OBJECTIVE
to determine the association between psychological distress and chronic periodontitis in 30-60 year olds residing in Colombo district, Sri Lanka.

BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN
an unmatched case control study which included 694 cases and 706 controls. An interviewer administered pre-tested questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographic and behavioural factors while an oral examination was carried out to record periodontal parameters. Psychological distress was assessed using a validated Sinhala version of the General Health Questionnaire-30.

PARTICIPANTS
30-60 year olds residing in Colombo district, Sri Lanka.

RESULTS
the odds of having chronic periodontits was nearly three times more (OR=2.71, 95% CI= 2.09-3.51) in those with psychological distress compared to those without psychological distress. Further sex, age group, level of education, current smoking and self reported diabetes were associated with chronic periodontits.

CONCLUSION
psychological distress is an independent risk factor for CP in this population.


Using a digital system through the Online Single Submission (OSS) is expected to ease conducting business in Indonesia, which previously tended to be convoluted and overlapping. The procedure and time for issuing permits using this system are shortened and encourage the acceleration of business licensing. However, the results are not optimal, so many business actors still consult the Ministry of Investment/BKPM about the licensing process through the OSS. This study aimed to analyze the factors that cause the high demand of business actors for consulting services, and to formulate strategies as policy recommendations to reduce the need for consulting services so that the OSS service system can be used optimally. A literature review was conducted with a qualitative approach. This article was obtained from the last three years with ten essays that were discussed comprehensively. The comprehensive results obtained in the study state that there are several obstacles behind the high need for consultation carried out by business actors, namely: 1. Limited technology and communication capabilities 2. Understanding of business guidelines or system mechanisms that are not yet optimal 3. Barriers to internet network connections 4. Socialization on business actors who have not been maximized 5. A limited number of human resources. Based on this analysis, in bridging the obstacles that occur in the field, the Government can provide technical guidance to business actors regarding the use of the OSS system and create a helpdesk service related to the implementation of the OSS system in the regions.
Keywords: Online Single Submission, E-government, Information Technology, Public Service, Licensing System


The effects of cell dissociation in HHD and DD on normal outgrown epidermal cells in explant culture were investigated, and the results were obtained as follows: The outgrown epidermal cells from skin fragments of patients with HHD or DD reveal characteristic dissociative behavior in explant culture. This phenomenon is considered to be "acantholysis" at the level of tissue culture. The outgrown epidermal cells from the normal skin fragments can dissociate when they are cultured together with those from patients with HHD or DD. The latter exhibits distinct dissociative behavior. These cell dissociations can be stopped by changing the medium to a new one. These dissociations reappear by decreasing the amount of the medium to a certain low level. The dissociation of outgrown epidermal cells from normal skin fragments occurs on transference of the medium in which the cell dissociations were observed.


Proceedings: AACR 107th Annual Meeting 2016; April 16-20, 2016; New Orleans, LA

Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is frequently fatal due to carcinogen-induced field cancerization, leading to second primary tumor formation in ∼4% of patients per year. Effective chemoprevention could improve survival. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is an oncogenic transcription factor and rational therapeutic target in HNSCC. We recently reported that loss of function of PTPRT (protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type T), a direct STAT3 phosphatase, by frequent somatic mutation or promoter methylation leads to hyper-phosphorylation of STAT3 and may predict sensitivity to STAT3 inhibition using Stattic. In the present study, we sought to evaluate the contribution of PTPRT to chemical carcinogenesis and sensitivity to Stattic-mediated HNSCC chemoprevention in the 4-NQO (4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide) model in vivo using PTPRT wild-type (WT) or knockout (KO) mice.

Methods: PTPRT WT or KO mice received 4-NQO-containing water (100 μg/mL) for 12 weeks. At experiment initiation, a subset of mice received vehicle (PBS) or 50 mg/kg Stattic by oral gavage Q5D. After 12 weeks of 4-NQO administration, mice were randomized to receive vehicle/Stattic for 12 additional weeks. Mice were then sacrificed followed by tongue excision for H&E and IHC analysis. Histologic assessment of dysplasia was scored from 0 to 6 (normal to invasive SCC).

Results: By week 3, we observed unexpected combined toxicity of 4-NQO and Stattic, with 3 mouse deaths. Combined treatment was suspended until the end of the 12-week 4-NQO administration period, and no further toxicity was noted. At the end of the 24-week experiment, we observed a diverse range of neoplasias in the control group, with 7/13 (53.8%) exhibiting SCC of which 4 (30.8%) were invasive. Using a rank transformation statistic, we detected no significant effect of PTPRT status (P = 0.9985) or interaction between PTPRT status and treatment (P = 1.0) with respect to pathology scores. Further analysis revealed a trend toward effective Stattic-mediated chemoprevention (P = 0.0831). Interestingly, the only two mice with normal-appearing oral epithelia were both PTPRT KO and treated with Stattic.

Conclusions: PTPRT status does not appear to predict susceptibility to 4-NQO-mediated carcinogenesis, nor sensitivity to Stattic-mediated chemoprevention in this mouse model of HNSCC initiation. Nevertheless, we observed a trend toward effective chemoprevention in Stattic-treated mice supporting a role for STAT3 in HNSCC carcinogenesis.

Citation Format: Noah D. Peyser, Lin Wang, Marie Acquafondata, Maria Freilino, Hua Li, Yan Zeng, Malabika Sen, William E. Gooding, Daniel E. Johnson, Jennifer R. Grandis. STAT3 inhibition as chemoprevention in a chemically induced mouse model of HNSCC. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 5243.


Position of nurses in hospitals has a vital role in providing medical services to patients. Still, these nurses often cannot offer high-quality work due to the enormous workload, and this is in line with previous research that conducted questionnaires on 364 nurses who stated that most nurses had 2.875 working hours/week excess. Because of these problems, in this study, a geofencing system was created which is used to monitor the presence of nurses in hospitals using the pull service technique so that nurses get the feature to be able to turn on geofence when starting work and entering the hospital, and also turning off geofence when finished working and leaving the hospital. Geofencing in this study is set at a radius of 200m or equivalent to the area of Azra Hospital, which is 20,323m 2 . Based on the geofencing accuracy test, the system can produce native real-time positioning with an error rate of 1.4 to 3.7 m and has a time delay of 4.45 to 15.30 seconds for user position switching, depending on the device used.


The oral secretion of herbivores triggers chemical defenses in plants. When subjected to simultaneous or sequential attack by herbivores, plants emit volatile compounds of varying chemical nature, which can interfere with the attraction of natural enemies. This study investigates the profile of volatile compounds emitted by transgenic soybean (Bt M6210 IPRO) plants infested with Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) and Anticarsia gemmatalis Hubner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). To this end, we used a method without leaf maceration. For plant infestation, 100 T. urticae mites per plant were used for one day and, subsequently, 2 A. gemmatalis caterpillars for 36 hours. Volatile compounds produced after infestation were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Principal component analysis showed differences between groups of compounds and explained 77.5% of the variation in volatiles. There are chemical differences between the emission of compounds according to the type of herbivory. It is concluded that soybean plants infested in a single ( T. urticae ) or multiple ( T. urticae followed by A. gemmatalis ) way trigger the production of volatile compounds that can be used as chemical traces to direct the foraging of natural enemies. The possible functions of volatiles produced after herbivory are discussed.


In Hong Kong as elsewhere, there have been calls for an active and inclusive notion of citizenship to empower people affected by mental illness service users (hereinafter users) in addition to conventional altruistic or non-discrimination principles in policy initiatives. In this paper we take a somewhat different perspective to consider how the users may contribute individually and collectively to empower themselves, and how political participation might help to re-assert the status and practice of citizenship. It shows that participation matters in the formation of citizenship for the users. We further assume that political participation is attributable to individual resources, motivations for getting involved and the presence of advocacy agencies to facilitate participation. We then proceed to analyse the level of political participation by the users and the general public based on data from two comparable surveys. We argue that voter empowerment is the most essential factor in bringing about a stronger sense of citizenship among the users. The findings will be discussed in the light of the practice of citizenship and the implications for public policy development.


Scientech has recently developed Fire PRAs (FPRAs) for about 20% of the units in the US transitioning to an NFPA-805 licensing basis. This paper provides a summary of insights gained in conducting these studies. A summary of the methods, results and insights is provided. These evaluations are identifying cost beneficial enhancements and identifying the need for improvements in methods and data. The identification of plant enhancements should not be surprising, as the mitigation portion of the fire protection design basis provides for a single safe shutdown path. Most design basis events, e.g., loss of coolant accidents (LOCAs) require at least 2 safe shutdown paths. There are credible fire scenarios which can either fail both trains or result in the need for local manual actions to bypass fire induced failures to align a safe shutdown path. In addition, the safe shutdown path may have lower than expected reliability, if several actions are needed, actions have limited time margin, or the resulting safe shutdown path is subject to single failures, such as failure of an emergency diesel generator.The paper will discuss insights, plant modifications, and defense in depth. Further, key uncertainties which point to the desirability of methods and data enhancement will be discussed. The paper concludes that fire risk is not low and defense in depth can be compromised.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


A Rh(III)-catalyzed aryl C-H bond insertion into cyclopropenones via a C-H activation pathway has been reported. A series of arenes bearing directing groups such as 2-pyridyl, 2-pyrimidyl, N-pyrazyl, and oxime can be applicable, providing chalcones in excellent yields under mild conditions. Several possible Rh(III) intermediates in this reaction were investigated.


Percutaneous ventricular assist devices are increasingly used today, allowing the scope of left ventricular support to move out of the operating room and into the interventional suite and cardiovascular care unit. This has given patients requiring short-term therapy an opportunity to undergo high-risk procedures and provide a failing left ventricular support until native recovery can occur. A growing body of evidence exists that demonstrates device efficacy and safety, as well as its potential clinical importance, a topic that will be reviewed here. Additionally, many providers seek a resource for technical considerations and troubleshooting. We also aim to provide insight into such considerations.


8 allele and group specificity at HLA-DRB1 locus were genotyped in 159 unrelated individuals of Liaoning Han, with polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers. The range of gene frequencies was from 0.02201-0.23899. Heterozagosity was 83%. 33 out of 36 theoretical genotypes were identified and the result conformed to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium law. The present method can be used not only in paternity test, individual identification, but also in clinic graft matching between donor and recipient as well as the study of HLA.


Life unfolds within a framework of constraining abiotic factors, yet some organisms are adapted to handle large fluctuations in physical and chemical parameters. Tardigrades are microscopic ecdysozoans well known for their ability to endure hostile conditions, such as complete desiccation – a phenomenon called anhydrobiosis. During dehydration, anhydrobiotic animals undergo a series of anatomical changes. Whether this reorganization is an essential regulated event mediated by active controlled processes, or merely a passive result of the dehydration process, has not been clearly determined. Here, we investigate parameters pivotal to the formation of the so-called "tun", a state that in tardigrades and rotifers marks the entrance into anhydrobiosis. Estimation of body volume in the eutardigrade Richtersius coronifer reveals an 87 % reduction in volume from the hydrated active state to the dehydrated tun state, underlining the structural stress associated with entering anhydrobiosis. Survival experiments with pharmacological inhibitors of mitochondrial energy production and muscle contractions show that i) mitochondrial energy production is a prerequisite for surviving desiccation, ii) uncoupling the mitochondria abolishes tun formation, and iii) inhibiting the musculature impairs the ability to form viable tuns. We moreover provide a comparative analysis of the structural changes involved in tun formation, using a combination of cytochemistry, confocal laser scanning microscopy and 3D reconstructions as well as scanning electron microscopy. Our data reveal that the musculature mediates a structural reorganization vital for anhydrobiotic survival, and furthermore that maintaining structural integrity is essential for resumption of life following rehydration.


Introduction This paper describes the evaluation design of the 'High schools High on life' intervention; a school-based intervention to reduce excessive drinking among high school students in Denmark. The intervention includes a school environmental component to limit access to alcohol at school, a school-educational component to change social norms around alcohol among first year students and a parental component addressing parents' knowledge and attitudes towards alcohol. Methods and design The study will employ a cluster randomised controlled study design and will include a random sample of 16 high schools randomly allocated 1:1 to either intervention or control group. Target group: first year high school students. Timeline: baseline survey: January to March 2019, collected as part of the Danish National Youth Study 2019. Delivery of intervention: April 2019 to March 2020. Follow-up survey: April to May 2020. Primary outcome measure: 30% reduction in mean number of binge-drinking episodes (five or more alcoholic drinks on one occasion) within the last 30 days. Secondary outcome measures: proportion of students who drink alcohol, mean weekly alcohol consumption, alcohol intake at last school party, alcohol intake at the school during last school party, proportion of students who agree to be able to have fun at a party without drinking and the proportion of students who think alcohol plays a too dominant part at the school. Implementation will be monitored through process evaluation. Ethics and dissemination The Scientific Ethics Committees for the Capital Region of Denmark has declared that the trial is not subject to notification (jnr. 19021957). The study is registered at the Research an Innovation Office at University of Southern Denmark (ref: 10.314) allowing collection of personal data. Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration number NCT03906500.


Development of a biodegradable nanoplatform poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) for co-delivery of two drugs is hugely imperative and beneficial in anticancer therapeutics. In this study, co-delivery of a natural phytoconstituent, crocin (carotenoid), and a commonly prescribed drug, doxorubicin, was attempted using a nanoparticulate platform in the form of PLGA nanoparticles. Doxorubicin was chemically conjugated, while crocin was encapsulated physically in prepared PLGA nanoparticles (PDCR NPs). Prepared NPs were well-characterized for size, ζ, and surface morphology. PDCR NPs were of 174.2 ± 1.57 nm in size. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images revealed the spherical shape and smooth surface morphology of the nanoparticles, respectively. The entrapment efficiency and drug loading were found to be 58.95 ± 2.58 and 13.89 ± 1.09%, respectively. The drug release pattern of PDCR NPs showed a sustained and controlled release pattern throughout 48 h in PBS buffer pH 7.4 and acetate buffer pH 6.5. PDCR NPs were significantly less hemolytic than doxorubicin (p < 0.0001). Investigational formulation selectively produced cytotoxic effects on breast cancer cells via decreasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and altering the mitochondrial potential that led to apoptosis with cell-cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. Prepared NPs were able to upregulate the caspase levels as well as efficient uptake by cells in a time-dependent manner. In vivo plasma drug profile studies in healthy rats revealed prolonged persistence of crocin and doxorubicin in systemic circulation. Additionally, the PDCR NPs portrayed reduced tumor volume as compared to control groups in the tumor-induced animal studies, which were favorable. Conclusively, the co-delivery of natural anticancer bioactive crocin along with doxorubicin in PDCR NPs provides a possible controlled-release nanoplatform for efficient drug delivery in vitro and in vivo.


Abstract : The synoptic scale weather conditions over the continental United States for the period 23-25 February 1977 are documented in support of the Large Scale Cloud Systems Program. Included in this report are the flight tracks of the research aircraft, a narrative description, and analyses of meteorological parameters from the surface to 200 mb. (Author)


A case of pyogenic meningitis caused by Bacteroides fragilis in a 72-year-old woman is reported. Although the isolate was susceptible to thiamphenicol, the patient did not respond to this drug. Metronidazole, which showed high bactericidal activity, was administered and achieved sterilization of the cerebrospinal fluid and complete clinical response.


Centrifuge testing requires transmitting data collected in a moving, increased-acceleration environment to a data acquisition system. Typical transmission methods include analog and digital data transmission through slip rings. However, these methods have often limited the accuracy of the measured data as well as the number of instruments that can be used in a test. A wireless ethernet data acquisition system was implemented for a centrifuge in this study. Using a computer equipped with a wireless ethernet card inside the centrifuge allows increased throughput while maintaining control of the centrifuge test by an external computer. Such a computer workgroup connected with wireless ethernet provides high throughput of noiselessly transmitted data. This approach allows a significant increase in the number of channels, and thus instruments, that can be used in a test when compared with other digital communication standards. An evaluation of the performance of this system indicates that the data throughput of the wireless system is consistently higher than conventional hard-wired serial communication systems, but depends on the g-level, transmission direction, and type of wireless card.


ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to assess undergraduate students' perceptions of older adults over the semester in an interprofessional service-learning course that implemented a health promotion program called Bingocize® at community facilities for older adults. Students were surveyed at the beginning of the semester, at midterm, and at the conclusion of the course. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to assess the students' perceptions and experiences. Results suggest that a course on aging that includes interprofessional service-learning in geriatric settings is associated with a significant increase in positive perceptions of the older adult population. Further research, however, is warranted to validate the findings.


Summary In this study, we review the contribution of ambulatory urodynamic studies (AUM) to the diagnosis and management of symptomatic women. We found that ambulatory urodynamics had particular value in establishing the amount, timing and mechanism of incontinence during near normal patient activity. In 77% symptomatic women with normal cystometry, AUM diagnosed the cause of incontinence and provided clear added value. We conclude that in our 12-year study, AUM is a valuable and effective second-line investigation for diagnosing the cause of incontinence in difficult cases.


This paper is concerned about the state estimation of power systems, which contain flexible ac transmission system devices. Specifically, the formulation of state estimation in order to incorporate the detailed steady state models of the unified power-flow controller (UPFC) is investigated. This formulation involves the use of equality and inequality constraints that account for the limits associated with the device operation and ratings. Furthermore, in addition to its use as an estimator, the developed estimator can also be used to determine the required settings for the control parameters of UPFCs for a given operating condition. Computational issues concerning initialization, step length, and matrix conditioning are also discussed and practical solutions are offered. Simulations on IEEE test systems of sizes ranging from 14 to 118 buses are presented to demonstrate the use of the developed program both as a state estimator and as a tool for setting the parameters of unified power-flow controllers.


The present investigation was directed towards the synthesis of a copolymer of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate and acrylic acid to be exploited as a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) matrix in transdermal drug delivery systems. The polymer synthesis involved free radical solution polymerization using 2, 2′-azobisisobutyronitrile as the free radical initiator. The experimental methodology involved the optimization of reaction conditions for the polymer synthesis. The optimized copolymer was then characterized by IR, 1H-NMR, DSC, GPC and XRD. The PSA was also evaluated for percent free monomer content, intrinsic viscosity, refractive index, moisture uptake potential and film forming properties. To assess it suitability in the development of transdermal systems, peel strength values with respect to release liner as well as human skin and skin irritation potential were also determined. In addition, wear performance test was conducted to evaluate adhesion and adhesive transfer. The synthesized adhesive was found to have good peel strength; exhibited excellent adhesion and adhesive transfer on removal. It was found suitable for use in transdermals and could be further exploited either as an adhesive matrix or as a system component in the area of transdermal drug delivery. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Abstract : This research deals with the development of a finite-state inflow theory that will be able to predict all three components of flow both on and off of the rotor disk. The theory will be of a velocity potential expanded in hierarchical degrees of freedom.


FUNDING: None South Africa is considered to be one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world. The conversion, degradation, and fragmentation of natural habitats have caused a loss of biodiversity in many areas. Grasslands have been widely recognised as important for both biodiversity and economic development. Many conservation efforts have in the past been theory driven, without actionable, feasible results. We hypothesised that correct implementation of the available data will indicate where conservation efforts should be focused to move closer to achieving targets for biodiversity conservation in the Grassland Biome in South Africa. We identified an area (near Heilbron and Petrus Steyn in the Free State) that is representative of the biodiversity in the region and is suitable for modern conservation efforts in the 'real world'. This approach provides a practical look at conservation in the modern era and a feasible result for conservation efforts.


Learning the contingencies between stimulus, action, and outcomes is disrupted in disorders associated with altered dopamine (DA) function in the BG, such as Parkinson disease (PD). Although the role of DA in learning to act has been extensively investigated in PD, the role of DA in "learning to withhold" (or inhibit) action to influence outcomes is not as well understood. The current study investigated the role of DA in learning to act or to withhold action to receive rewarding, or avoid punishing outcomes, in patients with PD tested "off" and "on" dopaminergic medication (n = 19) versus healthy controls (n = 30). Participants performed a reward-based learning task that orthogonalized action and outcome valence (action–reward, inaction–reward, action–punishment, inaction–punishment). We tested whether DA would bias learning toward action, toward reward, or to particular action–outcome interactions. All participants demonstrated inherent learning biases preferring action with reward and inaction to avoid punishment, and this was unaffected by medication. Instead, DA produced a complex modulation of learning less natural action–outcome associations. "Off" DA medication, patients demonstrated impairments in learning to withhold action to gain reward, suggesting a difficulty to overcome a bias toward associating inaction with punishment avoidance. On DA medication, these patterns changed, and patients showed a reduced ability to learn to act to avoid punishment, indicating a bias toward action and reward. The current findings suggest that DA in PD has a complex influence on the formation of action–outcome associations, particularly those involving less natural linkages between action and outcome valence.


The graphene family nanomaterials (GFNs) have been recognized to have potential applications in biomedicine, especially in the rag nostic, drug delivery and neuroimaging. Multiple studies have examined the neurotoxicity of GFNs to assay their toxic effects on organisms and ecosystems. In this article, we reviewed the different neurotoxicity effects of GFNs at intracellular levels, including nucleus-related effects and cytosolic mechanisms, as well as extracellular levels, including effects on enzyme activity, oxidative stress, behavior, neurotransmitters, and central nervous system (CNS). Furthermore, for the sake of the solution, we discussed the reducing ways of graphene toxicity. A schematic description is shown in Figure 1.


Abstract. Extreme events are part of climate variability. Dealing with variability is still a challenge that might be increased due to climate change. However, impacts of extreme events are not only dependent on their variability, but also on management and governance. In Brazil, its semi-arid region is vulnerable to extreme events, especially droughts, for centuries. Actually, other Brazilian regions that have been mostly concerned with floods are currently also experiencing droughts. This article evaluates how a combination between climate variability and water governance might affect water scarcity and increase the impacts of extreme events on some regions. For this evaluation, Ostrom's framework for analyzing social-ecological systems (SES) was applied. Ostrom's framework is useful for understanding interactions between resource systems, governance systems and resource users. This study focuses on social-ecological systems located in a drought-prone region of Brazil. Two extreme events were selected, one in 1997–2000, when Brazil's new water policy was very young, and the other one in 2012–2015. The analysis of SES considering Ostrom's principle "Clearly defined boundaries" showed that deficiencies in water management cause the intensification of drought's impacts for the water users. The reasons are more related to water management and governance problems than to drought event magnitude or climate change. This is a problem that holdup advances in dealing with extreme events.


Marginal zone macrophages (MZMs) are a small subset of specialized splenic macrophages known to interact with apoptotic material entering the spleen from circulation. To evaluate whether MZMs regulate immunity to apoptotic material we depleted MZMs and assessed innate and adaptive immune responses to apoptotic cells administered systemically. MZM depletion altered the spatial localization of apoptotic cells, which accumulated in T-cell areas of the lymphoid follicles. MZM depletion also enhanced phagocytosis of apoptotic cells by red pulp (CD68(+)F4/80(+)) macrophages, which expressed increased CD86, MHCII, and CCR7. MZM depletion led to increased production of proinflammatory cytokines and enhanced lymphocyte responsiveness to apoptotic cell antigens. Furthermore, we found that MZM depletion accelerated autoimmune disease progression in mice genetically prone to systemic lupus erythematosus and caused significant mortality in wild-type mice repeatedly exposed to exogenous apoptotic thymocytes. These findings support the hypothesis that MZMs are central in the clearance of apoptotic cells to minimize the immunogenicity of autoantigens.


Motivation Bacteriophages are broadly classified into two distinct lifestyles: temperate (lysogenic) and virulent (lytic). Temperate phages are capable of a latent phase of infection within a host cell, whereas virulent phages directly replicate and lyse host cells upon infection. Accurate lifestyle identification is critical for determining the role of individual phage species within ecosystems and their effect on host evolution. Results Here, we present BACPHLIP, a BACterioPHage LIfestyle Predictor. BACPHLIP detects the presence of a set of conserved protein domains within an input genome and uses this data to predict lifestyle via a Random Forest classifier. The classifier was trained on 634 phage genomes. On an independent test set of 423 phages, BACPHLIP has an accuracy of 98%, greatly exceeding that of the best existing available tool (79%). Availability BACPHLIP is freely available on GitHub (https://github.com/adamhockenberry/bacphlip) and the code used to build and test the classifier is provided in a separate repository (https://github.com/adamhockenberry/bacphlip-model-dev).


Our aim is to estimate the perspective-effected geometric distortion of a scene from a video feed. In contrast to all previous work we wish to achieve this using from low-level, spatio-temporally local motion features used in commercial semi-automatic surveillance systems. We: (i) describe a dense algorithm which uses motion features to estimate the perspective distortion at each image locus and then polls all such local estimates to arrive at the globally best estimate, (ii) present an alternative coarse algorithm which subdivides the image frame into blocks, and uses motion features to derive block-specific motion characteristics and constrain the relationships between these characteristics, with the perspective estimate emerging as a result of a global optimization scheme, and (iii) report the results of an evaluation using nine large sets acquired using existing close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. Our findings demonstrate that both of the proposed methods are successful, their accuracy matching that of human labelling using complete visual data.


Abstract Objective. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two treatments for dentin hypersensitivity in vivo during 90 days of follow-up. Materials and methods. The sample consisted of 117 teeth (13 patients) that were divided into three groups: control with carbomer 940 gel (n = 32) (placebo treatment), 2% sodium fluoride gel (n = 31) and low-level infrared diode laser (n = 54). Prior to the desensitizing treatment, the dentin hypersensitivity status of each tooth was assessed by an evaporative stimulus; the patient's response was evaluated using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and by counting the Exposure Time to Air Blast (ETAB) with a dental air syringe. Re-evaluations of the treatments occurred after 5 min, 7, 15, 30 and 90 days. The statistical analysis was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis test, Friedman test, one-way ANOVA, Tukey's test and Spearman's rank correlation (α = 5%). Results. No significant differences were observed among the low-level laser, 2% topical fluoride and carbomer 940 gel applications. When the methods of evaluation (VAS and ETAB) were compared, there was no difference among the groups with respect to the values for every period of evaluation (p < 0.001), verifying that the scores obtained with the VAS decreased at the same proportion as the remaining time of ETAB increased. Conclusions. This study showed that both tested therapies were efficacious in controlling painful symptoms associated with dentin hypersensitivity over the entire 90-day follow-up period. The treatments were able to reduce the painful symptoms caused by dentin hypersensitivity, including placebo.


Splenic artery aneurysms are the most common visceral artery aneurysms, which are usually found incidentally. The most common complication of splenic artery aneurysms is spontaneous rupture into the peritoneal cavity, which leads to acute peritonitis and shock. Less commonly, it may rupture directly into the stomach, small bowel or pancreatic duct and may present with acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage. We report a rare case of the ruptured splenic artery aneurysm, presenting as acute massive hematochezia which was treated with transcatheter embolization.


A survey is made of primary photoprocesses in dye molecules in solution — photophysical processes in excited singlet and triplet states (absorption from an excited level, vibrational and rotational relaxation, lifetimes, quantum efficiencies of fluorescence, intersystem and internal conversions, deactivation and quenching of the triplet state, etc.) and primary photochemical reactions (cis–trans-isomerisation, electron transfer, etc.). A list of 309 references is included.


Objectives To identify patient-reported reasons for selecting obliterative surgery for the purpose of predicting decision regret and satisfaction. Methods We created a deidentified database of patients who underwent an obliterative procedure for prolapse from 2006 to 2013. Patients were excluded if they declined study participation, were deceased, or had dementia. Participants completed a survey regarding reasons for selecting obliterative surgery and a modified version of validated questionnaires on decision regret (Decision Regret Scale-Pelvic Floor Disorder) and satisfaction (Satisfaction with Decision Scale-Pelvic Floor Disorder). Parsimonious multivariate linear regression models were constructed to determine if any of the reasons given for choosing obliterative surgery were independent predictors of decision regret and satisfaction after controlling for significant sociodemographic, clinical, and surgical outcome data identified by bivariate analysis. Results Seventy-seven women completed the surveys. "To follow my doctor's recommendations" and "no longer sexually active," and/or "did not plan to be" as reasons for selecting obliterative surgery made the most difference; however, these reasons were not identified as independent predictors of decision regret or satisfaction after controlling for confounders. The regret linear regression models identified preoperative sexual activity rather than the patient-reported reason "no longer sexually active and/or did not plan to be," as the only independent predictor of more decision regret after obliterative surgery (B coefficient 1.68, P < 0.01). The satisfaction linear regression models identified reoperation for any reason as an independent predictor of lower satisfaction (&bgr;, −0.24; P = 0.04) and the patient-reported reason for choosing obliterative surgery "not interested in pessary" as a predictor of higher satisfaction (&bgr;, 0.30, P = 0.01). Conclusions This study advances our knowledge about the obliterative surgical decision making process. Behavioral and educational interventions directed at improving patient and physician communications concerning the dynamics of sexual health issues in an aging population will likely decrease regret when obliterative surgery is chosen. Minimizing reoperation after obliterative surgery through increased experience, knowledge, and improved surgical skills and patient validation when pessary is declined will likely improve satisfaction when obliterative surgery is chosen.


This study was done to determine whether haematuria and proteinuria observed in the adult athletes due to physical activity occur in the young athletes. The urinary samples from 40 boxers joining the 1st European Stars Box Championship were examined before and after the matches. Haematuria was observed in all the athletes, and proteinuria occured in the 45% of the athletes following the matches whereas neither haematuria nor proteinuria was observed before matches. It was concluded that haematuria and proteinuria resulting from physical activity occur not only in the adult athletes but also young ones. [Journal of Turgut Ozal Medical Center 1996;3(3):200-202] Key words: Box, haematuria, proteinuria


— Neighborhood-based topology control has been proven to be very effective in reducing energy consumption and increasing network capacity in ad hoc networks. In this paper, we present a practical realization of this approach that does not rely on distance estimation. Instead, the protocols presented in this paper leverage a feature typical of current wireless cards, namely that discrete power levels can be used for transmission. Ours are the first discrete-power-level protocols that do not require changing the power level on a per-packet basis. We demon-strate, through simulation, that the excellent performance of neighborhood-based topology control is maintained in this more practical setting. We also show that significant energy savings can be obtained if the power levels are optimized for topology control, rather than chosen in an ad hoc manner. Finally, we extend our approach to provide a neighborhood-based topology control protocol that is suit-able for mobile networks.


Few topics attract as much attention across the social and behavioral sciences as risk. Enter "risk" as a search term in Google or in the books section at Amazon and you will turn up more results than searches for terms such as "judgment," "decision," or even "happiness." Despite all of this interest, most laypeople, professionals, and clinical researchers understand risk very differently than do decision theorists. For instance, the Oxford English Dictionary (2015) defines risk as "exposure to the possibility of loss, injury, or other adverse or unwelcome cir cumstance; a chance or situation involving such a possibility." That accords with the clinical definition of risk which includes behaviors that can result in loss or harm to oneself or others such as skydiving, recreational drug use, and unprotected sex (e.g., Furby & Beyth‐Marom, 1992; Steinberg, 2008), and it likewise accords with the view of managers who see risk as exposure to possible negative outcomes (March & Shapira, 1987). Psychometric studies of risk intuitions similarly implicate exposure to potential dangers, revealing a dread component that is characterized by lack of control or potential catastrophic consequences, and an unknown com ponent that is characterized by unobservable, unknown, or delayed consequences (Slovic, 1987). An important problem with the lay conception of riskiness is that its major elements – loss, lack of control, unknown consequences – do not lend themselves to a coherent operationalization of the construct. Surely an option can be risky without the possibility of a loss – for instance, {gain $100 if a fair coin lands heads 2


The solubility of hydrocortisone was determined experimentally in a wide variety of solvents. Groups of solvents were selected to emphasize different solute-solvent interactions which can influence the solubility profile of such a large, polyfunctional solute. Regular solution theory for a crystalline solute was shown to be applicable to the solubility behavior of hydrocortisone in solvents that lack strong dipoles and the ability to hydrogen bond. A best-fit solubility parameter of 12.4 (cal/ml)1/2 for hydrocortisone was determined from the latter solubilities and the ideal solubility of hydrocortisone. This solubility parameter estimate was significantly higher than estimates calculated from molar-attraction constants. Even though molar volume ratios between hydrocortisone and the solvents ranged from 2.25 to 3.28, the associated Flory-Huggins entropy term did not seem to be a significant solubility-determining factor. In all cases, the solubility of hydrocortisone in solvents capable of dipole-dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding was shown to be higher by logarithmic orders when compared with regular solution theory predictions. Thus, for this solute, regular solution theory was shown to be appropriate only for solvents where London dispersion forces dominate the interactions between solute and solvent molecules.


Carbon nanofibers having interesting smooth, spherical beads are synthesized using a catalyst assisted vapor phase process under various methane/hydrogen mixtures. Fe(1-x)S(x) powders were used as the catalyst. The synthesis temperatures were 1100 degrees C and 1200 degrees C, which are lower than the ones used previously for the formation of beaded carbon nanofibers or nanotubes. Unlike the high temperature (> or = 1300 degrees C) grown beads that may exhibit a rough surface, all the beads obtained at both 1100 and 1200 degrees C with various methane concentrations have a smooth surface. The diameter and the linear density (no. of beads per unit fiber length) of the beads do not seem to correlate to the growth temperature and the methane concentration. The linear density is also independent of the growth time. However, the beads grow with time. Although the grown mechanism is not clear at the present time, it seems that a three-dimensional nucleation model plays a role.


Inrtoduction In India, although women today participate actively in education, sports, politics etc. but they lag way far behind against their counterparts globally. Reasons vary from poverty, stereotypical and patriarchal mind-sets to low education levels leading to lack of opportunities, skills, gender discrimination and early dropouts from schools. 39.4% girls aged 15-18 years drop out 1 from schools. There's no technology that can reduce dropouts but it can be prevented using technology. The paper discusses development & utilization of low cost technology benefitting 150,000 adolescents in rural areas of eastern Uttar Pradesh, India. Method and Approach Breakthrough implements an interactive school-based sensitization program (TKT -Taaron Ki Toli) to develop unbiased gender attitude amongst adolescents (11-18 year) challenging dominant gender perceptions and behaviours with sessions targeted at reducing school dropouts leading to improved aspirations and higher educational outcomes. Digital Attendance System (DAS - android application) is the method used for marking adolescent's enrolment and attendance using thumb pattern, the former providing relevant socio-economic personal identifiers and latter ensuring their physical presence. It is enabled with an  Early Warning System raising alert on finding any adolescent absent in 4 or more consecutive sessions, triggering an escalation request and considering them as vulnerable. Results and Discussion Pilot project, 134000 adolescents have been enrolled in 7 Districts of Uttar Pradesh. Manual attendance process was time consuming and needed full time personnel for monitoring whereas DAS reduced time taken for enrolment process by 50%, error free attendance with no duplication of data and reduced cost of human resources with 80% reduction in turnaround time to track adolescents' absence. Conclusion Technology has enhanced tracking mechanisms of vulnerable adolescents; we are aiming to reach 1 million adolescents by 2022 along with a reduction of dropouts from 12% to 3%. ___________________________________ 1- National Commission for Protection of Child Rights report .


Due to environmental concerns has been reintroduced as a potential candidate to replace HFCs in refrigeration systems. Oils are always required in a vapor-compression cycle, and thus it is necessary to precisely estimate the thermodynamic mixture properties of -lubricant oil. In the present study, the density and the viscosity of the mixture was calculated by the Redlich and Kwong type EoS and the modified Peng and Robinson type viscosity EoS, respectively. The viscosity model was based on the similarity between P-v-T and T--P relationships. The predicted results were compared with the experimental data of Pens ado et al. whose test conditions were 100650 bar of pressure and 303 K353 K of temperature with the -POEs mixtures under 92.2 wt.% and 83.3 wt.% of concentration. The mean deviations of the mixture density were 7.93% and 8.32% for 92.2 wt.% and 83.3 wt.% of concentration, respectively. Concerning the viscosity, the mean deviations were 4% and 10% for 92.2 wt.% and 83.3 wt.% of concentration under the Pensado et al.'s test conditions.


Optical and Infrared Observations of Pulsating Variable Stars J.A. Fernley In this thesis complete l igh t curves, at both optical (V) and infrared (J, H, K) wavelengths, are presented for 15 pulsating variable stars. These include four dwarf Cepheids, six RR Lyraes and five Cepheids. In addition, radial velocity curves are also presented for three stars. Using this data, and existing radial velocity curves taken from the l i te ra tu re , we derive radii for a ll the stars using a variant of the Baade-Wesselink method. The value of the infrared for radius deter mination is il lus tra ted by the fact that no previous attempts to apply Baade-Wesselink type methods, in an empirical manner, to short period (P <1 day) variables have been successful. From these results the following conclusions are drawn: 1. Metal poor RR Lyraes have <My>«0.55 and the metal rich, shorter period variables appear to be -0.3 0.4 mags fa in ter. These results and data secured recently for the globular clusters MS and M107 show that RR Lyraes obey a period-luminosity relation in the infrared of the form <P|̂ > = -1.01 2.80 log P 2. The Cepheid period-luminosity relation from our data requires that the Cepheid zero point from cluster main sequence f i t t in g should be reduced by -0.1. With this revision a distance modulus of 18.50 ± 0.15 for the LMC is given by both RR Lyraes and Cepheids. The "pulsation" masses of both the RR Lyraes and Cepheids are systematically smaller than the "evolutionary" masses by -15%. 3. The "pulsation" masses of dwarf Cepheids depend on the assumed pulsation mode. For those stars of known (or suspected) pulsation mode, low masses are derived. I f this is generally true then dwarf Cepheids and delta Scutis are dissimilar. Further evidence in support of this conclusion is provided by, f i r s t l y , a comparison of the observed pulsation characteris^t^ics (periods and amplitudes) of the two groups of stars and, secondly, a comparison of the observed period changes of dwarf Cepheids with the theoretically calculated period changes. OPTICAL AND INFRARED OBSERVATIONS OF PULSATING VARIABLE STARS


In this paper we investigate the relation between immersion in a game and the player's intensity of physical behaviours, in order to explore whether these behaviours can be reliably used as indicators of player experience. Immersion in the game was manipulated by means of screen size (20" vs 42" screen), and sound pressure level (60dBA vs 80 dBA), according to a 2 x 2 design. The effects of these manipulations on self-reported experience (including arousal and presence) and behavioural intensity (controller tilt and button pressure) were measured. Results showed that sound pressure level in particular strongly influenced both the self-reported measures of people's affective reactions and feelings of presence and the force people applied to the interface device. Results from controller tilt demonstrated that participants did move along with the dynamics of the game. The measure was, however not sensitive to either of the two manipulations of sensory immersion. In the paper the implications for the use of behavioural indicators of player experience in general and the feeling of presence are discussed. Author Keywords


The mouse intracellular pathogen resistance 1 (Ipr1) gene plays important roles in mediating host immunity and previous work showed that it enhances macrophage apoptosis upon mycobacterium infection. However, to date, little is known about the regulation pattern of Ipr1 action. Recent studies have investigated the protein-coding genes and microRNAs regulated by Ipr1 in mouse macrophages, but the structure and the functional motif of the Ipr1 protein have yet to be explored. In this study, we analyzed the domains and functional motif of the Ipr1 protein. The resulting data reveal that Ipr1 protein forms a homodimer and that the Sp100-like domain mediates the targeting of Ipr1 protein to nuclear dots (NDs). Moreover, we found that an Ipr1 mutant lacking the classic nuclear localization signal (cNLS) also translocated into the nuclei, suggesting that the cNLS is not the only factor that directs Ipr1 nuclear localization. Additionally, mechanistic studies revealed that an arginine/lysine-rich element within the DNA-binding domain (SAND domain) is critical for Ipr1 binding to the importin protein receptor NPI-1, demonstrating that this element plays an essential role in mediating the nuclear localization of Ipr1 protein. Furthermore, our results show that this arginine/lysine-rich element contributes to the transcriptional regulation and apoptotic activity of Ipr1. These findings highlight the structural foundations of Ipr1 action and provide new insights into the mechanism of Ipr1-mediated resistance to mycobacterium.


Abstract To what degree are Chinese citizens concerned about the seriousness of global warming and climate change (GWCC) and what are the key factors that shape their concern? Drawing theoretical insights from extant literature and using recent data from a national representative public survey (N = 3,748) and provincial environmental and economic statistics, this study, the first of its kind, examines the variations and determinants of Chinese GWCC concern. Our data show that in China, compared to other countries, average public concern about GWCC is relatively low, and concern varies greatly among Chinese citizens, across different provinces and between coastal and inland areas. Statistical analyses reveal that the levels of Chinese GWCC concern are significantly influenced by individual sociodemographic characteristics, personal post-materialist values, and regional economic dependency on carbon-intensive industries. Specifically, women and younger Chinese with greater post-materialist values are more concerned about GWCC than their counterparts, and citizens from provinces with higher economic dependency on carbon-intensive industries tend to be less concerned about GWCC than people from provinces with lower carbon dependency. We discuss key policy implications and make suggestions for future research in the conclusion.


ABSTRACT The triad of entrepreneurship, self-employment, and financial inclusion underpins policy and development interventions meant to address the youth employment challenge in Africa. Youth savings groups are being widely promoted as a first step toward financial inclusion and economic empowerment. This article reports on the links between income-generating activities of 57 members of youth savings groups in Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Ghana, and their membership in savings groups. It concludes that while savings groups can help to facilitate operational expenses and cash flow – and thus support members' micro-enterprises – in opportunity starved contexts their transformational potential is probably being oversold.


Young women in Australia experience serious risks from intimate partner violence (IPV) as a form of family violence. However, there has been a lack of attention to the impact of this on young women and, as a result, these risks are not well understood. This article critically examines existing literature, policy and research and in doing so, specifically explores the ways in which young women aged between 10 and 20 years old are represented and positioned in contemporary family violence discourses. Framed by a review of socio-political and cultural history, the paper highlights the early colonial, patriarchal foundations of Australia, which have specific implications for the challenges that contemporary young women experience in situations of IPV. With a particular emphasis on the Australian context, this article employs both an intersectional and critical feminist lens, with a key focus on the dimensions of adolescent development and youth social geographies. Focusing specifically on these dimensions, including development, gender and age, highlights the important role that feminist social work perspectives and practices can contribute to uncovering, understanding and responding to young women's experiences of intimate partner violence through policy and advocacy.


Several studies have established that pretraining lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) render instrumental actions insensitive to devaluation of the instrumental outcome and degradation of the action-outcome contingency. Nevertheless, it remains to be assessed whether the involvement of the mPFC in goal-directed action is limited to the acquisition or to the expression of the action-outcome association in performance. The current series of experiments investigated this issue by comparing the effects of mPFC lesions made either before or after initial training using sensitivity to outcome devaluation as an assay of goal-directed performance. Whereas pretraining lesions left performance insensitive to outcome devaluation, posttraining lesions spared this effect. To determine whether the effect of mPFC lesions on outcome devaluation was the result of a more fundamental deficit in response selection, experiment 2 assessed the impact of pretraining and posttraining lesions on the ability of the instrumental outcome to selectively reinstate the performance of its associated action after a period of extinction. Although both lesions attenuated the magnitude of instrumental reinstatement generally, they left intact the ability of the instrumental outcome to influence response selection. Experiment 3 investigated the relationship between the outcome-selective devaluation and reinstatement effects and found evidence that these effects are both behaviorally and neurally dissociable at the level of the mPFC. These results indicate that the mPFC is selectively involved in the acquisition, but not the permanent storage or expression, of action-outcome associations in instrumental conditioning.


In the setting of continual learning, a network is trained on a sequence of tasks, and suffers from catastrophic forgetting. To balance plasticity and stability of network in continual learning, in this paper, we propose a novel network training algorithm Adam-NSCL which sequentially optimizes network parameters in the null space of all previous tasks. We first propose two mathematical conditions respectively for achieving network stability and plasticity in continual learning. Based on them, the network training for sequential tasks without forgetting can be simply achieved by projecting the candidate parameter update into the approximate null space of all previous tasks in the network training process, where the candidate parameter update can be generated by Adam. The approximate null space can be derived by applying singular value decomposition to the un-centered covariance matrix of all input features of previous tasks for each linear layer. For efficiency, the uncentered covariance matrix can be incrementally computed after learning each task. We also empirically verify the rationality of the approximate null space at each linear layer. We apply our approach to training networks for continual learning on benchmark datasets of CIFAR-100 and TinyImageNet, and the results suggest that the proposed approach outperforms or matches the state-ot-the-art continual learning approaches.


Scientific researches on the legal regulations of the fight against doping are carried out mainly in the Western doctrine within the framework of International law, Sports law, human rights, and European Union law. In post-Soviet legal science there is an intensive growth in the number of sports research, mainly sectoral (administrative, constitutional, labor, criminal law). However, there is practically no research on FIFA Anti-Doping Regulations. There is a difference between the two forms of anti-doping rule violation: the first form is the presence of a prohibited substance in an athlete's sample, the second form is the use of a prohibited substance by an athlete. In this study, we will analyze the practice of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (hereinafter – CAS, arbitration) in cases of anti-doping regulation violations on issues of fault or negligence in football and draw conclusions, what facts can be accepted by the arbitration.


This paper provides a tutorial on the principles of holography, followed by a review of a newly developed 3-D imaging technique in which 3-D optical information of an object cam be extracted by a 2-D optical scan of the object. The technique is called optical scanning holography (OSH). In the context of optical scanning holography, we discuss some of its potential applications such as holographic information transmission and television (TV) system, 3-D image coding and decoding, 3-D microscopy, and 3-D optical remote sensing. In most cases, feasibility has been proven but awaits broader application.


In today's time each individual needs remote framework, yet at the same time control transmission for low power gadgets are wired in nature. Consistent power supply is one of the real issues in the motivation behind the utilization of remote sensor network. Yet, in the power arrangement of remote Sensor Network, the battery has an extremely constrained lifetime and is not supplanted yet by some other persistent power framework. There are separate techniques proposed for shorter and more separate power transmission: Inductive coupling, resonant inductive coupling and air ionization for short separations; microwave and Laser transmission for longer separations. The pioneer of the field, Tesla endeavoured to make a capable, remote electric transmitter more than a century back that has now observed an exponential development. This paper overall lights up all the effective strategies proposed for transmitting power without wires. This study is important for find out the future ways of power transmission. These methods are so important in today's world because of drastic wastage of power. Common wireless power transmission is a point-to-point control transmission. It was demonstrated that the power transmission effectiveness could approach near 100%.


Enabling users to shape 3-D boxes in immersive virtual environments is a non-trivial problem. In this paper, a new family of techniques for creating rectangular boxes of arbitrary position, orientation, and size is presented and evaluated. These new techniques are based solely on position data, making them different from typical, existing box shaping techniques. The basis of the proposed techniques is a new algorithm for constructing a full box from just three of its corners. The evaluation of the new techniques compares their precision and completion times in a 9 degree-of-freedom (DoF) docking experiment against an existing technique, which requires the user to perform the rotation and scaling of the box explicitly. The precision of the users' box construction is evaluated by a novel error metric measuring the difference between two boxes. The results of the experiment strongly indicate that for precision docking of 9 DoF boxes, some of the proposed techniques are significantly better than ones with explicit rotation and scaling. Another interesting result is that the number of DoF simultaneously controlled by the user significantly influences the precision of the docking.


Diverted plasmas in the stellarator W7-X are investigated using a hopping poloidal correlation reflectometer and a set of Langmuir probes to investigate the plasma edge and the scrape off layer at two different toroidal positions and poloidal cross sections, respectively. The properties of the scrape off layer are studied as function of two magnetic configurations and as function of plasma parameters. The experimentally determined radial position of the inversion point of the radial electric field is compared with calculations. For certain magnetic configurations a remnant island in the scrape off layer is observed and studied as function of the plasma current. Different methods to determine the radial electric field are applied which allow to estimate the phase velocity of the turbulence. The measured phase velocity is small and shows some evidence for the existence of resistive ballooning modes in the scrape off layer. Spectrum decomposition of coherence spectra is applied for a radial localization of modes and to determine their properties. An estimate of the radial correlation length of the broad band (BB) turbulence in the vicinity of the last closed flux surface is calculated from the decrease of BB turbulence amplitude as obtained from the coherence spectra. The obtained radial correlation length is found to be λ r ≈ 15 mm .


Solar updraft power generator (SUPG) is a renewable energy facility capable of harnessing the solar energy. The first large prototype of SUPG was built in 1980's in Manzanares, Spain to evaluate the projected performance of the facility and to serve as verification tools for future power simulator development. In this paper, the performance of a solar updraft power generator is assessed using the developed mathematical model. The model is validated by comparison with experimental data of Manzanares SUPG. The validated model is then used to calculate the amount of energy produced in seven selected locations in Indonesia. The selected cities in Indonesia exhibited a higher average monthly energy production compared to those in Manzanares. In particular a site like Kupang, would generate two times the energy of the Manzanares SUPG. The power production is sufficient for the needs of this isolated area in Indonesia and has the potential to solve the energy issue.


The nonlinear dynamics of a directly forced clamped-clamped-free-free magneto-rheological elastomer (MRE) sandwich shell has been experimentally investigated. Experiments have been conducted on an aluminium shallow shell (shell A) and an MRE-aluminium sandwich shallow shell with single curvature (shell B). An electrodynamic shaker has been used to directly force shells A and B in the vicinity of their fundamental resonance frequency; a laser displacement sensor has been used to measure the vibration amplitude to construct the frequency-response curves. It was observed that for an aluminium shell (shell A), that at small forcing amplitudes, a weak softening-type nonlinear behaviour was observed, however, at higher forcing amplitudes the nonlinear dynamical behaviour shifted and a strong hardening-type response occurred. For the MRE shell (shell B), the effect of forcing amplitude showed softening at low magnetic fields and hardening for medium magnetic fields; it was also observed the mono-curved MRE sandwich shell changed dynamics to quasiperiodic displacement at some frequencies, from a periodic displacement. The presence of a magnetic field, initial curvature, and forcing amplitude has significant qualitative and quantitative effects on the nonlinear dynamical response of a mono curved MRE sandwich shell.


To improve the vehicle performance such as ride comfort and road handling, the active suspension system should be used. However, the current active suspension system has a high energy consumption therefore reducing the fuel economy. In this paper the vibration excited by road unevenness is treated as a source of mechanical energy. It is being converted into electrical energy to compensate for the energy consumption by the active suspension. To achieve this task, an electromagnetic active suspension system has been introduced. The power generated from this device has been used as input power of the pump of the hydraulic actuators. Adaptive neuro-fuzzy controllers have been designed to generate a signal to control the valves of the hydraulic actuators.


The risk of death between puberty and fifth anniversary is five years. The reduction in mortality rates of less than 5 years is a major explanation for reducing the mortality rate under 5 years below 25 deaths per 1.000 live births by 2030 by the Sustainable Developation Target (SDGs) for 2016. It is a crucial indicator of children's health and of a nation's overall growth. Data have been collected from the 2016 Ethiopian Demography and Health Survey. The Kaplan-Meier, the proportional risks of Cox and the distribution of weubull-gamma mutual models of fragility were employed in the study for the outputs of under five infants. In the cohort, religion, marital status and delivery position of the final Cox Regression and Weibull-Gamma model of reciprocal frailty, the variables that significantly predict infant mortality times under the age of five were the receptive. Sample regions, on the other hand, are used as clusters which are responsible at regional levels for mutual fragility models. In addition, there was enough evidence for unnoticed heterogeneity at the regional levels in the weibull-gamma = 0.0,0428417 mutual frailty model parameter. The study indicates that the fight against the death burden for children below 5 years helps by resolving geographic disparities and allowing mothers to spill into health care facilities (hospitals, health centres, private health facilities and NGOs). Important predictors (five-year age group, religion, marital situation and place of birth), eventually minimising child mortality, should also be given special attention.


Materials that exhibit colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) are currently the focus of an intense research effort, driven by the technological applications that their properties suggest. Using the angular correlation of photons from electron-positron annihilation, we present a first view of the Fermi surface of a material that exhibits CMR, supported by `virtual crystal' electronic structure calculations. The Fermi surface is shown to be sufficiently cubic in nature that it is likely to support nesting.


ALTHOUGH THERE is a slight duplication of the research reviewed in this chapter with that to be found in Chapters I and III, an effort has been made to include those contributions to statistical methodology that were thought to be of at least some interest and of some potential help to research workers in the behavioral sciences. The scope of this particular chapter is probably broader and perhaps less unified than that of any other in this issue of the REVIEW. In this chapter, the major objective is to furnish for the period from July 1, 1960, to July 1, 1963, a brief description both of the general developments in statistical inference and of the somewhat specific contributions that have been made to the theory and application of parametric and nonparametric tests of significanceespecially those tests involving only two samples. Consideration has also been given to citing important books, to describing advances realized in the treatment of data in contingency tables, and to mentioning certain developments in the methodology of multiple comparisons that have not been noted by Norton in Chapter III.


An adaptive cerebellar-model-articulation-controller (CMAC)-based supervisory control system is developed for uncertain nonlinear systems. This adaptive CMAC-based supervisory control system consists of an adaptive CMAC and a supervisory controller. In the adaptive CMAC, a CMAC is used to mimic an ideal control law and a compensated controller is designed to recover the residual of the approximation error. The supervisory controller is appended to the adaptive CMAC to force the system states within a predefined constraint set. In this design, if the adaptive CMAC can maintain the system states within the constraint set, the supervisory controller will be idle. Otherwise, the supervisory controller starts working to pull the states back to the constraint set. In addition, the adaptive laws of the control system are derived in the sense of Lyapunov function, so that the stability of the system can be guaranteed. Furthermore, to relax the requirement of approximation error bound, an estimation law is derived to estimate the error bound. Finally, the proposed control system is applied to control a robotic manipulator, a chaotic circuit and a linear piezoelectric ceramic motor (LPCM). Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme for uncertain nonlinear systems.


Pinus edulis Engelm. is a short-stature, drought-tolerant tree species that is abundant in piñon-juniper woodlands throughout semiarid ecosystems of the American Southwest. P. edulis is a model species among ecophysiological disciplines, with considerable research focus given to hydraulic functioning and carbon partitioning relating to mechanisms of tree mortality. Many ecological studies require robust estimates of tree structural traits such as biomass, active sapwood area, and leaf area. We harvested twenty trees from Central New Mexico ranging in size from 1.3 to 22.7 cm root crown diameter (RCD) to derive allometric relationships from measurements of RCD, maximum height, canopy area (CA), aboveground biomass (AGB), sapwood area (AS), and leaf area (AL). Total foliar mass was measured from a subset of individuals and scaled to AL from estimates of leaf mass per area. We report a strong nonlinear relationship to AGB as a function of both RCD and height, whereas CA scaled linearly. Total AS expressed a power relationship with RCD. Both AS and CA exhibited strong linear relationships with AL (R2 = 0.99), whereas RCD increased nonlinearly with AL. We improve on current models by expanding the size range of sampled trees and supplement the existing literature for this species.
 Study Implications: Land managers need to better understand carbon and water dynamics in changing ecosystems to understand how those ecosystems can be sustainably used now and in the future. This study of two-needle pinon (Pinus edulis Engelm.) trees in New Mexico, USA, uses observations from unoccupied aerial vehicles, field measurements, and harvesting followed by laboratory analysis to develop allometric models for this widespread species. These models can be used to understand plant traits such biomass partitioning and sap flow, which in turn will help scientists and land managers better understand the ecosystem services provided by pinon pine across North America.


Research on quadrupedal robots inspired by canids or felids have been widely reported and demonstrated. However, none of these legged robots can deal with difficult environments that include water, such as small lakes, streams, rain, mud, flooded terrain, etc. In this paper, we present for the first time a kinematic analysis and a hydrodynamic model of dog paddling motion in a robotic system. The quadrupedal paddling gait of dogs was first analyzed based on underwater video recording. Hydrodynamic drag force analysis in a paddling gait cycle was conducted for a prototype robotic dog. The prototype robotic dog was developed using four pre-charged pneumatics soft actuators with consideration of relative positions of CG (center of gravity) and CB (center of buoyancy) and their dynamic variation in paddling. It was found that such soft actuators have great potential in developing amphibious legged robots, because they are inherently water-tight, anti-rusty, simple in structural design, and have large hydrodynamic advantage due to their mostly hemi-cylindrical shape design. Trotting and paddling of the prototype robotic dog was also demonstrated. It is believed that our findings reported in this research will provide useful guidance in future development of amphibious robotic dogs.


This paper discusses a method for improving accuracy of fuzzy-rule-based classifiers using particle swarm optimization (PSO). Two different fuzzy classifiers are considered and optimized. The first classifier is based on Mamdani fuzzy inference system (M_PSO fuzzy classifier). The second classifier is based on Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy inference system (TS_PSO fuzzy classifier). The parameters of the proposed fuzzy classifiers including premise (antecedent) parameters, consequent parameters and structure of fuzzy rules are optimized using PSO. Experimental results show that higher classification accuracy can be obtained with a lower number of fuzzy rules by using the proposed PSO fuzzy classifiers. The performances of M_PSO and TS_PSO fuzzy classifiers are compared to other fuzzy based classifiers.


Food safety is the main issue in street food for student in primary school. Street food that unhealthy can be caused by unhygienic food processing or storage. Microbial contamination, chemical contamination from the air or application of food additives at risk become critical point food safety in street food for student in primary school. The aim of this research was to know street food that often consumed by students some public primary schools in Padang City and its safety. This research is an observational study with purposive sampling technique. The result of this research showed that there is chemical contamination from lead, may caused of the location of food stall and how it is processed. Street food of school children observed from selected public primary schools in Padang City was suspected of containing borax and formalin proved negative.Keywords : borax, chemical contamination, formalin, lead, street food


Changes in the regional lymph nodes from guinea pigs stimulated with oxazolone painting or LPS injection were examined by light and electron microscopy at various intervals. The proportions of T and B cells in the nodes were estimated by rosette formation technique30,34 and weights of the thymus and spleen were measured at the same time. The first event occurring in the nodes after antigenic stimulation was increase in number and activity of post‐capillary venules (PGV) which resulted in augmentation of an influx of small lymphocytes from the recirculating pool. Lymphocytes which streamed into the nodes promptly flowed out through the sinus endothelium into the pool. The second event was specific accumulation of committed lymphocytes35. The proportion of T cell in the node suspension reached a peak 4 days after oxazolone painting when morphological changes became maximum and the thymus enlarged. On the other hand, in LPS group, B cells reached a peak on day 5 or 6 when relatively immature germinal centers increased in the nodes and decreased on day 7 because of their differentiation into plasma cells.


The contemporary world is increasingly multicultural and the identity crisis resulting from this sometimes threatens sustainable human development. Nigeria is a plural society in terms of its multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature. Of all the federal democracies in the world, only India can match Nigeria's cultural complexity. If well managed, this factor of unity in diversity would have been a major asset to the Nigerian state, but the contrary is the case. Nigeria's cultural diversity is politicized and exploited by the elite in such a way that retards the nation's growth and progress. This makes the promotion of understanding and dialogue to be a prime issue in the management of multiculturalism, global peace and security. This paper attempts to answer these questions by taking a critical look at the situations in Nigeria – one of the most culturally-complex countries in the world. The paper is divided into three parts. In the last part, which is actually the fulcrum of the presentation, the point is made that these challenges notwithstanding; the Nigerian universities still manage to make some outstanding contributions in the direction of promoting dialogue among the contending forces in the country. The Nigerian case study is internationally instructive.


The aim of this research is to investigate the behavior of the Ozone layer through the total column Ozone (TCO) during the strong geomagnetic storms of the year 2012 and to find the effect of the geomagnetic storms on the variation of the temperature (T2m) two meter above the Earth surface by studying the hourly variations, daily average and monthly average of these two parameters above Iraqi region (38 ̊49 ̊N; 28 ̊-38 ̊E), The data of (TCO) and (T2m) were selected from the ERA satellite for year 2012, in which there are seven strong geomagnetic storms occurred along five months. Drawing the monthly and the daily average (two days before, stormy day, and seven days after the stormy day for three Iraqi cities Muthanna, Baghdad, and Sulaymaniyah). From monthly average the results reveals that the thickness of Ozone layer in North of Iraq wider than the Middle and South of Iraq for all stormy months except in October of 2012 appears that the maximum in Middle of Iraq. About the temperature it is reversely preoperational with Ozone thickness. The maximum values of TCO in spring it reaches 327 DU in April. From the hourly variations of TCO and T2m for three Iraqi cities, it seen that in some events it is decreases and others increases do not depend on storm type, utmost it is increases. The slope of trend line for variation of (TCO) with the variation of (T2m) drawn gives that there is no relationship between them along the three cities taken


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a fall prevention program on gait ability, one leg standing-right, one leg standing-left, fear of falling, fall efficacy, and depression in the elderly. Methods: A fall prevention program was consisted of fall preventing exercise with laughter therapy. Quasi-experimental design with one group pre- and post-test was used. Twenty-two elderly were participated in this study from a community health center located in a rural area, South Korea. SPSS/WIN 18.0 was used for descriptive analysis and paired t-test. Results: After 12 weeks with a fall prevention program, gait ability (t=3.44, p=.002), one leg standing-right (t=-3.73, p=.001), one leg standing-left (t=-4.17, p<.001) and fear of falling (t=2.12, p=.046) in the elderly were significantly improved. Conclusion: A fall prevention program was effective on physical and psychological functions. This study suggested that control groups and a larger sample should be included in order to validate the effects of a fall prevention program for the elderly.


With inverse radiation therapy planning methods, both biological and physical objective functions can be used to perform the optimization. A biological objective function, namely the probability of achieving tumor control without causing severe complications in normal tissues, P+, has been used to evaluate six different optimization methods. All six methods have been tested on two different clinically relevant treatment geometries. The results show that optimization with a physical objective function which gives the best possible agreement with the desired dose distribution in the least squares sense, may result in severe loss of complicationfree tumor control due to insufficient consideration of the organs at risk. It is generally better to use a physical objective function which minimizes the over-dosage when the desired dose distribution can not be exactly reproduced. In all cases the use of physical objective functions results in a lower probability of controlling the tumor without causing severe normal tissue reactions than if the biological objective function, P,, is used. However, the results also show the importance of accurately accounting for beam divergence, dose build-up, beam attenuation, and lateral scatter during the optimization procedure, particularly when the biological objective function is used. The loss in P, by assuming that all energy deposition kernels are identical and that all the constituent beams have fixed relative weights can be 15% or more. When lateral scatter is not accounted for during the optimization, serious injury to organs at risk may result. This problem is specially severe for organs that are partly or totally encapsulated by the target volume. For superficial target volumes accurate consideration of the dose build-up of the incident pencil beams is fundamental.


Abstract Sarmatian and Pannonian cores, drilled at the western margin of the Vienna Basin in the City of Vienna, reveal a complex succession of marine and lacustrine depositional environments during the middle to late Miocene transition. Two Sarmatian and two Pannonian transgressive-regressive sequences were studied in detail. Identical successions of benthic faunal assemblages and similar patterns in magnetic susceptibility logs characterise these sequences. This allows a correlation of the boreholes over a distance of ~3.5 km across one of the major marginal faults of the Vienna Basin. Biostratigraphic data, combined with rough estimates of sedimentation rates, reveal large gaps between these sequences, suggesting that only major transgressions reached this marginal area. In particular, during the Sarmatian-Pannonian transition, the basin margin completely emerged and turned into a terrestrial setting for at least 600 ka.


In this paper, we proposed Fittest Individual Refinement (FIR), a crossover based local search method for Differential Evolution (DE). The FIR scheme accelerates DE by enhancing its search capability through exploration of the neighborhood of the best solution in successive generations. The proposed memetic version of DE (augmented by FIR) is expected to obtain an acceptable solution with a lower number of evaluations particularly for higher dimensional functions. Using two different implementations DEfirDE and DEfirSPX we showed that proposed FIR increases the convergence velocity of DE for well known benchmark functions as well as improves the robustness of DE against variation of population. Experiments using multimodal landscape generator showed our proposed algorithms consistently outperformed their parent algorithms. A performance comparison with reported results of well known real coded memetic algorithms is also presented.


Objective: We sought to determine whether supplementation of vitamin E (α-tocopherol), selenium (L-selenomethionine), or their combination improves arsenical skin lesions. Methods: A 2 × 2 randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial among 121 men and women chronically exposed to arsenic in drinking water was conducted in rural Bangladesh. Participants were randomized to one of four treatment arms: vitamin E, selenium, vitamin E and selenium (combination), or placebo and were treated for 6 months. Results: At baseline, the average skin lesion scores were 2.23, 2.26, and 2.63 and at follow-up, the average skin lesion scores went down to 2.00, 2.06, and 2.47 in those receiving vitamin E, selenium, and the combination, respectively. Conclusions: Supplementation with vitamin E and selenium, either alone or in combination, slightly improved skin lesion status, although the improvement was not statistically significant.


This study deals with the way people from an urban locality with many social and environmental problems manifest their commitments towards the environment. The results showed three types of commitment named here as "active passivity"; "withstand passivity" and "controlled passivity", that express the ethos present in this population, which emerged from their individual and collective experiences.


BACKGROUND
Squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) are uncommon in reptiles and there have been few reports of neoplasia in Australian crocodiles, despite increased numbers being raised in captivity.

CASE REPORT
We report a locally invasive SCC in the hindlimb of a wild-caught saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) with hepatic metastasis. The gross appearance was soft tissue swelling adjacent to the nail bed, progressing to abscessation incorporating multiple toes. Diagnosis was achieved by biopsy during amputation of the affected toes. Hepatic metastasis was identified at necropsy, with a similar gross appearance resembling an abscess.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Neoplasia is an uncommon finding in crocodilians and metastatic neoplasia is rarely documented. This is the first report of SCC in a crocodilian.


The optical properties of PbSe/CdSe core/shell quantum dots with core sizes smaller than 4 nm in the 5-300 K range are reported. The photoluminescence spectra show two peaks, which become increasingly separated in energy as the core diameter is reduced below 4 nm. It is shown that these peaks are due to intrinsic exciton transitions in each quantum dot, rather than emission from different quantum dot sub-ensembles. Most likely, the energy separation between the peaks is due to inter-valley coupling between the L-points of PbSe. The temperature dependence of the relative intensities of the peaks implies that the two emitting states are not in thermal equilibrium and that dark exciton states must play an important role.


This thesis investigates the manufacturing and characterisation of functionalised textile coatings containing different types of flake-shaped fillers with angle-dependent colour-changing and electr ...


The transverse vibratory response of a long, slender vertical top tension riser, subject to an ocean current, is studied. The problem is treated as a coupled fluid flow/vibration problem, which is solved numerically. The fluid flow part is represented by the 2D Navier-Stokes equations, with large-eddy simulation turbulence modeling and strip theory, which are solved numerically to obtain the flow field and determine the vortex-shedding behavior in the flow. The approach flow is a shear flow ranging in Reynolds number from 8000 to 10,000. Given the flow field and vortex-shedding behavior, the transverse fluid forcing function can be determined at a given instant, which becomes the input to the Euler-Bernoulli beam equation to calculate the displacement of the riser, using a technique that involves the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) method and modal decomposition. The boundary conditions for the fluid flow equations are updated each time step as the cylinder moves. The natural frequency of the riser is tension dominated, not bending-stiffness dominated. With the decrease in tension with increasing depth, the natural frequency is affected. Therefore, the solution will be influenced by the depth-dependent tension. This study has indicated some interesting features regarding the vortex-induced vibration of a variable-tension riser. The vibrational response is greater for a variable-tension riser than for a constant-tension riser, when the variable-tension riser is assumed to have the same top tension as the constant-tension riser. Thus, this is one reason whv it is important to take into account the variable tension when estimating fatigue failures of marine risers.


Several institutions, worldwide, have established ICT standards and are updating them to guide ICT usage by teachers and teacher education programs. Though Chile has the Enlaces project, a regionally and internationally recognized initiative for ICT insertion, it did not count on an ICT Standards Proposal to guide teacher education programs. For this reason, the Center for Education and Technology CET-ENLACES of the Ministry of Education of Chile (MINEDUC) has developed, since 2005, a policy to integrate ICT into Teacher Education. This article introduces the work done to define those standards and the actions taken to make them known and used by universities involved in teacher education.


In this talk, I will discuss a long-standing open problem in the dimension theory of dynamical systems, namely whether every expanding repeller has an ergodic invariant measure of full Hausdor dimension, as well as my recent result showing that the answer is negative. The counterexample is a self-a ne sponge in R3 coming from an a ne iterated function system whose coordinate subspace projections satisfy the strong separation condition. Its dynamical dimension, i.e. the supremum of the Hausdor dimensions of its invariant measures, is strictly less than its Hausdor dimension. More generally we compute the Hausdor and dynamical dimensions of a large class of self-a ne sponges, a problem that previous techniques could only solve in two dimensions. The Hausdor and dynamical dimensions depend continuously on the iterated function system de ning the sponge, which implies that sponges with a dimension gap represent a nonempty open subset of the parameter space. This work is joint with Tushar Das (Wisconsin La Crosse).


A series of nonbay region cyano-substituted tetrachloroperylene diimides with tunable LUMO energy levels from -4.21 to -4.64 eV were developed. The excellent linear correlation between LUMO energy levels and the number of cyano groups indicated that the LUMO energy levels could be lowered effectively and predictably by incorporating cyano groups.


Deaf empowerment is a newly popular concept that is discussed, but often in vague and ill-defined ways. This article examines the literature to establish what empowerment is and, more importantly, the processes by which empowerment occurs. This is used as a framework to take a retrospective look at past events and activities among Deaf/Sign Language Peoples and examine how these fit into the models of empowerment and decolonization outlined in the first section. Some issues specific to Deaf/SLP that hinder the processes of empowerment are also raised.


Approximately 75% of breast cancers are estrogen receptor (ERα) positive, underscoring the dependence of cancer cells on estrogen for growth and survival. Patients treated with endocrine therapy often develop resistance, either de novo or acquired, which is caused by aberrations within the growth factor signaling pathways. The mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) has emerged as a critical node in estrogenic signaling. We have previously shown that mTORC1 can phosphorylate and activate ERα on S167 via its effector the 40S ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (S6K1). Presently, we have uncovered a direct link between mTORC1 and ERα. We found that ERα binds to regulatory-associated protein of mTOR (Raptor) and causes it to translocate to the nucleus upon estrogen stimulation. Additionally, we identified mTOR as the kinase that directly phosphorylates ERα and activates transcription of ER target genes. Our findings show a direct link between mTORC1 and ERα, which further implicates mTORC1 signaling in the pathogenesis of ER-positive breast cancer and provides additionale rationale for the FDA-approved use of mTORC1 inhibitors in combination with endocrine agents for treatment of this disease . Citation Format: Anya Alayev, Marina K. Holz. mTORC1 directly phosphorylates and activates ERα upon estrogen stimulation. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Breast Cancer Research; Oct 17-20, 2015; Bellevue, WA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2016;14(2_Suppl):Abstract nr B10.


Bulbophyllum yarlungzangboense, a new species of Orchidaceae from Tibet, China is described and illustrated, it is morphologically similar to B. gamblei and B. shweliense, but can be easy distinguished from the later by petals ovate-oblong, stelidis triangular, base of column foot with V-shape cushion. The new species is tentatively assigned to sect. Desmosanthes based on morphological characters.


BACKGROUND
Nonpharmacological labor pain management methods (NPLPMM) are noninvasive, low-cost practices that may play a role in reducing the rates of unnecessary cesarean birth. We aimed to evaluate whether the NPLPMM is associated with the mode of birth.

METHODS
We conducted a retrospective cohort study with clinical records of all women admitted for birth from January 2013 to December 2017. Records of women who had spontaneous labor or received induction or augmentation of labor during hospitalization were eligible for the study. We estimated the risk ratios for cesarean birth in general linear models using the Poisson regression with adjustments for the following variables: age, ethnicity, schooling, parity, gestational age, previous cesarean birth, spontaneous labor before admission, or induction/augmentation of labor.

RESULTS
Within the total of 3,391 medical records, 40.1% had the use of a nonpharmacological labor pain management method registered. Cesarean rate among the study population was 44.2%. The use of NPLPMM decreased the risk of cesarean birth by 78% (OR = 0.22; 95% CI 0.19-0.26). History of a previous cesarean birth (RR = 2.63; 95% CI 2.35-2.64), the lack of use of NPLPMM (RR = 2.46; 95% CI 2.22-2.72), and primiparity (RR = 2.09; 95% CI 1.86-2.34) were the strongest risk factors for cesarean birth in the cohort.

DISCUSSION
The use of NPLPMM may be an effective strategy to reduce unnecessary cesarean birth. Further studies to identify the efficacy of each method may help health professionals to offer more appropriate methods at different stages of labor.


Within the,frame of industrial automation, the mechanical power related to pneumatic actuator systems involves air flows along with mechanical component, such as valves, connecting tubes, cylinder chambers and possible linkages in order to finally actuate a specific objective. Gas dynamic of the air flowing into connecting ducts plays a fundamental role in the description of the global dynamic phenomena of these systems. Several studies deal with the dynamics of such pneumatic systems but through streamlined analysis where the influence of pressure-waves propagating in ducts is neglected or poorly described. The related models are even more complex when finite volumes are placed at the ends of connecting lines. In this paper, two different mathematical models describing transient pressure-waves propagating through lines closed by finite volumes are presented. The investigation regards pressure and velocity ranges normally operating in industrial pneumatic systems. Besides the value of new system modeling of different complexity, these models are compared from an analytical and numerical point of view; advantages, disadvantages, weakness, abilities, and inabilities are highlighted and, finally, the relevant analysis is corroborated through experimental validations of wave propagating pressure at fixed positions of ducts. This study results both in the presentation of models of practical interest, as well as in an attempt to provide an elucidation on the need to resort to an accurate model rather than a streamlined one with respect to the geometric and/or operative characteristics of industrial pneumatic systems.


In this paper I will just cite two American movies—Little Buddha and Music and Lyrics—to illustrate how (Tibetan) Buddhism (or Dharma) has long been misrepresented and Orientalized on American cultural landscape. Since its spread to the West in the 19 century, Buddhism has long been a target or source in the Westerners' creation of Orientalism in the arts or even mass media. In mass media, Buddhism (especially Tibetan Buddhism) has long been a source for commercial films (e.g. The Little Buddha, directed by Bertrolucci in 1993). Some of them may have been an attempt to present Buddhism as some Oriental spiritual practice or an Oriental mysticism that looks appealing to the American/Western audience and thus satisfies the Westerners' exotic taste. Reasons of the Americanization or secularization of Buddhism may be caused by Buddhist diasporas that lead to the alienation and contestation of Dharma in a Christian context. Hence, misinterpretation is the way of understanding/interpreting a new culture. On the other hand, the misrepresentation is an inevitable phenomenon when an idea or object is translated into a foreign culture in which there is no equivalent to the idea/object. Since cinema is a main medium for public entertainment and commercial profit in the contemporary postmodern world, it could easily reflect the mass consensus of some cultural phenomenon. Hence, the misinterpretations or stereotypes of Buddhism revealed on the American cinema at least highlight the emerging need and popularity of the Dharma/Buddhism in western spiritual practice as well as its decline.