 4-6 days after RBC augmented the response. In contrast, LPS did not enable allogeneic spleen cells to induce an anti-H-2d response. Additional experiments showed that the allogeneic RBC behave as a TI class 2 antigen. It was concluded from these results that allogeneic RBC display a peculiar activity that exclusively triggers a TI type-2 B cell response that cannot be initiated by LPS and is modulated by LPS in an abnormal fashion. The possible significance of this finding in the mechanism of occurrence of natural H-2-specific IgM alloantibodies in aged mice is discussed.


Electro-oxidation of Ni electrodes in aq. KOH is examined as a function of the polarization potentia l (0.5 ≤ Ep ≤ 1.6 V), polarization time ( tp up to 3 hrs), and temperature (283 ≤ T ≤ 348 K). Under these conditions, β-Ni(OH)2 and NiOOH oxides can exist at two different potential regions. The oxide growth behaviour is influenced by the experimental conditions ( Ep, tp, and T), and in general, increase in Ep, tp and/or T leads to increases the oxide layer thickness. At the potenti al region of β-Ni(OH)2 oxide formation, two processes take place: (i) transformation of α-Ni(OH)2 (which is formed at less positive potentials) to β-Ni(OH)2 and (ii) oxidation of metallic Ni below the surface to β-Ni(OH)2. This results in the formation of multilayer film of β-Ni(OH)2 which cannot be easily reduced to metallic Ni [1,2] or in some cases is considered to be electrochemically non-red ucible [3,4]. Reliable measurements of the rate of formati on of β-Ni(OH)2 require application of non-electrochemical techniques. Ultra high vacuum (UHV) depth profilin g is used to measure the thickness of the hydroxide laye r under well-defined Ep, tp and T conditions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra are record d periodically during profiling process to control pr og ess in sputtering process by monitoring the chemical composition of the surface layer exposed to the ion beam. Application of the oxide growth theories to our dat a indicate that the development of the β-Ni(OH)2 layer follows inverse logarithmic growth kinetics accordi ng to Mott-Cabrera model. The kinetics of the Ni oxidatio n was determined on the basis of film thickness, d-1 vs. Log tp relation. The driving force of the process is the s trong electric field that is established across the oxide lay r. The strength of the electric field is in the range of 0 .015 – 0.197 × 10 V m.


It is well known that some of the most basic properties of words, like the commutativity (xy = yx) and the conjugacy (xz = zy), can be expressed as solutions of word equations. An important problem is to decide whether or not a given equation on words has a solution. For instance, the equation xmyn = zp has only periodic solutions in a free monoid, that is, if xmyn = zp holds with integers m, n, p ≥2, then there exists a word w such that x, y, z are powers of w. This result, which received a lot of attention, was first proved by Lyndon and Schutzenberger for free groups. In this paper, we investigate equations on partial words. Partial words are sequences over a finite alphabet that may contain a number of "do not know" symbols. When we speak about equations on partial words, we replace the notion of equality (=) with compatibility ( ↑ ). Among other equations, we solve xy ↑ yx, xz ↑ zy, and special cases of xmyn ↑ zp for integers m, n, p ≥2. ...


Over the last three decades, our understanding of the molecular changes associated with cancer development and progression has advanced greatly. This has led to new cancer therapeutics targeted against specific molecular pathways; such therapies show great promise to reduce mortality, in part by enabling physicians to tailor therapy for patients based on a molecular profile of their tumor. Unfortunately, the tools for definitive cancer diagnosis - light microscopic examination of biopsied tissue stained with nonspecific dyes - remain focused on the analysis of tissue ex vivo. There is an important need for new clinical tools to support the molecular diagnosis of cancer. Optical molecular imaging is emerging as a technique to help meet this need. Targeted, optically active contrast agents can specifically label extra- and intracellular biomarkers of cancer. Optical images can be acquired in real time with high spatial resolution to image-specific molecular targets, while still providing morphologic context. This article reviews recent advances in optical molecular imaging, highlighting the advances in technology required to improve early cancer detection, guide selection of targeted therapy and rapidly evaluate therapeutic efficacy.


The purpose of this investigation was to determine and compare the frictional resistanc produced by stainless steel brackets with 0.018 inch slot of Dentaurum, Ortho Organizers and Unitek companies, used in combination with 0.016 inch stainless steel wires from Dentaurum, Ortho Organizers and Unitek companie during stimulated canine retraction in vitro. A testing apparatus was made to simulate the clinical situation of canine retraction through tipping- uprighting movements. The measurements were made using an Instron Universal Testing Machine and the tests were proceeded under dry con- dition. Statistical analysis showed significant difference of frictional force among different wire compa- nies (P O.O5).

Key words
wire, bracket, frictional force.


Equality is a concept open to many interpretations in the legal domain, with equality as equal treatment dominating the scene in the bureaucratic nation-state. But there are many possibilities offered by legal instruments to go beyond strict equality of treatment, in order to ensure equality of opportunity (a somehow nebulous concept) and equality of outcomes. Legislation can be sorted along a continuum, from the most discriminatory ones ("negative discrimination laws") such as laws that prescribe prison sentences for people accused of being in same-sex relationships, to the most protective ones, labeled as "mandated outcome laws" (i.e., laws that prescribe quotas for designated groups) through "legal vacuum" (when laws neither discriminate nor protect), "restricted equal treatment" (when data collection by employers to monitor progress is forbidden or restricted), "equal treatment" (treating everyone the same with no consideration for outcomes), "encouraged progress" (when data collection to monitor progress on specific outcomes is mandatory for employers), and mandated progress (when goals have to be fixed and reached within a defined time frame on specified outcomes). Specific countries' national legislation testify that some countries moved gradually along the continuum by introducing laws of increasing mandate, while (a few) others introduced outcome mandates directly and early on, as part of their core legal foundations. The public sector tends to be more protective than the private sector. A major hurdle in most countries is the enforcement of equality laws, mostly relying on individuals initiating litigation.


Fish is a source of good protein for the growth. The lower of fish consumption of the student of elementary school is a problem caused by any factors. The objective of this research is to study factors related to the fish comsumption pattern of the student of elementary school of SD Negeri 060919 in subdistrict of Medan Sunggal 2015. The method of research is an analytic survey with cross sectional design. The sample is 44 students by purposive sampling method. The species of fish, the number of fish and frequency of fish consumption is indicated by using recall and food frequency questionnaire form. The factors related to the fish comsumption such as knowledge, social culture, economic and support of mother is indicated by using questionnaire form. The result indicated that as many as 15 persons (34,1%) student of elementary school consumed fish that lives in middle water, as many as 23 persons (52,3%) student  the number of consumed fish is in good category and as many as 13 persons (29,5%) student frequency of fish consumption in medium category. The result of Chi Square test indicated that there is a correlation of the knowledge and the number of consumed fish (p=0,0001), social culture and the number of consumed fish (p=0,005), economic and the number of consumed fish (p=0,0001), and support of mother and the number of consumed fish (p=0,001). The school also suggested to build a matual cooperation with puskesmas at nutrition extension and Education office to build a matual cooperation with the Agricultural and Marine office of Medan to support the program of Fish Consumption. Keywords        : fish consumption, social culture, student of elementary school


Background Thoracostomy drainage is sometimes required in children with pleuropneumonia who have large parapneumonic effusion. This procedure is usually performed under sedation. The aim was to report sedation adverse events (SAEs) in pneumonia patients sedated for thoracostomy by pediatric emergency physicians. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted. The medical records of all emergency department patients who underwent thoracostomy between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2018, were extracted. Study outcomes were SAEs that required intervention. Results Pigtail catheters were placed by chest surgeons in 28 children with a median age of 2 years (interquartile range [IQR], 1–5 years). All the thoracostomies were successfully performed under sedation performed by 11 pediatric emergency physicians. The median amount of fluid drained after catheter insertion was 200 mL (IQR, 100–500 mL). The median pleural fluid PH was 7.0 (IQR, 6.9–7.3), and the median white blood cell count was 34,600 per mm3 (IQR, 11,800–109,000 per mm3). Thirteen patients (46.4%) were sedated with a total median dose of 3 mg/kg of ketamine (IQR, 2–4 mg/kg) and 0.2 mg/kg of midazolam (IQR, 0.2–0.3 mg/kg); 11 patients (39.3%) were treated with 1 mg/kg of ketamine (IQR, 0.5–2 mg/kg) and 3 mg/kg of propofol (IQR, 2–4 mg/kg). Four patients (14.3%) were treated exclusively with 4 mg/kg of ketamine (IQR, 3–5 mg/kg). Nine oxygen desaturations required intervention; 1 was associated with laryngospasm and 1 with apnea. All the SAEs were successfully managed. No cases of hypotension, bradycardia, airway obstruction, or pulmonary aspiration were recorded. Conclusions The first series of pneumonia patients sedated for thoracostomy by pediatric emergency physicians is reported. Sedation was safely performed in this cohort.


Background Mental stress (MS) triggers myocardial ischaemia at cardiac workloads that are lower than those that cause exercise-induced ischaemia in the same patient. Methods Intracoronary pressure and flow velocity data were acquired from 15 CAD (FFR <0.8 and/or >70% stenosis) patients and 11 controls during MS (mental arithmetic, stroop test). 7 CAD patients and 5 controls also underwent cycle ergometer exercise stress (ES). Coronary flow average peak velocity (APV), microvascular resistance (MR) and Buckberg index (BI) were calculated. Results At peak MS rate pressure product (RPP), a marker of myocardial oxygen demand, increased by 4418 ± 2353mmHg.bpm (p = 0 <0001). Despite this there was no increase in coronary flow but instead a paradoxical rise in MR (p = 0.01) and a fall in the BI (p < 0.001), a surrogate for subendocardial ischaemia. Interestingly wave free MR, more reflective of vascular tone and less affected by the contractile forces of the ventricle, did not increase during RPP matched ES (see Figure 1). In contrast an increase in coronary flow predominantly driven by the forward compression and backward expansion waves was observed in the control group (p = 0.001). Conclusion A paradoxical rise in MR does occur in response to MS that is not seen with ES at similar workloads. This abnormal endothelial response correlates with the extent of atherosclerosis in the vessel. Abstract 6 Figure 1 Coronary flow and microvascular resistance in response to mental and exercise stress


BACKGROUND
Postherpetic neuralgia is a neuralgia caused by the varicella zoster virus. Its natural history involves slow resolution of the pain syndrome. A subgroup of patients may develop severe, long-lasting pain that does not respond to medical therapy. It also accounts for 11-15% of all referrals to pain clinics but little is known about the quality of life of patients with this condition in our locality Nigeria.

METHOD
Fifty three Post herpetic Neuralgia patients aged between 25 and 56 years (mean = 37.47 +/- 8.29 years) receiving antiretroviral therapy/treatment at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Nigeria participated in this study. The short-form 36 (SF-36) generic health-related Quality of Life questionnaire was used to assess the QoL. Spearman rank correlation procedure was used to evaluate the relationship of HRQoL outcomes with medical and socio-demographic factor.

RESULT
Physical functioning), Role limitations due to physical health (LPH), Role limitations due to emotional problems (LEP), Social functioning (SF), General health perceptions (GH) scores were below average (35.59 +/- 19.85, 34.28 +/- 33.16, 33.70 +/- 23.26, 49.07 +/- 17.04, 44.09 +/- 9.72 respectively) while Emotional well being/Mental health (EM) was above average (50.13 +/- 11.56). An average (moderate) symptom scale score was Energy/Fatigue (EF) (51.32 +/- 12.87) while Bodily pain (BP) was severe (31.09 +/- 20.46). Age and sex had no significant influence on any of the functional and symptom scale scores as well as the overall QOL. Inverse relationship was observed between age and each of the LPH, LEP, SF, GH, overall QoL and the entire symptom scales. The overall QoL and each of the symptom scale scores were significantly related (P > 0.05). The functional scale score PF, RPH, REP EM and GH were significantly related to overall QoL while SF was not significantly related (P > 0.01).

CONCLUSION
This study has shown that the overall QoL of PHN in HIV positive patients undergoing adjuvant therapy is below average. The predictor factors of the overall QoL of this group of patients have been brought to light. These patients would require ways to improve the QoL, there is the need for health care provider to address the factors uncovered by this study. Four of the determinant factors (PF, LP, BP and EF) are issues that fall within the corridor of physical therapy. Physical therapist should arise to address these significant aspects of the management this group of patients.


This paper proposes a labor-adverse selection model where labor quality within an individual firm negatively depends upon the average working hours in the market. Under this setting, labor quality is a "pure public good" by nature, and the free market equilibrium will result in inefficient allocation with underprovision. We show that shorter workweek regulations will increase the provision of the public good (labor quality), and the higher labor quality will increase firms' profits and employment. Shorter workweek regulations may therefore increase the firms' profits as well as the workers' employment and bring about a Pareto improvement.


The posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) functions to prevent posterior translation of the tibia and aids in femoral roll-back1. Roll-back allows for increased quadriceps lever arm and more efficient use of extensor musculature, permitting more normal stair climbing. Because of this, PCL retaining knees have the advantage of maintenance of ligamentous proprioception, load transfer by the native PCL and anteriorposterior stability. However, retaining the PCL also has several disadvantages. Surgical exposure of the tibia, gap balancing and reliance on diseased ligament morphology make consistent TKA results difficult. The posterior stabilized design in TKA was introduced in the mid-1970s. Surgeons who use this system believed that the results obtained are more consistent because they do not have to rely on abnormal PCL morphology. Consequently, exposure, joint line restoration and appropriate balancing of the knee are easier with PCL stabilized designs. These components are a popular treatment for patients requiring primary TKA. Improvements in implant design, a technically easier procedure in the face of deformity, restoration of knee kinematics and reported very good long-term outcomes may all be reasons for the increased use of this design.


This research aimed to obtain phenotypic information based on morphological character of Jogorogo Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.). This research was conducted with direct observation through primary and secondary data recording, and documenting parts of Jogorogo Mangosteen plant specifically, that was, in vegetative part: stalk and leave, as well as generative part: flower, fruit and seed. Jogorogo Mangosteen may reach hundreds years of life span, it had an average height of 9 meters, stalk diameter of 1 meter and crown diameter of 6 meter. The tree crown of Jogorogo Mangosteen plant was triangular in shape, with horizontal and irregular branching pattern and various densities. The leaves of Jogorogo Mangosteen were elliptic. The tip of the leaf was pointed, the base of the leaf was blunt, and the leaf edge was flat with the smooth and shining surface. The flower of Jogorogo Mangosteen was a hermaphrodit and a perfect flower. The fruit was small with  59 grams weight/flower with  4.5 cm long and  4.45 cm wide. The fruit was purple-blackish with the continuous fruit ripening with high fruit bearing level. The Jogorogo Mangosteen fruit was sweet with a little yellow sap. 1-2 seeds were formed in every Jogorogo Mangosteen fruit with 1.6 cm long, 0.8 cm wide and 2.75 thick. The seed is spheroid and ellipsoid with light brown color wrapped with white arrilode.
Key words: Morphology, Mangosteen, Jogorogo


Silicon carbide (SiC) single crystals with the 6H polytype structure were irradiated with 4.0-MeV Au ions at room temperature (RT) for increasing fluences ranging from 1 × 1012 to 2 × 1015 cm−2, corresponding to irradiation doses from ~0.03 to 5.3 displacements per atom (dpa). The damage build-up was studied by micro-Raman spectroscopy that shows a progressive amorphization by the decrease and broadening of 6H-SiC lattice phonon peaks and the related growth of bands assigned to Si–Si and C–C homonuclear bonds. A saturation of the lattice damage fraction deduced from Raman spectra is found for ~0.8 dpa (i.e. ion fluence of 3 × 1014 cm−2). This process is accompanied by an increase and saturation of the out-of-plane expansion (also for ~0.8 dpa), deduced from the step height at the sample surface, as measured by phase-shift interferometry. Isochronal thermal annealing experiments were then performed on partially amorphous (from 30 to 90%) and fully amorphous samples for temperatures from 200 °C up to 1500 °C under vacuum. Damage recovery and densification take place at the same annealing stage with an onset temperature of ~200 °C. Almost complete 6H polytype regrowth is found for partially amorphous samples (for doses lower than 0.8 dpa) at 1000 °C, whereas a residual damage and swelling remain for larger doses. In the latter case, these unrelaxed internal stresses give rise to an exfoliation process for higher annealing temperatures.


This article examines levelling and diversity in northern urban French pronunciation through the optic of folk (= non-linguists') perceptions of variation. These perceptions are investigated by the identification of authentic voice samples (rather than other instruments widely used in perceptual dialectology such as mental mapping): respondents from the Pays de la Loire region of north-western France heard extracts of scripted speech from Nancy and Rennes, and were asked to identify the speakers' regional background and say whether they were of urban or rural origin. The results of this test show that while some difference between the two speaker location groups was accurately perceived, the informants also formed some inaccurate judgements, partly based on social stereotypes. Overall there is some confirmation of accent levelling, and of general social psychological tendencies such as stereotyping, annexation and time-lag in perceptions of regional–social linguistic variation.


At its meeting in November, the RCVS Council agreed that the College should consult with the profession and the public on proposals for a new Royal Charter (see VR, November 23, 2013, vol 173, pp 493-496). Nick Stace, the RCVS's chief executive, explains why it believes a new charter is needed and what it aims to achieve


Xerxes' bridging of the Hellespont, which includes the king whipping the sea to order, suggests a transgressive act, the crossing of a boundary, a fundamental geographical, and ideological, divide between east and west. Yet, elsewhere in Herodotus' narrative that division is less clearly marked, particularly where the peoples of the Black Sea are concerned. How does Herodotus talk about those groups? Are any identified as Greek and, if so, how do they relate to their mainland compatriots? With what other places are they connected and what might those connections reveal about Herodotus' world? This paper reports on an interdisciplinary project that employs recent developments in geo-spatial software to foster new insights into Herodotus' representation of space, with a particular focus on the connectivity between the cities around the Black Sea and the rest of the Mediterranean. It aims to address three critical ideas: in what ways spatial representations inform notions of identity; whether different peoples conceive of space in culturally distinct ways; and the extent to which Herodotus' narrative presents the world around the Hellespont in terms of an east/west polarity or as a network of interlocking places. The first part of the paper will outline the methodology behind the marking up of Herodotus' text and the formation of the spatial database. Next, the database, derived from the places mentioned by Herodotus, will be fed into a gazetteer in order to create a 'Herodotus Earth' depiction of the communities dotted around the Pontus. Lastly, by drawing out both the quantitative and qualitative nature of those relationships, we aim to create a cumulative network map of the spatial relationships contained in Herodotus' text. The overall objective is to provide unprecedented visual tools to capture the 'deep' topological structures of the text, which function independently of superficial, topographical maps of the period


The population growth coupled with increasing urbanization is predicted to exert a huge demand on the growth and retrofit of urban infrastructure, particularly in water and energy systems. The U.S. population is estimated to grow by 23% (UN, 2009) between 2005 and 2030. The corresponding increases in energy and water demand were predicted as 14% (EIA, 2009) and 20% (Elcock, 2008), respectively. The water-energy nexus needs to be better understood to satisfy the increased demand in a sustainable manner without conflicting with environmental and economic constraints. Overall, 4% of U.S. power generation is used for water distribution (80%) and treatment (20%). 3% of U.S. water consumption (100 billion gallons per day, or 100 BGD) and 40% of U.S. water withdrawal (340 BGD) are for thermoelectric power generation (Goldstein and Smith, 2002). The water demand for energy production is predicted to increase most significantly among the water consumption sectors by 2030. On the other hand, due to the dearth of conventional water sources, energy intensive technologies are increasingly in use to treat seawater and brackish groundwater for water supply. Thus comprehending the interrelation and interdependency between water and energy system is imperative to evaluate sustainable water and energy supply alternatives formore » cities. In addition to the water-energy nexus, decentralized or distributed concept is also beneficial for designing sustainable water and energy infrastructure as these alternatives require lesser distribution lines and space in a compact urban area. Especially, the distributed energy infrastructure is more suited to interconnect various large and small scale renewable energy producers which can be expected to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the case of decentralized water infrastructure, on-site wastewater treatment facility can provide multiple benefits. Firstly, it reduces the potable water demand by reusing the treated water for non-potable uses and secondly, it also reduces the wastewater load to central facility. In addition, lesser dependency on the distribution network contributes to increased reliability and resiliency of the infrastructure. The goal of this research is to develop a framework which seeks an optimal combination of decentralized water and energy alternatives and centralized infrastructures based on physical and socio-economic environments of a region. Centralized and decentralized options related to water, wastewater and stormwater and distributed energy alternatives including photovoltaic (PV) generators, fuel cells and microturbines are investigated. In the context of the water-energy nexus, water recovery from energy alternatives and energy recovery from water alternatives are reflected. Alternatives recapturing nutrients from wastewater are also considered to conserve depleting resources. The alternatives are evaluated in terms of their life-cycle environmental impact and economic performance using a hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) tool and cost benefit analysis, respectively. Meeting the increasing demand of a test bed, an optimal combination of the alternatives is designed to minimize environmental and economic impacts including CO2 emissions, human health risk, natural resource use, and construction and operation cost. The framework determines the optimal combination depending on urban density, transmission or conveyance distance or network, geology, climate, etc. Therefore, it will be also able to evaluate infrastructure resiliency against physical and socio-economic challenges such as population growth, severe weather, energy and water shortage, economic crisis, and so on.« less


Because the average students are the prevailing part of the student population, it is important but difficult for the educators to help average students by improving their learning efficiency and learning outcome in school tests. We conducted a quasi-experiment with two English classes taught by one teacher in the second term of the first year of a junior high school. The experimental class was composed of average students (N=37), while the control class comprised talented students (N=34). Therefore the two classes performed differently in English subject with mean difference of 13.48 that is statistically significant based on the independent sample T-Test analysis. We tailored the web-based intelligent English instruction system, called Computer Simulation in Educational Communication (CSIEC) and featured with instant feedback, to the learning content in the experiment term, and the experimental class used it one school hour per week throughout the term. This blended learning setting with the focus on vocabulary and dialogue acquisition helped the students in the experimental class improve their learning performance gradually. The mean difference of the final test between the two classes was decreased to 3.78, while the mean difference of the test designed for the specially drilled vocabulary knowledge was decreased to 2.38 and was statistically not significant. The student interview and survey also demonstrated the students' favor to the blended learning system. We conclude that the long-term integration of this content oriented blended learning system featured with instant feedback into ordinary class is an effective approach to assist the average students to catch up with the talented ones. https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel.2013.05.003


Medical images are often corrupted by white noise, blurring and contrast defects. Consequently, important medical information may be degraded or completely masked. Advanced medical diagnostics and pathological analysis utilize information obtained from medical images. Consequently, the best techniques must be applied to capture, compress, store, retrieve and share these images. Recently, the wavelet transform technique has been applied to enhance and compress medical images. This review focuses on the trends of wavelet-based medical image processing techniques. A summary of the application of wavelets to enhance and compress medical images such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and X-ray is provided. Morphological techniques such as closing, thinning and pruning are combined with wavelets methods to extract the features from the medical images.


Gas shales are a promising unconventional source of hydrocarbons to meet the increasing demand of energy. However, our scientific understanding of shales is still limited. In the literature, many studies suggest that porosity in shale gas rocks is mainly related to intercrystalline matrix, intraparticles and organic matter with pores dimensions in the range of nanometers. Thus, it is necessary the application of high resolution microscopy techniques as FIB-SEM or FESEM, where sample preparation is critical due to: (i) increase the shale rock sample polishing quality in order to be able to visualize clean nanoporosity; (ii) to avoid generation of artificial pores during grinding, and (iii) to preserve the original microstructure of the shale rock sample. The ion milling technique consists in Ar+ bombardment onto the rock surface to remove material at the atom level. As a test, several shale gas rock samples were selected and prepared using a LEICA EM TIC 3X with triple ion beam available at the Repsol Technology Centre facilities (Mostoles, Spain). The use of a triple ion beam considerably reduces cost, milling time, and artifacts generated when using a single ion beam. Once prepared, the selected samples were studied using a FEI ESEM Quanta FEG 650, focusing on the observation of the general abundance of organic matter in the silty mudstone/shale. Organic matter components typically present abundant porosity ranging from 5 to 1000 nanometers, which are especially important because they can absorb gases and store free gases. Total organic matter pore volume can be calculated from individually-calculated porosity in macerals and total organic carbon (TOC). Considering this, average porosity from the sample image area can be calculated and then it can transformed TOC values from weight percent to volume percent, thus allowing the porosity value to be applied to the total organic matter in the sample.


Attempts to establish extremely low-frequency (ELF) threshold sensitivity limits in biological systems are presently based on estimates of thermal noise in the cell membrane. The Weaver-Astumian (Science 247:459–462, 1990) threshold (8 × 10−3 V/m) should in principle also apply to electric fields produced by Faraday induction. However, the 60-Hz magnetic field required to induce an electric field of 8 × 10−3 V/m is improbably large and at variance with the experimental facts, implying either that Faraday induction is not the mode of weak ELF magnetic field biointeractions or that such interactions have nothing to do with the cell membrane, which constitutes only 1 % of the cell volume. We explore the possibility that magnetic field interactions are connected to the periodic changes in free calcium concentration associated with the cellular Ca2+ oscillator (CaO). Estimates of the free energy associated with the CaO reveal cyclic voltage changes of the order of 20 mV, suggesting that already existing electric fields within the cytoplasm may be capable of interacting with externally applied magnetic fields. We further hypothesize that CaO frequencies can be reinforced or driven into narrower passbands by weak external ELF signals acting on elements in the Ca2+ signaling pathway, e.g., via the calmodulin molecule.


Although univariate methodologies facilitate the interpretation of results, they may not correspond to the ideal conditions for a catalytic process. Herein, we examine the catalytic activity of an iron(III) (1) and a copper(II) (2) complex under mild conditions in the oxidation of cyclohexane (Cy) and benzyl alcohol (BnOH) with hydrogen peroxide, following a Box–Behnken multivariate experimental design. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the application of this tool to the homogeneous oxidation of these organic substrates. The multivariate approach allowed a range of optimal conditions to be identified for the variables studied. Complex 1 was able to convert higher amounts of the studied substrates into products when compared with 2. However, 2 presented higher selectivity toward the generation of cyclohexanol (CyOH) and benzaldehyde (BA) than 1, although the conversion rates were lower.


Objective: To compare the smear stained by Ziehl-Neilsen (ZN) and Lowenstein–Jensen (LJ) medium for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical samples from different categories.
Materials / Methods: This laboratory based retrospective study was carried out at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital /Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore over a 5 year period between January 2001and June 2006. A total of 798 clinical samples were collected from patients with a provisional diagnosis of tuberculosis. A ZN stain of smear and culture on LJ medium were performed for the detection of Mycobacterium. The specimen categories were sputum, pus, lymph node aspirate, urine and endometrial curetting.
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Results: Out of 798 specimens received over the study period, only 46.3% (n=369) were respiratory whereas 53.7% (n=429) were non respiratory tract category samples. Among these, 3.578% were positive in ZN stain while 11.65% were positive on culture. Out of a total of 369 respiratory tract category samples, 38(10.3%) sputum samples were positive for AFB on both ZN and culture. Among the non respiratory tract category, 47(28.2 %) pus, 26(31%) lymph node aspirates, 05(15.6%) urine, 05(3.42%) endometrial curetting were positive.
Conclusion: Fifteen percent of clinical samples belonging to 05 different categories of specimens with a provisional diagnosis of tuberculosis, tested positive for Mycobacterium by both Zn stain smear and culture on LJ medium. Among these, 3.57% were positive for AFB on ZN smear and 11.65 % were positive on culture on LJ medium. These conventional techniques have proved to be reliable testing tools for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in our setting. (Rawal Med J 2008;33:134-136).


Radical addition of organic chalcogen compounds to carbon-carbon unsaturated bonds is investigated precisely. Upon irradiation with UV or visible light, organic dichalcogenides such as disulfides , diselenides , and ditellurides undergo homolysis easily to generate the corresponding chalcogen-centered radicals. Nevertheless, only very limited examples of the radical addition of organic dichalcogenides to unsaturated bonds are known hitherto. This is probably because the lower capturing ability of disulfides (in the case of disulfides) and the lower reactivity of seleno and telluro radicals toward unsaturated bonds (in the case of diselenides and ditellurides) contribute to inefficiency of the desired radical addition reactions. We have revealed that novel mixed systems of organic dichalcogenides , e.g., (PhS)2(PhSe)2 and (PhS)2(PhTe)2, successfully cause the efficient radical addition to a wide variety of carbon-carbon unsaturated compounds such as alkenes , acetylenes, dienes, and allenes , etc . The procedure disclosed provides highly selective synthesis of a series of functionalized chalcogen compounds.


A stage-structured consumer-resource model is investigated using plausible biological parameter estimates. The model, developed from patterns in energy allocation across fish life-history strategies, explicitly considers the effects of delays in maturation on juvenile growth and mortality. It is found that stage structure in the consumer fish population tends to locally stabilize consumer-resource dynamics for realistic parameters. Additionally, it is shown that stage structure bounds nonequilibrium behavior relative to the case without stage structure. Finally, it is shown that the increased stability and bounding of solutions has the seemingly paradoxical consequence of promoting nonequilibrium dynamics when even small amounts of noise are added to the system.


The final test of the value of diphtheria antitoxin in diphtheria is the results derived from its use. The difficulty, however, of knowing what would have been the course of a case, if antitoxin had not been used or had been used, is so great that it is well to gather proofs from other possible sources, as well as from personal experience. Therefore, I will consider certain facts derived from laboratory experience and from statistics. Is the diphtheria bacillus capable of growing in the human throat and there producing poisons, which when absorbed and brought in contact with the cells of the body excite processes which we call diphtheria? The truth of this is established. Personally I know of three instances in which the virulent bacillus we use in our laboratory was sucked into the mouth by mistake. In two severe diphtheria developed within sixty hours, and in the third


The purpose of this paper is to construct and study equivariant Khovanov homology - a version of Khovanov homology theory for periodic links. Since our construction works regardless of the characteristic of the coefficient ring it generalizes a previous construction by Chbili. We establish invariance under equivariant isotopies of links and study algebraic properties of integral and rational version of the homology theory. Moreover, we construct a skein spectral sequence converging to equivariant Khovanov homology and use this spectral sequence to compute, as an example, equivariant Khovanov homology of torus links $T(n,2)$.


In this paper, we propose an approximate analytical solution of the problem of nonlinear diffusion of the current density in a high-temperature superconducting plate with current transport. It is obtained by the technique of self-similar solution. The construction of this solution highlights a characteristic time of penetration Tp whose limit for large n is the model of Bean. We compare our solution to the ones obtained using COMSOL multiphysics. We study the influence of variation of the magnetic induction on time penetration and the influence of the n factor on time penetration.


Latex can cause life-threatening allergic reactions in patients with a history of a rubber allergy. We describe a case of severe anaphylactic shock due to latex in a woman who was undergoing laparoscopic surgery. A 33-year-old woman with a uterine leiomyoma was admitted for a total laparoscopic myomectomy. The operation was converted to a laparoscopic-assisted myomectomy (open-laparotomy) because there were severe adhesions around the uterus. During the surgical procedure, the patient experienced the sudden onset of oxygen desaturation, severe hypotension, and bradycardia. We interrupted the surgery and the patient was given 100% oxygen. The diagnosis of anaphylaxis was not evident during the early period of resuscitation. First, we suspected the cause of shock was a pulmonary gas embolism; we then ruled out other causes, such as cardiogenic shock and hemorrhagic shock. Therefore, we performed a transesophageal echocardiography and chest X-ray. We noticed that her face and chest were flushed. We made a diagnosis of anaphylactic shock and suspected that latex was the cause of anaphylaxis. We changed the urinary catheter, which was made from latex, for a silicone catheter. The patient was resuscitated successfully with manual ventilation, intravenous fluids, and medications. The patient had undergone two laparotomies uneventfully, and later we determined she had atopy. To prevent anaphylactic shock during surgery, it is important to identify potential risk factors, such as atopy, adverse reactions to foods, and latex items. If latex allergy is confirmed or strongly suspected, patients should be managed in a latexfree environment. キ ー ワ ー ド:ラ テ ッ ク ス ア レル ギ ー 、 腹 腔 鏡 、 ア ナ フ ィ ラ キ シ ー シ ョ ッ ク


Introduction Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic and impairing condition included in the DSM-5 Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders. Despite psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic measures, there are patients who remain refractory to different therapeutic strategies. Objectives The authors aim to present different alternatives in approach, treatment and management of refractory OCD, based on a review of the existing literature. Methods Analysis of the data about this subject, considering the review articles and the case reports published at current time and highlighting the most essential topics, concerning the latest developments in the area. Results Therapeutic options are presented, including transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), deep brain stimulation (DBS) and ablative neurosurgery. Conclusions The treatment of OCD represents a great challenge in clinical practice. Despite the advances accomplished by a more extensive knowledge of the disease and a burden of new techniques in the last decades, more treatment strategies are needed, especially for patients with non-response to conventional treatment. Disclosure No significant relationships.


There is agreement about the influence of the genetic apolipoprotein (apo E) polymorphism on plasma lipid and apoprotein levels in man. Whereas the association of the apo E2 isoform with primary dysbetalipoproteinemia and hyperlipoproteinemia type III is well established, the plasma- and LDL-cholesterol lowering effects of apo E2 and the phenomenon of apo E4 raising these parameters on the development of coronary heart disease is still a matter of controversial discussion. Despite these uncertainties the knowledge of an individual's apo E phenotype may provide additional information in future to judge its risk to develop atherosclerosis. From a variety of methods meanwhile described to analyze the polymorphism and evaluate the apo E phenotype the author has modified three procedures to apply to different questions concerning apo E isoform analysis. They concern the visualization of the apo E pattern in diluted solutions and those containing high salt concentrations, the apo E phenotyping on a large scale basis from whole plasma avoiding a possible misinterpretation by a thrombin fragment of apo E and finally the search for new apo E variants with a high resolution system on immobilized pH gradient gels.


This text provides an essential reference handbook for students of geography and related social sciences. How did the Greek geographer Eratosthenes make an accurate calculation of the earth's circumstance more than 1,500 years before the first voyage of Columbus to the New World? What are the "green belts" of England that dominate its rural landscape? And what is regarded as the driest continent on the planet? This handbook offers a broad coverage of terminology and concepts, serving as both an encyclopedic dictionary of geography terms and an approachable overview to the human and physical aspects of world geography. Approximately 150 geographic terms and concepts are defined and discussed, providing an accessible reference for anyone who requires a deeper knowledge of the language and ideas that are important to geography as a discipline. Helpful sidebars are provided to shed light on unusual or controversial theories and concepts. All major geographic concepts and terms are addressed and comprehensively explained using examples. Contains more than 30 illustrations, comprising images, maps, charts and graphs Features sidebars that highlight and explain specific topics or provide biographical sketches of key figures in the history of geographic thought Detailed entries cover the most essential concepts of geography as an academic discipline


Shanghai's measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2022 have attracted world-wide attention. The response to public emergency and pandemic in built environment has prompted a profound reflection in residential planning. This case study investigated an under-developed site located in Shanghai's Huangpu River waterfront. Based on a site survey, interviews, the phased lockdown policies of different urban areas, and published data on the spatial distribution of infection cases, this paper analyzes the effectiveness of strategies for coping with different stages of epidemic spread at different spatial scales. In addition to ensuring the privacy of living quarters, our residential planning ensures the flow and social communication of people in different neighborhoods, achieving the resilience of local lockdown and flow. This study redefines the openness and reasonable scale of residential areas based on analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of gated and block residential areas facing pandemic. This paper analyzes the feasibility of a residential site plan based on the above conception, which has spatial scale composable features for the basic residential building groups. This study emphasizes that design should be considered to achieve the flexibility of spatial scale through the different assembling pattern of basic-living-space-unit.


The combined effect of strategic ambidextrous management (dynamic capabilities and contextual ambidexterity), marketing and brand communication management has been implicitly and explicitly identified as bearing critical implications for competitive advantage. However, the mutual influence of these knowledge streams on competitive advantage as well as its key component of contextual ambidexterity are much under-researched. This article follows an inductive constructivist method to develop a theoretically founded conceptualisation of the means through which the various stakeholder contextual ambidextrous dynamic capabilities can leverage the organisational authenticity learning process in cross-functional management to explore and exploit new competitive advantage scopes. Specifically, this research proposes a theoretically synchronised conceptual framework that focuses on identified key attributes of the knowledge streams, interlinking their individual and combined influences on brand positioning and corporate reputation for the creation of competitive advantage. Scholarly and empirical implications are also presented along with future research avenues.


We propose a novel dynamical model for describing muscular fatigue and cramping following repeated muscular contractions in the case of female Kegel exercising. The proposed compartmental model adds opportune parameters that capture fatiguing effects while exercising, and extends them by adding a compartment modeling cramping muscles. The extended model can capture temporal dynamics effecting both the baseline muscular pressure of the patients and the peak pressures exerted while exercising, which cannot be captured with the models previously presented in the literature. However, this modification incurs a loss of identifiability of the model. Thus, we devise an opportune ad-hoc learning approach to solve the identification problem in a computationally efficient way. Quantitatively, we are then able to show that the adaptation to the model, improves the predictive capabilities for data that exhibit a cramping effect. We note that, the variability of the cramping on a daily basis leads to great variability in the results.


Control of hyperpnea during recovery from diving in unanesthetized White Pekin ducks, Anas platyrhynchos, was examined. Postdive minute ventilation (VE) increased five times regardless of the length of the preceding dive (1-4 min), although longer dives resulted in slower return of VE towards predive levels. Manipulation of arterial blood gases showed that both hypoxia and hypercapnia contributed to hyperpnea on emergence. Although chronic bilateral carotid body denervation depressed VE before and after diving, VE still increased four times after 1-min dives. Postdive hyperpnea was accompanied by dramatic elevations in heart rate, cardiac output, and the ventilation/perfusion ratio. However, artificially maintaining heart rate at abnormally low levels did not affect the postdive hyperpnea. In addition, postdive hyperpnea was unaffected by systemic arterial baroreceptor denervation. Postdive hyperpnea in ducks depends on blood gas changes occurring during a dive, yet a substantial part of the response is independent of input from carotid body chemoreceptors and the accompanying rises in heart rate and cardiac output.


Because water solubility is the main hydration property of proteins, solubility values of commercial and laboratory soy protein isolates, prepared under different conditions, were comparatively analyzed. In contrast, the surface hydrophobicity manifested by proteins is a physicochemical property that determines, to a great extent, the tendency of protein molecules to aggregate and so to lose solubility. On these grounds, the solubility of isolates was analyzed as a function of the surface hydrophobicity of their proteins, and, as a result, three well-defined groups of laboratory isolates were identified: (A) native, (B) partially or totally denatured with high solubility and surface hydrophobicity, and (C) totally denatured with low solubility and surface hydrophobicity. Commercial isolates could not be included in any of these groups; they were grouped as (A') partially native and (C') totally denatured. Solubility values in these two groups were similar to those of group C, but the surface hydrophobicity levels were much lower. The different processes leading to the groups mentioned above are discussed, along with the way the soy proteins are influenced by the specific preparation conditions, namely, protein concentration, chemical or thermal treatments, presence of salts, drying, and phospholipid addition, among others.


In this paper, the torque of CNC spindle motor during machining is estimated without speed measuring sensor. The CNC spindle system is divided into two parts, the induction spindle motor part and mechanical part. In mechanical part, the variation of the frictional force due to the increment of the cutting torque and the effect of damping coefficient is investigated. Damping coefficient is found to be a function of spindle speed and not influenced by the weight of the load, while frictional force is a function of both the cutting torque and spindle speed. Experimental equations are drawn for damping coefficient and Coulomb friction as a function of spindle speed. Incremental frictional torque Is also obtained as a function of both cutting torque and spindle speed. Graphical programming is used to implement the suggested algorithm to monitor the torque of an induction motor in real time. Torque of the spindle induction motor is estimated well in about average 3% error range under various cutting conditions.


One hundred and seventy seven duodenal ulcer and eighty-one gastric ulcer patients were treated with either ranitidine or placebo in a prospective double-blind study. Groups treated with active drug and placebo were comparable and ulcer healing was assessed by weekly endoscopic examinations. Ranitidine was shown to accelerate the rate of spontaneous ulcer healing in both duodenal and gastric ulcer. This acceleration is significant after one week of treatment in duodenal ulcer and from three weeks onwards in gastric ulcer. The ulcer healing rate after three weeks treatment with ranitidine was 85.5% in duodenal ulcer, and 72.5% in gastric ulcer which was significantly higher than in the placebo group where it was 51.7% and 41.5% respectively (P less than 0.005 and P less than 0.01). Treatment with ranitidine for a maximum of six weeks healed 97.1% of duodenal ulcer patients (172 out of 177) and 96.5% of gastric ulcer patients (77 out of 81). Out of total of 258 patients only 9 failed to heal. No adverse events were seen with ranitidine and it would appear free of the side effects that have been seen with cimetidine. In addition there were no significant changes in blood haematology or clinical chemistry parameters. Ranitidine is also given in a more convenient regimen, 150 mg daily as compared to 200 mg three times daily and 400 mg nocte with cimetidine.


Image sensors today are more and more used in all kinds of research applications like outer space or aviation. Especially in outer space applications it is essential to have reliable and good quality cameras that can dynamically adapt to different situations (Fig.2). In the scope of a Fraunhofer IIS internal research project we are trying to establish a new approach in sensor design, where pixelwise adjustable optical filters in front of the imagesensor allow for achieving significant improvements in terms of dynamic range, color space or spectrum. Liquidcrystal technology gives a lot of opportunities to realize arrays of filter cells, where every filter cell can be controlled individually. Similar panels are already used in LCD beamers. The pixel size is about 5 μm and the process of manufacturing is compatible with CMOS image sensor manufacturing. With liquid crystal technology it is possible to design filters with very diverse characteristics. The amount of transmitted light can be controlled as well as the transmitted spectrum. Even polarization can be regulated. First experiments with custom liquid crystal filters and a simple demonstrator are promising and we expect to be able to extend the dynamic range of actual cameras from 60-70 dB to more than 110 dB by using this technology.


This study aimed to identify the level of different values (social, religious and political) among young people in the Jordanian society, identify the most important characteristics of the social sites according to the viewpoint of the respondents, and to identify the impact of these characteristics in the values (social, religious and political) among young people in the Jordanian society. The study used descriptive analytical, method style survey and inspection which included the sample (386)young people in the Jordanian society, the questionnaire was used as a tool to collect data and use the software (SPSS) t-test for independent sample and test F-test and test one way a nova to reveal the relationship between the variables. The most significant results of the study the presence of effects of social networking on the social values prevalent among young Jordanian, and the content of the these social sites exercised significant effect on social and religious values, and the sailing for those locations contribution in influencing the political values. Regarding the recommendations The study has presented many, the most important is the call of civil society institutions to carry out their roles to address the risk of social media and to spread awareness to educate young people about the dangers and threats of negative effects of social networking sites on the value system, which maintains and operates the cohesion of the social fabric of society, where not it is important to prepare young people and rehabilitate them to deal with the computer and its applications and technologies, but more importantly, make them aware of these dangers and threats arising from the use of archeology as well as introduce them to the positive.


radical hysterectomy. We excluded 54 patients with neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to surgery and 39 patients with histological type adenocarcinoma. We measured SCC antigen preoperatively. 120 patients were involved in the study. The SCC level was evaluated by IMx SCC assay, which is a microparticle enzyme immunoassay. The normal SCC level is ranging from 0,0 to 1,5. Results: Within this study 24 patients had positive lymph nodes — 20% of all. We divided the group of 120 patients into two parts. The first one with tumors above 2 cm in diameter — 43 patients, the second one less than 2 cm — 77 patients. There were 14 patients with lymph node metastasis in the first group, their average SCC level was 1,8 (0,3—5,1) and 29 patients without metastasis with this level 0,95 (0,2—3,3). In the second group there were 10 patients with nodal metastasis, the SCC level was 1,1 (0,4—2,3) and 67 patients with negative lymph nodes with the SCC level 0,83 (0,1—3,4). We discuss positive and negative predictive value in both groups. Conclusions: The highest SCC level was measured in patients with large tumors (more than 2 cm) and involved lymph nodes. The lowest SCC level was in patients with small tumors and negative lymph nodes.


This paper describes the state of already carried out studies studying the relationship between human resource management practices and outputs of a company, in particular the financial and operational performance. The paper also introduces still unsolved problems like the lack of a typology of practices, not yet addressed problem of overlooking the level of individual practices, as well as the unresolved issue of a causal relationship between human resource management practices and performance. The current paper introduces a typology of human resources management practices and a typology of costs.


ATLAS measurements of the azimuthal anisotropy in lead–lead collisions at √ s NN = 2 . 76 TeV are shown using a dataset of approximately 7 µ b − 1 collected at the LHC in 2010. The measurements are performed for charged particles with transverse momenta 0 . 5 < p T < 20 GeV and in the pseudorapidity range | η | < 2 . 5. The anisotropy is characterized by the Fourier coefficients, v n , of the charged-particle azimuthal angle distribution for n = 2–4. The Fourier coefficients are evaluated using multi-particle cumulants calculated with the generating function method. Results on the transverse momentum, pseudorapidity and centrality dependence of the v n coefficients are presented. The elliptic flow, v 2 , is obtained from the two-, four-, six- and eight-particle cumulants while higher-order coefficients, v 3 and v 4 , are determined with two- and four-particle cumulants. Flow harmonics v n measured with four-particle cumulants are significantly reduced compared to the measurement involving two-particle cumulants. A comparison to v n measurements obtained using different analysis methods and previously reported by the LHC experiments is also shown. Results of measurements of flow fluctuations evaluated with multi-particle cumulants are shown as a function of transverse momentum and the collision centrality. Models of the initial spatial geometry and its fluctuations fail to describe the fluctuations


In mammalian cells, microRNAs regulate the expression of target mRNAs generally by reducing their stability and/or translation, and thereby control diverse cellular processes such as senescence. We recently reported the differential abundance of microRNAs in young (early-passage, proliferating) relative to senescent (late-passage, non-proliferating) WI-38 human diploid fibroblasts. Here we report that the levels of the vast majority of mRNAs were unaltered in senescent compared to young WI-38 cells, while overall mRNA translation was potently reduced in senescent cells. Downregulation of Dicer or Drosha, two major enzymes in microRNA biogenesis, lowered microRNA levels, but, unexpectedly, it also reduced global translation. While a reduction in Dicer levels markedly enhanced cellular senescence, reduction of Drosha levels did not, suggesting that the Drosha/Dicer effects on translation may be independent of senescence, and further suggesting that microRNAs may directly or indirectly enhance mRNA translation in WI-38 cells. We discuss possible scenarios through which Dicer/Drosha/microRNAs could enhance translation.


ABSTRACT Facultative bacterial symbionts are widespread among insects and have diverse effects on their biology. Here, we focused on bacterial symbionts of three ecologically and economically important filth flies parasitoid species—Spalangia cameroni, Spalangia endius and Muscidifurax raptor. Both Spalangia species harbored a Sodalis bacterium that is closely related to Spalangia praecaptivus (a free‐living bacterium) and to Sodalis symbionts of weevils. This is the only case of Sodalis infection in the important order Hymenoptera. We also found, for the first time in this parasitoid guild, a Rickettsia infecting the two Spalangia spp., albeit in much higher prevalence in S. cameroni. Molecular and phylogenetic analyses revealed that it is closely related to Rickettsia felis and other Rickettsia species from the 'transitional' group. All three parasitoid species harbored Wolbachia. Using multi‐locus sequence typing, we found that M. raptor harbors a single Wolbachia strain whereas the Spalangia spp. have multiple strains. By controlled crossings, we found that Wolbachia infection in S. endius causes incomplete cytoplasmic incompatibility and increased longevity, thereby promoting Wolbachia's spread. In contrast, no effects of Wolbachia on the reproduction and longevity of M. raptor were found. This study underscores the diversity and nature of symbiotic interactions between microbes and insects. &NA; Graphical Abstract Figure. Two novel symbionts of filth fly parasitoids are described—Sodalis and Rickettsia; we also studied the effect of Wolbachia on two of the parasitoid species.


Objective Metacognitive models posit that beliefs about thoughts and memories influence the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms following traumatic events. This study examined the relationship of beliefs about memory with peritraumatic experiences in the development of PTSD symptoms following the Canterbury earthquakes and Queensland floods. Method A convenience sample of individuals affected by these disasters (N = 662) was given questionnaires measuring peritraumatic distress and dissociation, beliefs about memory, and PTSD symptoms. Results The results showed that individuals with a high level of peritraumatic distress and dissociation or high level of positive or negative beliefs about memory reported increased PTSD symptoms compared to those with a low level of the respective variable. Furthermore, peritraumatic distress and dissociation interacted with negative beliefs about memory. The difference in PTSD symptoms for those with a high compared to low level of peritraumatic distress and dissociation was elevated when individuals also reported a high level of negative beliefs about memory. This difference was diminished for individuals who reported a low level of negative beliefs about memory. Conclusions These findings suggest that beliefs about memory may moderate the effects of peritraumatic distress and dissociation on PTSD symptoms following a natural disaster. Given that metacognitive beliefs are a modifiable risk factor, future research is warranted to consider their potential causal effects on PTSD outcomes, particularly for individuals with severe peritraumatic experiences.


The endonuclease activity of the bacterial colicin 9 enzyme is controlled by the specific and high‐affinity binding of immunity protein 9 (Im9). Molecular dynamics simulation studies in explicit solvent were used to investigate the free energy change associated with the mutation of two hot‐spot interface residues [tyrosine (Tyr): Tyr54 and Tyr55] of Im9 to Ala. In addition, the effect of several other mutations (Leu33Ala, Leu52Ala, Val34Ala, Val37Ala, Ser48Ala, and Ile53Ala) with smaller influence on binding affinity was also studied. Good qualitative agreement of calculated free energy changes and experimental data on binding affinity of the mutations was observed. The simulation studies can help to elucidate the molecular details on how the mutations influence protein–protein binding affinity. The role of solvent and conformational flexibility of the partner proteins was studied by comparing the results in the presence or absence of solvent and with or without positional restraints. Restriction of the conformational mobility of protein partners resulted in significant changes of the calculated free energies but of similar magnitude for isolated Im9 and for the complex and therefore in only modest changes of binding free energy differences. Although the overall binding free energy change was similar for the two Tyr–Ala mutations, the physical origin appeared to be different with solvation changes contributing significantly to the Tyr55Ala mutation and to a loss of direct protein–protein interactions dominating the free energy change due to the Tyr54Ala mutation. Proteins 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


In the context of individual claims reserving in non-life insurance, a new perspective involving machine learning techniques was recently introduced. We focused on credit insurance which, despite being seldom explored, can represent an interesting challenge for machine learning techniques because of its volatile nature, sensitive to economic trends. In a framework where insurance undertakings are collecting an increasing amount of data, methods like Neural Networks and Support Vector Machines could provide a valid alternative to traditional reserving techniques, offering an easy way to include macro-economic information in the estimation process. While recent machine learning literature have focused mainly on case reserving and on analysis of loss development triangles, in this work we provide a complete evaluation of each component of the Claims Reserve in a granular sense and we compare, in terms of both bias and variability, their results with Generalised Linear Models, which can be considered a standard actuarial tool.


T cell activation involves positive cellular signals that promote effector functions and negative signals that contribute to the regulation of these responses. These regulatory signals are generated upon activation of receptors on T cells that include CD160, 2B4, Programmed Death-1 and CTLA-4. Objective. To evaluate the expression of inhibitory receptors like CD160, 2B4, Programmed Death-1 and CTLA4 on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from healthy Colombian donors. Materials and methods. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 30 healthy donors from Bogota (Colombia) were obtained via Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient and cells were stained with specific conjugated antibodies previously titrated. Results. The CD160, 2B4, and Programmed Death-1 inhibitory markers were detected on CD4+ T cells with expression levels of 0.35%, 1.04%, and 1.35%, respectively. On CD8+ T cells, these markers were expressed at higher levels: 16%, 8.97%, and 4.3%, respectively. In contrast to the other receptors, CTLA-4 frequency of expression showed no significant difference between CD4+ (1.56%) and CD8+ (1.53%) T cells. Frequency of CD160/2B4 and CTLA-4/ Programmed Death-1 coexpression was 0.18% and 0.09% on CD4+ cells, and 4.02% and 0.2% on CD8+ T cells. Conclusions. This is the first report showing the frequency of inhibitory receptors such as CD160, 2B4, Programmed Death-1, and CTLA-4 on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from healthy Colombian donors. Our findings serve as a baseline for the analysis and comparison of these receptors in Colombian populations with different disease conditions.


Objective To investigate brain structural and functional characteristics of three brain functional networks including default mode network (DMN), central executive network (CEN), and salience network (SN) in persistent negative symptoms (PNS) patients. Methods We performed an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of functional connectivity (FC) studies and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies to detect specific structural and functional alterations of brain networks between PNS patients and healthy controls. Results Seventeen VBM studies and twenty FC studies were included. In the DMN, PNS patients showed decreased gray matter in the bilateral medial frontal gyrus and left anterior cingulate gyrus and a significant reduction of FC in the right precuneus. Also, PNS patients had a decrease of gray matter in the left inferior parietal lobules and medial frontal gyrus, and a significant reduction of FC in the bilateral superior frontal gyrus in the CEN. In comparison with healthy controls, PNS patients exhibited reduced gray matter in the bilateral insula, anterior cingulate gyrus, left precentral gyrus and right claustrum and lower FC in these brain areas in the SN, including the left insula, claustrum, inferior frontal gyrus and extra-nuclear. Conclusion This meta-analysis reveals brain structural and functional imaging alterations in the three networks and the interaction among these networks in PNS patients, which provides neuroscientific evidence for more personalized treatment. Systematic Review RegistrationThe PROSPERO (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, registration number: CRD42022335962).


OBJECTIVE
To understand the endemic situation of schistosomiasis in Tongling County of Anhui Province, so as to provide the evidence for summarizing the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" and formulating the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan".

METHODS
The data of schistosomiasis control reports and other information about Oncomelania hupensis status and schistosomiasis situation of population and livestock were collected and analyzed statistically in Tongling County from 2009 to 2014.

RESULTS
From 2009 to 2014, the schistosome infection rate and blood positive rate of the population decreased significantly, and only one case of acute schistosome infection was found in 2009. The schistosome infection rate of livestock decreased significantly, and the decreasing rate was 91.10% from 2009 to 2010. From 2009 to 2014, the snail area and average density of living snails presented decreasing trends but the densities of living snails increased in 2011 and 2012. After 2011, no schistosome infected snails were found.

CONCLUSIONS
The schistosome infection rate of population has been controlled at a low level in Tongling County, but the snail area is still large in the marshland and lake regions, and the density of living snails is relatively high in the inland. Therefore, the schistosomiasis control work, especially snail control, still should be strengthened.


Background: The importance of hope is evident in clinical oncological care. Hope is associated with psychological and also physical functioning. However, there is still a dearth of empirical research on hope as a multidimensional concept. The Herth Hope Index is a reliable and valid instrument for the measurement of hope and is available in many languages. Until now no authorized German translation has been published and validated. Methods: After translation, the questionnaire was completed by 192 patients with different tumor entities in radiation therapy. Reliability, concurrent validity, and factor structure of the questionnaire were determined. Results: Correlations were high with depression and anxiety as well as optimism and pessimism. As expected, correlations with coping styles were moderate. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were satisfactory. We could not replicate the original 3-factor model. Application of the scree plot criterion in an exploratory factor analysis resulted in a single-factor structure. Conclusions: The Herth Hope Index - German Version (HHI-D) is a short, reliable, and valid instrument for the assessment of hope in patient populations. We recommend using only the HHI-D total score until further research gives more insights into possible factorial solutions and subscales.


Facilities and infrastructure resources (such as the availability of learning tools or facilities that are quantitatively, qualitatively, classrooms appropriate to the number of students, school buildings that are relevant to the needs) are important inputs needed for ongoing education in schools. This research is a field research using purposive sampling which aims to analyze the findings of research relating to the planning and funding sources of funds, the implementation and budgeting of funding funds, evaluation of funding funds in the maintenance of learning facilities and infrastructure. This type of research is descriptive qualitative using data collection techniques in the form of observation, interviews, and documentation. After collecting various types of data related to the research problem, then verify the validity of the research data by triangulating the data. The results of this study indicate that the planning of funding sources in Madrasah al-Ikhlas Cicalengka through the analysis of the activities of the use of financial resources and the activities of institutions while the source of funds in Madrasah Aliyah al-Ikhlas and contributions from the community which are then used to finance programs or school activities such as improvement and maintenance of school facilities and infrastructure and teacher payroll. Budgeting of funds used for maintenance of facilities and infrastructure is good. The use of funds sourced from the central or regional government, especially for the maintenance of facilities and infrastructure, teacher salaries, and improvement of buildings has been done optimally.


Abstract Germination, seedling emergence, growth and phenological patterns of two plant species found in an arid savannah region of Kenya were studied in relation to watering, rainfall and soil moisture under laboratory and field conditions. An initial 5 mm watering event triggered seedling emergence of Leptothrium senegalense (Kunth.) under laboratory conditions. Under field conditions, 24·3 mm and 9·6 mm of rainfall evoked emergence of the grass seedlings in rain-fed and irrigated plots, respectively, while 26·9 mm was necessary to evoke emergence of Indigofera spinosa (Forsk.). Watering alone did not evoke seedling emergence under field conditions. Seedling emergence was also associated with high relative humidity and low evaporative demand. Results confirmed a staggered seedling emergence pattern in both species. Seedling density was higher for L. senegalense than I. spinosa , indicating their r/k strategies. Grass seedlings were able to achieve reproductive maturity even under conditions of severe moisture stress (within 34 days) after 31·9 mm of rain. Indigofera spinosa seedlings, however, never attained the reproductive stage. A 2-month dry season spell resulted in 80–100% seedling mortality. Green-up of I. spinosa occurred with 5 mm of rainfall in 4–5 days. Podding of rain-fed and irrigated non-clipped I. spinosa was achieved in 29 and 14 days, respectively, with 31·9 mm of rain.


In this paper, a bidirectional grid-tied ZVS three-phase converter is proposed. The circuit operation principle in both the rectifier and inverter modes was analyzed. The proposed topology could achieve zero-voltage switching in the six main switches and the auxiliary switch both in the rectifier mode and inverter mode. In addition, the reverse recovery current of body diodes in the main switches was also suppressed. Furthermore, in order to realize the ZVS control scheme under the grid-tied bidirectional power flow condition and reduce the number of switchings, a modified carrier-based discontinuous PWM was proposed to fit the bidirectional switching sequence. Finally, a 3 kW prototype was constructed. Some simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the validity of the proposed circuit topology and PWM control scheme.


In the polar tropospheric boundary layer, reactive halogen species (RHS) are responsible for ozone depletion as well as the oxidation of elemental mercury and dimethyl sulphide. After polar sunrise, air masses enriched in reactive bromine cover areas of several million square kilometers. Still, the source and release mechanisms of halogens are not completely understood. We report measurements of halogen oxides performed in the Amundsen Gulf, Arctic, during spring 2008. Active long-path differential optical absorption spectroscopy (LP-DOAS) measurements were set up offshore, several kilometers from the coast, directly on the sea ice, which was never done before. High bromine oxide concentrations were detected frequently during sunlight hours with a characteristic daily cycle showing morning and evening maxima and a minimum at noon. The, so far, highest observed average mixing ratio in the polar boundary layer of 41 pmol/mol (equal to pptv) was detected. Only short sea ice contact is required to release high amounts of bromine. An observed linear decrease of maximum bromine oxide levels with ambient temperature during sunlight, between -24 °C and -15 °C, provides indications on the conditions required for the emission of RHS. In addition, the data indicate the presence of reactive chlorine in the Arctic boundary layer. In contrast to Antarctica, iodine oxide was not detected above a detection limit of 0.3 pmol/mol.


Under the assumptions of the linearized theory of small-amplitude water waves, it is proved that plane waves, normally incident upon a semi-immersed cylinder of uniform circular cross-section floating freely on the surface of a fluid of infinite depth, are capable of being totally reflected. Numerically, this is shown to occur at a single non-dimensional frequency. This remarkable result is used to construct examples of motion-trapped modes, involving pairs of freely floating cylinders moving either in phase or out of phase. The former case is equivalent to having a motion-trapped mode for a single such cylinder next to a rigid vertical wall. In the latter out-of-phase case, the pair of cylinders move as if they form the wetted sections of a single rigidly connected catamaran structure.


The Tevatron provides 1.96 TeV ppbar collisions and allows for collection of rich b-hadron samples to the two experiments CDF and D0. The study of heavy flavor properties represents a fruitful opportunity to investigate the flavor sector of the Standard Model (SM) and to look for hints of New Physics (NP). Here we report the first measurement of polarization amplitudes in B^0_s charmless decays, world leading results on b-hadron lifetimes, and measurements of several other properties of b-hadrons.


AIM: To study manifestations of vegetative dystonia in children of probands from families with hereditary IHD load regarding the main risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 44 individuals aged 21 +/- 0.7 years were selected out of 111 children from 103 examined families the fathers of which had transmural or macrofocal myocardial infarction at the age under 50. 22 of 44 examinees had syndrome of vegetovascular dystonia (VVD). RESULTS: Children of probands with family history of cardiovascular disease and having VVD had levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and apoB higher, but HDLP cholesterol lower than those free of VVD. In daughters of the probands insulin and hydrocortisone levels were high whereas sons with VVD had only insulin levels higher. CONCLUSION: Children of probands of both sexes had high coefficients of hormonal and metabolic adaptation dependent on the severity of VVD syndrome.


We set constraints on the dark matter halo mass and concentration of ∼22 000 individual galaxies visible both in $\mathrm{H}\, \small {I}$ (from the ALFALFA survey) and optical light (from the SDSS). This is achieved by combining two Bayesian models, one for the $\mathrm{H}\, \small {I}$ line width as a function of the stellar and neutral hydrogen mass distributions in a galaxy using kinematic modelling, and the other for the galaxy's total baryonic mass using the technique of inverse subhalo abundance matching. We hence quantify the constraining power on halo properties of spectroscopic and photometric observations, and assess their consistency. We find good agreement between the two sets of posteriors, although there is a sizeable population of low-line width galaxies that favour significantly smaller dynamical masses than expected from abundance matching (especially for cuspy halo profiles). Abundance matching provides significantly more stringent bounds on halo properties than the $\mathrm{H}\, \small {I}$ line width, even with a mass–concentration prior included, although combining the two provides a mean gain of 40% for the sample when fitting an NFW profile. We also use our kinematic posteriors to construct a baryonic mass–halo mass relation, which we find to be near power-law, and with a somewhat shallower slope than expected from abundance matching. Our method demonstrates the potential of combining photometric and spectroscopic observations to precisely map out the dark matter distribution at the galaxy scale using upcoming $\mathrm{H}\, \small {I}$ surveys such as the SKA.


Because Stalin's policy of famine creation in the early 1930s has been viewed through the prism of communist theory and practices, scholars have paid less attention to the imperial/colonial discourse of the period. This essay attempts to show the suitability of applying theoretical models of dependence and imperialism to analyze the dynamics and consequences of the collectivization of agriculture and the Holodomor (the mass deaths through starvation in Ukraine). The pressure applied to all regions of the USSR, resulting from the "communist experiment," was in Soviet Ukraine supplemented and intensified, and, at some points, determined by a system of centre-periphery relations, characterized by political domination, control, the subordination of regional political elites to the centre, and the exploitation of economic resources. The appropriation of sovereignty over the Ukrainian republic by the central government in Moscow included establishing full control over Ukraine's food resources, such as determining grain harvesting and distribution. The ongoing exploitation of Ukrainian economic resources and the antiUkrainian terror caused the Ukrainian famine of 1928-29. These also became significant factors in the onset of the 1932-33 Holodomor.


The influence of autodetaching states of upon the total and partial detachment rates of its ground state are considered. The R-matrix Floquet method is used, in which the coupling of the ion with the laser field is described non-perturbatively. The laser field is varied over a range of intensities, while frequency ranges are chosen such that the lowest three even-parity autodetaching states of the ion are excited through a two-photon transition from the ground state. Total and partial photodetachment rates are found to be highly sensitive to the laser intensity when the intensity is close to that associated with laser-induced degenerate states of the ion. A model is presented to support this interpretation.


Dan Simmons' series of books – Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion and The Rise of Endymion – extrapolates from the present of an increasing impact of bioand nanotechnologies on our species to the yet unknown future of an evolution towards the transhuman and the posthuman. The ontological dimension of such a hypothetical evolution of humankind has been sometimes more and sometimes less enthusiastically treated by such transand post-humanity critics as Vernor Vinge, Hans Moravec, Ray Kurzweil, Nick Bostrom, Michio Kaku and Katherine Hayles. The objective of this paper is to draw attention to ethical issues brought up by Simmons that ensue from the fact that the conjectural bifurcation of mankind into the old style and new style humans (including man-created AI independent entities) would position the latter as the former's Other. Historically, moral obligations of members of a particular group or culture toward one another have been predicated on the idea of sameness which privileges those who are like us and disprivileges those who are different. Would the relationship of sameness still hold if humanity underwent a radical ontological shift, becoming at least in its part its own Other? As Simmons suggests, it would not, which would have to lead to a war of attrition, each against all. The author of The Hyperion Cantos speculates on the above mentioned problem positing that humanity's salvation lies in changing the attitude of confrontation to one of consensus and, in a Levinasian manner, rejecting the exclusive ethics of sameness while embracing the all-inclusive ethics of alterity. Mariusz Marszalski Humanity's Transhuman Future and the Ethics of the Other in Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos bohemica litteraria 18 / 2015 / 2 s t u d ie s


Background. The concept of valid consent has become important for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). However, many patients feel that they do not have enough information before consenting and a significant minority feel coerced into consenting. Little is known about what factors account for these views. Aim. To explore patients' perceptions about how they consented to ECT. Method. Twelve participants were interviewed about their experiences of consenting to ECT. Interviews were subjected to a thematic analysis. Results. Participants' perceptions of consenting to ECT were complex, and interpersonal factors were found to be important. Many participants felt that they had consented without adequate information from medical sources and that they had little choice to agree. Two participants consented to ECT as either a form of self-harm or hoping it would kill them. Conclusion. Consenting to ECT is more complex than currently recognised and involves interpersonal and systemic factors. As a result, people may consent because they feel that they have little choice. Implications for practice are discussed.


SIRS, Recently, Wang and colleagues' published a meta-analysis of carbon dioxide (CO2) vs. air insufflation for gastrointestinal endoscopy. Their analyses showed that although CO2 insufflation reduced abdominal pain and distension following colonoscopy, similar benefit was not apparent for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). We would like to share our experience in this regard. In our retrospective study of 120 ERCP patients, CO2 insufflation reduced both the incidence (P = 0.027) and severity (P = 0.012) of pain based on a visual analogue scale score. However it did not affect the sedation, analgesia or antispasmodic requirements when compared with air. The real advantage of CO2 vs. air, such as diffusibility and rapid absorption, is thus apparent immediately after the procedure when other anatomical and physiological factors come into play. The colon is more capacious and the insufflated air or CO2 can be easily aspirated by controlled suction through the endoscope or vented as flatus by the patient. However, unlike the colon, the small bowel has a narrow lumen and is more pain sensitive to distension. Also the efflux of its luminal contents into the colon is controlled by the ileo-caecal valve which acts as a physiological sphincter. Small bowel, therefore, is more likely to hold onto insufflated gas following ERCP, which is often prolonged and technically challenging. Hence factors like complexity of the procedure, biliary vs. pancreatic endotherapy, simple vs. complicated stone removal techniques, distal vs. hilar biliary strictures, single vs. multiple stenting, duration of the procedure and experience of the endoscopist have a role when comparing the outcome of the two insufflates. Similarly, use of general anaesthesia vs. conscious sedation may have an impact on the recovery phase post-ERCP. This could explain the heterogeneity of the studies compared by Wang et al. and the resultant incongruous results between them.


Plagioclase feldspar is an important contributor to reservoir porosity as indicated by studies of first-cycle Miocene basins of south Texas (Frio Formation) and southern California (Stevens Formation). In the former case study, volcanic plagioclase (An32) exhibits secondary porosity with associated partial albitization. In the latter case, plutonic plagioclase (An30) exhibits secondary porosity without albitization, although petrographically albite was stable with respect to the leach fluids. In both examples, dissolution was highly selective proceeding 2 to 3 times faster along cleavage planes than normal to them. The dissolution by-product is chiefly kaolinite such that the overall reaction is 2H+ + H2O + CaAl2Si2O8 = Al2Si2O5(OH)4 + Ca++. Formation water compositions indicate the leach reactions are occurring today at about 100°C (212°F). Petrographic, microprobe, and mass balance calculations indicate that alumina is conserved on the scale of a thin section. Calcium is particularly mobile on a scale of tens of meters. End_of_Article - Last_Page 427------------


The tourism sector is a very important sector for economic growth both nationally and regionally. Nationally, the tourism sector can contribute 3.5% or $ 4.26 billion of the total gross domestic product (GDP). Within the scope of the East Java region, the tourism sector has contributed IDR 39,408.48 billion. One of the tourist attractions owned by East Java is the Tunjungan Street Area. With the large role of tourism for economic development, digital marketing needs to be done to introduce and attract tourists. This study analyzes the effect of using digital marketing to introduce the Tunjungan Tourism Area using questionnaires and quantitative research. The results of data analysis show that websites and social media have a significant influence on product knowledge and public interest


Part of a series of regional reviews of multi-sectoral strategies for sustainability at the national, provincial and local levels, complementing the volume on Strategies for National Sustainable Development; each volume summarizes the status of strategies in the region, reviews and analyses case studies to provide an analytical history and status report on each strategy. This volume covers national strategies for: Costa Rica, Cuba, Nicaragua, Peru; Regional strategies for Panama, Guatemala, Peru, Colombia and local strategies for Peru, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Puerto Rica, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.


Background Road traffic injury remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Southeast Asia. Rear seatbelt use, a key behavioral risk factor, is understudied. We aim to estimate the prevalence and predictors of rear seatbelt use in Bandung, Indonesia and Bangkok, Thailand. Methods Roadside observational studies were conducted across Bandung and Bangkok to provide a representative picture of behavioral risk factor prevalence in each city. Trained observers collected data from stationary vehicles at intersections during the daytime throughout the week. We computed descriptive statistics and conducted multivariable logistic analyses by city. Results Eight rounds of observations were conducted between July 2015 to April 2019. 39,479 and 7,207 rear-seat passengers were observed in Bandung and Bangkok, respectively. Across all rounds, 4.2% of rear seatbelt passengers used seatbelts in Bandung, compared to 8.4% in Bangkok. In both cities, males and adults, as compared to females and adolescents (aged 12–17 years), had higher odds of rear seatbelt use, as did passengers with a belted driver. Additionally, passengers in a light truck (compared to sedan) had higher odds of rear seatbelt use in Bandung, while a belted front passenger was associated with rear seatbelt use in Bangkok. Conclusions Rear seatbelt use was low in Bangkok and even lower in Bandung. Gender, age, and the behavior of other occupants were key predictors of rear seatbelt use. Learning Outcomes Findings highlight the need for rear seatbelt laws in Bandung and improved enforcement of existing rear seatbelt laws in Bangkok.